The picture above is the Lascaux cave, a beautiful piece of prehistoric art. The text below is just some random thoughts on innate violence, its sonic counterpart, animals and technology, but the purpose is not to elaborate on them. Rather, the purpose is mere curiosity and exploration.
Humans have been hunters for millennia. Acquisition of animal meat has been an important part in our species development, since according to some theories, dense caloric content aided our ancestors in developing their brains.
Hence, violence becomes a foundational element of the human psyche, that has been indispensable in our evolution. It has been argued however, that those hunting instincts, thanks to which we managed to develop our brains and evolve, are the result of patterns of intra-species aggression – see the controversial ‘killer-ape theory’ and Burkert’s Homo Necans. The latter book claimed that ‘nourishment, order and civilized life are born of their antithesis: the encounter with death’. It seems that anthropology validates the one who said that ‘war is the father of all’[1].
Modern men in turn, are more accustomed into spotting animals than objects, even though objects are way more dangerous in our modern world than lions and leopards. Repression of primitive urges was also thought to lead to neurosis. From the above, we witness the preservation of the beast in man. In addition, some would go as far as to suggest, that every activity we do, is a replacement for those that nature intended for us[2][3].
Hunting and aggression are hardwired in the human brain, and this is exploited by extreme musicians. In metal, speed is the norm, yet it’s not only speed, but lurking and acceleration. In Funeral Fog, a sudden break in the beginning speaks to the parts of the brain which locate prey and the tempo increases as the hunt begins. In Deathcrush, speed increases frenetically, resembling a predator hurrying towards its prey. In Funeral Fog again, a melodic stream of tremolo picked single notes celebrates the capture of the prey, as a wolf stands in victory over the demised deer. Thus, metal speaks to us through our ancestral neurons.
Yet why should we even bother? When exposed to nature, we learn to appreciate what we have because we can lose ourselves, our loved ones, our shelter and our nourishment at any time. It goes beyond than that though and beyond despair, vegan naivete or bestial psychopathy. In such warlike conditions as those imposed by the survival of the fittest, perhaps there is a chance for a certain kind of growth of consciousness, some kind of spiritual change: we become akin to a warrior God, a God who offers no salvation. It is us, who have to smash the gates of heaven to attain it and perhaps, even save Him and his creation in the end[4].
Hyperlinks to annihilation:
[1] https://www.users.miamioh.edu/erlichrd/350website/classrel/dart.html
The ‘killer ape theory’ has been widely controversial, mainly for its lack of conclusive evidence. Yet again, even if the assumptions that gave rise to Raymond Dart’s ideas that war is a guide of human evolution were wrong, and those monkeys were prey rather than hunters, the hypothesis remains and those ideas may seem valid to a certain extend to everyone’s observation: observation on how much WWII accelerated technological growth and observation on how much we grow under stress and rivalry.
‘War is both king of all and father of all, and it has revealed some as gods, others as men; some it has made slaves, others free’
https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/app/app19.htm
[2] Yet, didn’t nature intend for us to build metal ships and ride the sea and sky? There is meaning to be found in our modern world, and we can use the powers of technology to channel our instincts for adventure not only into space exploration, but earthly exploration as well.
Such career paths are possible, yet scarce.
But the oceans of the earth remain vastly unexplored and await brave souls to venture into them.
[3] On the other hand, the Unabomber manifesto: https://editions-hache.com/essais/pdf/kaczynski2.pdf
According to this best-selling author, who is quite infamous for his aggressive marketing ploys, most of the activities we do are surrogate activities.
This is not something evil in itself. It is just mediocre and deprived of meaning to such an extend, that because of the Promethean technology that we use to plunge into the darkest abyss of the seas and spread our contagious ideologies thousands of kilometers away, we are in danger of losing our freedom in a dystopian world of concrete, surveillance and biogenetical sacrilege.
There is a fear that eradication and even taming of nature, has created an internal psychic desolation within the human heart. Unfortunately for us, we will not be able to evolve that fast to mend our severed connection with Earth and Being.
Now, we live in the prophesized prism world, screaming in digital.
This beautiful planet that we call our home is under threat, not as much by big-tech, plastic bags and pollution. To be effective, we must strike at the heart of the problem. For all the noteworthy sustainability intentions of vegans, their ideology has leftist tendencies which necessarily have autocratic and extremely individualistic philosophical underpinnings. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our part in protecting the wild! Far from it! It merely highlights the tragic realization that no matter how much we recycle, avoid packaging and assaulting the idiots who throw their garbage in the sea, there’s just too many people in the world today.
Overpopulation is the root of all evil.
Metal always knew that. Listen to metal.
Thuringian plain, deep dark forest
Evil dwells on there in the woods
Snowcovered hills, cold winds blowing
Romantic place, is it understood?!
Evil in the forest in Germany’s Green Heart!
Hateful savages, strong black minds
Out of the forest, kill the human kind
Burn the settlements and grow the woods
Until this romantic place is understood!
Animals, beasts, horrend landscape
Cause there are no signs of human living
When you look around no human living
Now this romantic place is understood!
[4] It’s not only about becoming more akin to animals, it is about becoming more akin to what it means to be human. It’s not only about darkness, cold and strife; it is about love and life, yet you cannot have one without the other.
For example, wolves, symbols of metal, winter and predation, are family focused to the point of having rituals to express constancy and dependability, much like humans do, of which, group howlings are the most emblematic of all. Male wolves are obsessed with raising their young, playing games and losing on purpose, all to give the pups a sense of ‘conquering’ something bigger than themselves. Wolves can be really good role-models after all.
If you ever wanted to make a change, love responsibility and pain and be like the wolf. Wolves who assume leadership positions within their packs, are under high social stress, an observation validated by the experimental detection of the glucocorticoid hormone. Alpha wolves are animals who suffer to protect and guide the pack.
(And a leadership tip from the documentary: the alpha is not necessarily the biggest, but he is almost always the most curious)
