Mind you, this isn't the first time CC has ran into controversy for their imagery and content. I remember working at my hometown CD store and wondering why Metal Blade Records would smack a parental advisory sticker on the cover that took up about 85% of the jewel case. After I removed the sticker I could see why. haha
I think I wanted to bring this up because it's something on my mind of what is acceptable and what isn't when it comes to morals and ethics. I have one friend on a regular basis refer to any band I listen to as "father killing, mother raping" kind of tunage. I fail to see how distorting guitars automatically means aggression and violence. Cannibal Corpse do however take the icing on the cake with their consistent "wow" factor they deliver.
I am not a fan of CC. I have never been one. I have listened to their music, seen them perform and music festivals but it's just not for me. But as a logically minded person who is rather reasonable in accepting culture shock (being that I moved from a city of 42,000 to 5,000,000+), I don't feel threatened by anything these guys convey. I think the fact that it is sooooo out there for shock value that we can easily pick apart their work.
I think the article from The Guardian summed it up pretty well:
"any ban on Cannibal Corpse’s recordings seems a little futile: as with most death metal bands, their lyrics are often indecipherable."
A few things I was asking myself while reading these pieces of information.
1. What lyrical content and imagery is considered to "damage children's development"? Do other bands such as Slayer, Dying Fetus, Six Feet Under, and Morbid Angel fall under this category as well?
2. So it is OK to listen to CC in Russia, watch them play, but are banned from translating their lyrics? How does this specific legislation plan to combat children's development when they themselves can watch/listen to them?
3. Cannibal Corpse has been performing in Russia on a regular basis dating back to 1993:
1993 (Dvorets Sporta Luzhniki, Moscow, Russia), 2004 (DK Gorbunova, Moscow, Russia), 2007 (Roks, Saint-Petersburg, Russia), 2010 (GlavClub, Saint-Petersburg, Russia), 2012 (Milk, Moscow, Russia), and 2014 (Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Samara, and Krasnodar).
Why all of a sudden does the government pose their lyrical content as a threat, when it was perfectly acceptable for the first 26 years of the band's existence?
Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter and how sometimes people can have a skewed sense of reality and what should be OK and what should not. Now, excuse me while I go play Call of Duty and hope I don't act upon it.
-Andrew
***
I am a fan of Cannibal Corpse, and I can assure you I do not act upon what they say. But yet again I am 45 years old and grew up listening to bands that many parents believed were devil worshippers just because they spoke about the occult. And also listened to Iron Maiden back in the early days when everyone went crazy for their mascot "Eddie" and I remember the whole idiocy that metal music brainwashed kids into doing evil things, like in Toronto a kid killed his parents and he blamed it on "Eddie".
Needless to say I had a good laugh. But any parents reading this idiot's words really would believe that a bloody artist picture told someone to kill their parents, and then parents probably banning their kids from listening to Iron Maiden. Now I am one that believes that kids do stupid shit either because they are kids or they really have no idea that it is wrong. Hence the parents factor into this. Music is something that got me through a lot of things growing up, and the bands I listened to from Sabbath to Deep Purple, I really thought the lyrics were cool, but I never actually took them to heart because of education.
I remember growing up in the age of Black Metal, when Venom came out with all their satanic stuff. Now I did have the old jean jacket, where I ripped off the arms, vest and put upside crosses and my favourite bands and a massive Sabbath patch on the back, but I never really believed in Satan and virgin sacrifices etc, I was educated to not always believe what you read until you figure it out yourself to be real. I was in the occult for a time and realized it first hand that satanism is just a state of mind and that there is not person with horns and a tail dancing around fire.
I was around when probably the first albums had the old parental advisory sticker on them and hearing about Dee Snider griping about the advisory stickers on albums, and I believed then that parents should just speak with their children about what is real and fantasy, and let them enjoy the music. No matter how violent the lyrics are, or how grotesque the album cover, take music at what it is, and don't really take heed on the lyrics. And as it was said Cannibal Corpse and other bands like them, you can't really hear what is being said, but you can read the lyrics. And the more you ban the more kids will go out and listen to the music. It is like drugs and alcohol, kids will want to go out and see what it is and how bad is it really. That is what kids do. They will do what your telling them not to do.
Educate, talk to them about what they are hearing and let them know it is just fantasy, like an author writing a book. Relax and enjoy the music, don't let it run your life. Stupid is what stupid does and you can't make excuses that "the devil made me do it" or "I did it because Ozzy told me to" If anyone believes that then your not a real fan because you don't get it. Understand what is being said and know the difference between reality and fantasy.
For what Russia is doing, I feel bad about Cannibal Corpse for being targeted. Other bands are just as bad in lyrics. But banning this won't save kids minds. Continue with the parental stickers, if you feel strongly about it. Kids will find ways to listen to the music you want to ban, so it is a waste of time.
- Craig
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