Highbrow Heavy Metal?

      Heavy metal has long been an unspoken interest of mine. It is not like I am ashamed of it; I am not ashamed at all. It has been the only consistent favorite genre of mine for the past eight years. The only issue with being a fan of this genre is the social stigma attached to its universally lowbrow, or unsophisticated, status. Public disapproval of the genre manifests more prominently in the mostly resistant Middle Eastern societies, which are tremendously cautious of introducing typically "Western" cultures.

"People are constantly being typed by their cultural allegiances, respected or dismissed because of the music they like...we internalize these categories."

- Robert Walser, Heavy Metal and the Highbrow/Lowbrow Divide 

      Similarly to how the media associates the genre of rap music with black gangsters, heavy metal is also associated with undisciplined "white trash." One may assume that such negative depiction justifies the majority's detestation of the musical genre. In fact, it is quite easy for anyone to make such an assumption. It is even easier to completely disregard exceptions and disturbances in one's preconceived judgments of a particular culture that is seemingly beyond one's comprehension.

      Does the stigmatized view towards heavy metal diminish, though, when the typically highbrow, sophisticated genre of classical music "breeds" with the lowbrow genre of heavy metal?

       Symphonic metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that is characterized by operatic voices, poetic lyrics, and the heavy use of keyboards and orchestral music. The sound is often described as "epic", like a blow to the face...or to the ears, with popular approaches to symphonic metal sounding much like film scores. Pioneers of this particular take on the genre include the Finnish band Nightwish, whose success inspired the inception of other prominent bands in the genre, such as the Dutch band Epica. An excellent example of such style is Nightwish's song Ever Dream (a personal favorite), albeit only a gentle taste of Nightwish's typically lengthy and elaborately orchestrated songs.

Ever Dream by Nightwish

      In addition to the classical and operatic undertones of this genre, many symphonic metal albums often include power ballads that could easily appeal to audiences who are more fond of the "symphonic" elements of the genre as opposed to the "metal" elements. Examples of such songs include the Nightwish song Sleeping Sun and Abandoned by the American symphonic metal band Kamelot, sung by the operatically trained Norwegian singer Roy Khan.

Sleeping Sun by Nightwish

Abandoned by Kamelot

      Despite the significant presence of typically highbrow musical characteristics in the genre of symphonic metal, and the unusual variety offered with the inclusion of power ballads in the genre's albums, symphonic metal is still categorized as lowbrow music. Kamelot's concept albums Epica (the namesake of the Dutch band Epica) and The Black Halo, based on the classic German legend Faust, are still considered as lowbrow forms of music despite the traditionally highbrow status of the German folk tale.

Clearly, I am a fan.

      It seems that the universally shared social stigma towards heavy metal, which the media successfully reinforces into the public's preconceptions of the genre as diabolical and detrimental to society's wellbeing, ruthlessly applies to all of its sub-genres, regardless of the presence of highbrow musical elements. The power of the media instills this preconceived notion of the genre so effectively that it almost leaves no room for exceptions. This is particular for Middle Eastern countries, who have notable sensitivity towards controversial Western cultures or behaviors. The extreme Middle Eastern stigma towards the genre, though, could be on the verge of gradual decline. With the recent introduction of heavy metal concerts in Abu Dhabi (such as Metallica's upcoming concert on the 19th of April, and Megadeth's concert this past October), tolerance or even acceptance of the genre may finally be welcomed by Middle Eastern societies, perhaps even ending discrimination towards fans of heavy metal. I am almost certain that it should not be a difficult feat to accomplish when the Middle East has so amiably welcomed the lyrical genius Nicki Minaj in a recent Dubai concert.

      After all, we are all nothing but...

Stupid hoes.

Final Project: The Mother Punchers

This semester we were instructed to observe a subculture in Qatar. The subculture I observed were a group of metal heads; people who have a passion for metal music. The metal heads proved to be a subculture because they stood out and apart from the larger culture in Qatar. Also, they have sets of ideals, beliefs and practices that differ from the dominant culture. The subculture consisted of seven members. However, in the multimedia project I focused on one of the members and his activities. The subculture I studied meet up to “jam” once a week. They’re often seen as deviant by the larger culture so they’ve created a free space to hang out and unwind. I observed, took field notes, attended jamming sessions and interviewed members of the subculture. For my final project I focused on how the subculture resist the culture in Qatar. They resist through playing music, writing songs, dress and alienation. They subculture are aware that some people associate them with being devil worshipers and/or troublemakers. Do to the clash between their way of living and the conservative culture in Qatar the subculture feel shunned out. Although the project took me out of my comfort zone I’m fortunate to have interacted with such a great group of people who have taught me a lot.

Heavy Metal in Pakistan - Final Class Project

Heavy Metal in Pakistan - Final Project from Hassan Asif on Vimeo.

This video features three of the active underground heavy metal acts in Pakistan: Dionysus (Lahore, Death/Doom Metal), Takatak (Lahore, Groove Metal) and BlackHour (Islamabad, Thrash Metal). The video includes small extracts from the in-depth interviews conducted over a period of one year. In addition to these three bands various other heavy metal performers and online bloggers were interviewed to give this study a well-rounded approach. I also attended various performances and jam sessions of these bands. This research aims at studying how heavy metal is re-contextualized in Pakistan as a genre and as a social phenomenon. The analysis that is conducted in the written paper shows that, heavy metal music in Pakistan is essentially elitist in character and these musicians adopt/prefer this genre over other available options primarily because of its foreign-ness. These performers treat heavy metal as a labor of love, with no possible economic, or even cultural gains. The distinctly non-local nature of this kind of music allows the Pakistani youth, both performers as well as the audience, a means to craft and perform temporary alternate identities in the highly polarized Pakistani culture. In case of heavy metal, “foreign-ness” first restricts the access to the genre to a particular social class on the one hand, and re-contextualizes and transforms it during reproduction in an alien land on the other hand.