“The extreme genres of metal are utterly obsessed with war, death, and violence, suggesting the view that the human experience is one of cruelty largely restrained, with all of us united by the cold embrace of death. Extreme metal seems to explore these ideas intently, attempting to find a certain beauty or, at the very least, excitement in the worst impulses of man. Art, at its core, seems to try and explore and express a particular facet of the human experience and imbue it with some sort of message or worldview. We’re naturally repulsed by death and destruction, but, like the story of Leonitus looking at corpses in Plato’s Republic, we’re also fascinated by it: ‘Look for yourselves, you evil wretches! Take your fill of the beautiful sight!'” Man Unkind.
