after reading about the recent furore on the raid at paul’s place in KL over an alleged black metal gig, i sometimes wonder if this was a typical example of knee-jerk reaction from an ill-informed public leading to the tip-off. the raiding of a music establishment by the local authorities is not a new phenomenon. the zouk incident a year ago was one worthy of a mention.
i will not try to put forward an argument against whether music can subliminally influence one’s mind. rock music and its heavier/darker ilk have always been the alleged root of all evil. a kid committing suicide listening to ozzy’s suicide solution. the columbine killings committed by students, one of whom was a fan of marilyn manson. what if you had a serial killer with a complete collection of mariah carey CDs? then again, i have no problem having her branded as evil. haha.
nor will i try to defend the acts of genuine psychos, who are few and far between, which include church-burning in scandinavia and murder. psychotic antisocial behaviour is not limited to the association with black metal. some radical skinheads still hold on to nazi beliefs, and they are into punk music.
are these extreme music genres are to blame? the west memphis three is a sad example of such prejudice.
music had always been utilised as a symbol of rebellion. the shaking hips of elvis presley was perceived as being unsightly by the standards of a more conservative era of the 50’s. the calmly serene guitar-infused tunes of bob dylan and joan baez were filled with anti-war angst and criticism of the american government. rap music by the likes of NWA, with their anti-police stance, was a representation of the deep-rooted frustrations with the ill-treatment of the minority african-american population.
i strongly believe that music is not to be solely blamed. ice-T didn’t incite the post-rodney king LA riots. ozzy didn’t tell that kid to put a bullet in his head. it may be naively simplistic, but to blame, say, punk music as a reason of racist behaviour in a skinhead is like saying his leather biker jacket or knee/ankle-high doc martens are influential just as well. music has become an unwitting accessory. an image appended to the fcuked-up psyche, if you will. can you imagine brutal thugs having a penchant for justin timberlake?
the hardcore norwegian black metal scene was rooted in anti-christian beliefs seen in a small number of youths. it was a statement to revive their norse roots. music by mayhem and emperor may contain pagan elements but it couldn’t have solely be responsible for the burning of churches. ideologies like these are borne out of sinister factors deeper than those of screeching vocals and high speed guitar riffs played over blast beats.
it is interesting to see how the local media reports on this. the header read ‘mereka akan memijak al-quran’ in a local tabloid reporting on a raid on a seremban metal gig last december. the report did include a general write-up on the activities of a ‘typical’ black metal scene (as i did above), but then appending one of these activities as a header, which i must add, wasn’t likely to have had occurred, was misleading. if i were to hypothetically rally a group of people to worship ol’ horned uncle nick, i wouldn’t book the local community hall and start black mass in the afternoon, would i?
facts need to be got right (black mental[sic] – sheesh) if the general public is to be aware. even my 71-year old dad knows of franz ferdinand (the scottish band, not the assassinated archduke of austria) but that doesn’t mean he knows who count grischnakh is. just because i wear a black tee emblazoned with the name iron maiden doesn’t make me a black metal psycho-fanatic. one doesn’t need to be associated with any kind of music to drink and do illicit drugs.
the root of the society’s problem ain’t music, it’s somewhere else more obvious. please leave the musicians and us decent music-loving public alone.
___________________________
for a more detailed account of the paul’s place brouhaha, go to jeff ooi’s screenshots.
kudo
i was at the press conference as some of the detainees were people i know. many from the independent scene, malays, indiana, chinese…all were there..to show support..
the funny things is, it was a straightedge hardcore gig!!!
damn bodh man these people…
i wrote a bloody long letter to harian metro, NST, BH, and TV3 for their false and inaccurate reporting.
there is more to the story but too long to tell here
You’re not a black metal psycho fanatic ah? 😉
You’re right though…music ain’t the cause of social dysfunction and if a certain segment of youth chooses to display their dissatisfaction via explicit lyrics or harsh, loud choruses, then one must analyse the root ’cause of said dissatisfaction rather than lumping the blame on whoever happens to be the easiest target.
But the powers that be know this, and this is probably another propaganda concocted in order to distract the public from more pertinent issues. We get these every now and again – from the campaign against lepakking to the previous furore over black metal.
What needs to be done involves a fair more critical look at the way our society is formed and the educational infrastructure (or lack thereof) that’s in place rather than arresting a few kids each time they decide to head bang.
I think it’s a good thing there was some brouhaha. I mean, don’t cry over it like pansies lah, people!
What is RATM if not the band who went up against the establishment to close down Wall Street early one fine afternoon?
What is NWA without their trademark Fcuk The Police to put a stop, or at least attempt to put a stop, to the beatings the African-Americans had to endure all these years?
What is The Sex Pistols without God Save The Fcuking Queen???
Hell, even Ray Charles went against the state of Georgia because he had his own beliefs! And I don’t see him down-tuning his piano or running it through a distortion pedal to sound anything near ‘heavy’!
I’m sick of people sympathising with Paul or Paul wanting sympathy from the people and justice from the Government. I’m not refering to the author of this blog, because he’s merely stating facts. But I’ve got friends who go on and on along the lines of ‘Tak patut lah kerajaan dan polis buat macam ni! Mana keadilan kepada rakyat Malaysia? Hak kita dicabuli!‘ Boo-fcukin’-hoo!
Can you imagine Angus Young saying that? Fcuk no. If I was Paul, and I know I was doing the right thing, there’d be a death/speedcore/rapcore/asscore/hardcore metal gig every week on my premises until the Feds get out of my face!
If loud music is an outlet for rebels, then I feel that the so-called ‘heavy’ rockers headlining our so-called ‘underground scene’ aren’t rebelious enough. Go re-tune your guitars, dye it black again and comb it in the usual side-parted manner, wear a suit, and play jazz like Lmsn Rds.
Pansies.
this thing will be a passe – ala..just like the those days when long-haired rock bands were banned; 9 out of 10 jiwang lembik songs from Junction’s debut album were banned b’cuz they sound “sumbang”; isu dr.m kata ‘meniru budaya punk satu kebodohan’, isu hip hop & even isu ‘pink metal’
bla..bla..what happened after that? gigs semakin banyak, pastu it is OK now for anyone to have long hair or (mcm anuar zain buat sekejap dulu..haha) or even wear subang to appear on tv & perform wings’ ‘dari tuhan’ with raihan!! (muka sure tak diblurkan lagi..hehehe)
strangely, i always believe that when such a matter is over-blown by the media, it is somehow a ‘strategy’ (by the authory?) to divert the public attention or to cover-up another matter at the same time. hehe….watching to many spy movies kot ni…
p/s: i pity my hubby lah. he must be a lil’ but stress ngan berita merepek yg ditulis dek kengkwan opis dia tu..haha..but, i always support harian metro! more sales, more bonus for my hubby lah, hopefully…:-) peace!
Nadia
no offence bu ti honestly think harian Metro is toilet paper.
They have been, on numeorus occasions, publish incorrect of false reports, in which, in return, i worte many2 letters to them to say to them stop reporting nonsense if you dont know the facts or if you ‘re not bother ed to do research.
Neon
looking at it from a bigger picture, it does not matter what genre these kids were playing in the first place. One of the bands on the bill, force vomit, can hardly be classified as hardcore ( surf punk ala man or astroman? ). The issue was how the police , with no clear warrant or charges, hauled uo 400 people to the station. and then later changed the story. and then the media reported something else. We could have been playing post rock or experimental jazz for all it matters and we would still get hauled if we were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
this weekendthere will be a Street Roar festival, experimental bands from china, japan, singapore etc2…im interested to see whether big brother will be interested in this one.
I’m pissed with this shit.
I’m pissed. Really.
Those f**king retards can’t even tell the difference between car models, more over sub- genres of extreme music.
To them, anything that is not dangdut or feeble pop crap is Black Metal.
A blatant insult to the intelligence!
No doubt they’d come up with more stupid terms like Pink Metal, JIT, years back.
The metal-freaks (bangers I mean) are different because they (the moronic authorities) choose to look at them differently.
Nothing has changed.
It’s ok to promote hedonism openly via street parties, etc but it’s NOT OK for the extreme music fans to gather and enjoy themselves in protected environment.
It’s ok to let the f**king immigrants run wild in the country, but it’s NOT OK for the extreme music fans to wear/appear “differently”.
Malaysia really BULLSHIT, not boleh.
Oh yeah,
I have this list of must-kills (not must-haves) for breeding and twisting such slanderous statements in the first place.
1. Mastika
2. Harian Metro/Kosmo
I bet these are the retaliations of the school-days failed-journalists toward the hands that smacked their faces before.
And whoever wrote the scripts or direct the Gerak Khas “Black Metal” episodes ought to be shot right between the eyes.
Cleverly associate “Black Metal” with deviated teaching with the likes of Ayah Pin, Homicide, Free Sex, Nonsense ritual, Rape, Drugs/Ecstasy.
As per their imagination, Good Charlotte, Slipknot and all “noisy, extreme” music is Black Metal.
Bravo to these Gerak Khas idiots!
p.s: Kudo, sorry to hijack your board, just to vent out some frustations.
of course it’s toilet paper, it’s a tabloid ain’t it? 😆
hahaha…tak kesah. janji it feeds every mouth in my family. kalo tak suka, stop reading & buying. senang je.
heh…btw, ada gak yg tengok gerak khas ye? hahahaha…
err..tapi kan kalo fikir2 balik, mmg la reporters yg tulih cite tu mcm karut je, tapiiii bile ramai sgt yg kecoh, in a way, lagiii ramai la yg beli the paper. menjadik gak strategy diorg. haha.
err, btw, harian metro is a tabloid, SIZE-wise. kalo tabloid content-wise, tu haa…BACARIA, PENTAS DUNIA, etc.
Tu lah, dah kena brainwash dengan Era; sampai any non-Mawi / Siti sounding music confirm subversive.
Me also thinks this is a cover up.. ada menteri allegedly kena tangkap basah baru ni..
IMHO, if a newspaper can’t even spell the most basic english words right (i.e. Harry PORter, black MENtal).. maka gagallah sistem KBSR, KBSM dan yang sewaktu dengannya.
But you are all correct – papers need to sell. And since every single newspaper spews the same govt-is-holy-do-not-complain rhetoric, sales have to be derived from other methods la kan. Like sensate culture stuff.
Oh, negaraku.
Nadia
i dont mean to shoot down your source of income, but please also do remember, being reporters, you do have a responsibility to report correctly and not just hentam. for some people, newspapers are the only source of information and what they read on the newspapers is what they absorb. so imagine if you inform the wrong information , what happens then.
whatever happened to ethical journalism?
sorry if i have offended you or anyone else but im tired of seeing see this country spiralling backwards, no thanks to the media & the inept government.
sorrylah kudo….ill shut up now 😛
fake: it’s ok. for once, it’s great to see a good response when a more serious topic is written in this blog (readers tend to comment less unless there are pics of food or scantily-clad… oops, i mean… hot women).
read these for more on the recent debacle:
– joe kidd’s blog
– the i-bands.net fora
Holy Shii-yattt!!!
1. No, it doesn’t matter what genre the kids were into. But some people believe in rock and roll, dude!!! And sadly, we have come to a point where our so-called ‘rockers’ find it uncool to be reeled in by the police! Hell, if I was a few years younger, at the gig, and still the rrrock lover I was, I’d most probably brag to my mates,
‘Oi, korang tahu tak? Aku kena tangkap ngan The Dogs, sial! Baru rock-eng!!!’
*hi-fives, dirty whoops and pat-on-the-backs going round the table following the statement*
So maybe some of us (the ones who are shouting that the police were in violation of the appropriate laws), are either:
a. Don’t really believe in rock; and/or
b. Too old that rock has outgrown itself
And since most of these people who report/take interest of the situation (newcasters/newspapers/Gerak Khas/human rights activists) fit either 1 a. and/or 1 b., they should know that ini semua benda budak-budak and it’ll blow over.
2. Thus by being so loud about it, aren’t we all propagating what some of us have distilled as ‘petty publicity, which is, more often than not, a mere smokescreen for more pressing matters at hand’?
And since I don’t want to be part of this pointless social experiment by the Feds, this’ll be my last entry about it.
Let them kids go through the motions of fighting for what they believe in. Victory will be sweeter that way. And before I quote Whitney Houston…
😉
It does not get any stupid(er) than this.
http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/HM/Monday/BeritaUtama/20060109081506/Article/indexm_html
i listen to Deicide, does that mean Im a black metal woman who is against her religion? sheesh!
siti: eh.. we can make that a new song by santana. black metal woman.