Post-metal
Post-metal | |
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Other names |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | 1990s, United States and England |
Typical instruments | |
Derivative forms | Blackgaze |
Other topics | |
Post-metal is a music genre rooted in
Post-metal is related to other experimental styles of metal:
History
Predecessors
The groundwork for post-metal was laid in the 1980s and early 1990s by various artists (mostly in the US) combining heavy metal and punk rock sounds with an "avant-garde sensibility", such as the Melvins (particularly on 1991's Bullhead),[3] The Flying Luttenbachers, Justin Broadrick of Napalm Death and Godflesh,[2] Swans, Gore, Last Exit, Glenn Branca, Rollins Band, and Fugazi.[4] Helmet's albums Meantime (1992) and Betty (1994) were also significant,[1] while Tool's music was described as post-metal as early as 1993.[5] Many of these artists emerged from hardcore punk and post-punk circles but their combination of sonic violence with experimentation and eclecticism made them difficult to categorize under any one genre.[2]
Emergence in the 1990s
The term post-rock was coined in 1994 and soon used to describe a diverse group of bands that shared "a penchant for drifting melodies and the desire to expand beyond established rock boundaries".[3] As this movement swelled, bands from post-hardcore and experimental backgrounds began to incorporate its tendencies of "ambience, offbeat experimentation, downcast melodies and psychedelia" into metal.[3] The two genres further converged through the influence of post-rock bands such as Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Lift to Experience who shared metal's emphasis on loudness.[4]
We always knew there was something deep to Neurosis's music, but ... I think Souls at Zero was when the music became something else. It was taking that material out on the road and losing ourself in the
elemental.
The band's 1996 fifth album
Furthermore, Fact writer Robin Jahdi highlights the late 1990s US
Development in the 2000s
Hydra Head Records had been established in 1993 by
As black metal "spread beyond Scandinavia to infect the global underground", it joined shoegaze as a major factor in the evolution of post-metal.[3] Many bands employ the "speed and ferocity" of black metal in "contrast to slower, more ethereal compositions". This approach was pioneered by Agalloch, who formed in 1995 and also employed elements of doom metal, progressive rock, folk music, and post-hardcore.[3] Wolves in the Throne Room, who became a significant act for American black metal by the release of their 2007 album Two Hunters, were also inspired by Neurosis in combining "ambience and violence" to craft deeply melancholic music.[3]
While all aforementioned post-metal pioneers are either from the US (Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, Agalloch, and Wolves in the Throne Room) or the UK (Broadrick's Godflesh and Jesu), the genre soon spread internationally. The Japanese band Boris, formed in 1992, "have always embraced the spirit and vitality of the vibrant movement" and some of their works, such as the 2005 albums Dronevil and Pink, have become influential to it.[3] Boris often employ elements of drone music and have collaborated with prominent Seattle drone metal band Sunn O))),[3] who have also been associated with post-metal.[2] Several European bands also gained prominence within the genre, including: Cult of Luna from Sweden, whose sound is indebted to Isis' Oceanic;[9] Amenra from Belgium, who signed to Neurosis' label Neurot Recordings and rival their predecessors in sheer spiritual intensity;[11] and Year of No Light from France, who have transitioned from a sludge-oriented sound to monumental instrumental compositions, "beautifully layered, but still dark and heavy".[3]
Back in the US, another instrumental band rose to prominence: Russian Circles, also strongly influenced by Oceanic.[9] By contrast, True Widow, whose sound is rooted as much in 1990s indie rock and psychedelic rock as in doom metal, offer a distinctive take, most impactfully on the 2013's Circumambulation, by employing "male/female vocal interplay" and showcasing "vulnerability and restraint".[3] Meanwhile, the Melvins returned to the sound they themselves helped inspire, impacting it with the 2004 album Pigs of the Roman Empire, a collaboration with Welsh dark ambient composer Lustmord.[3]
Gradually, post-metal as a genre has achieved major critical acclaim.[9] This was reinforced by the "widely publicized" success of California band Deafheaven,[3] whose second album Sunbather became one of the most celebrated releases of 2013. The band's successful fusion of caustic black metal with blissfull shoegaze in the vein of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive,[3] although preceded by the French musician Neige of Alcest, was nicknamed blackgaze and met with controversy among fans of conventional extreme metal. It has also inspired a new wave of bands such as: Ghost Bath from North Dakota, who use undistorted guitar melodies to develop unsettling atmospheres; Austria's Harakiri for the Sky, whose despairing sound melds black metal and post-hardcore;[3] and the recent work of Oathbreaker, who are rooted in the Belgian dark hardcore scene of Amenra.
Characteristics
Post-metal is generally heavy, aggressive, and dark, but explores a variety of musical approaches alien to conventional
Writing for Slate in 2009, Simon Reynolds reflected:
Post-rock doesn't have the same temporal aspect that
growled vocals; the bombastically verbose lyrics/song titles/band names. It's that aesthetic rather than a way of riffing or a palette of guitar sounds that ties post-metal back to Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.[13]
Aesthetic and culture
Noting the divergence from typical
I have an affinity [f]or metal, but I don't think of Pelican as a metal band. So when people call us 'instrumetal', or post-metal, or metalcore or whatever, I can see why they say that, but it's not something that I feel a close connection with. I feel we're part of a community with some bands – Mono are good friends of ours, but I don't feel that we're that similar musically. Their music is more similar to classical music, whereas I feel ours has more in common with punk and hardcore
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9781627883795. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Caraminica, Jon (20 September 2005). "The alchemy of art-world heavy metal". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 September 2005.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Wiederhorn, Jon (4 August 2016). "A Brief History of Post-Metal". Bandcamp. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jahdi, Robin (24 June 2015). "The 40 best post-metal records ever made". Fact. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ Ferman, Dave (30 July 1993). "At the main stage ..." (fee required). Fort Worth Star-Telegram, archived by NewsBank. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
Tool's vicious, post-metal attack is one of the more intense offerings of the day ...
- ^ Mikkelson, Jill. "Neurosis Are Insulated • Interviews". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ a b Thomson, Jamie (2 December 2010). "How Neurosis blazed a trail for 'thinking man's metal' and lasted 25 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- ^ Jim Martin, "Retroaction," Terrorizer #188, September 2009, p. 80.
- ^ a b c d e f g Green, Steff (9 February 2015). "So Just What Exactly Is "Post Metal" Anyway?"". Steff Metal. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ O'Hagar, Sammy (30 June 2009). "21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century ... So Far". MetalSucks. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- ^ Dedman, Remfry (16 October 2017). "AMENRA – MASS VI: Album Stream". The Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- ^ a b c Moffitt, Greg. "Neurosis - Times of Grace Review". BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ "Grunge's Long Shadow". Slate. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Porosky, Pamela. "Aaron Turner and Michael Gallagher interview". Guitar Player. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2006.
- ^ Diver, Mike (27 March 2007). "Pelican: "We're neither trend setters nor trend followers"". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.