...And Justice For All

The Wrath of Metallica

Back in 2000 Metallica became the first music group (albeit a metal one) to bring music piracy to the public eye. The case was against online p2p network juggernaut Napster, which at the time had millions of users trading music amongst each other. The RIAA sent numerous “cease and desist” orders to schools and universities informing them of copyright infringement on their private servers, and threatened to sue if compliance had not been met. Now what’s interesting about this case is the ownership laws were subject to much debate. Herein the laws could be interpreted in many ways depending on the court’s interpretation.

In other words if a product is purchased (such as CD) whom does the responsibility of the ownership lie in. The person who bought the CD, the person who borrowed the CD from a friend or Metallica?

From a Metallica standpoint the band stated that an album is a result of certain dedication and months/years of work, in other words it is a commodity or as Lars Ulrich put it “an artform” and that by downloading or even swapping a CD is taking something that doesn’t in fact belong to you. By doing this you are in fact “trafficking stolen goods”

The bigger picture in which Metallica failed to see was that there was no references in the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act covering digital media, as this is at the time was a more updated modern form of copying music. This included Cd Burners, Mp3 players and encoders.

From a user/fan point of view they felt entitled to download as much FREE music as their bandwidths could allow. Fans of Metallica were outraged and disgusted that their means of free music was shut off and would now have to pay this definitely not starving band money again. Unfortunately for Metallica, the users and fans will always find new ways of acquiring music or band merchandise for free.

Metallica and Napster reached an undisclosed settlement ($$$) and the court ordered the termination of Napster and two years later in 2002 Napster had to liquidate its assets and filed for Bankruptcy. Napster was Dead. However this wasn’t to be the end of this legal ordeal...

Shortly after the court trial, Metallica unleashed a crusade of lawyers on some 330,000 Napster users with the intent to Kill Em All. This was due to a violation of copyright laws via means of illegally possessing digital media. Now this move by Metallica was very bold, potentially trimming the fat off their fan base and maybe crossing a few violations of privacy laws along the way.

An online net consultancy firm was hired by the band to track the users down and collect information on them which totalled a 60,000 page court document. While this is no laughing matter, the fact that this mp3 police agency would of had to accept Napster’s user privacy policy (legally binding user agreement) is. Surprisingly there was no counter sue.

Metallica really has every right to stop the trading of music that they aren’t seeing a profit on. But then again so did every other artist on Napster whose music was being traded “illegally.” (I’m taking a blind guess and assuming Metallica wasn’t the only artist on Napster). With Metallica squeezing every last drop out of Napster, what is left for the other artists who were also hard done by. With a band as successful as Metallica it just seems like pure gluttony to pursue this case to the astonishing extent they did. Also, why harm the otherwise clean and respectable reputation of the band and its dedicated fan base. Surely Metallica had a lot more to lose than gain from this situation.

In the digital age laws will have to become increasingly up to date in order to cover technological advances in our societies. The issue of copyright online is no longer black or white as this case has proven. Whether or not this would be considered illegal in other countries is up for debate and the relevance of this case can still be influential in determining future lawsuits against the countless mp3 breeding grounds that still remain.

Well this may of not killed Metallica... but St. Anger certainly did.

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey Review

God doesn't hate us all, but it's a great fucking title for an album." – Tom Araya

Directed by Sam Dunn, Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey follows this long devoted metalhead on his quest to delve into the culture of heavy metal. On his journey he explores the origins of this often misunderstood and negatively publicised culture, with interviews with famous musicians from bands such as Black Sabbath, Lamb of God, Rob Zombie, Iron Maiden and Mayhem to name a few. The Documentary covers a vast amount of subjects related to the metal culture such as the history and origins of Heavy metal, its influence, controversies and why it is greatly loved and despised among the wider community.

What is so powerful about this documentary is that despite the reputation, Heavy Metal was, and in some retrospect still is one of the most popular forms of music worldwide. Director Sam Dunn emphasises this point by travelling to the ends of the globe, Particularly America, Europe and more interestingly Norway. Here he finds that while culturally diverse, fans love of heavy metal sets them apart whether you are the different kid from a small town or a group of friends heavily suppressed by their boring and monotonous environment.

No stone is left unturned as Dunn investigates the 1984 U.S committe hearings from parents concerned that metal has spawned a violent and possessive culture, who even took it as far as to try and ban the music altogether. This infamous point in the history of metal is renowned for the creation of warning labels on records we see today. As silly as this looks from a Metal fan perspective it is communicated in an unbiased fashion, which gives Dunn a sense of credibility and journalistic integrity.

Fans devotion leading to suicide is discussed to a small degree, although I did find it interesting that despite several law suits, no Metal band has yet to be held accountable of any death due to lyrical themes that suggest and imply self mutilation, hatred and in some cases Satanism. This leads me to perhaps the most interesting segment of the documentary, Dunn’s exploration of the Norwegian Black Metal Scene. This is perhaps both the funniest and most disturbing portion, dealing strictly with Satan worshippers and an interesting insight into the infamous band Mayhem. An interview with a pastor from a church in Norway, who was there to witness the burning of several churches by none other than Varg Vikernes claiming his intended plan was to destroy Christianity.

This is notable because up to this point of the documentary we had seen the fan and musician perspectives on the genre, and this is quite geniously contrasted with the darker and often feared side. A weird interview with gorgoroth vocalist Gaahl, proves that these musicians are men of few words (is that blood or wine in the chalice?). Following is a brief discussion into Death Metal, with an interview with some Cannibal Corpse members who discuss the quiet but ever present fan base and why Metal serves as a sense of purpose to both wayward teenagers and appreciators of technical rock.

While this documentary provides an interesting insight into the world of metal some important factors are overlooked. There was no discussion about the corporate side of metal and why it remains one of the highest selling genres of music. There is also some conflicting or hypocritical remarks about outcasts and rebels in the metal scene and the utter commerciality and success of the metal music industry. After all aren’t “different kids” not into things as gigantic and popular as metal?

Ultimately I recommend this documentary to both metal lovers and people who don’t listen to or know much about the genre. It may not change your mind on past controversial topics such as masculinity or violence in the genre but it will indeed give you a greater appreciation of the music and a different image, one that is not viable to public scrutiny.

Black Metal, **** You!

There’s not much that hasn’t been said about the legendary Norwegian Black Metal group Mayhem. I say legendary because not only has this band influenced countless others but their renowned images of Satanism and Violence is the predominant reason that this legend precedes them. While other metal bands claim to be all about death, destruction and gore Mayhem lives up to their name and makes others seem like thumbsucking pussies in comparison. At first glance there may be no significant connection to the world of modern day metal but in actual fact this group is partially responsible for the negative connotations, unfounded fear and controversy surrounding the genre.

Black metal is perhaps the most “extreme” incarnation of the broad spectrum of metal, well renounced for its satanic imagery, self mutilation, depression and themes of violence, but holy shit this band takes it to new unforseen heights. Formed in 1984 in Norway, originally consisting of Necrobutcher, Euronymous, Varg Vikernes and Hellhammer the band rose to prominence with their first release Deathcrush in 1987. The highlight for the band ends around there. The next few years saw a string of murders, suicides and violence tear the band apart, heightening their popularity but ultimately affecting the metal community on a larger scale.

Mid 1998 saw the replacement of founding member Maniac, who failed to commit suicide and as a result became eternally depressed. The void was filled by a person only known as Dead. It has long been speculated that Dead was in fact mentally ill, having suffered a concussion from slipping into an icy lake and almost drowning when he was a child. As his name suggests he was fascinated with death, and would often bury clothes weeks before a live performance and dig them up on the night, rotting and covered in maggots and worms. Another routine ritual was carrying around a dead raven in a bag so he could inhale the scent of death before performances. In other words he knew he would die. According to another local band member Bård G. "Faust" Eithun;

"He (Dead) wasn't a guy you could know very well. I think even the other guys in Mayhem didn't know him very well. He was hard to get close to. I met him two weeks before he died. I'd met him maybe six to eight times, all in all. He had lots of weird ideas. I remember Aarseth was talking about him and said he did not have any humour. He did, but it was very obscure. Honestly, I don't think he was enjoying living in this world."

The inevitable happened and on the 8th of April 1991, Dead was found Dead (excuse the pun) in his home with self inflicted cuts to his arms and a shotgun wound to the head. A suicide note read “Excuse all the blood.” He was found by fellow band member Euronymous who then later went to the shop to grab a disposable camera and took pictures of Dead’s Corpse. It is long speculated that he also took fragments of his skull and made them into necklaces. Reportedly Swedish band Marduk is in possession of said fragment/s. The death affected Necrobutcher so much that he quit the band.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse another fatal blow saw the band ripped apart from inside. An altercation between Euronymous and Varg Vikernes aka Count Grishnackh occurred on the morning of August 10, 1993 Euronymous was stabbed 23 times by Vikernes at his place of residence due to Vikernes stating that Euronymous had planned to kill him over disputes to financial profits of the records. Later when arrested Vikernes also confessed to 8 counts of arson of local churches which occurred between 1992 and 1993. He was later sentenced to 21 Years imprisonment.

These events define “extreme metal” and the global media sought to capitalise on this controversy by projecting a negative image on the metal community claiming that it was full of Satanists, drug usage and was a labelled a violent cult. Due to the nature of Metal having numerous subgenres, this can only be applied to Black Metal as its origins can be traced back to a strong anti-religion movement, due to the nature of Norway suppressing its inhabitants with religious beliefs contradictory to its Viking forefathers. This can in no way be associated with the likes of Death Metal, Doom Metal or Grindcore as they are vastly differing forms of Metal founded on different and unique ideologies in different time periods. Below is a recent interview (somewhat hilarious) with the remaining members of Mayhem who are strangely still going strong, or are they?