"In Mahler's music, 'the expression of suffering, his own and of those who have to bear the burdens, no longer knuckles under at the behest of the sovereign subject that things must be so and not otherwise.' (p.96) It was precisely Mahler's lack of virtuosity that allowed him to follow the music where it wanted to go, rather than 'commanding the notes to go where they belonged.' (ibid) Mahler's music can be disturbing, unbalanced, even ugly at times, but it is only so in an attempt to remain at the level of a true humanity."
This segment of Matt's latest post piqued my interest immediately. While the young innovators of metal were likely completely oblivious to Mahler and his music, could his music perhaps have helped to introduce a principle of composition that essentially governs extreme metal composition today? Of course metal is not unique in this style, with genres such as industrial music also defying the suggestions of musical theory to resolve melodies and compositions in a certain manner, to utilize certain intervals most pleasant to the ear, etc. However, in my experience, this principle set forth by Mahler's music is extremely prevalent and successful in extreme metal post-1986.
A guitar teacher once told me "Nathan, in heaven, we will only need the chromatic scale" - a fancy, musically literate way of saying music will one day no longer require scales or theory at all. Once Sepultura released Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions, it became apparent that metal could actually thrive by ignoring musical trends and simply crafting melodies based on aligning notes where they simply sound good. Likewise, when Quorthon released Bathory's self-titled album in 1984, legendary more for its lo-fi nature and inhuman vocal style than for its blatant dismissal of musicianship, it became apparent that music could actually gain underground fame for utterly ignoring the notion that a guitarist needs to acquire virtuoso-like capabilities and learn the conventions of mainstream riffcraft.
These early recordings were, of course, sloppy, but early '90s extreme metal demonstrated that such music could be refined in terms of production and composition without scrapping this "true humanity" and succumbing to past-musical conventions to create melodies acceptable to the least common denominator. Quorthon could barely play his guitar with any degree of proficiency, but nevertheless created some of the most influential albums in the realm of extreme metal; perhaps this is Mahler's message: that conventions may be scrapped because "if it sounds good, it is good." While some may argue that his music, along with the majority of heavy metal, is ugly, but then again, did metal, and Mahler before it, not always revolve around the beautification of the ugly?
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