I can't even tell any more

Mathias Svalina has a pretty interesting post about black metal, particularly Striborg. Mathias says that Striborg "attempts the grimmest, rawest black metal, bringing his music close to the anti-music skronk of no wave & the avant noise of someone like merzbow." The thing is, I listened to/watched some of the clips Mathias posted, and I thought they were kind of great. I mean, I know that the music--strictly speaking--is quite bad. Definitely cheesey. But, god, it was so cool. It felt like some creepy video/performance art piece. And that somebody is actually, sincerely living the life of "a freaky loner...in a shack in the rural wilds of Tasmania" just blows my mind.

It's the kind of thing that completely blurs the line between "good" and "bad" art, sincerity and irony. I mean, we can't take this music seriously, but Striborg and his "true" metal fans do! At the same time, though, there was a part of me that totally took Striborg seriously, at least the music I heard.

I'm this way about a lot of stuff...appreciate in both and ironic/aestheticized and sincere way all at once. Guns-n-Roses, for me, is a prime example. I LOVE them. Really. But I also don't. I mean, I know how cheesey they are/were. But still...

Maybe it's just my 13 year old self lingering in me somewhere, but I just can't help it. I love metal. Mastodon, to me, is great. They totally embrace an 80s metal aesthetic with their album art and lyrics for sure, and with the music too. I think to myself, they can't be choosing that art sincerely. They HAVE to be making a very self-aware, calculated nod to that aesthetic. And to some degree, I think they are. But I also think they do truly love it, so hey, why not run with it.

I don't know. Is there a name for this thing I feel, this meld of sincerity with self awareness and irony? My guess is that it's the concept that I'm most attracted to. But I must reiterate: I LOVE METAL.

I feel like I suffer this same confusion with poetry, but that's a different story...