This editorial has been stewing in my paunch for several months now. There are a couple of reasons why I've delayed the publication of my little article (aww). For one, I'm broaching a touchy, controversial topic, so it's imperative that I choose my words carefully. Secondly, I was chucked out of commission by a profusion of health problems, and I didn't have a nuanced "thinkpiece" in me. It's very possible that I have no business approaching the proverbial bench as it relates to contentious black metal bands. Wait, strike that. I'm just an asshole on the Internet; I can say anything!
Let's get specific. Obviously, I'm not here to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of traditional black metal staples such as Mayhem or Emperor. They court their own controversy, but roasting churches and committing murder are dowdy, antiquated transgressions. I mean, it's so 1993. I'm covering a deleterious trend that is alive and well in the metal community at press time. You are probably familiar with National Socialist black metal (NSBM is the preferred shorthand). If not, these are easy groups to spot. NSBM is a genus of extreme music that espouses fascism and white supremacy, among other lovely tenets.
99.8% of metalheads are cool motherfuckers. For instance, you won't find many racists at your average metal festival. But of course, there are rapscallions poised to flutter on the fringes of every fandom. A quick tangent, if I may...I've developed a habit of watching "collection update" videos on YouTube. These are folks with monstrous album collections, though I suspect that similar videos exist of nerds (no judgment) with Star Wars collections or whatever the fuck. The appeal is...well, rad records. You also get to know the people themselves.
"Dom," you whisper in your vampish chicken suit. "What does that have to do with NSBM?" I can tell you that I didn't give you the key to my apartment, so I don't know how you are standing in my bedroom. Additionally, I can tell you that these metal scavengers are divided into two camps, those who buy NSBM merch and those who don't. Note that none of them are racists. Some metalheads can look past the troubling lyrics; some can't. Where do I stand on the issue? That was the impetus behind scribbling this essay of sorts.
I look at things on a case-by-case basis. I don't believe in blanket generalizations. Each situation is different, and the two bands I've decided to spotlight couldn't be any more different from each other (both musically and, um, socially). Inquisition! Originally based in Colombia, Inquisition peddles a unique brand of black metal that favors atmosphere over curt, unceremonious aggression. I've been a fan for years. At one point, we learned that Dagon (lead vocalist/songwriter) was found guilty of an unlawful display of sexually explicit material. Basically, he had underage porn on his computer. This information made me take a serious step back and reevaluate my interest in Inquisition.
Since then, I've read into the case and I'm not convinced that the guy is a pedophile. Certainly, you can draw your own conclusions. But the details are not so black-and-white. There were Neo-Nazi allegations thrown at Dagon as well. It seemed to be based on hearsay, but what do I know? Personally, I feel okay listening to Inquisition, especially considering that the lion's share of the lyrics deal with Satan in space. What about Burzum? Here's a clown dick who straight-up admitted to killing someone in "self-defense." Here again, I did the research and I'm not sure that his argument holds any water.
Those are just two examples out of way, way too many. The kicker? I have yet to confront NSBM that I dig on a purely artistic level. You'll read gushing reviews for Arghoslent and Grand Belial's Key, to name but two relevant outfits, but I'm not hearing it. And no, Burzum doesn't do it for me. Am I missing something? Because there is better stuff out there that wasn't composed by human excrement. Hey, listen to what you want. Don't give someone a tablespoon of codswallop for avoiding NSBM on sheer principle alone, though. That would be silly. You don't want to be silly, do you?
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