When doing it wrong becomes iconic
Scandinavian black metal broke every rule and turned its flaws into an iconic aesthetic. Calvin Ross Carl on why doing it wrong can become a brand’s greatest strength.
Summary
Calvin Ross Carl looks at Scandinavian black metal as an innovation that rejected everything. The genre had constant screaming, no singing, and unreadable logos you had to be in the know to decipher. Its production was terrible and lo-fi, often recorded in bathrooms, and that became part of the aesthetic because the bands committed so fully. Doing it wrong became the genre’s strength, and today even non-metal fans recognize the look.
Highlights
- Black metal rejected every convention of the genre.
- Unreadable logos and lo-fi production became the aesthetic.
- Full commitment turned doing it wrong into a strength.
Key insights
Rejection can be a strategy
Throwing out the accepted way of doing things gave black metal an identity nobody else had.
Commitment makes flaws iconic
The rough production worked because the bands did it so well and so consistently that it became the point.
Detailed analysis
Calvin argues there’s no reason brands can’t apply the same thinking. Best practices tell a brand to be legible, polished, and familiar. Black metal shows that breaking those rules with conviction can create an aesthetic so distinct that people recognize it from outside the subculture.
Conclusion
Doing it wrong, on purpose and with conviction, can be what makes a brand unforgettable.
The whole idea of doing it wrong became the strength of this whole genre, which is why we now understand this as an aesthetic.
I want to run through some things that I think are innovations I get inspired by. This one is thinking about how Scandinavian black metal was an absolute rejection of everything, and there isn’t any reason we can’t apply this to how we think about brands. Black metal was constant screaming, no singing, unreadable logos. With the branding, you had to be in the know to understand even their name. It had terrible, shitty lo-fi production. They were mostly all recorded in bathrooms, and that actually became a part of the aesthetic because they did it so well. The whole idea of doing it wrong became the strength of this whole genre, which is why we now understand this as an aesthetic. Even if you’re not a metal person, you understand the aesthetic of these guys.