DEATH METAL WILL NOT BE HEARD AT THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Photo By BRIAN SNYDER/Reuters

When Republicans descend en masse upon Tampa, FL this week to attract national media attention officially nominate Mitt Romney for President, one of the city’s most notable worldwide exports will not be present: death metal. In an article for Yahoo News (still a thing?), Andy Sullivan gives readers an entirely non-ironic analysis of death metal’s roots in Tampa and its juxtaposition with the religious conservatism of the Republican party that no doubt has many longtime Tampa residents and conservatives elsewhere in the U.S. very, very confused.

Some say it’s ironic that a party that includes large numbers of religious conservatives would hold its convention in the city that fostered a musical genre known for album titles like “To Hell With God” and “Butchered At Birth.”

“It’s kind of like having a group called Abstinence for the Sexually Anxious holding its convention in San Francisco,” said Steve Huey, a critic at AllMusic.com. “Or a group called Society for the Hatred of Corn deciding to meet up in Iowa.”

Homegrown acts such as Hate Eternal and Morbid Angel are not booked for the plaza-filling concerts or high-dollar fundraisers that will keep conservative and evangelical Republicans occupied in theconvention’s off hours.

That is not surprising for a style of music in which “brutal” is a compliment. Drummers play at breakneck speed, guitarists peel off dense, atonal riffs, and vocalists sing lyrics about gore and Satan in a low-pitched growl.

Here’s to hoping we eventually see news footage of metalheads outside the RNC blasting Cannibal Corpse at full volume from a truck.

Read the entire article here, and DEFINITELY read the comments too.

-VN

Thanks: Rick C.