Rethinking Black Metal.

[Tituscrow]

Originally Posted by Reigninblood

Try playing some of those guitar parts before laughing it off. Sure some of the bands are inaudible. Behemoth and Gorgoroth are my favorites, though they are closer to mainstream.

Of course, Behemoth. Evangelion is a truly crushing album.

[ibateur]

I thought of Living Color when I read the subject. Sorry for that.

I have a hard time digesting a lot of this kind of music.

I don't know how much of the "show" is actually "genuine" and how much is "gimmick".

[DeathFromBelow]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Just every single article I've ever seen on the subject, plus news reports about violent acts, plus reading blog and forum posts from Black Metal fans that are not "apologists" for the genre...

Basically from almost every single media reference I've seen since the genre first became known in the West. The only exception I can think of from non-apologists is the Vegan Black Metal Chef.

Which means even if I'm wrong, and even if those reports and forum posts are overblown or inaccurate, they make it clear that the question "where the hell do you get that from" is pretty silly.

Yeah, I wonder who I should trust more; mainstream media/the interwebz or my own experience of being part of the scene (and remember, we norwegians are supposed to be the worse of the worse according to the media/net) for almost twenty years now. Hmm... Let me think...

[bongomania]

Just remember there's a difference between "your experience" and "what the entire rest of the world has been told for twenty years". So bear that in mind when defending the faith.

[DeathFromBelow]

Yeah, well that's what I'm trying to say: don't believe what you're told.

[M0ses]

Originally Posted by Duckwater

TBH I think the concept is interesting, but I just don't dig the music at all.

Yep. I don't care in the slightest if they're pagan or whatnot, music is independent of that. I don't need to know about to judge their music. But good for them.

[ShredderMaximus]

I think coming from a Punk background before I got heavy into metal really influenced my love for old school Black Metal, because to me at least, while completely different, are very alike in certain aspects too.

[Etchbass]

I don't like this style of music.

[Bloodhammer]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Just every single article I've ever seen on the subject, plus news reports about violent acts, plus reading blog and forum posts from Black Metal fans that are not "apologists" for the genre...

I didn't know I was a violent racist .................oh wait, I'm not Scandinavian (I didn't know they're violent racists either ). I'm also an atheist.............and that must mean that I can't worship Odin, therefore I'm not trve............ Am I allowed to even be a BM fan? Hmm. It's so hard to compress myself into tiny boxes and now I'm not sure if I'm trying to fit in the right one.

This is hard. No wonder blackmetallers commit suicide. Somewhere I read that I have to do that too, eventually.

[ggoat!!!]

Seriously...how could you NOT take "musicians" like these seriously?!?!??!???!???

[avvie]

lolz!

[Hellbastard]

Black Metal, a bunch of tolkien Fans who got out of hand trying to be extreme. It's kind of funny when you try to deny the existence of god by beilieving and poclaiming to be a satanist (Isn't Satan a figure of the bible and part of the catholic church repertoire?)

I enjoy some of the music. I Love Immortal At the heart of winter. Arcturus and Covenant are some of my favourite bands, but the whole idea behind Black Metal and their beliefs is ridiculous.

[Bloodhammer]

Pretending to be satanic is not new and exclusive to black metal. Coven was doing it in the 60's. Despite wearing crosses and having essentially Christian lyrics, Black Sabbath were widely thought to be playing "the Devil's music" and whether they liked it or not the reputation made them famous (as well as did awesome music!). Then Venom went ahead and did it in a way that wasn't at all subtle or thinly veiled as "spirituality", but was in line with the mythical "Satan worshiper" that good Christians warned their children were lurking out there ready to pounce!

It's the aesthetics of rebellion - since Satan himself challenged the status quo. It may seem ridiculous to you, but who's to say that dreadlocks, gauged out ears, skinny jeans, fedoras, whatever aren't ridiculous too?

And yes, At The Heart of Winter ****ing rules!

[Hellbastard]

I know it's not exclusive to Black Metal. But do me a favor listen to Black Widow and hear their lyrics. It's like Jethro Tull but with satanic Lyrics.

[omnimutant]

Why would anyone want to purposefully limit themselves to a tight box trying to fit a stereotype? Here I've been trying to avoid having my Personal Music Styles Labeled (to no success) my whole life, and I find people who are battling about the proper way to be "cool".

[champbassist]

I only listen to BM for its musical aspects and NOT for the lyrics and themes that lie therein.

As such, I like quite a few BM bands. IMO, people who ignore all black metal as being a gimmick by a talentless bunch of Satan worshippers might be missing out on some music that they may have otherwise enjoyed. There are numerous BM bands out there which don't bother with the overtly theatrical elements.

There have been countless musicians with questionable personal ideology throughout the history of music. If the personal philosophy of an artist or the lyrics that reflect it so bother you, don't listen to the music.

[HaMMerHeD]

I don't mind the pagan and anti-christian themes in black metal. There are even black metal bands that I enjoy a great deal: Dimmu Borgir, Chthonic.

I just don't like the sound of most black metal, (Mayhem, Immortal, Burzum, Emperor). The screeched vocals and general lack of bass hurts my ears, and excessive blast beats make me tired.

[BassistFreak416]

found this on a metal forum once and thought it was pretty interesting. good for a laugh.
101 rules of black metal
http://www.edu.lahti.fi/~mkkauppi/

[AnchorHoy]

Originally Posted by ZeroSymbolic

In many pagan religions, following ones heritage is of utmost importance. So though the events happened long ago. For followers of the Pagan religion it is very close to their hearts

Ah...... so this presumably explains why a Norwegian band made up of supposed Pagans would name itself after a devoutly Christian noblewoman whose ethnic background was entirely Hungarian, and lived more than 500 years after the conversion of the entire kingdom of Hungary to Christianity

Just for those who aren't up on the complexities of European culture and ethnicity: the only group of Scandis who can show even the most tenuous link to the Hungarians are the Finns - who are apparently descendants of the one tribe that kept moving westward after the majority of the nomadic Magyar tribes had settled in the Carpathian Basin. No relationship whatsoever with the Aryans, Vikings, or any other European cultural/linguistic group besides the aforementioned Finns. Much like the Basques, their language (and many aspects of the underlying culture) is completely unrelated to everyone around them

[brummiejon]

Originally Posted by ZeroSymbolic

Alright so I am a fan of Black Metal, and I feel the genre is misunderstood. So I am here to say a couple things about it, and explain the context in which is should be understood and enjoyed.

Many of the bands that perform the style of Black Metal follow the pagan religions of the early Nordic people of the Scandinavian Peninsula (Asatur for example). When the Christians came to these people they subjected the natives of the land to rape, murder, enslavement, and most importantly forced religious conversion.

This story is explained in "One Rode to Asa Bay" by Bathory.
Bathory - One Rode To Asa Bay - YouTube
BATHORY LYRICS - "Hammerheart" (1990) album

In many pagan religions, following ones heritage is of utmost importance. So though the events happened long ago. For followers of the Pagan religion it is very close to their hearts.

The satanic imagery of Black Metal is often blown off as nothing more than theatrics, and of course for some bands it is only theatrics. However in origin the music was created in opposition to Christian oppression, and the genuine artists used the concept of Satan to express their contempt and displeasure with history. Thus creating a music that was simultaneously political and religious.

Now, many of the artists have tried to explain this. However, understand that this is a pretty complex subject to discuss. Especially when many of the artists do not speak English natively or fluently. Thus what they say sometimes seems nonsensical, or humorous, but in reality it is a language barrier problem.

As a Christian man myself, I do not necessarily agree with the ideologies of black metal. However I do understand it's context and I understand where the bands are coming from.

I just feel like it's often dismissed as either blasphemous or comical. Which is fine and entertaining in it's own right. Yet I feel that the cultural and historical context of the music is often lost. Underneath the corpse-paint there is a serious music and message that should be understood.

Just a point to ponder, and something I wanted to clear up.

Yawn.........