Myth and Magic in Heavy Metal Music

211 Pages·2018·1.896 MB·English

by  Robert McParland

Myth and Magic
in Heavy Metal Music
AlsobyRobeRtMcPARlAnd
Science Fiction in Classic Rock:
Musical Explorations of Space, Technology
and the Imagination, 1967–1982(McFarland, 2017)
Myth and Magic
in Heavy Metal Music
Robert McParland
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
libRARyoFcongResscAtAloguing-in-PublicAtiondAtA
names: McParland, Robert, author.
title: Myth and magic in heavy metal music / Robert McParland.
description: Jefferson, north carolina : McFarland & company, 2018. |
includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: lccn 2018022606 | isbn 9781476673356 (softcover :
acid free paper)
♾
subjects: lcsH: Heavy metal (Music)—History and criticism. | Music
and mythology.
classification: lcc Ml3534 .M4717 2018 | ddc 781.6609—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022606
bRitisHlibRARycAtAloguingdAtAAReAvAilAble
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-7335-6
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3298-8
© 2018 Robert McParland. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover: venom guitarist conrad “cronos” lant
during the Party.san Metal open Air music festival
on August 8, 2013, at the obermehler-schlotheim airfield
in germany (photograph by Jonas Rogowski)
Printed in the united states of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Acknowledgments
A book like this that focuses on the enduring power
of myth is only possible because artists and creators,
devoted music fans, and a dedicated publishing team
value imagination and recognize that it plays a significant
role in human experience. the author would like to thank
the many critics of heavy metal upon whose work this
volume rests. thanks also go to donald Palumbo for his
helpful feedback for an earlier book, Science Fiction and
Classic Rock: Musical Explorations of Space, Technology
and the Human Imagination, 1967–1982(2017). inspira-
tion has come from a thoughtful network of rock music
enthusiasts who meet each year at the American Popular
culture conference. Among this network of talented
individuals are tom Kitts and gary burns, who edit Pop-
ular Music and Society and Rock Music Studies, nick
baxter- Moore, Alex di blasi, steve Hamelman, scott
Henderson, lawrence Pitilli, and the Maine poet Jim
Mello. their support and their insights into rock music
are much appreciated.
v
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table of contents
Acknowledgments v
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy,
Myth and the esoteric tradition 17
2. black sabbath: dark symbolism 31
3. Power, noise and Rebellion 44
4. Mythical Roots 59
5. shadow dreams: the legacy
of gothic Romanticism 84
6. iron Maiden: Mythology
and the Ancient Mariner 103
7. thor’s thunder: norse Myth
and the gods of valhalla 118
8. sonnets to orpheus: Journeys
to the underworld 136
9. Madness, Magic and virtuosity 155
Selected Discography 177
Chapter Notes 181
Bibliography 186
Index 195
vii
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Preface
Rockhasmadeitsownmythsandcreatedheroes.legendsandtales
have been transcribed in rock criticism for more than half a century. Heavy
metal asserts power and sings about our situation now. yet, its creativity
relies upon the recasting of human experience in symbols, myths, and
dreams. this is a book about those heavy metal dreams.
Heavy metal is in dialogue with our contemporary world. When in
its discourse of power and imagination it appeals to ancient mythology
heavy metal offers us fresh perspectives on our current situation. “today
rationalism is global, computer compatible everywhere. it is the interna-
tional style of the mind’s architecture,” writes James Hillman (152). this
book argues for balance. it calls for recognition of our human need for
entertainment, fantasy, and mythical imagination. to embrace such imag-
ination is to don wings like icarus, to set sail with charon on a journey
across the border of the sacred and the scared. Mythic imagination
attempts to make visible the invisible, to assert that intuition and imagi-
nation are necessary. Power, fantasy, wonder, and excess are the stuff of
metal, as some critics have said. it takes us to fantastic sites, the decks of
haunted ships, the cobblestones of ancient cities, the gates of hell.
Heavy metal is a voice in the modern world that recognizes the power
of myth. its expression of those myths is crucial to heavy metal’s ongoing
creativity and its longevity in a music business in which it has been appro-
priated and commercialized. the future of heavy metal depends upon its
creators’ desire to create powerful and authentic music alongside com-
pelling imagery that rests upon archetypes. such music speaks to human
emotion and imagination.
When christopher booker gives us his archetypal analysis of the
seven plots that underpin most literature he reminds us that plotlines like
overcoming the monster, the quest myth, or voyage and return have been
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