Some metal-osophy
There are some popular words that are frequently used to describe what people think constitute the vocal quality of metal music: “growls” and “screamo.” Because of their connotations, the inappropriate use of these words ends up grotesquely misconstruing an accurate understanding of the authentic aesthetic of metal music in the minds of many people.
These two words both carry a sense of anger and a bestial rage with them. They are popularly used to describe the sound of the vocalists in metal groups because of the frequently dissonant aesthetic of the vocals and the chthonic (one might even say violent) energy. Moreover, the most popularly heard form of metal that employs screamed vocals is metalcore. Metalcore is the sub-genre of metal that is a fusion of hardcore punk and extreme metal and has achieved more commercial success since the mid-2000s than any other sub-genre. Because metalcore is often given the limelight, metalcore has largely coloured what people think of when they hear “metal.” Without being prejudicial, I have noticed that the members of many metalcore groups are young men who, notwithstanding their musical proficiency and lyrical eloquence, often seem juvenile.
The vast majority of metal genres do not use “screamed vocals;” rather, they use what may be called “harsh vocals.” Harsh vocals employ a deeper tone with a lower frequency and a guttural quality. To an untrained ear, I think the word “growl” is still largely misleading. While some metal groups do try to emulate a bestial noise and intensity, most are aiming at communicating something else.
Having listened to several hundred metal groups, I think that the best description for what harsh vocalists are trying to create is a preternatural aesthetics. The Oxford English Dictionary defines preternatural as, “Outside the ordinary course of nature; differing from or surpassing what is natural; unnatural.” I have also studied the philosophy of aesthetics and have concluded that what metal vocalists aim at, is to portray, and cause the listener to experience, the sublime: those things in nature and art that affect the mind “with a sense of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power; calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion, by reason of its beauty, vastness, or grandeur.”
Many readers seeing this article will not associate metal with “beauty, vastness, or grandeur,” due to their cursory and fragmented exposure to commercial metalcore or exaggerated death metals. Nevertheless, many appreciative and inquisitive metal listeners will associate these very things with metal. Metal songs are often “very long” by modern standards; it is not uncommon to find songs that exceed 10 minutes. The “largeness” and intensity of the sound, and the frequent diversity of instruments, are often aptly characterized by grandeur. Ultimately, most metal artists aim at creating something beautiful.
In metal, I have found a vestige in the postmodern music scene, with lyrical robustness, musical complexity, and thematic diversity that have been tremendously invigorating and stimulating. Harsh vocals are not something to be deterred by: it is a vocal quality that, by its unfamiliar, powerful and “harsh” nature aims at portraying and effecting the sublime, which I believe is tremendously valuable for faith, life, and self-understanding.
If anyone wishes to discuss metalosophy with me, or would like suggestions for listening, email me at Richard.bergen@mytwu.ca
Richard Bergen
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