There’s this theory out in internet land, you may have heard of it, that given enough time and enough intermediate steps, you can convert a fan of any band to another band. Kind of like those word puzzles where you change one letter at a time. So the theory predicts that if you can find the right small steps (say Justin Timberlake to Prince) you can make an ‘NSync fan love Sepultura. Of course, the qualification is that both you and your protégé will probably be dead by this time.
This kind of incrementalism opens doors into music previously derided by the fan. I’ve seen it come into play in my own life—the gap opened by a teenage fascination with Wilco has allowed in all sorts of country music into my heart, pedal-steel guitars and all. The soulful beats of trip-hop eventually made way for the more hypnotic-repetitive sounds of techno and the tribal energy of drum ‘n’ bass.
Which brings me to metal. For years indie kids have avoided metal and consequently much attention has been paid to the recent internet love for heavy bands such as Sunn O))). This is partly just what financiers would call a “market correction”—the derision towards metal has been unfair and based largely on the sins of its bastard offspring “hair” and “nu.” Now the pendulum is returning to a more balanced view.
Another explanation is the safety-in-numbers factor. Let’s face it: a sneaker-wearing dude like me would look mighty out of place at an average metal gig, but if a band has props from Stylus or the like then I can count on seeing at least one other kid like me there.
Still, the second explanation is missing something. Why now? Why these particular bands? I suspect on this one the purists are right. A lot of these bands aren’t really “metal” at all. I mean, Isis and Mastodon have big riffs and cookie-monster vocals, but they draw from some pretty un-metal sources in concocting their particular brands of loud rock music.
I like to think of them as the musical equivalent of gateway drugs—the kind that give you a taste of what you’ve been missing out on all this time and make you want to try something new. So you want to get into metal in a few easy steps? Try a band that sounds a lot like one you already like and then move on from there.
Take Jesu for example. Main-man Justin Broadrick has impeccable metal credentials, established over two decades in bands like Napalm Death and Godflesh, rocking the socks off kids the world over. Nevertheless, his latest project sounds a lot like My Bloody Valentine. Too much, you’d think for someone who was ever associated with a grindcore band. What’s next? Pig Destroyer recording a split EP with Destroyer?
This of course means that it’s a perfect entry point for someone who grew up with Swervedriver rather than Slayer. A song like “Friends Are Evil” from Jesu’s 2005 debut takes the fundamentals of the ‘gaze (swirly effects-laden guitar, dreamy vocals) and turns it up to eleven. The lowered turnings derive more from metal than from indie and there’s some of the noisy growls and squeals of the drone/sludge sub-genres. It’s an excellent mid-way point.
Another Hydra Head band that functions as appetizer is Pelican—this time for lovers of Mogwai, Godspeed, and their post-rock brethren. There are no vocals to be found on their latest album The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw and there’s barely a palm-muted chord to be found. This is pretty clearly an experimental rock album, just with a heavier debt to Black Sabbath and their descendents than Sigur Ros have ever shown. Album closer “Sirius” washes over the listener with delicate major chords, as the propulsive kick of the rhythm section signals the way towards a new land where big riffs are worshiped.
This pathway has two lanes, of course, and it’s as exciting to see metal kids embrace bands that push the boundaries of their music as it is to see hipsters broaden their horizons. The music world is so huge and so dense that none of us will ever be without new genres and styles to investigate. And for that we should all be grateful.