Why retro-thrash falls short

1980s: the world may end at any minute. The Cold War ravaged the earth: missiles inbound at any second had people living in fear of total obliteration, total erasure. There was passion in the moment and in striving for some sense of rationality despite it all.

2010s: it may never end. Rationality, liberal democracy, commerce, etc. — the “good guys” of the past 20 wars — have won. The result is a society so boring and unpleasant that we fear this may be all there is to life, and it makes us frustrated and futile.

Good novels about our dilemma:

  • “White Noise” by Don Delillo
  • “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
  • “Journey to the End of the Night” by Ferdinand Celine
  • “Elementary Particles” by Michel Houellebecq

This lends itself to black metal, which is a rage not for order but for the passion in our hearts that can create a drive to order. It is rage against the meaningless, safe, conformist, and well-intentioned society. It is a statement that rationality itself has defeat us and we need to embrace the feral, irrational, and passionate again.

Of course, society gives us false outlets. Sports/vids, porn, shopping are substitutes for what we need.

The primary purpose of civilization is to allow the intelligent to rule over the unintelligent, which achieves better long-term results because it makes all of society as effective as its smartest members. The paradox of civilization is that by making the unintelligent effective, they survive at greater rates, which given their greater reproduction rates means they rapidly drown out the intelligent and reverse the advances of civilization.

Indeed.

6 thoughts on “Why retro-thrash falls short”

  1. Very Intelligent Person says:

    I agree we need more passion.

    So, why all this talk about “intelligence”?

  2. World's best psy says:

    ^ because they’re stuck in 15 years old mindset, which is half a little kid’s drive to fullfill all its needs no matter what, and half an academia student thinking he’s smarter than anyone because he reads so many books noone else ever heard about, no matter how actually relevant they are.

  3. Very Intelligent Person says:

    @World’s best psy:

    Actually, I don’t doubt that the writer of the above blog post is intelligent. Very intelligent, even. The "mindset of a 15-year-old" card is probably unnecessary.

    I do, however, question the constant "kill all people below 120 IQ points" mentality. Lack of intelligence is hardly a problem for the West – lack of passion is.

    Do people see intelligence and passion as synonymous? If they do, I believe they’re wrong.

  4. brutal slayer of christians, noble hessian warrior of death says:

    SOLO LA MUERTE ES REAL…

  5. World's best psy says:

    @ VIP : let’s say they’re smart enough to realise that whatever slightly above average position they have reached in society is dependent on things staying roughly the same, so what they need to spread is a liking for a version of metal which is both telling the masses to trust their basic instincts while seemingly having deeper meanings which only the “elite” can understand.
    So they look for a kind of entertainment that is both romantic “passion” and highbrow-looking.

  6. Very Intelligent Person says:

    @WBP:

    Either that, or they’re honest reviewers that also happen to be slightly too influenced by the modern focus on intellect.

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