This happened. As I Lay Dying's frontman is in some pretty hot water.
First, what I learned in my law class, and The Thin Blue Line, is that
we as society have to share some of the blame for the behavior of criminals. In the many cases, criminality arises from abuse and neglect during childhood. We make our own criminals.
So this piece will remain devoid of character judgements of Tim Lambesis or any of the members of As I Lay Dying, or even their fans. I've never been a fan of the band, but that's not to say I don't admire the fact that they're big and have sold a lot of records.
If Lambesis is convicted of the murder-for-hire plot against his wife that he's been charged with, my opinion of him will change. Until the evidence presents itself in court, we know nothing.
Second, the band is going to become more popular because of this sad news. But that's not necessarily good news, because the increased YouTube, Spotify and iTunes plays they get will be more part of a scientific experiment on the part of the listener, to hear just what kind of vocals a guy who would do this would make. It will not be positive publicity, in short.
I'm listening to their live album This Is Who We Are now. Hearing one of the guitar players sing some cool backing vocal lines, while this frontman spits and spews hatred and anger like he's drinking water. The musicians are talented, I'll say that.
One thing that's certain is that this news casts a stain on the entire metal community. It makes bands that adopt this sound even less appealing to the mainstream. I predict that the more meatheaded members of the metal community (that write online) will say something akin to: "Wow, look how metal that guy is!"
No, man. Metal is not anti-women, pro-abuse of women, pro-criminal activity, pro-sneaky backstabbing. It's about going against the norm that is incessantly happy in the midst of a world of ugliness. It's about showing the truth to the world. It's about embracing your dark side in order to get it out artistically and healthily, not actually carrying out murderous fantasies in real life. In my opinion, metal exists to deter real criminality.
This is why I'm going to try and avoid screaming like this in my own metal. I'm taking a cue from Ghost. I'm going to use my voice as an instrument, not a battering ram. Nobody needs that. We're all just people, trying to live in civility with everyone else. We don't need our precious metals stuck in permanent-anger-mode with nothing-but-screaming vocals in our music. It gets boring. And legitimately scary, not cool scary.
Tell me, what's the demographic for their fans? Oh wait, this article is supposed to be free of character judgements.
As I Lay Dying should break up. Their name is tarnished. Abandon it. Burn it. It's the metal thing to do. Light it on fire in a viking funeral barge and send it out to sea. The band has had its time, and now it's a lost cause. The singer shat on it. The blood won't wash off its hands.
It's not like those dudes couldn't find spots in other reputable metal bands or get jobs in the industry that would keep them afloat and support their families. And holy crap, if I was a family man in that band, I'd be trying to get as far the fuck away from that singer as humanly possible. Conviction or not, it doesn't look good for Lambesis.
Hanging onto the name would be like hanging onto the legacy of spousal abuse, abuse of women the world over by insane, jealous men.
In similar, but unrelated news, check out what's happening with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God. He's going thru court proceedings in Prague over the death of a teenage fan that he has been charged with causing during one of the band's concerts.
Death by metal figureheads is not good for metal.
First, what I learned in my law class, and The Thin Blue Line, is that
we as society have to share some of the blame for the behavior of criminals. In the many cases, criminality arises from abuse and neglect during childhood. We make our own criminals.
So this piece will remain devoid of character judgements of Tim Lambesis or any of the members of As I Lay Dying, or even their fans. I've never been a fan of the band, but that's not to say I don't admire the fact that they're big and have sold a lot of records.
If Lambesis is convicted of the murder-for-hire plot against his wife that he's been charged with, my opinion of him will change. Until the evidence presents itself in court, we know nothing.
Second, the band is going to become more popular because of this sad news. But that's not necessarily good news, because the increased YouTube, Spotify and iTunes plays they get will be more part of a scientific experiment on the part of the listener, to hear just what kind of vocals a guy who would do this would make. It will not be positive publicity, in short.
I'm listening to their live album This Is Who We Are now. Hearing one of the guitar players sing some cool backing vocal lines, while this frontman spits and spews hatred and anger like he's drinking water. The musicians are talented, I'll say that.
One thing that's certain is that this news casts a stain on the entire metal community. It makes bands that adopt this sound even less appealing to the mainstream. I predict that the more meatheaded members of the metal community (that write online) will say something akin to: "Wow, look how metal that guy is!"
No, man. Metal is not anti-women, pro-abuse of women, pro-criminal activity, pro-sneaky backstabbing. It's about going against the norm that is incessantly happy in the midst of a world of ugliness. It's about showing the truth to the world. It's about embracing your dark side in order to get it out artistically and healthily, not actually carrying out murderous fantasies in real life. In my opinion, metal exists to deter real criminality.
This is why I'm going to try and avoid screaming like this in my own metal. I'm taking a cue from Ghost. I'm going to use my voice as an instrument, not a battering ram. Nobody needs that. We're all just people, trying to live in civility with everyone else. We don't need our precious metals stuck in permanent-anger-mode with nothing-but-screaming vocals in our music. It gets boring. And legitimately scary, not cool scary.
Tell me, what's the demographic for their fans? Oh wait, this article is supposed to be free of character judgements.
As I Lay Dying should break up. Their name is tarnished. Abandon it. Burn it. It's the metal thing to do. Light it on fire in a viking funeral barge and send it out to sea. The band has had its time, and now it's a lost cause. The singer shat on it. The blood won't wash off its hands.
It's not like those dudes couldn't find spots in other reputable metal bands or get jobs in the industry that would keep them afloat and support their families. And holy crap, if I was a family man in that band, I'd be trying to get as far the fuck away from that singer as humanly possible. Conviction or not, it doesn't look good for Lambesis.
Hanging onto the name would be like hanging onto the legacy of spousal abuse, abuse of women the world over by insane, jealous men.
In similar, but unrelated news, check out what's happening with Randy Blythe of Lamb of God. He's going thru court proceedings in Prague over the death of a teenage fan that he has been charged with causing during one of the band's concerts.
Death by metal figureheads is not good for metal.
No comments:
Post a Comment