[ H E I D E N L Ä R M ] a neoclassical music zine january 15 2005 / issue 7 Contents ~-~-~-~- Introduction Interviews Music Editorial ~-~-~-~- [ Introduction ] One realization in modernity is that our minds operate much like computers. Computers operate much like reality; energy pools in one part and is transferred to another, bringing with it the abstract "information": numbers, unique identifiers, cycles. When we are able to assimilate these thoughts, it becomes clear that the mechanism of thought and the transactional homeostasis of nature have a common origin in similar properties of operation. Art --- When this is accomplished, the grandeur of art takes on a new meaning: it is no longer an abstract and artificial configuration of pleasing sounds, images or words, but a conveyance of thoughts; a communication. Here art and ideology and nature are joined. Heidenlarm began as an attempt to find the transcendent in metal, and to celebrate the culture in heavy metal which had not yet been assimilated by the crowd, which reduces all things to bite-sized pieces for a lowest common denominator audience. That way, no one misses the joke and everyone can socialize equally, doing lowest common denominator things like selling stuff, buying stuff, talking about who is important, and fantasizing about things that will never become real. Exponentiation -------------- Thoughts are real. The world is real. Heidenlarm explored the real, and in doing so left behind being able to be a metal ezine. With this final issue of Heidenlarm, we convey its energy and information to a new entity, exponentiation ezine. You can find exponentiation ezine online at: http://www.anus.com/zine/ It is preferred however that you find it in the way of the human network, through the myriad of bulletin boards, IRC channels, IM connections and open conferences that make the net a device which routes itself around the horde as best it can. Wherever you find exponentiation ezine, not only have you discovered its content, but you have also connected yourself and it in a transactional cycle. From this, growth emerges. Ideology -------- Having realized that thoughts and reality have a common mechanism, the individual must then return to the question which seems unknowable: is there a purpose to life? Much as we clean our living areas and cultivate gardens and make music, life is the process of living, and it is indulged in as a matter of being alive: in this is all one needs to know about ideology. We live by our values. Those who value things of an eternal nature, meaning those things not limited to a brief span of time in their relevance, find the daytime world of disposable products, trends in appearance and sweeping political-emotional statements to be dead; this is a product of their nature, which is that of a higher being. Those who value the transient, the broken, the recombinant and useless are faceless drones without soul. But in all cases, our ideology is our values; that we act it out is like a program running on a computer. With exponentiation ezine, our goal is not to focus on the transitional issues of the day, nor on what we find reprehensible, but to target the thoughts of the higher being and to revel in what of that life is still available here on planet earth. With overpopulation, pollution, climate change and lack of fossil fuels staring an unrecognizant modern society in the face, we are confident of our beliefs prevailing. It will take time. Content ------- Where Heidenlarm brought out the best in the neoclassical community, with an emphasis on metal, exponentiation ezine looks toward the future. Our first issue includes creative writing, music reviews, lifestyle features, editorials and profiles on individuals who contribute toward the future. While a genre like "metal music" requires focusing on the whole genre because of universal participation, our goal is to select that which endures. This is contrary to the entire concept in our current society of print and web publications, but creates reading of more relevance to people who, having realized that modern society is a suicide march into oblivion, are looking for revelations of what will come after it -- should any of the higher type survive. [ Interviews ] Todd of Propagandhi One of the clearest voices in the punk/metalcore scene has come from the strident politics of Propagandhi, who, like most things on the punkish side of the spectrum, are militant liberals. Our roving reporter caught up with Todd to ask him a few questions which he kindly obliged, curious to see what drives this beology. Q: What first made the connection for you between changes you'd like to see in your life and political values? The first real connection came for me when I was watching "Do The Right Thing" when I was a kid. I decided then I would try not to be a little racist pecker anymore. Also a little later I came across this guy from India who was a vegetarian and I thought "this guy makes sense" haha... Besides that it was sort of gradual, I really hooked on to the first Propagandhi demo tape also, that also made great sense to me. I wasn't in the band at the time. I interviewed them at their first out of town show in Regina. Q: How did you start out in politics? Were there any people, real or virtual in your life, who mentored you? I think as I travelled around and saw what the world was made of I became more political. My vison of things when I got out of Regina specifically; it was like any other small city up here in the 80's. I was really influenced by Bella Galhos who was a refugee from East Timor. I was influenced by a lot of people that I met here from other countries. Besides that books, records, documentaries from the library haha... Q: What in your mind are the differences between "left-wing" and "right-wing" politics? Left wing politics should be about people helping each other out and not being greedy. Right wing politics are the politics of those who want to hoard what they've got, protect themselves at all costs, perpetuate the cycle that got us into this monumental mess in the first place, and ignore the other people. In reality "right wing" is greed, self preservation, and fear of anything different, fear of "the other." I pity the fool! haha. Q: Is there a media bias in favor of one or both wings? I think there is a left wing media bias towards gay people, perhaps. It appears as though it's left wing in regards to all sexuality, upon closer observation I think it is not left wing because it all ends up being to the males' benefit. In terms of war, health, education, environmental destruction, arrogance and ignorance, and everything in between it is far right." Q: Do you see political power as a social contract between a nation and its people for the fulfillment of their desires, or the responsibility of leaders to do what is best for their population no matter how unpopular? If it is called a "democracy" it should be the voice of the people, which the U.S.A surely is not. As well the people should be truly informed not lied to and fed bullshit or else what's the point. Q: Where do you stand on Greenism and environmental issues? Do you think people have taken these too far, or that they're virtually ignored? I think these issues are completely ignored, which is horribly ironic since this is the most pressing problem facing humanity, besides weapons proliferation. I would add that the U.S is the leading perpetrator of both. People continue to pay with extreme weather such as hurricanes, ice storms, heatwaves etc.. We shall rot in hell, haha. Q: Leftism is a political system that, historically, has come with its own view of history starting in Marx's appropriation of Hegel's concept of modern history; in this, both of them saw politics as being cyclic repetitions of conflict of ideas which eventually would lead to an ultimate truth or state in human affairs. Do you see this as possible? Oh, I don't know. There's definitely a cycle going on, the older you get the sicker it becomes to you, or more noticable, at least. I wish it would lead to some ultimate truth, but it may end up in the ultimate flush down the ultimate toilet.haha... Q: What political system do you think wields the most power today in (answer for each term please) government, media and economy? If you believe in marxist cyclicism, when do you believe this will change? Capitalism, conglomeration, and globalism, respectively. All the worst things.haha. Q: If there is a future political system that gets beyond "right" and "left," what do you think it will resemble? I hope we would march towards a society that is at least accountable for what it does to each other and the environment. I guess that would be "left," eh? Maybe a society that at least can be self sustaining and not necrohabitual. I don't like "right"and "left" as it puts people in boxes they can't think themselves out of, but to me, "right" just means things that does others harm for your own benefit, things that make no environmental or social sense. I don't know how there's a true middle ground. Q: Are your beliefs moral? That is, do you believe there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do things? How do these terms compare to "good" and "evil" in your definition(s)? To me there is a right and wrong way to do things, for example hacking the head off some kid is wrong. Hogging every toy in the sandbox is wrong. Hogging millions while kids die of dysentery is really wrong (Oprah,I mean you too!) .Sure you could compare these with good and evil if you want; they are just terms. Funny how the religious right comes into my definition of evil, also funny how much they have in common with Anton Lavey's satanism. haha... Q: Do you think political systems are necessary hierarchical, e.g. involving some people having more power than others? I'm not sure. I think the goal is to reduce that as much as humanly possible. Maybe it will get down to there being no difference at all eventually. It's definitely been possible at smaller levels. The problem I've found is how timid people fit into the equation, they always get stomped to the ground even in well meaning organisations. Q: I asked a WTO protestor to summarize his beliefs, which he identified as leftist. Hhe said, "no wars, no poverty, and no elitism." is this roughly correct? Where do you agree and differ from these beliefs? Haha... It may sound geeky, but he's right, I guess. Of course you have to protect yourselves and others from real aggressors, not in this fabricated monopolistic, self-benefitting way we've seen liberation lately. "No poverty" is right on the dinero. Elitism is a hard thing to get rid of, I tell ya! You can be in a room with 4 people and that starts going around.haha.. Q: Egalitarianism is the idea that, by making people economically and socially and politically equal, we can avoid the moral injustices that occurred to individuals when they were not of the ruling group. Do you feel egalitarianism applies to your political desires for humanity and, if so, how? This does apply to my "desires," haha. There is no real other way. I think the world's got to naturally work towards that goal. Otherwise,there is always someone at the bottom if it's not you it's someone else. If someone is under the other person there shall be CCCAAARRRRNNAAGGEE!!! Q: Do you feel globalism will benefit or not benefit the following, and please explain how: a. third world workers No. They will have no chance to do their own thing they will end up working for western companies at the lowest level. b. first world merchants The big ones will benefit, the little ones will be pushed out of the way. Look at everyone taking a hit cause of Wal-Mart. If they are lucky their skills will get them a poorly paid job there. c. "the people" as a whole Not if you want a world with culture and diversity. d. "nature" as a whole Geezuz. People and corporations don't care about what's going on in their own yard let alone across the world. At this rate nature will be abused till we're wiped out, I'm afraid to say. e. space exploration This maybe will benefit.haha.. As they scramble to get the hell off earth to a living planet somewhere. Q: What right do you feel that government and society have to regulate things like sexuality, drug use, lifestyle and religion within their members? Would these impulses to control be better served by smaller social units ("countries" and "states") or by a different approach? Government should keep people from hurting other people and the environment. They should offer help to people who need it, and give a free crucifix to every heathen, and a free pair of gotch to every dog. Other than that they should fuck off. Countries and states should protect the citizens' lives, and rights. Q: what do you believe is the relationship between economic success and the validity of an idea? For example, if someone proposes an idea in a book and it sells millions, is this not similar to the mechanism of democracy? Hahaha... What about the "Atkins diet" or "Rush Limbaugh" - totally invalid, totally successful. As long as people are kept in this warp of consumerism, fraud, environmental, historical ignorance it is all just snake oil. Q: Do you believe there is effective democracy in the west at this time? If not, what has failed in the concept or practice of democracy? Hahaha... hell no. What has failed has been that the place started off killing and lying to the Aborigional people,and never quit killing and lying. From school to the highest echelon of politics no one even expects an honest answer. We all think somebody has to pay the price and it's never us who foots the bill with our own decapitated loaf of skull. Q: Since WWII, politics has seemed to be a conflict between totalitarianism and democracy; has this changed with the Clinton-Bush axis of american power, now that america is the world's only superpower? No, still very much at conflict. Maybe more now than ever before. PROPAGANDHI http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/propagandhi -!- Tony Goluza of AK-47 Curious about liberal voices in extreme music, our features reporter cornered Tony Goluza of Canadian punk band AK-47 and asked him a series of questions on his belief systems. He was happy to detail his thinking for us, and the result is a unique view into the mental patterns that shape this side of the political spectrum in extreme music. Q: What first made the connection for you between changes you'd like to see in your life and political values? The first time I started to make the link between change and politics was not so much personal, as social. I knew the world was a messed up place, but I couldn`t really figure out why. No one seemed to be able to answer questions like, "Why are we as a country so rich, while so many are poor? Why are there homeless people?" etc. As I developed politically, I also realized that you have to be the change you want to see. Sexism, homophobia, racism, etc., it all has to go, and you have to fight these things within yourself as well as within the larger society. This is where the personal change comes in. Q: How did you start out in politics? Were there any people, real or virtual in your life, who mentored you? I grew up in a very political household, although not always a progressive one. My parents escaped from Yugoslavia (in the '60s) and remain ardent Croatian nationalists to this day. My father never tired of telling me about how the "communists" were dirty, deceitful, corrupt opportunists. The fake "communists" at the head of the ruling clique in Yugoslavia certainly proved him right in the long run. As I grew up and discovered punk rock, and realized that capitalism was also corrupt, I was searching for an alternative. The anti-communist environment I had grown up in had taken it`s toll. Anarchism seemed to be the right way to go. Neither capitalism nor communism. No bosses for me! Unfortunately, as a political philosophy, it left too many questions unanswered, and had too many different opinions as to what was anarchism, and what wasn't. I met some people involved with the communist party of Canada. I stayed with them for a couple of years, and left just before the implosion of the Soviet Union. Once again, too many unanswered questions. But at least I had found a philosophy that I thought could be coherent. I was on vacation in San Francisco in 1992, just after Chairman Gonzalo, leader of the Communist Party Of Peru(also known as the Shining Path), was captured, and saw posters everywhere calling for his release. While down there I picked up a copy of The Revolutionary Worker, newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and never looked back. The Party members I have met and had discussions with, are some of the most sincere and committed people I have ever met. Q: What in your mind are the differences between "left-wing" and "right-wing" politics? For me, the difference between "left" and "right wing" politics is simply that the left traditionally is more concerned with the state of the people as a whole, while the right is more concerned with fiscal management and helping big business make even more money at the expense of the people. Q: Is there a media bias in favor of one or both wings? It is obvious that since the media is big business, they have way more of a bias towards the right. Anyone who thinks even remotely critically can see this. Q: I think we may be using "right" and "left" differently, because it seems to me that issues like egalitarianism, anti-war, anti-racism, class struggle, etc. get a lot of air time in the entertainment media and excellent coverage in the mainstream press; further, from my experience working in the press, i'd say most of the people writing in magazine journalism at least consider themselves "leftists." Do you think there's a double public standard re: what is left and what is right? As far as media bias and the left goes, I really don`t know which media you are talking about that gives "excellent coverage" to class struggle. Perhaps I was focusing too much on things like CNN, Time magazine, etc., who tend to concentrate on making anti-WTO protestors (for example), look like thugs and criminals with no real positive motives for their actions. There are many decent special interest magazines out there that give adequate attention to things like labour, queer issues, alternative art and countercultural music and lifestyles and so on, but so many of them merely fight for their own group, and fail to draw the conclusion that it`s the capitalist/imperialist system as a whole that is the enemy. This does not necessarily negate the good work that they do in exposing the ills of capitalism. I`m sure that many journalists consider themselves on the "left" side of the political spectrum. But, unfortunately, there are many who are basically liberals, who only want to see a few paltry reforms, and who in the long run, defend the capitalist system as a whole. And they certainly take the "moral high ground" in condemning violent revolutionaries! Yes, there are certainly different public perceptions as to what being "left" and "right" mean. I would have a very hard time identifying myself with the pathetic "leftists" I see on TV occasionally, arguing against this or that neo-conservative policy. For one thing, they tend to argue on the conservatives terms, as if certain ideas they hold are correct, they just need to be implemented differently (such as "fiscal restraint," "military policies" and so on). As far as I am concerned, they only uphold the status quo. They believe in a "kinder, gentler capitalism." But the rich keep getting richer, and the poor just die. Q: Do you see political power as a social contract between a nation and its people for the fulfillment of their desires, or the responsibility of leaders to do what is best for their population no matter how unpopular? I see political power as the power of the people as exercised through its vanguard party. To suppress the rich and do what is objectively in the interests of the poor and working classes. Build housing, provide free education, feed the people, put the priority on improving the lives of the working people. Educating people so that we can put a stop to sexism, racism, and all forms of exploitation. To teach the masses of people that revolution will be necessary everywhere, because where someone is oppressed, no one is free. Q: Where do you stand on Greenism and environmental issues? Do you think people have taken these too far, or that they're virtually ignored? I don't think that people have taken environmental issues too far; I just think that the connection has to be made between the destruction of the environment, and the system of capitalist/imperialism ravaging the planet. Capitalism is the defining cause of our planet going to hell. Q: Leftism is a political system that, historically, has come with its own view of history starting in marx's appropriation of hegel's concept of modern history; in this, both of them saw politics as being cyclic repetitions of conflict of ideas which eventually would lead to an ultimate truth or state in human affairs. do you see this as possible? Marx appropriated Hegel's materialism, but left his idealism behind. Politics is more than a cyclic repetition of conflicts of ideas. It is people fighting against exploitation, and the ideology behind that. I don't know about finding an "ultimate truth" in human affairs, but one of the greatest contributions of Marxism is that we will keep on searching for that truth. Q: What political system do you think wields the most power today in (answer for each term please) government, media and economy? If you believe in marxist cyclicism, when do you believe this will change? Government, media, and the economy are all part of the same political system. Society is built on the economic foundation of capitalism, and our laws, education, government, media, all of our culture (mainstream, that is), reflects that. The economic system determines the government, and from this it follows that the media will work to reinforce that ideology on us. I'm not totally sure what you mean by "marxist cyclicism," but I think that the changing of the system will depend on a lot of different factors.(National, international, economic crises, subjective and objective forces, and so on). It is difficult to say exactly when this would take place. Q: If there is a future political system that gets beyond "right" and "left," what do you think it will resemble? Any future system that gets beyond "right" and "left" will be an entire historical epoch away. Classes will have to have been abolished, and people will have to be accustomed to a whole new way of living and thinking. There will be much struggle to get through before we get there. Q: Are your beliefs moral? That is, do you believe there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do things? how do these terms compare to "good" and "evil" in your definition(s)? My belief system bases itself on the abolition of all forms of exploitation (despite the long historical period it will take to get there). So yes, I would have to say that according to this, there is a wrong way and a right way to do things. As far as good and evil go, these metaphysical concepts are absolutes, while Marxists don't necessarily believe in absolutes. Is a system wrong when it provides billions in profits for a few, while billions go hungry elsewhere? Is it morally wrong to wage warfare against the upholders of this putrescent death-dealing system, and, yes, have to kill people to do it? Good and evil are useless concepts. Q: Do you think political systems are necessary hierarchical, e.g. involving some people having more power than others? In the world we live in, political systems are hierarchical. Some people do have more power than others. Is it necessarily so? For the time being, yes. It is inconceivable that everyone can have the same amount of power in the current state of affairs. As I've emphasized before, it will take an entire historical period before we get there. Q: I asked a WTO protestor to summarize his beliefs, which he identified as leftist. he said, "no wars, no poverty, and no elitism." Is this roughly correct? where do you agree and differ from these beliefs? "No wars, no poverty, and no elitism" is a noble goal to aspire to, but where we might differ is our respective definitions of "elitism." The WTO protestor you spoke to may have been an anarchist, in which case they definitely would be against the concept of a Communist Party leading the revolution, whereas I fully support the idea. Q: Egalitarianism is the idea that, by making people economically and socially and politically equal, we can avoid the moral injustices that occurred to individuals when they were not of the ruling group. Do you feel egalitarianism applies to your political desires for humanity and, if so, how? Egalitarianism is definitely a goal that I aspire towards, but as I keep saying, it will take a lot of sacrifice and struggle to get there. There is no utopia, and no peaceful road to get there. This is not a game. We will have to fight to rid the world of this vampire system. And if the formerly oppressed masses were ruling the new society, and a former member of the bourgeoisie wanted to bring back their exploitative society, should they be given the right to do that? Wouldn`t that be non-egalitarian? No. Because it is in the interests of the new society to keep these people in check, so they couldn't exploit people again. Q: Do you feel globalism will benefit or not benefit the following, and please explain how: a. third world workers Globalism will not benefit third world workers because they will continue to work for the same starvation wages, and in fact compete with each other on a race to the bottom of the wage scale. Wherever the wages are lowest, that's where the investment and jobs will be. b. first world merchants First world merchants will benefit because those same third world workers will be producing for them for ever plummetting wages. c. "the people" as a whole "The People" as a whole will suffer, because of the increasing deterioration of the environment, and the fall in the standard of living will affect all working people. d. "nature" as a whole The effect on nature is already obvious, as corporations get away with murder, destroying everything in their path just to make an extra buck. e. space exploration Space exploration will benefit in the imperialist countries, as they have the money to blow stupidly on space programs, and the militarisation of space. They will have a bigger market in which to sell their crap. Q: What right do you feel that government and society have to regulate things like sexuality, drug use, lifestyle and religion within their members? Would these impulses to control be better served by smaller social units ("countries" and "states") or by a different approach? Considering that, in my view, capitalism is the root cause of all of the ills in our society, it would be strange of me to say that the present state should regulate drugs, religion, lifestyles, etc. These are questions that society as a whole will be asked to figure out, be it drug addiction, the question of religious freedom, and so on, once the revolutionary seizure of power has taken place. Local committees will take up these and other issues, within the context of the larger society. Q: what do you believe is the relationship between economic success and the validity of an idea? For example, if someone proposes an idea in a book and it sells millions, is this not similar to the mechanism of democracy? The relationship between economic success and the validity of an idea is a false one. The books that sell the most copies are usually the ones that have no substance to them whatsoever. These don't challenge the status quo. They will be promoted far more vigorously by the various media outlets. It is more of a case of the reinforcement of the ruling classes' ideology, and the success of the marketing campaign. And yes, ironically enough, this is exactly like our "democracy". Q: Do you believe there is effective democracy in the west at this time? If not, what has failed in the concept or practice of democracy? No, I do not believe in the West's concept of democracy. Our so-called "democracy" has been very successful in deceiving the people into believing that they actually have a say. Even if many people believe it's flawed, they have been indoctrinated into believing that it's the best possible system out there. Nothing has failed in the concept and practice of democracy. It is functioning exactly as its founders intended. It promotes the values of the rich and powerful, while making the people think that it truly gives them a voice. Democracy is a class-biased system, serving who it is supposed to serve. Q: Since WWII, politics has seemed to be a conflict between totalitarianism and democracy; has this changed with the Clinton-Bush axis of american power, now that america is the world's only superpower? Totalitarianism is a concept the rulers of the U.S created to label their enemies with. They didn't seem to have a problem with Augusto Pinochet being a "totalitarian." Is U.S. imperialism not a totalitarian system? Go along or they'll kill you. What could be more totalitarian than that? The recent decision by the Israeli government that they have the option of killing Yasser Arafat "if need be"?! What other country in the world could get away with that kind of a threat? Isn't that rather totalitarian? Q: How do you reconcile your desire for egalitarianism with the obvious low standards of the general public? that is to say: in a democracy, we are empowering the people who buy the substanceless books; in an egalitarian system, we are raising people with that minimal amount of judgment capacity to the level of others with more. To rephrase the question as a complementary query: egalitarianism seems to lead to the empowerment of people who have proven unable to make the decisions required of our future leaders, including protecting our environment (tell the average guy he can't have a car because it will damage forests in africa, russia and asia, etc). How do you see egalitarianism as solving the problems brought on by both capitalist and absolutist socialist systems? As a secondary question: is it possible for a hierarchy to exist outside of capitalism in which intelligent decisions are made? I believe that we are approaching this issue from a wrong direction. For one thing, egalitarianism will only be pursued after a complete change and upheaval in society. Capitalism is unable and unwilling to even attempt to do this. After a revolutionary situation has emerged, is it even conceivable that everything would just be "business as usual?" Historical precedent would suggest not. It is difficult for us to imagine, but all of our old ideas and values would be thrown into the air, to be debated and questioned by all. The "low standards of the general public" are standards that are set for us by a ruling class which holds their dog-eat-dog system as the best of all possible worlds. Did not the illiterate peasants of feudal China throw off their shackles and beat back thousands of years of tradition's chains in order to create a new society? Their bold vision has since been reversed, but Revolutionaries have learned from this bitter setback. I find it ridiculous to think that after and during such a tumultuous historical period, people will still want to read Danielle Steel and watch "Friends" on TV. This is where the leadership of the Party is important. I certainly don't believe in egalitarianism as an absolute, or something that can be brought forth immediately. Everyone's ideas are not equally valid. Many people will maintain old and reactionary ideas from the previous society, and will have to be mobilized to fight against these ideas. Answer to the secondary question: I actually believe that it is difficult to make intelligent decisions within the capitalist hierarchy. Here in our province (British Columbia), millions of dollars have been spent to lure the 2010 olympic games here, while hospitals cancel surgeries, schools are closed, drug addiction, HIV, and hepatitis C are reaching epidemic levels, and thousands will be thrown off the welfare rolls by next April. Are these decisions intelligent? I suppose that depends on who you ask. Big business might think it's a great idea (as also, I'm sure, would the World Bank), but for many many people, it means more suffering. So yes, I do believe that decisions far more beneficial to the people could be, and have been (historically speaking), made outside of this capitalist madness. AK-47 http://www.akfortyseven.net/ [ Feature ] On the Reformation of Metallic Art and Cultural Ideals by Jordan "The question now is 'Where do we go from here?' There seems to be no obvious answer, no new movement waiting in the wings to boost the flagging creative fortunes of metal. However, I believe the seeds have been planted for the next revolution in metal, but it will take courage and dedication to for these seeds to bear fruit, for the seeds were planted primarily by Burzum and Graveland, and the fruit they will bear is metal that becomes self-consciously the music of collective identity. But where identity was merely one aspect of the art of Burzum and Graveland, it must be the defining reality of the next movement. We must understand that metal is wholly the product of Indo-European civilization, and embrace that fact. Metal must look once more to the classical tradition, to the example of Wagner and Sibelius, and a new music must be crafted whose central focus is upon shared identity, tradition and mythology. The dead hand of populist moralism with its guilt-laden objections to 'racism' must be cast off and the principles of identity, hierarchy and elitism affirmed without shame or compromise. Otherwise, we may very well be witnessing the death of metal." - Mornelithe Falconsbane, Metal, Race, and the Art of Identity I. Dissection The question of how to advance metal's artistic horizons has become intricately connected to issues of culture and identity, and by extension the ultimate taboo of ethnicity and racism. The most recent and significant metallic movements—death metal and black metal—have sought to craft an _expression of European romanticism in the modern age, deriving central values and ideals from the pre-Judeo-Christian ideologies of Pagan Europe. The modern metalhead finds himself torn between two distinct camps: those who feel that metal must be transformed into a cultural _expression of Eurocentric ideals, and those who contend that the entire concept of ideology, race, and culture are wholly irrelevant to metallic pursuits. From this author's understanding, the assertion of complete and total disconnection between metal and European ideals seems wholly invalid; it is obvious that metal has at the very least a superficial link to European culture, as can be seen even in the proto-metal of Led Zeppelin and their flirtations with Norse mythology. Yet the issue is complicated by the fact that, historically speaking, metal is not the product of exclusively Indo-European civilization. Metal has always been something of a bastard child, a synthesis of traditional values and European musical structure with African-American rhythmic sensibilities and rock n' roll instrumentation. Heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath emerged out of the electric blues scene that a young Eric Clapton and undeveloped Led Zeppelin fronted in the early seventies. The inherent ties to blues and, by extension, African-American cultural tradition cannot be denied without a hefty amount of unfounded historical revision. That said, the reason that Black Sabbath can be classified as heavy metal and Led Zeppelin cannot is largely due to the efforts of the former to distance itself from the blues-based electric rock of the era. It can be confidently held that metal should be defined primarily by its desire to break away from the cultural miscegenation that gave it birth. Each successive generation has taken greater and greater steps towards advancing metal in the direction of a "new classical music" based entirely upon European experience, values, and compositional tradition. The question becomes: If the goal of metal's artistic progress appears to be the recreation of traditional western art music, why not simply forget about electric guitars and compose romantic epics for a legitimate symphony orchestra? The answer lies in metal's deep structure—its fundamental, driving ideological components. Metal is simultaneously a product of the modern age and a rebellion against it. Metal turns to the past in order to gain insight into how culture might be centered less on democratic moralism and rampant monetarism, and more on a heroic, pagan ideal of individual will and the triumph of the strong. Metallic culture however, unlike the ancient world from which it draws its inspiration, is not pre-moral: it is post-moral. As such, a simple and direct revival of old-world values cannot function because such a construct can only lead to further stagnation and a denial of cultural knowledge that we have acquired during the last century. Such is the central metallic paradox. We must march ever forward towards a new artistic future even as we gaze towards the past in an effort to subvert the insanity of modernity by preserving cultural tradition and rejuvenating ancient values. The past must not simply be revived, but reinterpreted. In order to create something of true cultural worth, the values of our ancestors must be combined with the concerns and sensibilities of our modern selves to form a distinct and relevant contemporary synthesis. Ultimately the central focus in metal is not on the literal value sets of the ancient world per se (although this is certainly an important component). The driving element is the yearning itself, the raw experience of the realization that we wish we were born several centuries earlier, living in a different time, surrounded by a different world. Metal is not the articulation of historically accurate cultural revivalism—if this were the case, metal would have been assimilated into neo-folk movements—rather it is the first person narrative of the contemporary romantic, longing to travel to a distant existence where honor, courage, heroism, and naturalist ideals reign supreme. It is from this central concern that metal derives its vehement nihilism, its obsession with trans-valuated darkness and the tragedy of the human condition. This ideal finds _expression in metal's violently simple instrumentation and abrasive sonic construction, in which grand poetry and epic statements are built out of minimalist elements that speak simultaneously to the profound pain of existence as well as the cosmic beauty inherent in our suffering. These elements are the products of contemporary experience, and it is for this reason that there is worth in developing metal as a distinct and unique art form, drawing on European musical/ideological tradition, but ultimately retaining an identity rooted in the 21st century. And so it seems that columnist M. Falconsbane is entirely correct in his assertion that metal must be recognized as a European art form and advance along suitable cultural paths. Despite the fact that metal has emerged historically from a counterculture centered around blues and rock, the metallic ethos must be carried to its logical conclusion and become the music of a pan-European "collective identity." Metal must truly take the next step in its evolution and purge itself of foreign cultural influence, lest it succumb to a dysgenic deterioration wrought by novelty-oriented hybridization and a prioritization of aesthetic over ideology. II. Reformation This author proposes four compositional reforms that could bring about change coherently, if not swiftly: 1. Eliminate exaggerated emphasis on rhythm as derived from Afro-centric musical influence, including the use of backbeats, rock n' roll based metronomic time keeping, and incessant polyrhythm; return percussion to the primary role of accentuation that it served in European orchestral composition. Also study the use of rhythm in European folk traditions and incorporate where appropriate. 2. De-emphasize metal's historical obsession with live performance/technical virtuosity and focus on the creation of carefully controlled artistic products in the form of contemporary recordings. Utilize studio techniques to introduce greater dynamic variation and textural depth into metal's sonic construction. 3. Approach composition using a conceptual, motivic foundation in the tradition of Wagner, centered around the gradual evolution and development of primary themes and leitmotivs rather than simple AB coda structures and blues derived repetition of riffs and melodic fragments. 4. Compose central conceptual material and librettos from European mythology, archetypal constructs relating to the heroic ideal, and folk narrative. Create original works understanding that a balance between adherence to tradition and contemporary reinterpretation is the only way to advance metal ideologically. Although four separate points are listed for the sake of convenience and clarity, we should really consider these reforms as existing within two overarching conceptual groups: points one and two speak towards a change in metal's musical aesthetic, whereas points three and four speak towards a change in metal's conceptual framework and compositional approach. Each of these two groups and their respective components will be taken in turn and discussed in some detail in order to elaborate on the potential implications of these suggested reforms. II A. Musical Aesthetic—Rhythm By eliminating or lessening the metronomic rigidity of metal's rhythmic foundation and replacing it with more involved and subtle percussive accentuation, an organic aesthetic can be achieved that would be impossible to realize with conventional drumming technique. Fluidity of motion and a greater level of expressive articulation are essential if metal is to truly distance itself from the dance oriented "four-to-the-floor" rhythms of popular music and hark to the romantic lyricism of 19th century symphonic works. Many will no doubt revile at this suggestion on the grounds that metal's relentless rhythmic drive is one of the genre's most direct expressions of violence and nihilism. While this concern is certainly legitimate, I would assert that a general sensibility of aggression can be preserved by carefully manipulating other (non-percussive) musical elements within the composition. Tonal dissonance, chromatics, and abrasive sonic aesthetic can all be utilized to convey this aspect of the metallic ethos. Additionally, moments of abrasive and direct rhythmic anchoring can still occur at certain points, as the goal is a shift in emphasis, not complete elimination. I would also remind the reader that the reforms I have outlined represent an advancement based primarily on black metal aesthetic and ideology—other metallic forms, such as death metal, would obviously be incompatible with the proposed aesthetic shift away from rhythmic emphasis as it stands in contradiction to the genre's central ideological elements. It is also important to emphasize that the sound of metallic percussion need not necessarily change drastically. Hihats, cymbals, snares, bass drums, and toms have become an indispensable part of metal's tonal palette, and should not be lightly cast aside (although in certain instances it may be highly desirable to use traditional percussion to highlight the emotive quality of certain themes). The importance is not on how the percussion sounds, but how it is used musically and approached compositionally. Of course, this is ultimately a decision that must be made by the composer in light of a given work's thematic material. II B. Musical Aesthetic—Dynamic Variation and Textural Manipulation Although metal often has a relatively large dynamic range, it possesses very few increments within that range. Due largely to the inherent nature of electric guitars and distortion boxes, elements within metallic compositions are either loud or soft with no potential "in-between," creating a limiting and blocky gradation that is not terribly useful for crafting more expressive and subtle composition. Additionally, the problem is worsened by the overly compressed nature of contemporary mixing aesthetics. Albums are often mastered for maximum volume rather than dynamic variation, and the result is usually an overly saturated but ultimately boring and lifeless mix that destroys any subtlety of articulation that may have existed within the original recording. To remedy this, careful manipulation of dynamics must be implemented during the post-performance, mixing stage of recording projects. A new breadth of emotionality can be achieved via the use of crescendos and decrescendos. By changing the relative volume of individual elements over time, specific musical lines can be pushed forward or backward in the mix, thus adding a sense of inertia and tension to the composition. Other studio techniques can also be utilized to heighten metal's musical sophistication and expand its emotional palette. Not least among these is the potential for complex layering of texture and subtle, time-based alterations of instrumental timbre. Typically, compositions in extreme metal tend to consist of only three or four textural groups: Bass and rhythm guitars form the primary textural thrust of the piece, while vocals add sonic variation to select areas. Lead guitars compose the third textural group, and tend to cut through the other timbres in order to communicate primary melodic lines. Synthesizers occasionally complete the composition by adding a sense of depth and spaciousness to the overall aesthetic. While minimalist instrumentation must be preserved in order to convey metal's central theme of nihilism, there is still room to push the envelope and achieve a more complex textural counterpoint through the use of careful sonic layering. Sonic experimentation must be applied with discretion, and a balance maintained between structured minimalism and emotive complexity. Ideally an aesthetic should be achieved that, when analyzed in terms of its readily identifiable "meta-textural" groups (i.e., generalized sonic "chunks" such as percussion, guitars, vocals, etc) displays an overarching "top-down" minimalism, but reveals upon close observation of individual units a greater level of depth and sophisticated textural interplay. This is a desirable aesthetic because it mimics the metallic treatment of both form and concept: far-reaching and profound statements encapsulated in minimal and nihilistic frames. Composers should turn to the work of middle-period Burzum, Pure Holocaust era Immortal, and the recent releases of Summoning for insight into how metal might be advanced in this direction. II C. Conceptual Framework—Thematic Composition and Melodic Development The composers of Europe's romantic era knew that the process of musical creation entailed more than the mere arrangement of tones and textures into pleasing patterns of symmetry and harmony. They understood that music, when elevated to an endeavor of a principally artistic nature, was about the _expression of abstraction, the materialist representation of ideals, the communication of ideas. It is from this understanding that composers such as Wagner and Berlioz developed their thematic approach to composition, in which musical motifs are developed in conjunction with specific conceptual constructs. In this sense, each melodic progression is conceived as a "musical noun," a symbolic representation of a person, a thing, a place, or an abstract concept of some form. This structure allows for music that is more cohesive and artistically unified than models emphasizing music for music's sake, and transcends the limitations inherent to the form by creating a template through which the artist can communicate his inner world with greater consistency and accuracy. Metal has flirted with motivic composition before, as is evidenced in the strikingly dramatic structuring of elements employed by Bathory circa the release of Blood Fire Death. Most attempts at penning more thematically oriented pieces however have been basic in their implementation if not grand in their ambition, and it is immediately apparent that the vast potential of this approach has not yet been sufficiently explored. Metallic composers should focus on developing a "musical palette" of themes, such that common motifs might be used across the entire career of an artist on multiple works in multiple contexts. Artistic unity, and the structural coherency that thematic composition can create, is vital to the advancement of metal as theory and product. II D. Conceptual Material and Reinterpretation of the Ancients If metal is to emerge as a revitalized _expression of pan-European culture and identity, it follows that its conceptual foundation must be rooted in a European worldview. The most interesting explorations of European tradition are those that move beyond simply reiterating established constructs and do something new with old ideas. We have seen that merely recycling old myths ad infinitum becomes dull and paralyzing quickly, and it can thusly be concluded that metallic artists must assume the role not only of musician but also of literary craftsman, creating new and relevant narratives by reinterpreting the archetypes of old. Several works have already begun treading this path. The most obvious example is Absu's Celtic mythological cycle Tara, in which the band members actually insert themselves into the narrative as dramatic characters. Similarly, Burzum's Daudi Baldrs uses the Norse tale of Baldur's Death as an elaborate metaphor for the Christianizing of the Heathen spirit. Both of these works demonstrate a will towards reinterpretation and the creation of relevance and contemporary meaning within ancient constructs. Future works must continue in this vein. III. Conclusions The eminent threat of metal's demise is very real. If artists do not begin making an active effort towards reinvention and evolution, metallic culture will surely collapse under its own superfluous weight, surrendering to the vapid vultures of mediocrity that circle ever overhead. As other thinkers have noted, the only path towards advancement lies in the recasting of metal as the culture of European identity and the occupation of a unique position between the ancient and the progressive. It has been the intention of this short text not only to illuminate the problem, but to provide some insight into how we might remedy metal's ills. For all its nihilist leanings and violent morbidity, metal articulates a tragic beauty of experience that allows us to understand the position of modern humanity in a fashion that few other cultural/artistic movements have. Ultimately, we must decide what it is we value in metal, and advance our efforts accordingly. Do we favor the entertaining, the novel, the divorcement of aesthetic from purpose? Or do we prefer the ideal, the deep structure of artistic cohesion, the marriage of form and function? Perhaps it is fitting to end as we began, with the words of others: "Those able to see the logic in this, and who at the same time are mentally advanced enough to advance one level up in the 'game of life,' will follow and do as I have done! This may be many, or only a few in the 'metal ranks.' The Elite will follow, the rest will not. Such are the laws of Nature! So ist das Leben! - Varg Vikernes, Reasons for the Development of Burzum Away from Black Metal -!- Learn About Traditionalist Thought by S.R. Prozak A Traditionalist is one who believes that human societies have grown and later collapsed in cycles according to an original Traditional way of life shared among all peoples; it is contrary to the modern Progressivist view in which society as a whole has been rising from a primal state (cavemen) to a utopic, technological and moral existence. Julius Evola: Traditionalist and Hermetic Mystic 'Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist' - Perhaps the definitive Evola work, this discusses Traditionalist philosophy in the postwar European and American social climate, but is mainly an introduction to the Traditionalist view of history, which is contrarian to the Hegelian and Progressive/Progressivist viewpoints. 'The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts' - The most lucid statement from Julius Evola, in the form of a historical retrospective of Vedic Buddhist thought and how it applies to both ancient people and moderns who have found discontent with their society. Its main contribution is a detailed explanation of warrior asceticism, a form of esoteric discipline, as a means of discovering truths that are not transient artifacts of the current era. René Guénon: Traditionalist Catholic Philosopher 'The Crisis of the Modern World (Guenon, Rene. Works.)' - Although written in a cryptic, monastic style, this book interrupts the flow of social thinking in the context of progressive historical views, asserting a pre-Christian existence of Christian ideas and illustrating how Tradition can be expressed in Christianity in contrast to the modernizing influences of individualism. Meister Eckhart: Gnostic Christian thinker 'Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)' - A collection of writings. Eckhart took the liberalizing tradition of Christianity and instead of trying to move it forward, moved inward and found in his meditations a Gnostic vision of God accessible through what is essentially an internal quietus, or spiritual and mental focus and discipline. For anyone who ever wishes to combine Buddhist and Christian dogma (as 'The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity' details, Christianity had origins and influences in Buddhism; 'The Jesus Mystery' is another good source), Eckhart is essential reading, as he develops the esoteric tradition of meditation in the context of Christian unity with God. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: Resurrector of Reality While most of the Western world was falling over ways to implement neoplatonic Christianity or its secular counterpart, philosophical liberalism, F.W. Nietzsche was writing about ways to get closer to natural reality. The result is a series of witty, highly analytical and literary works which analyze the human psychology to find the motivations which make certain beliefs appealing; his technique of explaining around errors in thinking by presenting positive ways forward is unique in all of philosophy. 'The Birth of Tragedy & The Genealogy of Morals' - Essential reading for any modern person interested in thought, these two writings celebrate the cosmic idealism of the Greeks, and then, explore the roots of Christianity and Judaism and their relation to moral thought. In this book, Nietzsche establishes the foundation for Evola and others who will look into modern society's motivations and see parallels between morality, industry and modern soullessness. 'Beyond Good & Evil : Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future' - Firing away, Nietzsche attacks morality as a commercially-inspired division between "Good" and "Evil" which asserts absolute categories as a means of avoiding contact with reality itself. For a man who saw so much, and knew what the future must then hold, to have such a positive and joyful outlook is mindboggling. Arthur Schopenhauer: The Genius Idealist Idealism is the philosophical belief that reality as we know it is in the form of thoughts of our own based on external data, and that the external data upon which our perception is based in turn also develops like thought, including in its origin as a self-creating universe. Idealism does not deny material reality, or assert it is not real, but addresses direction the nature of what we can know through perception and how it shapes our concept of reality and values. Further, idealism has a prescriptive component which describes the importance of the significance of an action as superior to its immediate physical consequences; this thought arises from its belief in an animating consciousness of which we are incarnations. 'On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason (Open Court Library of Philosophy)' - It's probably not wise to undertake his complete philosophy as expressed in 'The World As Will and Representation (2-Volume Set)', because saddling yourself with a thousand pages of analytic writing is a good way to gain a paperweight, not knowledge. However, the basic tenets of his idealism are laid out in this exact writing, which incorporates humor and incisive philosophy in a direct and comprehensible form. Vedic Spiritual Philosophy: The Perennial Truth Unlike most religious, Vedic (Hindu, Buddhist and ancient religions) thought believes that truth is something which can be described and never captured, thus does not "belong" to any one tradition, but can be found in varying degrees in all of them. Its sense of history is the origin of Evolan Traditionalism, and its heroic idealism has been consistent through Indo-European thought leading up to Germanic idealism and even some rare cyberpunk novels. 'The Bhagavad Gita' - With an elucidating introduction by Western writer Aldous Huxley, the Bhagavad-Gita is the quickest introduction to Vedic thought, and shows through an epic poem the story of a people attempting to realize the importance of future ideals over present and tangible, perceptive barriers. Read this after Schopenhauer and the Traditional sense of history, values and heroism comes alive. (This book is a small excerpt from 'Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time', which along with 'The Illiad (Cyber Classics)' and 'The Odyssey' form the basis of the Indo-European heroic tradition in epic poetry, as well as a subliminal introduction to associated spiritual thought.) The above are a good introduction to Traditionalist thought, but by no means comprise the whole of Traditional thought. From: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/290AAS2IBY MHB/ -!- (To borrow, with apologies:) How one becomes what one is by Blaphbee Why listen to metal? What is it about metal that speaks to our deepest thoughts and emotions, and sees its own reflection in us – and vice versa? Why does metal sound the way it does? Is there necessity for metal in the modern world? Why did it come to exist at all? These questions, coupled with the stagnation and imminent death of the artform, beg a reassessment of the meaning of metal music. Artists have been struggling to pick up the decayed remains of the genre and construct something worthy of its classics. While they vainly try to reshuffle the same cards in an effort to obtain a viable hand to play against the forces of entropy, they produce endless one-dimensional bands in an attempt to strengthen the genre. This makes the genre look alive and well, since there are countless new bands arriving every day, but it is a quantitative, not qualitative process. The depth of the classics is a distant memory. Metal artists of today fail to comprehend that for the artform to survive, metal must undergo its own process of nihilism – destroy the old, and advance with a new impetus for creation. The old adage that one cannot know where one is going, without first knowing where one has been, describes the future of any genre facing this nihilism. Before moving forward one must gain a clearer understanding of the metallic ideality; a solid definition (interpretation) of the genre is required for conception of its growth. Metal, in its fullest expressive state, can be characterized as an auditory manifestation of fury at the moral-world-order, within which all the insanity of dualistic belief, Judeo-Christian-derived morality, and a fundamental will to deny nature itself are derisively exposed as psychotic inversions of the phenomenal world. Within the outward form and conception of metal, there exists an underlying stream of nihilistic awareness that deconstructs and lays bare the reality of the egalitarian stagnation currently strangling our thought-processes. This discovery, coupled with the ensuing rage at the unquestioning acceptance of such lunacy materializes itself in the form of death and black metal, specifically within the simplified orchestra of the vocalist-guitar-bass-drums line-up. The distortion employed by the bands is used as a symbolic (yet literal) manifestation of that rage. It exemplifies ambiguity, which to our minds is similar to the uncertain mortality we experience every day. Metal exists to make an impassioned plea upon the ears and mind of its audience (for the most part found within the ranks of youth) for sanity to find a place within reality once more – this message can be distilled down and exemplified by the simple phrase "death is certain, life is not." The first pioneers to embrace this "dark side" may not have necessarily understood the full scope of the problem facing them, but the seeds of their budding anger could be fed and nurtured into maturity by incorporating this technology as well as the metaphorical construct of satanic imagery into their burgeoning sound. Many artists – particularly within the death metal genre – have used the distinctive sonic make-up of metal's aesthetics as a vehicle to flaunt their own instrumental prowess, and indulge in pointless contests over who shows the most brutality and gore in their sound and appearance, in essence having the reason for their musical existence become for the greater glory of death (l'art pour l'art) and missing entirely the artistic point – more attention is lavished upon the instruments themselves, the technical flourishes they produce, the use of non-traditional song construction, and no mind whatsoever is paid to what is being said. It dwells entirely on the surface in terms of artistic sentiment; while the overwhelming nihilistic construct of its existence is a necessary message in a world far too occluded by individualistic concerns to properly hear it, death metal as a whole fails to delve artistically deeper than it realistically could. Fury is not theoretical, because the fundamental nature of instinctual rage, or the hypothetical "red haze" that clouds our emotions when consumed by overwhelming anger, is not something that can be quantized. Thus what is being communicated is something other than the fury itself; it is the reason for that fury. This explains why metal classics have such staying power – the artists truly believed in the power and message their anger held, and the music that resulted from this conviction gave their creations a lasting significance. The blinding tempo at which metal is performed (rendering the melodic line/emotional thrust behind the message inaudible to untrained ears) can also be explained by the nature of fury and the act of its emotional release on the part of those who stand at the summit of metal's mountaintop – Hatred, rage, and a need for retribution do not give birth to laissez-faire action on the individual's part. Those possessed of a contemptuous anger at the resentful, envious attitudes and beliefs of the majority of the herd cast their gaze downward upon such a sickened enfeebled mass and hurl forth their wrath in a torrential, tempestuous hurricane of emotional vitriol. Impact ------ It strikes the masses' ear as irrational childish noise; those who are bed-ridden by dualistic influenza see no reason to give any credence to the message assaulting them as it contradicts their own inbred ideals of absolutist purity and divine/idealistic deliverance from the reality of life's struggles. Their god tells them that everything will be taken care by his ordinance, hence, no reason to seek their own value for their pitiful lives on this planet. For this reason they make the lazy conclusion that metal is nothing more than the childish ranting of sixteen-year-olds who are still mad at the midnight curfews imposed on them by their uncool parents. It is much easier to deal with the anger of the message by denying that there is a fundamental, underlying ideology behind its existence at all. "It's just music, dude! Opeth and Burzum are both black metal – they both have screaming, they have distorted guitars, and write songs about trees and stuff!" Metal sees this, breathes an exasperated sigh, and plunges on ahead to reach the remaining one-percent, as it knows instinctually that that core element within the audience is the group who can truly enact change upon the world through physical means. Metal is an auditory phenomenon; as such, it cannot reach out to the apparent world and combat the insanity it so despises. When it touches the minds of those who have also observed the causa prima of the new world order and experienced a parallel feeling of contempt, it allows that primal anger to blossom into something more than the sum of its parts. The message that lies encrypted within the distortion can only be experienced and understood by those who possess a similar derision for the poisonous lies of dualistic thought; the demonic howls of the vocalist, the unrelenting chaos and harsh thematic motion of the riffs, the merciless battery of the percussive onslaught – all these serve as literal, auditory echoes of the individual's own deeply-felt fury at the moral-world-order. Because most accept this moral-world-order, and in its Utopianism it accepts no vision but that it equals good and there's no debating that, there is also frustration: it is like shouting at the deaf. If one only wishes to judge the whole of the metallic artform based on surface appearance, they will find uncountable reasons to justify their own inaction in a world being decimated by our own poisons, reasons to supplement their claims that metal possesses no defining ideology which spurred the performing artists to create their works, reasons to overlook certain unavoidable realities about the message of the music itself – those who seek to deny an inherent hierarchy of intent and value amongst the artists who work within the genre have stopped up their eyes and ears completely, so that no deviation from the path they have chosen (that of least resistance) is possible; reality is a terrible apparition to behold. It is this author's contention that for most, metal sufficed as a noisy companion through their tumultuous maturing years of life, and became a forgotten relic of their childish past upon entrance into the world of economic consumerism. For a few others, metal was more than this; the meaning behind the frenzied distortion, occult imagery and "controversial" ideologies resounded within their psyche, spoke to that sublimated will that lay buried underneath the weight of societal dogma, and spurred the individual to throw off their yoke and scream alongside metal at the insanity of the fictitious reality now clearly revealed as the interloper that it was. In the present time, the driving force that inspired metal's birth to the world has ground to a halt. The audience who in their youth revered the message of the artform have grown up, and now feel little to nothing of the warlike urges that metal gave to them; they have become in many ways more contemplative in life and in how best to apply the conceptual frameworks they have gained from their association with metal to a new direction. There have been scattered attempts to explain the nature of the genre, but when one comprehends the true reality of metal ("true" in this case being divorced from all its juvenile present-day connotations) – in this author's final analysis, a furious reaction against attempted emasculation – then they will finally see the reason why they are on this path to begin with, and be able to hold this knowledge up to illuminate the uncertainty that obscures the future of the artform; when one finally understands the why, they will then understand the how. Future Metal ------------ The death of metal is a self-evident truth to anyone who has eyes, and wishes to use them. Inevitable change and unknown choices are now facing us, but no one seems willing to relinquish the deeply cherished characteristics of the genre (distorted guitars, loud drums, blazing tempos, screaming, etc.). The question is, are these aspects truly worth saving? Many have touted the "neoclassical" route as being the next logical progression. I seek to describe for myself where this supposed neoclassical direction lies within music if at all, specifically within the context of metal's next evolutionary phase. I see two distinct forms of metal songwriting: 1) Technically diverse compositions, with constantly shifting and evolving motifs to reflect and emphasize technical difficulty, and 2) Ambient, repetitive soundscapes Technical Music --------------- The first form is exemplified by bands such as Demilich, Atheist, Rush, Immolation, Yes, etc. These artists (in my humble opinion) have successfully married technique to songcraft, in that they do not fall into the trap that the Spastic Inks and Spiral Architects of the world have succumbed to – needless technicality for technicality's sake – and instead have used their instrumental skills in an effort to weave more intricate melodies and foundations into their sonic tapestries than would otherwise be afforded to or realized by the novice musician. To see why this distinction is important, we must understand the concept of "playing for the music": it is a resting of "I thoughts", or endless thought over the individual's contribution to the music being created, so that the artistic statement being made will not be overshadowed by the personality stating it. An example would be: "I'm going to play a fill where this next break comes in." "I'm doing great!" "I flubbed that whole chord." "I should try harmonizing that." Every time these thoughts come into your brain, subconsciously or otherwise, you cease playing for the music, and the focus swings back to you as an individual. Ambient Music ------------- The second form, that of ambience and purposeful repetition, can be equally as awe-inspiring as any virtuosic chops-fest, but for obviously different reasons. Ambient music, e.g. mid- to late-period Burzum, Summoning, Darkthrone, Ildjarn et al, forces itself into the background of your immediate awareness; it is there that fantasy stirs from its slumber. Where complex, technically demanding music astounds the listener in the myriad ways the composer utilizes many small details to construct a multifaceted vision of a larger framework, ambience works along a seemingly inverse path – the whole is presented without excessive ornamentation, and the listener then (subconsciously or otherwise) perceives and fabricates individual parts that may be either directly, analogously, tangentially or totally haphazardly related to the music in question. Neoclassical Music ------------------ The melodic tendency suspends reality. Songs follow similar melodic tendencies, thus a blurring of the edges occurs, and the songs melt into one another. Specifically in this context, all neurotic concerns about the time of day, boring jobs, inane personal squabbles, what to watch on television – all seem to take on a transient unimportance, and contemplation of a healthier worldview can begin, free from the sickening valuations and conditionings of society. In one form of metal, and music in general, this is blended with the melodic depth of an Atheist or Demilich, usually in a classically-inspired form; this is called neoclassical metal. Ideological Foundations ----------------------- A major underlying theme of neoclassicism stems from the ideals and values of the Traditionalist system of thought (cf. Julius Evola, F.W. Nietzsche, René Guénon, the Vedas) in that a rejection of the normativizing, spirit-crushing effects of liberal democratic (Judeo-Christian) value systems occurs within the mind, and a new ideology replaces the destructive virus, one which has shaped Indo-European culture for thousands of years prior to liberalism. Traditionalism upholds a naturalist outlook, one in which man is viewed as an integral part of the much grander whole, a whole in which hierarchies abound, nature is the sovereign concern, and life is meant to be lived, as opposed to wasted in embittered slavery to jobs with no intrinsic relevance beyond earning monetary gain and status in a worthless social support system of self-identification. It specifically utilizes the methods of the past to achieve spiritual, physical, and mental health and transcendence in the modern era (NOT a literal resurrection of ancient civilizations so much as an integration of the core values that shaped those societies into the context of the present time). Where this finds its home in neoclassical music is (in this case) in metal's appropriation of classical music's various methods of symphonic construction and applying these epic qualities and artifices to the music of the present day, and also in it's insistence that the best results that come of such efforts are risen above their peers for inspiration. It uses the metaphor of sound to reflect our dying age, and impels us to find the natural antidotes to the poison that has stricken the root of our spirit. It is a voice of reason, and its message cannot be denied. Looking Ahead ------------- Relying on further evolution of instrumental, conceptual and educational technique to show the way seems the wrong course to take in pursuit of the future of a neoclassical path; no matter how technically advanced the players become, it will never compensate for the limitations technique imposes upon the self-aggrandizing nature of the people conceiving and performing the material. Consequently, this new musical form will never escape the clutches of individualism, and will earn the same fate as all revolutionaries – swamped underneath the wave of the mob and drained of all vitality. It is within ambience that the most probable future direction for the spirit of the self-cannibalizing corpse of metal lies. Many incarnations of this new direction already exist, and conjure an aura of sublimated heroism within their sparse melodic landscapes, coupled with the realization and reflection of the current time's ideological emptiness. This spirit may take the form of neoclassicism, as in gradual development of core themes with slight alterations, additions and subtractions to let the dominant melodic statement say it's all, or it may develop along completely different lines; it may rise like a phoenix from its own ashes to howl forth a new incendiary message of contempt for the dead values of the time; it may remain stagnant and become compost. Neoclassicism affords the most positive opportunity for change and development within the future of the artform. Too many fragments of the old manifestation of metal still cling like desperate beggars to this evolving spirit; too much reliance on percussion (not just as a metronomic pulse, but percussive rhythm itself is written into the compositions – even when no drums are present, the implication is there), an inability to write music beyond four bar repetitions (this is what can be classified as laziness, rather than a sincere desire for ambient, trance-inducing repetition), amongst certain others. In the end, in whatever shape it takes, the message that underlies the coming neoclassical movement will resonate powerfully in the hearts and minds of those prepared to hear it. [ Reviews ] The Demonseeds - Knee Deep in Hell's Grasp (2000) It was inevitable that ex-Dead Horse songwriter Michael Haaga would go this way with his next band, after the last few Dead Horse EPs drifted closer to psychedelic grunge rock. Mixing elements of heavy metal, alternative rock, grunge and droning punk music, The Demonseeds is a project that resembles a more musical and creative version of what most of the New Orleans metallers have been trying to do for the last decade. Unlike a metal band, it drops into a groove and lets it ride through the song, but unlike rock, it frequently uses drone riffs or riffs that resemble blaring alarms. It isn't afraid to be basic, but doesn't shy away from reasonably complex musicianship, either, and it has real singing vocals in with some hoarse throated shouts. While this won't please purists from the metal genre, its sense of harmony and rhythm intertwined makes for an addictive listen, and its wide variety in its riff lexicon means that its diversity outpaces the uniformity of its aesthetic. Excruciation - Anno Domini (1992) This CD was ambitious for its time, which gives it a few points for trying to pull this off. It's a hybridized metal of origins murkily in heavy metal and extreme deathgrind, with many areas in between subtly covered, in a subtly hilarious method similar to that of Pathologist, a if manipulating an afternoon twist into the absurd. Sung in four languages, this album manipulates a collection of roughly related concepts in song, sometimes mixing violent 80s metal riffing with guttural grindcore and then, an operatic sense of phrase, on the guitars that propel this often rudimentary musical communication, as it changes the sense of song for a moment. There was potential here. Destruction - Release From Agony (1987) It was a strange time in America, as the Cold War mulled long. Speed metal bands had hammered out the power and bizarre awards, now it was time to make some music that did something new, or better. Ahead of this curve, the German band Destruction converted from what the kids call "thrash" now, this weird stuff that rants on and on with muffled chording and rhythm technique defining much of the difference of this music from "rock." Rock has always been harmony under some kind of basic strumming rhythm, where metal guitarists bend a few chords into a phrase and with those gestures spell out something, usually incoherent, toneless blather. However, this album is an admirable attempt to do something new, and it's impossible this did not have an influence on the technical metal albums to follow, because despite sometimes emotionally outflung principles of songwriting, there are some prototypical riffs and song ideas, in nascent form, on this album. In experimentation and strange mental processes these young men have created something that flickers in and out of consciousness with some moments of clarity and some of either atmosphere or confusion. At best a handful of extremes with some semi-directionless stuff in the middle, this style has amazing promise but never really pulls together the wires. It is gratifying prescient in abandoning speed metal, which, starting at about the time this was release, became nothing more than rock-derived crap with zero applicability except remixing in techno. Despite this strong desire to surge ahead, Destruction only manage to do so in isolated musical areas and not in the presentation of complete or communicative art, so while there's a lot to admire here there's not much to listen to regularly. Elegy - Carcass Assembly (1992) To be there, in 1992, you had to be there, as the details formed a patina of projection upon everything that really did color all experience. Somehow they got people into that weird polyester shit in the 1970s, and now they get them into childlike clothing and filter masks for the city air. But in 1992, death metal was a small and growing movement, in its fourth year of doing that, and while it was fairly well developed, it also had not finalized its direction (goddamned adolescents spacing out from the vital issues, drugs 'n' alcohol, Clinton and Bush II). When Elegy finally fisted their last carcass in the years following, it was a loss, for this Carcass-and-Obituary-influenced band made distinctive songs which used a technique of encouraging lengthy instrumental passages alongside basic, motion-inducingly infectious and thunderous riffs. It's not really slick, but it's more something you listen to and appreciate for what it does do right, which is all the things missing from your average rock/metal album. Motorhead - Live, Loud, Lewd (1999) The recent surge in interest in "retro" styles in metal suggests that, as happens frequently, metal has once again hit the bottom of the bucket for ideas on how to employ its current obsession, and is leafing back a few chapters to find out what the quest as a metal band really is. It is gratifying to see a corresponding rise in interest in Motorhead, since this band more than any other single band put together a viable form of fast, abrasive, punk-meets-progressive metal long before others were touching those outer limits of audience comprehensibility. The early material from this band, created from the meeting of minds between Lemmy Kilmeister, fresh from progressive psychedelic band Hawkwind, and Eddie Clarke, merges the conversational and droning style of roadhouse blues with the abrasive blast of gritty power chord riffing as found in British punk bands of the time, melding into it a sense of melodic composition derived of the better progressive bands, and a desire for thunderous, defiantly final constructions and a riff-based architecture as derived from metal bands. Fast for music of the time, and with Lemmy's gravel voice ringing out over the band, unlistenable to most people in that era, this was one of the first experiments in metal that involved leaving behind trying to have a slick or polished sound. This collection of songs, played live by the original lineup, reflects most of the tracklist on "On Parole," the first semi-official release from this band, in addition to "Iron Fist" and "Overkill," which are insurgently fresh and untamed in this aerobic live performance. Cryptic Slaughter - Convicted (1985) It often seems as if punk music existed as a solid entity in past history, from the way it is discussed now that it is dead, but before it collapsed into radio oblivion punk was a spectrum of musical genres which culminated in what was called "thrash," a metal/hardcore fusion. Cryptic Slaughter like most thrash bands played metal riffs in blistering punkish songs, but also created some of the most memorable riffs in history from their parent genre. Just as the hardcore bands of the 1970s pushed their own extremes to a point which verged on death metal, this band combined the rigorous tremolo speed of punk riffs with the heavy concluding phrasing of metal, coming out with short songs that unlike many of the two-part blasts from the genre, worked within the eternal popular music song format of introduction, thematic negotiation, culmination and conclusion. Not dissimilar to the experiments of The Exploited or Discharge, this album fully exploits the new textures to be wrenched from guitars when one is accustomed to fast phrasal playing in a style alienated from the rock-like slower strumming of punk music. While the music alone gives a reviewer plenty to discuss, it is worth mentioning that the vocals on this CD pioneer a kind of crustcore/grindcore voice that uses its distortion on both ends of the scale, creating a high seething voice and a violently enunciated lower intonation. While in today's terms, this music might not sound as extreme (although it is extremely messy, something that somehow scares modern bands) as some of the current offerings, it has something else to give: its provocative and well-composed extension of the living spirit of punk music. Unquintessence - Ruined (2002) Like much coming out of black metal during the crumbling days of its empire, this release demonstrates a clash between spirit and reality which is resolved in a way that allows continuation, but bypasses potentially hidden strengths. Its songs are battleaxe-wielding rhythmic assaults which flow in bursts which like waves crest and then relapse into a regeneration of energy, using some of the jazz-influenced drumming that has marked progressive metal bands to keep tempo in a state of suspense between hammering onslaughts of percussion. While this makes for enigmatic listening, it often cripples one of the greater strengths of this band, which is the composition of small melodic fragments which, like a complicated interlocking system of bookends, keep each of the layers of song development on Unquintessence's shelf organized and steadily reducing in breadth to a conclusion. In this is perhaps the greatest strength of this band, in that each song resembles a descent into an ambiguous, dark and threateningly unstable realm which has flashes of insight and order rising amidst the chaos. However, like Emperor's "Prometheus" and other late black metal releases, it has given up a purity of focus and has become a hybrid of technical metal and black metal, leaving behind the focus and presentation of black metal in favor of an ongoing form which continues to explore varied musical directions, as if seeking the techniques and ideas to inspire the next generation. Despite these setbacks, this CD upholds an atmosphere few others do during this time and survives well a second listening. Supplication - Un-Aesthetic Front (1993) Recorded from a live set this band performed in a Southern California radio station, the handful of songs that make up "Un-Aesthetic Front" are abrupt and tempestuous at the same time they heed well the early death metal innovation of tunneling tremolo riffs that convey a sense of motion and vast change to the listener. Instrumentalism is basic and there are few flashes but what it attempts it conquers with a simple but unceasing forward motion. Songs work through verse and chorus cycles but are unafraid of crucial detours and additions to this song structure which permit them flexibility in expressing the complementary parts of sound and meaning that make each piece come together. Guttural, open-throated vocals are a change from the usual chortling bassy rumble, in that here both rasp and grunt are unified into a speech pattern which is more flexible than most. Drums are agile and develop slightly ahead of the rest of the instruments as songs progress, giving a faint foreshadowing that is not quite articulable, and guitarplaying on this release is most reminiscent of some of the early-1990s British bands, where all technicality was thrown out the window in favor of interesting phrases with some melodic hook to them. While this work does not try to remake form in its image, it holds true to an ideal of content and mental focus that was most predominant in the late-1980s death metal that defined the genre. Capricornus - Alone Against All (2004) No story of this band would fail to include the inevitable historical mention, which is that Capricornus is the former drummer for Graveland, famed for playing beats "backward" in a phrase such that emphasis was no longer based on expectation of a concluding offbeat but continuity of a pattern picked up on the offbeat. This de-emphasized drumming as a rhythmic lead instrument, and reduced it to capacity of uniform timekeeper, letting Graveland write longer riff phrases. Some years later, Capricornus is with his own band writing in the style that Absurd made into a functional subgenre of black metal, NSBM, which is a hybrid of violent bouncy hardcore oi and flowing, droning black metal. On this release, he both gets closer to the norm and farther away from it by making music which takes oi smoothly into metal with black metal applied as technique, but aims to reduce the style to an almost transparent container for simple melodies and basic, setting-and-journey song structures. Many of these have the lushness of melodic descent, matching cadence to broadening intervals in downward progression, that marked Summoning and Graveland, using featuring chiastic structures changing on a 4/4 beat over some kind of erratic background harmony; however, there's also plenty of influence from fifteen different shades of punk music and older metal genres. Luckily, Capricornus finds his own style and invents new types of riffs to introduce and transition his material. Many of these fast strumming riffs in basic form, matched to trudging cadence with keyboards glimpsed in the background, are reminiscent of first album Gehenna, while others are more evocative of Graveland, but it makes more sense to place them in a musical genre that spans from early punk through the end days of black metal. In this light, this music reintroduces black metal as a style to an amalgamation of genres, or rather, an essential element to all loud and simple popular underground music; this black metal influence colors the tones used, which makes this album Romantic and inscrutable in its darkness, with the energy of a good oi band. In turn, this allows Capricornus to avoid the boring and dogmatic ranting of most political bands, and instead of telling us what to think, he shows us a world and lets our own minds find values that could embrace both this darkness and a light at the end of the tunnel. Agressor - Towards Beyond (1992) Fast and furious shredding guitar amplifies simple riffs into a salad from which evolves a merging of concepts, which, while it repeats its major themes clearly throughout, represents a changing tapestry of experience not unlike the patterns of growth and proliferation found in classical guitar playing. Motifs divide at introduction and spend the rest of the song growing and then clashing, unrolling a liquid continuity in a form allusive to the opening division between phrase and antiphrase. As such, this is texture music that contorts over a nearly constant pattern of percussion, and so "song structure" is expressed in changing motif and not as much tempo or key change. For those who remember the band Imperial, Aggressor represents a more roots death metal view of the same style without as many shred-rock accessories, using a rhythmic basis similar to that of older Sepultura or Unleashed with a good deal of quick, short, four-note melodic riffs. In addition, there are profound riffs that express the strength of metal in finding a form for chaos throughout this album. Not every idea comes to maturity and some songs lose themselves in the forest of variations on basic motifs they have set up as a gauntlet through which their own narrative must plunge, but the overall forward thrust more than compensates in this enjoyable old-school eurometal. Ondskapt - Draco sit mihi dux (2003) This is a brilliant post-1996 black metal album. It quickly drops into a slow atmosphere, Abyssic Hate style, in the way Burzum used to build his sweeping majestic passages although here in a slower pace that doesn't pick any final direction. Vocals are ambitious, using texture like the edge of a blade and frequently going operatic; drums are rock-like, precise and holding a balance of rhythm casually at all times. Instruments are proficient with creative touches in both noise and precise notes. However, the real issue here is post-1996 black metal, and what comes out of this release is nothing compared to what black metal once achieved. There is no direction, and if directionlessness is the statement of this release, it would probably better be served by at least venturing into pop music for that statement, as that is the genre famed for doing such things well. The spirit is lost, replaced by a static atmosphere that grows stale quickly no matter how well done it is. My hat's off to these musicians, who remind me of the band on the Titanic, for playing on despite the ship having sunk. Lemming Project - Hatred and Despise (1992) A German band that rose during the early explosions of death metal, this group create mid-paced death metal like early Fleshcrawl or a slower Entombed, and while they can create musically profound phrases at will, spend too much time on more obvious parts of songwriting. For example, a good portion of this album involves palm-muted power chords and harmonizing guitar interplay, spending most of the duration of each song in repetitive, strobing and gruffly base-heavy rhythm riffing. While this is competent and kinetically compelling, it leads to a sparseness in each song where moments of almost Voivod-influenced clarity in melody are scattered among the droning of guitar and chanting distorted vocal, a sound that so relies on its intensity that it quickly becomes backgrounded. Out of this churning discontent phrases rise like swan's necks, curling gently back into the unformed waters after having expressed the lucidity of a curve in contrast to the rougher and smaller shapes which more hold position than express something. The result is of mixed quality, but mostly becomes angry background music that periodically etches something majestic and in its profundity, inspiring, amongst the structured chaos. This album originally met mixed reception, and this will probably forever continue owing to this dual character of its music. [ Feature Reviews ] Originally from "Goreganic Vegetable" zine, 41 pages, xerox/staple, $4. 2207 W. Whittier Blvd, Montebello, CA 90640 Deaththrust - Immortal Sodomy (Uncommon Distinctiveness Records) This album is more brutal than death itself. Everything that stands before us is wasted by giant waves of sound. Lots of chords, drums and screaming. It made me want to either jerk off, kill someone or shit myself. I really like the way they change rhythms randomly. The giant pentagram on the cover is killer. Guitars are really good, they're good players, but things are sometimes slow with this weird-ass doom metal parts shit. Anyway, if you like really heavy death metal, get this album. Its fucking pummeling. YOU WILL SHIT BLOOD! Nesecreta - Evanescent Tenebrous Exultation (Radioactive Explosion Records) Most black metal is tr00 black metal, which means that it sounds exactly like all the black metal that came before it. East Florida's Nesecreta (its a word from Native American language that means "the onsight of twilight in poetic juxtaposition to memories of dawn") shatter that stereotype and empower new generations of youth to take over black metal and do something with its dying carcass. Not only do they have a full time flute player, who can be heard during choruses, but they also mix it up a bit with some hardcore riffs and even a funk riff. I can't express how new and mindblowing this band is. If you like old school black metal that doesn't venture far from the mold, this will upset you. But if you want black metal to progress, and become something new, this is the release of the year. Five stars. Entropic Munifience - Polyfractal Sneeze 7" (Remission Records) You can't go more than five feet these days without running into a new technical death metal band, but these guys go one step further. Most technical death metal sounds random, but this really is random. Using computers and custom software, these four jazz-trained university-educated marijuana fanatics have come up with formulas to derive truly musical random chord progressions. Add to that their quirky riffs, off-time tempos and erratic changes between verse and chorus, and you've got a band that no one can nail down. Listen only if you're open-minded. [ Editorial ] Mexican Politics by JL July 6th has brought us elections for congress and local governments; the fact that 59% of the population able to vote chose not to do so is a testimony to the diminishing faith in the democratic regime. The handling of politics in this country is alarmingly more like a popularity contest than anything else (presumably the situation is similar around the western world). Out of 11 political groups only one (the green party) is saying things of some relevance to any organization doing politics, and even then the politicians fail to escape liberal dogma on politics and economy and social organization, giving only symptomatic solution attempts for a few of the nation's foremost problems. This is populism in disguise. The other nine groups, however, do not bother in hiding it, choosing instead to utilize tactics which range from sexual appeal to appealing to the vague sense of identity most Mexicans have - at best; at worst, they do nothing other than flood the streets with propaganda, and in place of all possible true political statements limit themselves to saying "orange, orange." It should be made clear that 2000 marked the end of a 71 year period during which the country was ruled by one political party (buying votes with money and blackmail and open fraud were employed at times), a transition which made most hope for a real change, but in the face of the failure suffered by the current administration, one can easily understand the "disappointment". Also of note is the fact that with around 60% of the country's population registered as voting population, and with 41% of them actually voting, and with the majority in congress won by a party which got 34% of the total votes, meaning: PRI (partido revolucionario institucional) got a "majority" vote of around 8.5% of the total population. This is not meant to imply that everyone should have an equal right to vote, but simply that the failure of this so-called democracy is as clear as it will ever be. Politics as seen by the Mexican population is not the art of adequate government, structurally necessary to any human population; rather, they see it as the discipline where corrupt people representing the worst of our country can succeed. In part, they are correct. In part, they are simplifying matters too much, they are missing the whole picture, and they are falling in one of the many mind games played by our "politicians": in isolating all the "evil" and "wrong" of our country within their own ranks, politicians are not self-destructing, they are tricking most into believing that our current situation as a country is to be blamed on politicians and politicians only - from this follows that if change is to come, it must come from politicians, and since not only is our political scene heavily manipulated by multinational corporations and monetary organizations (the international judaic fund, the interamerican submission bank, and so on) and thus the possiblity of change coming from there is nullified (most fail to realize this), but since politics are necessary (and so is democracy, as taught by heavy conditioning since an early age) then it can only be expected that the population as a whole will stay inactive as the ruling classes are free to act, always in their own interest - political parties act almost exclusively on their own interest in all occasions, with little or no concern for the rest of the nation, something to be expected from a liberal government, but much more pronounced in this instance. The united states, for example, has political integrity with two dominating parties which are the same thing in essence, and act as one entity when it is in their government's best interest; the case here is different, with most parties doing nothing of relevance and the few important ones acting in complete dissonance. There is a third group with a strong influence on our government, even if many will deny it in the face of overwhelming evidence: the catholic church. A large (over 80%) part of our population is catholic/christian, but as some have noted it before, this is not even a religious belief based on theology, it is more of a cult-like fetish for most, where a large part of christian dogmatism is replaced by going to church every once in a while and believing in "miracles" and similar events. That is not to say there is no christian influence on the mexican mind - there is plenty, as most people are clearly egalitarian and "tolerant" as they are death-denying and hypocritically moralist. It is also worthy to note that most mexicans are as proud of their 'native american' roots as they are proud of being christians, when christianity was the vehicle for the destruction of native civilizations in this part of the continent (the aztec empire came first, then the rest followed). Culturally the nation is almost as lost as it is politically. That our institute of fine arts (instituto nacional de bellas artes) has a large number of bureaucrats, jews, and jewish bureaucrats in positions of power should say enough. The prevailing atmosphere in urban areas (as rural areas are unable to concern themselves with art or culture -- as a side comment, Mexico is not as independent country as it is unable to even produce its own food) regarding art and culture is "if it's not overtly pop, it's cultural/artistic". An atmosphere where one of the greatest artistic symbols of our nation is a woman, frida kahlo, jewish, whose greatest merit in artistic expression was the impression of her psychological pathology in typically modernist paintings, while spouting communistic diatribe to a Mexican populace which finding no other viable opposition to the expanding american wave of the postwar period embraced communism and its supposed rebellion as an effective antidote against the new, stale world order, and having a love affair with lew davidovich bronstein - with this succeeding in creating an archetype of the Mexican "artist" and "intellectual: must be of markedly communistic ideological tendencies, even appearance. An atmosphere where anyone who plays generic postmodern rock or anything of the sort in a bar is acclaimed as a musician, while some of the greatest achievements in music (both tonal and structural music) are conveniently ignored - in part because there are few people able to play them, in part because the population in general lacks a solid sense of history and of the significance of music and art in general as both a vehicle for human expression at the individual and collective levels and as a form of metaphysical transcendence, they are content with petty noise marketed as "music" (as is to be expected everywhere). In a similar situation to most other places in a globalised world, the cultural standard is a mile wide, but an inch deep - hierarchy coming from the recognition of relevance (or lack thereof) to our social and anthropological situation of a given form of artistic expression is sacrificed in the name of plurality and diversity. Whatever relevance the works of wolfgang a. mozart or luis de góngora y argote, or plato or homer may have to us is ignored, as they are mentioned in the same level as postmodern artists or examples of african "art" and "culture". This is "good". To realize that one is more important than other is "bad". returning to the part about our communistoid intellectuals, their activities are not obstructed by government authorities at all, and are even encouraged, as they consist basically in shepherding people for no practical end - social unrest, they say, must be demonstrated to the government, thus, they organize movilizations and demonstrations on the streets, as large and frequent as useless, which are only ignored by the federal government and serve only to alienate the rest of the population against the "intellectual" movements by disrupting their traffic systems, effectively disrupting their everyday routines. The matter of racial identity and composition in mexico should already be clear to most: spaniards, already being a racial mixture on their own, came to this territory and not only blended themselves with the native populations, they also homogenized them, when they were originally separate entities sharing a common background, somewhat similar to the situation with mediterranean, alpine and scandinavian aryans in europe. As a result we cannot speak of "Mexican" as if it were a cohesive entity - it barely qualifies as an easily-recognizable archetype. This is naturally seen by most Mexican inhabitants, as they do not feel wholly "native americans", but neither do they feel truly spanish. Another conflict comes with their embracing of a semitic religion, even if just superficially, while at the same time claiming to embrace the native traditions, or at least respecting them, while the original christian evangelizers sought to destroy them - the result of this is that no tradition is really understood or followed the details of what could be considered a "Mexican character", however nebulous, belong elsewhere). Following that comes a typical feeling of emptiness, filled by most with a complacency in belonging to the current social order and an avoiding of the fundamental questions not only of human nature but also of our situation in space and time, in the context of a world aflame on its pretentions and oblivious to its roots. Hollow stereotypes are created, and people take it as "good" to belong to them, without realizing anything of a deeper nature. -!- Man Against World It is a condition of our time that most people have an impoverished sense of aesthetics, that being a consequence of several factors, of particular importance we have the decaying cultural transition as humanity slips further and further into industrialization and mechanization. But what is this really like? Let us inspect the so-called center of everyday life, the modern city, and what it represents. Our cities are, typically, concentrations of humans in abnormally high numbers, living in conditions that are almost entirely 'artificial' (i.e. man-made), yet these conditions are seen by most living under them as "natural". People born in a city grow so used to it that, beyond a certain point, they can hardly conceive life as something different - and that is true for any human spending most of his life within a given environment; eventually the person has constructed in his mind such a structure of representations and relations between them that he can now say he has his own definition of "life". That's not the problem. In a city, the environment and the way it's presented to the human is the problem. Arising from a typically Christian dual opposition between 'man' and 'nature' is a view of "triumph over nature" - for our urban inhabitant, his modern city is humanity's great triumph, the culmination of history, when history is the relation of mankind's struggle against nature. It makes perfect sense to him - why, after all, should nature matter anymore? If, after all, man's four primary needs have been somehow tampered with: food? No problem, just go to a supermarket with some money (money, in its liberal acceptation, is another very unnatural concept) and buy something prepared already, or better yet, go to McDonald's. Shitting? No problem, go to the toilet and flush away the reality of life's organic nature. Sleep? Such a nuisance - get some amphetamines and forget about it. Sex? Forget about its biological meaning too, with all these condoms and stuff. - Why should nature matter when man sees trees and all other plant life demolished to make way for urban expansion, only to have some trees and grass inserted back into the concrete to give an illusion of "caring about nature"? He who lives in a city is indeed very much accustomed to inorganic forms in concept and aesthetic: this artificial insertion of organic forms into the urban environment reinforces the dualistic concept of "man vs. nature", as nature is exhibited as if it were a trophy in a gallery, defeated and conquered; urban life takes place over concrete and amidst buildings, forms of a markedly inorganic character, static, regular and thoroughly measured, absolute. Dare I add, concrete and asphalt feel much different on the feet than do a meadow, a mountain, or snow, the smell is different as well. Even things as fundamental as time and space are perceived differently in our time: we have at our disposal a plethora of vehicles for almost any medium we can encounter in our planet, which provide easy and fast transportation for anyone - even when it's not essential to the situation at hand. Time is measured in a manner that can be qualified as 'arbitrary': men must now live under the tyranny of "hours", even when "one hour" never has the same biological meaning at two different points in time for any given person, as humans work and function at different rates and under different circumstances each time; in most cities, the passing of the year's seasons is also meaningless, as people barely notice the difference if it's not in a temperature change and maybe rain or snow; they can hardly see the cycle so beautifully depicted in them as birth and renewal in spring, plenitude in summer, agony in autumn and death in winter, as it has been shown to humanity for centuries before the advent of industrialization. But what am I trying to say with all this? I am simply trying to establish how foolish it is to see life in terms of a dual confrontation between man and nature, or in terms of any other form of dual confrontation, for that matter, as life is never that simple. Those who read this: don't "pick sides" on the battle of humanity against nature, it's not a bloody war. If you live in a large city and haven't gone out of it much, you will do yourselves a great favor if you think for a moment about what that large city means: an ever-growing machine of steel, glass, and concrete which is its own end, which can only justify its existence with itself, as it has become antithetical of the only productive function it could have: the building of culture. Think on that, lest you go insane with time. Firstly escape that post-industrial scheme of thought, then you can prepare to do battle against it. -!- Survive to Rebuild Since we as a species moved from gathering our food at random and having no permanent homes, to being permanent dwellers and agricultural fanatics, we have had to adapt to something more enduring: control. If we no longer all gather and eat hand-to-mouth, there is specialization of labor; specialization of labor requires that someone be "in control" at some time or another. In benevolent form, this is a strong leader telling people to forget about saving the family gold and to flee right now because a flood is at that moment washing over the riverbanks; control is basically OK, so long as you trust your leaders, your method of finding those leaders, and the values that they have. Therein is the rub. Since the earliest days of control, the question of how to manufacture consensus has been a major part of human civilization. Not all of us want to worship a golden calf, but in the interests of having everyone working for the same idea, we are all forced to at least pretend to. This works in a positive way by enforcing collective action, but also acts as a norming influence and forces our opinions closer together for ease of daily living. Civilization has been internally divided over this issue for some time. After the advent of Christianity, with its emphasis on the individual being not only equal to other people in importance but most important not for abilities but for adherence to a "pure" moral code, people have felt self-gratification for forcing normative behavior on others, seeing it as the only "progressive" way to advance society toward Utopia. For me, when I was growing up in the 1980s, it seemed as if society was controlled by insane bigots who lusted for power and forced all of us into servitude roles, which I equated with mind control. I rebelled against this and refused to have anything to do with conservatives. Over time, however, I found that my new liberal friends were just as bad, with one addition: they wanted us all to be really equal, and were willing to sacrifice freethinkers and people of exceptional talents to achieve that utopic vision. I still don't trust the conservatives, but I don't trust the liberals now, either, which leaves me out of options as far as modern society is concerned. How those two extremes play off another, so efficiently and so without ever changing the status quo, makes me think that control itself has evolved: where once you told people what to do, now you set up bread and a circus and let them think they're "empowered" for choosing one of the two meaningless options you give them. Maybe I'm paranoid, but society isn't doing so well either. We're finally running out of oil. Overpopulation means that humans are eating up every last bit of land, air and sea they can touch, and we're seeing the consequences daily. The religions we've forced on people to control them have taken a life of their own, and nuclear weapons are proliferating. We finally have the ability to save ourselves. Because I see that most people are products of mind control, I realize that most of them dying doesn't bother me; all I care about are that enough of the smart ones survive to rebuild after the coming holocaust. [ About ] Heidenlarm is a quarterly publication of neoclassical music, culture and philosophy. Editor: S.R. Prozak PO Box 1004 Alief, TX 77411-1004 http://www.anus.com/metal/zine/ (c) 2005 Heidenlarm eZine/mock Him productions