Metal Heads

March 4th, 2008 by gast!

Remember when heavy metal was still dangerous? Then you must have grown up in the 1980s. That is when a grassroots movement of bands that (just) wanted to make the loudest music on the planet grew into a mass cultural force, in defiance of critical opinion, moral protests and, probably, God’s will.

Metal fans and musicians traditionally look like hippies turned into demons; the long hair is intact, but the floral patterns are replaced with black leather and the beads with chains and spikes.The American rock quartet Slayer in many ways epitomises the cult phenomenon. However, while Slayer has remained tactically alert throughout its 26 years of existence, the metal movement collapsed under its own weight in the 1990s. Most artists were more concerned with their flamboyant appearance, their bank accounts and their overweight album concepts, rather than the raw emotional impact of their music. Since its decline, metal has had its resurgences, but overall it remains underground, where it started.*

Last friday (29 February) the exhibition Metal Heart opened. The exhibition is organised by Arno Coenen from Olst (and his ugly mug is on the flyer), and although there appears to be involvement of those cocksuckers from Mediamatig in the organisation, I reckon a March visit to Planetart at the Weteringschans in Amsterdam will absolutely be worth the while.

*© Asterdamweekly (page 11)