Sunday, November 6, 2022

An observation about heavy metal and sword-and-sorcery

Blue Cheer and Deep Purple = Lord Dunsany and James Branch Cabell
Black Sabbath = Robert E. Howard
Judas Priest and Iron Maiden = Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance
Metallica and Megadeth = Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock
Queensryche and Danzig = Karl Edward Wagner and Charles Saunders
Slayer, Sepultura, Pantera = Ramsay Campbell, David Gemmell, Glen Cook
Warrant, Poison, Def Leppard = Gardner Fox, Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp
Black metal, death metal with cookie monster lyrics = Any Grimdark writer

Obviously meant as fun, not some profound observation.

Every art form probably goes through the same evolution, of early experimentation/breakthrough/pinnacle/steady state/commercialization and exploitation, collapse, followed by further cycles of experimentation.

I don’t have enough expertise in other types of art to say that for sure, but horror comes to mind, going through a similar arc.

If I missed your favorite author or band, no offense meant.

3 comments:

  1. Not a sulk about an omission, and hopefully not too much of an incongruous question, but genuinely curious about whether you’ve read any of Delano’s Neveryon tales, Brian? I haven’t read any but I have been curious about them (I have read and enjoyed some of Delany’s science fiction).

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  2. Hi Luke! I have not read any of his Neveryon tales. I should probably correct that. I guess I've stayed away because, while Delany often characterizes them as S&S, the descriptions don't sound that way to me (they sound more like high fantasy, which is often not my bag).

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  3. Priest is moorcock

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