Matthew Zumwalt sec 13 group 4 final report Philosophy of Black Metal part 2/2

Thematically, black metal touches on a variety of topics.  In its nascent stages, lyrical content primarily reflected the anti-Christian and pro-Scandanavian viewpoints of its performers.  Black metal lyricists often make use of hyperbolic blasphemies against the Christian god.  Some of these are so outlandish as to seem almost comical in light of the grimly serious manner in which they are performed.

At the works of my gods
I glaze my heart to be
The nature of dark
Awake my soul to see
At the works of my gods
I glaze my heart to be
With an evil mind
...flamed my heart will be

(Lyrics from Immortal- Within the Dark Mind)

Unfortunately, many black metal musicians also transferred their nationalism and fascination with ancient Nordic culture into a disdain for other races and a flirtation with national socialism.  Varg Vikernes, the man behind the enormously popular black metal group Burzum has frequently announced his endorsement of Nazism and anti-semitism.  In fact, Vikernes spent much of the 90’s in a Norwegian prison for his murder of Mayhem guitarist Oystein Aarseth aka Euronymous of Mayhem.  It was this murder which brought the black metal scene under scrutiny and revealed that these teens had been responsible for a wave of church burnings throughout the area.  This would suggest that some of the early black metal musicians took their anti-Christian rhetoric quite seriously.  However, the young men and women engaged in these illegal acts were a small percentage of people playing this genre of music.

Other subgenres of black metal appeal to different niches of musical and thematic aspects.  Black metal has often focused on the natural world worshipped by many pagan societies, and this has given birth to a group of musicians creating what has been termed Cascadian Black Metal, a designation suggesting that these groups deal primarily with environmental concerns in their songs.  Groups such as Wolves in the Throne Room, Wold, and Velvet Cacoon encourage discussion of issues impacting the environment and, in some cases, even support eco-terrorism.

In the place of abundant life and constant song
Through pores of trees spoke ancient time
And how we can know this now
These patterns tumble through our minds
Refracting themselves through this warm prism
And are found projected and manifested
In this arching dome
Here, we come to pray
Thus I have heard, here the inner world rings
In memory of what will be
And on this night
The veil is lifted from the face of a bright inner Sun

(Lyrics from Wolves in the Throne Room- Woodland Cathedral)

Other black metal artists focus on more personal issues.  Black metal has always been seen as an outlet of extreme misanthropy and self-loathing.  Some artists deal exclusively with the subjects of suicide, depression, and a hatred for humanity at large.  This subgenre has been termed Depressive Black Metal by its fans.  Artists such as Xasthur, Leviathan, Austere,Coldworld, and Silencer perform in this style with music much more delicate and sparse than the over-the-top attack supplied by the 1^st wave of black metal.  Their music is contemplative and droning instead of harsh and piercing, but it still maintains a clear connection to the original black metal movement and maintains many of the stylistic elements therein.   

These artists also reflect the global dispersion of black metal with artists operating on nearly every country of the world.  Although it is most popular in America and Europe, there are many Spanish speaking black metal bands from South America, and Japan has fostered a strong underground metal scene since the 1980’s.  Japanese black metal is particularly interesting because it often combines elements of Japanese folk music with traditional black metal instrumentation.  

As black metal continues to grow in popularity and scope, it will continue to appeal to new groups of people.  It offers a flexible mold into which can be poured any philosophical concept.  It works well as a means for expressing ideas of sorrow and depression, but many of its negative aspects have a cathartic component in which the musicians are not literally endorsing the acts they describe.  Instead, the music is meant as a harmless escape from the pressures of life.  The genre has maintained a degree of notoriety despite the fact that many black metal enthusiasts engage in no illegal or harmful activities.  Black metal is one of the most vibrant forms of music flourishing in the metal underground, and its artists will continue their outputs for decades to come.