Unknown Affinities Between Metal and Classical Music / The Devil is in The Details (4)

On January 29 and 30, the world premieres of Voivod Symphonique take place, a rare public event that juxtaposes classical “high culture” with the underground world of metal. Yet there are many links between these two European traditions, both in terms of music and history. Nevertheless, even the most erudite of scholars, and orchestral musicians in particular, remain largely unaware of this connection. To demystify the context in which this extraordinary collaboration culminates, our collaborator and musicologist Laurent Bellemare offers a brilliant comparative overview of the similarities between these two worlds. This is the fourth and final part of his excellent dossier.

Un enjeu de cordes vocales

Like opera, whose soloists’ vibrato and vocal projection techniques are often hard to digest for the average person, metal repels so many music lovers because of its vocal approach.

“Growl is still the biggest barrier,” explains Pascal Germain-Berardi, elucidating this apprehension shared even by many musicians. David Therrien Brongo agrees, pointing out that “the voice is what reaches people the most. We use our vocal cords every day. To imagine growing, I imagine it hurts people. […] I don’t know if it’s a form of empathy, a block or the fact that people shout… people don’t like bickering… Again, the distortion [of the guitar], it’s the grainy side, the grain that also reminds me of the growl of the voice. It’s not smooth.

Here too, there’s a parallel to be drawn with contemporary music and its gritty, noisy techniques.

David adds: “I’m just working on a piece where I’m running a bow over [Styrofoam]. I don’t mind it, but there are people for whom it has the same effect as fingernails on a painting. I know that at concerts, some people will jump on their chairs at that effect… it’s classical music!”

The devil is in the details

The worlds of classical music and metal are growing ever closer, but this development is far from widespread in the collective imagination. Even in the orchestral world, few artists are familiar with metal music, as Voivod Symphonique arranger Hugo Bégin confirms.

Be that as it may, fortunately the OSM is willing to host something other than traditional concerts. But beyond attracting metalheads to classical concerts, can we expect a gradual fusion of the two cultural milieus?

For Pascal Germain-Berardi and David Therrien Brongo, this potential opening is more a collateral effect of the event’s punctuality: “We’re not going to create new fans of Shostakovich and Mahler with Voïvod Symphonique, even though it’s a clientele that could very well respond to it.

Would the success of this cultural dialogue consist more in presenting hybrid concerts where the two genres are invited side by side without merging them?

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal certainly puts its stamp of legitimacy on Voivod’s music, and it’s a fine tribute to the late guitarist Denis ‘Piggy’ D’amour, a music lover whose interests included Karlheinz Stockhausen, Penderecki and Ligeti.

The program also celebrates the avant-garde complexity of the first Quebec metal band to make a name for itself worldwide, over 40 years ago.

Let’s hope Voivod Symphonique leaves its mark on the cultural landscape and sets a precedent for further collaborations. For the time being, metal concerts with orchestra remain very much a one-off event, and it’s remarkable that Montreal, self-proclaimed “metal capital” in 2019, should host one.

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