Session 1: Aesthetics and Existentialism

Session 1: Aesthetics and Existentialism
Chair: Niall Scott

Tragic Metal
Carmen DeAnna
University of Maryland, USA

This paper will examine the relationship between Greek tragedies, the Dionysian and the genre of Heavy Metal music.  Nietzsche praised the tragic poets for finding the perfect balance between the Dionysian and Apollonian.  Apollo is god of the Sun, lightness, poetry and reason, Dionysius the god of wine, intoxication and ecstasy.  Nietzsche argued the suppression or loss of the Dionysian dimension of being as a symptom of modernity and Freud as well develops a similar argument in his later writings.  So where might one find infusion of the Dionysian in modern culture?  Possibly in film or in video games, but these lack the attributes of lyrical recitation, live performance and large audiences, which are all important to the way Greek tragedy was expressed and experienced.  Metal brings these attributes to popular culture in a way other artistic mediums and genres do not and with a strange resemblance to Greek tragedy.  Further, when we consider the cathartic effects of art, Metal concerts arguably offer the audience a venue for the catharsis of erotic and violent drives suppressed by the norms of mainstream culture.  They provide the space for the release and expression of the Dionysian as well as an opportunity for self-affirmation in a seemingly chaotic and unjust set of circumstances.  One of the teachings of the Greek tragic poets is to accept one’s fate, to lack freedom and still be responsible.  Similarly, many metal artists lyrically portray strength and dignity in the face of suffering and despair.  Metal pits the spirit of Prometheus and Antigone against the nihilism of late modernity and provides the working class the physical and psychological space to experience the Dionysian.

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Suicide, Booze and Loud Guitars: The Ethical Problem of Heavy Metal
Daniel Frandsen
Institute of Philosophy, Education and Study of Religions, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

It is widely known that there has been a lot of controversy about the content of (especially the lyrics in) heavy metal. Themes like murder, suicide and abuse are commonly found in this genre, and it has therefore, been claimed to be inappropriate for people, children in particular, to be hearing and supporting. One way of approaching this discussion is to focus on the relation between the content of a work of art (music in this case), and the aesthetic value of the work. It has been claimed, by some, that a work portraying unethical behaviour, that is being ethically flawed, will always be aesthetically flawed as well. According to this moralist view, most heavy metal should be considered aesthetically bad due to the norms of our society.
However, in the present time, with the growing interest in heavy metal, mainly among the youth, which in some ways, is comparable to the raise of heavy metal in the late 70’s and through the 80’s, it seems reasonable to suggest that the moralist view might be problematic, and that an alternative theory may get us closer to the truth about the relation between aesthetics and ethics.
My claim is that it can be an aesthetic merit for a work of art, especially heavy metal, that its content is morally flawed, due to the nature of the specific type of music. This is called the immoralist view. I will attempt to show this by reference to songs about suicide and alcohol-abuse, particularly from the Finnish heavy metal band Sentenced, and theories from Berys Gaut, Matthew Kieran, Justin Donhauser, Kimberly A. Blessing and Theodore Gracyk among others.

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“You’re too Fuckin’ Metal for your own good” Controlled Anger and the Expression of Intensity and Authenticity in Post-modern Heavy Metal
Michael Nagenborg & Christian Hoffstadt
Interdepartmental Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW), Tübingen, Germany and Institute of Philosophy, University of Karlsruhe, Germany

When at a live gig in the early 90-ties Metallica’s bass player Jason Newsted was seemingly getting out of control, James Hetfield told him: “Jason, you’re too fuckin’ metal for your own good!” – In our paper we will analyse the basic ambiguity underlying this quotation.
One critique on Heavy Metal is its fixation on anger and hatred, while being primitive and anti-intellectual. What a critic in the 70-ties has said with regards to Black Sabbath about the “sophistication of for Cro-Magnon hunters who’ve stumbled upon a rock band’s equipment” (cit. Weinstein 1991, p. 2) might be well accepted by many critics of this particular style today.
Taking a look at the aesthetics, the artistic expression and imagery of post-modern Heavy Metal, we will focus on the expression of intensity and authenticity as an attitude to life. However, we will not only take a look at the modes of expression, but also at the limitations and restrictions on the expression of anger. We will correlate music, lyrics, video, gestures, facial expressions as well as band and fan communication to understand why intensity emerges from “controlled anger”. A fine example for the display of controlled anger is the video “Duality” from the band “Slipknot”, in which the band controls the anger of a crowd, which therefore will be central to our analysis of the phenomenon.
As Elster (2000) explains, since the time of Aristotle “the most frequent antonym of passion was reason” (p. 7). In this tradition anger is the passion we have to worry about the most in case we want to act reasonable. However, passions might also be seen as an instrument of self-binding by being instrumental to overcome time-inconsistency of personal identity (Elster 2000: p. 45). In our paper we will work within a framework which assumes that Heavy Metal has to strive for creating a resource to refuel anger enabling the community members to “stay true”.

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