My new thread after so long was born as a result of a comment by BastardHead towards a user, which I personally consider to be absolutely right after having analyzed metal culture in its 48 years of existence, so for that reason I decided turning your comment into a thread that could be quite interesting and productive for in-depth discussion, which may never have been discussed for this forum.

I think it's still much more image-driven than any of us want to admit. One of the qualities that metal capitalizes on is the potential of theatricality, and thus it borrows from epic and visually-rich fields, whether classical music, opera, pirates, vikings, etc. There is a certain amount of pomposity and pretension inherent in art forms that aim for bombast and grandeur, particularly when you are putting on a live show for thousands of people, or at least hoping one day to. Musicians ultimately are entertainers and storytellers, and the nature of metal to trend towards extremes of expression often engenders a bolder presentation style. So it doesn't innately have to be negative if we recognize it for what it is.

For your information, Black Sabbath is from 1970 and we're in 2020. Why did you picked 48 years ago exactly?
https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/B ... abbath/482

Oh. Well, honestly I thought their first album came out in 1972 until I saw your comment, that's the reason why I only picked 48 years ago exactly and not 50.

Maybe double-check next time... That's obvious and easily accessible information.

"The image" as a philosophical generalisation, encompassing all the "non-vanilla" types of self-presentation among fans and performers?

I used to care about image...I don't anymore.

I love metal but don't need to dress or convey an image of me being some kind of bad ass. The way I dress you wouldn't even know I like metal. I ran into a friend at a show who told me my life and image are kind of square but there's something about it he envies because I am not concerned with trying to fit in the culture.

I do thing image can still be big with some people and their is a sense of elitism that comes with that. Most people I know that enjoy metal, and the same stuff that I do, generally carry that image through a variety of different ways, mostly dress.

I know one other person that enjoys the same shit I do but that no longer chases the image.

A lot of musicals have the actors wearing regular modern street clothes, even if the story is set in 18th century Romania or whatever. The songs and dance numbers are still the same, but isn't it a lot more fun when the actors are in costume? You don't *need* sets or props either, strictly speaking, but is a blank stage better for making you focus on only the lyrics? Or does setting the full scene give your brain more to turn over and contextualize what you are hearing?

Wearing all black and not cutting my hair is honestly less work for me than dressing "normal" at this point. Anyone patting themselves on the back for not having image, cool, but everyone wears clothes and you must have at least picked a hairstyle out of a magazine and got your outfit at the mall. You have an image.

Solid comments so far, I like it.

Actually I was sort of thinking we'd already be on a second page by now. Maybe some are weary from the other thread.

Let's give it time, not all threads run with the same luck at first, I have a thread with more than 6 or 7 thousand visits and it started like this.

That's an interesting thought and take. Likely there are many that may need to be 'in the moment' so to speak to spark that creativity.

Though I don't write music I write other things: stories, poems, etc. I can tell you most inspiration comes from sound (what I'm hearing). For the longest time one of my most inspiration songs was Dimmu Borgir - Når sjelen hentes til helvete. In particular it's the piano interlude during the middle/end of song. That song still to this day can get my mind going. I'm also able to do that when I combine the music with the image - for example play that same song, or even album, and chill on the side of the road in the mountains when I'm on vacation has the same effect.

As to the corpse paint, leather, patches, chains, armor etc I don't really care what the creator portrays as an image. So long as the content that put out is good quality I don't care if it's some dude recording on lo-fi and dressing a frost demon or if it's a bunch of guys dressed in polo's and khakis. Just give me a good product - image doesn't mean shit to me anymore.

Though, oddly, as I reflect more image (and to a greater extent: atmosphere) is exactly what got me into black metal in the first place.

Big same. My main takeaway is that since there was no agreement on what "normal" is, I just dress the way I want to.

So true. Not to say all bands should dress up or go that extra mile, but it definitely goes a long way to give an artistic visualization that compliments the music.

For me, I think image also has to do with a lot more than simply costumes and whatnot. Attitude and stage charisma also go a long way in creating the band image. I think a lot of metal bands miss out on that. They get way to wrapped into their guitar playing or bass playing, and just leave the stage presence to the vocalsit. When I saw The Faceless the last time I did (it's been a while), it was probably the most god awful thing I've ever seen live for that reason. It was just a bunch of dudes standing around playing their instrument, looking bored as fuck the entire time. Thanks- I can listen to the album at home, give me a reason to see you live.

That's because there are bands that only have attitude and charisma on studio albums.

I'd stay away from terms like obsessed / frustrated, but also add a point I remember made on another thread on this site.

The gist of it was that the image of black metal specifically is just as important as the music, as it's absolutely a complete package - bands like Sunbather & Deafheaven that look like they're selling icecream for a living are missing a decent chunk of what makes the genre. The point made was that punk absolutely has aesthetics as a core component - try being a punk band in a tailored three piece suit, polished brogues, and corporate haircut. It doesn't work, right ?

Trying to accept Scandi-Frostbitten music from a bloke in his polo shirt shirt is inherently a little difficult, same as it would be with trying accept 'down with capitalism' from a guy in Saville Row.

There's almost a trope when in a female fronted band (regardless of subgenre) the lead singer is decked out to the nines, often in a rather suggestive manner, while the instrumentalist dudes look like they didn't even know they had a show / video /photo shoot planned. Bonus points for when there is also a female instrumentalist who's also glamorously (un)dressed and pushed to the front.
If there's something that frustrates me about the "image" thing in metal, it's that.

Yep. It's further vexing because it's difficult sometimes to tell authenticity from the marketing team trying to push a certain look, regardless of the fit. And since I listen to a lot of the kinds of music where that is prominent, I'm at times unsure whether I like it more than I'm willing to consciously admit, or if I just like the music in spite of it.

I love metal image, metal aesthetics, metal clothes, and metal "culture", but it's crucial to keep in mind how utterly goofy and self-indulgent it often is. If you forget that, you run the risk of becoming a narcissistic edgelord like Euronymous or the stupid Vodka Vultures kid that burned down the African-American churches last year.

I was talking about this with my wife the other night, and we reached the conclusion that a certain amount of the women involved (see also: Burning Witches, Ad Infinitum) must just love themselves as much as a Tobi Sammet or Luca Turilli loves themselves - it literally can't just be evil marketing types, humanity doesn't work like that.

Napalm Records, on the other hand, must have a storage room of corsets and high-heeled boots.

I know I've become horribly judgemental. I don't like it but I can't help it - if I see promo material like that coming from a band new to me, it takes a miracle for me to actually check their music out in an unbiased manner and not to downright dismiss that band.
I always remind myself of that old Dreams of Sanity photosession when Sandra and Martina posed nude - it kept on generating backlash in the Russian online metal community for years. But I had been in love with the band's music already, so I just saw it as artistic expression.

Actually I'm also biased against new black metal bands that do the corpsepaint thing - but then I'm indifferent to the majority of the second wavers (who codified the trope) as well. It seems kinda logical to me that a band wearing corpsepaint is most likely closely emulating things that have been done before, and those are things I didn't care for in the first place. It's often a good bet not to go past album covers in this genre LOL



Oh gods, Burning Witches must be at David deFeis level of self-worship then LOL
I follow them because they swapped one awesome singer for another - whom I was familiar with from her previous band where she already dressed like that. Their songwriting seems to be steadily improving, so one day I hope to actually buy a record of theirs. // might be wishful thinking now that they are with Nuclear Blast, though //

Corsets per se are not evil - you can totally wear them with something underneath and get a totally different vibe. High heel boots, though... let's just say they seem to often be the reason behind less-than-impressive frontpersonship on behalf of the wearer.

It's really a tricky thing. I don't want to be unnecessarily prude and deny them the agency to dress the way they want, but that doesn't mean that I have to always personally endorse it. I primarily listen to music for its exciting aural qualities, and while often there are aesthetics that can enhance that in terms of artwork, music videos, live shows, manner of dress and what not, there are certain thresholds at which it is no longer to my taste, or at further points to hardly anyone's other than a select few. And it cuts both ways, I don't care for the Manowar version of this either. But others should be free to enjoy that if they wish.