The Moral Panic of Heavy Metal and Punk Music – Is it warranted?

Guitar Riffs and Studded Wrist Cuffs
The Moral Panic of Heavy Metal and Punk Music – Is it warranted?

Heavy Metal and Punk music has been victim to negative opinions of the general public. The transgression of the artists’ and bands’ music has led to the public being wound and trapped in a web of moral fear. Artists such as Marilyn Manson and Twisted Sister have been blamed for influencing occurrences to do with suicide, self harm, and even massacres. But one must ask themselves – is this moral panic and mainstream fear really warranted for, or is it merely the public misunderstanding the culture of a genre?

The responses of the mainstream and general public to Heavy Metal and Punk music tend to follow a trend of fear or discomfort, society appears to have a primary concern for the values Heavy Metal and Punk music portrays. Robert Walser (1993) states that ‘it is not surprising to find that an important concern of Metal is to represent male power and female subordination’; and this has become a primary issue to the mainstream about Metal.

It is a prevalent concern among mainstream society that alternative and heavier music such as the aforementioned highlight negative attitudes towards certain members of society, such as women, children, religious groups, minorities, as well as the ‘mainstream’ as a whole. This however, may not be the case. When one considers just how broad Heavy Metal in particular can be, and when one observes how many sub- and sub-sub-genres are in existence within the genre, it becomes apparent that not all Heavy Metal is devil-worshipping, society-burning and rule-breaking as much of society appears to have believed. 

What a monster!

A prime example of this to touch on would be that of White Metal, which holds themes of killing demons and praising the Lord (Walser, 1993); many of their songs speak of stories told in the Bible. This is a strong contrast to the more socially-familiar Black Metal, which follows its own satanic conventions of lyric. However, when not considering the lyrics of these genres, they do sound very similar in sonic transgression. The heavy intense bass, growling and guttural singing style, and aggressive instrumental style playing are consistent between these sub-genres, despite their lyrical content being extremely different.  

Clearly, they're trying to kill us all.

Black Metal is notorious for their Satanist themed lyrics as this is part of their convention and lyrical discoursed transgression. Kahn-Harris discusses specifically Dark Funeral’s song ‘The Secrets of the Black Arts’, which has strong satanic lyrical components. However, even more modern Heavy Metal musicians and bands have been known to hold these same Satanist values. One infamous example of this modern black Metal based moral panic would be in relation to the Polish Black/Death Metal band Behemoth.

Behemoth is a Death and Black Metal band due to the fact that their music content is appropriate to two different genres dependant on the transgression being focused on; while their instruments imply a more Death Metal style of Sonic Transgression, their lyrical content imposes a much stronger Black Metal element. This band has been subjected to much controversial criticism, particularly from those of religious groups. Behemoth, KAT and Marilyn Manson were all banned from performing in Poland in 2007 due to protests from a group calling themselves the ‘All-Polish Committee from Defence against Sects’, Blabbermouth.net reported. Behemoth was even banned in Ohio, USA in 2012 “due to — you guessed it! — religious beliefs” (Metalsucks.com). What is interesting though, is that if one were to sit down and read the lyrics of Behemoth’s music, they would find that it is not the lyrics that religious groups are insulted by. The members of Behemoth and particularly Darski (the front-man and singer) have been known to perform anti-Christian stage acts during their shows; for example Darski has been known to rip a Bible in half on stage. It is actions such as these that have led Behemoth to be banned from performing live shows in certain nations.

For kids!

There are, admittedly, sub- and sub-sub-genres within Metal that do obey the conventions that society has built, however Punk does this more so as hatred of society and rebellion against the mainstream is part of the Punk genre’s culture. This was seen in the early days of Punk, most obviously with the Sex Pistols. Their songs were written to intimidate and insult the mainstream community, particularly the British Monarchy – which was made quite obvious with the Sex Pistols’ hit song ‘God Save the Queen’. However, these sorts of themes appear to be most relevant and prominent in what one would call Classic Punk; Nu Punk and Alternative Punk have been known to hold conventions and lyrical structures more about middle class and working class problems.

As previously mentioned, one of the primary consistencies throughout the types of Heavy Metal, and even in some cases heavier Punk, is the sonic transgression of the music.

As Walser (1993) has stated, the Sonic Transgression of Heavy Metal revolves around the control and freedom of the sound. The control of the guitar riff could be considered a reflection of the opinions many Metal musicians hold in reaction to society, in that they are controlled by the government, monarchy or political overlords of their nation. In this same context, the freedom of the guitar solo could be considered an interpretation of the rebellion experienced by Metal musicians and listeners alike. These rebellious aspects and opinions held by those of Metal culture could possibly be a contribution to the initial fear held by the mainstream.

These fears of satanic elements that the mainstream believes to be a part of Heavy Metal and Punk culture may also stem from the fashion culture held within these musical cultures. Heavy Metal and Punk are some of the few genres in contemporary society that still hold a strong culture around them, particularly in a visual context. Visual and fashion conventions have existed throughout different genres of music for decades, from the long hair and tinted glasses of ‘hippies’ listening to psychedelic of the 1960’s, to the flared out bellbottom jeans and jumpsuits of the disco 80’s. However its popularity and regularity has declined with time and the fashion concept of music culture is not nearly as commonplace as it once was. This aspect is still evident in Metal, and especially in Punk culture. The early Punks of England’s mid-1970’s created a consistent style as a form of identification within their community. The purpose of the Punk fashion style was to appear rugged and rebellious, and to alarm the establishments and mainstream society. This consisted primarily of torn up and worn clothes (particularly denim jackets and jeans), as well as a deliberately poor fix-up job consisting mostly of kilt pins and fabric patch covers. The other primary feature of Punk fashion is of course the hairstyles, mainly Mohawks (and their varieties, such as bi and trihawks), as well as Liberty Spikes. Liberty Spikes in particular have much speculation of its origin; it is believed that the Liberty Spike hairstyle was a way of Punks showing their dislike of the American patriotism by imitating the Statue of Liberty’s crown. Regardless, these fashion styles are possibly a contribution to the moral panic developed surrounding these genres.

One factor that society has a tendency to not acknowledge unless being a part of the Heavy Metal and Punk culture is also that there are varying degrees of contribution and involvement within the community and culture. There are many fans of Heavy Metal and Punk music that do not fall under the stereotyped umbrellas held above the genres – there are many people that enjoy listening to Metal that may not wear spiked wrist cuffs, have peculiar or obscure hairstyles, or even believe that the stereotype believes – they may not even like the colour black as a wardrobe choice (which is one of the most basic and common stereotypes held to the ‘darker’ culture).

However, one of the most affective incidents in recent years that developed a huge moral panic was that surrounding Marilyn Manson and the Columbine Tragedy of 1999. This refers to the two high school children who ‘went on a rampage’ and embarked on a shooting spree, killing several others in the school as well as injuring numerous others. Initially, Marilyn Manson was blamed for the tragedy, as his music ‘allegedly’ was what led the students to feel such rage and hatred of society to embark on such a rampage. While this was later dismissed, particularly when it was shown that the two boys did not even listen to Marilyn Manson, and stated that they instead preferred to listen to Rammstein (a German Industrial Metal band). Nonetheless, Manson’s – as well as Goth subculture as a whole – was negatively affected and left an unpleasant stain on the face of Heavy Metal culture. 

We're all gonna die! He's summoning the demon lord!

 To conclude, the moral panic mainstream society has developed in the light of Heavy Metal and Punk culture is not warranted. While the culture may appear peculiar and different, its cultures are not unlike that of another nation in that those of the aforementioned cultures have their own customs and conventions that they choose to follow. Additionally, society frequently tends to forget that there is more than one sub-culture within Heavy Metal and Punk culture, each holding its own customs – the prime example of this being that Black Metal is often mistaken for all kinds of Heavy Metal, both in sound and values. The other important note that those experiencing the moral panic of Heavy Metal and Punk often forget is that not all listeners of Metal may be waist-deep in the culture. Finally, the main finger to point the blame at for such exaggerated moral panics would be in that of religious extremists and the media, as both of these groups have had a strong contribution in stretching scenarios from specific incidents or musicians to create a blame which covers an entire culture.

This has been an essay on the Moral Panic of Heavy Metal and Punk music.

Keep it heavy!

Kat.