So...what does it have to do with Metal?
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Metal & Classic Literature
What is the first thing that comes into your mind when somebody mentions classic literature? Do you think of great, lengthy tomes that everyone raves about, but nobody has ever actually read? Do you think of the masterfully written tales of romance, tragedy, hardship and adventure or do you think of the boring hours spent in English classes analysing an overly long, complex and dull novel? Well whatever you may think of it, classic literature is held in high regard by a lot of people such as critics, readers and authors among them. Novels such as Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, The Odyssey and Great Expectations are among the cornerstones of western literature which have captivated, and bored in some cases, innumerable readers throughout the centuries. The authors of these works loom like giants crowned with laurels over modern literature. Their themes have made us ponder life's questions, their plots have kept us frantically flipping pages to find out what happens next and their characters have have taught us many lessons about society, life and ourselves.
Now think of Heavy Metal: a loud, ferocious and harsh genre of music with it's dark imagery and a fanbase of uncouth, hairy blokes drinking beer and screaming "FUCKING SLAAAAAAAYEEERRR" at the top of their voices. On the surface, classic literature and Metal don't seem to have anything in common. Most people looking in on the genre from the outside don't realise that Metal owes a lot to authors such as Melville, Dante, Hemingway, Homer and others. They also don't realise how the two can be incredibly similar in other respects as well, which I shall explain throughout this blog. But before I start talking about how Metal and classic literature are connected, I should first probably explain what I mean when I say 'classic literature' because the term can become quite ambiguous at times and arguments can arise from people saying what are and what are not classic books. Well look at that, we've already found one way Metal and classics are related!
What is classic literature?
The Oxford dictionary describes the term classic as 'old recognised texts in any literature'. In this regard it is pretty accurate, however classic literature doesn't have a wholly concrete definition as to what it is; but there are a few points that separate a normal book from a classic. A few of the most important things that makes a book a classic is that it has to stand the test of time. There are books that whip a huge storm at the time of their release and that everyone will praise, but these are forgotten after a few years, months or in certain cases after a few weeks; and there are books that can and will be returned to time after time by a new generation who haven't explored the ideas, plot and themes that the author presents in their narrative. This is what a good classic novel should be like; timeless and can be picked up in 20, 50 or 100 years and still deliver that same kind of magic that it had back when it was first published. In this respect a good book is like a good album.
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Another important factor that makes a novel a classic is that it actually has to be fucking good, suprise, suprise. Novels don't become classics by being selected from a hat. They become so from the incredible skill and talent of the author to create a timeless tale that many different people can relate to through it's themes, characters and obstacles encountered during the plot. They influence us, our thoughts and sometimes the world around us and it's thoughts. If you would like to have more of an understanding about what classic literature means, you can check out the two links at the bottom of the post.
There also is a distinction between 'classic literature' and 'classical literature' even though it is possible for a novel to be both, so I'll be brief about it. Also, it isn't a big deal if one is used instead of the other; we're not arguing about sub-genres here. Classical literature is used to describe literary works that were written in the times of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. So a book such as Plato's 'The Republic' or 'The Iliad' by Homer would be considered classical literature as well as classics in their own right.
So...what does it have to do with Metal?
Now we get to the entire point of this blog and the root of the question. What does Metal have to do with classical literature? On the surface the two seem as different as night and day and to an extent this is correct. A group of tea drinking and biscuit munching people sitting in a living room discussing chapter 10 of Pride & Prejudice is a far cry from a group of people moshing to Morbid Angel. Well there are certain trends and connections between the two that can be noticed if you care to look closely enough.
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Firstly, the most obvious way in which Metal and classic literature are related is from seeing how many albums and songs are inspired by works of classic literature. I myself first had the idea to write this something very similar to this blog, but soon decided to write this one instead, after listening to The Evil That Men Do by Iron Maiden; a roaring track whose title was taken from a quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:
"The evil that men do lives after them, the good is often interred with their bones, so let it be with Caesar" - Act 3, scene 2
Maiden in particular have been inspired by a lot of literature which bassist Steve Harris often reads whilst he's touring with the band. Many of their songs were thought of after Steve read certain books such as Rime of the Ancient Mariner being written after the epic 1798 poem of the same name, Brave New World being inspired by Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel and The Trooper being penned after Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade.
However there are many more examples of Metal musicians including or adapting works of classic literature into their own works which we can look at. One of the oldest tales in western literature is The Odyssey by the ancient Greek author, Homer. The Odyssey is truly one of the first works that can be described as 'epic' due to it's multiple scenes involving wrathful gods, fights against raging monsters, witches and of Odysseus' burning desire to return to to his wife and his beloved kingdom of Ithica. It has all the staples which would make for Metal songs of all kind, fights, love, mythology etc and some bands have in fact made songs out of the tale. One of these are the prog group, Symphony X who wrote a 24 minute song broken into several parts which each tell a different part of the story.
What also makes The Odyssey such a great inspiration for Metal artists is that the basic idea of the story, someone trying to find their way home or to be happy but must face many difficult obstacles along the way, can be used outside of the source material too. A fine example of this is the ep and accompanying album Odyssey To The Gallows and Odyssey To The West by Deathcore group, Slice The Cake. Both releases together tell a difficult tale of a journey to reach a goal whilst encountering gods, internal conflicts and attempting to do right thing despite wanting to do the opposite. The lyrics from the album seem to take as much from the 1678 tale 'The Pilgrim's Progress' as much as it does The Odyssey and the two are combined excellently well.
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Another example of Metal groups taking inspiration from a classic tale would be that of Moby Dick; the timeless tale of a sea captain hell-bent on hunting and slaying the white whale which took his leg from him. Herman Melville's epic sea quest written in 1851 encompasses many themes such as revenge, madness, fate, man vs nature and religion; which make for a harrowing tale which would inspire many authors in their works and also musicians. Notable adaptations of Moby Dick from page to music can be seen first in Call Of The Wretched Sea by Ahab, a funeral Doom Metal group and more famously in Leviathan by Sludge/Prog band Mastodon. Both are inspired by the novel, but each present it in different ways. Ahab have lyrics which directly related to the main story as well as displaying the fear and respect for the ocean. This is drowned by the brutally heavy, yet atmospheric, sound which is typical of funeral Doom. It works very well as it reflects both the darker side of the sea and of man's determination which is also reflected in the book. Mastodon on the other hand make their sound heavy, but more accessible than Ahab's music and their lyrics are a little more ambiguous and aren't as explicit in telling the story. Melville's classic tale has influenced both these albums, but they go about their own way of telling the story; similarly to how all authors and musicians take inspiration from others but make their own works from them.
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