Towards Flames: Black Metal

By choosing to read this article, you've told me that you are either a) interested in black metal, or b) a fan already. Either way, hopefully you'll learn something. And it is in the spirit of learning that I've decided to set it up in a Q and A format. (I saw this done on another guide - I believe it was one to goth music - and it worked really well.) So without further adue, let's begin.

How did black metal begin?

Much like metal itself, the beginnings of black metal are often debated. It is, however, a common belief that the first bands to really bring this extreme style of music to life were Hellhammer, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate, and Venom. (Venom is credited with naming the genre with their release entitled "Black Metal".) The groups played a style of music much different from other big names of the day (notably Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and the rest of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal). They were agressive and unapolegetic, sporting bullet belts, spikes, and black leather, and torturing their instruments and vocal chords to drive home fiersome lyrics about evil, Satanism, and other highly controversial subjects.

So where did it go from there?

The growing popularity of the "first wave" of black metal bands spawned an entirely new generation of evil. Groups like Mayhem, Emperor, and Darkthrone were born, twisting the Satanic vibes of their predecessors (many of whom were only invoking a wicked appearance for shock value to the public) into a lifestyle. These guys bashed Christianity and exalted Lucifer. And they really, truly meant it. They also developed the sound of black metal into what it is today. Shrieking and rasping vocals, dark, heavy guitar riffs, and blast beats (a type of rapid fire snare/bass drumming) became the name of the game.

Just how crazy were these guys?

Pretty crazy. Along with the rise of a strong black metal scene in Norway (where a good portion of the "second wave" bands were coming from) in the early 90s came the inexplicable burning of many Christian churches. Obviously, Satanic cults and black metal rings (the two went hand in hand) were blamed. Taking it to the next level of crazy, Mayhem came along. Their vocalist, Dead, was found by the guitar player, Euronymous, after having comitted suicide with a handgun. But he didn't call the authorities like one would expect. No, he took pictures of the corpse for an upcoming album cover, made a necklace with the skull fragments, and yes, cooked a nice little stew with small peices of brain. But wait. It doesn't end there. The bassist, Varg Vikernes (aka Count Grishnack) settles a dispute with Euronymous (not over his sick treatment of Dead - but over a girl and Euronymous' supposed homosexuality) by stabbing Euronymous in the head. (...He dies.) Vikernes is taken to prison where he continues to record albums for his one-man band, Burzum, and develop his strong neo-nazi beliefs. He escapes, holds a family at gun point, and steals their station wagon. He is later recaptured. On a sidenote, not that it could compare with Mayhem, but Emperor drummer Faust was also arrested for stabbing a homosexual man to death in a local park. Yes, murders, arsons, and Satanism plagued black metal for a good amount of time.

Does all black metal sound the same?

No. In fact, there are two very distinct schools of black metal. There is the traditional, "true Norweigan black metal" sound that is noted most for poor production quality, a very straightforward approach, and a general lack of melody. Then there is the symphonic sound that incorporates many of the elements of traditional black metal (harsh vocals, blast beats, etc) with keyboards, violins, horns, sometimes even entire string sections. The end result is a very distinct combination, fusing the harshness of black metal with the beauty and sophistication of classical, symphonic music.

What is Corpsepaint?

You may have seen black metal musicians painting their faces black and white for a grim, malevolant appearance. This facepaint is known as corpsepaint. It takes its name and appearance from victims of the black plague, whose faces would turn incredibly pale, but retain dark rings around the eyes. It can also be representative of traditional battle paint worn by many warrior tribes and clans, or simply as an upholding of a prevelant black metal tradition.

Where is black metal today?

Black metal is (arguably) stronger than it has ever been. While some would say that they heyday for this genre was with the second wave back in the early to mid 90s, the influence of black metal is greater today than ever. Thousands of traditional-style groups continue to emerge, not only in Norway, but all across Europe - and even America. The symphonic sound is seeing a boom in popularity and widespread acceptance, especially with bands like Dimmu Borgir. Also, a new branch of black metal has been formed, known as dark metal. Dark metal groups, while maintaining a strong black metal influence, combine their music with other genres, most notably gothic and doom metal.

What are your recommendations?

Here's a few bands, seperated by type, that would be worth checking out.

Traditional: Darkthrone, Marduk, Immortal

Symphonic: Anorexia Nervosa, Tvangeste, Emperor

Dark Metal: Throes Of Dawn, Graveworm, Agathodaimon

So then, what is black metal?

Black metal is opposition and extremity. Whether it be opposed to religion, social norms, commonly held beliefs, or simply the public taste for digestable, thoughtless music - it is always against something. Its sound is icy, wicked, and harsh - and to some, quite beautiful. It is both an end and a means- conveying thoughts and opinions that go against the masses, while also satisfying a need for extreme artistic expression. It is dark; it is controversial; it is black metal.

POSTED: 04/09/2005 - 03:15 am

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Comments

[Wasp]

Nice article, not too long (so it doesn't become boring) but still informative. Good job!

[kirk_tremonti]

yeah but what does it sound like? is it something like coal chamber?

[Dyaxe666]

i like it pretty sweet. 4 outta 5

[Odin]

Nice article. Well written. I knew some stuff about black metal, but this cleared up some things. An article is always good if you learn something.

[Strat-tastic]

Great Article!

[Dlawso]

Good article, but I still dont like Black Metal...

[Tyler the Great]

Okay, quick question, what is the difference between black metal and death metal? your description of blast beats, shreiking vocals, ect. is what I thought defined death metal.

[backinblack478]

informative

[ctb]

This is brilliant, well explainrd

[ctb]

*explained

[JamesRoot]

sweet, dimmu borgir FUKIN RULE!!!..LEGENDS!! ALICIA IS A BITCH

[Styx]

Like it says on the end!It sound is beautiful!!!!

[Mr. Clean]

not too bad

[shimaroller3]

Good article, rather disturbing, but nonetheless as an column it was well done and informative. I don't like blackmetal and never will, but this did help me understand it.

[jose kaempffer]

good job, nice article the only thing i did not like was the dark metal part i am not really agree with what you said.

[yertletheturtle]

Meh. It wasn't explained very well.

[4evermetal]

nice article, actually read the whole thing

[umair]

good article...was brief and covered alotta stuff

[White_sabbath]

Lol. Im Norwegian, and the black metal thing isnt like "around us", its not like everywhere I go, theres satanistic black metal folks(just helping the the norwegian impression some people might have gotten)

Well, nice article, kind of ugly the mayhem thingy, but nice article!!

[Alucard II]

Okay, quick question, what is the difference between black metal and death metal? your description of blast beats, shreiking vocals, ect. is what I thought defined death metal.

death vocals are growled, not shrieked, and death metal blast beats differ very slightly from black metal. there are other differences, many death bands downtune, death is more brutal, not as atmospheric, black uses more tremolo picking...to be honest, im too lazy to list all the reasons, sorry
but there's articles on the site about it.

[SexyJonisaJon]

nice

[watchmannee]

sick, makes early ninties gansta rap look like bubble gum pop. listen to jeff beck.

[ginger_snapd_ha]

Coal Chamber?? AHAHAHHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!
oh god, that is great.
Good article.

[SickMetal]

kirk_tremoniti, you're sigged.

[Bilzzard_of_Ozz]

Dead shot himself with a shotgun. Not a handgun. And Euronymous was stabbed in the back and neck, not the head.

All in all a pretty thin article, just a fraction of the big bands were mentioned and it would need a sequel, otherwise there is ALOT missing.

[strigoi_vii]

Meh. 2 out of 5..

ALOT of information missing and it was too brief.

[Warlock4Lyfe]

Good article but it coulda used some more facts and stuff. Short and simple not long and boring.

[metalphor]

Coal chamber is like...Nu metal/goth rock...Anyways...great article...Black metal kicks ass...not my fave style of music...but definitly my top 5.

[kaliba]

brief and didnt dive 2 deep into defineing it but still not bad!! and very intresting about Mayhem.. cheers for adding that

[Jpinales2004]

Tyler the Great:
Okay, quick question, what is the difference between black metal and death metal? your description of blast beats, shreiking vocals, ect. is what I thought defined death metal.

Somebody needs to make a column on that because I don't know a lot about both genres to set them apart from each other. Alucard kinda clue me in but Im still misinformed and i think many people are as well.

[civ182]

4 stars... didnt know half of what was written!

[areguzanda]

I love black metal .. not gonna say your article really was tha interesting with the "many errors" it has but i will give you credit .. nice work ..

[milk_it_good]

Jesus Christ, some of you people are far beyond help. Did you not just read about the type of people that compose these blasphemous NOISE. If I wanted to listen to a pack of wild creatures dying, I'd go to China. Listen, it's a good article, but the subject which it is condoning is atrocious. There are two forces in life, Love and Fear. What is so exhilirating about being on the Fear side?
Sorry, I'm more into this other thing, I call it Music. You should give it a try, it has feeling, melody, instruments and decipherable vocals. All that those bands are doing is expressing there contorted mental defects and there suicidal systems. There are an anomoly in society. Please, I implore you to think twice before diving into the outrageous genre.
Not convinced? Look at all of their morals and ideals; Nazism, Racism, Sexism, Heretism, Satism, Homocide, Suicide, Hate... Are you people hypnotised or something? I don't care how many of you rebuke against my comments, because my feelings will never change. I severely reproach the whole concept of Black Metal.
Shall it burn in hell, from whence it slithered it's vile form...

[hekainu]

milk it good what kind of planet do you live on? I assume you're a christian since it sounds like most christian ranting i have heard. Every belief system on this planet including politics and religion contains elements of violence, evil and hypocracy. Whether it started with these in mind or they developed along the way it doesnt matter. I listen to some black metal and i am a muslim and i belive in god. My choice of music does not reflect upon me and does not mean that i'm an evil screw up who sacrifices virgins upon the altar of teenage alienation and attention seeking. If you dont see the hypocracy in what you have just said then you're quite blind my friend.

[hekainu]

and if you want to get into a debate over morals os evil and murder in the christian faith i'm quite happy to destroy everything you belive in.

[raise_the_dead]

good article dude. Though you coudl have recommended albums instead of just bands

[raise_the_dead]

oh yeah count grisnackh did kill euronymus but he didn't cook his brain or eat it. I oughtta know I did a presentation on it @ school

[Turcas]

^Varg Vikernes never ate anybody's brain.. Euronymous ate Deads, as written in the article.

Anyway, a good article. Sometimes i get the feeling of reading an interviu, a good one that is

[pitiful_lies]

ok can anyone help me categorise Satyricon? satyr's vocals sound more 'growled' than 'shrieked' and the music sound kind of fits in with the article's description of death metal - but the band classify themselves as black metal. is there a grey area or do the band not know what theyre talking about?
And Mayhem sound completely insane! good article

[StuartR]

To best hear the differences between black metal and death metal you have to listen to the stuff.

The artical wasnt great, any searching on google could have got you the same answers. Someone who really knows BM woulld be a better author.

[reed]

Satyricon is black metal. It's heavier black metal, but still BM. And milk_it_good is special with a capital "r".

[Matt_SS_Gold]

AMEN??

[StuartR]

23 Times.

[perkele]

good article, except it was Mayhems drummer Hellhammer who made the necklace out of Deads skull fragments, euronymus took the pictures and made the stew.

[cloudnine]

Yes, I am of the camp that definitely feels that Black metal has little musical value.

[mtl's_god]

The article was okay, bit short though. Im not christian but im kindof a neo-com/ anti-closed minded guy so I really hate those fagget neo-nazi murderer jerkoffs. Oh well.

[darkstar9814]

that was a good article, disturbing, but good.

[rocktilldeath]

kool, and very grim 2

[Benesyed]

hekainu- All the more power to ya my muslim brotha!
Cool article, but i suggest everyone read kirk_tremontis comment...lol

[DemonLucifer666]

WTF!!!DONT BURN OUT BM TO ALL THESE POSERS!!If you knew shit you wouldnt have made this article you retard!now you have posers like kirk_tremonti getting into bm,damn you..

[ThisPerishedMin]

haha....coal chamber..that made me giggle. and by giggle i mean laugh my fecking arse off. its a good change of pace on occasoin...and that one guy was right..just becuase you listen to it donest mean you agree with it.

[Night_Lights]

kirk_tremonti:
yeah but what does it sound like? is it something like coal chamber?

if the name is anything to go by, then no. coal chamber?

my friendds friends cousins sisters husbands brother (not really, just a friend) has seen Mayhem live.

[buckethead101]

i like dimmu borgir but they aren't popular here in my country.

[Glass_Prison]

DemonLucifer666:
WTF!!!DONT BURN OUT BM TO ALL THESE POSERS!!If you knew shit you wouldnt have made this article you retard!now you have posers like kirk_tremonti getting into bm,damn you..

That made me laugh. Quite pathetic of you DemonLucifer666.....although your username tells me I shouldn't expect much from you anyways.

[hypocrisy]

I was not impressed, but I've got to hand it to you for trying. You missed quite a lot of important information that I don't want to get into though, and you could have mentioned much more of the influences that make up today's modern Black Metal. The list was just too short.

Decent article, 3 out of 5.

[vantage4]

i'm not a fan of black metal, but i have to disagree with milk_it_good, who seems to have gotten cause and effect mixed up. people make and listen to black metal because they are ***ed up, they aren't ***ed up because they listen to black metal. and many fans are probably just that - fans - and don't do any of that.

anyway, not a bad artical, although i'm not really that interested in it so i can't really judge.

[St.Michael]

PEOPLE! Don't get the wrong idea here. milk_it_good is a dumb worthless pile of crap. I'm a practicing Catholic, and yes I just demonstrated hypocrisy. The Christian faith does not teach people to be holier-than-thou, and when it comes to insulting another person or people about their music because you don't like it, that goes against our teaching to love. ALSO, for those of you who think I'm blowing smoke out of my ass, I'm in a thrash metal band, death/black metal band, and a jam band. Kiss my ass milk_it_good.

[megaderrick]

good article

[lifeguard]

Death metal? Doom metal? Dark metal? Must everything sound so bleak? The music's okay, though, and the articl was pretty good.

[fendermalmsteen]

Pretty good article.

[kelmesjev]

hekainu:
I listen to some black metal and i am a muslim and i belive in god.

hekainu:
and if you want to get into a debate over morals os evil and murder in the christian faith i'm quite happy to destroy everything you belive in.

My apologies for perpetuating a stereotype, but does anyone else see the irony?

[guitarkid27]

wow this music sounds like it sucks. why would u want to listen to something that is just someone screaming a whole lotta crap thats probly against at least one or more things that your for. in my opinion thats pretty stupid

[guitarkid27]

good article though n i have no problem with people who listen to it

[hekainu]

kelmesjev you might also want to notice that i also said every religion contains elements of hypocracy and evil, even my own.

[Mad Marius]

milk_it_good, *** off.



Nice article, though I always thought Venom were the precursors of death metal... oh well.

[Legacy]

Soundsamples of different styles of metal especially black metal you'll find here: http://www.wehrmut.de/metallisches/metallisches_genre.htm

It's in german, but you'll understand it.

[Captain Colon]

Death metal? Doom metal? Dark metal? Must everything sound so bleak? The music's okay, though, and the articl was pretty good.

That's what I was thinking...I demand we revert to 80s cock rockin party metal immediately.

[Kappa]

Nice article, really informative. Agathodaimon rock!

[greenypurple]

how many difrent types of metal r der? Gd article

[erling]

as a Norwegian,I have problems with this article.

[Jilldo]

milk_it_good, people like you said the same thing about rock and roll. Good article.

[Freyr]

Good Article. Well set out. I've started listening to Black Metal and I like it alot. I hate those Neo-Nazi M*ther***ers though. All that sh*t about killing and f*cking-up people because they not the same colour and creed as you doesn't fly to well by me.

[the_cheat22]

nice conclusion dude, it was a good way of ending it

[Ben da Gimp]

well when those guys say they live there music i dont think the where f*ckin around ya know

by the way good article

[clockwork555]

hekainu:
milk it good what kind of planet do you live on? I assume you're a christian since it sounds like most christian ranting i have heard. Every belief system on this planet including politics and religion contains elements of violence, evil and hypocracy. Whether it started with these in mind or they developed along the way it doesnt matter. I listen to some black metal and i am a muslim and i belive in god. My choice of music does not reflect upon me and does not mean that i'm an evil screw up who sacrifices virgins upon the altar of teenage alienation and attention seeking. If you dont see the hypocracy in what you have just said then you're quite blind my friend.

good point. I dont listen to black metal and i am christian but i agree with u. No one can dictate what kind of person u r from the type of music u listen to.

[hank shermmann]

There should've been a little more about Mercyful Fate and it should have been there in the recommendations

[StuartR]

Euronymous took the skull pieces but him and hellhammer wore them. He even said it in an interview

[scarlett_rose]

Good article.
Not too long, straight to the point and pretty informative.

[vantage4]

Quick Q. What category would Cradle of Filth fall into? Symphonic Black Metal, with a slight Death Metal Influence (because of some of the lower growled vocals)? I dont really listen to much of this stuff, but it is interesting.

[metal_moshpit]

did anyone know dead killed himself with bullets which Varg sent him for Christmas? I did

[metal_moshpit]

the whole satanism type stuff about black metal is largly rubbish. other than a few (Mayhem, Emperor, few others) black metallers are normal people, as are the musicians

[wackoslashdude]

can i just say, people often say that black metal is one of the most extreme and difficult to listen to type of mucic ever created. But (musically at least) a lot of freeform jazz is a lot more difficult to listen to, totally out of key and with random sax shrieking. Its just as extreme a style as black metal, but the people who play it aren't nearly as insane!

[xX_JIMI_Xx]

Good article. A little short though, as the subject is so interesting (to me, anyway) that you could have made it longer.

milk_it_good, you are the kind of person that thinks everyone who robbs a store or commits any crime listens to metal. You also said the article was condoning what goes on in the black metal world, which it wasn't. It was plainly informing people of some of what has gone on in the Black Metal scene. You need to open your ears, so to speak. Black metal rules, so does Death, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to kill someone in a forest and eat the remains after shagging it. People like you make me sick at first, but then I just laugh at you because you're too up tight to listen to anything other than mainstream.

[DR132]

I'm not for the satanism or anti-religion aspect of some black and death metal bands, I really don't give a shit about that, if I like the music (which I do) that doesn't mean I stand for what the artists do or believe in, or even what the songs are about or what they're preaching, if it sounds good and works then sweet, if not, then like any other genre, it sucks... simple as that...I like lots of black/death metal as well as just about any other type of metal, hard rock, classic rock and even blues...ok I'll shut up now, I could go in circles with this for a while, good article by the way...

[Jello6025]

Oh yeah, great article. You opened up the realm of black metal to a bunch of idiots who have absolutely no appreciation for the genre and will only listen as far as popularity and fashion is concerned. Thanks. And it was very sloppily done by the way. It's obvious you were more interested in making an impression rather than telling facts. And it was waaayyyy to simplified.

[Warlock4Lyfe]

FUCKING METAL \m/

[srimental]

good job

[Tyler the Great]

wackoslashdude:
can i just say, people often say that black metal is one of the most extreme and difficult to listen to type of mucic ever created. But (musically at least) a lot of freeform jazz is a lot more difficult to listen to, totally out of key and with random sax shrieking. Its just as extreme a style as black metal, but the people who play it aren't nearly as insane!

How true, I have a CD of that stuff, and its insanly hard to listen to. I have two extreme metal CDs, and I end up bobbing my head and enjoying. There is something I can't define about metal, and I think extreme is the wrong word, I guess I'd say "hardness", where I imagine an ideal of making the hardest possible music, and that is where metal has been evolving. But, I can't define "hardness", and it certainly isn't extreme or hard to listen to, as modern jazz owns metal in that regard.

[theredskyismine]

Not convinced? Look at all of their morals and ideals; Nazism, Racism, Sexism, Heretism, Satism, Homocide, Suicide, Hate...

Dude, DO NOT think for a second that because we listen to this genre of music, that we live it. Extreme metal is challenging to play, let alone compose. LOL and i think JIMI hit it right on the nose.

[rockinlewis]

Black metal rules,

Don't try and dismiss milk it good's opinion with your own. I personally do not like black metal but it was a good, informative article.

[sicklyfrog]

for any of you out there who think black metal is crap that has no talent just random rantings of pissed off people who hate the world. let me just say this to you espechially you \christians you are who pisses us off you use your religion or government as am excuse to kill people whjo don't belive in your beliefs. for an example lets look at president bush who has people killing in iraq "to make the world safe for democracy" well lets go back a few hundred years and take note of the crusades wich was basically killing poeple to make the world safe ofr christianity aND THATS NOT THE ONLY thing they've done thjey spend all there time alienating and putting down allothers who have different views. Christianity is frankly is just another excuse for humanity to take out it's hatred out on it self just another way to poin t the finger and give blame to some body. It's not gonna be that way for ever I'll make sure of that. I'm comeing to set you free.
- the crimson messiah-

[Zavorash]

Well, thank you all for the nice comments. And yes, I realize that this article is a bit on the short side, and does leave out more specific, sometimes tedious facts- but that's how it's supposed to be. (Enough to give a decent description of the genre, but not enough to lull one to sleep.) Truth be told, I decided to write this after hearing of a girl at my school who was under the firm conviction that Marilyn Manson is "hardcore black metal". So this is more oriented towards the beginner black metal fan. Have I exposed black metal to the mindless mallcore kids? Possibly. But there's always going to be "posers", regardless of genre. I figure that if one is going to dive into a new form of music, one might as well know a little bit about it.

[AllhailMegadeth]

Im all for metal, almost all music that isnt mainstream(but only cause whats "In" right now is rap and winny evolutions of boy bands who now have guitars). The hole region thing is still f*cked up, and quite frankly think that you live, you die, so why not make the most of it. Metal IS hard to play, cause its fast. But WTF, anyone who loses a band member and doesnt really care would have to have hated him anyways. Death/Dark/Doom/ metal, who cares. When it comes down to it, its still metal. this artform is a way to express feelings and share it with others. those are my oppions on some of the things brought already. even though no one cares

[W.D]

milk_it_good, listen to some Demon hunter a good death metal cristian band!

[W.D]

EDIT: christian

[milk_it_good]

Christian? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, you guys really think I'm christian? HAHAHA!!! I'm nowhere near being religious. Isn't it strange that you are telling me not be judgemental, then immediately assuming I'm religious? THAT is hypocracy. And I NEVER said the that the listeners of Black Metal are evil. I think the bands are.

[theredskyismine]

But we already stated that we don't care if the bands are "evil". As well, I believe you stated earlier that black metal was "blasphemous NOISE" and that it lacked " feeling, melody, instruments and decipherable vocals." What a genius you are, because we all know that black metal bands do not use instruments, right? Perhaps you should listen to some good black metal bands, and you would quickly discover that it DOES have melody, and it DOES have feeling...so who is REALLY being hypocritical here?

[theredskyismine]

EDIT: I admit you are right about the vocals, though.(most of the time indecipherable vocals are the norm.) But considering some bands have instrumental songs, that argument for disliking black metal seems somewhat irrelevant.

[Lord Hypnos]

Ok... Not a bad Article, however it should have gone more in depth, because noobs to metal are probably somewhat confused about the genres of metal, sounds etc.

But anyway, First off dont hate black/death metal just cause the bands are ***ed up... I dont care that much for the bands themselves, but i love the music. However i do respect most of the bands because of the music they produce. Black/Death metal is the best music regarding, skill, melody, and emotion (but no its not gay like Emo shit, its more hardcore) Most bands now ***ing suck in terms of skill and melody
*cough* nu-metal *cough* Its all about the old school metal and classic rock, and death/black metal now.
I personaly prefer Melodic Death Metal and Black Metal..

[sensate]

I'm sorry... this completely eludes me.
All these different categories of metal is like categorizing mud. At the end of the day, it's still mud.
These different kinds? Ego blowing so someone can feel special about creating something 'new'.
Zeppelin, Sabbath and sometimes Metallica are about as heavy as you can get before it all turns to crap. Anything beyond is someone who is too boss distortion happy.

[Lord Hypnos]

^^ LOL!... Good one...

[trashmaniac]

great article.thx dude,it's informative

[ScareCrowMan]

ATTN: This should have been mentioned in the Article: NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal (Nazi Black Metal)) bands are the ones who promote racism, and sexism. And there are very few NSBM bands. Claiming all Black Metal bands are Neo-Nazis is like claiming all Germans are Nazis, or all Persians, Arabs, etc. are terrorists. Quite a few "Black Metallers" are racist though, this is because they are idiots, it has pretty much nothing to do with the music.

Also if you think there is no melody or composition in Black Metal you should check out some Arcturus.

[lost_it_again]

to milk_it_good: a more inteligent comment than most black metal haters but still i cannot show how much i disagree

[Gitaris Giler]

You should listen to 'Mortuary Drape' if you think theres no melody in BM music....Not every BM band dont know how to compose the music, there still some really 'nice' songs they have written.....but most bands really know how to 'decompose' the music..

ps: ALL BM BANDS IN MALAYSIA SUCKS!!!.. STOP HUMILIATING YOURSELVES.....

[Metallica420]

Well I'm a christian so it's a given I don't really like Black Metal but it was still a well explained and informative aticle i give it 4 out of 5 stars.

[KENZI]

you sound like you know your stuff well!
good article!

[lets_get_rocked]

amazing article. you actually convinced me to check out some black metal bands

[LeoKhenir]

You seem well informed, but the story of the killing of Euronymous (Oystein Aarseth, as he was named by his parents) isn't complete. I'll fill in a couple of facts:

- Their dispute (Aarseth and Vikernes) wasn't all about this girl (who is she? I've never heard of her) and Aarseth's homosexuality (never heard of that either), but apparently, they were both two charismatic figures who took to much place in the room for them to be in the same band - Vikernes put it like this in a later interview: "It was him or me"

-He wasn't stabbed in the head. Vikernes came home to him, officially to discuss matters of a new record contract. Vikernes apparently feared so much for his own life that he brought a knife in his military boot (it's not that weird, I've a couple of times carried my bayonette down there. It was while I was in the army, not because I'm a knife psycho. Doormen at the Metal concert house around here actually check down there when I go to concerts). When Vikernes came up to Aarseth, they allegedly started to fight, Vikernes drew his knife, and Aarseth tried to flee. Vikernes chased him down the stairs, hacking and slashing at Aarseth all the way. Before Aarseth reached the door, he was dead.

-I mentioned that they were to discuss a new contract - this contract became important piece of evidence, since it had both their signatures and, more importantly, blood stains on it.

-Vikernes wasn't just sent to jail for the murder of Aarseth. He was also convicted for the arsony on Fantoft Church, and a couple of other minor incidents also, if I'm not much mistaking. He's actually getting out this year or next year or something.

Oh yeah, and listen to Darkthrone. That's TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL! (It actually says that on the back of my Darkthrone longsleeve)

[LeoKhenir]

Oh, and Vikernes wasn't named "Varg". His original (I find it hard to type Christian name when it comes to this figure) name is Kristian Vikernes.

[LeoKhenir]

He calls himself Varg though. Damn, it's hard sometimes.

[Sanity Vanity]

What the hell? I'm surprised that you didn't mention Dimmu Borgir, the biggest Black Metal act on the planet to date, even once in this article. It was still good though, four stars.

[LeoKhenir]

Well. Dimmu Borgir, the biggest black metal act? Maybe the most international and well-known for others than those who actually are into this kinda music, but hey, what can you expect?

Personally, I am a bigger fan of Darkthrone (see above postings) and Mayhem and Emperor.

I could write an entire columnn on Norse (I.e. the cold, northern parts of Europe) Extreme Metal, since us Norwegians got the BM, the Swedes go with their Power and other kinds, and the Finns have Death Metal (and some melodic PM aswell).

I just mention the 3 greatest from each country:

Norway: Darkthrone, Emperor and Mayhem.
Sweden: In Flames, Soilwork and Hammerfall
Finland: Children of Bodom, Norther and (No, I'm not gonna mention Nightwish) Kalmah (no, not the ones with that crapsong "toca's miracle", the finnish death metallers)

[pistols]

Faust beat someone to death, he didn't stab them.

[RememberSRV]

hahaha...i always get a kick out of the people that suck so bad they have to do something to catch the publics eye to get popular or seen....way to go...how about you just play good music ONCE...then you wont have to burn down a church just to show that you are satanic or something stupid like that....good call retards!...stay in norway or wherever ur from

[Darkrunner]

I've always marveled at the morons who think that because some of us listen to Black metal, we automatically subscribe to and practice the concepts and topics contained in the lyrics.

Don't be a douche bag. Most of us are rational, free thinking human beings, able to appreciate a songs melody, style and structure without becoming mindless automatons doing whatever the song happens to be about.

If you are one of those mindless turds that think that way, please dive into a giant vat of feces and don't come out until you can think clearly.

[Antidark]

Good article. I personally HATE black metal but it still intrests me, and this article contained everything i wanted to know.

And the mayhem thing.....awsome. sick but awsome.

[pinion18]

this article just proved how ***ing stupid these "people" are>

[sunk_16]

nice article, but wot about cradle of filth?

[prs_guitarist]

it's ironic that the "anti-closeminded" poster uses the word "faggot" (misspelled, no less) as a pejorative. way to further the cause of enlightenment.

anyways, the article and everyone else's comments made this a very interesting and enlightening read. although i disagree with the people who argue that just because they listen to a certain music doesn't mean they agree w/the beliefs of the singers-- you ARE supporting their music and thus are to some extent are supporting their beliefs. that's why i can't find it in me to support the racist, sexist, hateful neo-nazi black metal bands (and yes, i know they're "not all like that"). in the same token, i can't support bands where the lead singer is a rapist. i am giving them my money when i see them live, buy their cd, in effect saying i don't disapprove of their behavior, that somehow their music transcends the boundaries of what constitutes acceptable behavior.

but anyways, i do like some black metal. frankly, it's entertaining, if a bit cheesy.

[pinion18]

Synthesizing thoughts and putting ideas together is the key here. Most black metal is melodic a.k.a. nice to listen to. People don't listen to this form of music to inspire them to worship satan or whatever. This is the same as if you listened to metallica and someone accused you of being an alchoholic, or you listen to alice in chains and people say you have a drug problem. And all this I am above all who bow to blasphemy is pure shit. You remind me of a lady i see in burger king on sundays who has just come from church and acts like she owns the damn place. yells at the cashier. and has a half mop half mullet haircut. If youre not religious then how the *** is something blasphemous to you. You have no god, shitbrick. If you had a point, it broke off in satans ass while you were performing "blasphemous" experiments with your narrow introspective shortly before you posted.>

[darkflame8606]

what about cradle of filth? & satanism isnt "devil worshipping" why dont you look into it http://churchofsatan.com/home.html

[lost_it_again]

pinion18:
Synthesizing thoughts and putting ideas together is the key here. Most black metal is melodic a.k.a. nice to listen to. People don't listen to this form of music to inspire them to worship satan or whatever. This is the same as if you listened to metallica and someone accused you of being an alchoholic, or you listen to alice in chains and people say you have a drug problem. And all this I am above all who bow to blasphemy is pure shit. You remind me of a lady i see in burger king on sundays who has just come from church and acts like she owns the damn place. yells at the cashier. and has a half mop half mullet haircut. If youre not religious then how the *** is something blasphemous to you. You have no god, shitbrick. If you had a point, it broke off in satans ass while you were performing "blasphemous" experiments with your narrow introspective shortly before you posted.>
[POSTED: 12 June 2005 - 00:50]|

hahahahahahahah AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA hahahaha aha hmmm haha....ha
your brilliant, loved the last part

[TheMadTabber]

pinion18:
Synthesizing thoughts and putting ideas together is the key here. Most black metal is melodic a.k.a. nice to listen to. People don't listen to this form of music to inspire them to worship satan or whatever. This is the same as if you listened to metallica and someone accused you of being an alchoholic, or you listen to alice in chains and people say you have a drug problem. And all this I am above all who bow to blasphemy is pure shit. You remind me of a lady i see in burger king on sundays who has just come from church and acts like she owns the damn place. yells at the cashier. and has a half mop half mullet haircut. If youre not religious then how the *** is something blasphemous to you. You have no god, shitbrick. If you had a point, it broke off in satans ass while you were performing "blasphemous" experiments with your narrow introspective shortly before you posted.>

i totally agree this guys a genius

[metallica4evah]

DuDe..i liked it,but what about cradle of filth and children of boddom..!!

[Metal_link111]

Aren't Children of Bodom melodic death metal??
And yeah is Cradle of Filth too mainstream to be considered Black Metal?? I always thought they were.

[Metal_link111]

Oh and i forgot.....awesome article 5 stars

[MorbidAngel333]

Cradle of Filth isn't true black metal, although they are good.

[MorbidAngel333]

good article, good facts.Black metal should be stereotyped the way some shitty fake genre like Nu-Metal is. It is one of the broadest types of music in the world.
not EVERYONE in black metal is a skinhead, or a satanist, or sexists, or suicicidal.
Milkitgood, music is music and i really don't give a *** about your conservative christian attitude.i could tell your holy just by the way you strated your rant by saying: "JESUS CHRIST"
go back to listening to Creed.

[Unhallowed]

Black metal is the greatest, most expresive form of metal known to man, but for those of you who don't agree with or except satanism or the occult go looking for the "oppisite" of black metal, "white metal". white metal was started by christians who disagreed with black metal, so far I have been unable to find any sits that deal with white metal but i do know a band called Cathedral who have plans to release material soon when that happens i will post a link to their soon to be crated site

[TheGuitarWizard]

black metal sounds like a cat being strangled

[elcapitanloco]

I'll admit it: I think that Black metal and the people behind it are interesting. But, I can't stand actually listening to it. Hearing clips of black metal makes me wonder if they are intentionally trying to make bad music; its the noisiest "music" i've ever heard.

can i just say, people often say that black metal is one of the most extreme and difficult to listen to type of mucic ever created. But (musically at least) a lot of freeform jazz is a lot more difficult to listen to, totally out of key and with random sax shrieking. Its just as extreme a style as black metal, but the people who play it aren't nearly as insane!

Well...thats a tough call... jazz (and atonal modern classical music) has dissonant chords, but the instruments that play them are less noisy than distorted guitars. With jazz chords, the dissonance is the clashing of actual notes, while with black metal, the noise is just amplified white noise from an amp.

[MetalheadGuy]

yeah but what does it sound like? is it something like coal chamber?

No, it sounds like black metal

[MetalheadGuy]

I'll admit it: I think that Black metal and the people behind it are interesting. But, I can't stand actually listening to it. Hearing clips of black metal makes me wonder if they are intentionally trying to make bad music; its the noisiest "music" i've ever heard.

Check out some grindcore (early Carcass, Regurgitate, Rotten Sound, etc.)
Or, maybe some noise (Melt Banana)

[kevinm4435]

Melt Banana? How about Merzbow?

[Ankou]

Or Atari Teenage Riot?
The Locust anyone?

[Guitar-God-Elf]

dead commited suicide with a shotgun!

[gnr_fan_17]

Woah. I've never listened to it, but it seems pretty dark and hardcore. The part about Mayhem was just sick. Cool.

[The Crying Orc]

You're an idiot. An article like this should come from a true black metal fan, not some kid who obviously has his head up the new generation's ass.

The rules for this go the same for Speed and Thrash Metal, Punk, And all that other good stuff. IT IS FUCKING DEAD. GET OVER IT. You kids don't understand this movement was about a certain group of people at a certain time, why do you think basically the entire second generation was from Norway? they all knew each other and were friends and formed bands and had similar sound, it wasnt just they jumped up one day and said "Lets be necro!", like all these children do now.

Oh and on the Varg thing, it wasn't the clashing of egos, (according to the articles by Varg himself on www.Burzum.org)It was that people started to like Euronymous less and he somehow blamed Varg basically, and made threats on him and supposedly Euronymous attacked him first....if that's not true then well I just doubt it was over something as silly as being in the same band...considering Varg still had Burzum, and I believe was asked to play for Mayhem BY Euronymous...of course i could be wrong.

[The Crying Orc]

P.S. how the hell can you call Immortal "traditional"? for years and years they tried to reject the term "black metal" but finally after endless hordes of people labeled them it they finally just gave up on it.

[XrejectX]

good article, i knew some things of black metal and jow i am fully informed, not boring to nice and hort... big fan of metal and satanism

[Maggot penis]

well who knew that reading abou black metal was interesting

[pam-pam]

man...
i wuz like trembling when i read the whole article...
i currently and hopefully will always listen to emo but i have listened to some black metal bands and i liked it also.. i once even had a bag with an inverted cross drawn on it... yes it is true that black metal is dark and scary..
nice article.. see yah!!

[rockergurl09]

informative article, even though I'll still be wondering how influenced by Satan one can be. And why they would choose such extreme means to express themselves. According to the scriptures, even satan himself isn't like that. Just a smooth talking outcast who wants to bring people down to his misery. Compare that to a heavy metal fan, lol!

I've always wondered if they're truly human...

[rockergurl09]

TheGuitarWizard
wrote:

black metal sounds like a cat being strangled

lol, had no idea that strangled cats could be that loud.

[rockergurl09]

pinion18 wrote:

Synthesizing thoughts and putting ideas together is the key here. Most black metal is melodic a.k.a. nice to listen to. People don't listen to this form of music to inspire them to worship satan or whatever. This is the same as if you listened to metallica and someone accused you of being an alchoholic, or you listen to alice in chains and people say you have a drug problem. And all this I am above all who bow to blasphemy is pure shit. You remind me of a lady i see in burger king on sundays who has just come from church and acts like she owns the damn place. yells at the cashier. and has a half mop half mullet haircut. If youre not religious then how the *** is something blasphemous to you. You have no god, shitbrick. If you had a point, it broke off in satans ass while you were performing "blasphemous" experiments with your narrow introspective shortly before you posted.>

I hate it when people make stupid associations like that. Just because I'm a rock fan, they call me punk rock, because I love rock I'm supposedly a pothead.(I don't consider that a compliment.)Because one of my photos looks emo, I'm emo. Because I like metal, I'm a metalhead. The list goes on and on...

when will they just conclude that I'm none of those things, and that I just love rock?!?

[Suffocation]

Im really happy you wrote this

[slayne]

Hey, milk it good, clean up in here when you're done. I tripped over your soapbox. Anyway, this article could be better written... good intro though.

[Metal_stuff]

I like it...interesting story about Mayhem

[Nor'Easterbass]

rockergurl09 wrote:

TheGuitarWizard
wrote:

black metal sounds like a cat being strangled


lol, had no idea that strangled cats could be that loud.

lmao... nice article, surprisingly.

[morciu]

MAN!!!!! u guys suck ass!!!! how the **** can u listen to such crap? i'm a punk so i'm not a ranting christian. it's not my business what u wierdos wanna listen to. i don't give a shit. i won't preach like a smart ass. but i'm sick of fat and sweaty neo-nazzis beating up immigrants and homosexuals in the park for fun. that sucks more that ur music. u sound more like people who haven't ended puberty. i'm sick of getting into fights with all you red-necks. ****ing discriminating morons with your ****ed up jesus christ look. and if i meet anyone of u fat ass smelly dorks in my life time i'm gonna drag my pants chain on your teeth just like that, for all the inocent fags and immigrants u ****ed up. those immigrants ran away from home to get away from bastards who think just like you do.as if it isn't enough that they have to start theyr life over, you dorky ****ers have to come in and do something ****ed up just so you feel special. and for all u guys that think i'm just some moron who doesn't understand all your special philosofies on life: try and understand living in a comunist country for half your life where my ****ing leaders dicriminated me, and after comunist ended, they still do but this time the church does too; try steping out on the streets dresed diferent with comusnist police after you to kick your ass so u don't do it again. and for all of you smart asses who think you are ****ing special with all your satanic belifes: your are as bad as the chirstians and muslims and all that; think about it. and for that muslim dude "hekainu": what he sayd is the peak of hypocrisy and stupidity and confusion.
i just had to get that off my chest. by the way u guys make me sick

[usandthem_tool]

i completley agree with morciu

[fender f**kwit]

yeh morciu is exactly right. you guys are beyond comprehension if this is the music you base your life around. it's wrong in every sense, from the neo-nazism to the burning of churches to the brain boiling. this music is simply unlistenable, so the only reason i can imagine you would love this is because it is the "most hardcore" music. that reason alone. you sick bastards

[fender f**kwit]

you read too much ****ing lord of the rings

[Ghorak Bishak]

Black metal = lounge music from hell also i would like to note that i am a Christian but i love metal my band is even black metal.

[Scazzaman3000]

Morciu, what the hell is wrong with you. Dont just assume that every person who likes black metal is some church burning nazi who worships satan and wants to kill people from other cultures cause theyre not. Just because the bands are nuts doesnt mean the fans are scum.

[pagan_bloodlust]

I think everyone has missed the biggest point about the whole satanist thing, as the singer from bathory(i forgot how to spell his assumed name) put it, they dont have to believe in what their singing, its about being angry and releasing it healthily, thats why when the whole black metal second wave hit bathory invented "viking metal" to have a go at religion(christianity mainly) a different and completly original way. and no-ones mentioned slayers lyrics here(i know that there a thrash metal band) which are just as provocative

[pagan_bloodlust]

morciu i love to point this out but punks(the real ones from the 70's not these faggots nowdays) were just as bad as neo-nazis, but they bashed up anyone for fun

[HopePoisoned]

morciu, you're not even talking about music. you think that black metal is just and only racism, hate, discrimination, and noise? why don't you just go pretend like you're a "punk" somewhere else, you ignorant ****. Pagan_bloodlust, the singer/guitarist/song writer of Bathory was Quorthon and "Viking Metal" came about when Quorthon wished to demonstrate his Norweigen background and his interest in Norse Mythology and the ancients, he didn't have a go at religion, he already wrote about Satan and God, know he wrote about history in a much more neutral standpoint rather than the "satan my master" style.

[pagan_bloodlust]

i took that statement about another way to get at god from his mouth he said it himself before he died

[obliteration]

awsome... i learned a lot from this and have listened to some of the bands listed and find them amazing... i already listened to emperor and venom and recommend them to anyone

keep up the good work son

[2Old2Cold]

Hail Black Metal legions of Satan!

If you don't like Black Metal, then it's to the oven with you!!!!!

"Satan, my master! Remember me when armageddon is here!" - Bathory

[Guitar_gOdd]

No-one else seems to have put it, so i will: Celtic Frost and Hellhammer are the same band, they just changed their name from Hellhammer... I think!

[atkm2891]

Deads suicide note:
"Excuse all the blood, Cheers"
That's pretty twisted.
Good Article, by the way

[Trivium_A7X]

nice one, but i recommend dimmu borgir and abigail will