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>>53099977
I don't think you understand. The history of metal can be considered in terms of levels of intensity. Considered in this way, black metal shows itself to be a culmination or endpoint of this history, and also a dead end. The historical development of extreme metal is not a chance series of stylistic shifts. It is teleological - governed by a dimly understood but acutely felt Ideal, or a final cause. This final cause is named the Haptic Void. The Haptic Void is a hypothetical total or maximal level of intensity. It is the horizon of the history of metal. Orientation towards the Haptic Void is expressed as feeling. The feeling is a unity, but in thought we can break it down into four elements: There is first of all a certain muscular clenching, a constriction of the jaws, fists, arms and chest. Secondarily there is an affect: a certain aggression or brutality, a paradoxical sense of power, destruction, fullness and emptiness. Thirdly it features a primordial satisfaction relating to the affect which acts normatively. Good metal produces a satisfying bouquet of clenching, constriction and brutal affect. Finally there is a barely discernable je ne sais quoi that says “not enough”. A complementary dissatisfaction – as though no brutal breakdown can be quite brutal enough. It is a fissure, a crack, a lack of being. An insufficiency compared to the promised plenitude.
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