Sound, Symbol, Sociality: The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music PDF
Preview Sound, Symbol, Sociality: The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music
SOUND, SYMBOL, SOCIALITY The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music Matthew P. Unger Sound, Symbol, Sociality Matthew P. Unger Sound, Symbol, Sociality The Aesthetic Experience of Extreme Metal Music Matthew P. Unger Department of Sociology University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ISBN 978-1-137-47834-4 ISBN 978-1-137-47835-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-47835-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016945514 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Modern building window © saulgranda/Getty Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London P A REFACE AND CKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book looks at how sound reveals the normative constitution of the social world, how sound is a site of political and moral contestation, and how it has become a signifi cant marker of identity and social patterns. People have always understood that music and sounds are signifi cant expressions of meaning and symbols. Music is an assumed and ubiquitous aspect of our social world that is characterized just as much by the global as it is by the local. It is embedded within a continual dialectic between corporate production and incorporation and individual expression and subcultural creation. Music and sound is also a profoundly controlled medium used to mark or reinforce group boundaries and as a mode of social control and exclusion. Popular music has encountered moral entre- preneurs for its possibility to shape and infl uence people’s lives and has been key instigators of moral panics around the world. Extreme musics are a particularly interesting and powerful example to examine how sound is a meaningful medium that is refl ective of culture, symbols, and social patterns. In this book, I argue that the musical genres that exist at the edges of normativity disclose important meaning frameworks that the music often attempts to play with, transgress, and undermine. By drawing on a music that outsiders often see as transgressive and incomprehensible, we are able to witness important social patterns and ways of thinking that have become endemic to the modern, late-capitalist, experience. Drawing from Paul Ricoeur’s early texts on religion, symbolism, evil, and defi lement, I develop a theory of symbolic aesthetics that refl ects the contingent coalescence of sound, symbols and their social expressions. This book relies on the wager v vi PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS that we live in an age in which seemingly archaic religious symbols contrib- ute to how people orient themselves, respond to, and explain things in the world. My analysis of the musical subgenre and subculture of heavy metal, extreme metal, reinforces the idea that even deeply irreligious, transgres- sive, and grotesque art forms exemplify the unique manner of religion’s signifi cance in the post-secular moment. I argue that the symbols of defi le- ment, authenticity, and purity signify that religion, social discourses, and phenomenological experience co-create and co-constrain each other. A close examination of this interaction within popular culture exemplifi es the evocative nature and deep historical import of these symbols. My fi eldwork and discourse analysis of extreme metal refl ects this confl uence and coales- cence of the psychological, the social, the juridical, and the political. Many people have been critical for the development of this project, many of whom I do not mention here but nonetheless deserve my thanks and gratitude. First and foremost, the Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to me by the Canadian Research Chair in Social Theory, Culture and Law, George Pavlich, has been instrumental in getting this manuscript to production. George was extremely generous in his time spent mentoring me in writing and research, and also provided the much needed time to rework this from its initial dissertation framework. He deserves my genu- ine and profound gratitude for the incredible opportunity to work with him to allow me to grow as an academic. My Ph.D. supervisors, Drs. Charles Barbour and Stephen A. Kent during my doctorate at the University of Alberta also deserve my sincere gratitude for the countless hours spent with me on this manuscript and the many drafts of my dissertation. From challenging my initial ideas to helping me build a sustainable project, from debating some of its fi ner points to the incredible assistance in writing and editing, they were all amazing, indefatigable mentors through whom I have learned an enor- mous amount. My long time mentor and supervisor, Leendert P. Mos, deserves my heartfelt appreciation for his tireless support, encouragement, and discussions throughout my graduate school experience, which have indelibly shaped my thinking and writing. The empirical portion of this book comes from approximately 10 years of participant observation within the underground extreme metal scene. Within the scene, I have met many people that have contributed to the writ- ing of this project. Many musicians and bands from the Edmonton metal scene deserve recognition for being extremely generous in sharing their music and time with me. Death Toll Rising, especially Drew Copeland, PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii was particularly generous by allowing me to spend nearly 4 months with them, joining them in their jam sessions, interviews, and videotaping their performances. Thought-provoking discussions about music, transgres- sion, and nihilism with Tim from Antediluvian helped affi rm the worth of my ideas and arguments developed in this text. Dan Brophy and Ruth Guechtal deserve much gratitude as they both made the project more engaging, meaningful, and interesting. While they started out as interviewees, they soon became my very good friends and contributed to the project in more ways than I can quantify. From the many listening sessions when we lived in the same city to Skype sessions when I was living in Turkey, from our reading group meetings that led to the development of the Crossroads Panel in 2012 to the continued read- ing and commenting on each other’s work, our friendship has led to some of the best and most memorable times in my academic experience. I look forward to our future projects together! I also want to thank the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta for support and encouragement throughout my Ph.D., funding for travel and study, and a research grant that allowed me to visit several music festivals in Europe in the summer of 2008. This trip allowed me to see many of the bands I had been listening to and had read about for years but had not been able to see in my hometown. At these festivals, I was able to interact with fellow metal enthusiasts from all over the world and see what metal means to many different people. These festival experi- ences allowed me to see in a condensed format the various symbolisms and sounds that comprise the metal experience. I am also very appreciative of the editors and reviewers from Palgrave Macmillan, particularly Felicity Plester and Sophie Auld, who have both been extremely helpful and generous with their time and patience. My family has been my pillar and mainstay in fi nishing this manuscript. Finally, I am appreciative of Jenny for her support and care, distractions and motivations, the horror movies and trips that have made the experience of fi nishing this manuscript much more enjoyable and worthwhile. The original version of this book was revised. An erratum to this book can be found at DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-47835-1_8 ix C ONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 A Genre of Paradoxes and Dichotomies 17 3 Defi lement and Social Theory 39 4 Post-secular Aesthetics and the Symbolic Constitution of Extreme Metal Music 53 5 The Modalities of Defi lement Within Extreme Metal 65 6 The Symbolic Experience of Christian Extreme Metal 89 7 Conclusion 111 Erratum to E1 Works Cited 119 Index 131 xi L F IST OF IGURES Fig. 1.1 Black metal at a European festival 14 Fig. 2.1 Antideluvian 28 Fig. 5.1 Notation of “Babyslitter” by Death Toll Rising 73 Fig. 5.2 Death Toll Rising 75 Fig. 6.1 Pantokrator 100 xiii
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