Heavy Metallists go vegeterrible
Occult imagery and make-up used to be the key preoccupations of Heavy Metal. But a new generation from rock’s less melodic side is defining itself by wearing a social conscience instead. Cattle Decapitation, for instance, are campaigning vegetarians with songs such as Veal and the Cult of Torture and an album called Humanure.
There are political messages, too. Six Feet Under recorded an anti-war song, Amerika (sic) The Brutal, after the lead singer’s cousin was deployed to Iraq.
It all seems a very long guitar solo away from the 1970s and Ozzy Osbourne’s pointless bat-biting. Imagine Ozzy playing alongside Cattle Decapitation, a band quite likely to give a bat the chance to bite back.