The appeal of violence and morbidity
What is it about death metal (and, I suppose, related things like black metal and the horror genre) that is so appealing? The gory, morbid album art, the nonsensically ghoulish lyrics (see, for example, Suffocation's "Infecting the Crypts," which throws around a lot of morbid imagery while not making any actual sense, lyric-wise), the sinister and impersonal atmosphere of the music... what's so appealing about it?
Sure, if you wanted to, you could make a case for death metal as nihilistic art, or the music of industrial Man facing his own mortality, or blah blah blah. Death metal can be taken seriously when it's done well, but there's no denying that the violence, gore, and other assorted unpleasantness associated with the music serves as a "hook." However seriously this or that band presents the material, whatever artistic aspirations they may have, there's no escaping the impression that these musicians - and fans - dig this stuff on a less intellectual level. It may be art, and it may have something important to say, but the morbidity and violence are appealing on their own.
Why? What do you think?
To say that the appeal of Death Metal is its morbid associations is very much like saying that "THE" reason that a person likes particular music is always because of its lyrics.
If there is any better candidate for a musical genre where the lyrics are NOT the only, or main draw, I should like to know what it is, and if the specific meaning of the lyrics is not necessarily important, why should we assume that gory themes are crucial?
Virtually all of the Metal sub-genres have a distinct sound, and the fact that there are so many Metal sub-genres is testament to the importance of specific audio styles for Metal fans.
Confronting, or embracing mortality, or the simple thrill of morbid topics may well be what draws SOME Death Metal fans to the genre, but for many people, what distinguishes Death Metal from other types is a particularly uncompromising approach to music. Thematically, or musically, Death Metal WILL go there. "There" may titillate and thrill some, and as we all know, will drive away others, but the unbounded quality of the music is crucial in its appeal to most fans.
As to the question of the "intellectual level" that Death Metal is operating on, this is a matter that is hopelessly entangled in "high art" vs. "low art" pretensions. Death Metal is obviously not especially popular in "fine arts" circles, but "nonsensically ghoulish lyrics" could also be described as evocative, atmospheric, and non-literal lyrics, and as such could well be described as being more abstract and intellectual than a love story narrative song. The dark themes of Death Metal are well enough represented in the so called fine arts. Take a look at this description from the Wikipedia article on Francis Bacon, one of the the most important English artists in the 20'th century.
Bacon's artwork is known for its bold, austere, homoerotic and often violent or nightmarish imagery, which typically shows room-bound masculine figures isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds.
Barring "homoerotic" this description would not stand out in
Death Metal. Moreover, neither would much of the art. Take a look at this Bacon, and keep in mind that this is universally accepted as fine art.
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