Radical Cut wrote:
I've always thought the whole idea that Black Metal is a lyrical theme or an idea moreso than a musical one is at least at little bit of a pile. Obviously it's a strong presence, but where is the list of what exactly constitutes BM lyrically, is it dark cold forests? satanism? what? Obviously lyrics are a big part of any genre, with Death Metal there is the gore theme, with progressive rock the lyrics are often spacey and philosophical even bordering on insane, power metal has got it's valor and swords and steel, etc. But what really makes those genres, and their bands, is the music.
You're right. The imagery (not necessarily ideology) in BM was originally strictly satanic, but the genre has diversified a lot since. There's nature-worshipping stuff like Ildjarn, nihilism, old pagan beliefs, etc. Some of the stuff that BM bands do both lyrically and musically nowadays has nothing to do with what BM is, or at least what it once was.
And then there's bands outside of BM dealing with satanic topics, King Diamond and Deicide for example.
Genres are a very superficial and simplified way of describing music, although useful as a point of reference. They tell you nothing of the spirit (or whatever you want to call it) of the music and what it is trying to express, which is the only thing that really matters to me in music.
Think about progressive rock. The word "progress" means "to go forward". Epic songs, ponderous lyrics and strange time signatures and tonalities were a way to break the conventions of rock music back in the early days of prog rock.
But there's really nothing progressive about those elements these days, is there? Hammond organs and Mellotrons, extensive soloing, et cetera are retro as hell. But the term "progressive rock" has become synonymous with music that uses those elements.
Sometimes a genre is only defined by the style of music, other times the lyrics and even the ideology behind the music play a part (anyone remember punk rock?).
Did we drift off-topic? Wasn't this thread about Transilvanian Hunger? Hell yeah. So what?
Radical Cut wrote:
The lyrics are an afterthought. Even though they often link up sometimes they don't, and that's fine.
I disagree with this. Any worthy lyricist or musician writes with the complete piece in mind. Sometimes the lyrics and music come separately, but they should always form a good whole.
good music, crappy lyrics = crap.
crappy music, good lyrics = crap.
.. But an atmosphere that compliments the qualities of the music really brings out the best in it. This goes for all music... In this case I guess anything raw, uncompromising, cold and yet alluring would do the trick... A winternight perhaps.. I spend quite a bit of time finding the right settings for specific pieces of music... Once you have captured some sort of total-experience in a piece of music it sort of stays with it and comes back at the next listen...
yeah please no killing, that def sounds like an amazing experience, i need one of those.