A class analysis of the broader metal genre would be really interesting and I don’t think I know enough to answer. I have some hypotheses and hot takes but nothing concrete.
I think metal in general evokes power and importance. Some have interpreted this to mean metal serves to reinforce masculine ideology and hetero norms, which may be true for certain artists. In recent decades though, metal fans have a more even gender split. One could make a contrary argument that metal serves to empower a powerless individual, whether they feel that way due to their class or personal issues like bullying or abuse.
Metal commonly includes themes of fantasy. Is this a form of escapism for an audience that doesn’t want to cope with the material world? Some subgenres focus quite heavily on worldbuilding. I notice that frequently these worlds involve overt evils to fight or evade… is that a reaction to the obscure and abstract exploitation of capitalism? Sometimes these worlds are plainly reminiscent of past times, precapitalist societies with simple social relations. Perhaps these would be the reactionary artists, the ones who want to go back instead of progress forward on a material basis.
I think most novel genres are originally created by and for the working class, but heavy metal has the material constraint that it requires heavily distorted electric guitar, so its history tightly tracks the history of our ability to produce guitar amplifiers, and how affordable they are in various areas of the world at a given time. The bedroom studio revolution is directly responsible for djent among many other subgenres, and the big names in n the first generation of that group are mostly people of color, although their class character is more muddled.
I’d super love someone more knowledgeable about heavy guitar music in the periphery to share some analysis of that.
Fwiw, and I could be wrong about this, I’ve heard the origins of the heavily distorted sound comes from bands having to overvolt smaller amplifiers to try to match the sound of the PA systems some bigger bands were traveling with in the age before a venue could be counted on to have a decent PA system to plug into.
I’ve heard that before. I think there was a long period of experimentation that basically involved breaking amplifiers to see how they sounded as well. Slashing the cones, rubbing dirt on them, etc.
What’s your opinion on folk metal?
A class analysis of the broader metal genre would be really interesting and I don’t think I know enough to answer. I have some hypotheses and hot takes but nothing concrete.
I think metal in general evokes power and importance. Some have interpreted this to mean metal serves to reinforce masculine ideology and hetero norms, which may be true for certain artists. In recent decades though, metal fans have a more even gender split. One could make a contrary argument that metal serves to empower a powerless individual, whether they feel that way due to their class or personal issues like bullying or abuse.
Metal commonly includes themes of fantasy. Is this a form of escapism for an audience that doesn’t want to cope with the material world? Some subgenres focus quite heavily on worldbuilding. I notice that frequently these worlds involve overt evils to fight or evade… is that a reaction to the obscure and abstract exploitation of capitalism? Sometimes these worlds are plainly reminiscent of past times, precapitalist societies with simple social relations. Perhaps these would be the reactionary artists, the ones who want to go back instead of progress forward on a material basis.
I think most novel genres are originally created by and for the working class, but heavy metal has the material constraint that it requires heavily distorted electric guitar, so its history tightly tracks the history of our ability to produce guitar amplifiers, and how affordable they are in various areas of the world at a given time. The bedroom studio revolution is directly responsible for djent among many other subgenres, and the big names in n the first generation of that group are mostly people of color, although their class character is more muddled.
I’d super love someone more knowledgeable about heavy guitar music in the periphery to share some analysis of that.
Fwiw, and I could be wrong about this, I’ve heard the origins of the heavily distorted sound comes from bands having to overvolt smaller amplifiers to try to match the sound of the PA systems some bigger bands were traveling with in the age before a venue could be counted on to have a decent PA system to plug into.
I’ve heard that before. I think there was a long period of experimentation that basically involved breaking amplifiers to see how they sounded as well. Slashing the cones, rubbing dirt on them, etc.
That’s so cool.