Welcome to a discussion on an emerging sub-genre I refer to as CyberPunk. It is a vague but real phenomenon, one which traverses the areas of psychology, technology, philosophy and music.

The term "cyberpunk" was used by the sci-fi writer William Gibson to describe the heroes of his books. His stories often deal with futuristic distopias in which the young renegades are the heroes. The theme of computer technology helping these upstarts is prevalent, as well as the eventual cyborgification of humans. There is now a whole genre of science fiction writers working under the banner of "cyberpunk". Many deal with neural enhancement, or replacement of the body, or genetic alteration using nanotechnology. Others deal with the evolution of digital technology without going so far, but nonetheless spell out what it means to humans who must grow along with it.

However, I feel the word "CyberPunk" (and I express it this way to accentuate the marriage of the two) is being wasted, especially when something weird and unique is happening in the music world, something that really defies normal classification. It leaps beyond the boundaries of "Industrial", techno and hardcore. "Rave" and Metal, as well as "Ambient" fail to capture the full scope of the music. You could make up new ones: "TechnoIndustrial", or "TechnoPunk", or "HardcoreAmbient", but even they seem too limiting. Even "CyberPunk" is a poor attempt at classifying something that seems to defy it.

However, "CyberPunk" is an apt enough term for the moment as it already exists, and is becoming part of the English lexicon already. Besides the genre of books under this "classification", the term is being used to describe the computer rebels of today and tomorrow. For example, do you remember this image: the computer scientist with thick glasses, woollen vest his mother made him, and no life. Well, you could say that image is gone and replaced by the long-haired, anti-social CyberPunk. OK, they still don't have many friends, but their seclusion is more romantic as they are either planning to expose illegal activity in a major corporation with their hacking, or save the world from alien invasion. Or if you like the bad guys, there are the geeks with attitude problems that almost succeed in taking over the world with a few keystrokes (until an even smarter geek comes along and bests him).

I've even heard "CyberPunk" being used to describe someone who adept at using computers in a variety of tasks, much like the term "hacker" was being widely misused a while back. However, I would agree that this term fits people who embrace computing technology as well as the "Information Superhighway", as before the Internet, PCs were just personal tools, not avenues to new worlds. Even those who don't particularly like computers, but have braved this and put up sites to express their controversial views, I would dub "CyberPunks".

And, coming back to music, we can see that this being affected by information technology. Bands that have been unable to print artwork or lyrics because of censorship laws have done so on the Net. Many find this the only avenue to express their views. For example, Marilyn Manson can't really talk about his Satanist views on TV, as we all know "free speech" is only there to protect the majority - so he does so on the Net. You can get lyrics to songs by bands that were banned, like Ice T's "Cop Killer", so the songs aren't lost forever under censorship. This digital defiance is one important aspect of the CyberPunk phenomenon.

To Be Continued........

Sepultura, those hardcore Brazilians, are now part of CyberPunk history. Manga videos have long featured the music from the song "Refuse/Resist" (from the "Chaos A.D." album) in the Manga trailer at the start. If you don't know what Manga is, I suggest you go to your local video store and ask for the Manga section. In short, it's futuristic Japanese Anime cartoons that dwell heavily on armageddon, mutants and the dark side of man and technology. Though the trailer featured none of the singing from Sepultura's song, the lyrics would have fit in really well. Just click to view the lyrics to "Refuse/Resist"