The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| When pop infiltrates underground metal Posted: 10 May 2013 05:20 PM PDT MAY 11 — As a child who grew up musically in the late '80s and early '90s, metal and black T-shirts were pretty much an unavoidable fact of life. Before Nirvana broke grunge and "alternative" into the mainstream, metal was the "alternative." And like any kid of that era, I just couldn't get enough of thrash metal bands like Metallica, Destruction, Slayer and even death metal bands like Sepultura or even more extreme metal bands like Napalm Death and Carcass. Satanic lyrics scared the crap out of me though, as evidenced by me instantly trying to flog my copy of Morbid Angel's classic album "Altars Of Madness" once I read its blasphemous lyrics, especially to a song that I particularly loved (which I still do) called "Chapel Of Ghouls". When you're at the very impressionable age of 12 and 13, it's quite funny how easily things can scare you. As I grow older, then only do I start to realise that for the most part, the whole Satan-worshipping, tough-guy pose is just that, a pose. Part of what makes metal so appealing is the allure of liking something forbidden. No other genre can even come close to the forbidden nature of extreme metal, as bands not only sing about taboo stuff like Satanism, serial killers and such, but they also play things loud and fast, and some even grunt, growl and shriek like demons instead of merely singing. Such is its appeal that it has its very own alternative economy, as can be witnessed by the success of so many extreme metal bands who can make a comfortable living out of playing music that scares most normal people. Ever since the arrival of thrash metal in the early '80s, the metal scene has gotten more and more extreme with the birth of faster and even faster genres like death metal, black metal and grindcore. Of course we still can't really say that metal is mainstream, but it won't be much of a stretch to call the extreme metal scene quite comfortably predictable nowadays. So within the metal scene, of course there will be an underground metal scene, with bands that try to stay away from the predictable nature of what's established as "metal" these days. Most of the time these involve going the even more extreme route by playing around with the technical side of things, like time signatures and tricky arrangements. But sometimes when you've reached point Z, maybe reaching out and taking something from point A is not such a bad idea. And in the last few years more and more bands in the underground metal scene have chosen this route, bringing back more and more catchy pop melodies into their metal sound to startling effect. The sludge scene is probably more noticeable in the mainstream with bands like Baroness, Kylesa and Torche crafting albums with songs that are so catchy that people can sometimes even mistake some of the songs as Foo Fighters songs. But nowhere is this more brilliantly evident than in the stoner rock and doom metal scene as bands take inspiration from the originators of metal, Black Sabbath, and go to even braver melodic heights with it. Bands like Graveyard, Orchid and Witchcraft can even sound like Soundgarden to the uninitiated, but out of all these doomy bands with memorably melodic songs, none have the balls-out pop chutzpah of Swedish sensations Ghost. I'm using the word "sensations" because they went from releasing their incredible debut album "Opus Eponymous" on small indie label Rise Above Records to their follow-up with a division of Universal Republic Records two years later, breaking the top 30 of the US Billboard pop album charts and even playing a high-profile indie rock festival like Coachella. More remarkable is that they did all this while singing praises about Satan, with a frontman decked in a Cardinal outfit and donning a skull mask and face paint (calling himself Papa Emeritus), and with band members in hooded robes with their faces covered. After reading that description, you'd be forgiven for expecting a band with a singer that screams or shrieks, but no, this is a band armed with a honey-voiced frontman singing songs that have melodies that most would probably call pop-rock. There are traces of stoner rock and doom metal in the music, but the vocal melodies are purely and wonderfully pop. In fact, I'd dare anyone not to instinctively want to sing along to the lyrics of "Con Clavi Con Dio" from their debut, in which Papa Emeritus gleefully sings "Lucifer, we are here for your praise, evil one" or "this chapel of ritual smells of dead human sacrifice" from the stone cold classic "Ritual". I highly doubt that these guys are real Satanists, as rumours abound that Papa Emeritus is actually a guy named Tobias Forge, former guitarist of Swedish glam rock band Crashdiet, and this myth-making gimmick has already seen a precedent in fellow Swedes The Hives, who claim that they have a mastermind named Randy Fitzsimmons who writes all their songs. Besides, it's hard not to think that these guys are taking the piss with all the silly Satanic poses and gimmicks. But they have the one thing that all the other Satanic bands have obviously lacked before, which is these amazingly addictive pop songs spread throughout their two albums. It's definitely metal for people who normally hate metal. Give them a try, because I suspect you might be flashing the devil's horns too afterwards, Satan or not! * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. | |
| Posted: 10 May 2013 04:53 PM PDT
MAY 11 — I've got a good David Moyes story. Well, it makes me chuckle anyway. It was February 2000 and I was working at Reading Football Club. Despite being near the relegation zone in third-tier League One, we were in confident mood, buoyed by manager Alan Pardew's recent appointment of an exuberant and unconventional new assistant, "Mad Dog" Martin Allen. We travelled to play Preston North End, who were riding high at the top of the division under the leadership of a young Scotsman who was just starting to make his way in the managerial world, having taken charge of Preston a couple of years earlier: David Moyes. Allen was nicknamed Mad Dog for good reason — he was as mad as a dog. He particularly enjoyed winding up opposition players and coaches with a variety of confrontational tactics, and on this occasion he ordered Reading's players to go out early before the game and conduct their pre-match warm-up... in the Preston half. When the Preston players came out to find their opponents already occupying the half of the field they always used for the warm-up, they assumed some kind of mistake had been made: Reading's players couldn't have known it was "their" end. But Allen soon made it clear that it was deliberate and that his players weren't moving, despite growing complaints from the home team players, staff and fans. Eventually, Preston's young manager Moyes came over to remonstrate with Allen, who scornfully looked him up and down before barking: "Who are you? David Moyes...?! Never heard of you! Clear off!" (Well, maybe the exact word he used wasn't "clear", but you get the idea). Allen then laughed, dismissively turned his back on Moyes and stormed away. And now one of those men is manager of Manchester United, while the other is at Gillingham. Who's laughing now? One thing the story does is dispel the notion, much repeated by many concerned Manchester United fans in the last few days, that Moyes "has never won anything." Yes he has, because Preston proceeded to win the title by a considerable distance that season, which was just Moyes' second full campaign in management. Preston were, if you like, the Manchester United of the division. They had the most famous history, one of the biggest stadia and some of the best-known and best-paid players. They were expected to do well and, under Moyes' management, they did, winning the league by seven points. You can debate how relevant that experience is to his new task at Old Trafford. It was a long time ago and it wasn't the Premier League but, even so, it demonstrates that Moyes does indeed have a past history of taking a good team and meeting expectations by leading them to the title. Moyes' early days in management also remind us that he has prior experience of making a big professional jump. When he left Preston to take over Everton in 2002, he was entering a completely new world. He left behind a second-tier team to take over a famous and well-established Premier League club. The public profile, pressure and weight of expectation were entirely different from anything he'd encountered before, especially as Everton were threatened by relegation at the time. Yet he made the transition with ease, looking like the proverbial duck to water as he sparked an improved run of form that saw the Toffees eventually avoid the drop with relative comfort. The jump from Preston to Everton is similar in magnitude to the leap he'll now have to take from Everton to Manchester United. Again, it will be an entirely new world. Everton are a big club and Moyes' decade in charge at Goodison Park was spent under the constant gaze of the media spotlight, but that was nothing compared to the task that faces him in replacing the near-mythical figure of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in one of sport's most pressurised roles. Having already proven that he's capable of adapting to new and more demanding working environment, though, there's no reason why he won't be able to do it again. The fact that he didn't win any trophies with Everton doesn't matter too much. Just because he's never won the Premier League before doesn't mean that he won't be able to now; in the same way, just because Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have, it doesn't mean they would have done again if they'd been appointed instead of Moyes. Past achievements only count for a certain amount, as Real Madrid have found out to their cost with the appointment of Mourinho, who was recruited on the back of his past Champions League triumphs with the specific aim of leading the Spanish club to European glory. When it came to the crunch, though, Mourinho's past successes with Porto and Inter counted for nothing and he failed with Madrid. Winning trophies depends on many circumstances, many of which are beyond the control of the manager, and the truth is that during his time at Everton, Moyes never worked in an environment where claiming silverware was a realistic task. One man who did repeatedly craft title-winning teams over a sustained period of time was, of course, the departing Ferguson, and his ability to win, dismantle, rebuild and win again, and then go through that process time and time again, was astonishing. After lifting the Premier League trophy for the first time in 1993, the longest gap Ferguson endured without claiming the title was just four years — between 2003 and 2007. But then he bounced back and won it three times in a row. His relentless ability to continually recycle his squad and keep on coming back for more was remarkable and unprecedented, and we will probably never see anything like it again. Stepping into his shoes would be a near-impossible task for any manager. I completely understand why many United fans would have felt more comfortable with a new man boasting a trophy-laden CV, but that would have brought no guarantees. With Moyes' experience, his determination and his knowledge, he has as big a chance of succeeding as anyone else. After all, he's survived the madness of Martin Allen. Having done that, Manchester United will be child's play. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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