Similarities in artistic individuality and philosophy
The individuality of an artist and their personal philosophies can be seen in the works that they spend hours upon hours creating either for themselves or for the intent of other people consuming their work. You can discover what the artist or author believes in and what they wish to convey when you read, look at or listen to their creation. Take for example one of my favourite books and a fine example of modern classic literature, 1984. George Orwell's 1949 political dystopia displays his views on freedom, the concept of a totalitarian police state, continuous government surveillance and the rewriting of history to suit those in power or with an agenda through his plot of a man attempting to subvert the 'Big Brother' police state and think for himself. Orwell gives us a clear vision of what he believes the future will hold for humanity if we are stripped of our personal freedoms and are subject to an all powerful government body.
One can see Orwell's anti-totalitarian philosophy in all aspects of 1984 with ideas such as the ironically named 'Ministry Of Truth' controlling all media and therefore thoughts of the people, video cameras and hidden microphones recording everything the population does and says and the imprisonment and brainwashing of those who hold their own individual thoughts. One of the characters in his novel sums up the totalitarian ideals with this infamous quote:
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
This philosophy was gained through both Orwell's experiences in the Spanish civil war and through his individual views on fascism and communism, which too were both gained through his experience in the conflict. This is just one example of the personal philosophy of an author being displayed through their works.
On the Metal side of this, it is very easy to discern personal philosophies and the individuality of the artist from their music; particularly their lyrics. Let's take Behemoth's music as an example for looking at Nergal's own anti-religious ideas. If you know anything about Behemoth at all then you know that it's a group with extreme views about organised religion, particularly Christianity. Just take a look at their music and you'll see what I mean:
Just from listening to the music you can immediately hear the blasphemous and anti-religious personal philosophy of Nergal, the main songwriter. Nergal grew up in a Catholic household in Poland but soon grew away from his family's religion, instead adopting his own personal philosophy which has been said is close to Luciferianism. He's been stated as saying "I use a radical weapon to provoke people. I want people to question things and to question the laws and think for themselves and not follow, blindly, other people's ideals and ideologies." This interesting personal philosophy is definitely shown throughout Behemoth's career, from their stage shows, music videos and music to their merchandise. In this respect, George Orwell, a world-renowned author, and Nergal, an extreme Metal icon, are similar in the respect that they allow their individual experiences and their personal philosophies to shine through in their work and hope that they can influence the thoughts and ideas of others by doing so; something that all creative voices should attempt to do.
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Is it Metal? Is it a classic?
Now we reach a point that many, many metalheads here will be weary about having to read. The eternal, autistic conflict of whether a certain group is Metal or if they're Rock, Hard Rock or Mallcore. Yes it does have it's place in this blog because believe it or not, classic literature is prone to having the same arguments; more specifically there are arguments about whether a certain book classifies as a classic or not. Thankfully these arguments aren't as asinine, nor are they as prevelant in literary circles as far as I'm aware, but I'll point them out anyway. Let's just quickly set the Metal scene before I move to the literary argument.
As I'm sure you all know there are certain bands that some would claim are Metal groups, whereas others would claim that they are not Metal groups. Acts like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses are among the most contested on Metal Amino as to whether they should be allowed to be posted throughout the week or should stay as Wednesday bands only. Hell, I've even seen some people claim that Slipknot aren't a Metal group and shouldn't be posted on here. Now most people would think 'why does it matter?' and to a certain extent they are right. Why does it matter if a band is called Metal then they're actually Hard Rock? On the other side of this, people also believe that it does matter because there is a distinction between the two and this should be pointed out and taught to those who don't understand the difference or try to push their own definitions.
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For me personally, I believe that the difference should be pointed out to people, but at the same time does it really matter whether or not that group you love is classified as a certain genre or not? Does it suddenly change the quality of their music once they are (((downgraded))) from being a Metal band to a Hard Rock band? The band themselves certainly could give less of a shit. Do you think John Bonham will rip out somebody's throat with his zombified claws because some nobody on the Internet said that Zeppelin don't qualify as a Heavy Metal band? My point here is you shouldn't get so angry and frustrated if an awesome band you thought was Metal is actually shown to be Rock or any other genre. It doesn't change the music itself. There's no need to start name calling because some sexy redhead removed your Led Zeppelin video from the main feed because they're not Metal. Just chill out and post it on Wednesday like that foxy devil and his associates say you can do.
Now we move onto the other side of this, the hopefully more civilised side. What is actually defined as classic literature? There are books which are held up like holy grails as being perfect examples of classic literature and then there are literary works which are equally as excellent, yet they are not given the treatment of being called classics. If you don't know what I'm talking about then think of it like this. Trainspotting, American Psycho, The Lord Of The Rings, Lord Of The Flies, Edgar Allen Poe's works are all examples of high quality literature and in their own rights are classics, modern or not; yet none are thought of as being amongst books which we immediately think of as classics like Crime & Punishment, Frankenstein, Pride & Prejudice and The Count of Monte Cristo.
Why are all of these books not thought of in the same way? Is it because they haven't been around as long? Possibly in the case of American Psycho and Trainspotting, but Poe's works have been around for over 150 years. Is it because there is a difference in literary quality? I don't think so, mostly because the examples I've read from both lists are of equally high quality. Could it be that books are judged whether they are classics or not by the person who has read them? This could well be it. It is my opinion that HP Lovecraft's works are absolute classics of horror, yet when you talk about classic literature his name rarely ever comes up. Other people may say that certain books are classics or that they will become classics in the future and they may turn out right. Still even if Tolkien isn't made out as being a classic author on the same level as Charles Dickens, this doesn't mean that you can't enjoy their works or think that one is a lesser author than the other. I'm sure that neither of these men, if they were alive, would give a shit if someone said one wrote classic literature and the other didn't. Just enjoy their works for what they are and don't worry about anything else.
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So then what have we learned here? That Metalheads arguing over genres are more akin to bookworms arguing over what makes a classic than they both realise. Who would've thought?
Controversies
One thing that art will never quite escape from is controversies, whether they be about the artist, their motivations behind the art or the art itself. Classic literature has had many brushes with controversy over the centuries and as we all know Metal as a genre often courts and revels in controversy. Interestingly some of the reasons for the controversies caused by Metal and classic literature are almost identical. Take a look at these reasons why the modern classic, The Catcher In The Rhye was challenged in 1982 in Morris, Manitoba, Canada. You could change it to a list of reasons why Cannibal Corpse's Tomb Of The Mutilated was banned from Wallmart and it wouldn't look out of place!
"Excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult."
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There are many examples of classics being banned and taken off of the shelves for a variety of reasons. Corrupting the youth, featuring extreme sex and/or violence, bad language, being immoral, being anti-religious or hateful, the list goes on. Metal has also been banned for reasons much akin to these. Whether it be having cds taken off shelves or bands being banned or blacklisted in certain countries. Societies may say that they are censoring obscene things to protect themselves from certain influences but what are they really doing? They don't like something so the best thing to do is ban it. Worked for the Soviets and the Nazis so it'll work for us! Seriously though, literature and music of all kinds have been banned, destroyed or refused to be published in some places because they go against certain morals that some feel shouldn't be touched. But this is what art does, it pushes at the boundaries and does new things. This is how it grows and changes. Literature wouldn't be the same today if it wasn't for groups of authors courting controversy by publishing racy books that weren't fully appreciated until a few hundred years later. The same thing goes for Metal. This genre wouldn't exist how it exists today if it wasn't for a group of edgy hippies from Birmingham who wanted to make their music darker and more controversial than what everyone else was releasing. Thank god that both the authors and the musicians pushed through the bullshit and gave us the art to appreciate today!
Conclusion
So then Metal & classic literature. Two vastly different styles of art that do share some similaties with each other. Both controversial because of their ideas, both showcase the individuality and philosophies of the ones who create them and both use each other as influences in their own works (though Metal uses classic literature far more than literature uses Metal). Does this mean that you should blast your copy of None So Vile at your mum's bookclub? Probably not but you could always suprise them with how the two are more alike than they think.
Thanks for reading this post, sorry it's taken so long for me to get something out but I was incredibly busy with farm work during the summer and any free time I had was spent trying to relax a little. Now I'm back at uni, regular posting will hopefully start. Have a pleasant day
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