REHupa

“There is a fine line between clever and stupid” according to Spinal Tap front man David St. Hubbin. Lately a heavy metal band called The Sword has been getting some attention on Robert E. Howard related discussion groups. I am not much of a fan of heavy metal though I am fascinated if not often amused by the subculture. I have to admit that The Metal Show on VH1 Classics is a guilty pleasure of mine for the unintentional satire.  My own tastes run to music such as Joy Division, lyrically influenced by J. G. Ballard. I may sometimes laugh at but can’t condemn the whole leather studded gear, fist in the air, black T-shirt wearing aging overweight anti-metrosexual baby boomer set. Sword and sorcery has been made fun of by those more self-serious and I see a certain kindred spirit between sword and sorcery and Heavy Metal.

The Original Chamber Pots- "Corn in My Stool"

Heavy Metal of course had it origins in the mid-60s, traceable to a band from Kent, England, The Chamberpots. They were also known as The Original Chamberpots because another band from Colchester that later became The Elder Glyphics had the same name. The Original Chamberpots had the groundbreaking fuzzbox fueled remake of the old Mamajambo blues song, “Corn in My Stool” along with their speeded up interpretation of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “Constipation Blues.” At this time, The Thames Men became Spinal Tap and the rest became history when they released “Listen to the Flower People.” The Elder Glyphics came on board with a name change and the single “Shadows Out of Time” b/w “Galadriel.” The Elder Glyphics like The Gods would walk the line between “progressive rock” and heavy metal on their debut album Phantasms and Fancies (1968) and the double album Revelations of the Elder Glyphics (1969).

The Elder Glyphics

The Yardbirds were reduced essentially to a power trio when they fired Jeff Beck in December 1966. Jimmy Page then  created the sound that would be Led Zeppelin. Keith Relf saw the future and wisely wanted no part of it. Page’s pick up band to replace the Yardbirds refined the metal look with an androgynous singer and the sound with someone who could sing castrato. Jimmy Page’s replacement band followed in the wake of the Elder Glyphics in bringing in lyrics based on fantasy. J. R. R. Tolkien was a favorite source at this time. Uriah Heep took that trend even further.

            Kiss would make use of Ken Kelly for one of their album covers while staying close to the traditional items of sex, parties, and rock and roll. Ironic considering front man Paul Stanley was the most gender challenged singer yet with his eye-liner, red lipstick, puffed and coifed curls, and feminine moves that aroused and confused teenaged boys who liked Kiss.  No doubt Kiss fans were also buying Lin Carter paperbacks, not to mention Conan of Aquilonia.

            Heavy Metal periodically becomes so bombastic as to be a parody. The cycle is generally, you get kids who listen to some Stooges albums, rediscover raw rock and roll for a few years until that cycle runs it couse with alcohol and drugs generally contributing to its demise. 

            The 1980s saw Heavy Metal reinvigorated by Piledriver’s Metal Inquisition album with Slayer and Metallica following in the path blazed by the revolutionary band.  Metal died again in the late 80s as Guns and Roses pointed American youth back to Stooges derived rock. Then Grunge cut off the head of Metal after a stake had been put in it. Like a zombie movie, Metal returns each time not necessarily louder but generally faster. The newer Metal bands have an urge to write long epics that are suspiciously similar in concept early Genesis or Yes. I keep thinking of the string of concept albums by Spinal Tap in the 1970s like Shark Sandwich and Rock and Roll Creation. These new guys are going in a direction only alluded to by Ronnie James Dio and Uriah Heep. It will be interesting, might be funny. Hopefully, no band members will choke on vomit of unknown origin or die in tragic gardening accidents. If Heavy Metal is going to use Robert E. Howard as inspiration, just keep away from the prog-rock thirty minute epics. So is The Sword clever or stupid?