Black Metal's Really Dark Side

This is a difficult article to write, because it is a very sensitive topic and yet I felt the need to write it. I started this blog nearly two years ago and while I have recently mostly written about certain albums I enjoyed or concerts I've been to, I had originally looked into the history of metal as well. And as I've been listening to various black metal bands in the last year, there is one topic that kept creeping up on me. As much as I've tried to push it aside, it needed looking into and it needs to be addressed. I am talking out National Socialist Black Metal - NSBM.

I am a fan of Emperor's album artwork from In the Nightside Eclipse and I was looking for a very particular shirt with the print of Gustave Doré's Death on a Pale Horse. Well, I found it, but in a shop I wouldn't normally shop anything. When writing about Mgła last week, the term right-wing extremism and NSBM kept popping up and I realised I had to be a lot more careful with listening to Black Metal, because there are some things that aren't immediately apparent. At least they weren't to me at first.

I've spent the last couple of days researching National Socialism in conncetion with Black Metal. And maybe you didn't know, but Black Metal does have a Nazi problem. There is the official subgenre of NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal), but apparently even bands that are not blatantly advocating national socialism need to be checked for sometimes a little more covert messages. This might get a bit lengthy, but I feel it's really important, so please bear with me.

I've started my journey into Black Metal with Venom and Bathory in this blog. Both bands were important in the so-called First Wave of Black Metal in the 1980s. With those bands, especially with Venom, their music was predominantly about having fun. About being louder, harder and more provocative than other bands. The use of satanic lyrics and imagery became an important componant and was mostly used to shock and provoke. 

The Second Wave of Black Metal occured during the early 1990s in Norway and I've written about Emperor on my blog so far. Other notable bands were Burzum, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Satyricon or Gorgoroth. The second wave took the concept of satanism and underground music a lot farther and more serious. Black Metal was assigned the typical musical characteristics of fast riffs, blast beats, shrieked vocals and intentionally poor recording practices. Taboo topics like satanism and paganism were further explored and somehow it started to bleed into reality. There were several violent crimes during the Second Wave of Black Metal, ranging form church burnings to suicide and murder. There are countless videos on YouTube, books from various musicians and even movies. The whole thing has fascinated people with no end.

Black Metal by now had  a reputation of violence and homophobia. Satanism came with a worldview that focused on individualism, strength and power.  Survival of the fittest. Paganism and heathenry was also widely explored in Black Metal. Well, those things also appealed to another group of people as well.  Through thematic emphasis on satanism, paganism and violence, bands started to place themselves into the lineages of Black Metal and the Third Reich simultaneously.

Of course not. Pagan Metal and Viking Metal are separate subgenres on their own. And they are not by definition to be associated with national-socialist ideology. Neither is Black Metal. Many Pagan/Viking/Black Metal musicians use pagan elements and satanic elements without incorporating racial ideologies. But, and this is a big BUT which hasn't been that obvious to me up till now - all those genres are inviting to people that have an extreme right-wing mindset. Some bands incorporate racial politics and beliefs into their music. Some do it blatantly, some more covertly. Other bands are not openly racial in their music, but they are nevertheless political because they make their ideology very clear otherwise.

Easiest to spot are the openly nationalist socialist bands and musicians. There even is a list of official NSBM bands. Notorious are for example:

• German band Absurd around Hendrik Möbus
  (imprisoned for eight years for the murder of Sandro Beyer in Sondershausen)
• Varg Vikernes' project Burzum
  (Vikernes has been imprisoned for 15 years for the murder of Euronymous)
• Mikko Aspa's project Clandestine Blaze
• Greek band Der Stürmer
• Graveland around Rob Darken

All of those musicians have open connections to nationalist socialist scenes or have made at least very open statements of racism, antisemitism or white surpremacy.

*Note: The following examples have not been gathered by me. I read Jillian Fisher's dissertation "“White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers”: An Exploration of Far-Right Political Extremism in Heavy Metal Music" and use the examples she provides.

Burzum is a bit more difficult, because Vikernes has never expressed anything directly racial in his music. Neither in the lyrics nor in the artwork. Both lyrics and artwork focus on mythology and nature. So, theoretically, you could listen to Burzum and think nothing of it. But if you know the person behind it, the musician, who is expressing his views through other channels every chance he gets, it is impossible to listen to Burzum without connecting his ideologies to the music.

So, this suggests, that you might have to do some homework when it comes to new Black Metal bands you are unfamiliar with. You can start by googling them. You will pretty easily get a sense where the general consent is going. Although sometimes opinions are conflicting. There also is a sub-reddit for especially this use case. And then, it might be necessary to look into the musicians. Listen to interviews, google images, read interviews. Check out their connections. Some of them might be involved with other bands or projects that are openly connected to NSBM. There are also certain record labels that are notorious for distributing NSBM-music. Also, there are festivals for NSBM-bands and if the band you are looking into is playing there, well... they are at least not against being associated with this kind of music.

All of this comes with a bit of work. But personally, I think it should be done, because ignorance is no excuse. I will do the work up front in the future. Before I listen to any new bands. Nothing sucks more than no longer being able to listen to music you've come to like because you've learned about political affiliations afterwards. Oh, and if it hasn't been clear up till now - I am not supporting or in any way endorsing national socialist, racist, homophobic or xenophobic beliefs and I will not support bands who hold them by listening to their music.