Overcome The Pain

Thamyris/Intersecting No.
26 (2013) 71–88
Overcome the Pain: Rhythmic

Transgression in Heavy Metal
Music
Dietmar Elflein
The poverty of Western thinking about rhythm, coupled with common prejudices
and stereotypes about popular culture, obscures the diversity and role of rhythm in
rock music. We must resist crude judgments about the beat of rock music, even when
those crudities are surrounded by references to Plato, Rousseau, and other
intellectuals of the Western canon. (Gracyk 147)
This plea concludes chapter five of Theodore Gracyk’s aesthetic of rock music, enti-
tled Rhythm and Noise. In that particular chapter, the philosopher and aesthetician
discusses different approaches that associate rock music rhythm with offensive sex-
uality, rebellion, violence, etc., in order to imply that the rhythm of rock music under-
mines the values of the Christian West. Although in the twenty-first century it may
seem dull to argue against such a square point of view, Gracyk uses the discussion
to question frequently used clichés about the rhythm of rock music and asks what
exactly makes people want to move to rock music. In his opinion, not only the beat,
but specific forms of rhythmic interplay within a certain piece of music are responsi-
ble for its rhythmic quality and attraction.
While Gracyk mostly treats the specific rhythms of individual artists and musicians,
I would like to focus on the diversity of the use of rhythm in one of the most success-
ful genres of rock music neglected by Gracyk: heavy metal. To give just one striking
example of heavy metal attraction, in 2008 and 2009 Iron Maiden played arena con-
certs in 38 countries around the world during their Somewhere Back In Time tour.
In the roughly 40 years of its existence, heavy metal has evolved into a “glocal” phe-
nomenon with fans and musicians on every continent—something no one thought
possible at the beginning of the genre. Apparently, there must be something that
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attracts people to heavy metal on a more or less global level. Jason Toynbee
describes particular popular music genres like hip hop or reggae as “glocalised” gen-
res, meaning popular music genres that are marketed globally and followed by the
development of local scenes which happen to incorporate regional features in certain
parts of the world (158–59). This also applies to heavy metal. My argument is that key
concepts of heavy metal culture and the rhythmic quality of the music mix to generate
its glocal attraction. Concomitantly, that means that there should be specific ways of
constructing culture and music that separate heavy metal from other popular music-
related cultures and music genres that lack a glocal attractiveness.
To this purpose, I would like to describe how rhythms structure both heavy metal cul-
ture and music. Social rhythms centered on the production of music structure heavy
metal culture and its historical existence in a circular way in order to minimize the dan-
gers of uncontrolled change. The resulting mythical unity of heavy metal culture regards
itself as excluded and independent from every possible society, and therefore poten-
tially glocally attractive. Analogous to these social rhythms, musical rhythms are
focused on (virtuosic) control of the musical means employed in order to gain unity. But
in order to showcase the power of virtuosic control, rhythmic interplay confronts differ-
ing and, at least in part, antagonistic meters that create a musical tension that is never
resolved. This reluctance to resolve tension can be read as sign of power (“I can take
that”) or powerlessness (“I would if I could”). I would like to discover this virtuosic con-
trol of power(lessness) in a close reading of one particular heavy metal track, “Taking
The World By Storm” by the Canadian extreme metal band Kataklysm. Its chorus con-
tains the line “Overcome the pain,” which I borrowed to use as the title of this article.
Social Rhythms of Heavy Metal Culture

In her cultural sociology of heavy metal culture, sociologist Deena Weinstein argues
that heavy metal fans are mostly “blue collar, white, male youths” (100). But these
three common assumptions have not stood the test of time. Certainly male domi-
nance exists in heavy metal, but participatory observation at concerts and festivals
shows that there is a growing minority of female fans,1 and the “whiteness” of heavy
metal culture has to be questioned as well, since heavy metal has become a glocal
phenomenon with fans all around the world (see Dunn and Mac Fayden). As early as
1996, ethnographer and folklorist Bettina Roccor noticed that, at least in Germany,
there has been an increase in the number of fans with higher educational levels
(148–52). Sociologist Rainer Diaz-Bone also questions the blue collar assumption in
arguing that three main themes of heavy metal culture—the cycle of production, the
work and success ethic, and the appreciation of being able to do it alone—reveal an
affinity to professions like craftsperson, technician, and skilled worker (411).
In his discourse analysis of a German heavy metal magazine, Diaz-Bone describes
the cycle of production of heavy metal culture, which according to him is focused on

72 | Dietmar Elflein
Thamyris/Intersecting No. 26 (2013) 71–88
inspired units, that is bands (408–11). Every unit like this is caught in a cycle of pro-
duction centered on the production of albums. First, songs have to be composed,
rehearsed, and recorded. Then the album gets released and has to be promoted by
interviews, concerts, and tours. When the tours end the cycle starts again. This
rhythm of life has left its mark on heavy metal culture. But within that rhythm, the con-
cert represents more than just promotion: it is the peak of the production cycle.
Weinstein regards the concert as important since different parts of heavy metal cul-
ture meet and mix there (199), while Diaz-Bone opts for a slightly different view
(409). While not neglecting the importance of the concert as a meeting point, in his
opinion the main function of the concert, besides promotion, is to authenticate the
record in the sense of: ‘are they able to play that stuff live?’ Since heavy metal cul-
ture is centered on the band and the record in his view, Diaz-Bone’s approach also
accords with Gracyk’s and Charles Fairchild’s theses that albums, and not perform-
ances, are the primary work of rock music.
But there is another cultural dimension of a heavy metal concert, and it is the
opportunity for reminiscing a band’s past albums and remembrance of the band’s
status within heavy metal culture. Since the lineup of many working bands on the tour
circuit constantly varies, a concert may not be able to authenticate the promoted
album in the terms Diaz-Bone means, because the on-stage lineup differs from the
recorded lineup:
The current singer wasn’t able to tour so the old singer, Brett Hoffman, was
recruited. Rob Barret joined Cannibal Corpse again and instead the old guitar
player, John Rubin, returned. Bass player Jason Blachowitz (who recently replaced
Gordon Simms) was not allowed to leave the USA due to miscellaneous criminal
acts, and drum legend Dave Culross had to complete construction on his house.
(“Bolt Thrower”)
This accidental touring lineup of the US-American death metal band Malevolent
Creation is certainly not able to authenticate any album, but it is able to reminisce
about the band’s status within heavy metal culture. If heavy metal culture is centered
on the production of albums, a stream of tradition consisting of a constantly changing
selection of all the heavy metal albums ever released could be proposed as a sub-
structure of heavy metal culture. The stream of tradition is a concept developed in the
scientific discussion of cultural memory (Assmann 55). It defines a precursor of the
canon that is not part of the time-transcending cultural memory, but is nonetheless
made up of cultural artifacts, like albums. Since the stream of tradition describes a
project of historiography, it is inscribed in historiography as a discourse of differing and
contradictory interests of the music industry, musicians, fans, journalists, and others.
Therefore, not the concert itself but the festival (the venue and the accompanying
program) should be regarded as the focal point of heavy metal culture, since this is

the place where concerts and record stores—often called “Metal Market” or
something equivalent—mix. Festivals normally last two or three days, and one can
more or less permanently attend concerts, buy new, old, and rare records, party at
the campground, etc. The history of heavy metal culture is not only present in the
record stores, but also on stage. Disbanded bands stage special reunions, band
anniversaries are celebrated with special sets and guest lists, etc. Therefore, paral-
lel to the cycle of production that provides texture to the social rhythm of the band as
the central unit of the culture, festivals structure the rhythm of life of fans, musicians,
organizers, and neighbors in a circular way in order to promote the unity of the culture
by means of history lessons in heavy metal culture.
But the unity of heavy metal culture is a tradition invented by groups of people who
earn their living from heavy metal culture.2 They build a myth around their own history
to create unity. Since most of the current generation started their heavy metal
career—as a journalist, manager, musician, (booking) agent, roadie, record company
owner, or employee, etc.—in the early 1980s, the so-called “New Wave of British
Heavy Metal”3 has become the founding myth of heavy metal culture, and the 1980s
represents the mythical decade of unity. For the most part, the stream of tradition
praises records released in the 1980s as important artifacts of the culture.
From an ethnological viewpoint, societies with such a circular notion of time
re-enact their founding myth at festivals (Müller 34, 72). But since such circular con-
ceptions of time only work with a limited number of participants, when the mem-
bership of heavy metal culture increases, this becomes a threat to its mythical
unity. Ultimately, growth leads to separation—a process that started in the 1990s
according to the myth—and the new entities strive to create their own founding
myth to return from a marginalized position to the center of history. To keep from
undermining unity, these effects of separation have to be reintegrated into the
founding myth of heavy metal culture—for example in an annual rhythm at festivals.
In terms of musical history according to Weinstein and Ian Christie, heavy metal
emerged at the beginning of the 1970s and crystallized around the decade’s transi-
tion to the 1980s. Differentiation, which has remained an ongoing process, started
from that point. Thus, separation had already started in the mythical 1980s, a fact
that lets the desired unity of heavy metal culture appear even more unstable.
Weinstein proposed a three-part continuum as a methodological means of reducing
the complexity of stylistic differentiation within heavy metal culture that distinguishes
crystallized heavy metal (classic metal) (6–8) from hard rock and “metal, fundamen-
talist revision” (extreme metal) (52).
In terms of the individuals who do not make a living from heavy metal culture,
meaning ordinary fans, the mythical unity leads to a circularly renewed experience of
heavy metal culture as more or less unconnected to real life outside heavy metal
culture. This possibility is part of metal’s glocal attraction. Heavy metal culture offers

an imagined unity that rejects change and regards itself as excluded and independ-
ent of every society, no matter how many records and concert tickets Metallica and
Iron Maiden sell in that particular society, for example. This exclusion is put into prac-
tice in everyday life outside of heavy metal culture and is—at least in part—a cause
of suffering. When the number of heavy metal fans in any neighborhood grows, this
fights individual loneliness on the one hand; but at the same time, a larger group is
a potential threat to the unity of heavy metal culture. Therefore, every new fan has to
prove his or her ability to be part of heavy metal culture by being able to provide
detailed knowledge of the stream of tradition.
Transgression in Heavy Metal

Sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris adds another dimension to this view by applying the
concept of transgression to heavy metal culture to explain the specific attractiveness
of heavy metal’s mythical self-exclusion from mainstream culture (27–49). Although
Kahn-Harris analyzes only a certain part of heavy metal culture (extreme metal), at
least diluted forms of his findings should match heavy metal culture as a whole. His
work is also of interest since the example of a close reading below is a track by an
extreme metal band.
For him, the attractiveness of heavy metal culture is rooted in its ability to create
spaces in which the specific needs of the people involved are fulfilled:
The scene allows members to experience the pleasures of transgression and mun-
danity in a relative safe, secure and autonomous environment. Indeed, reflexive
anti-reflexivity allows members to maintain the illusion that this safe environment
is immune from the complexities and problems of the world. (Kahn-Harris 157)
“Reflexive anti-reflexivity” paraphrases an attitude of “knowing better, but deciding

not to know” (145). According to Kahn-Harris, the desired transgression “implies a
sense of crossing and testing boundaries and limits” (29). Kahn-Harris relates this
concept to Mikhail Bakhtin’s ideas about the medieval carnival, as it “sets limits
even as it challenges others” (29). Consequently, transgressive behavior for Kahn-
Harris is also deeply attracted to Julia Kristeva’s abject, which is “formless, disgusting,
terrifying and threatening” (157).
He identifies three forms of transgression in extreme metal, which he labels
sonic, bodily, and discursive transgression. Sonic transgression centers on the dis-
tortion of sound, bodily transgression is devoted to heavy metal’s attraction to exces-
sive drinking and potentially violent forms of dancing, while discursive transgression
describes heavy metal’s preoccupation with violence, the occult, aggression, and
other “dark” themes. I would like to add a fourth dimension: rhythmic transgression,
which centers on the unresolved tensions of rhythmic interplay I will show below. All
four forms can be found in heavy metal culture as a whole in diluted manifestations.

In comparison, extreme metal’s need for transgression is more serious and repetitive.
Kahn-Harris writes,
Extreme metal discourse represents a departure from heavy metal discourse in

that the fantasies it explores are less obviously ‘fantastic.’ Heavy metal dis-
courses are generally lurid, theatrical, baroque, and often satirical. Extreme metal
discourses are detailed, repetitive, and apparently serious. (43)
Kahn-Harris also describes extreme metal’s general obsession with control that can
be linked with the skilled virtuosity of the musicians (artisans) and the repetitive
element, since repetition resembles the urge to control something (36).
In sum, heavy metal culture can be described as an all-age, male-dominated glo-
cal phenomenon centered on albums (the production cycle of the band), and reveals
closeness to the values of artisans, technicians, and skilled workers while imagining
itself as excluded from mainstream society to experience the pleasures of trans-
gression.
Discursive Transgression
In general, one should be careful not to overemphasize the relevance of any heavy
metal lyrics, since lyrics are generally regarded as being less important than the
music and the visuals or the image. For example Jon Tardy, the singer in the well-
known death metal band Obituary, is known for the way he uses his voice to fit
sonically to the music instead of focusing on lyrical content. But this lack of content
does not affect Obituary’s status within heavy metal culture.4
Nevertheless, the lyrics of Kataklysm’s track “Taking The World By Storm” can be
read as a typical fight against selling out, as a fight for unity, particularly because of
its opening line “Corruption, the poisoned apple, that feeds your lust.” But the lyrics
do not get more precise about any possible subject of the text. Instead, the powerful
image of “Taking the World by Storm” is supplemented in the pre-chorus by images
of a never-ending struggle that go hand in hand with a lot of suffering:
Hold on to this, endurance of will

I’ll travel hard through the impossible
Clenching my fist, this fight will never end
I shall rise, taking the world by storm. (Kataklysm)
While the protagonist is showing his will to move, at the same time he is not sure if
he will really make it. There are uncontrollable and powerfully dangerous forces to
fight—the impossible—and every victory is only temporary because this fight will
never end. Consequently, to take the world by storm is projected into the future:
“I shall rise, taking the world by storm.” The chorus following specifies the impossible

dangers as—at least partly—the protagonist’s inner demons, which are not easy to
conquer.
“Overcome the pain, take away the fear, kill the voice inside, kill the lie.” The gram-
matical form of the imperative that commands this chorus re-emphasizes the
protagonist’s will to do something, but will he succeed? We will never know, because
after walking through hostile, depressing surroundings (“Walked through fields of war,
faced a spineless world, blinded by light”) the last verse ends with a repetition of the
grammatically ambiguous line “I will conquer this lie.”
In terms of discursive transgression, the lyrics imply a fascination with “dark
themes” and treat them extremely seriously. There is absolutely no trace of humor
in the lyrics. But the underscored sincerity is also passive. The protagonist is,
metaphorically speaking, chained by the way things are and therefore unable to
move. The corresponding album cover shows a winged demon chained to a throne-
like seat made of metal, skulls, and bones. The throne is positioned above a wasted
urban landscape. The sky is stormy and filled with birds of prey. Therefore, the album
title Prevail is illustrated in a dark, fatalistic, and also ambiguous way. The reign of the
chained demon can be read individually or socially, but in any case there is not much
hope left for a better future, where the world could be taken by storm. After all, we
are at the mercy of circumstances.
This reading of the lyrics is supported by the track’s video, in which nothing is
taken by storm either. The video was shot in a large, empty industrial hall with a flight
of stairs and showcases the four members of the band performing the song together
on the floor with an additional second guitar player on the flight of stairs. The musi-
cians are moving to the rhythm of the song (mostly head banging or swinging their
guitars around), but nobody is walking or running around. Nobody even tries to move
in this video. Instead, they stand side by side; in fact, they are nailed in their spatial
positions and they don’t even interact with one another. Occasionally, an individual
interacts with the camera and the singer takes two or three steps in the direction of
the camera while performing and promising, “I shall rise.” This is the one of the
movements made in the space. Another spatially different setting shows the singer
standing alone in another part of the hall, effectively separated from his fellow musi-
cians. There is nothing left except a shallow promise to take the world by storm. But
obviously the main connection between the musicians is the rhythm of the music or
their synchronized movements to the rhythm of the music.
Kataklysm’s fatalistic worldview is typical for the more serious portion of heavy
metal lyrics that has evolved since heavy metal culture emerged out of the ashes of
the 1960s counterculture. To sum up the historical situation, positive dreams of
change died in Altamont5 or Memphis,6 while the Vietnam War was still going on.
Black Sabbath’s anti-war anthem “War Pigs” describes the cruelty of the (Vietnam)
war and accuses politicians of leaving the fight to the poor. According to Black

Sabbath, that is a fact that cannot be changed. If one is poor one has to suffer from
the decisions of politicians (or the wealthy or whoever). The same occurs in the lyrics
of the eponymous song “Black Sabbath.” The protagonist tries to escape Satan, but
he has no chance: “Oh no God please help me!” To cite some more examples of
fatalistic views in heavy metal lyrics, Judas Priest describes a Big Brother-like vision
of society in “Electric Eye,” but adds “there’s nothing you can do about it.” In the title
track of the album (Screaming for Vengeance) the protagonist is screaming for
vengeance, but becoming active is projected into the future: “If it takes forever babe
I tell ya I can wait.” Iron Maiden’s lyrics are often inspired by historical facts that can’t
be changed anymore, for example the suffering of American Indians in “Run to The
Hills,” or the senselessness of the Crimean War in “The Trooper.”
When moving from classic metal like the examples cited above to thrash and the
beginning of extreme metal, Metallica’s lyrics add a more depressive twist to this
passive worldview that also manifests itself in song titles, like “Fade To Black” or
“Trapped Under Ice.” Slayer change perspectives in parts of their lyrics by letting the
listener suffer as a result of the deeds of the band’s protagonist (“Death will come
easy just close your eyes”), while Megadeth add a cynical taste demonstrated by
album titles like Peace Sells But Who’s Buying? (1986) or Rust In Peace (1990).
Within this lyrical world, hope is only found in texts devoted to bodily transgression,
like Metallica’s “Hit The Lights” or “Whiplash.” Positive elements of the type: hope
for a change in situation X are lacking in heavy metal’s view of the outside world.
Hope is limited to the parallel world of heavy metal culture carefully cultivated by
reflexive anti-reflexivity.
Sonic Transgression
Sonically, the sound of heavily distorted electric guitars dominates Kataklysm’s song,
accompanied by vocals that can also be described as distorted—an almost unvoiced
sound between screaming, growling, and barking. On the contrary, the drum sound is
anything but distorted; every cymbal and every drum can be heard with absolute clar-
ity. Drums, guitars and vocals, that is all we hear; we assume there is a bass guitar,
since the video shows a bass player as part of the band, but actually we do not really
hear it. This soundscape matches all of the sonic stylistic conventions necessary for
identifying an extreme metal track, except that the drawn-out screams are missing.
Nevertheless, Harris Berger described the drawn-out screams as part of a concept
of virtuosic control of the voice that is important to heavy metal singers and differs
considerable from a more emotionally driven blues-derived vocal style common in
rock music (49–60). This approach corresponds also to Diaz-Bone’s analysis of
heavy metal’s affinity to the values of skilled workers. Robert Walser analyzes this
type of skilled virtuosity as an important feature of heavy metal’s guitar solos, but
“Taking The World By Storm” also lacks a virtuosic guitar solo (50).

It is obvious that the track is consciously working with a reduction of its sonic
means of expression. A similar reduction can be found in the formal structure of the
song, which strongly resembles the “intro-two verses-break-verse-playout” structure
analyzed by Allan F. Moore as a common formal structure of rock music in general
(150). In fact, the formal structure is reduced even further to “two verses-break-play-
out.” But after all, the formal structure is composed of a succession of guitar riffs,
the main formal unit of any heavy metal track. The verse consists of a succession of
four riffs of identical length, the break part adds a fifth riff, and the playout repeats
the fourth riff of the verse. But the stylistic conventions of heavy metal normally opt
for much more complex structures composed of sequencing riffs. When using a
verse-chorus structure, a heavy metal song should at least feature a complex and
drawn-out break, which is also missing.7 Because of this reduction of expressive
means, the necessary virtuosic control can only be found in the rhythmic patterns
provided by the individual musicians and in rhythmic interplay as a sign of ensemble
virtuosity, something Walser only denotes (48–49). Since there is a general lack of
melody with the vocals declaiming the lyrics more than actually singing them on defin-
able pitches—in general, melodic fragments occur only as parts of guitar riffs—the
perception of this particular song is dominated by rhythmic features.
Rhythmic Transgression
Up to now, rhythm has been featured as a structuring, connecting element within
heavy metal culture and its concretion in Kataklysm’s form of discursive transgres-
sion. But unresolved tensions are created within rhythmic interplay. These dividing
forces are required to create the connective aspects of rhythm in heavy metal culture.
Rhythmic interplay within heavy metal8 is a mixture of riff and pulse-based playing
styles layered horizontally by the different instruments and sequenced vertically to
create the track. Formally, these sequences of riffs can merge with verse-chorus
structures. But riffs are not the smallest invariant units in heavy metal’s musical lan-
guage. They can be divided into groups of (multiples of) two or three pulses, the main
rhythmic modules of riff creation. Music psychologist Herbert Bruhn refers to pulse
as a regular repetition of an acoustic event. Meter restructures pulses into heavy
(stressed) and light (unstressed) acoustic events, while rhythm is regarded as a spe-
cific organization of the pulse within a given metric framework (235–41). Within heavy
metal, the arrangement of pulses in metric groups sequenced to form a rhythm
results from rhythmic and/or harmonic-melodic variations. One pulse of the group is
doubled or halved, or, at least one pulse is transposed to another pitch. Purely
rhythmic variation culminates in one-pitch riffs, while harmonic-melodic variation
culminates in the repetition of melodic fragments.
The opening riff of “Taking the World By Storm” is a typical heavy metal riff that
combines pulse- and riff-based playing styles and sequencing groups of pulses

Figure 1 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the first
riff (intro, interlude).
created by harmonic-melodic variation. The pitch of the pulse is B2,9 which means
the guitars are tuned down a fourth, an extreme implementation of the common
sonic feature of down tuning in extreme metal.
Figure 1 shows the first half of the riff; the second half is rhythmically identical
with, in part, differing harmonic-melodic variations. Rhythmically, the riff is composed
of a succession of groups of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 4 ⫹ 2 ⫹ 4 pulses, or (multiples of) two and
three pulses. This mode of riff composition causes an unresolved tension between
even (2, 4) and uneven (3) groups of pulses. The guitar rhythm is contrasted with a
reduced backbeat common to almost all rock-related styles, but also within the
stream of tradition of heavy metal associated with Judas Priest of the British Steel
period at the beginning of the 1980s.10 Rhythmically, the backbeat contrasts the
succession of (multiples of) two and three pulses in the rhythm guitar with even-
numbered sequences, which results in a rhythmic interplay that contrasts different
divisions of a basic pulse.11
The second guitar riff of “Taking The World By Storm” is also composed of (multi-
ples of) two and three pulses, but the metrical chain is rotated to a sequence of
2 ⫹ 4 ⫹ 2 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 ⫹ 3 pulses as indicated in Figure 2:
Figure 2 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the

second riff (verse).
Again, the first half of the riff is shown, because as far as the guitars are concerned,
the second half is rhythmically identical. In regard to the voice, the opening grouping
of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 pulses is not repeated in the second half of the riff. The above-
mentioned method of contrasting even and uneven groups of pulses vertically as well
as horizontally defines this second riff of the track in a slightly more complicated way.

The sequence of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 pulses in the voice is also featured in the third riff of the
track (Fig. 2). The voice and rhythm guitar play this particular metrical chain while the
bass and drums contrast even groups of pulses that are constant semiquavers in the
bass and a blastbeat in the drums.
Figure 3 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the third
riff (pre chorus).
The term “blastbeat” describes a way of playing the drums in a very fast way by
alternating snare and bass drum hits and starting with a snare impulse. The suc-
cession of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 in the guitar is created through a transposition of the pulse to
different pitches while playing as fast as possible. Guitar players speak of the speed
picking technique indicated in Figure 2 by the appearance of the stems.
Due to the playing styles of rhythm guitar and drums, the third riff represents the
part of the track with the highest density, a sort of a climax of speed that, within the
structure of the riff, is confronted with the comparatively slow succession of
3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 pulses in the voice and the pitch change of the rhythm guitar. It also rep-
resents a contrast of contradictory divisions of the pulse. To emphasize this, the fast
pulse and the 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 sequence are played parallel by either the drums and gui-
tar or the voice and guitar. Playing parallel is a typical way of concentrating energy or
power within heavy metal. It also highlights the uniqueness of the featured riff.
The ongoing tension of sequencing and layering even and uneven groups of pulses
in the first three riffs of the track is contrasted with sequences of even groups of
pulses played by the guitars in the fourth riff that accompanies the chorus (Fig. 4).
Figure 4 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the fourth riff
(chorus).

At same time, the drums return to the reduced backbeat that also accompanied
the first riff. Therefore, the first half of the chorus is the only part of the track where
the rhythmic interplay of guitar and drums sequences and layers is based on even-
numbered groups of pulses and does not result in tension between even and uneven.
This contrast supports the high density of the previous part of the track and acts as
a fake closure of the different energy levels and densities inherent in the track as
well. As shown in Figure 5, the first half of the chorus represents a fake closure,
since the drums change to a ternary playing style and reinstate the tension between
uneven and even in the second half.
Figure 5 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the fourth riff
(chorus).
As a consequence, the rhythmic tension not only remains unresolved but is also
heightened with the binary pulse in the guitar and ternary pulse in the drums before
the previously analyzed sequence of four riffs starts all over again. Metaphorically
speaking, the end of the chorus is like an exclamation mark: That’s what we’re here for!
The break part that follows the repetition of the analyzed sequence of four riffs
also works with the familiar tension between even and uneven. While one guitar
repeats constant quavers, the bass guitar doubles the pulse by playing semiquavers
and the drums repeat a version of the familiar backbeat with doubled pulse density
as well. But the second guitar contrasts this sequencing of even-numbered groups
with the already familiar metrical chain of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 pulses in an arpeggio-like
playing style on changing harmonies as indicated in Figure 6.
Figure 6 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the fifth riff
(break).

The track ends with a lengthy repetition of the chorus accompanied by the backbeat
of the drums, which again changes to the ternary pulse transcribed above in the second
half (Fig. 5). Throughout the whole track, the ongoing rhythmic tension between even
and uneven is never resolved. It goes on forever, with changing intensity. That is what I
call “rhythmic transgression in heavy metal.” Different levels of intensity, density and
energy are layered vertically and sequenced horizontally to create a rhythmic power that
is permanently under control by the skills of the musicians and is never unleashed.
Kataklysm and the Stream of Tradition of Heavy Metal Culture

In regard to the stream of tradition, the featured sequence of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 pulses con-
tains an echo of blues-related playing styles. It is derived either from the son clave of
Afro Cuban music or the Latin habanera rhythm (see Pfleiderer 234–37). Bo Diddley’s
famous rhythm figure is closely related to these patterns and may serve in this
context as a verification of the blues echo inherent in the 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 sequence.
Figure 7 An Abstraction of Bo Diddley’s famous rhythm figure.
In Bo Diddley’s tracks “Bo Diddley” and “Pretty Thing,” the transcribed rhythm is
played on a drum; in “Mona,” it is doubled by a guitar.
Classic metal, like Judas Priest and others, favors this succession of 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2
pulses over other possibilities of sequencing groups of pulses, but at the same time
produces numerous variants of the sequence, like doubling it, halving it, or adding an
extra group of pulses to the sequence. Thus, with its numerous usages of the
3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 sequence, “Taking The World By Storm” is deeply rooted in classic metal
despite having been produced by an extreme metal band that normally tries to mini-
mize any blues echoes. The possible reading of the lyrics as an endless fight for the
unity of heavy metal culture is supported by this musical analysis because the main
mode of riff creation is rooted in classic heavy metal’s rhythmic treatment of its blues
heritage. Since extreme metal is an offspring of heavy metal culture that potentially
threatens its unity, Kataklysm’s classic-metal-inspired type of rhythmic interplay opts
to uphold the unity of heavy metal and extreme metal. But since the track (and its
main formal unit) ends with a sequence of even-numbered groups in the guitar riff,
the unity proposed by Kataklysm is unstable: it is permanently under threat. It is no
surprise that the protagonist of the lyrics is fighting his inner demons during this
fourth riff (Fig. 5). He is trying to “overcome the pain” and “kill the voice inside, kill
the lie.” But which voice and which lie need to be killed? It could be the voice
demanding unity as well as the voice threatening the lie of unity.
Within extreme metal, sequences of even-numbered groups of pulses that contain
absolutely no blues echo are often favored over the 3 ⫹ 3 ⫹ 2 succession and its

variants.12 But as Kataklysm show, the transgressive practice of creating an unre-
solved tension between even and uneven is not minimized in extreme metal. In fact,
it is created in a more serious way by confronting layers of exact binary and ternary
pulse—like in the second part of the chorus transcribed in Figure 5—instead of
sequencing groups of two and three in binary pulse. Classic metal distinguishes
itself from blues-based playing by refraining from merging groups of two and three
pulses into something between (like shuffling), but is always aware of that possibility.
Extreme metal abandons this option. That means that groups of three pulses are no
longer reminiscent of the blues, but act as an integral part of heavy or extreme
metal’s means of rhythmic expression.
Maybe Kataklysm just “kill the lie” of a ternary pulse being blues-influenced within
the musical code of heavy metal. But reading the track that way means that the rhyth-
mic reminiscing of heavy metal’s stream of tradition leads to the creation of a new
founding myth—the founding myth of extreme metal culture—that threatens the unity
of heavy metal culture by its mere existence. To take the next step: the last traces of
ambiguity exit heavy metal culture when the blues influence is minimized or denied.
Everything left is either one way or the other, binary or ternary, metal or not metal.
In Kahn-Harris’s terminology, things are becoming more serious and repetitive. The
testing of the boundaries of rhythmic power enforced by parts of the extreme metal
scene and the relocation of the (physical) limits of confronting material of opposed
(rhythmic) qualities are acts that also incorporate the will to suffer. Within rhythmic
transgression there is a fine line where power mutates into powerlessness and
control also means to be under control.
In a similar way, the fatalist view of the world found in the lyrics and the no-inter-
action video confronts opposing topics with each other and provides no opportunity
for resolving the inherent tensions. Instead, they are shifted into the inner self where
they can be acted out as bodily transgression, for example. The virtuosic control of
power needed to withstand the created tensions is a source of suffering at the same
time. It is always in danger of becoming an end in itself.
Conclusion
The glocal attractiveness of heavy metal culture is, at least in part, affected by its
treatment of musical and social rhythms. Rhythmic transgression describes a way of
layering and sequencing different levels of intensity, density, and energy vertically and
horizontally. It creates an ongoing rhythmic tension that is never unleashed but per-
manently under control by the skills of the musicians. Therefore, rhythmic transgres-
sion creates the rhythmic power that makes people want to move to heavy metal as
described by Gracyk. Socially, the transgressive practice of extreme metal, and heavy
metal culture as a whole in a diluted way, allows people to act out unresolved ten-
sions within a culture that positions itself as excluded from mainstream society and

is therefore not responsible for creating these tensions. By defining itself as

excluded from mainstream society, heavy metal culture also constructs a myth of
unity that is effectively supported by people making a living out of heavy metal cul-
ture. Because of its mythical construction, heavy metal is constantly subject to acts
that threaten its unity and is therefore something that needs to be taken care of by
its participants. Despite the argument that key concepts of heavy metal culture and
the rhythmic quality of the music mix to generate its glocal attraction, the described
analogy between the musical and social rhythms of heavy metal culture, the unre-
solved social and rhythmic tensions, should not be overemphasized. Gracyk rightly
insists on the purely aesthetic value of any music that is never completely absorbed
in something he calls “the social relevance thesis” (46). In order to respond to
Gracyk’s critique that the social relevance thesis treats “popular songs fundamen-
tally as symbols and their aesthetic dimension is irrelevant” (48), the extended
concept of transgression is used as a means to keep social and aesthetic values
methodologically separated. Heavy metal is both a globally attractive fatalistic
lifestyle centered on the virtuosic control of conflicting rhythms and a popular music
genre loved by its fans because of differing aesthetic reasons.

Works Cited
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Endnotes
1. Unfortunately there is a lack of up-to-date incompatible with Megadeth’s image — these

empirical data on this topic. lyrics are not referred to in any reviews of the
albums. Instead, Megadeth’s musical return to
2. See Elflein “Somewhere” for a more detailed heavy metal is appreciated as an artistic move
discussion of this topic. that is visually accompanied by the return of
their mascot ‘Vic Rattlehead’ — a zombie-like
3. The term “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal” skeletal figure who embodies the phrase “See
sums up different British bands active around no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” — as part of
the turn of the decade as well as the beginning the album covers.
of self-organization of heavy metal fans and
musicians by starting small independent record 5. This refers to the murder of Meredith Hunter
companies, fanzines, etc. In a way it combined at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival organized
the do-it-yourself ethics of punk with a greater by the Rolling Stones on December 6, 1969.
emphasis on musical skills and a refusal to get
a haircut: that is, a refusal to deny the stream of 6. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
tradition. While punk opted for a new way of Jr. on April 4, 1968.
reinforcing the counterculture, heavy metal
stayed with the old way while being aware of its 7. For a detailed discussion of heavy metal’s
failure. formal structures, see Elflein
Schwermetallanalysen.
4. To cite another example: Dave Mustaine, the
leader of the well-known thrash metal band 8. For a detailed discussion of heavy
Megadeth, converted to Christianity in the new metal’s rhythmic language, see Elflein
millennium. Although, as a consequence, some Schwermetallanalysen.
tracks on Megadeth’s last two albums contain
deeply Christian lyrics—something any heavy 9. B2 in scientific pitch notation is equivalent to
metal fan in the 1990s would have regarded as B in Helmholtz pitch notation.

10. Interestingly, British Steel (1980) represents the bass only emphasizes an already existing
a formally reduced approach to heavy metal in way of treating the pulse and adds nothing new
the history of Judas Priest and also lacks to the modes of rhythmic interplay. Since it is
virtuosic guitar solos and drawn out screams, also almost inaudible, the bass is ignored in the
something for which Judas Priest’s singer Rob transcriptions of rhythmic interplay.
Halford is normally celebrated.
12. Slayer’s way of playing exemplifies the
11. The bass guitar plays either parallel to the preference for even-numbered groups of pulses.
rhythm guitar or parallel to the drums. Therefore,


Overcome The Pain

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Thamyris/Intersecting No.

Overcome the Pain: Rhythmic

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Social Rhythms of Heavy Metal Culture

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Transgression in Heavy Metal

“Reflexive anti-reflexivity” paraphrases an attitude of “knowing better, but deciding

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Extreme metal discourse represents a departure from heavy metal discourse in

Hold on to this, endurance of will

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Figure 2 Kataklysm, “Taking The World By Storm,” excerpt from the

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Kataklysm and the Stream of Tradition of Heavy Metal Culture

Figure 7 An Abstraction of Bo Diddley’s famous rhythm figure.

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

is therefore not responsible for creating these tensions. By defining itself as

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

1. Unfortunately there is a lack of up-to-date incompatible with Megadeth’s image — these

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

Dietmar Elflein - 9789401208871

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