Ghostly longing: Tonality as grieving in Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper. (1st June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hannan, Calder
• Is Part Of: Metal music studies. Volume 7:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 277
• Page End: 297
• Publication Date: 2021-06-01
• Subjects: Heavy metal (music) -- Periodicals; Heavy metal (music) -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 781.6605
• DOI: 10.1386/mms_00049_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2052-3998

Abstract

Mirror Reaper, by the funeral doom metal band Bell Witch, is an immense 83-minute composition in which tonal organization plays an essential role in enhancing and creating meaning. Little analytical attention has been paid to doom metal; armed with a flexible conception of theories of tonal harmony and my full transcription of the album, I show that slow, repetitive music and rich engagement with musical details are not mutually exclusive. I present an analysis in which the tonal drama centres around slowly shifting bass support for a persistent melody F natural. At first, this F appears as a dissonant ninth over an E♭, then as a hollow fifth above a B♭ and finally as a consonant major third above D♭. I understand this progression as a sonic analogue for the grieving process that, according to interviews with the band, is the album's main focus.