Research Topic 3: Metalstorm Website

Recently a friend of mine sent me a link to this great website called Metalstorm and I thought I would make it the subject of my final research blog. The design of the site is well laid out and the aesthetic is much as you would expect from a metal site, dark colours and imagery. It includes many cool sections such as a forum where members can discuss their favourite bands, concert reviews, top 100 lists of favourite albums, exclusive interviews, photo galleries, and news on upcoming album releases and events. The site also includes videos and links to band sites where you can actually listen to some of the music you’ll come across. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is articles written by members of the site that are in the form of ethnographic and cultural studies of different styles of metal. This is basically fans of metal doing what we’re being asked to do for this course just because they feel they need to say something about their favourite style of music. There were two major things that surprised me about this website and I’ll go into more detail below.

The first is even though metal has often been dismissed in the past as mere noise it has perhaps more subgenres than any other music subculture. The top 100 albums lists are a useful tool for discovering new bands to enjoy. Once you’ve discovered what particular style a band you like is from you can search that style for the top 100 albums and see what thousands of other members think are the best albums. It shows just how versatile metal is with separate lists containing hundreds of albums and bands from different genres such as traditional heavy metal, black, death, doom, folk, gothic, glam, industrial, stoner, symphonic, thrash and even hard rock bands. For a style of music that can’t apparently be differentiated by most people from noise it seems that thousands on this site can easily distinguish between a number of different styles quite easily.

The second surprise was how the site showed just how big metal is and how much of a global entity it has become. The site has over 14 thousand members, which is not record breaking stuff but still a respectable number for a subculture supposedly on the fringe of respectable music. Not only is the membership large but it comes from all over the world showing that metal isn’t just a force in Europe and North America. If you go to the band search there are also bands from all over the world not just from metal hotspots and the events and club locations also shows there is support for metal elsewhere. In fact whilst most of the bands still come from European and North American countries there are bands here from all the populated continents. Some are from regions you wouldn’t really expect either like, Bolivia, Lebanon, Iran, Israel, Indonesia, Tunisa and South Africa. It seems no matter what continent or culture they come from or how strict the government is there is a fanbase for metal everywhere which shows it really has crossed cultural boundaries.

For those of you interested in finding out more about metal as a musical culture this website is definitely a place you need to visit. Check it out. http://www.metalstorm.ee/home/index.php

Research Topic 2: Heaven & Hell- The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know is the debut album of heavy metal act Heaven & Hell. Debut is probably a little misleading though as this group of musicians has actually been around for years. The group consists of Black Sabbath mainstays Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi as well as two members who joined Sabbath in 1979, Vinnie Appice, and former frontman for Rainbow, Ronnie James Dio. This lineup released the albums Heaven & Hell in 1980 and Mob Rules in 1981 before Dio and Appice left the group to form Dio, the band. In 1992 they returned to release Dehumanizer before once again splitting to follow their own projects. In its most recent incarnation the band has renamed itself after their first collaboration and released the album The Devil You Know in April of 2009.

Dio has always tried to differentiate his time with the band as being separate from that of Ozzy’s, and as such has always wanted to play under a name other than Black Sabbath but never could because the record company wanted to run with the known brand. Now he’s got his wish, but despite this there is no more effort put into disassociating themselves with their pasts. After all, Dio himself is considered by many to be the founder of power metal not to mention the “devils horns” that have become so associated with metal and Black Sabbath are also considered the earliest and most influential heavy metal band. So it makes sense to keep those ties for marketing purposes. This is made clear by the album cover. The title itself is a reference to the audience knowing of the bands origins. The cover art also includes the devil figure featured on most Black Sabbath albums.

The album itself is at once typical of the group but also different to their previous releases. When Dio originally joined Black Sabbath he brought with him lyrics about wizards and other mystical figures. Here, there is none of the mythological elements that so often enter Dio’s work. This album is a lot darker and heavier and once again the album cover gives a good indication of its nature. The art features a monster in the foreground with a crucifix in the background and has the numbers 21 and 45 to signify (according to Geezer Butler) the bible verse Matthew 21:45 which tells of the angels on the left side of God falling from grace.

The titles of the songs also reflect this darker feel. With song titles like, Fear, Double the Pain and Follow the Tears showing a more depressing side. There’s also the usual subversion of religion with titles like Atom & Evil, Bible Black, Rock & Roll Angel and Breaking Into Heaven. Iommi is considered to have created the detuned doom sounding guitar riffs and they are on ample display here. The powerful vocals of Dio which haven’t faded despite the onset of age seem to meld much better with the music in this album than any other. The message isn’t as dark as it seems though. The lyrics may subvert traditional views of organised religion but it doesn’t promote Satanism, it is merely pointing out the evil in the world. As Dio states in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, even the bands name is a reference to how there is good and bad in all of us. The band does not shy away from the bad in the world but rather confronts it and whilst doing so manages to produce one of the best metal releases of recent years.