Turn that Devil Worshipping music down!


I want to delve into something completely different right now so-lets talk about Satan!

Well-more specifically black metal.

I had a friend that recently came up to me and said " You do know most metal is about Satanism. Your worshipping the Devil by listening to it". I thought this was a tad unfair to say number one because I don't really believe the devil exist. Two because there are soooo many different types of metal so its unfair to label all of it as devil worshipping. I mean-can you imagine the hair metal bands of the 80's spatting satanic rituals while wearing pink leopard print leotards? I didn't think so.

A lot of these same comments came from black folks and I think I said before that in terms of metal as a whole-many black people feel turned off from it just from the principal that they feel it to be sacrilegious of sorts.

I personally used to be absolutely terrified of metal in general-like I used to be scared to watch Marilyn Manson and NIN music videos on MTV late at night and I thought THAT was metal. It wasn't really up until my Freshman year that I finally formed my own opinion and really delved into different genres of music. Now I'm very comfortable watching music videos for bands like Gorgoroth or Carpathian Forest. Quite honestly-I think its amusing. But I can understand that for most black and white people-it looks and sounds disturbing.

MOST metal isn't even about religion/Satanism. I mean, people have to understand that there are sub genres such as power metal (the most fun kind to me), speed metal, NBSM (<-now that's National Socialist Black Metal which basically is metal that you don't want to listen to if your not racist-bands like Burzum, Infernum, or Graveland-this is only a very small percentage of the black metal community believe it or not), Hair metal, Death, Goth, Thrash, Symphonic, Progressive, Folk (another favorite of mine), Stoner, etc. And the only type that has themes of Satanism IS black metal. Now, I realize this is not everyones thing or type of music/metal they are interested in but I just wanted to get it out there that there are HUGE differences in all of the genres. I take most music with a grain of salt. Obviously, I won't support bands that are racist and crap but I like all kinds of different music and clean, pure, evil black metal is fine with me. I guess it doesn't really bother me or intimidate me.


...Yeah. I have alot of guy friends.

Now, I'm not saying black metal bands or music for that matter is for the faint of heart or the morally inclinded. Hell, some of these bands burned churches (luckily no one was inside I don't believe. Let me do a rain check on that) but I suppose this post was really about metal as a whole.


Anyways, this isn't all I wanted to cover on the subject but I hope that more and more people can explore metal as a whole genre rather than condemn it just as one stereotype. I may have to do another blog on the subject later. I guess the bottom line is you just gotta research and be smart about what your listening to and take it light heartily (clearly not if its NSBM or any other hate bands)-if not you might be missing out on music you'd never expect to fall in love with.

Black Metal sign by: Mefistoteles@deviantart.com

Comments

Dare Devil said…
I’m afraid that you better get used to these prejudices, if you are into Metal. :( Personally, I’m a big Iron Maiden fan for instance and you know what most people who are not into Heavy Metal think of them. The fact that they are ‘just’ story tellers does not count for them and neither does the fact that the drummer is a born again Christian. Even many of there fans are Christians, myself included. Still, there is also a funny side to it. I just have to think of one argument I had with a self proclaimed Satanist(!) who claimed that Iron Maiden is a satanic band and who was pretty much shocked when I told him why I think that he was wrong there! I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed it to freak him out. ;)
RainaHavock said…
"I personally used to be absolutely terrified of metal in general-like I used to be scared to watch Marilyn Manson and NIN music videos on MTV late at night"

Girl me too! Now I'm a big fan of both especially Marilyn Manson! Heck you make want to go blast his CD now. XD I had to explain that to some people too that it's not all devil worshipping music.
Anonymous said…
I always knew that a small portion of it was satanic, but it's funny how if it's pagan, somewhere in your mind you tell yourself, "satan wants me to listen to this, because paganism is a stones throw away from devil worship" I mean, I'm agnostic, so I'm not sure whether there's a god or not, but still it frustrates me how well that dogmatic bullcrap can stick to your mind like fungus, seeing as how I was born catholic.
@Anon-Ha-thats so true. Especially when you go to a Catholic Highschool.
Anonymous said…
Read it :


http://www.anus.com/metal/

http://www.anus.com/metal/about/history/

http://www.anus.com/metal/bathory/
LorMarie said…
I got some of the same flack when I was in HS. Back then, many believed that Ozzy, Judas Priest, etc. kept hidden satanic messages in their music. My father's side of the family contained many ultra-strict pentecostals so you can only imagine their reaction to my fondness for metal. Whatever the case, the whole thing was ridiculous. Music can't make a person do anything, good or bad.
bathory_rocker said…
This is all very true. One thing you overlooked, however, is that more than black metal has satanic themes in it. A few blackened death metal bands, and even some pure death metal bands, have satanism in them. Morbid Angel, for example, produced an album titles "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh", and announced that the F has a significance: F is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Of course, I may be over analyzing.

The naivety of a lot of non-headbangers is a little frustrating. Especially those times when someone tells me I'm going to hell because they see the inverted cross on my Death t-shirt. It becomes very awkward when I tell them that I'm Christian.
The Master said…
Well, Morbid Angel have been releasing their albums on an alphabetical basis since Abominations of Desolation, so given the fairly obvious numerological significance they obviously had some fun with the F's...

The thing with satanic themes in metal is that firstly, in a lot of situations they're not even espousing satanism. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath and Number of the Beast by Maiden are two classics often trotted out by fundies as evidence of metals satanic nature which, in fact, are about the songs narrator filling his pants upon contact with the evil one. 95% of the songs that do revel in satanism do so for purely dramatic effect, and have little to do with wht you might loosely call actual satanism. Even a lot of the anti-christian content in Black Metal, especially after the mid-nineties, comes straight from a perspective of Norse Paganism (equally overblown, ridiculous and thatrical, it might be added, as the Vikings were never really particularly anti-christian. They thought Jesus was a bit of a pansy but the only reason they went round looting churches was because they were generally unfortified and stuffed full of gold and silver.) The few bands that are real pagans (like the excellent Skyclad) tend not to dwell on anti-christian themes much, if at all. When Satanism does appear it's normally all Mallesus Maleficarum stuff (Satanism as concieved by 14th century monks who, it is safe to say, didn't get out much) delivered via a hefty dose of Hammer Horror. I'm racking my brains to think of bands that actually espouse 'real' (as in Levayan or theistic) satanism, and all I can think of off the top of my head are Mercyful Fate/King Diamond (and despite this his lyrics are always pure camp: "I was born in the cemetary, under the sign of the MOOOOOON...raised from my grave...by the dead!") and Dissection, and Jon Nodtveidt was probably, in the balance of things, just completely batshit insane. There's a few other bands who use a lot of satanic seeming imagery but are actually something else out there in the occult fringe. Behemoth (Thelemites) and Therion (Dragon Rouge) spring to mind. I remember reading an interview with Tom Araya, of Slayer, who is actually a devout christian, asking him how, from that perspective he could write a song called "God Hates Us All". His reply was "It's a great title", and that's where it all comes from. Metal thrives on excess and there's nothing more excessive than pure evil.

Well, that comment went on longer than I'd intended. Back to work!
Gal_ape said…
Hi there.
While googling for black metal, I came across your blog.
Thing is that the picture that you have used to illustrate the theme, is made by me (Mefistoteles@deviantart.com)
( http://mefistoteles.deviantart.com/art/Black-Metal-38415578 )
And I would like for you either to give me some credit in this post, or remove the picture!
I'm not trying to be mean or anything, and do understand that you didn't think about what the creator of the picture would have to say about using it.

Cheers
Mefistoteles
@Gale Ape-Sure thing. I just googled black metal and your picture was the most striking to me for the post. I just thought it was a random pic-thanks for telling me though.
Fluffy:) said…
Actually to all of you who think that there are very few band that belief in satanism/antichristians, there are actually alot that genuinely are. For instance, Beherit (occultism/goat satanism), dimmu borgir (antichristian), Astarte (theistic satanism i believe), etc.

And certain death metal bands actually have satanistic themes in them such as deicide and morbid angel.

There is one thing i don't understand, if you are christian, why would you listen to black metal? And what's wrong with "worshipping the devil"?
@Fluffy-I think it's up to the listener if they believe in God and want to listen to Black Metal. I'm a Buddhist and I like to browse the spritual section in Barnes and Noble and read the Necronomicon as well as the Satanic Bible. Just because its plain interesting. 'Why not?'is what I say. I think a strong mind can differ between listening to black metal as a form of worship and listening to it as a form of entertainment. Ya dig?
As for worshipping the devil, who said it was wrong!? Worship away! I went to a Catholic school and was good friends with a self proclaimed Satanist who got married in the Church of Satan with her boyfriend and told me she wanted to have sex on the schools chuch alter. Thats her perrogative. Thats the beauty of free will and opinion.
It's all relative.
Steam of Death said…
Black metal is supposed to piss people off. This kind of music is the ultimate in metal and even some metalheads fear it or just can't deal with its intensity. Others mock it because they think musicians and fans take it too seriously. Black metal is about more than music. It's an entire package of nuclear powered fuel not for the faint of heart. A lot of non-metalheads think all metal is Satanic. Some newbies think that Dimmu Borgir is a serious Satanic band. That's because they haven't heard of the MLO, chaos-gnosticism, Luciferian witchcraft... something that's infiltrated underground black metal and is gaining momentum. If x-tians want something to really wet their pants to.. then BOO.
viagra said…
Like in everything. There are a lot of different types of Metal, and to deny that there is satanic Metal would be to lie, as it is to say that all metal is satanic. As you I had my reservations with Metal and tried to stay away from it, but when i was old enough to understand and appreciate the music understood what it was all about, and it brought me to my true self.
Viagra Online said…
you're totally right, people listen metal and for everybody is the same, wrong, each metal genre is totally different one from each others.
Anonymous said…
Shit, where the f*ck were you about 20 years ago, when I really could have used a friend then?! LOL To say I can relate is an understatement. About 20 years ago, I was the only black goth girl in my whole high school in a small, Southern town where everyone was hell bent on stereotyping their own damned selves! I listened to metal, punk & industrial bands (Ministry is still my fave; got my ass clobbered in a mosh pit at one of their concerts...ahhh, the memories). I wore these long locks and long black dresses, so I had dealth with my share of name-calling, i.e. Black Morticia, black Lydia, et cet.

I had a Metallica album, 'Master of Puppets', and whenever I played the same-titled song, my mom swore it was about Satan worship. I was, like, damn, if you actually LISTENED, it's about cocaine abuse! Let's not EVEN talk about how she reacted to my Ozzy Osbourne 'No Rest For The Wicked' album! *SHEESH* I endured that kind of close-mindedness for the whole of my teen years! To this day, whenever others recall the glory of their teen years, I just cringe whenever I remember mine.

But, it's nice to know there are other black chickas out there like you who are carrying the torch now, who can be themselves without conforming to whatever anyone else's pre-conceived ideas as to how they should be. Life's too f*cking short to be pigeon-holed! Just keep on doing you, and chin the hell up 'cause unfortunately ignorance continues to abound. LOL

Take Care, and ALOHA!
Unknown said…
see you in hell ;D
hahaahahahahahahah

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