Lion's Roar

  • Our Magazines
    • Bd Buddhadharma
    • LR Lion’s Roar magazine
  • Teachings
  • Life
  • How to Meditate
  • News
  • About Us
  • More +
    • Store
    • Online Learning
    • Events
    • Buddhist Directory
    • Mobile App
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Subscription
    • Magazine Archive
    • Help
    • Donate

Lion's Roar

SUBSCRIBE
  • Our Magazines
    • Bd Buddhadharma
    • LR Lion’s Roar magazine
  • Teachings
  • Life
  • How to Meditate
  • News
  • About Us
  • More +
    • Store
    • Online Learning
    • Events
    • Buddhist Directory
    • Mobile App
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Subscription
    • Magazine Archive
    • Help
    • Donate

Heavy Metal Dharma Thunder

by Rod Meade Sperry| June 19, 2009

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

A round-up of metal bands’ appropriations of Buddhist ideas and imagery — including the cool and the just plain ridiculous.

A friend/colleague of mine and I have joked about how metal some Buddhist imagery is. (By “metal,” I mean, heavy metal. And not of the happy, big-hair mall-metal-music variety; I’m talking dark. Black Sabbath dark.)

Think about it — the wrathful deities, the outlandish colors and depictions of the hell-realms as seen in Tibetan thangkas, the occasional dragon… that’s all pretty darned metal.  While my friend and I have “joked” about this, we were always only half-kidding. I don’t think either of us are ashamed to say we listen to metal — there’s some good, smart metal out there, I swear! — and we’re both drawn to the kind of imagery I’m talking about here. Coincidence?

stargazer-09

I mean, even the vocalist for the band Morbid Angel — a guy who, um, self-identifies with the Church of Satan — has just said that he’s cool with Buddhism. (Granted, that’s not exactly the kind of endorsement most Buddhists are going to cherish…)

So it’s no surprise that more and more metal bands are, for better or for worse, adopting Buddhist imagery on their album covers and merchandise and such. For example, here’s a cover I just learned about, for The Scream That Tore The Sky by the “Metal/Death Metal/Experimental band Stargazer. (I’ll include links to the music by the bands I mention here. Not that I’m recommending them all!)

What connection does Stargazer have to Buddhism? Sadly, I can’t tell you, because (and I’m gonna sound like a fuddy-duddy here) I can’t make out the lyrics through all the screaming and Cookie Monster vocals. Their MySpace page doesn’t give any real clues, either. But if the question is, Why would this band feature the wrathful deity Mahottama Heruka on their cover?, part of the answer has to be, simply: Because no band could be considered mistaken for thinking that that image is positively — for lack of a better word — bad-ass.

And they’re not the only ones. After the jump: 10 more metal-band appropriations of Buddhist ideas and imagery.

SIGN UP FOR LION’S ROAR NEWSLETTERS

Get even more Buddhist wisdom delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for Lion’s Roar free email newsletters.

cattledecap1) Yes: this is a real cover for a real album, (Karma. Bloody. Karma.), by a real band – the notorious Cattle Decapitation.

With a name like that, you might think that these guys, who play metal in the death-metal/grindcore vein, are insensitive, bloodthirsty goons. But nope. They’re actually primarily concerned with such things as animal rights, vegetarianism, and the environment.

The cover depicts a six-armed, knife-wielding, bull-headed figure that’s quite obviously a nod to the wrathful deities of tantric Buddhism (and also some of the gods of Hinduism).

It’s even levitating, in meditation, over the slaughterhouse drain. Strangely, it’s kind of a nice touch…

rage12) Ah yes: the cover of Rage Against the Machine‘s self-titled 1992 debut. Outside of Howard Beale from the classic film Network, nothing in the popular culture’s consciousness conveys “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” like this (in)famous photo. It shows Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc setting himself on fire to protest his government’s oppression of his religion.

So it’s fitting that Rage Against the Machine, a band whose music embodied large-scale protest — on the corporation’s dime, much like Howard Beale! — would employ the image for its eponymous debut.

Rage weren’t Buddhists, but they knew that this photograph might make their already-long band name worth at least a thousand words.

And apparently, another long-named band has had a similar thought:

zenarttotalfdestruction3) No, the music from this band, the subtly-named Total F**king Destruction, isn’t Buddhist. (I know you’re surprised.)

First the Rage Against the Machine album cover (above) and now, some 15 years later, this. Have the music marketing mavens somehow determined that depicting a monk immolating himself “moves units”?

Sorry, that was just cynical — and I know that TFD isn’t getting rich doing what they’re doing. That being said, at least the Rage Against the Machine cover seems somehow to celebrate Thich Quang Duc’s spirit and sacrifice.

earth-sunnampsandsmashedguitars4) The imagery here is less intense, but just as perplexing: Earth are known among intellectual metalheads for their brand of unfathomably slow, dirgey, darkly beautiful instrumental music. If you like that kind of thing, then you’ll love Earth. I sure do.

But why did they pick this image for the disc and back cover of their live album Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars?

I honestly don’t know, so if someone out there does, by all means help an Earth fan out!

msicmetalcovers5-8) And more underground/heavy bands have gone even less “intense,” embracing the kind of “Buddha statue” imagery you might expect to find on a CD of “spa music.” Shown here from left to right: Amount to Nothing and Samsara (featuring Jizo Bodhisattva) by Yakuza; Angry with the Sun by Congress; Songs for Worship by Sons of Otis. What is it about heavy music and imagery like this?

uheep9) Also along these lines — but still somewhat dark — is the cover for Uriah Heep‘s 2008 comeback, Wake the Sleeper. Unless you’re a Baby Boomer, you likely don’t know of the rock band Uriah Heep. But they were kinda big, back in the day. Like, say, “Molly Hatchet” big. (Oh wait, you likely don’t know them, either…)

Despite the art (and album title) it seems that the Dharmic Nutritional Value here is pretty much an unsurprising zero.

The album’s website, too has a similar taste. You can hear samples there too — if big, raucous, absurd metallic prog-rock is your thing.

loudness-cover10) All the way on the other side of the spectrum is this new cover by Japanese metal stalwarts Loudness. Not a very “metal” image, that’s for sure. But then again, it got me to stop and at least notice Loudness… which hasn’t happened since I saw them open for AC/DC back was when I was 15 or so.  (And I’m not quite a spring chicken anymore.)

Such gentle depictions are usually used on rock, electronic, and folksy/new-agey covers. (But that’s a subject for a whole ‘nother post sometime.) One thing seems certain: we’ll all be seeing more and more Buddhas staring at us from the covers of albums that don’t exactly sound like “spa music.”

If you’ve seen any, leave a comment and let us all know.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Thank you for reading Lion’s Roar. Now can we ask for your help?

Lion’s Roar is a nonprofit. Our mission is to share the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings—to inspire, comfort, support, and enlighten readers around the world. Our aspiration is to keep LionsRoar.com available to everyone, providing a supportive, inspiring Buddhist community that anyone can access, from curious beginners to committed meditators. Do you share our aspiration? We can’t do this without your help.

Lion’s Roar reaches more readers like you than ever before. Unfortunately, advertising and other revenues are falling for print and online media. We know we have something deeply precious to share with the world, and we want to continue this important work. Can you help support our efforts now?

Lion’s Roar is independent, unbiased, not-for-profit, and supported by readers like you. Please donate today and help the lion’s roar echo for readers around the world.

SUPPORT LION’S ROAR

Rod Meade Sperry

About Rod Meade Sperry

Rod Meade Sperry is Editorial Director of Lion's Roar's Special Projects and of LionsRoar.com. He is, with Miguel Chen, co-author of I Wanna Be Well: How a Punk Found Peace and You Can Too and The Death of You: A Book for Anyone Who Might Not Live Forever. Rod also edited the Lion's Roar book, A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation: Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers.

Topics: Contemporary Art, Music, Pop Culture

Related Posts...

Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, and Laurie Anderson to perform at 2020 Tibet House benefit
by Lilly Greenblatt
An Ode to Phoebe: The Genuine Friend
by Lama Surya Das
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria explores relationship between Buddhism and contemporary art
by Sandra Hannebohm

Comments

  1. AvatarDanO says

    June 19, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Earth is excellent! Another one would be Dharma by Merzbow (and some of his other releases).

    B)

  2. AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

    June 19, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Thanks, DanO. And here's a link to some info about the Merzbow record…. http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/march_2002/merzbo…

  3. AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

    June 19, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Thanks, DanO. And here's a link to some info about the Merzbow record…. http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/march_2002/merzbo…

  4. AvatarKali Durga says

    June 19, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    They're not specifically metal, but check out Tool's Lateralus. Both the cd insert and the lyrics have a decidedly Buddhist element to them.

    • AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

      June 19, 2009 at 11:18 pm

      right — largely due to their working relationship with Alex Grey. …for those who dont know Grey, the Shambhala Sun profiled/interviewed him a while back as he was developing his thoughts about "the visionary artist": http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_…

      thanks, Kali Durga!

  5. AvatarNate says

    June 20, 2009 at 3:16 am

    Dude, what about Meshuggah's "ObZen"? hehe

    <img src="http://www.metalunderground.com/images/covers/Meshuggah_-_obZen_cover.jpg"&gt;

    • AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

      June 20, 2009 at 2:33 pm

      yep, that's one for sure. here's a link: http://theworsthorse.com/2008/02/dharma-burger-me…

  6. AvatarM374L M0NK says

    June 20, 2009 at 4:46 am

    "The Firstborn" actually describe themselves as a Buddhist metal/experimental band, with their album "The Unclenching of Fists" about the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I think they're too into the mythology than the practical aspects of Buddhism, but I'm still hoping to get "Unclenching" sometime soon!

    • AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

      June 20, 2009 at 2:35 pm

      And the Firstborn are TRULY a great band. I've written about them in the Sun and also on the Horse: http://theworsthorse.com/2008/08/the-new-album-an… … Note that they followed up "Unclenching" with the equally excellent "The Noble Search." You can find out more about the band here: http://www.thenoblesearch.com/menu.html

  7. AvatarJustin says

    June 20, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    Lest we forget Chicago prog-metal band Yakuza, whose most recent record was called Samsara and features–iirc–a big Avalokiteshvara on the cover.

  8. AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

    June 21, 2009 at 1:51 am

    no worries; i didnt forget them…. http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=10157#mor…

  9. Avatartrainwreck says

    June 22, 2009 at 8:19 pm

    melt banana from japan have a song buddha core i believe
    nine shocks terror-zen and the art of beating your a**
    there is an old peace punk band called karma sutra (intentional misspelling)
    heck the whole peace punk thing has lots of comparisons to zen …black clothes, vegetarianism, shaved heads on women and men,

  10. AvatarRod Meade Sperry says

    July 13, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    A new one: http://sludgeswamp.blogspot.com/2009/07/god-damn-…

  11. AvatarRoger says

    July 28, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    Here's a interview with StarGazer: http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1… ; it touches upon the art and themes of the album mentioned in your article.

    The same band has previously visited Buddhist imagery before: here's a nice pic of 'Harbinger', http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/79/l_…

  12. Avatardeathsick says

    March 10, 2010 at 7:26 pm

    haha yeah buddist imagery can definately be metal very dark indeed..

  13. Avatarbhicks94 says

    February 10, 2011 at 10:36 am

    There's a hard rock/metal band from Florida called Dharmata.

Welcome to LionsRoar.com

By Lion's Roar Staff

We’re glad to have you here. But first: who are “we”? You may very well know us as the publishers of two Buddhist magazines, the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma. Then again, you may not know us at all. Either way, please allow us to re-introduce ourselves: We’re the Shambhala Sun Foundation. We [...]

  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscriber Services
  • Privacy
  • BUDDHIST DIRECTORY
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
TEACHINGS
  • Guides
LIFE
  • Love & Relationships
  • Practice in Everyday Life
  • Wellness & Psychology
  • Wisdom for Difficult Times
HOW TO MEDITATE
  • Learn about Buddhism
NEWS
  • Arts & Culture
  • Teachers & Centers

© 2019 Lion's Roar | Email: [email protected] | Tel: 902.422.8404 | Published by Lion's Roar Foundation