Was OSDM a reaction to the prevailing cultural obsessions of the time?I

I was listening to this month's Horde feature and, as happens far too often, my mind started wandering and I got to thinking how odd that the early nineties' death metal scene produced some of the filthiest-sounding, most violently-themed music up to that point in music history when the prevailing popular culture (in a lot of Europe anyway, no more so than here in the UK) was dominated by techno, house music and neo-psycedelia, the drug of choice being Ecstacy and everybody being "loved-up" and living some kind of neo-hippy, optimistic and decadent nightlife. So my question is, do you think the overtly brutal sound and excessively violent and demonaical lyrical content were, at least in part, a countercultural reaction to the prevailing popular musical culture of the time?

Well, the answer is yes but I don't think death metal was a response to rave culture as it was originally developed in the USA & dance music didn't really take off to the same level there in the same way that it did in Europe. In my opinion the extreme metal scene was a response to a) 80's hair metal & b) the early 90’s grunge/alternative movement.

Ah yes, hair metal. I had forgotten all about those times. What a horrible fucking thing that was. If death metal extremity was born out of a reaction to it then that is the only positive thing to come out of the whole horrible mess. 

Of course that's only my opinion, others may disagree (but they are wrong)!

Not at all a question for this site really Daniel, I know, but I'm interested in your opinion as someone who was involved in dance music (sorry I'm not sure what terminology to use). Why do you think it was that rave culture wasn't very big in the US as here in the UK it was everywhere?

I actually had a few mates who were into metal who got involved in the rave scene and started acting like tthey had never listened to or liked a metal album in their lives. It was never a scene I personally got involved in, although some of the stuff I heard from time to time was OK, it didn't hold much appeal for me. I think I'm too grumpy and cynical for a scene like that!

Good question Sonny. I'd suggest there's a number of reasons that the Americans didn't take to dance culture as strongly as the Europeans, despite the US being the home of genres like house music (i.e. Chicago) & techno (i.e. Detroit):

1. The strength of hip hop in America.

2. The fact that very few US clubs had late night liquor licenses which meant that most had to close before 2 AM.

3. Much stronger US drug laws which could see people incarcerated for what we'd generally consider to be minor discretions in other parts of the world.

4. Racism & homophobia i.e. the fact that dance music was strongly associated with gay & black demographics.

Thanks Daniel, they all sound like perfectly feasible reasons. Strange how strict drinking laws are in The States, which could have been a factor as you say, not just the opening hours restrictions (they were still very strict here in the UK at that time), but also age restrictions. Don't you have to be 21 to buy booze in a lot of states (or at least had to be back then)? Plus, in most of Europe when the cops came to break up a rave they just chased people off and maybe gave them a slap ot two, they didn't turn up fully armed looking for a Waco-style shoot-out, as seems to be the MO of a lot of police forces in the US!