BDSM - Bartosso's Daily Saturnine Musings

 

Is there such a thing as Independent thinking?   

Daily Disclaimer:

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Before you kill me, I'll just say that I actually somewhat like Iron Maiden, I'm just a kind of person that would say anything to seem cool and ironic. Basically a kind of person you wouldn't like to know in real life. I have an excuse, though! I'm sick, I sleep eight hours a day and another ten at night, waiting for something to happen. If I'm to be completely honest with you, this blog marks a transitional phase in my life as I learn to accept my health problems despite their life and hearing impairing implications. I have to accept them. Not because I need it to feel better. It's just that after two years of treatment, surgery and inconclusive diagnosing, I feel like resuming my life would be a good move.

I know, I know, it was supposed to be about us, not me. I didn't plan this outburst, I hope all two people who read this won't hold a grudge against me... The question we asked in the previous installment of BDSM was, more ot less, "Why do we like extreme music?". The answer is partly expressed in the question itself (oh how clever!). Extreme situations is what thrills us. Why would people watch thrillers, read horror books or gather around car accidents like idiots, if not for the excitement? It's obviously directly connected to our morbid curiosity and I think at the very basis, that's what gets us hooked on extreme music in the first place. Still music compared to movies, books or real life situations, is abstract. Yeah, sure, Cannibal Corpse lyrics (and cover arts, for that matter) are not particularly abstract and I bet some people find this aspect of their music very exciting. Still, even if you leave aside the conceptual basis of the music, it's still extreme. That's where another thing kicks in - letting oneself go. Extreme music is liberating and helps us relax. It's funny because it usually has an opposite effect on those who don't like it.

Okay, but what about those who find the music not only liberating but also beautiful. If you get shivers down your spine upon hearing a Gnaw Their Tongues track or an emotional arrhythmia while listening to Meshuggah, you're one of those freaks. You are one of these sick deviants that listen to atonal noise and still somehow look like a birdwatcher surrounded by nightingales. That's not normal! I mean really, peeking at birds, come on! So, anyway, we are willing to sacrifice social conformity and often part of our sanity just to explore that music and experience something extraordinary. Or maybe it's just that only extreme music is capable of conveying the full spectrum of human nature? All that we know about, all that we accept, but also things we'd rather forget about or don't even know exist in our subconscious? Knowing and accepting all that shit we have inside is part of our evolution. And yes, we're talking metal here, but also avant-garde jazz or RIO, or chamber music. All music that challenges your limits, opens your mind and forces you to give in to it, is extreme.

Nowadays, especially nowadays, in the postmodern age, extreme music is a perfect artistic vessel to express things otherwise inexpressible. Bands like Kayo Dot, Unexpect, Cloak of Altering, Thy Catafalque, however different they are, all aim at transcending the borders of art in order to achieve the ultimate goal - ecstasy, freedom, spiritual unity of body and mind. Without dogmas, prayers, or masturbation. Just you and the sounds. And when the silence comes, you're a changed man.

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