The Heavy Metal Conspiracy Party TNP Special : Monologue
As I write this the sound of thunder is echoing through my neighborhood. Dark clouds are above me. The thunder shook my home and nature just asserted itself by reminding me that there are still things way beyond my grasp that can not only frighten me, but could end me in a clap.
I could only imagine what it must have been like to weather storms like the one I'm sitting through now out in the wilderness. I can see how witnessing lightning striking a tree near you if you were a tribe member and then had to relate the story to others. How would you interpret that sound when you told the story?
Chances are you would probably try to emulate it, as humans do. We do it to allow us to communicate with one another. To try to describe to others what we have experienced. Appealing to people's senses is essential in that task and humans have been reproducing sounds for eons, so how would you make the thunder sound frightening?
Well, what sounds can you make that sound like that? What are frightening sounds? Is it a frequency range, is it a combination of notes (harmonics for you nerds), or is it something else that's more visceral? Is it in your conviction when you express it?
So much of what frightens people can change just as easily as what people like at times. I for one was frightened of a lot of aspects of heavy metal. Cannibal Corpse album covers and t-shirts scared the hell out of me. I also remember feeling really weird about listening to satanic metal like Gorgoroth back in college and also witnessing Behemoth tear the pages from a bible while performing in what was a former church. I've been scared as shit of getting K.O.'ed in a mosh pit in more than one occasion, I've had people land on me, and I've also landed on other people after overcoming that fear. I've been dyed purple by Gwar and I have choked on mud that started as dirt in a Meshuggah mosh pit where I got hit so hard one of my shoes came off. The scary shit is sometimes worth the ride and sometimes you find out how hokey the ride really is. Sometimes you find out how tough you really are or how scary other realities can be.
Heavy Metal exposes people to all sorts of things that not only would never occur in daily life but ones that most people would do anything to avoid. Discordant tones are disturbing. Screaming usually means danger or anger. And who the hell wants to pay fifty bucks for a lawn seat to get punched by the shirtless guy yelling Slayer!?
Well, sick fucks like me do I guess. Maybe its why I don't mind talking about all the other crazy shit I do here on TNP?
Because it helps me overcome those fears from my experiences and relate them to others. Its kinda what we all do on this panel. That brings me to a separate point here: My best friends in life I have all met because of metal music. The people that get me and the people that wanna hang out or go to shows with me or even want to play an occasional one with me are my lifelong friends. Finding the appreciation for all of them over the years has helped me find those similar stylistic quirks and preferences people have. That's another monologue in itself but here's the good part of that at least: If Chris Graves didn't have Thrash in his Twitter description, I may have never reached out to him over a year ago now. The show we ended up doing was the first Rock N' Roll Conspiracy Party.
Now, there's not a person on this panel that can say that they haven't learned anything from our friend Chris. Myself especially..all because we both like guitar chugs. Life is silly sometimes.
So tonight, in honor of friendship, let's tell our stories like the tribes of old, but about metal. Let us remember the frightening sounds of our past experiences and retell them to the rest of our community and also pay tribute to the music and the people who made it who helped make us.
Horns up, this is the Heavy Metal Conspiracy Party.