About doommantia.com
A friend of mind was telling me that doom rock and doom metal are essentially just gimmicks. And that's really what got me thinking about the notes that made up the initial bedrock of content that became this website.
I started taking a lot of notes regarding the kind of music that I listened to because, hey, let's face it, when somebody tells you that you like a musical form that is, for lack of a better word, a lie or some sort of fabrication, you sit up and pay attention.
There's just something about human nature that pushes us to justify ourselves when people call us out. Now, it may not be as dramatic as my friend's statement, but I'm sure you're doing that right now at some area of your life. I'm sure you're operating at that level regarding certain things that you like or certain things that you devote a lot of your attention and focus on.
This is human nature because we do not like to be called out. We do not like to be accused that whatever it is that we are interested in is essentially worthless. Nobody likes to be called a liar. Nobody likes to be called some sort of fraud.
And this really got me going. I was looking at this musical form that I've known for several years and that I enjoy tremendously with a completely different frame of mind.
Previously, I basically just had blinders on. Either they fit the doom metal genre or they don't. That was just my filter. That's all I had to go on. And I was perfectly happy with that.
But after my little exchange with my friend, I became more critical. I was looking at the philosophy behind this music and how it fit with how people really live.
You have to understand that people talk a good game. They say all sorts of things about who they are, what they are about, what they believe in, but you only need to pay attention to what they do to see the real story.
You see, people are, for lack of a better word, natural born hypocrites. We say one thing, but we end up doing other things entirely.
We talk a good game about principles, values and all the good stuff of life because, at some level or another, we feel that we're expected to talk about these things.
We feel that we're getting some sort of increased reputation or increased respect when we talk about these things, but little do we know that people are still looking at us long after we shut our mouths.
Long after we've made all sorts of claims and tried to assert certain truths, people are still looking. And guess what? Nine times out of ten, they do not like what they see because somehow, some way, our actions do not line up with the things that we say we believe in.
People talk a good game about charity, but they turn out to be the most selfish bastards on the planet. Does this sound familiar? Well, it should because this applies to everybody at some level or another.
And I'm not just talking about selfishness here. This applies across the board. Regardless of the particular personal value you're looking at, whether it's compassion, generosity, imagination, respect for the arts, respect for tradition or what have you, there is always that disconnect.
Doom metal music has no illusions. We focus on the hypocrisy. We focus on what's broken down. We focus on what the rest of the world considers negative. However, we use this information to direct our minds to what is positive. It is this delicious tension that gives it meaning.