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John Darnielle, on why he listens to metal: "I mean, it’s music that I enjoy. I enjoy the playing, I enjoy the compositional approaches to musical expression. I

John Darnielle, on why he listens to metal: "I mean, it’s music that I enjoy. I enjoy the playing, I enjoy the compositional approaches to musical expression. It’s weird, nobody ever asks. ‘What does listening to this type of music do for you?’ about any other kind of music, but with metal there seems to be this ‘justify your connection to it’ vibe out there. It’s a unique mode of musical expression that challenges the listener and transports me to different realms. I’d say the same of the rap I listen to, or the classical music, or the ambient music—but I guess I find a lot of different headspace to explore in metal, a lot of different moods to enjoy and ways to enjoy them." https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/06/19/big-ups-the-mountain-goats-john-darnielle/ https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/06/19/big-ups-the-mountain-g...

saturdaysaint 8y ago
And yet isn't listening to something that's repellent to your parents and the preppy kids at high school a strong part of the allure? It's counter-cultural expression - by design, it's supposed to be feared and misunderstood.
- overthemoon 8y ago
  Oh, for sure, there's a rebellious side to it, a way for a person to found an identity against something they don't like about their parents, about the preps, about authority, it's exclusive by its nature. However, I think often it's a genuine expression of whatever it is metal expresses, too, I think these two aspects are inextricable. The anger, the catharsis, the violence, the dark themes, these are by their nature alienating, fearful, and misunderstood, but it's also appealing for that to a particular kind of person.
jzymbaluk 8y ago
Andrew WK on why he listens to death metal: > This was something I'd heard in other music, but only in small spurts—the screeching wail of James Brown, the frantic drum solo before a song's big finale. Usually, with other bands or artists, they would build up to a moment of intensity, like the crest of a wave, and it would hit hard, but be short-lived, fleeting. But it became clear to me as I listened to these death metal CDs, that this entire genre was based on extending that explosive feeling for an entire song, an entire album, an entire career—not just a quick crescendo or a peak that served to counter the bulk of more subdued music. In death metal, that high mark was starting point. It used the furthest extreme of other rock music genres as its base line, its foundation, and pushed forward from there. It's specifically designed to exceed excess. I was spinning in ecstasy. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gvvb34/andrew-wk-on-death-metal https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gvvb34/andrew-wk-on-death...
- ionised 8y ago
  That sounds very spot-on to me.

saturdaysaint 8y ago

And yet isn't listening to something that's repellent to your parents and the preppy kids at high school a strong part of the allure? It's counter-cultural expression - by design, it's supposed to be feared and misunderstood.

overthemoon 8y ago
Oh, for sure, there's a rebellious side to it, a way for a person to found an identity against something they don't like about their parents, about the preps, about authority, it's exclusive by its nature. However, I think often it's a genuine expression of whatever it is metal expresses, too, I think these two aspects are inextricable. The anger, the catharsis, the violence, the dark themes, these are by their nature alienating, fearful, and misunderstood, but it's also appealing for that to a particular kind of person.

jzymbaluk 8y ago

Andrew WK on why he listens to death metal: > This was something I'd heard in other music, but only in small spurts—the screeching wail of James Brown, the frantic drum solo before a song's big finale. Usually, with other bands or artists, they would build up to a moment of intensity, like the crest of a wave, and it would hit hard, but be short-lived, fleeting. But it became clear to me as I listened to these death metal CDs, that this entire genre was based on extending that explosive feeling for an entire song, an entire album, an entire career—not just a quick crescendo or a peak that served to counter the bulk of more subdued music. In death metal, that high mark was starting point. It used the furthest extreme of other rock music genres as its base line, its foundation, and pushed forward from there. It's specifically designed to exceed excess. I was spinning in ecstasy. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gvvb34/andrew-wk-on-death-metal https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gvvb34/andrew-wk-on-death...

ionised 8y ago
That sounds very spot-on to me.