Political Expression in Doom Metal

Political Expression in Doom Metal David Burke 26227622 Supervised by Dr. Christopher Prior A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MA (History) degree at the University of Southampton Plagiarism Declaration ‘I acknowledge that this dissertation is my own work. I have read and understood the Academic Integrity Statement for Students, and the details of possible penalties for plagiarising in the University Calendar at: http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-regs.html’ Contents Plagiarism Declaration 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Terminology 9 The pursuit of liberty 14 Social and political criticism 26 Nihilism and environmentalism 35 Female representation and narratives 42 Contextualising doom metal 49 Conclusions 55 Bibliography 57 List of musical works consulted (including album artworks) 60 Introduction Culture is inherently political. The production of cultural artefacts is inescapably bound to the economic and social circumstances in which the production occurred. This also extends to the use, interpretation and reception of cultural objects as audiences apply their own codes of meaning to works, from Ronald Reagan's misunderstanding of Born in the USA to the Live Aid concerts. Although works of culture are open to these forms of politicised analysis and usage, some works are more obviously engaged in social comment than others. The focus of this study will be the subgenre of doom metal, which is considered a relative outlier in terms of political expression. Doom metal is typified by slow, dense riffs derived from blues guitar techniques, as opposed to the fast, technically complex compositions employed by the majority of heavy metal. Much of doom metal focuses on groove, an element of music that has been excluded from the traditional Western canon of music theory and can be defined as ‘a stream of anticipation’; the listener being able to identify when the next beat of a bar will occur despite it not having been played yet and performing a physical corollary in the form of dancing (or headbanging). Jonathan Piper, Locating experiential richness in Doom metal, (San Diego: University of California, 2013), p. 64. In structural terms, this places the subgenre closer to blues, reggae or traditional African music than to the technical mastery of death metal or the harsh textures of black metal, with songs often avoiding typical verse-chorus formats in favour of long, repetitive sections. This is further reflected in the use of fuzz, delay and reverb within doom metal which provide a sonic palette which is perhaps easier to absorb than other metal genres, particularly black metal which often aims for abrasion above other aesthetic qualities. Similarly, whilst metal subgenres such as thrash, grindcore and black have espoused broad-ranging critiques and produced works reflecting extreme ideologies from all sides of the political spectrum, doom metal is often considered as more escapist and esoteric with many of the genre's notable bands drawing primarily upon fantastical imagery and themes for their works. David Burke, Esoteric Symbolism in Doom Metal, (Southampton: University of Southampton, 2016), <https://www.academia.edu/35595149/Esoteric_Symbolism_in_Doom_Metal>, (Accessed 4/09/2018). For the purposes of this study, ‘doom metal’ will also be used to encompass its varied subgenres which together draw from similar compositional and aesthetic sources and are often grouped together by critics and fans. ‘Stoner metal’ is heavily influenced by psychedelia and is arguably the most fantastical of the doom sub-subgenres; ‘drone metal’ often forgoes percussion in favour of walls of droning, feedback-laden guitars; ‘sludge metal’ represents a crossover between doom metal and hardcore punk; and ‘desert rock’ blends the psychedelic aspects of stoner metal with a more traditional hard rock sonic palette. The first doom band, Black Sabbath, have been noted for their criticism of contemporary political issues such as nuclear war, Vietnam and class inequality but since the 1970s these direct and explicit criticisms of specific aspects of society became less common within the genre. The doom bands of the early 1980s such as Saint Vitus expressed feelings of social estrangement but avoided translating these sentiments into overt social critiques; with hardcore punk at its height at the same time, heavy metal was somewhat displaced from its role as a critical working-class voice that it had occupied in the UK since the 1970s, and artists such as Iron Maiden led the genre towards a more fantastical aesthetic that was prominent until the turn of thrash metal a few years later. The early 1990s gave doom and stoner rock bands such as Sleep, Kyuss and Electric Wizard a moment in the sun, receiving airplay on MTV and forming part of a nascent grunge and alternative culture. These groups were jointly defined by their interest in fantasy and horror literature, psychedelics and an escapist outlook, which have formed the backbone of modern doom metal and its aesthetic. Following the example of post-rock and post-metal, increasing numbers of bands chose to forgo lyrics altogether in order to focus on delivering soundscapes, tonal experimentation and ever-longer songs, such as Sunn O))) or Bongripper. In doing so, their capacity to deliver political expressions directly through art was lessened, although interviews and video remain avenues for critique. Through the 2000s and 2010s doom metal has expanded hugely as a subgenre thanks to social media, the decline of major labels as a means of music distribution for metal musicians and the simultaneous rise of artist-to-fan services such as Bandcamp and BigCartel. The subgenre now boasts its own festivals, magazines and forums and displays greater sonic and demographic diversity than ever before, but overt social critique remains uncommon within the genre. This is far from axiomatic however, and some doom metal musicians and bands make direct political statements that reflect radical beliefs, such as the punk-influenced Primitive Man or sludge/drone metal artists Thou. This study aims to uncover the capacity for political expression within doom metal and willingness to make such expression amongst its proponents, and to identify trends within the genre that support social critique across the political spectrum. The paper will begin by discussing the varying definitions of ‘liberty’ that have been employed over the duration of doom metal’s existence, focusing particularly on Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty; although doom metal musicians are not known for their overt political engagement, their interest in escape away from normative society and towards forms of freedom demands investigation into which liberties are being desired. Liberalism, the form of government under which the majority of doom metal has been produced, will also receive discussion in order to understand its changing forms and definitions over the past fifty years. Finally, employing Gramscian theories of complicity and hegemony will aid analysis of musicians' ability and willingness to make political statements based on their own contexts, and avoid treating works in isolation.  Once these definitions are established, the main body of the dissertation will take readings of various bands' lyrics, artworks and interviews, and establish key themes that amount to political expression employed within doom metal. Although metal scholarship has expanded considerably since it was first studied in the late 1980s doom metal has remained relatively under-studied, due to other subgenres such as black and death harbouring controversial figures and complex musicianship, compared to doom metal's relative simplicity and lack of associated violent crime. Keith Kahn-Harris makes mention of doom metal in his study of extreme metal, but his focus is largely occupied by other metal subgenres. Keith Kahn-Harris, Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge, (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2006) p. 4. Writers such as Hutcherson, Piper, Kitteringham and Yavuz have made more substantial contributions to doom metal scholarship, but to date there has been little attention given to the political tendencies and ideologies present within the genre. Benjamin Hutcherson, Feeling Heavy, Feeling Doomed: Narratives, Embodiment, and Authentic Cultural Engagement, (Boulder, Colorado: University of Colorado, 2014); Sarah Kitteringham, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses: The Treatment of Women in Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, and Grindcore, (Calgary: University of Calgary, 2014); Jonathan Piper, Locating experiential richness in Doom metal…; M. Selim Yavuz, ‘Publications and Talks’, mselimyavuz.com, <http://mselimyavuz.com/publications.html> (Accessed 10/09/2018). Due to this, primary source analysis will form the majority of the study. The main focus will be upon the pursuit of individual liberty, comparable to ‘negative’ liberty as described by Berlin in Two Concepts of Liberty, which has featured in doom metal throughout its history and arguably represents a strong tendency toward libertarianism amongst its musicians and fans alike. Critiques of economic and social inequality and exclusion will form another theme, with care being taken to focus upon sources which comment upon wider society, as opposed to those which refer to personal relationships. Another theme is environmental concern which has manifested in both overt and subtle critiques from doom metal groups, often in utopian terms, contrasted by a nihilistic vision of apocalypse and environmental destruction imagined by some of doom's heaviest and darkest bands. Although doom metal is known for having a higher number of female artists than other metal subgenres, this has failed to translate into prominent feminist lyrical currents within the subgenre, which will also require further analysis through redactive investigation. With some major themes identified, the study will then turn to examining the surrounding contexts of doom metal musicians and question the extent to which these contexts have been acknowledged or critiqued by the musicians and their works. Moments of particular interest will include the late 1960s which incubated Black Sabbath, the rise of neoliberal market democracy in the 1980s, the previously mentioned end of Communism and the rise of neoliberal consensus, and the subsequent rise of populism in the 2010s which aimed to dismantle this geopolitical structure. Although doom metal's artists are primarily based in the industrialised West and derive much of their aesthetic from Western fantasy and fiction tropes, there are growing scenes in less affluent countries ranging from ex-Soviet nations to Indonesia and Pakistan that share in the subgenre's imagery and outlook, which conforms to Elflein's argument that ‘metal has become a truly glocal phenomenon’. Dietmar Elflein, ‘Overcome the Pain: Rhythmic Transgression in Heavy Metal Music’, from Thamirys/Intersecting: Place, Sex & Race, 26: 1, (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2012) pp. 71-2. After contextualising doom metal and its varied political expressions, the study will attempt to find common ideological ground between doom metal artists overall and investigate whether the genre acts as an arena for social comment, or whether the opposite is true; that the escapist aesthetic promulgated within doom metal acts as a safe haven for its listeners, wishing to avoid political discourses in music. The relationship between authorial intention and fan interpretation will be key to this concluding analysis, as some artists have developed critiques which are relatively open to interpretation, whilst other commentaries provide less ambiguity. Terminology Isaiah Berlin’s ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’ demonstrated that multiple forms of political liberty exist and gives two contrasting examples. Negative liberty is defined as ‘the degree to which no man or body of men interferes with my activity’, the ability of an agent to act unheeded by outside influences or institutions, which is the form of liberty most obviously deployed in the neoliberal modern-day West. Isaiah Berlin, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’, in Four Essays on Liberty, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), pp. 118-172. Legislation such as the First Amendment of the American constitution would be a prime example, as the amendment exists to prevent authorities from infringing upon agents’ ability to hold beliefs and express them. Positive liberty is described as ‘the wish on the part of the individual to be his own master’ in a transformative sense; not only being able to decide one’s own actions within existing political and social frameworks, but to unshackle oneself or others from those systems which prevent one from becoming a better person. Ibid. Berlin links the modern conception of negative liberty to the Enlightenment-era works of Locke and Mill, and notes that although it is often described as the ‘natural’ form of liberty, it is a relatively recent conception primarily based in British political philosophy. By contrast, positive liberty is connected with Rousseau and the French Revolution, wherein Berlin identifies the ‘paradox’ associated with this form of freedom; in assuming political power to transform society and its people, rulers can become tyrannical by imposing new structures and laws, potentially as oppressive as those being replaced. Outside of the article Berlin used the Soviet Union to illustrate his criticisms of positive liberty, following the militarised suppression of a Hungarian uprising in 1956. He questioned how a government founded with the intention of liberating its people from economic tyranny could itself become so repressive and violent when faced with dissenting expression. Adam Curtis, ‘We Will Force you to be Free’, in The Trap, (BBC2, 2007). Moreover, Berlin argued that constructing positive liberty demands the development of new ethical and social frameworks, and whoever arbitrates such frameworks decides which social traits are virtuous or problematic. Continuing Berlin’s historical example of the French Revolution, one could cite Saint-Just’s following quote as an example of such coercive tactics: ‘In every revolution a dictator is necessary to save the state by force…’ Louis Antoine Saint-Just, ‘Sixteenth Fragment: On Censors’, Fragments sur les institutions républicaines (1767-1794), <https://www.academia.edu/21887125/Saint-Just_Fragments_on_the_Republican_Institutions_> (Accessed 17/08/18). In the examples Berlin gave to support these two definitions of freedom, he introduces a division between them as belonging to the two halves of the Cold War (during which his article was written), with positive liberty being demarcated as the province of socialist revolutionaries and negative liberty as the fundament of capitalist democracy. Partially due to these associations and the immense influence Berlin’s article has held over political theory, the reputation of positive liberty has since diminished in Western political discourses; Adam Curtis suggests in his 2007 film The Trap that negative liberty became the primary definition of freedom in the West over the course of the Cold War and the neoliberal consensus that emerged afterward, to the extent that the attempts at installing market capitalism in Russia and Iraq represented a direct imposition of negative liberty upon an unwilling population. Curtis, ‘The Trap Part 3…’ Although Berlin advocated for negative liberty, he warned that governments should not come to think of it as an absolute definition of freedom; if this were to occur then governments would attempt to coerce their people into accepting negative liberty, just as had occurred in the revolutions guided by positive liberty. The importance of considering Berlin’s arguments and the contexts to which he assigned them has a major bearing on the analysis in this study. Due to many doom metal artists’ sociogeographic environments being the neoliberal West there is frequent support within the genre for negative liberty, although there are a smaller number of artists who advocate for positive liberty in their artistic output. However, these commentaries are often made without the musicians’ awareness of political theory or the divide between negative and positive liberty, resulting in musicians making appeals to both forms of freedom on occasion. This indicates that some artists have intuitively engaged with a combination of both forms of liberty, similar to the reconciliation of liberties discussed by Tony Blair in his letter to Berlin. Tony Blair, ‘A Letter from Tony Blair’, The Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library, 23rd October 1997, <http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/letterstoberlin.html> (Accessed 17/08/18). Such unconstructed advocacy for both forms of liberty leaves these doom metal musicians outside of the established ideological dichotomy, whereby negative freedom is the province of neoliberal capitalism and right-wing libertarianism and positive liberty is commonly upheld by socialist groups. This again may reflect the musicians’ lack of theoretical knowledge in the field, or a deliberate attempt to avoid identifying with a particular political ideology altogether. However, as mentioned previously there are other doom metal musicians for whom political ideology is a major part of their musical identity. Similarly to Berlin’s essay, Duncan Bell’s What is Liberalism? demonstrates that the notion of liberalism, particularly the neo-liberal consensus that formed the backbone of post-war Western politics, carries a ‘plethora of competing and often contradictory claims’ under a broad church of definition. Duncan Bell, ‘What is Liberalism?’ in Political Theory, 42:6, (University of Virginia, 2014) p. 687. Of particular note to this study is Bell’s identification of Shklar’s liberalism as a ‘doctrine with one overriding aim: to secure the political conditions that are necessary for the exercise of political freedom’, penned in 1989 as Soviet states known for their repression of individual liberties began to dissolve communism across Eastern Europe. Ibid, p. 684. By describing liberalism primarily as an attempt to spread freedom, Shklar is both implying that other ideologies such as Communism were restricting individual liberty, and supporting the American neoconservative notion that the West has a moral duty to spread liberty and democracy worldwide by her use of ‘secure the conditions’. She goes on to define liberalism’s ‘original and only defensible meaning’ as being the ability of adults to ‘make as many effective decisions without fear or favour about as many aspects of his or her life as is compatible with the like freedom of every other adult’, which is in total conformity with Berlin’s negative liberty. Judith N. Shklar, ‘The Liberalism of Fear’ (1989), in Shklar, Political Thought and Political Thinkers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), p. 3. In the same year as Shklar, Francis Fukuyama declared ‘an unabashed victory of economic and political liberalism’ over competing ideologies without discussing the variance and complexity of liberalism’s definition, in his paper ‘The End of History?’. Francis Fukuyama, ‘The End of History?’, The National Interest, 16 (Center for the National Interest, 1989) p. 3, <http://www.jstor.org/stable/24027184> (Accessed 18/07/18). Both articles serve to shore up ideological support for neoliberal market democracy, which was and remains the dominant form of liberalism present in the West, and both do so through simplification of liberal values and the history of liberalism. However, Bell’s synthesis of liberalisms demonstrates that the term has been applied to the federal project-led semi-capitalism of Roosevelt and the chattel slavery of post-War of Independence America alongside modern market capitalism, and is likewise subject to gross misuse such as when ‘American ultra-conservatives conflate liberalism with both fascism and Marxism’ despite their actual upholding of neo-classical economics and libertarian social policy. Bell, ‘What is Liberalism?’, pp. 690-2. Liberalism is thus left in a constant state of flux as its definitions vary wildly between those employed by various political theorists and policy institutes, those held in common understanding between lay people, and the forms of liberalism which are actually represented in executive and judicial branches of ‘liberal’ governments. Due to this and the relative lack of expertise held by many doom metal musicians in political theory, questioning the tenets of liberalism is a topic rarely broached within the genre, even though artists often claim to support escaping from social norms and rebelling against traditional authority and hierarchy. This arguably demonstrates a level of complicity toward neoliberal establishments that is not present in more directly anti-authoritarian music genres such as hardcore punk, which have included Marxist and anarchist tendencies. Complicity also requires some further discussion in the context of Gramsci’s cultural hegemony. T. J. Jackson Lears, ‘The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities’, The American Historical Review, 90:3, (Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 568. It is described by Lears as ‘subordinate groups participating in maintaining a symbolic universe, even if it serves to legitimate their domination’, which can encompass any aspect of culture. Ibid., p. 573. The neoliberal consensus that has dominated political thought (and much of broadcast media) in the West throughout the duration of doom metal’s existence has formed a hegemonic structure that enforces premises such as negative liberty being the acceptable version of freedom. For many doom metal musicians this has made advocating for transformative political change difficult, as without understanding of political theory they may lack the expressive tools to make such critiques. In addition, until recently many bands have required the support of market capitalism in order to transform their artistic intent into a viable livelihood and thus become economically complicit in the enforcement of negative liberty and neoliberalism, even if they hold objections to these systems. The move towards Bandcamp, the resurgence of vinyl and the rise of many independent record labels and metal festivals has somewhat mitigated this issue by establishing a more tangible connection between artist, fan and medium, whilst a combination of increased genre-fluidity and easily accessible information on political theory has seen a greater number of doom metal musicians making more complex and aggressive critiques of neoliberal society, in comparison to their predecessors. Hannah Ellis-Petersen, ‘Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high’, The Guardian, 3rd January 2017, <https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming> (Accessed 23/8/18). The pursuit of liberty The most noticeable political expression visible in doom metal imagery and lyrics is the pursuit of individual freedom, which is commonly juxtaposed against a controlling or deceitful world. The form of freedom sought varies between artists, with some describing a transformative process leading to liberty (which appears to fall under the definition of positive liberty) whilst others describe freedoms typically associated with negative liberty. Doom metal musicians often position themselves as aspiring to escape from the means of social control, which fits with the genre’s interest in escapism more generally, as well as more general anti-establishment narratives delivered within alternative popular music. In doom metal lyrics and album artworks, freedom is achieved in a variety of ways including drug use, embarking on creative projects and eschewing normative working life (echoing the aspirations of the musicians themselves), driving away from society into wilderness as a literal form of uninhibited escape, or accelerationist and fantastical motifs such as interstellar travel. These methods are often contrasted with a deterministic viewpoint that despite one’s striving for freedom, it may be impossible or illusory: this is the ‘doom’ of doom metal. The first doom metal song that openly mentions a desire for liberty is Black Sabbath’s 1971 track Into the Void, which describes ‘Freedom fighters sent out to the sun’ who travel through space before finding ‘a world unknown/Where the sons of freedom make their home.’ Black Sabbath, ‘Into the Void’, in Master of Reality (Vertigo, 1971). In the same stroke, the band also provided a model for future doom metal bands to develop their own narratives based on space fantasy such as Deltanaut, whose eponymous 2018 release includes the line ‘a place beyond the stars/To cast aside these chains that make us what we are.’ Black Sabbath had previously explored sci-fi themes in their 1970 song Planet Caravan which describes a journey through ‘endless skies’ with the narrator’s lover. The freedom offered in Planet Caravan is represented through the ability to travel endlessly that the characters enjoy, ignoring the financial and technological restrictions that would prevent such a journey in the twentieth or twenty-first centuries. Album artworks from bands such as Enos, Shepherd and Sleep continue these accelerationist themes into the present day, continuing to reflect a yearning on the part of doom metal musicians to escape normative society in a literal, spatial sense. Clockwise from top-left: Enos, All Too Human; Shepherd, Stereolithic Riffocalypse; Slabdragger, Rise of the Dawncrusher; Sleep, The Sciences. On Black Sabbath’s fourth album (released a year after Into the Void), the final track Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes decries those who would ‘interfere with your mind’ and states that ‘I wanna live my life with no people telling me what to do’. Black Sabbath, ‘Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes’, in Vol. 4, (Vertigo, 1972). The song also attacks religious dogma and placing trust in others, with the ultimate advice being ‘Just live your life and leave them all behind’. The song advocates an extreme form of negative freedom that borders on solipsism, as Osbourne sings ‘I just believe in myself because no one else is true…Just believe in yourself’, although another lyric in the last verse states ‘So believe what I tell you’, which appears to contradict the song’s appeal to self-direction and introduces a layer of irony to the song, indicating an element of self-awareness regarding the song’s extreme position. Two months prior to the song’s release as part of Volume 4, Ozzy argued that ‘If you haven’t got your own mind and can’t do what you want, you’re not an individual, just part of a mass’, which bears strong similarities to the preceding lyrics whilst authenticating the band’s libertarian advocacy. Harold Bronson, ‘The Wit & Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne or For the Best Coke Call Black Sabbath’, UCLA Daily Bruin, 30th June 1972, <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-wit--wisdom-of-ozzy-osbourne-or-for-the-best-coke-call-black-sabbath> (Accessed 17/08/18). Although Black Sabbath approached the pursuit of freedom in different ways, there is a consistent division established between the narrator (and by extension the listener, acting as a confidante) and the outside society, which is described as being ‘brainwashed’, ‘hateful’ and ‘empty’. In Metal Rules the Globe, the authors argue that this relationship stems from rapid globalisation of ‘neoliberal, ‘free market’ capitalism’, causing people to ‘retreat into individuated identities, dividing the world into rigid dichotomies.’ Jeremy Wallach, Harris M. Berger, Paul D. Greene, ‘Affective overdrive, scene dynamics, and identity in the global metal scene’, in Metal Rules The Globe, ed. Wallach, Berger and Greene, (Duke University Press, 2011) pp. 5-7. In 1982 Pentagram composed You’re Lost I’m Free, which similarly establishes a dichotomy between the song’s narrator pursuing or possessing freedom and their incumbent society which contains ‘fairy tales’ that prevent agents from achieving freedom through illusion and deception. Pentagram, ‘You’re Lost I’m Free’, in Relentless, (Pentagram, 1982). While You’re Lost I’m Free merely describes those being addressed as ‘lost’ and the narrator as being ‘free’ and Under the Sun emphasises self-directed freedom, Into the Void describes a transformative process that leads to freedom via space travel, reflecting a form of positive liberty. The diversity of freedoms advocated by early doom metal bands indicates that the genre did serve as a vehicle for critique, but was not bound to a particular ideology. Indeed, Ozzy Osbourne stated in a 1970 interview that ‘we’re not a political band, it’s just that most of our songs have messages’, suggesting that when Black Sabbath made social commentaries they emerged intuitively, rather than deriving from a theoretical basis. Richard Green, ‘Black Sabbath win struggle against Black Magic tag’, NME, 26th September 1970, (London: IPC), <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/black-sabbath-win-struggle-against-black-magic-tag> (Accessed 17/08/18). The band’s lack of experience in critical theory may have also contributed to this approach toward social critique, alongside a potential unwillingness for the band members to identify themselves with radical politics given the reputation of the pacifist-Marxist hippie movement and the New Left which followed. In the early 1970s with the Heath government in power and Black Sabbath signing to Vertigo (owned jointly by conglomerate firms Philips and Siemens as part of Polygram Records); making strident ideological criticism may have been seen as a dangerous career move. In the twenty-first century, the model of a deceptive ‘them’ and a truthful ‘us’ has been extended and developed upon by bands such as Pallbearer. On their 2012 track An Offering of Grief, Brett Campbell sings ‘In this harsh world of deception, I will stand up once more/ And find within myself the strength to stumble again.’ Pallbearer, ‘An Offering of Grief’, in Sorrow and Extinction, (Profound Lore, 2012). Although the narrator is still pursuing liberty and agency, they acknowledge the potential for personal failure in doing so, but still would clearly prefer to be free to make mistakes, rather than be deceived by society regarding their agency. Other discursive models have also emerged, such as Thou’s 2014 track Free Will, which argues that ‘there is only this moment’ in which to embrace liberty and revelry through ‘sweet, reckless action’, but does not offer any freedom in the longer term and in fact decries ‘useless philosophy, theory and poetry’. Thou, ‘Free Will’, in Heathen, (Gilead Media, 2014). By restricting the possibility of liberty to a single cathartic moment, Thou are implying that the ability of agents to achieve permanent or transformative freedom is far less likely than other doom metal artists have suggested. In drone metal, a genre that coalesced after the ‘End of History’ in the 1990s, the absence of lyrics has been described by Coggins as ‘ineffability…[it] resists musical structuring and, by extension, resists language as an analogue of that structure.’ Owen Coggins, Mysticism, Ritual and Religion in Drone Metal, (London: Bloomsbury, 2018), pp. 68-70. Instead of making any form of lyrical commentary, artists such as Sunn O))), Earth and Bong focus entirely on delivering soundscapes that have to ‘be experienced rather than understood’, circumventing the need for discourse by eschewing language; note the use of negative space in the artworks below. Coggins compares this self-obfuscation to blackletter font in an article discussing ‘metaphors for the inaccessible’ and draws them together through their relation to mysticism. Owen Coggins, ‘Unstable Metaphors for the Inaccessible: Mysticism, Blackletter, Drone Metal’, in Sustain//Decay, ed. Owen Coggins and James Harris (Void Front Press, 2017), <https://www.academia.edu/35723716/Unstable_Metaphors_for_the_Inaccessible_Mysticism_Blackletter_Drone_Metal> (Accessed 24/08/2018). Heavy metal has often used blackletter fonts and mystic symbolism as part of the genre’s aesthetic, in part because it enables artists to forgo ‘worldly’ discourses in favour of those surrounding the ancient and arcane. In the context of drone metal particularly, this seems to be a more advanced iteration of the resignation espoused by doom metal musicians; more than admitting there are greater powers that seem unchangeable in the face of a single person’s agency, lyric-less drone metal falls short of making any type of comment, implying that even the agency to speak has been removed. Left-right: Sunn O))), ØØ Void; Earth, Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version. The use of psychedelics by musicians is often described as a means to achieve a form of artistic freedom by accessing novel modes of thought, echoing writers such as Aldous Huxley and reflecting contemporary psychedelic advocates such as Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, who ran the infamous Electric Acid Tests. Victor Kennedy, Strange Brew: Metaphors of Magic and Science in Rock Music, (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), pp. 55-6. Doom metal has long had an association with drug use originating with Black Sabbath’s Sweet Leaf, which is an ode to cannabis wherein Ozzy proclaims ‘My life is free now, my life is clear’ following using the drug. Black Sabbath, ‘Sweet Leaf’, in Master of Reality, (Vertigo, 1971). Although Black Sabbath may have wished to avoid identifying themselves with a political movement as mentioned above, referring to drug use in music was actually less controversial by the early 1970s due to the success of psychedelic rock with major artists such as The Beatles, Cream and the Grateful Dead. However, the band were not wholly pro-drug use, and on their second album Paranoid they included two songs which explicitly warn against abusing drugs, Hand of Doom and Fairies Wear Boots. Tony Iommi also avoided mentioning a connection between the band and drug use in a 1972 interview; when questioned about their dedication to the ‘COKE-Cola Company’ on the liner notes for their fourth album, he said ‘You can take that Coke thing two ways. We did an advert for Coca Cola for the TV. I don't want to say more than that actually. It can be taken two ways.’ Charles Shaar Murray, ‘Black Sabbath: Satan, The Bomb And Geezer's Dreams’ in NME, 28th October 1972 (London: IPC), <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/black-sabbath-satan-the-bomb-and-geezers-dreams> (Accessed 24/08/18). As it is now known that the band consumed more cocaine during the production of Vol. 4 than the cost of recording the album (£80,000 not adjusted for inflation), Iommi’s statements can be seen as an attempt to maintain his public image as a respectable musician, at the cost of his own freedom of expression and agency. Terry ‘Geezer’ Butler, in Heavy Metal Britannia, dir. Chris Rodley, (BBC4, 7th March 2010), <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpVVicUuQ8> (Accessed 24/08/18). In the 1980s, White Stallions by Saint Vitus proclaimed that the titular stallions (a metaphor for cocaine) ‘Took me to the promised land/Where everything is free’, whilst Witchfinder General titled a song entirely about using various drugs Free Country. Saint Vitus, ‘White Stallions’, in Hallow’s Victim, (SST, 1985); Witchfinder General, ‘Free Country’, in Death Penalty, (Heavy Metal, 1982). However, these discussions of drugs were confined to lyrics rather than explicated in album artworks, in the era of D.A.R.E, the PMRC hearings and moral panics centred on Satanism, with heavy metal often being linked to its practice. However, by the early 1990s ‘stoner metal’ had emerged as a discrete subgenre within doom metal, which combined the colourful and fantastical imagery of 1960s psychedelic and progressive rock with the leaden tones of doom metal. The genre emerged at a similar period to the Second Summer of Love of 1989, and the notion that drugs such as MDMA could be used as a tool to spread freedom and community-building as well as a form of social rebellion was gaining traction within a counterculture that was responding to the morally conservative attitudes of the Thatcher and Reagan eras. Monster Magnet’s 1991 track Spine of God summed up this outlook with the line ‘My mind is so free… Peace is what you get from the Chemical King’. Monster Magnet, ‘Spine of God’, in Spine of God, (Caroline, 1991). Electric Wizard’s Dopethrone posits that the sounds of doom metal combined with cannabis use could be used for liberation with the line ‘Vision through THC/Holy feedback, it will free’, whilst Sleep’s stoner metal epic Dopesmoker refers to marijuana as ‘freedomseed’, which suggests that potential liberty is held inside the plant and could be unlocked through its use. Electric Wizard, ‘Dopethrone’, in Dopethrone, (Rise Above, 2000); Sleep, Dopesmoker, (Rise Above, 1999). Left-right: Monster Magnet, Spine of God; Sleep, Dopesmoker. Although psychedelic drugs have been advocated by many doom metal musicians as a means of achieving personal and artistic freedom, there are factors which complicate such beliefs. Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, the punk musician who arguably defined the ‘straight-edge’ movement within punk, describes drug use as ‘a rather inert form of rebellion because you’re neutralising yourself’ instead of dissenting through direct action. Ian MacKaye, in Daniel Dylan Wray, ‘Ian MacKaye doesn’t do many interviews, but this is one of his most enlightening’, Loud and Quiet, 66, (loudandquiet.com, 6th May 2015), <https://www.loudandquiet.com/interview/ian-mackaye-dischord/> (Accessed 30/08/2018). For musicians such as MacKaye, one’s freedom is actually reduced through drug use instead of expanded, although he speaks from within a genre that places the onus upon positive instead of negative liberty which is a marked difference from doom metal. Sludge metal group Eyehategod demonstrate the negative aspects of drug abuse with lyrics such as ‘Through chemicals and meditation/I find myself/Denying society and the laws of undoing/Our temple of denial’ and an album named Dopesick. Eyehategod, ‘Pigs’, in In the Name of Suffering, (Intellectual Convulsion, 1990). Far from glorifying drug use, the band’s violent and explicit imagery and sound attempt to convey a grim reality where drug use fails to change the narrator for the better, instead using chemicals as a means of coping. However, Eyehategod are almost alone in such statements within doom metal, thus limiting their impact. Moreover, by purchasing and using illicit drugs doom metal musicians are still engaged in a neoliberal system which often rests on an exploitative and criminal supply chain. Bongzilla’s track Prohibition (4th Amendment) cites the titular amendment in full as its refrain, whilst the verses list various cannabis strains, which reflects home-growing culture in the United States; this song was written before the recent changes in legislature in some states that have permitted personal cultivation. Bongzilla, ‘Prohibition (4th Amendment)’, in Stash, (Relapse, 1999). However, acquiring harder drugs such as cocaine is an implicitly unethical act due to the methods of creating, transporting and distributing the product. This leaves musicians who used cocaine such as Black Sabbath or Saint Vitus in a compromised position, whereby they promote the supposedly freedom-enhancing properties of drugs that are created through un-free and exploitative means, echoing their incumbent society which markets products that enhance agents’ negative freedom (such as mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo for coltan, used in smartphones) that are produced by exploiting the resources and labour of nations and people that are decidedly more limited in their ability to exercise such liberties. Another way in which doom metal has envisioned freedom is through imagery relating to driving, particularly in the American desert, giving rise to a subgenre of doom metal known as ‘desert rock’. This has been notably employed by bands such as Clutch, Kyuss, Truckfighters and Fu Manchu, who use images of classic cars in their album artworks and lyrics to portray a version of negative freedom that borders on futurism. In many Fu Manchu songs the lyrical focus entirely rests on the narrator, his car (and the speeds achieved), drug use and meeting women, culminating in the lyric ‘I’m king of the road!’ in Seahag. Fu Manchu, ‘Seahag’, in In Search Of…, (Mammoth, 1996). This sentiment evokes a form of ‘manifest destiny’ whereby the driver is in control of the vehicle, his substance use and relationships, with the demonstration of agency deriving from one’s ability to expend available resources. However, although the agent in question may feel that they are free to do as they please they are still bound to neoliberal ideals through their use of consumer goods both legal and illicit, and their unwillingness to transform their surrounding society. This leads to the conclusion that the more resources one is able to expend the more ‘free’ one has become, albeit viewed primarily within the bounds of negative liberty. Interestingly, desert rock has found favour in Europe with bands such as Greece’s 1000Mods and Sweden’s Truckfighters adopting its aesthetic tropes, such as fast cars and scantily-clad women. This appears to indicate the dominance of American aesthetics outside of its borders, to the extent that even cultural apparatus considered to be rebellious such as metal music is still reliant on a cultural hegemon for inspiration. Left-right: 1000Mods, Super Van Vacation; Fu Manchu, In Search Of…. Use of desert imagery can also be seen as a continuation of the more general American fascination with the Old West, traditionally envisioned as a place where individual freedom was unabated. This imagery also encompasses that of the semi-heroic Western outlaw, developed in American culture through films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the subgenre of outlaw country. Kyuss’ track Freedom Run reflects this portrayal, with the narrator claiming that they ‘Walked hundreds of miles of desert sun… I’ll break through/I’ll steal for you’. Kyuss, ‘Freedom Run’, in Blues for the Red Sun, (Dali, 1992). Bongzilla’s Stone a Pig combines outlaw imagery with psychedelia in the lyric ‘Runnin’ fast and flying free/We just wanna get stoned/Twenty-four more days to go/Texas justice is chasin’ me’, which further emphasises the supposedly rebellious nature of psychedelic use whilst linking it to the image of the American outlaw. Bongzilla, ‘Stone a Pig’, in Gateway, (Relapse, 2002). Although the narrators’ self-portrayal is that of a lone wanderer, in order for them to make a literary recording of their story through music the narrator implicitly must return to society, specifically one that affords modern recording equipment and the apparatus of record label distribution. In this way, these musicians are following the patterns of the Hero’s Journey investigated by Campbell, wherein the hero must make a return to normative society in order to report their adventures. Joseph Campbell, ‘Monomyth (hero's quest or journey)’, Salem Press Encyclopedia (EBSCO Publishing, 2014), Research Starters, EBSCOhost.org (accessed August 30, 2018). By focusing so prominently on negative liberty (the form of freedom endorsed by neoliberal discourse) rather than advocating social change, these musicians are revealed as perhaps more ideologically conformist than their public images as transgressive outlaws would initially suggest. Some artists even border on performative and ironic uses of these tropes, such as Bongzilla’s Amerijuanican, which deliberately conflates symbols of American heroism (the flag, national anthem and military personnel) with cannabis use. However, the majority of such artists maintain authenticity in their explorations of negative liberty, consistently returning to outlaw aesthetics without irony. Left-right: Bongzilla, Amerijuanican; Bort, Crossing the Desert. The varied appeals to liberty made by doom metal musicians are contrasted with a deterministic and resigned tone that pervades other songs, and is arguably the basis for the genre’s name. Black Sabbath’s eponymous song, the track that incorporated the infamously dissonant tritone as its main riff and inspired scores of musicians to explore darker tonalities, describes a nightmare experienced by bassist ‘Geezer’ Butler involving a ‘figure in black which points at me’. When the narrator ‘Find[s] out I’m the chosen one’ and despairs with the following line ‘Oh please God help me’, the band introduced concepts which have become common in doom metal; great and unknowable power (often represented by fantasy monsters, gods or aliens), and a resignation to one’s fate which is often in thrall to this power, accompanied by the knowledge that one’s agency will be limited by this greater being. Black Sabbath, ‘Black Sabbath’, in Black Sabbath (Vertigo, 1970). This is particularly demonstrated by the genre’s abiding interest in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos, which derives its horror not only from lurid descriptions of the Great Old Ones, but also from the insignificance of human action or knowledge in the face of these beings and their powers. David Burke, Esoteric Symbolism in Doom Metal... p. 14. On Pallbearer’s 2014 track The Ghost I Used to Be the narrator is ‘Accepting fate…No paths I see now…And with a spectral breath I’m begging to be freed.’ Pallbearer, ‘The Ghost I Used to Be’, in Foundations of Burden, (Profound Lore, 2014). These lyrics explore the apparently total hegemony that has come to characterise neoliberalism, wherein the ‘End of History’ has come to dominate collective narratives to the extent that genuine political change seems far-fetched, and thus total liberty remains elusive. Challenges to the neoliberal order have only re-emerged in the past few years, with the rise of authoritarian nationalists such as Donald Trump on the right wing, and a revival of socialism emanating from the left in the form of Jeremy Corbyn or Bernie Sanders. These resurgences from opposing ideological wings have been met with stiff resistance from advocates of neoliberalism, such as Tony Blair’s repeated calls for the founding of a centrist party that he claims would offer ‘an acceptable choice’ to the swing voters who were critical to New Labour’s victories in 1997 and 2001. Tony Blair, in Jim Pickard and Henry Mance, ‘Tony Blair hints at creation of UK centrist party’, Financial Times, (London: FT.com, 7th September 2018) <https://www.ft.com/content/24237acc-b270-11e8-8d14-6f049d06439c> (Accessed 8/09/2018). In doom metal there are a greater number of artists who advocate for negative liberty, with those arguing for positive liberty re-emerging relatively recently. This suggests that the genre has absorbed a semblance of the larger ideological zeitgeist. Social and political criticism Although doom metal’s artists often focus on escaping society and attaining some greater degree of agency or liberty, there also exists a tacit understanding that one cannot escape the neoliberal conditions that control much of the industrialised modern world. This has resulted in many artists developing lyrical material which is despondent, angry or grieving, but stops short of identifying the specific cause of the narrator’s negative emotional responses. A passing example would be Cough’s Crippled Wizard which describes ‘A once immortal reduced to ash/Broken throne/Dying alone’, which avoids linking the darkness envisioned in the lyrics to a real-world institution or event in favour of using allegory, in the process removing the writer’s own perspective from the work. Cough, ‘Crippled Wizard’, in Ritual Abuse, (Relapse, 2010). This means that many songs’ intended meanings become subject to conjecture, making them more flexible for doom listeners who can apply the lyrics to their own experiences whilst limiting the potential for said songs to function as social critique. Other artists such as Melvins use assemblages of phrases that border on nonsensical, using the sounds of the words to complement the instrumentation rather than using language for its traditional function of transmitting meaning. Melvins, ‘Hooch’, in Houdini, (Atlantic, 1993). This is arguably an evasive manoeuvre that allows the band to refrain from making any form of critical statement within their work. However, there also exists a group of doom metal artists who have developed overt commentaries on the societies around them, often in bald, confrontational terms that cross over into the lyrical style of punk musicians. The focus of these commentaries often rests on social structures and class friction, pointing out inequalities that exist within industrial society and criticising the powerful and wealthy for their privilege. Another recurrent topic is criticism of warfare and the military-industrial complex, a theme that has been more commonly associated with the thrash subgenre popular in the mid-1980s. Perhaps the most prominent theme discussed by doom metal artists is that of social exclusion, whereby aspects of the narrator’s society are critiqued in reference to their ostracization from normative life and their inability (or unwillingness) to conform. This theme has existed as part of the genre since Black Sabbath’s second album Paranoid which includes several songs to this effect, most notably Iron Man, which is one of doom metal’s best-recognised tracks amongst wider audiences. The song describes a figure who travels forward in time ‘for the future of mankind’ but upon his return ‘nobody wants him/they just turn their heads.’ Black Sabbath, ‘Iron Man’, in Paranoid, (Vertigo, 1970). By emphasising the moral duty that the iron man performs and his subsequent ostracization, Black Sabbath again reinforce the dichotomy of a protagonist or narrator that possesses some degree of higher knowledge that may benefit society, against a wilfully ignorant or deceitful ‘them’. Unlike the examples of Black Sabbath lyrics used in the previous section however, in Iron Man there is no mention of subsequent liberty; instead there are threats of ‘vengeance’ upon the ‘people he once saved’, a retribution in response for his social exclusion and the failure of society to heed his warnings. Whilst this hints at a social conscience present in Black Sabbath that amounts to a form of direct action, albeit in a fantastical fashion, Tony Iommi claimed in a 1971 interview that ‘We haven't got the power to try and direct people in politics or anything else… [these songs] are just our opinions.’ Tony Iommi, in Richard Green, ‘Black Sabbath: Simple and Basic’, Hit Parader (Charlton Publications, July 1971), <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/black-sabbath-simple-and-basic> (Accessed 5/09/2018). However, Iommi was not the lyricist for the group and thus his statement requires further interrogation. His more professional background as a guitarist (he had successfully auditioned for Jethro Tull prior to joining Black Sabbath) compared to the other band members may have caused this attempt to limit the critical potential of the band’s early work. Tellingly, in a 1973 interview he agrees with the interviewer that he is a ‘capitalist’ who ‘does not even see the need to apologise for being rich and successful.’ Tony Iommi, in Keith Altham, ‘Black Sabbath: Sabbath Days of Rest’, NME, 1st September 1973 (London: IPC), <https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/black-sabbath-sabbath-days-of-rest> (Accessed 7/09/2018). Contrasting this with Ozzy Osbourne’s statement that ‘most of our songs have messages’, Iommi comes across as disinterested in social commentary entirely and willing to downplay controversy in order to maintain his personal credibility as a musician, which is also reflected in the increasingly progressive style and complex instrumentation of Black Sabbath’s albums in the mid-to-late 1970s, and his eventual commandeering of the band’s name and rights following the departure of Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward. Saint Vitus’ Born Too Late describes social exclusion as applied to the heavy metal subculture itself, with lines referring to ‘my length of hair/and the out-of-date clothes I wear’, but the chorus lyric ‘I will never be like you’ cuts to the core of the issue. Saint Vitus, ‘Born too Late’, in Born too Late, (SST, 1986). The metal subculture has been repeatedly described as a safe haven for disenfranchised youth who are unable to conform to the norms of industrialised societies, offering a sense of community and ‘protecting themselves from social threats to their mental health and wellbeing’ that manifest within normalised discourses such as schools and places of employment. Paula Rowe, ‘Becoming metal: narrative reflections on the early formation and embodiment of heavy metal identities’, Journal of Youth Studies, 20:6 (Routledge, 2017) p. 713. In this way songs like Born Too Late which celebrate aspects of the metal subculture carry the potential for infrapolitical resistance; by belonging to a non-conformist community individuals are able to regain some degree of agency, to the point at which they can form critiques against hegemony. Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, (Routledge, 1979) p. 80; Viren Swami, ‘Metalheads: The Influence of Personality and Individual Differences on Preference for Heavy Metal’, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7:4, (APA, 2013), p. 381. In their use of outlaw imagery desert rock artists consciously identify themselves as outsiders, granting themselves the legitimacy to advocate for their supposedly uninhibited lifestyles. Barbarian by Electric Wizard includes a refrain which summarises this tension between normative social groups and those that come to identify with heavy metal subcultures; ‘You think you’re civilised, but you will never understand.’ Electric Wizard, ‘Barbarian’, in Dopethrone, (Rise Above, 2000). The notion of self-delusion also appears in this lyric, arguing that those who engage in normative social practice are denying some ‘true’ part of their identity. Doom metal musicians have also commented more directly upon the social structures that caused this tension, such as in Black Sabbath’s Wheels of Confusion, which describes how inequality is maintained in neoliberal society in its final verse: ‘So I found that life is just a game/But you know there's never been a winner/Try your hardest, you'll still be a loser/The world will still be turning when you're gone.’ Black Sabbath, ‘Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener’, in Vol. 4, (Vertigo, 1972). Harrison adds that ‘the last lines speak of the constant nature of modernity which disregards those that cannot contribute’ within proscribed boundaries of economic output and social conformity, whilst the metal subculture offers those that fall outside of these boundaries a communal experience they may otherwise have been unable to access. Leigh Michael Harrison, ‘Factory Music: How The Industrial Geography and Working-Class Environment of Post-War Birmingham Fostered the Birth of Heavy Metal’, in Journal of Social History, 44:1, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 149. Witchfinder General describes this on Invisible Hate, with the narrator firstly identifying socio-economic inequality with the lyric ‘Economy it fills my mind/I don't know where to turn/The laws, the rights, the outta sights/You know they all should burn’, but describes their feeling toward this injustice as ‘invisible hate’, which reflects an inability to advocate social change due to ‘People saying…that’s none of my concern’. Witchfinder General, ‘Invisible Hate’, in Death Penalty, (Heavy Metal, 1982). Both of the above examples display an intuitive grasp of Marxist dialectics insofar as understanding that one’s material conditions determine socioeconomic reality, and that wholesale revolution (represented as ‘burn’ing by Witchfinder General) is necessary to dismantle the systems that maintain these material conditions, despite the members of both bands lacking this surrounding theoretical knowledge. Other musicians that turn to doom metal as their preferred medium take influence from other popular genres, with punk being a notable crossover point. The punk and metal scenes merged regularly in the 1980s with bands such as Saint Vitus being signed to SST, the independent label founded by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn, although the band’s sound and outlook were wholly derived from heavy metal aesthetics. Both doom metal and hardcore punk remained relatively independent throughout the decade, unlike other subgenres of metal which received major label attention, and this ensured that doom metal musicians maintained their outsider status until the early 1990s, when stoner rock had a brief moment of mainstream popularity in the wake of grunge’s meteoric success. Sleep’s earliest release Volume 1 includes a track entitled The Suffering, which details the ‘pain inside my head [which] tries to control my life’ discussed by Lears in his analysis of Gramsci’s understanding of complicity. Sleep, ‘The Suffering’, in Volume 1, (Tupelo, 1991); T. J. Jackson Lears, ‘The Concept of Cultural Hegemony’… p. 569. Other bands such as Corrosion of Conformity and Neurosis originated as hardcore punk groups before gravitating toward a slower and denser sound. Corrosion of Conformity’s fifth album Wiseblood includes tracks such as Long Whip/Big America, which combine the sonic palettes of stoner rock and doom metal with a lyrical sensibility closer to punk in lines such as ‘some D.C. suit trying to break away, said he lost another million… good thing he knows his bible.’ Corrosion of Conformity, ‘Long Whip/Big America’, in Wiseblood, (Columbia, 1996). On Thou’s 2008 track The Work Ethic Myth, the sludge metal band describe the ways in which economic inequality is perpetuated in stark and specific terms: ‘We have paved the roads that have led to our own oppression. Fear of the unknown, of rejection, has put brutes and villains in power…We are the accomplice class: footstools for our masters, spineless bastards all.’ Thou, ‘The Work Ethic Myth’, in Peasant, (Autopsy Kitchen, 2008). Singer Bryan Funck has stated that the band ‘all come from punk’ backgrounds rather than originally identifying within metal subcultures, resulting in a less allegorical lyrical style that uses a more accusative tone on some of their songs. Bryan Funck, in Sean Reveron, ‘Heathen! An in-depth interview with Bryan Funck of Thou’, CVLTNation.com, (6th February 2017), <https://www.cvltnation.com/heathen-depth-interview-bryan-funck-thou/> (Accessed 6/09/2018). On their 2009 song Don’t Vote the lyrics discuss a perceived lack of difference between Republicans and Democrats, arguing that ‘their party line separation is a phantasm haunting reason’, and that ‘there won’t be any change’ as a consequence of new elected representatives; this line suggests a suspicion of Barack Obama’s then newly-instated administration as continuing the neoliberal economic policies of their predecessors, instead of tackling economic inequality directly. Thou, ‘Don’t Vote’, in Degradation of Human Life, (Feast of Tentacles, 2009). The band’s ire is thus directed at systemic socio-economic oppression which cannot be removed through ordinary democratic processes, leading them to instead advocate for direct action, claiming that ‘we will aim our rifles and fire at every statesman.’ Primitive Man are another example of this doom-punk crossover who employ a blunt lyrical style to identify social issues in layman’s terms instead of using allegory, and like Thou their stance is decidedly against neoliberal capitalism. On Commerce they describe ‘socio-economic slavery…a system meant to fail us…paycheck to paycheck/Your essence is dead but slavery is forever’, which focuses the sentiment of Wheels of Confusion into more incisive and tangible grievances. Primitive Man, ‘Commerce’, in Caustic, (Relapse, 2017). Another song argues for the existence of ‘the poor man’s burden…control them with financial suffering.’ Primitive Man, ‘Inevitable’, in Caustic, (Relapse, 2017). Both Thou and Primitive Man display a more attuned understanding of the mechanisms that maintain socio-economic inequality than the doom metal musicians of an older generation mentioned above. This more complex knowledge can be ascribed both to their punk backgrounds where discussions of class and economics are more prevalent than in metal circles, and to the comparative ease of accessing information in the twenty-first century in contrast to the twentieth as a result of affordable computers and internet. The band has also approached racial inequality in their music, which is derived from the singer’s own mixed-race background and experiences. Ethan McCarthy, in Vince Bellino, ‘Track Premiere & Interview: Primitive Man – “Commerce”’, Decibel, (Decibelmagazine.com, 7th September 2017), <https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2017/09/07/track-premiere-interview-primitive-man-commerce/> (Accessed 7/09/2018). On their track Disfigured Ethan McCarthy proclaims ‘Great grandmother a slave/Though light-skinned/I will never be free…Eviscerated by race relations’, which explores a different form of tension to that experienced by the majority of heavy metal fans, who are predominantly of European descent in the industrialised West. Deena Weinstein, Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture, (Da Capo Press, 2000) p. 99. Primitive Man, Caustic. Following from the pacifist attitude of the hippie movement, doom metal bands have also protested against warfare and criticised how those in power often exploit working-class labour in military conflict. The most famous example of this is Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, which overtly describes this relationship: ‘Politicians hide themselves away/They only started the war/Why should they go out to fight?/They leave that role to the poor.’ Black Sabbath, ‘War Pigs’, in Paranoid, (Vertigo, 1970). As with Wheels of Confusion, lyricist Butler demonstrates a socio-political awareness that is based in class conflict, between those who ‘treat people just like pawns in chess’ and the proletariat who are coerced through their poor economic standing to serve this elite. Butler stated in a 2010 interview that he defined ‘War Pigs’ as ‘ the real Satanists: all these people who are running the banks and the world, and trying to get the working class to fight their wars for them.’ Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler, in ‘Paranoid’, Classic Albums, dir. Matthew Longfellow, (BBC & Isis Productions, 1st May 2010). On the same album, the track Hand of Doom focuses on heroin abuse by American soldiers in Vietnam, but also describes how soldiers underwent a process of ‘disillusioning’ during tours of duty, leading them to adopt drug use as a way to escape ‘the bomb/Vietnam, napalm’. Black Sabbath, ‘Hand of Doom’, in Paranoid, (Vertigo, 1970). In the 1980s Saint Vitus claimed that War is our Destiny, describing a period of increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union with lines including ‘These men…are like you and me/The only thing that’s different/Is their destiny.’ Saint Vitus, ‘War is our Destiny’, in Hallow’s Victim, (SST, 1985). The song also focuses on how advancements in technology have enabled increased destructive power on both sides, and acknowledges that in the event of the Cold War escalating into military conflict ‘we’re all sucked into this unholy curse.’ M. Selim Yavuz has discussed how death-doom bands such as Anathema have included anti-war sentiments in their work in the form of lamenting the death of soldiers. M. Selim Yavuz, ‘‘Golden Hatred’: anti-war sentiment and transgression in death doom metal’, Metal and Politics Conference (Bournemouth University, 9th June 2016), <https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:12969/> (Accessed 11/09/18), p. 3. This arguably takes a more passive stance towards military conflict than that of bands such as Black Sabbath or High on Fire, whose Rumors of War attacks the ‘tyrant’ responsible for ‘sacrificing sons and daughters’; these tracks are more obviously critical of the power structures that enable large-scale military conflict to occur. High on Fire, ‘Rumors of War’, in Death is this Communion, (Relapse, 2007). Yavuz argues that this passivity is reflected in fans’ understanding of death-doom music, with ’83% of participants mentioning lyrics as a major factor’ driving their listening, but ‘none mentioned the anti-war themes’ presented. M. Selim Yavuz, ‘’Golden Hatred’…’ p. 5. It appears that death-doom artists may be merely employing the consequences of warfare as a portrayal of grief without attempting to form a social commentary to discuss its ethical implications, but even if this is untrue, any critiques made are being ignored by listeners. This likely stems from death-doom’s position as a subgenre ‘occupied with the darker spectrum of human emotion’ as opposed to one concerned with material conditions or fantastical narratives. M. Selim Yavuz, ‘“Delightfully depressing”: Death/doom metal music world and the emotional responses of the fan’, Metal Music Studies, 3:2, (Leeds: Intellect, 2017) p. 201. Left-right: High on Fire, Surrounded By Thieves; Black Sabbath, Paranoid. The various narratives shown above reveal some doom metal artists as having a strong critical voice that is demonstrable within their work. However, it must be noted that such artists form a relative minority within the genre as a whole, with a far greater number indulging in escapist and fantastical themes over making social comment. Furthermore, the most vehement critics developed their tone within punk subcultures before moving into heavy metal and thus arguably form a subgenre within doom. These bands are also relative newcomers to the genre, with Thou and Primitive Man’s discographies mainly residing within the 2010s. This can be seen to show a resistant strain within heavy metal following the economic downturn of the late 2000s and increased awareness of wealth inequality, combined with greater cross-genre collaboration within extreme music. Nihilism and environmentalism Violent and shocking imagery is commonly used by doom metal musicians to convey the fatalism that underpins the feeling of being ‘doomed’ and this fascination with the extremities of the human condition has manifested in a variety of ways, most notably nuclear devastation. This arguably reflects a nihilistic tendency within the genre derived from the artists’ feelings of social exclusion as discussed above. This section will discuss this tendency toward describing brutal and horrifying events which are often inflicted indiscriminately upon humanity including nuclear warfare and serial murder, and contrast this fascination with what could be seen as its opposite; an interest in nurturing and respecting natural environments. This theme appears to take influence from the hippie movement of which stoner metal represents a dark inversion, relying on pagan imagery including mother goddesses, symbiosis and cyclical models of environmental death and rebirth. These narratives demonstrate that doom metal artists follow Walser’s ‘eclectic constructions of power’ but use source material that is by turns darker and more esoteric than that used by bands such as Iron Maiden, who were the subject of his analysis. Robert Walser, Running With the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1993) p. 168. Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral is the first example of such imagery in the genre, vividly describing the effects of a nuclear bomb from the broad scale (‘burning globe of obscene fire’) to the individual level (‘eyes melt into blood’). Black Sabbath, ‘Electric Funeral’, in Paranoid, (Vertigo, 1970). Although the group took influence from the anti-nuclear sentiments common amongst the hippie movement and the connected Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, rather than merely protesting the use of atomic weaponry they manifested their fascination with ‘the darker side of life’ in attempting to convey the consequences of the weapons’ use. Tony Iommi, in ‘Paranoid’, Classic Albums… Robert Walser notes that resurgences in the popularity of horror films tend to coincide ‘with periods of social strain or disorder’ as a reflexive means of commenting on these issues; Black Sabbath transmuted this tendency within film into music through their use of gory details and descriptions of a terrifying threat. Robert Walser, Running With the Devil… p. 161. However, the song offers no solution as to dismantling international nuclear programmes, or even a consoling sentiment on the eventual triumph of peace and love over war and hatred. This arguably forms the first foray into existential unease made by a doom metal artist, wherein agents are reconciled to living alongside dangerous aspects of society and knowing of their dangerous potential without the ability to alter circumstances. The imagery of widespread and irreparable destruction was repurposed by Electric Wizard on Funeralopolis, which ends with the phrase ‘nuclear warheads ready to strike/the world is so fucked, let’s end it tonight’ being screamed sixteen times over. Electric Wizard, ‘Funeralopolis’, in Dopethrone, (Rise Above, 2000). Rather than attempting to warn listeners about the dangers of nuclear devices the band makes a direct call for their use, following verses that claim the narrator was ‘condemned to die before I could breathe’, which directly attaches mortality to the feeling of doom that typifies the genre. Singer Jus Oborn has said ‘Trust nobody. Fuck everyone’ as a response to a question on the ‘single most important lesson’ he had learned during his career as a musician, which although potentially hyperbolic still carries a degree of authentic misanthropy. Jus Oborn, in Mike Liassides, ‘Interview with Electric Wizard’, (Doom-metal.com, 20th February 2018), <http://www.doom-metal.com/interviews.php?entry=1542> (Accessed 13/09/2018). This tendency towards extreme statements regarding one’s outsider status and ethical worldview was also identified by Deena Weinstein in her description of Black Sabbath as ‘the Milton of rock’n’roll… hyper-moralists’ who often used religious imagery as a way of portraying absolute evil. Deena Weinstein, in ‘Paranoid’, Classic Albums… Other bands such as Trouble actively promoted Christianity in their lyrics, such as an album titled Psalm 9, rather than choosing to (performatively or genuinely) utilise satanic imagery as was popular amongst other heavy metal bands of the early 1980s. Instead of moralising, Electric Wizard’s early records are replete with references to negative emotion, destructive behaviour and Lovecraftian monstrosities that ‘emit/Evil’s narcotic cyclopean pits’, in doing so extending Black Sabbath’s exploration of existentialism into a darker, nihilistic sentiment. Electric Wizard, ‘Weird Tales: Electric Frost/Golgotha/Altar of Melektaus’, in Dopethrone, (Rise Above, 2000). Other groups that have explored this tendency include Church of Misery, who wrote a series of songs documenting various serial killers, cult leaders and mass murderers. Their open fascination with the dark extremes of human nature is combined with the determinism of doom metal through their reliance on the past tense; instead of imagining a potential or imagined destruction of humanity or human life, the group uses historical examples of catastrophe and often uses the figure described as the narrator of the song, addressing their victims directly. Like Electric Wizard the band also stops short of offering moral opinions on the figures chosen for their songs in favour of describing their actions in vivid detail; in Where Evil Dwells (Richard Ramirez) the final line ‘Within us all evil dwells’ implicates all of humanity indiscriminately. Church of Misery, ‘Where Evil Dwells (Richard Ramirez)’, in Murder Company, (Man’s Ruin, 1999). By making sweeping negative generalisations about all humans instead of forming particular criticisms, bands like Church of Misery are emphasising the spectacular and performative aspects of violent misanthropy, giving the band a defined outsider status by association. Left-right: Electric Wizard, Dopethrone; Church of Misery, Master of Brutality. Dopethrone’s video for their single Killdozer is one of the most complex artefacts within doom metal that demonstrates a nihilistic streak. Dopethrone, ‘Killdozer’, in Transcanadian Anger, (Totem Cat, 2018), <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYfJuW282_I> (Accessed 14/09/2018). The name derives from the modified bulldozer used by Marvin Heemeyer to carve a swathe of destruction through the town of Granby, Colorado following a protracted zoning dispute which led to Heemeyer shooting himself once the ‘killdozer’ was unable to move further. In notes written before the event he rationalised his behaviour, saying ‘sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things’; his intentions combined with his actions suggest a striving to make some form of lasting difference to the people who he perceived as wronging him, through blunt and destructive means. Marvin Heemeyer, in Associated Press, ‘Rampager was surprised his plans went unnoticed’, Spokesman Review (Spokesmanreview.com, 10th June 2004), <https://web.archive.org/web/20120322014323/http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=9810> (Accessed 13/09/2018). The video also features a melange of public nudity, property destruction, brawling, drug use and mocking of police officers, often relying on CCTV footage or in-car cameras and shifting between clips every few seconds in a heightened imitation of the 24-hour news cycle. Describing the album Killdozer is taken from, singer Vincent Houde notes ‘Anger…misery…bad decisions in general’ as key influences, which certainly reflects a nihilistic and bleak outlook. Vincent Houde, in Vince Bellino, ‘Video Premiere & Interview: Dopethrone – ‘Killdozer’’, Decibel, (Decibelmagazine.com, 7th May 2018), <https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2018/05/07/track-premiere-interview-dopethrone-killdozer/> (Accessed 13/09/2018). The video appears to celebrate the random acts of violence and delinquency displayed, whilst also acknowledging their ultimate futility and meaninglessness as there is no clear narrative, nor any moral dichotomy established between authoritative forces and those revolting against authority. Instead, the video is an ‘eclectic construction’ of the most physical and vulgar forms of power. However, this dark narrative that explores the more depraved aspects of humanity is represented by a small number of bands within doom metal, who often take influence from other metal subgenres that explore these themes more frequently such as death metal. Their counterparts are bands that explore a positive relationship between humanity and the external world, manifested in a form of esoteric environmentalism that often uses cannabis as a form of sacrament. These groups often take influence from the aesthetic of the 1960s hippie movement and psychedelic rock, using bright colours and natural themes in their album artwork. The Sword’s High Country opens with the line ‘Brothers, sisters, listen closely to the Earth’, echoing the sentiments of ‘peace and love’ between living things as espoused during the Summer of Love; the song celebrates nature’s sublime aspects, describing how ‘clouds enshroud the mountainside’ but also mentions ‘raging storms/Dying just as fast as they are born.’ The Sword, ‘High Country’, in High Country, (Razor and Tie, 2015). This balancing of natural elements arguably represents a form of holism or ‘natural order’ whereby the various aspects of weather, flora and fauna are balanced together in a unified system. Gestation by Bongzilla refers to the earth as ‘she’ and describes a symbiotic relationship between a cannabis grower and their plants with the line ‘We’re going to reap what we sow… [The Earth] lets us grow what we grow.’ Bongzilla, ‘Gestation’, in Stash, (Relapse, 1999). This reveals a respect toward natural processes that is absent from the artists previously discussed, for whom the world is damaged by negative human intervention. On Salvation the group is more explicit in their condemnation of damage done to the environment; ‘Look at what we've done to our world/Rape and pillage her like criminals/We must change the wave of destruction/Or lose the glory of evolution.’ Bongzilla, ‘Salvation’, in Apogee, (Ritual, 2000). Spiritual Beggars deliver a similar warning against environmental destruction on Turn the Tide, asking ‘What did we do/To our paradise?’ after describing how ‘Mother nature’ is ‘bleeding dry… all because of human greed.’ Spiritual Beggars, ‘Turn the Tide’, in Earth Blues, (InsideOut, 2013). Rather than merely describing natural devastation however, they also call for action, to ‘do what’s right/Before we run out of time’, which counters any suggestion that the song is performative in its statements. Interestingly, the album art that Turn the Tide is taken from features a nuclear explosion, demonstrating that doom metal musicians have utilised its destructive properties in both critical and sensational senses. Left-right: Spiritual Beggars, Earth Blues; Spiritual Beggars, Sunrise to Sundown. Further criticisms of human action have been levelled by doom artists through a cycle of growth, death and rebirth. Cloud’s Deus Ex Machina is an instrumental concept album, but the band provides an extensive explanation of its sections on their Bandcamp profile. The album ‘focuses on the hubristic nature of mankind’ and charts the progress of a man-made apocalypse up to the final track, which is entitled ‘Neogenesis’, suggesting that once humanity has disappeared from the earth there will follow a process of new growth in new forms. Cloud, ‘Deus Ex Machina’, Bandcamp.com (cl0ud.bandcamp.com, 2018), <https://cl0ud.bandcamp.com/album/deus-ex-machina> (Accessed 14/09/2018). Corrosion of Conformity similarly describe ‘A humbled rebirth/The green Earth now remains free’ on their 2018 song The Luddite, advocating the destruction of ‘black industry’ that despoils natural environments. Corrosion of Conformity, ‘The Luddite’, in No Cross No Crown, (Nuclear Blast, 2018). By invoking the image of a cyclical process of rebirth as opposed to irreparable destruction, these groups are maintaining the possibility of reconciliation between industrialised societies and the natural environments upon which they have increasingly encroached. As seen in Bongzilla’s example cannabis use has been linked by doom metal artists to sentiments surrounding protecting and nurturing the natural environment. Other groups have elevated this connection to a spiritual level, mixing naturalistic imagery with occultist themes. Acrimony’s Tumuli Shroomaroom repeatedly uses mother goddess imagery combined with references to Celtic druidism, with lyrics describing a ‘Dancin’ mother, up in the sky/As old as time’ who ‘brought from afar/A race of blue people…they worshipped the stone.’ Acrimony, ‘Motherslug (The Mother of all Slugs)’ in Tumuli Shroomaroom, (Peaceville, 1997); Acrimony, ‘Hymns to the Stone’ in Tumuli Shroomaroom… They also repeatedly refer to forests and ‘the land’ alongside near-constant psychedelic imagery, demonstrating their affinity to the natural world in a shamanistic, cult-like fashion. This can also be seen in the lyrics to Dopesmoker by Sleep, which describes a procession of cannabis cultists across a fictionalised Levant and includes the lyric ‘Seed of Eden fall upon the nurtured soil.’ Sleep, Dopesmoker, (Rise Above, 1999). This line connects Abrahamic religious imagery to the process of natural growth whilst implying that ‘Eden’, the garden in which humans were innocent and pure, could be rediscovered through marijuana use. Like the destructive and violent strain of doom metal the environmentalist tendency also uses eclectic constructions of power, in a form more recognisable to Walser’s original analysis; historical and mythic themes have been bound together and recompiled into new pastiches which address a contemporary issue. Of particular note is the way in which environmentalist doom songs often discuss a cyclical process (growth/harvest/regrowth, death/rebirth) which contrasts against the finality of nihilistic doom. Indeed this offers listeners some hope that although they might be ‘doomed’ by their lack of agency and socio-economic status, by viewing themselves as a part of a holistic ‘natural order’ they can derive some sense of meaning in their lives outside of industrialised society. This also explains the use of esoteric and religious imagery, which was gradually displaced by scientific rationalism as a means of understanding complex processes such as those seen in nature. Although in this way doom metal musicians are arguably simplifying and potentially misconstruing environmental mechanisms, they do so in order to advocate for its conservation and a closer relationship between humanity and nature. Female representation and narratives In Sarah Kitteringham’s thesis discussing the treatment of women in extreme metal genres (including doom), she describes the genre as ‘somewhat exceptional when it comes to the number of women’ that hold active musical roles and notes that 1960s proto-metal band Coven included a female vocalist. Sarah Kitteringham, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses… p. 72. Her assessment of the genre is an overall positive one regarding female representation, especially when compared to the attitudes and tropes promulgated in mainstream metal circles, such as ‘hottest chicks in metal’ magazine articles. Kim Kelly, ‘The Never-Ending Debate Over Women in Metal and Hard Rock’, The Atlantic, (theatlantic.com, 3rd November 2011), <https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/the-never-ending-debate-over-women-in-metal-and-hard-rock/247795/> (Accessed 14/09/2018). Artists such as Rose Kemp and Chelsea Wolfe have become respected and successful within the genre, whilst a host of bands such as Blood Ceremony, Electric Wizard and Windhand (to name a few) have female members. However, unlike the grindcore scene which has recently seen a rise in explicitly feminist lyrical material from bands such as Olivia Neutered John, overt discussions of female empowerment are hard to find in doom metal. George Parr, ‘Olivia Neutered John: Fighting Injustices with Feminist Pornogrind’, Astral Noize, (astralnoizeuk.com, 12th February 2018), <https://astralnoizeuk.com/2018/02/12/olivia-neutered-john-fighting-injustices-with-feminist-pornogrind/> (Accessed 14/09/2018). This section will investigate the representation of women in the lyrics and artwork of doom bands and discuss groups that include female members, evaluating whether their inclusion constitutes resistance toward the male gaze. As mentioned there are a comparatively sizeable number of doom metal bands that incorporate female members, with some of the best-known groups including Electric Wizard and drone band Earth. Kitteringham suggests possible reasons for this high level of representation as being ‘the absence of misogynistic themes, or the genre’s affiliation with the self-empowering nature of occultism.’ Sarah Kitteringham, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses… p. 72. It is certainly true that much of doom metal forgoes sexually explicit lyrics from the male gaze as is common in glam metal or hard rock, and thus offers a more welcoming atmosphere. Moreover, Kitteringham argues that a cumulative process occurs; ‘the increased visibility and numbers of women on stage can be attributed to women being empowered by seeing other women performing live,’ which has led metal as a whole from an overwhelmingly male-dominated artistry to a position where all metal subgenres feature some number of female artists. Sarah Kitteringham, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses… p. 94. However, few bands that include female members discuss dismantling patriarchal institutions in the way that social or economic barriers are examined, with some groups actually participating in the perpetuation of stereotypes surrounding femininity. Electric Wizard’s most recent album Wizard Bloody Wizard not only features a female midriff as its album cover, but also includes lyrics describing ‘Her wicked caresses/And obscene kisses/Her serpent body writhes… I need her evil but she’s so cold.’ Electric Wizard, ‘Wicked Caresses’ in Wizard Bloody Wizard, (Spinefarm, 2017). This image of a seductive female demon carries connotations of feminine power, but also maintains a perspective that women are to be seen as innately sexual objects for a male gaze; it is important to consider that the song is sung by a man. Guitarist Liz Buckingham is married to singer Jus Oborn and although they collaborate equally in recording and designing the band’s aesthetic, by including lyrical material that discusses the female form in these compromised terms she could be seen to be reinforcing patriarchal portrayals of women, even if it is done so in a knowing or ironic tone. Rhys Williams, ‘A Conversation with Electric Wizard’s Liz Buckingham’, Invisible Oranges, (invisibleoranges.com, 2nd November 2017), <http://www.invisibleoranges.com/interview-liz-buckingham/> (Accessed 15/09/2018). Examples of these portrayals are displayed below. Left-right: Samsara Blues Experiment, Long Distance Trip; Electric Wizard, Wizard Bloody Wizard. Some groups which feature female singers merely omit feminist discussions from their work, despite being well-placed to make such commentaries. Bands such as Ruby the Hatchet and Acid King have made no mention of female perspectives in their output, with Acid King’s Lori S. saying in interview ‘I don’t have many thoughts on females in bands; if you love music and you want to play, that’s awesome!’ Lori S., in Mike McPadden, ‘4 Badass Women of Stoner Rock Talk Shop and Give Props’, Kindland, (thekindland.com, 1st September 2016), <https://www.thekindland.com/women/4-badass-women-of-stoner-rock-talk-shop-and-give-2057> (Accessed 15/09/2018). Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard’s lyrics are unknown to the male members of the band, with guitarist Paul Davies stating ‘We like the listener to make up their own stories to the tracks,’ which potentially mitigates any feminist discourse that might occur in the songs. Paul Michael Davies, in Vince Bellino, ‘Full Album Stream: Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – ‘Y Proffwyd Dwyll’’, Decibel, (decibelmagazine.com, 28th September 2016), <https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2016/09/28/full-album-stream-mammoth-weed-wizard-bastard-y-proffwyd-dwyll/> (Accessed 15/09/2018). With the rise of ‘female-fronted doom metal’ as a discrete subgenre, there is reason to suggest that a form of tokenism is occurring wherein female singers are being treated as a novelty in offering a different vocal tone or merely for being a woman in a metal group, rather than being understood as actively challenging sexism in a genre traditionally seen as masculine. ‘Female fronted doom music’, Last.fm, <https://www.last.fm/tag/female+fronted+doom/artists> (Accessed 15/09/2018). Dana Shechter of Insect Ark comments upon this in the same interview as Lori S.’ quote above; ‘It still does feel like a fight at times… I’d like to see women get the same opportunities as men based on their work and merit, not on their gender.’ Dana Shechter, in Mike McPadden, ‘4 Badass Women of Stoner Rock Talk Shop and Give Props’… As has been seen in previous sections doom metal is ideologically contested ground, and in other doom metal groups female perspectives are considered lyrically, in some cases through the use of designating characters as ‘she’. Whilst many doom songs address ‘you’ when making criticism toward society at large and use ‘I’ to indicate a personal narrative or opinion, gendered address is used less frequently, with male designators often used in describing religious figures such as Satan or God, which in these cases confers respect in the form of a capitalised Him. Windhand and Messa incorporate female characters into their songs that are described without mentioning their physical appearance or sexual allure; instead the listener must understand these characters based on their actions and relationship to the narrator. Windhand, ‘Evergreen’ in Soma (Relapse, 2013); Messa, ‘Hour of the Wolf’, in Belfry (Aural, 2016). Although this is a relatively subtle commentary upon gender in metal music, by introducing female characters that cannot be objectified these groups are removing a commonly-used technique for reducing women’s achievements or status. Windhand’s singer Dorthia Cottrell also eschews wearing revealing clothing when performing live, opting instead for items that might be considered more masculine, such as plaid shirts and jeans. Personal attendance at Windhand, Inter Arma, Witchsorrow concert at O2 Islington Academy, 16th April 2014, <http://www.metalgigs.co.uk/event/7941/Windhand> (Accessed 16/09/2018). Jex Thoth’s Obsidian Night and Separated at Birth use the term ‘sister’ instead, which adds a close connection between female singer Silas Maine and the character described, implying female solidarity which is absent from the previous examples. Jex Thoth, ‘Obsidian Night’, in Jex Thoth, (I Hate, 2008); Jex Thoth, ‘Separated at Birth’, in Jex Thoth. On Blood Ceremony’s Daughter of the Sun the mythic figure of Circe is celebrated for her ‘power’ and ‘will’, even claiming ‘The seas crash down upon/Those who do not tremble’ at her abilities. Blood Ceremony, ‘Daughter of the Sun’, in Living with the Ancients, (Metal Blade, 2011). By reflecting upon a powerful female of legend rather than the usual trope of a powerful male character (such as the band Conan’s namesake) the group are addressing a gender imbalance in fictional portrayals of power and influence. Other bands have adopted a more overt and critical stance towards female narratives in doom metal, notably SubRosa who include three female members among their five-piece lineup. The lyrics to Christine describe a woman who suffers physical and implied sexual abuse from a male figure; ‘He beat you til you were raw/Then he took something more.’ SubRosa, ‘Christine’, in Strega, (I Hate, 2006). The track ends with the line ‘Never giving in/Never again’, suggesting that the character has learned from her experiences and will resist such abuse in the future. Christine grapples with a painful issue that is scarcely mentioned in doom metal outside of SubRosa’s work, but the group are not limited to discussing abuse against women. Their 2016 track Troubled Cells was inspired by changes to Latter Day Saints praxis that deliberately excluded the children of same-sex couples from Mormonism. Singer Rebecca Vernon stated that she ‘deliberately, unashamedly made this [accompanying music] video to try and get people to be aware of what’s happening’ and to show solidarity with members of ‘LGBTQI people in any religious communities.’ Rebecca Vernon, in Louise Brown, ‘SubRosa's Rebecca Vernon Speaks Out About Her Mormon Faith and Support for LGBTQI Rights’, Noisey (noisey.vice.com, 25th August 2016), <https://noisey.vice.com/en_au/article/bnm9p3/subrosa-interview-mormon-lgbtqi> (Accessed 15/09/2018). This confrontational and activist attitude positions SubRosa closer to bands such as Olivia Neutered John in terms of their ideological convictions which is surprising within doom metal, a genre better known for escaping into fictional themes than social campaigning. SubRosa, For this We Fought the Battle of Ages. Another method by which doom metal musicians have challenged conventions surrounding female representation in metal subcultures is through performing in non-vocal capacities. Adrienne Davies, the drummer for drone metal pioneers Earth, is described by one author as ‘oft overlooked but absolutely essential’ to the group’s performances, over which ‘She’s in control.’ Chris O’Connell, ‘Adrienne Davies: Earth’s Core’, Bandcamp Daily (daily.bandcamp.com, 15th September 2016), <https://daily.bandcamp.com/2016/09/15/adrienne-davies-interview/> (Accessed 15/09/2018). By avoiding the spotlight and working as an instrumental performer, Davies demands that male listeners form their opinions of her based on her musical proficiency; an effect which is pronounced given that drumming is considered perhaps the most ‘masculine’ of the instruments usually used in a metal band due to the muscular endurance required for its use. Discussing her playing style she acknowledges that ‘You don’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, that’s the girl that plays really slow’’, which shows her concern of being portrayed as technically unskilled and the subsequent potential of inviting speculation that this is due to her gender. Adrienne Davies, in Chris O’Connell, ‘Adrienne Davies: Earth’s Core’… The most blatant way in which females in doom metal have challenged gender stereotypes outside of lyrical content is by performing as a solo act. Chelsea Wolfe and Rose Kemp are the best-known artists of this type, both known for combining doom metal with folk and alternative rock elements. Both artists also recall Delta blues-era musicians for their focus on solo vocal performance, with Rose Kemp in particular writing some songs without other instruments entirely. Instead of fetishizing the female voice in contrast to abrasive, deep guitars, this requires listeners to pay attention to the technical quality and emotional power of Kemp’s singing, just as Son House records place all of the attention upon his evocative delivery of the blues. Son House, ‘Grinnin’ in Your Face’, in Death Letter, (Edsel, 1985). Although their sonic palette shifts between doom metal and other genres they have become respected in doom metal circles. Chelsea Wolfe has toured with post-metal group Russian Circles and other metal bands including Ministry and A Perfect Circle, and has also had her work used in television score, which eclipses most doom metal musicians in terms of potential reach to new listeners. Whilst their lyrical material only briefly touches upon themes of female representation, such as Rose Kemp’s Sister Sleep, by performing as a solo female they present a confrontational position to sexist elements within doom metal. Rose Kemp, ‘Sister Sleep’, in A Handful of Hurricanes, (One Little Indian, 2007). Critics cannot claim the quality of the music is elevated due to the presence of male musicians, and neither can they be considered a novel addition to an existing doom metal formula. Instead, both artists effectively demand that they are received in terms of their ability and innovation as musicians, and in doing so help to establish a more equal reception of future female artists that utilise doom metal. Chelsea Wolfe, Apokalypsis. As seen in previous sections, doom metal is able to accommodate a range of narratives surrounding female representation. Although the number of women producing doom is still smaller than the number of men in the genre, in comparison to other extreme metal subgenres the scene is relatively progressive in terms of gender balance. Moreover, there are a few groups who deliver explicit commentary on female narratives in their work. However, the genre’s aesthetic still relies heavily on high fantasy, horror and exploitation movies, all of which contain objectifying descriptions and depictions of the female form, and some female artists are complicit in maintaining these portrayals of women within the genre. There still appears to be a struggle for women in doom metal to assert their place within the scene beyond being ‘treated merely as glamorous appendages of males’, but one that is incrementally being overcome. Keith Kahn-Harris, Extreme Metal… p. 74. Contextualising doom metal The sections above have established that there exists a broad spectrum of ideologically-motivated voices within doom metal, with some narratives being more central to the genre than others. To clarify the reasons for these narratives’ emergence this section will explore the geopolitical contexts that surrounded doom metal musicians, focusing on the industrialised west with some attention given to eastern Europe, particularly following the fall of the Soviet Union. The aim is to reveal how shifts in ideological climate have resulted in changes within doom metal, with the genre acting as a reflection of wider cultural patterns in neoliberal society. Andrew Cope’s study of Black Sabbath and their origins notes that ‘musical processes take place within a particular space and place and are shaped by both specific musical practices and by the pressures and dynamics of political and economic circumstances.’ Andrew L. Cope, Black Sabbath and the Rise of Heavy Metal Music, (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010), p. 27. Both Cope and Harrison place emphasis on the ‘congested, industrial landscape and the noise of heavy industry’ in post-war Aston, where the members of Black Sabbath grew up, but the political atmosphere of the period should also be considered given the level of engagement present in the band’s early work. Leigh Michael Harrison, ‘Factory Music’… p. 145. The early 1960s was marked by fears of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, most famously in the form of the Cuban Missile Crisis. By the late 1960s, the antiwar and hippie movements had culminated in both cultural events such as Woodstock, and identifiably political events including the Moratorium March on Washington, which featured thousands of protestors singing Give Peace a Chance led by folk singer Pete Seeger. In Britain not only did the Wilson government offer tacit support for American operations in Vietnam, ‘economic difficulties remained intractable’ whilst the housing developments that sprung up across the country (including in central Birmingham) ‘intensified class inequalities’; by 1970, ‘unemployment was higher and economic growth was slower than when the Conservatives left office’ six years before. Eric Shaw, The Labour Party since 1945, (John Wiley and Sons, 1996) pp. 72-105. This reveals Geezer Butler to be conscious of major anxieties of the period and motivated by his working class background to advocate for social and economic change, hence tracks such as Wheels of Confusion and Into the Void. During the 1970s, the optimistic visions of social welfare that had typified campaign promises from Labour in the UK and Lyndon Johnson’s Democrats began to collapse in the minds of the Western public. Economic crises instigated by rising oil prices led to widespread industrial action, the three-day week and eventually the Winter of Discontent in Britain, whilst American cities were host to violent riots and stagflation, whereby inflation and unemployment rose together. By the end of the decade both nations saw a drastic political shift away from what were seen as the interfering mechanisms of Keynesianism, towards a deregulated market capitalism now recognised as the fundament of neoliberalism. Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy, Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 48. Both Thatcher and Reagan promised a move away from ‘big government’ and a reduction in social programmes, which helped to establish the pre-eminence of negative liberty in Western society, whereby fewer regulations and ‘red tape’ would allow individuals to operate in their own best interests, following the theories of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. Ronaldo Munck, ‘Neoliberalism and Politics, and the politics of Neoliberalism’, in Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader, ed. Alfredo Saad-Filho and Deborah Johnston, (London: Pluto Books, 2004) p. 61. This was exacerbated by Reagan’s vehement anti-Soviet position and the association of socialist politics with the ‘Evil Empire’, which effectively displaced the notion of freedom delivered through social or economic transformation out of the realm of acceptable discourse. For many in the conservative establishment, this was not merely continuing the oppositional status of the Cold War, as historical precedents had now been set. The most extreme form of the tyranny of positive liberty as described by Berlin had come to pass in Cambodia under Pol Pot, whose Khmer Rouge eliminated millions of ‘enemies of the revolution’ including teachers, doctors and artists. For those in the West it was a damning indictment of both socialism and revolutionary politics. This shift in discourse surrounding liberty, combined with pre-existing American dispositions towards ‘rugged individualism’ saw doom metal musicians in the United States increasingly cleave toward advocating for negative freedoms in the 1980s and 1990s. This was delivered in rebellious contexts by condoning illicit drug use and through more conformist channels as seen in the fetishisation of cars by stoner rock artists. The tendency of doom acolytes towards self-identification as social outsiders also began to emerge explicitly in this period, instigated in part due to the critical attention the genre received in the 1980s, particularly in the United States. Walser comments extensively on the way in which institutions such as the Parents’ Music Resource Center (PMRC) called for ‘the imposition of official values and the elimination of cultural difference’, supported by academics with ‘sensational claims’ about heavy metal music and culture, intended to inflame the sensibilities of ‘right-thinking’ citizens into hysteria. Robert Walser, Running with the Devil…pp. 153-160. Against such inflammatory positions it is of little surprise that the heavy metal community became more distinct, having a direct social force against which to resist; indeed, in the era of the ‘moral majority’ the shift in doom metal discourse towards negative freedom seems logical, with musicians asking merely to be left alone by critical hegemonic voices. By the early 1990s however, the resilience of metal subcultures appeared to outlast their critics. The enormous success of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains led to a renewed interest in heavy metal, particularly those subgenres which favoured similar aesthetic styles to grunge, among which were sludge metal and stoner rock. This led to bands such as Melvins being signed (albeit briefly) to major labels and receiving widespread distribution, thus bringing doom metal to mass audiences for the first time since Black Sabbath. In the same moment, the conservatism of the 1980s was being eroded in the political sphere, following the election of Bill Clinton in 1992 and the repeated scandals that dogged John Major’s cabinet until the return of Labour under Blair in 1997. Although both Clinton and Blair maintained the neoliberal economic order, both saw an opportunity to deliver a ‘socially conscious market globalism’ that included ‘moderate social welfare provisions’; a modest form of leftist politics that shifted politicians away from making radical changes to society in favour of acting as managers of extant social and economic systems. Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy, Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction… pp. 75-6. This was borne out in Blair’s removal of Clause IV from Labour’s constitution and Clinton’s declaration that ‘the era of big government is over.’ Ibid. Following the end of the Cold War and the reopening of ex-Soviet nations to Western culture and politics, this globalist stance seemed to offer the centre-left a method of achieving international co-operation, peace and economic stability. The spreading of neoliberal culture to Eastern Europe also greatly expanded the range of musical forms available, leading to doom metal scenes coalescing from the 1990s onward before becoming prominent in the West during the 2010s, thanks to the interconnectivity offered by social media. However, the vision of a ‘Third Way’ and its maintenance of neoliberal economic policy faced increasing challenges. Arestis and Sawyer argue that ‘it is undeniable that inequality has dramatically increased in the United Kingdom since the 1970s’, and point to politicians’ faith in the free market as a key cause; ‘Whatever outcomes were generated by the market were viewed as right and proper, and those’ that had the capital to invest ‘gained at the expense of those without.’ Philip Arestis and Malcolm Sawyer, ‘The Neoliberal Experience of the United Kingdom’, in Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader… p. 206. Despite the establishment of a minimum wage and attempts to maintain the welfare state the Labour administrations failed to create a more equal society, and in utilising market techniques in public services the issues became exacerbated, leading to a degree of alienation. Adam Curtis, ‘The Lonely Robot’, in The Trap, (BBC2, 2007). In America, George Bush’s presidency was dominated by a neoconservative foreign policy resulting in troops being stationed in both Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a ‘war on terror’. Whilst both British and American governments enacted legislation that encroached on civil liberties in order to maintain security and order against terrorism, this did not result in critical discourse emerging from contemporary doom metal artists. With neoliberalism now embedded as the de facto style of Western government, ‘the horizon of political possibilities dramatically closed in’ to a point where the major parties in both the UK and the US were differentiated mainly on their social policy, and to what extent each party favoured further deregulation of the markets, creating the illusion of a lack of ideological alternatives and arguably leading to a sense of unchanging existentialism. Ronaldo Munck, ‘Neoliberalism and Politics, and the politics of Neoliberalism’, in Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader… p. 64. This sentiment was captured and developed upon in Electric Wizard’s nihilist fantasy, the speechlessness of drone metal and the psychedelic escapism of Sleep’s Dopesmoker. By 2008, the underlying issues presented by excessive deregulation were coming to light in disastrous fashion. The bursting of a speculative housing bubble combined with failures to regulate the investment banking sector, leading to a global financial crisis. In response, governments including the United States and Britain opted to bail out some of the worst-affected banks and financial institutions on the grounds that they were ‘too big to fail’, at massive cost to taxpayers. This was done in order to maintain the neoliberal economic order, despite it being a contradiction of neoliberal policy to avoid free market intervention and let the markets right themselves. Following the collapse, a Conservative government was elected in the UK that advocated for economic austerity, leading to a vast reduction of public services, rising unemployment and an overall economic benefit to the elderly and wealthy whilst economic inequality became more pronounced. Jenni Cauvain, Bruce Stafford and Ruth Lister, ‘Blue Collar Conservatives on ‘Welfare’ and Housing – Who really benefits?’, Discover Society (discoversociety.org, 2nd November 2015), <https://discoversociety.org/2015/11/02/blue-collar-conservatives-on-welfare-and-housing-who-really-benefits/> (Accessed 17/09/2018); Matthew Whitaker, Adam Corlett and David Finch, ‘Shape shifting: the changing role of the state during fiscal consolidation’, Resolution Foundation, (resolutionfoundation.org, 10th November 2015), <https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/shrinking-pains-the-size-and-functions-of-the-state-over-the-parliament-and-beyond/> (Accessed 17/09/18). In the United States, Barack Obama faced immense pressure from divisive Republican movements and commentators throughout his terms as President, including conspiracies surrounding his birth and nationality and stiff opposition against his legislative proposals, resulting in a diluted version of the Affordable Care Act being passed. Obama was also unable to fully withdraw troops from the Middle East, leading to criticism from an increasingly dissatisfied left-leaning portion of the United States. It was against this backdrop that bands such as Thou and Primitive Man formed, vocally criticising the neoliberal economics that had caused the recession and demanding systemic change. The growing dissent against neoliberalism took on political expression in the mid-2010s, manifested in nationalist and protectionist movements across Europe and America, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Whilst many responsible for this political shift have actively criticised established political orders, the suggested replacement has often taken the form of right-wing populism. A growing number of doom metal musicians have reflected this with increasingly critical sentiments, targeting not only economic and social inequality but also areas of social policy that are contested by the alt-right, such as LGBTQI rights and human impacts upon the environment. This indicates that a portion of doom metal musicians represent contemporary leftist politics, although a greater number of bands have declined to form social critiques, which indicates the continued disillusionment and apathy felt by many in the West regarding the possibility of genuine societal betterment through ideological politics, either from the left or the right. Conclusions This study has shown that doom metal contains a diverse range of ideological stances, derived from geopolitical, temporal and socio-economic circumstances of the artists involved. The repeated themes of personal liberty (achieved via positive or negative means) and social exclusion are often set against societies which fail to understand or accept members of heavy metal subcultures, leading to the musicians’ desire to escape through a number of different means. This remains the dominant narrative with the genre, with the aim often being a form of separation from the narrator’s old life, or a process of personal reinvention or discovery. When this is combined with the way in which much of doom metal is mixed and performed, which can often leave the precise nature of lyrics obscured behind dense instrumentals, the implication emerges that doom metal is more often a genre where listeners attempt to avoid political discourse, instead embedding themselves in the fantastical aesthetic without considering its potential ideological connotations. In comparison to other extreme metal genres, doom is relatively non-confrontational in the majority of artists’ lyrical and artistic content, compared to the gore of death metal, the strong punk influences of grindcore or the far-right associations held in some black metal circles. However, there also exists within doom metal a smaller current of social consciousness that perceives social inequality in addition to understanding the musicians’ own position as excluded from mainstream society. This tendency has remained within the genre since the 1970s and is maintained by artists that combine the aural styles of doom metal with the lyrical approach of modern hardcore punk, but is also present to a lesser extent in the work of musicians whose influences are wholly within metal subcultures. The genre has also been utilised to comment on specific policy issues and has been identified as a strong example of progressive gender representation within extreme metal, a style of music which has struggled to repudiate allegations of sexist discrimination on a communal level in the past. It is perhaps harder to confirm whether these narratives are disseminated widely throughout the subculture as a whole, and indeed these specific critiques remain in a small minority of the vast total of doom musicianship, but future sociological studies would be well-placed to analyse how closely fans of doom metal follow the ideological beliefs of the musicians they prefer. 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Black Sabbath, Master of Reality (Vertigo, 1971). Black Sabbath, Paranoid (Vertigo, 1970). Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 (Vertigo, 1972). Blood Ceremony, Living with the Ancients (Metal Blade, 2011). Bongzilla, Amerijuanican (Relapse, 2005). Bongzilla, Apogee (Ritual, 2000). Bongzilla, Gateway (Relapse, 2002). Bongzilla, Stash (Relapse, 1999). Bort, Crossing the Desert (671610 Records, 2018). Chelsea Wolfe, Apokalypsis (Pendu Sound, 2011). Church of Misery, Master of Brutality (Southern Lord, 2001). Church of Misery, Murder Company (Man’s Ruin, 1999). Cloud, Deus Ex Machina (Self-released, 2018). Corrosion of Conformity, No Cross No Crown (Nuclear Blast, 2018). Corrosion of Conformity, Wiseblood (Columbia, 1996). Cough, Ritual Abuse (Relapse, 2010). Dopethrone, Transcanadian Anger (Totem Cat, 2018). Earth, Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version (Sub Pop, 1993). Electric Wizard, Dopethrone (Rise Above, 2000). Electric Wizard, Wizard Bloody Wizard (Spinefarm, 2017). 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