SWITCH TO POLISH
Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, where do I even begin? This is such a vast topic... Okay (***sip of beer***), let's get started.
The Sex Pistols are considered the originators of punk, although, honestly, I think the Rolling Stones deserve the title of the first punk band, also music-wise. But what exactly is punk? A genre of music, or an ethos? I dare say, the latter. Let's trace the evolution of music associated with the punk movement (ah, I started with a bang; things will only get worse from there - you've been warned).
Generally speaking, the first punk bands were essentially pop rock bands, distinguishing themselves from the mainstream by their anti-establishment stance and by being rude (Buzzcocks, anyone?). From this simple, basic three-chord Rock, evolution occurred depending on the band's personality. The intellectualz moved towards something called "new wave," and from there it was a short path to Gothic Rock, although that's my opinion, as no one really wants to acknowledge it, but frankly, I don't give a damn what other people think. Other tribes, on the other hand, were inspired by Bob Marley and created something that can be colloquially called "ska." Those who remained faithful to guitar noise began to transform into proto-Metal and created various genres of strictly extreme music. First Hardcore, then D-beat, Crust, all the way to Powerviolence, Stenchcore, and finally Grindcore. Hellbastard, Amebix, and Discharge may have started in the punk scene, but they quickly and willingly transitioned to metal. The next question then, is whether their association stemmed from their initial lack of skill? Because the longer they played, the more they, in addition to rejecting their simple roots, tried to play more advanced riffs.
Sometimes a particular branch arose out of political differences. While most punks are associated with the "left-wing" (which is an archaic term these days*, but oh well), a so-called "right-wing" branch also emerged, fondly referred to colloquially as Skinheads. Admittedly, at the dawn of time, this movement had a completely different dimension and tone, but sometimes things can evolve into something completely opposite. I have no desire to discuss politics, even though it was, in fact, a key element of Punk. Suffice it to say, Crass, where the band's leader literally left the city for the village, where he set up a farm and lived there, far from the hustle and bustle, forming a community with like-minded people, in accordance to his Punk beliefs.
Last but not least, Punk inspired early Industrial, and in the '90s, Rave, as well as something completely different, like Hip-Hop, and consequently, Nu Metal. The genre itself, however, became commercialized over time, which is why we later had (otherwise decent) bands like Green Day and Offspring (but still corporate). Moreover, the famous grunge wave emerged from the punk cauldron, where each band chose its favorite elements. Nirvana, for example, was inspired by Celtic Frost, and their debut album, "Bleach," was a masterpiece of early sludge metal. Soundgarden, in turn, pushed Led Zeppelin/Dio to a new level. But let's go back to the beginning.
Among the more important, from a Metal perspective, Punk artists include such artists as GG Allin and The Misfits. Allin's personality is so absurd and cosmic that it defies any reason and logic, and books, films, and plush toys have been written about him.** He is the essence of rebellion in Rock 'n' Roll and its last true form, although the professional press refers to this offshoot as "Scumfuc" (sic), which roughly translates to "art combined with life," where concerts end with the arrest of the musician and his audience, resulting in property damage and high-decibel noise, combined with brawls.
The music was very vulgar, raw, sharp, abrasive, fast, and heavy. Due to his unhinged nature, he constantly collaborated with different crews, some of which were either quasi-Metal or featured future Metal musicians. Suffice to say that the famous Noisecore band (another genre that grew out of punk), Anal Cunt, was supposed to work with Allin, until he passed away. Chris Reifert (Autopsy) was also rumored to be considered for the drummer position in one of the projects. Reifert himself continued Allin's work on projects like Eat My Fuk and Violation Wound. Allin's growling sounds familiar, and some of his grind blasts (like the classic track with the oh-so-poetic title "Suck My Ass It Smells") position him as a pioneer who looked much further and broader, than his Punk brethren. However, The Dwarves almost equaled him. They can give you some strange fetishes, but more importantly, Dwarves toured with another legend, a different kind of band - Kyuss. So, Punk's tentacles reach far and wide.
In the case of The Misfits, we're dealing with Horror Punk. While the band itself, unfortunately, isn't on Metal Archives, its subsequent offshoots, like Danzig (you know who), Kryst the Conqueror (yes, Jerry Only formed this Power Metal band and recorded an album), and Gorgeous Frankenstein, certainly are. muscular (literally) punk, fast and razor-sharp. The aforementioned Danzig is important in its own right, as his solo career, rooted in blues and vintage rock, deserves to be commemorated and given the utmost love that music can receive.
But it's worth mentioning above all, that The Misfits was one of the most important bands that inspired Metallica. And speaking of Metallica, we also have to mention Slayer, Anthrax, and Exodus. Each of them listened to Punk bands and incorporated their ideas into their own style (just listen to "Undisputed Attitude" by you-know-who).
Because if you really think about it, Heavy Metal is a Punk version of Blues (Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is widely considered proto-Punk), Speed Metal is a Punk version of Heavy. Thrash Metal started as a Punk version of Speed. Crossover and Death Metal started as a Punk version of Thrash. Grindcore, as well as Black Metal ***, started as a Punk version of Death. All these later alternatives like Nu Metal, Metalcore, Deathcore, etc., were Punk versions of more orthodox Metal. And to completely turn the tables, it all really started with Plasmatics and Motorhead, who fell in love with Punk but wanted to keep playing biker music. Once again, the tentacles of Punk reach far and wide.
A few words about Crossover, because it's a phenomenon in itself. DRI, Cro-Mags, Exploited, Hirax (!), the aforementioned Anthrax, but also Concrete Sox, Excel, Suicidal Tendencies, Tankard, Nuclear Assault. The music was extremely contradictory, as serious subject matter intertwined with humor and beer drinking.
The Crossover era spanned the years 1986-1988, and these groups were somewhat on the fringes of more popular trends like Thrash Metal and later Death Metal. It's probably no secret that Kerry King himself liked to indulge in something more skate-oriented (he's also a Green Day fan, after all), as Crossover was also associated with skateboarding. Later, skateboarding was unfortunately taken over by Hip-Hop, but Punk/Thrashers were the first to combine the two disciplines.
Punk also includes the Industrial Metal, mentioned a few paragraphs earlier, which had its roots in Throbbing Gristle / Psychic TV, Einsturzende Neubauten, and also Ministry. Although these crews identified with a radically different musical movement, the spirit of Punk was more than alive within them. You only had to look at them, and how these guys dressed. And when it comes to Industrial, it's the famous Godflesh we're talking about, and we're coming full circle again, because in this music, besides electronica, there were influences from Grindcore / Death Metal. But also in popular electronic/club music like The Prodigy, Daft Punk (lol), or Basement Jaxx, we can find echoes of Punk, no matter the category itself, but always recognizable.
I'll only mention Hip-Hop, as this isn't a blog about Rap... But it's a fact that the first rappers didn't have instruments, only simple devices/machines, and had to create something homemade (i.e., Punk) methods. In Poland, there was a punk band called Deuter, who actually made a rap song in the style of Run DMC. Of course, the genre has definitely drifted towards terrible commercialism, bling bling, and club music, from which it refuses to escape, which has been harmful for the movement for many years, as it long ago ceased to be relevant. But that's not our problem anymore, it's theirs.
Another thing is that this type of music permeated American society so deeply that all new Heavy Metal bands of the '90s felt compelled to incorporate elements of this subculture. Of course, this led to a temporary split between the orthodox and the then-normies, but fortunately, the internet has somewhat straightened out these distinctions. I'm trying to write diplomatically, not avoiding euphemisms, because I don't want to devote much attention to this phenomenon in this post; there will be time for that later.
At the same time, despite all this, the Punk and Metal scenes deeply disliked each other and weren't particularly tolerant, even outright opposing each other. It's noticeable, however, that Punks don't like anyone, and have quite a lot of enemies, not to mention, a delusional sense of superiority, despite preferring, after all, a rather vulgar form of music. BUT, if any old-timers are reading this, I'd love to hear their thoughts on what it was like. I grew up at the turn of the century, and generally, my friends were a cross-section of many existing subcultures, as there were tracksuit-wearers and fans of New Romantic (a forgotten wave, someone remembers Super Girl & Romantic Bo – click – I do, and I'll never forget – by the way, that also grew out of the Punk wave), Techno fans and Dancehall fans, as well as ordinary hobos. A whole mosaic of contemporary problems for youth back then. There were no typical Punks, though.
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A simple question for the reader – look at the cover at the beginning of this post and, without using Google (LITERALLY, it's better to use Bing or Yandex), tell me – is this a Punk album or a Metal album? Have you made up your mind yet? Can I move on?
The logo, title, and theme scream "Metal," while the content and sounds themselves painfully bring you down to earth, as it's terribly, amateurish Punk. But the very fact of how fluid it is and how dependent it on details, reveals the essence of the problem, or rather, preferences. Because the album "Zombies" by Attak (yeah****) is a Punk album aspiring to be Metal.
Every time Punk and Metal came together, something truly original, yet genuinely terrifying, emerged from this unholy marriage. Because, if you were trying to be malicious, you could also classify Metal as, in fact, "Extreme Punk," "Heavy Punk," or "Technical Punk." In my humble opinion, Metal is one of many offshoots of this revolution, and we've certainly adopted many of their traits, such as clothing, leather, and an anti-establishment attitude. However, our culture has consciously cut itself off from these roots, wanting to live its own life. But this entire Punk-Metal war was, to say the least, idiotic and destructive. Unfortunately, it's a lesson no one will ever want to learn.
It's undeniable that most things in music wouldn't exist if not for the Punk revolution. At the same time, it's important to realize that it was inevitable and could just as easily have been called something else, because, as a rule, people value freedom of expression and liberty, and they fight and die for it. It wasn't about a specific genre of music, but rather about its presentation and financing (Do It Yourself), and consequently, greater independence and resistance to the mainstream and corporations. It's also not without reason that the founders of influential labels that defined the '80s and '90s were founded by former Punks, such as Noise Records, Napalm, Osmose, Earache, Peaceville, and Nuclear Blast (!). It's probably only Century Media and Metal Blade that were Metal from the start. Incidentally, Metal Blade once founded a sub-label called "DEATH," which released extreme crossover/punk, much of which could be classified as NECRO METAL!!!!
However, the fundamental advantage Metal music had over Punk music, the one that ensured no one would ever say "Metal Is Dead," was our approach to the music we loved. While Punks believed they were entitled to everything for free and "despised" money, Metalheads supported the bands they listened to, whether by buying records, merchandise, or regularly attending concerts. These very qualities made Metal music not only a lucrative business, as it remains a niche genre, but also allowed it to exist on its own terms, away from the moronic gaze of pop culture, and to develop in its own way, without the help of marketers focused on quick, short-term profits. And that's why this genre not only has a future but is still experiencing a renaissance of sorts.
Today's topic has been on my mind from the very beginning of this blog. I started writing this at the end of December (a month ago), and I feel like I haven't finished the topic. I didn't write about 'Mods or other trends, which have come and gone, and which were also important to music history. The original version of this post was around 16 pages, but I managed to shorten it to 5. I plan to use what I cut off in other posts. In other words, there might be a part two... But I don't know if I'll want to, or when...
* I consider the left/right division outdated. The contemporary public sentiment is much better captured by the term "pro-social" versus "pro-liberty." But that's just a brief introduction; we're not going to engage in political debates here, are we?
** in Poland GG Allin is an unknown figure, so I may have to make a special post about it for my beloved compatriots.
*** yes, yes, we're talking about the famous Norsecore, after all. Euronymous also lamented that the Black scene had adopted punk principles too closely, leaving him financially strapped. Before his death, he wanted to move to a more commercial path, but well, Varg had other ideas...
**** means "sic" in Latin.
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