Mersiv takes heat over controversial subtweet

Although Mersiv is knee-deep in his Beautiful & Filthy tour, the Denver-based producer sounded off on Twitter in a controversial subtweet. The tweet mentioned producers who use satanic imagery as an unthoughtful branding move. Of course, many people were instantly triggered. The tweet, while not directed at anyone’s artistic choices in particular, did ruffle a few feathers for producers who use this kind of imagery as a rebellion on the pervasiveness of institutionalized religion. 

While Twitter isn’t necessarily the best place for healthy intellectual/political dialogue, or contextual discussion for that matter, the tweet did spark an interesting moralistic debate over the light/dark dichotomy. Satanic imagery has long been used in the rock/metal scenes by TOOL and others and was actually first popularized in the EDM scene by Bassnectar years ago. 

Most notably, Subtronics mentioned that, regardless of Mersiv’s intention, the tweet did imply that some producers were resorting to pandering. In other words, the tweet generalized that all producers who use this imagery were doing so as some cheap branding trick, implying they resort to satanic symbolism merely because it seems like its popular at the time, especially in the bass music scene. 

Rising Bay Area producer Ravenscoon also chimed in, noting how artists like himself are invoking the imagery as a form individual expression. He also brings the discussion into a yin-and-yang debate, specifically how fans and artists often come into the light by facing their demons. Rather than denying the darkness, Ravenscoon implies that we should embrace it in order to understand ourselves better.

Mersiv has a few days off from his massive tour schedule right now, so he took the time to clarify the context of his tweet. He apologized for making a backhanded statement, stating that satanic imagery never resonated with him personally or aligned with the intentions of his music. That is to say, all’s well that ends well, especially in love and war.