Page - 83 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/02

Despite the end of the Cold War with the meaningful demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the 1990s witnessed an increase of the “millennial effect”, which triggered a renewal in the audio-visual language of dystopian cultures.62 1998 disaster movies Armageddon (Michael Bay, US) and Deep Impact (Mimi Leder, US) had an influence on the audience. Heavy metal participation on this topic became assiduous, with interesting creations and a controversial presence in certain narratives and actions. Trash metal, black metal, dead metal, and other heavy genres challenged modern societies and ways of life, devoting significant attention to apocalyptic matters in their oppositional and unromantic style, fo- cusing on imminent nuclear war and human extermination. Authenticity was by far their most worshipped dogma. The Finnish band Apocalyptica, created in 1992, is an interesting example. It consists of four cellists with solid classical for- mation, a striking ensemble for a metal band. In their record Inquisition Sympho- ny (1998), the first track, entitled “Harmageddon” (A–8), describes the battle of the end of history. Because the music is purely instrumental, the piece is full of contrasts and sonic effects, keeping the listener constantly alert; the timbral resources of such a low-pitched instrument as the cello is particularly hypnotic. In the official video, a gigantic pendulum together with the image of the four performers at different ages recall periodically the inexorable passage of time. Busta Rhymes has performed lively fast-rapping that is fixated on the apoca- lypse. The front cover of his album Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front (1998) shows New York City in flames, the impact of an asteroid. However, its main song is “Extinction Level Event (The Song of Salvation)” (A–9), whose re- frain repeats: “Bomb threat to the whole world … / Check it out yo … / I be the closest thing to the next / Like the pain and sufferin’ of about a million deaths”. War is the real threat and the song a means of warning people when there is still time to join forces. The second title is meaningful: “song of salvation”, an argument that the singer repeats as a call to action, to override the “extinction level event”. The most hopeful and unifying verses are at the end, very much in critical-dystopia style: “now sing the song of salvation … / the dawn of global emergency … / the moment where we all come together as one unison … / and completely dominate all global events”. For these reasons, this “song of salva- tion” is one of the most outstanding creations within the category of popular music critical dystopia. It was enthusiastically received by Rhymes’ followers. As is usual in rap music, all the weight of the song relies upon the lyrics, as the musical structure is straightforward. The third song selected from the dystopian year of 1998 is “Millennium” (A– 10), by Robbie Williams, which tackles the expected end of the world at the turn of the millennium. The cover of the album is similar to that of Busta Rhymes dis- 62 Berger 2000; Knickerbocker 2010. Apocalypse as Critical Dystopia in Modern Popular Music | 83www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 69–94