
       Heavy Metal:  The Unsuppressable Voice of Truth
       ===============================================

         Copyright 1987 Robert E. Szekely 76276,1026

     This  article  is being written to refute some  of  what,  I 
feel,  are  glaring inaccuracies in Al McAnespy's article of  July 
1985;  as well as addressing some of the accusations opponents of 
Heavy Metal have directed at it. 

     Since Mr. McAnespy's  article was written,  the bands he named
as being the true spirit of Heavy Metal have indeed come of age.  
What were the struggling,  hungry spirits of 1985 have become the 
lucrative commercial commodites of 1987.

     However,  calling  the  forefathers of Heavy Metal  such  as 
Zeppelin,  Sabbath  et.  al.,  "charlatans",  or in  contemporary 
usage, "poseurs", is analogous in its implication to building a 
house from the roof down.

     As Robert Plant was once quoted as saying, "You can't  escape 
your roots."  The 'roots' that Led Zeppelin's lead vocalist spoke 
of are the only indigenous American musical form:  The Blues; the 
Roots of Rock and Roll.

     Rock and roll was spawned in the Missippi Delta; and among 
its grandfathers, men such as 'Blind' Lemon Jefferson and Albert 
King; these Delta Bluesmen and their peers were the humbled 
descendants of proud African men and women who had been shanghied 
and enslaved by our forefathers.  Their ancestors, pressed into 
service as slaves.  No respect for their dignity or 
rights as human beings for the most part.  So as they worked in 
the fields, cultivating the cotton crops, they sang of their 
misery.  They sang as a catharsis, to cleanse their souls of 
'the blues'; the pain of being persecuted and oppressed.  Sad and 
yet beautiful, they spontaneously broke into song; a music crying
out to the heavens.  In this music, they found a voice that could 
cry out pain in song, and so release it.  From deep inside their 
hurt and their inner beings, the black american slaves sang their 
pentatonic melodies, rich and soulfully expressive of their 
feelings in their chromatic inflections.  Melodies which evolved 
from the music of the deeply spiritual tribal chants of their 
homeland; from the African Tribes, to whom religion and their 
relationship with God was the focus of their lives. A religion to 
which music was inextricably linked.  It imparted to their 
culture a strong sense of community, order and purpose; as well 
as giving them strength to go on in times of need.  Times such as 
the black slaves faced almost daily; often whipped and treated 
virtually like animals, their voices sang out their pain to God, 
loud and clear, to apply the salve to soothe their aching souls.  
    

     To imply that Punk and Metal are kindred spirits is in 
effect saying that Jesus and Lucifer are soul brothers.  A 
tenuous association at best, and highly inaccurate due to its 
vague generality.  True, they do exhibit the same adrenalin-
powered fervor in their music but overall, their intents are 
polarized 180 degrees opposite each other.

        It is the cursory analyses of Heavy Metal, which result 
in often unsubstantiated accusations of the music causing social 
degeneration and ultimately destruction, which I reject.  These 
ill-conceived  accusations  are  a product of  an  ill-conceived, 
half-assed  mode of thinking which amounts to a doctor performing 
circumcision  on  an infant boy with an axe.  Too many  can  see 
either only black OR white, but no grey.
  

       The true spirit of HM, at its best, is the clarion call 
of victory over seemingly insurmountable odds.  If you don't 
believe that, read some of Black Sabbath's lyrics from their 
'Master of Reality' album.

     True Punk Rock espouses nihilism.   'The System sucks!' says 
the Punker.  So what does he offer as a solution?  'Destroy it!'
So then what does the Punker suggest to replace what he wants to 
destroy?  Not a damn thing.  

     We'e known since the 1960's that music can often be a 
powerful social influence.  The fatalistic philosphy of the 
hardcore Punker is social suicide; they are the Kamikaze 
revolutionaries whose party line is the annihilation of 
all order and civilization.

     Heavy  Metal  is  the princely scion of  the  most  visceral 
music; the  purest  contemporary form of blues.   It  is 
sincere and in touch with reality and the times.   Listen to  it, 
even  softly...what  do  you hear?   The soulful cries  of  blues 
guitars  pumped up louder and faster than Ol'  Father  Blues;  so 
their  cries  of "Let My Voice Be Heard!" can pierce the  din  of 
strife,   deception   and  corruption  which  are  manyfold  more 
deafening  and  occuring  at much a faster  pace  than  just  two 
generations ago.   They simply have to be louder and faster  than 
previous  generations  in order to be heard above  the  maddening 
noise of current society.
     
     No,  HM  is not above reproach.   There are those  desperate 
fools  who  cash in the current commercial marketability  of  the 
concepts  of degeneration and decay.   The pathetic popularity of 
the themes of Death,  Doom,  Destruction and Damnation make for a 
high return on investment at present:   a large profit made in  a 
short  amount of time,  with minimal investments of time,  effort 
and money.

     And  our youth desperately reaches out for a voice to  guide 
them  through the confusion;  latching on and hanging tightly  to 
the first thing that sounds remotely like a message of guidance.
Fearing  nothing  better can come along,  they make the  most  of 
trying  to form values from the thematic and lyrical bullshit  of 
groups like Mercyful Fate and their ilk; the purveyors of 'Black 
Metal'.   The  only sin of the audience of Black Metal  is  their 
injudicious  choice of filling the brains with dangerous garbage, 
and modeling a lifestyle of deadly fantasy upon it.

     But the answer here is not suppression.  The more you try to 
hide  or run away from something,  the more doggedly  it  pursues 
you.   The more you try to ignore it,  the stronger it grows;  until 
finally, it overwhelms you, completely.  Then, it's too late.

     By  the  same token,  to fall victim to the fallacy of  this 
common sweeping generalization,  "All Rock and Roll/Heavy  Metal 
is  evil/Devil  music.",  is as bad as saying that all  Jews  are 
cheap,  all Germans are Nazis, all Italians are Mafia and all 
Puerto Ricans are thieves.  It is IGNORANT and DANGEROUS to think 
that way.   Because in fact,  with those so-called  'views',  you 
ACTUALLY  ARE NOT thinking at all:   you've heard or repeated the 
epithet so many times that now you're brainwashed into  believing 
it.   But  if  you  honestly sit down and ask  yourself  why  you 
'believe'  it,  or  how you arrived at that point  of  view,  you 
either  go  blank,  or  start  mechanically  spouting  some  more 
dogmatic  cliches  in order 'rationalize' 'your point  of  view'.  
WHICH WASN'T YOUR POINT OF VIEW TO BEGIN WITH!

     And  that's the point I argue in favor of True Heavy  Metal.  
Music doesn't damn people; people's actions do.  Ignorance and
clever  deception the semantic sleight-of-hand are the  dangerous 
influences we should all be on the watch for.  True Heavy Metal's 
saving  grace is its unrelenting candor;  we calls 'em as we sees 
'em.   So if things really look bad we're gonna tell ya, loud and 
clear,  just how bad they are,  so we can make sure that you  get 
the message, so together, we can all do something about making it 
better.  Heavy Metal, in its pure, true form; as it's meant to be, 
carries  a  sincere,  crystal-clear message to  all,  singing  it 
voice  loud hard and fast,  to ring out over all the interference 
Der  ScheissMeisters through in its path to try to prevent  truth 
from being heard and acted upon.

     In conclusion,  it is the promoters of Black Metal and their 
allies  who are the true "poseurs";  they are the danger,  or put 
more succinctly,  the idiots.  But suppression and eradication is 
not  a solution.   Education is.   Knowledge is power;  and  only 
knowledge of what is and what isn't true can give us the power to 
fend off the negative influence of Black Metal, Hardcore Punk AND 
THEIR KIN.

    



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