Metallum Extremum / Metal and Latin
August 23, 2011 3:51 PM Subscribe
Why do so many extreme metal/doom/dark ambient bands have such an affinity for Latin?
It seems that if you're serious about being a black-clad doom-monger, all you need to do to give yourself a bit more - ahem - gravitas is to give yourself a Latin name. A disproportionate number of acts operating in the dark/doomy/misanthropic arena have either a Latin name, or use Latin album titles. I imagine them being very serious and humourless when they darkly intone their names to others, and to me it all sounds a bit silly. Here are some examples off the top of my head:
Infernum
Abruptum
Carpe Tenebrum
Hortus Animae
Sigillum Dei
Atrium Carceri
Desiderii Marginis
Cisfinitum
Claustrum
Mariae Nascenti
What's this all about? What's the link? Why is this a thing? Is it like chemical nucleation, where just because one band once gave themselves a Latin name, others jumped on the bandwagon and did it too? Or is there something fundamental about the language that lends itself to this? Given its other main contemporary association (for me) of upper class English types diligently studying Classics on a leafy old university campus, it seems strange that it's now so strongly associated with non-mainstream metal/goth/doom culture.
It seems that if you're serious about being a black-clad doom-monger, all you need to do to give yourself a bit more - ahem - gravitas is to give yourself a Latin name. A disproportionate number of acts operating in the dark/doomy/misanthropic arena have either a Latin name, or use Latin album titles. I imagine them being very serious and humourless when they darkly intone their names to others, and to me it all sounds a bit silly. Here are some examples off the top of my head:
Infernum
Abruptum
Carpe Tenebrum
Hortus Animae
Sigillum Dei
Atrium Carceri
Desiderii Marginis
Cisfinitum
Claustrum
Mariae Nascenti
What's this all about? What's the link? Why is this a thing? Is it like chemical nucleation, where just because one band once gave themselves a Latin name, others jumped on the bandwagon and did it too? Or is there something fundamental about the language that lends itself to this? Given its other main contemporary association (for me) of upper class English types diligently studying Classics on a leafy old university campus, it seems strange that it's now so strongly associated with non-mainstream metal/goth/doom culture.
Best answer: I suspect the connection is Roman Catholicism, and from there various kinds of Christian mysticism and alchemy. Not knowing much about those musical genres, I would predict that there is also a number of bands that use terms from Jewish mysticism. Both of these have well-developed taxonomies for supernatural creatures, like angels and demons, and provide plenty of ominous-sounding names that the listening public is vaguely familiar with.
posted by Nomyte at 3:59 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Nomyte at 3:59 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: There's an obvious connection to the sort of sepulchral atmosphere of the cathedral and the imagery of catholicism, I would say. Plus you get all the fun of devil imagery, life after death...what's not to goth?
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:00 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:00 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Goths invaded Rome in 410 and we've been dealing with it ever since. But like others have said, Demons -> Roman Catholicism -> Latin.
posted by GuyZero at 4:02 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 4:02 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: By using the language of High Mass and of exorcism, they elevate their music to the level of solemn ritual and elevate themselves to a style of priesthood. Basically, it raises the stakes to invoke the sense of powerful supernatural forces at work, whether the band affects their allegiance for or against the classical church.
posted by Errant at 4:14 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Errant at 4:14 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I would like to say that it was because Julius Caesar was such a badass (due divided all of Gaul into three parts!) that the baddest of badasses name themselves in slightly clumsy Latin to honor him, but that would be... not so truthful. In reality, I expect it's because a lot of Medieval and Early Modern occult writings were in Latin, which was the language of scholarship for a long time. The Roman Catholicism thing doesn't hurt, either, but I think the whole Latin = demonology and necromancy and stuff is more central. It's also why they like to dress in black, use occult imagery and skulls and so on. The fact that the occult texts also use a lot of Hebrew and Greek hasn't made much inroads, alas.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:16 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:16 PM on August 23, 2011
Best answer: So in all seriousness, the lore of Satanism is more or less an invention of the Catholic Church. There was no such thing as Satanism until the Catholic Church invented it by creating a conspiracy theory tying native pagan practices in Europe to non-existent 'Satan worship'. Anybody who styles themselves a Satanist (or anti-christian) more or less has to do it by adopting the nomenclature and symbolism of the Catholic Church because there is no other source for it, thus the Latin.
The other option (which many metal bands also take) is to adopt a more authentic Scandinavian paganism.
posted by empath at 4:20 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
The other option (which many metal bands also take) is to adopt a more authentic Scandinavian paganism.
posted by empath at 4:20 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
It does also seem to be mostly an anglo-saxon phenomenon, yeah? I'm curious if there's a Satanic metal scene in non viking-settled countries or in countries with romance languages? I don't actually know if this is the case. I'm off to wikipedia and will report back.
posted by empath at 4:23 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by empath at 4:23 PM on August 23, 2011
I noticed a lot of Basque names among Spanish black metal bands, which makes sense, because they were among the last people in europe to convert from paganism. Pure speculation, but i think there's going to be a relatively strong correlation between the popularity of black metal in europe and the places where paganism was stamped out by the church the latest -- for example in basque areas of spain, and in scandinavia, poland, lithuania, etc.
posted by empath at 4:42 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by empath at 4:42 PM on August 23, 2011
Latin is "the language of magic" in English-speaking countries. It tends to sound mystical. (See, for instance, Harry Potter, but that's far from the only example.)
(Interestingly, in Japan it is mostly English which is the language of magic.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:49 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
(Interestingly, in Japan it is mostly English which is the language of magic.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:49 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Another vote for the Catholicism link here. If you watch a lot of these bands live, you will note a strong tendency for them to light candles and maybe even wear robes in imitation of Catholic masses. In addition to what others have said above, it should be pointed out that this music originated mostly in Protestant countries, where Catholicism itself is viewed as exotic, cultish and full of idolatry compared to the regular religion.
In response to empath, similar bands from southern Europe and Latin American countries do tend to adopt the same tropes, but it's not clear to me to what extent this is copied from Anglo-Saxon/Nordic/Germanic pioneers versus a reference to the prevalent religion in those places.
posted by nowonmai at 4:57 PM on August 23, 2011
In response to empath, similar bands from southern Europe and Latin American countries do tend to adopt the same tropes, but it's not clear to me to what extent this is copied from Anglo-Saxon/Nordic/Germanic pioneers versus a reference to the prevalent religion in those places.
posted by nowonmai at 4:57 PM on August 23, 2011
Band names tend to follow fads. If a group is successful, no matter why, then you suddenly see a lot of other groups whose names are reminiscent. In the 1960's, after the Beatles hit it big, for a while lots of groups had animal names e.g. The Turtles. (Which was weird, because "Beatle" was supposed to be about the beat, not about beetles.)
During the LSD years, the fad was non-sequiter e.g. Jefferson Airplane, Iron Butterfly.
Another fad was use of strange vowels and references to death and Satan (satired by "Deathtöngue").
These fads come and go, and it seems that you've keyed in on another one. I think the intent for a group that does this is to try to say, "Hey, we're kind of like those guys, and if you liked them you should try our music, too!" Or maybe it just means they're not very creative.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:59 PM on August 23, 2011
During the LSD years, the fad was non-sequiter e.g. Jefferson Airplane, Iron Butterfly.
Another fad was use of strange vowels and references to death and Satan (satired by "Deathtöngue").
These fads come and go, and it seems that you've keyed in on another one. I think the intent for a group that does this is to try to say, "Hey, we're kind of like those guys, and if you liked them you should try our music, too!" Or maybe it just means they're not very creative.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:59 PM on August 23, 2011
It does also seem to be mostly an anglo-saxon phenomenon, yeah? I'm curious if there's a Satanic metal scene in non viking-settled countries or in countries with romance languages? I don't actually know if this is the case. I'm off to wikipedia and will report back.
There's a huge metal scene in Latin America, particularly in South America. Plenty of those bands are Black/Doom in nature, and talk about Satan and friends.
posted by spinifex23 at 5:33 PM on August 23, 2011
There's a huge metal scene in Latin America, particularly in South America. Plenty of those bands are Black/Doom in nature, and talk about Satan and friends.
posted by spinifex23 at 5:33 PM on August 23, 2011
I would like to say that it was because Julius Caesar was such a badass (due divided all of Gaul into three parts!) that the baddest of badasses name themselves in slightly clumsy Latin to honor him, but that would be... not so truthful.
There are certainly bands which use Roman imagery and/or Latin as a reference to classical Rome rather than the Church, for this very reason. I've also seen bands adopt a Roman theme when they want to hit a fascist note without getting banned in Germany...
And yes, of course there's a Satanic metal scene world-wide. Hell, Sabbat (JPN) recorded their first EP in 1985...
posted by vorfeed at 7:19 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
There are certainly bands which use Roman imagery and/or Latin as a reference to classical Rome rather than the Church, for this very reason. I've also seen bands adopt a Roman theme when they want to hit a fascist note without getting banned in Germany...
And yes, of course there's a Satanic metal scene world-wide. Hell, Sabbat (JPN) recorded their first EP in 1985...
posted by vorfeed at 7:19 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Naming a metal band is pretty difficult, if you want to follow the fairly pervasive convention of sounding Evil. There are just only so many evil-sounding names that are any good, and the best ones are long taken.
Metal bands like to take churchy stuff and turn it on its head (thrash bands Exodus and Testament, for instance). It's like making the enemy uncomfortable by adopting their rites and turning them upside down.
But mostly it's just a quest to sound evil. Ancient Latin, ancient Egpyt, Lovecraft Mythos, 'Satanism,' paganism, etc.
It's done in the same spirit as an action suspense film about the rites of Satanic factions in the Catholic church set during the Inquisition or something.
posted by TheRedArmy at 8:55 AM on August 24, 2011
Metal bands like to take churchy stuff and turn it on its head (thrash bands Exodus and Testament, for instance). It's like making the enemy uncomfortable by adopting their rites and turning them upside down.
But mostly it's just a quest to sound evil. Ancient Latin, ancient Egpyt, Lovecraft Mythos, 'Satanism,' paganism, etc.
It's done in the same spirit as an action suspense film about the rites of Satanic factions in the Catholic church set during the Inquisition or something.
posted by TheRedArmy at 8:55 AM on August 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:59 PM on August 23, 2011