Last month, Sonic Youth hero Thurston Moore ruffled some feathers when he called black metal musicians "pussies of the lowest order," comments that were made somewhat baffling by his own black metal connections and his recent work with Twilight. Now, Moore has shared some more thoughts on black metal and the fallout from his remarks.
When discussing the controversy with Rolling Stone, Moore opined that black metal has an aesthetic of "anti-everything," so any discussion about the genre is essentially meaningless. He added that his words were intended to be "ridiculous," but lots of fans were angered.
Here's what he had to say:
That was really taken out of context. It was really funny how people got tweaked by that. I was answering a question. How do you answer a question about black metal? Black metal, it doesn't even consider itself music. In fact, it doesn't want to be confused with any kind of music because it's something else entirely. It's a voided concept from its start [laughs]. It's all about complete disintegration of existence. It's a music that uses the elements of rock instrumentation but it's so anti-everything that, for me, it doesn't matter what you say about it because it doesn't exist. I figured I would just write something ridiculous about it. And boy, did black-metal devotees get really upset by it. You're not supposed to be alive, so why are you getting upset?
This isn't the first time that Moore has angered metal fans, since Sonic Youth have a song called "Non-Metal Dude Wearing Metal Tee." Moore remembered, "And as somebody else said, 'Sonic Youth had a song called 'Satan Is Boring' — he's been attacking our lord ever since the '80s!'"
Moore added that he uses black metal techniques in his guitar playing, and he had some kind things to say about Twilight vocalist Neill Jameson (also of Krieg). Moore added, "I super enjoyed making that record. That's a wild community. It takes a lot of stamina to keep up with those guys because they're monsters."
So that, uh, clears things up?
Moore's new solo album The Best Day drops on October 21 through Matador Records.
When discussing the controversy with Rolling Stone, Moore opined that black metal has an aesthetic of "anti-everything," so any discussion about the genre is essentially meaningless. He added that his words were intended to be "ridiculous," but lots of fans were angered.
Here's what he had to say:
That was really taken out of context. It was really funny how people got tweaked by that. I was answering a question. How do you answer a question about black metal? Black metal, it doesn't even consider itself music. In fact, it doesn't want to be confused with any kind of music because it's something else entirely. It's a voided concept from its start [laughs]. It's all about complete disintegration of existence. It's a music that uses the elements of rock instrumentation but it's so anti-everything that, for me, it doesn't matter what you say about it because it doesn't exist. I figured I would just write something ridiculous about it. And boy, did black-metal devotees get really upset by it. You're not supposed to be alive, so why are you getting upset?
This isn't the first time that Moore has angered metal fans, since Sonic Youth have a song called "Non-Metal Dude Wearing Metal Tee." Moore remembered, "And as somebody else said, 'Sonic Youth had a song called 'Satan Is Boring' — he's been attacking our lord ever since the '80s!'"
Moore added that he uses black metal techniques in his guitar playing, and he had some kind things to say about Twilight vocalist Neill Jameson (also of Krieg). Moore added, "I super enjoyed making that record. That's a wild community. It takes a lot of stamina to keep up with those guys because they're monsters."
So that, uh, clears things up?
Moore's new solo album The Best Day drops on October 21 through Matador Records.
