There is something afoot that’s making me scratch my head in bewilderment. What was formerly the bastion of nerdy, disaffected, adolescent (mainly) boys vaguely into the idea of Satanism and metal, ergo the truly un-cool, has become ‘hip’. Yes the hipster is appropriating Black metal. So you thought BM was about appreciating the music of bands such as Bathory, Mayhem, or Venom, with the occasional church burning thrown into the mix and murdering the odd band member? Not to the hipster it isn’t, because they are into the irony of BM. Now in principle I support more people getting into metal, but I am not down with people pretending to like metal because they find it funny so they can claim that it’s ironic to be into it. Please black metal-liking hipsters, stick to your ironic mustaches and fixies!
I was alerted to this horrible turn of events whilst perusing fashion blogs and a theme began to emerge. Photos of chicks acting all moody and evil, wearing Burzum t-shirts, satanic imagery, taxidermy, studs, spikes, references to death and other signifiers of BM. WTF? Upon consultation with expert opinion in the form of my resident metal aficionado and BF, I was informed that ‘hipster black metal’ was practically a bone fide sub-genre that was sweeping Williamsburg and Brooklyn (spiritual home of the hipster).I thought it was just bitches trying way too hard to be cool. Sigh.
So who is going to see these guys in a couple of weeks?
Mayhem
You know what? This is really interesting. I was in conversation with a guy who I was sure was hitting on me… We got caught in conversation as I had met him once before. Let me set the scene -
After my steel cap boots were pointed out and it was established that I was into metal he pursued the topic…
What kind of metal are you into? What kind of metal are you into? I was mid conversation with another girl at the time. He persisted with the question.
What KIND of metal? Fuckwit, don’t you mean: what bands?
No, he meant kind.
He was into black metal. I know I don’t dress like it, but it’s my favourite genre.
I remember analyzing his expression to determine whether he was joking. He wasn’t.
I was baffled, I mean, I was into some black metal back in the day but surely it was not a sub genre to dominate all others… So I dropped on him my comparison of black metal to pussy punk which is to say, the singers usually spoil it and it is more often than not partnered with the most simplistic of drumming (the difference being in black metal it’s just sped up) I’d rather swallow arsenic than listen to most black metal.
He said black metal isn’t about that stuff, the lyrics are where the real inspiration is.
Somehow I finally got out of the conversation with him.
I was so confused by this guy and his deal but now thanks to your blog Mary, it all makes fucking sense. What a doosh.
That’s tres amusing! I like some black metal for e.g. Mayhem and Burzum and do have a soft spot for the stuff like Bathory (love the galloping, whinnying horses!). I think the lyrics in some cases are probably ‘important’ because, and yes there are sub-genres of BM, it was all about how christianity fucked up Norway. Or something like that! Also there are a million ‘kinds’ of metal or sub-genres if you will, so it’s not strange that the douche-dude asked you that question. Check it out!
http://www.anus.com/metal/about/genre/
Jesus – I thought metal was metal. You know – noise! LOL – Joking! I know nothing of it, but it does remind me of how annoying I find the new Johnny Cash & “alt country” fans. I see them in their boots pretending they’ve always thought the music was cool and I want to stab them in the throat.
Stabbing is good! Could these alt country fans be hipsters or shall I call them cuntsters! LOL see what I did there?
Hi MP – Been meaning to comment on this for awhile – no black metal hipsters over here yet, not that I’ve noticed anyway. But I’m sure they will appear, as one thing that can be said for hipster culture is its uniformity across the globe. Really – Oz, NY, London, Europe, Canada – they all and act completely the same.
What’s next after death metal I wonder? Will they start dressing ironically – as hipsters?
T.
Double the irony!