If you could be in a band, what sort would it be?

[Goreripper]

I doubt Gorgoroth can really afford it either. They probably spent their entire touring budget on that one show.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Yeah but most still TRY to do that stuff! Whether they can afford it or not! They still throw blood around and try to shock the audience and be as violent & brutal as they can. That's shock rock!

 

[Goreripper]

I think the whole thing about calling anything 'shock rock' is how contrived a performance/attitude is towards shocking people. A stage show that simulates rapes and crucifixions would shock almost anyone, probably even the band's own fans. While the entire genre might not be shock rock, there is definitely a "shock" element in most things that black metal bands do.

 

[spawn]

They use elements of shock rock, yes, they are NOT shock rock.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Yeah that's what I was trying to get at. It's not about how much money you have to put on a big shock rock stage show, its about the attitude the band has in trying to shock people. And you can't deny a shock element in black metal.

 

[spawn]

Thats like saying any band with long hair is a glam metal band then.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

It is shock rock. Because it is a VERY central element to black metal. Just even the fact that black metal fans often judge a band's worth on how grim & true they are instead of how good their songs are is proof of just how central the shock element of black metal is to the scene.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

No it isn't because glam metal is a genre and refers to a type of music.

Shock rock isn't a genre, it doesn't matter what type of music the band plays. Shock rock just refers to a band's image, attitude and performance. Look at some of the bands who do or have done shock rock - Alice Cooper, KISS, Motley Crue, Lizzy Borden, Marilyn Manson, GWAR, Cradle Of Filth, Gorgoroth lol.... do these bands even sound similar to each other or fit in the same musical categories? No way! The "shock rock" term is just something that describes the way they perform, look and how they try to shock people.

 

[spawn]

Once again, the bands you mentioned can be classed that, all black metal cant.

 

[Goreripper]

I'm still with Trent on this one, spawno. I have a book at home somewhere called "Shocking Cinema" about manipulative and exploitative cinema. It's not a treatise on a particular genre of film, but an comparison of how different genres and director exploit similar tactics to shock their audiences: splatter films, violent action and dramas films, David Lynch, Ken Russell and John Waters movies, blaxploitation... they are all different, but they use similar methods. Not all black metal could be called "shock rock", but certainly some of it is, because it uses shock tactics.

 

[spawn]

Not all black metal could be called "shock rock", but certainly some of it is, because it uses shock tactics.

Thats entirely my point. He called black metal shock rock, but it isnt. It uses some elements of it (depending on the band) but that doesnt make it shock rock.

 

[Goreripper]

I think he was trying to make the same point as I was, which is that black metal as a whole isn't shock rock anymore than any other genre, but there are bands within it that could be called such.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Yeah obviously not every black metal band is shock rock and that isn't what I meant.

My point was that shock rock is central to black metal in general. Alot of black metal bands are shock rock and there is a shock rock element across the whole genre in general. I didn't say every black metal band is shock rock. But its a central element to the scene & genre.

 

[Celestial-Todd]

Come on guys... you're arguing over semantics when it comes to black metal! Surely I'm not the only one who seems the irony here!

 

[Goreripper]

Arguing over semantics is at the very core of human existence. It's an unwritten law of arguing: when you basically agree, argue about semantics.

 

[spawn]

That's all black metal is really - Shock Rock.

 

[Goreripper]