Ok, guys. I'm going to ask you all a big favor. Here is the section of my paper dealing primarily with black metal. If anyone would like to read it over and critique it (as I'm not that trOO of a black metaller) I'd really appreciate it. Although no one else in my class, least of all my professor, will know it if I'm talking out of my ass in this thing, I'd like to be as accurate as possible.
Quote:
Black metal as we know it today owes its existence to the Norwegian scene of the early nineties that centered around Mayhem, Burzum, Immortal and other so-called “second wave” black metal bands. They took the sound pioneered by Bathory, Celtic Frost and Venom (whose most famous album, Black Metal, gave the genre its name) and, as Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind say, “adopt[ed] the basic framework of the hardest strain of heavy metal, ripping it down to a poisoned, jagged splinter of aural hate” (xxv). Most second wave black metal is defined by raw production, minimalistic songwriting incorporating blastbeats and buzzsaw-like guitars, and lyrics preoccupied with death, darkness and cold. What Tolkien called northerness influences both the basic sound and the lyrics of black metal even today. The poor production values of “true” black metal are meant to give it a cold sound, creating aural landscapes filled with cruel, icy winds and haunted by grim spectres. The lyrics, sung in a peculiar croaking screech distictive to the genre, also often endeavor to reflect northern landscapes of ice and cold; Immortal were the undisputed masters of this – their discography includes an ode to the continent of Antarctica;
Towering in the horizon
An entire continent cloaked in ice
With giant icesheets constantly on the move
Floating nearer with its tide and icy waves
The shadow of Antarctica spreads
With its masses of permafrost
Most of the rest of their songs deal with similar themes, and take much of the language associated with black metal to almost ridiculous extremes, with much talk of mighty mountains, frostbitten kingdoms, and unending grimness.
The visuals associated with black metal reflect this influence as well. It is a (fairly accurate) stereotype of black metal bands to be photographed in the woods in winter, and almost every black metal music video involves nature imagery, usually involving woods, mountains, and snow and ice. Animals such as wolves and ravens play prominent roles, as can be seen in Immortal’s epic anthem “Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)” and the lyrics to Emperor’s “Beyond The Great Vast Forest;”
They shall haunt again, the creatures of the night –
“Phantom der nacht” – Blood is life.
Their art of death is infernal,
Like their life eternal.
See the castle so proud,
But yet so grey and cold.
The frost submerge.
The moon is on the rise.
Hear the nocturnal howling of the wolves…
The children of the night.
The idea of sonic landscapes eventually developed into atmospheric black metal, which is generally devoid of blastbeats and utilizes keys and wind instruments. It strives to put the listener in a stark, bleak landscape utterly devoid of warmth and love, utilizing very minimal vocals, if at all. Accompaning this musical evolution is an ideology of nature worship, eschewing technological advances and longing for a return to a simpler way of life. This tends to merge with a fascination with Viking culture; although Viking metal has grown into a subgenre in its own right, its roots are with Bathory’s album “Blood Fire Death” and were explored fully in the context of black metal by bands such as Enslaved, as can be seen in the lyrics to their song “Heimdallr;”
Heimdall is the name of an Old Norse God;
He is called the Old White Norse God;
He is great and holy;
His teeth are made of gold;
His horse is named Goldtop.
He lives where it's called the mountain in the sky besides Bifrost.
He needs less sleep than a bird;
He sees night as clear as day
One thousand miles away from where he is;
He also hear the grass grow from the soil,
Or the wool on the sheep and everything that can be heard.
He possess the horn that is called the Gjallarhorn,
And they can hear him blowing the horn in all the homes.
The influence of northernness on black metal goes beyond the music, however, as black metal itself is strongly tied to an ideology of life strongly based on the ideals embraced by Viking culture. Just as Beowulf was driven by a will to do, the progenitors of black metal were driven by a will to destroy; the kvlt ideal abhors weakness and seeks to destroy the causes of weakness in the human race. This usually manifests itself in a hatred of Christianity; Norway is a predominently Protestant nation, and although the average Norwegian tends to border on agnosticism, everyone who holds political office in Norway must be a member of the national church, and in some areas of the country the church is strong enough to influence behaviors such as owning a television. However, it is not the control of the church itself that black metal seeks to strive against, but the fact it is a religion based on love and forgiveness for everyone. If nothing else, black metal seeks to be the musical embodiment of hatred; most black metal bands at least ostensibly embrace Satanism or Asatru, the Norse pagan religion. There is no room for forgiveness or other such phenomena that are regarded as fostering weakness and complacence in either of these ideologies, and the actions of black metalers can reflect this. The height came during the early nineties, when Varg Vikernes (known at the time as Lord Grishnakh) and Oystein Aarseth, more commonly known as Euronymous in the metal world, burned several stave churches in Norway, the most infamous of which was Fantoft. They saw this as a purposeful action taken against Christianity, a move calculated to spread fear and hatred and weaken the hold of the hated institution.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of black metal culture is the overwhelming similarities to the Scandanavian/Germanic tradition of the Oskorei, or Wild Hunt. In Norse mythology Odin was believed to lead legions of the dead on a violent ride through the world of the living on Yule Eve, stealing horses and threatening the lives of mortals. This mythology gave rise to a tradition of young men in the rural countryside enacting a version of the Wild Ride in which they would steal horses from farms and ride them almost to foundering, taking beer, liquor and foodstuffs from farmers. This tradition was believed to ensure fertility on the farms. While on the ride the young men would paint their faces with large white rings or coalblack around their eyes in order to achieve as frightening an appearance as possible. To further preseve anonymity, the members of the ride would call themselves by false names. They would sing and chant in hoarse whispers or falsetto screams, and use percussion instruments and bells to put themselves in a state of spiritual ecstasy. With the encroachment of Christian traditions, the tradition of the Oskorei started to fall away, and the young men were seen more as dangerous vandals than embodiments of fertility spirits.
All of these aspects have parallels in black metal culture. Corpsepaint is one of the distinguishing characteristics of almost every black metal band; made famous primarily by Dead of Mayhem, it is based on the makeup technique used to make actors look undead. Black metal musicians apply white paint to their faces, with black around their eyes and mouths. The asthetic is an ugly one; it is meant to be as demonic and evil as possible. In addition, most black metallers take stage names, often from the names of demons or from Norse mythology. Black metal vocals seem to bear significant similarities to the vocalizations made by the Oskorei, and the esctatic noise is rooted in much the same ideal as black metal, with its dark, occasionally psychadelic sonic landscapes. Like most metal culture, alcohol consumption is often a part of experiencing music, especially at live shows. There is the same ecstatic, cathartic ideal behind the creation and experience of black metal; suicidal or depressive black, while a more modern development in the genre, takes the idea of emotional release to the extreme, striving to embody human darkness.
The demoic aspect is reflected in more than just the appearance of black metallers. When not dealing with frozen wastes, much of black metal lyrics are preoccupied with demons, Satan and Norse mythology. The sympathies are decidedly on the side of darkness and evil, as in “I Am The Black Wizards” by Emperor;
Once destroyed to feast upon the screaming souuls that was destroyed in my future. How many wizards that serve me with evil, I know not. My empires has no limits. From the never ending mountains black, to the bottom lakes. I am the ruler and has been for eternity’s long. My wizards are many, but their essence is mine. Forever there are in the hills in their stone homes of grief. Because I am the spirit of their essence. I am them.
Taken to an even further extreme, the “sacred theft” of the Oskorei can be seen in the violent birth of black metal. The widespread desecration of headstones and destruction of churches by arson falls into a similarly cathartic context as the plundering of horses, liquor and food the Oskorei would perform. The resurgence of traditional Norse values has been explain by Varg Vikernes as a resurgence of Neitzche-like human truths [quote here, I am too busy too look it up now]. Perhaps a similar explanation can be inferred about the Oskorei.
.. and you forgot to mention Darkthrone who has much more influence on the black metal scene than Immortal
