THE BLACK METAL IS A TYPE OF DARK AND FAST METAL, WICH IT DEVELOPES MELODIC
AND DARK SOUNDS WHEN IT'S PLAYED. OFT MALIGNED, APPROACHED BY FEW, UNDERSTOOD
BY EVEN FEWER. ONCE DEFINED BY A SOUND, THEN BY REGION, THEN BY DRESS, THEN
BY IDEOLOGY, THEN BY ACTION. EXPRESSING A REALLY ANTISOCIAL AND ANTI-CHRISTIAN
BELIEFS. THIS GENRE IS REALLY TECHNIC, HAVE INTENSITY IN HIS RHYTMS, AND HAVE
A POETIC COMUNICATION IN ITS MUSIC.
HIS†ØRY
THE TRUE UNDERGROUND BLACK METAL SCENE BEGAN IN THE VEINS OF VENOM AND BATHORY AT THE FINALS OF 70's. THE SPREAD OF THE TRUE UNDERGROUND GENRE WAS IN NORWAY, WITH THE LATE FOUNDER "Øystein Aarseth" BETTER KNOWN AS "EURONYMOUS"(The prince of Hell who lies to feed on the dead), BRUTALLY STABBED TO DEATH IN 1993. IT WAS IN NORWAY THAT BLACK METAL RISED, HE THOUGHT THAT NOBODY WOULD LIKE THAT MUSIC, BUT HE WAS COMPLETELY WRONG. JON "METALION" KRISTIASEN, THE PUBLISHER OF SLAYER MAGAZINE, MET THE METAL BAND OF EURONYMOUS, "MAYHEM" IN A CONCERT OF MOTORHEAD. HE HEARD THEM PLAYING, AND HE LIKED THEM VERY MUCH, THEY WERE BRUTAL, THEY WERE VERY VIOLENT, LIKE NO ONE ELSE IN THAT TIME. THEY PLAYED LIVE, COVERS FROM VENOM, BATHORY, CELTIC FROST AND OTHER BANDS, WITH THEIR FIRST SINGER:"MESSIAH". LATER IN THE 86' THEY RECORDED THEIR FIRST DEMO"PURE FUCKING ARMAGEDDON". AND IN THE 87' THE MINI ALBUM NAMED "DEATH CRUSH". LATER EURONYMOUS ADOPTED THE CONCEPT OF WEARING "CORPSEPAINT" TO LOOK MORE MACABRE AND MORE GRUESOME. AND THAT APPEARENCE BECAME ONE OF THE TRADEMARKS OF THE NOREWEGIAN BLACK METAL.
IN 1988, A SWEDE NAMED PER YNGVE OHLIN, ALIAS "DEAD", JOINED AS A NEW VOCALIST FOR MAYHEM, HAVING PREVIOUSLY BEEN A MEMBER OF A HORROR THEMED DEATH METAL GROUP NAMED: "MORBID". DEAD WOULD BECOME THE FIRST KEYNOTE IN THE SAGA OF NORSE BLACK METAL WHEN HE BLEW OUT HIS BRAINS IN 1991, LIVING UP TO HIS NICKNAME AND AT THE SAME MOMENT HE DIED WITH IT. BY THE TIME OF DEAD'S INVOLVEMENT IN MAYHEM, THE NOREWEGIAN BLACK METAL SCENE IN OSLO WAS BEGGINING TO COALESCE INTO A TINY BUT TANGIBLE NETWORK OF DEDICATED PEOPLE. THEY FORMED NEW BANDS, ATTENDED EACH OTHER'S SHOWS, TRADED INFLUENCES, AND NOW HAD STANDARDS OF EXTREMITY CLOSE AT HAND TO MEASURE THEMSELVES AGAINST. NEW FANS OF THE MUSIC BEGAN TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THOSE IN OSLO, ESPECIALLY WITH AARSETH. THEY WERE OFTEN TEENAGERS STILL LIVING AT HOME IN SMALLER TOWNS AND MORE ISOLATED AREAS OF NORWAY. AN OBSESSION WITH THE SAME IDEALS AND HATRED, AN ATTITUDES WAS ENOUGH TO UNITE DISPARATE YOUNG MUSICIANS TO KEEP IN CONTACT PRIMARILY THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE AND TELEPHONE, ONLY MEETING IN PERSON AT AN OCASSIONAL CONCERT WHEN A MORE POPULAR OR MAINSTREM METAL BAND WOULD PLAY IN A MAJOR CITY.
SINCE ANTI-CHRISTIAN ACTIONS HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE BLACK METAL, IT MIGHT BE USEFUL TO LOOK AT HOW CHRISTIANITY FUCTIONS IN NORWAY'S OFFICIAL RELIGION IS PROTESTANTISM, ORGANIZED THROUGH A NORWEGIAN CHURCH UNDER THE STATE. THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF NORWEGIAN FOLK TALES PRESENTS A GROTESQUE WORLD OF TROLLS, WITCHES AND FOREBODING FORESTS. THESE HAVE HAD A PROFUND INFLUENCE ON MANY YOUNGER BLACK METAL GROUPS. SOME BANDS, LIKE ULVER, HAVE ALTOGETHER DROPPED TRADITIONAL BLACK METAL IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM FOR TROLLISH ATMOSPHERES.
| BEGGINING WITH A SMALL FIRE AT STOREVEIT CHURCH IN THE MONTH PRECEDING , THERE HAVE SINCE BEEN A TOTAL OF AT LEAST 80 CHURCH FIRES, AND ATTEMPTED ATTACKS IN NOREWAY. ROUGHLY A THIRD HAVE DOCUMENTED CONECTION TO THE BLACK METAL SCENE, ACCORDING TO SJUR HELSETH, HEAD OF THE TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE DIRECTORATE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE. THE
IDIOLOGY WICH DRIVES BLACK METAL IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO IN NORWAY IT HAS BECOME EQUATED WITH VIOLENCE AND CHURCH BURNING, BUT THIS IS A DISTINCTION PECULIAR TO THAT COUNTRY. SATANISM, LIKE ITS ANTITHESIS, CHRISTIANITY MEANS A GOOD MANY THINGS TO A MYRIAD OF PEOPLE. NOR IS THERE IS A STRICT CONSENSUS ON DEFINING SATANISM WITHIN THE BLACK METAL SCENE, BEYOND A BASIC OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. FROM THAT STARTING POINT A NUMBER OF QUITE DISTINCT STRAINS OF THOUGHT ISSUE FORTH. |
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I DONT THINK SATANISM HAS BEEN THAT IMPORTANT BESIDES BEIGN A FLIRTATION WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOLS AND AS A CONCEPT FOR LYRICS. I THINK VERY FEW BLACK METAL MUSICIANS ARE INVOLVED IN THE SECRETS OF THE BLACK ARTS. OF COURSE SOME ARE, BUT THEY KEEP IT TO THEMSELVES. I'VE MET PEOPLE WHO ARE INTO RITUALS, ETC., AND ARE DEEPLY INTO THE BLACK METAL SCENE AS WELL, BUT THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY IN A BAND.
THEY USED IT FOR ITS SHOCK VALUE-SEX, SATAN, AND VIOLENCE SELL WELL. A LOT OF BANDS STILL DO THIS, BUT THERE ARE MUSICIANS WHO'VE ADOPTED SATANISM AS A LIFESTYLE AND THE KEY POINT HERE IS THAT THESE MUSICIANS WERE MEMBERS OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BANDS. SO OTHER PEOPLE STARTED TO COPY THEIR MUSIC AND IDEAS NO MATTER IF THEY BELIEVED IN THEM OR NOT! SATANISM INEVITABLY ADOPTED A MORE INTELLECTUAL PROFILE. STILL, THE MUSICIANS THAT ARE SERIOUSLY INVOLVED IN THE DARK SIDE ARE FEW- COMPARED TO THE EXISTING NUMBER OF BANDS, BUT THEY ARE IN MAJOR BANDS AND THAT IS WHAT IT COUNTS.
He
is the wind, He is the storm
He is the woods, he is the roots
Nobody will escape the wrath of the tyrant
Forever the beast shall wander the Earth
(Mortiis, Anno, 1991)
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