/** * file: chatgpt_karbytes_26july2025_p1.txt * type: plain-text * date: 26_JULY_2025 * author: karbytes * license: PUBLIC_DOMAIN */ The following is a plain-text transcript of a conversation between karbytes and ChatGPT-4o which took place between 11:59PM Pacific Standard Time on 25_JULY_2025 and 11:59PM Pacific Standard Time on 26_JULY_2025. The conversation pertains to the subject of black metal (which is a subset of the heavy metal music genre). * * * karbytes: What's the purpose of unclean vocals in black metal? ChatGPT: Unclean vocals—such as shrieks, screams, growls, or raspy singing—are an essential part of black metal’s aesthetic, and their purpose goes beyond simply sounding “aggressive.” Here’s why they matter: 1. Conveying Emotion and Atmosphere Black metal is often described as evoking feelings of isolation, despair, or transcendence rather than straightforward anger. Unclean vocals, especially the high-pitched shrieks or rasps common in the genre, resemble primal screams or wails. This rawness connects to the themes of suffering, cosmic indifference, or mysticism that black metal frequently explores. 2. Serving as Another Instrument In black metal, vocals are often mixed low and treated with reverb, delay, or distortion. This makes them less about delivering intelligible lyrics and more about blending with the soundscape. The voice becomes part of the texture—like a harsh wind or an additional layer of distortion—contributing to the “wall of sound” aesthetic. 3. Anti-Commercial and Transgressive Intent Black metal, especially in its early Norwegian form (Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum), was a reaction against mainstream heavy metal’s polished sound. Clean vocals were seen as too melodic, human, or conventional. Harsh vocals reject mainstream accessibility, aligning with black metal’s ethos of being raw, unpolished, and deliberately abrasive. 4. Alignment with Lyrical Themes Many black metal lyrics deal with themes like death, occultism, misanthropy, or nature’s harshness. Unclean vocals emphasize these themes by stripping away warmth and conventional beauty, giving the impression of a voice that’s almost inhuman—fitting for music meant to evoke the “coldness” of nature or cosmic darkness. 5. Psychological Distance Unclean vocals often feel alien or otherworldly, distancing the listener from the performer as a “person” and allowing the music to feel more like a force of nature or a ritual. This contrasts with pop or rock, where clean vocals emphasize personality and relatability. In short: unclean vocals in black metal are less about lyrical clarity and more about embodying the genre’s aesthetic—raw, atmospheric, and uncompromisingly dark. Would you like me to give you examples of iconic black metal vocal styles (like Attila Csihar’s ritualistic chants with Mayhem vs. Varg Vikernes’s piercing shrieks) to show the range of unclean vocal techniques? karbytes: Yes, please. ChatGPT: Great! Here's a breakdown of iconic black metal vocal styles—each illustrating a different purpose or emotional texture behind unclean vocals: 1. Varg Vikernes (Burzum) – Piercing, Isolated Shrieks Album: Filosofem (1996) Example Track: “Dunkelheit” Vocal Style: Thin, reverb-drenched, distant shrieks that sound almost ghostly or disembodied. Effect: Creates a sense of solitude and desolation. The vocals feel like they're echoing from a void, reinforcing the trance-like, hypnotic nature of Burzum’s minimalist compositions. 2. Attila Csihar (Mayhem) – Theatrical, Ritualistic Chants Album: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994) Example Track: “Freezing Moon” Vocal Style: Shifting between guttural growls, monk-like chants, wails, whispers, and operatic phrasings. Effect: Feels ceremonial and otherworldly. Rather than rage, his vocals invoke dread, mysticism, and a cold grandeur—almost like a possessed priest. 3. Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) – Cold, Mid-Range Rasps Album: Transilvanian Hunger (1994) Example Track: “Transilvanian Hunger” Vocal Style: Mid-register, dry rasps that stay consistent and raw. Effect: Evokes frostbitten detachment. The vocals sit in the mix like another distorted instrument, driving home a sense of monotonous, grim perseverance. 4. Ihsahn (Emperor) – Screamed Yet Articulate Album: Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997) Example Track: “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” Vocal Style: Harsh screams, often intelligible, and sometimes layered with clean harmonies or choirs. Effect: Regal and majestic. Ihsahn’s vocals are expressive and fit the symphonic, complex structure of Emperor’s music, adding to its sense of apocalyptic grandeur. 5. Gaahl (Gorgoroth) – Controlled, Sadistic Harshness Album: Incipit Satan (2000) Example Track: “Incipit Satan” Vocal Style: Slow, enunciated growls and screams with theatrical pacing and a malevolent presence. Effect: Feels calculated and terrifying. Gaahl often speaks his lines or stretches screams in ways that feel deliberately torturous or ritualistic. 6. Tr00 Kvlt Lo-Fi Tapes – Raw Tape Recorder Aesthetic Bands: Early Ildjarn, Judas Iscariot, early Graveland Vocal Style: Nearly inaudible shrieks buried in fuzz or tape hiss Effect: Total rawness. These vocals often sound like they’re fighting to pierce through static—perfect for conveying underground, anti-mainstream ethos and raw purity. Summary Table: [preformatted_text] Vocalist ------------------| Band -------------------------| Vibe -----------------------------------| Notable Trait Varg Vikernes -------------| Burzum -----------------------| Isolated, distant ----------------------| Echoing shrieks Attila Csihar -------------| Mayhem -----------------------| Ritualistic, theatrical ----------------| Varied vocal tones Nocturno Culto ------------| Darkthrone -------------------| Cold, unchanging -----------------------| Dry rasps Ihsahn --------------------| Emperor ----------------------| Grandiose, apocalyptic -----------------| Articulate screams Gaahl ---------------------| Gorgoroth --------------------| Sadistic, dramatic ---------------------| Spoken-growled delivery Lo-Fi Demos ---------------| Ildjarn, et al. --------------| Primitive, raw -------------------------| Tape hiss + buried vocals [end preformatted_text] Would you like me to help analyze the audio qualities of any particular black metal vocal track, or recommend one based on a specific mood (e.g. “glacial isolation,” “occult ceremony,” “violent catharsis,” etc.)? karbytes: What do you think the purpose of black metal is and what the resolution to it is? ChatGPT: That’s a deep and powerful question—and one that cuts to the core of what black metal means beyond its sound. Black metal isn’t just music. It's often a metaphysical stance, a psychological purge, and a confrontation with existence. Here’s how I’d approach its purpose and its possible resolution: 🕯️ THE PURPOSE OF BLACK METAL 1. Rebellion Against Norms (Social, Religious, Musical) At its core, black metal began as a rejection: of organized religion (especially Christianity in Norway), of polished commercial music, of societal conformity. Early bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Burzum deliberately made lo-fi, raw, and abrasive art as a counter-ritual to the sanitized world. Purpose: To destroy illusion and expose hypocrisy. To rip off the mask of society and reveal the abyss beneath. 2. Expression of Inner Darkness Black metal gives voice to isolation, nihilism, suffering, and transcendence. It is not about being evil for shock—it’s about confronting what most people ignore: mortality, cosmic indifference, trauma, despair, and sometimes, the sublime. Purpose: To externalize internal torment—to scream into the void, and in doing so, become one with it. 3. Communion with the Sublime (Nature, Cosmos, Chaos) Atmospheric and pagan black metal (e.g. Wolves in the Throne Room, Drudkh, Ulver) seeks unity with nature, or even cosmic forces beyond comprehension. This becomes spiritual, but not in the Abrahamic sense. It is pantheistic, animistic, or void-worshiping. Purpose: To dissolve the ego into something bigger, older, and vaster—whether that’s forests, stars, or silence. 4. Artistic and Existential Extremity Black metal stretches music to extremes: minimalism vs. complexity, noise vs. melody, chaos vs. order. It often embodies paradoxes. In this way, it’s an art form of edge cases—a way to express what conventional language or aesthetics cannot. Purpose: To go where language breaks down and express something primal, ecstatic, and unfiltered. 🕳️ THE RESOLUTION TO BLACK METAL This is more speculative—but if black metal is a conflict, then the resolution is: 1. Catharsis Through Confrontation By embracing pain, horror, and void, black metal offers a way to move through those feelings rather than escape them. The screams don’t just express suffering—they purge it. Resolution: The listener reaches a strange serenity after total immersion in darkness—a “peace through fire” effect. 2. Transcendence Through Ruin Black metal often expresses a desire to dissolve the ego—not through bliss, but through obliteration. What comes after ego-death might be a new self, reformed in the ashes. Resolution: Self-realization by unmaking—rebirth after annihilation. 3. Sublimation Into Nature or the Infinite Instead of finding comfort in society or human contact, black metal often finds its “home” in vast, impersonal forces—icy forests, ancient spirits, or the stars. When you scream long enough into the void, you become the void. Resolution: Unity with that which is beyond—an almost mystical surrender. 4. No Resolution at All In some circles, especially in depressive or raw black metal, there is no resolution. The point is that suffering has no end, and beauty is a fleeting hallucination. This view isn't nihilism as apathy—but nihilism as clarity. Resolution: The lack of resolution becomes the truth—and accepting that is a kind of dark enlightenment. 🜏 Final Thought Black metal is a mirror held up to the abyss—and whether you scream into it, become one with it, or are destroyed by it… that depends on the listener. Its purpose is to strip you down. Its resolution is whatever remains once all illusions are gone. Would you like me to help you write a poetic or manifesto-style paragraph summarizing this as a black metal philosophy? karbytes: What you provided thus far is sufficient for my purposes. Thanks. ChatGPT: You're very welcome. I'm glad it was meaningful for you. If you ever want to dive deeper into black metal aesthetics, philosophy, or specific artists—or even draft your own manifesto or album concept—I'm here for it. 🜏🔥