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Long live rock! Heavy metal, that is. Although critics have been declaring it moribund since the 1960s, the genre refuses to die. Why? Well, as New York Times rock critic Jon Pareles wrote last year, heavy metal "serves time-honored purposes: venting defiance, repelling adult authority and, in its lyrics, examining issues of power, death, faith and identity that other pop [music] glosses over."
With an emphasis on sex, death, alienation, and rebellion, it was inevitable that heavy metal would inspire a fresh round of hand-wringing from members of both major political parties during the current election season. Back in the 1980s, when Tipper Gore, wife of Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore, launched her crusade against raunchy and violent rock lyrics, heavy metal was one of her main targets. Now, Gore and running mate Joe Lieberman are once again turning its "bad influence" on teens into a campaign theme.
But before launching another broadside, the politicians might want to note one interesting subgenre. A few heavy-metal bands, including one called Snapcase, now promote clean living -- that's right, nonviolence and abstinence from drugs, drinking, smoking, etc. Yes, in some cases, the kids really are all right, as The Who put it decades ago.
I can't claim to know much about heavy metal myself. But Paul Czarnowski, one of the students in a writing class I teach at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is an expert. A 24-year-old with hair halfway down his back, he plays in a band and writes about heavy metal for a Chicago-based music magazine called CRC Pulse, whose online version can be found at www.crcradio.com. He has a line on everything, from the role of the band Anthrax in the music's development to the distinction between "black metal" and "death metal." I e-mailed him my naive questions, and he responded. Here are edited excerpts of our conversation.
Q: What is heavy-metal music, and what are its musical roots?
A: My theory is that the roots are Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, who both in their day were performers of "unsafe" music for the mainstream audience. But heavy metal didn't really exist until the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath found their way [onto] the music charts. I think most people would cite those two bands as the start of it all, the next step being Motorhead in the mid-1970s, followed by the chaos of Venom in the late '70s.
Today heavy metal is a diverse genre. In the '80s, when it was most popular, it was mainly power metal, as led by Iron Maiden, and glam rock, such as Poison and Motley Crue. Today, it's split between mainstream-friendly rap [metal] and alternative metal, and hard rock. Then there's the variety of hardcore (an intense brand of metal mixed with punk rock) that the kids seem to like. Plus, there are the extreme noise generators in the vein of death and black metal and grindcore. Fast tempos, chugging guitar lines, cacophonic singing and intense drumming usually define metal bands in all genres.
Q: What is rap metal? Black metal? Death metal? I'm lost.
A: As you can guess by the title, rap metal is the mixture of rap-style vocals over generally slower and more groove-orientated heavy music. It's the most accepted form of hard rock/heavy metal in the mainstream- and alternative-music markets. It came about around 1986-87 with the group the Beastie Boys. The metal band Anthrax also put out a single in 1987 called "I'm the Man" that was an incredibly bad -- but really funny -- mixture of rap and metal. Anthrax would later do a collaboration in 1991 with the rap act Public Enemy to perform the song Bring the Noise. That song became a hit in both the rap and metal worlds, a favorite on MTV and of college kids who weren't really into either genre. It became a basis for the rap metal that is accepted in the mainstream now.
Black metal is a vile (in my opinion) form of heavy music. Very fast drumming, high-pitched guitar, lots of high-pitched screaming. Mostly a European sensation, based in Norway, it's catching on in the underground in the States. It's characterized by bad production and use of full chords rather than quickly strummed single notes, but still played rather fast -- and badly. A further difference: 1980s glam-rock bands (the kind that wore makeup and Spandex) had a satanic image, but it was all a marketing scheme. Black-metal bands, however, are really into satanism. There have been reports of them killing people, burning churches, and that sort of thing.
Death metal started in the late '80s, and the roots also go back to Venom. But they keep the music extreme and live normal law-abiding lives outside their music. Very extreme style, also characterized by fast guitar and drum work and singing ranging from screaming to low, guttural noises.
Q: And grind metal?
A: Grindcore is an oddity. Pure noise in some ways, very extreme form of death metal characterized by guttural growling and high-pitched screaming from singers. The band Carcass pretty much started this, then broke up in 1995.
Q: Are listeners mainly disaffected college students?
A: Not anymore. Most are thirtysomething blue-collar Joes still enjoying the '80s brand of pop-music metal. Or they're teenagers exposed to the large range of genres, from hard rock, hardcore, rap metal, to death metal, and black metal. Recently I saw a lot of thirtysomething guys at a show by Iron Maiden, a band that was huge in the '80s.
Q: If your kid goes off to college and comes back a heavy-metal music fan, what happened?
A: It was probably an exposure to the non-mainstream music scene. Mostly alternative bands make their way through college campuses, and occasionally a newer metal/hard rock act will pass through. College kids are constantly exposed to alternative bands through college radio. Read College Music Journal and compare [the hits on its] charts to [the ones on] Billboard. You'll see a huge difference.
Most kids, though, develop their taste early on in high school. Usually by then they've been exposed to a lot of mainstream radio. And being teenagers, they are probably going through a lot of troublesome changes, which can really affect your mood toward pop music.
Q: What are the most popular bands at this point?
A: Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Pantera, and Slipknot. Slipknot is the only one not on a major label, yet with no airplay and no video support, it has sold a million copies.
Q: Do bands such as Snapcase that promote a healthy lifestyle represent a significant trend?
A: I don't know if it's a new trend. Some of these bands have been around for almost 10 years. As far as significant, the fan-base is very loyal and growing.
Q: At some point in their lives, do people seem to get tired of heavy metal and move on to something else? If so, what do they move on to? You said you recently bought a Herb Alpert album.
A: It depends. I just branched out. Tastes change. As metalheads get older, they obviously experience changes in their lives and, in some cases, [they] aren't the angry, filled-with-energy teens they used to be. People look back at some of the 1980s pop-metal/glam rock they used to listen to and think, "What the hell was I thinking? This is embarrassing!"
Peterson, a contributing editor at Business Week Online, offers his views on art and the business of art every week on BW Online Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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