My false teeth fell into my tea when I got an email from none other than Nick Terry, get this, former editor of Terrorizer magazine, practically ground central for Thrash Metal, in Nick's words "a true AvantYob publication". For centuries Nick has been surveying the narrow mountain pass, which links his black empire of Metal to the sunny pastures in which you and I frolic (end of Tolkein-esque metaphor). What did he have to say: "I heartily approve of your beatnik vs avantyob classification system." In consequence I'm writing this from a small island in the caribbean to which I have retired, having finally made the mark in life I knew I could.........
The first point Nick makes is that Slayer are not "nu metal", he's right, what was I thinking? Thrash Metal, doh! Nick informs me (lonely stray hobbit that I am....OK OK enough) that for New Metal I should: "think Korn, Papa Roach, Deftones, especially Deftones, who worship The Smiths ferchrissakes.....pretty much beatnik metal anyway and diametrically opposed to everything Slayer stand for." But was delighted that I got Slayer in the right column anyway. So I done good. Nick mused that he saw quite alot of beatnik qualities in Metal in general, though I guess he'd agree it's generally AvantYobbish, particularly pinpointing "....the obsessive cataloguing and classification" to which I replied:
"Right, gotcha. I think that maybe metal's strengths lie in the fact that it (maybe) generally isn't beatnik. A Smiths fetish immediately earmarks the (Deftones) as beatnik. To be even harsher on myself than you've been, Slayer's dalliance with Rick Rubin and the Sex Pistols cover version might even swing them in the Beatnik direction a tiny bit, it's quite a "concious" musicological angle of theirs. I just don't know the territory hence their totemic inclusion. I'm not sure if the obsessive cataloguing marks them as Beatniks, you see the same thing with Gabba obsessives, these guys usually have no idea about "what's the other side of the fence" so to speak. I think this rabid territoriality is pretty AvantYob (ie Daft)." witter, witter, witter..........
Nick agreed with the cataloguing thing (a very small victory for TWANBOC) and informed me: "I wouldn't be so harsh on Slayer re: working with Rubin and recording punk covers, they did a whole album of what they thought was 'punk', which meant very early US hardcore - exactly what they were listening to as dumb Caliteenagers in the early 80s. It didn't win them many fans. And certainly there are a lot of metal records which have otherwise beatnik characteristics which just rock too damn hard to be completely regarded as beatnik pure and simple."
......then went on to explain: " in the 90s I think parts of metal went self-conscious, postmodern and avantgarde in differing proportions and thus became infected by some beatnik values - an inevitable sign 'o' the times, really. But the best stuff was often very avant* in especially the Norwegian black metal scene, while still remaining quite thuggish. Political incorrectness does not automatically a yob make (thinking fascists, of whom there are all too many, tend to make disgustingly bland music, no matter how hard they are trying to be avant** - eg Blood Axis, later Burzum.)
The consequences for the whole theory, which Nick described as "a classic Weberian idealtype" are that there may be (and fairly not just in the field of metal) a sliding scale between the Beatnik and the AvantYob. But if you ask me, when the chips are down, everything falls one side or the other, Nick certainly had no trouble sifting though his Terrorizer 1990s top Metal 100(0) and separating the black sheep from the white. As for the lists that Nick sent me.....and I was really torn here, for the time being they will remain my closely guarded secret. Go and buy Slayer's "Reign in Blood" first, which Nick assures me is: "pretty much the definitive metal record of all time.", show me the reciept (email a jpeg) and then I may consider your request, phew I'm off the hook there........
*I assume he means Avant-Garde in this context...Avant-Garde unknowingly so. But as we know from our experience of Darkcore era Jungle. Avant-Garde does not mean not AvantYob......confused? You clearly haven't been paying attention.....
**and AvantYob here....Mark Sinker must have had a pig of a time with this barbarian.
Posted by Woebot at March 7, 2003 11:17 AM