The subject of this post is something I connect myself very closely with and it’s been a long time since I thought of dedicating some blogspace to this . Those who know me well enough are aware that I have an unusual penchant for Extreme Metal Music ( and I say unusual because my outer appearance hardly fits the bill of a typical renegade metalhead ) . Please note that when I say extreme , I mean REAL EXTREME shit !!!
While I am not going to debate with those who feel there is no MUSIC ( elements of the usual sorts ) in Death and Black Metal , for me MUSIC in general and Extreme Metal in specific are much more than just something to please the aural apparatus . It is more like a MIRACLE DRUG which comes packed in different forms for different moods and for different purposes. Like when I return from a harrowing day of classes , the “ 300+ bpm double bass beats “ of drum annihilators like Inferno of Behemoth , Trym of Emperor or Frost of Satyricon save my tired body and mind from virtually descending in a spiral of chaos . While most would find this aforementioned ‘double bass beats’ or Death Metal noisy as hell , it erases all my worries in a single go as I let myself loose . If chaos can be eliminated only by chaos , this is my own way of dealing with the inner turbulence of my mind . Being in a single room in a hostel isolated from my other good friends , sometimes in times of boredom , music is my only companion . To the extent that some music is always booming through my woofers throughout the day and like the ever-changing shades of the daylight , the music drifts through jazz , blues , rock , metal and an occasional dash of pop . This makes me wonder what this semester would have been like without my uber-awesome sound system considering my otherwise-cool laptop has a substandard speaker system of it’s own . I mean GOOD MUSIC was there for me when I needed it the most !
The inescapable adrenaline rush you experience when your heart pounds and your head ‘bangs’ violently to the beats of Lamb of God , Amon Amarth and Slayer is something only a metalhead like me can relate to . Consider it a sort of trance only that it hasn’t been enforced via a religious ritual or so . Fortunately , a single room provides the privacy for this act of Headbanging which might be otherwise deemed as ‘crazy’ or ‘ nutloose’ by the uninitiated . The vicarious thrill you get when headbanging to a live concert being played at full volume makes you forget you are in Nagpur and momentarily transports you to the metal heavens of Wacken or Ozzfest .
On a personal note , music / metal is one of the common interests I share with my best friends who are by all means equally or more passionate about music than me . At the end of about 4 years with them , I realised the major adhesive of our social interactions in the group revolved around music where each of us maintained a common liking for the same bands while remaining fiercely loyal to atleast one ‘out-of-the-box’ or rather idiosyncratic musical group . I am indebted to them for having played and still playing a huge role by introducing me to more and more of new music by their refreshing recommendations , for without a constant supply of fresh music , I would have long ago junked music or worse still , I would’nt have been able to experience some of the best moments of my life .
Cheers and stay fucking true to METAL !!
\m/
Count Grishnackh
