Heavy Metal & Global Premodernity II online conference, hosted by Miami University, 15-17 March 2024
Full conference program:
sites.miamioh.edu/heavy-metal...
"'Strange Cousins From the West: Clutch and the (Re)Construction of American Mythology"
-Eden Kupermintz, Heavy Blog is Heavy
Abstract:
IOver more than twenty years, Clutch have been making music that straddles the lines between rock, metal, and punk. They have also been vividly constructing a sort of American Mythology over the course of their career, visible mostly in lyrics but also in album art and merchandise. This mythology, drawing from the hodge-podge and mercurial nature of American culture itself, channels beasts, heroes, and tropes from classical origins like Greek and Roman mythology but also elements from indigenous folklore and traditions of the occult.
In this talk, I will explore and discuss two main questions. First, how do Clutch treat myths and storytelling traditions from diverse pre-modern cultures? What stories get re-told in Clutch’s music? Can we point to a common thread which binds them, some theme that Clutch are relying on uniquely pre-modern stories to elucidate? Secondly, what makes the mythos that Clutch are building American? What needs to change from the original stories, if at all, to make these stories and ideas fit for a modern myth?
To answer these questions, I will explore lyrics, art, and merchandise from across Clutch’s career, as well as some side-projects which are relevant to the discussion. I will attempt to show that Clutch (and especially their vocalist and lyricist, Neil Fallon) are well versed in the stories and histories of pre-modern cultures. However, they have also had an anachronistic and very modern perspective on these cultures and stories, which affect how the stories are told and the cultures remembered, all through the lens of the modern, American, mythology that Clutch are primarily interested in building.
Biography:
Eden Kupermintz holds a B.A in history and philosophy and has been fascinated with and passionate about science fiction, metal and literature for the past two decades. He has written and given numerous talks on these topics, covering the future of the state, urbanism, space exploration, the body and many other futures. Eden curates the online archive anarchySF, is co-host for the Death // Sentence literary podcast, is editor-in-chief for Heavy Blog is Heavy, and does some work for corporations so he can eat.