Black metal

[[File:Gorgoroth by Christian Misje.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Video shoot for "Carving a Giant" by Gorgoroth, which features mock crucifixions]]

[[File:Gorgoroth by Christian Misje.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Video shoot for "Carving a Giant" by Gorgoroth, which features mock crucifixions]]

In the early 1990s, many Norwegian black-metallers presented themselves as genuine Devil worshippers.{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=7f}} [[Mayhem (band)|Mayhem's]] [[Euronymous]] was the key figure behind this.{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=27f}} They attacked the Church of Satan for its "freedom and life-loving" views;<ref name=killyourself2>Esa Lahdenpera: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120207234358/http://www.fmp666.com/moonlight/mayhem.html ''Northern Black Metal Legends'']}}. In: ''Kill Yourself'', no. 2, August 1993. Retrieved 30 January 2013.</ref> the [[theistic Satanism]] they espoused was an inversion of Christianity. Benjamin Hedge Olson wrote that they transformed "Venom's quasi-Satanic stage theatrics into a form of cultural expression unique from other forms of metal or Satanism" and "abandoned the mundane identities and ambitions of other forms of metal in favor of religious and ideological fanaticism".{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=27f}} Some prominent scene members—such as Euronymous and Faust<ref name=emperor10/><ref name=killyourself/>—said that only bands who are Satanists can be called 'black metal'. Bands with a Norwegian style, but without Satanic lyrics, tended to use other names for their music.<ref name=halupczok>{{cite journal |last=Halupczok |first=Marc |title=Waldschrate & Met-Trinker |journal=[[Metal Hammer]] |date=March 2010 |page=30}}</ref><ref name=enslavedfrost>{{cite book |title=[[Frost (album)|Frost]] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Osmose Productions]] |year=1994}}</ref><ref name=nordicmetal>{{cite book |title=Nordic Metal – A Tribute to Euronymous |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Necropolis Records]] |year=1995}}</ref> Some prominent artists still hold the view that black metal should be Satanic,<!--no need to name every single musician here--><ref name=infernus>{{cite web |url=http://www.live-metal.net/features_interviews_infernus_gorgoroth.html |title=live-metal.net – Interviews: Gorgoroth – Infernus |last=Maki |first=Jeff |date=18 July 2006 |work=live-metal.net |access-date=4 September 2012 |archive-date=12 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212223347/http://www.live-metal.net/features_interviews_infernus_gorgoroth.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>Dr. Rape: ''Funeral Mist''. In: Jon Kristiansen: ''Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries''. [[Brooklyn]], New York: Bazillion Points Books 2011. pp. 420f.</ref><ref name=watain>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/flesh_ro/watain.htm |title=Interview with Watain |author=Arthur |work=geocities.com/flesh_ro |access-date=4 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019170513/http://geocities.com/flesh_ro/watain.htm |archive-date=19 October 2009 }}</ref><ref name=faustleaves/><ref name=dissectioninterview2/><ref>terrybezer: [http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/unpublished-watain-interview-extras/ ''Unpublished Watain Interview Extras!''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817065649/http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/unpublished-watain-interview-extras/ |date=17 August 2012 }}, 27 March 2009, accessed on 21 November 2012.</ref><ref name="paganbelial.awardspace.com"/><ref>Ophth: {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130213163640/http://membres.multimania.fr/chaotik/7/antaeus.html ''AntaeuS'']}}, accessed on 21 November 2012.</ref> while others believe that black metal does not need to be Satanic.<!--no need to name every single musician here--><ref name=hellhammerinterview>{{cite web |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metallibrary.ru%2Farticles%2Finterviews%2F96.html |title=Article: Interview |date=7 January 2007 |work=metallibrary.ru |publisher=Open Publishing |language=ru |access-date=4 September 2012}}</ref><ref name=murdermusic/><ref name="throneofmalediction">{{cite web |url=http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=64209 |title=Throne of Malediction Talks the Art of Black Metal |date=17 January 2011 |work=metalunderground.com |access-date=4 September 2012}}</ref> An article in Metalion's ''Slayer'' fanzine attacked musicians that "care more about their guitars than the actual essence onto which the whole concept was and is based upon".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kristiansen |first=Jon |year=2011 |title=Worship Him! |journal=Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries |location=[[Brooklyn]], New York |publisher=Bazillion Points Books |page=467}}</ref> Bands with a similar style but with Pagan lyrics tend to be referred to as 'Pagan Metal' by many 'purist' black-metallers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mulvany |first=Aaron Patrick |date=May 2000 |title='Re-Awakening Pride Once Lost': Indigeneity and European Folk Metal |publisher=Wesleyan University |location=Middletown, Connecticut |page=IV}}</ref>

In the early 1990s, many Norwegian black-metallers presented themselves as genuine Devil worshippers.{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=7f}} [[Mayhem (band)|Mayhem's]] [[Euronymous]] was the key figure behind this.{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=27f}} They attacked the Church of Satan for its "freedom and life-loving" views;<ref name="killyourself2">Esa Lahdenpera: [https://www.fmp666.com/moonlight/mayhem.html <nowiki>''Northern Black Metal Legends''</nowiki>]. In: ''Kill Yourself'', no. 2, August 1993. Retrieved 30 January 2013.</ref> the [[theistic Satanism]] they espoused was an inversion of Christianity. Benjamin Hedge Olson wrote that they transformed "Venom's quasi-Satanic stage theatrics into a form of cultural expression unique from other forms of metal or Satanism" and "abandoned the mundane identities and ambitions of other forms of metal in favor of religious and ideological fanaticism".{{sfn|Olson|2008|p=27f}} Some prominent scene members—such as Euronymous and Faust<ref name=emperor10/><ref name=killyourself/>—said that only bands who are Satanists can be called 'black metal'. Bands with a Norwegian style, but without Satanic lyrics, tended to use other names for their music.<ref name=halupczok>{{cite journal |last=Halupczok |first=Marc |title=Waldschrate & Met-Trinker |journal=[[Metal Hammer]] |date=March 2010 |page=30}}</ref><ref name=enslavedfrost>{{cite book |title=[[Frost (album)|Frost]] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Osmose Productions]] |year=1994}}</ref><ref name=nordicmetal>{{cite book |title=Nordic Metal – A Tribute to Euronymous |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Necropolis Records]] |year=1995}}</ref> Some prominent artists still hold the view that black metal should be Satanic,<!--no need to name every single musician here--><ref name=infernus>{{cite web |url=http://www.live-metal.net/features_interviews_infernus_gorgoroth.html |title=live-metal.net – Interviews: Gorgoroth – Infernus |last=Maki |first=Jeff |date=18 July 2006 |work=live-metal.net |access-date=4 September 2012 |archive-date=12 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212223347/http://www.live-metal.net/features_interviews_infernus_gorgoroth.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>Dr. Rape: ''Funeral Mist''. In: Jon Kristiansen: ''Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries''. [[Brooklyn]], New York: Bazillion Points Books 2011. pp. 420f.</ref><ref name=watain>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/flesh_ro/watain.htm |title=Interview with Watain |author=Arthur |work=geocities.com/flesh_ro |access-date=4 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019170513/http://geocities.com/flesh_ro/watain.htm |archive-date=19 October 2009 }}</ref><ref name=faustleaves/><ref name=dissectioninterview2/><ref>terrybezer: [http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/unpublished-watain-interview-extras/ ''Unpublished Watain Interview Extras!''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817065649/http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/unpublished-watain-interview-extras/ |date=17 August 2012 }}, 27 March 2009, accessed on 21 November 2012.</ref><ref name="paganbelial.awardspace.com"/><ref>Ophth: {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130213163640/http://membres.multimania.fr/chaotik/7/antaeus.html ''AntaeuS'']}}, accessed on 21 November 2012.</ref> while others believe that black metal does not need to be Satanic.<!--no need to name every single musician here--><ref name=hellhammerinterview>{{cite web |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metallibrary.ru%2Farticles%2Finterviews%2F96.html |title=Article: Interview |date=7 January 2007 |work=metallibrary.ru |publisher=Open Publishing |language=ru |access-date=4 September 2012}}</ref><ref name=murdermusic/><ref name="throneofmalediction">{{cite web |url=http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=64209 |title=Throne of Malediction Talks the Art of Black Metal |date=17 January 2011 |work=metalunderground.com |access-date=4 September 2012}}</ref> An article in Metalion's ''Slayer'' fanzine attacked musicians that "care more about their guitars than the actual essence onto which the whole concept was and is based upon".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kristiansen |first=Jon |year=2011 |title=Worship Him! |journal=Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries |location=[[Brooklyn]], New York |publisher=Bazillion Points Books |page=467}}</ref> Bands with a similar style but with Pagan lyrics tend to be referred to as 'Pagan Metal' by many 'purist' black-metallers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mulvany |first=Aaron Patrick |date=May 2000 |title='Re-Awakening Pride Once Lost': Indigeneity and European Folk Metal |publisher=Wesleyan University |location=Middletown, Connecticut |page=IV}}</ref>

Others shun Satanism, seeing it as Christian or "Judeo-Christian" in origin,<ref>Varg Vikernes: [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story03.shtml "A Burzum Story: Part III – The Lie-Propaganda"]. Burzum.org.</ref><ref name=bathory-lyrics>[http://bathory.nu/08/08_writing_the_deeds_of_darkness_and_evil.htm "Writing the deeds of Darkness and Evil"]. Official [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]] website. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref> and regard Satanists as perpetuating the "Judeo-Christian" worldview.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Cosmo |date=21 September 2011 |title=Mayhem vs. Burzum: Opposing views of black metal |url=https://www.invisibleoranges.com/mayhem-vs-burzum-opposing-views-of-black-metal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925024020/http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/09/mayhem-vs-burzum-opposing-views-of-black-metal/ |archive-date=25 September 2011 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=[[Invisible Oranges]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Quorthon]] of Bathory said he used 'Satan' to provoke and attack Christianity. However, with his third and fourth albums, ''[[Under the Sign of the Black Mark]]'' and ''[[Blood Fire Death]]'', he began "attacking Christianity from a different angle", realizing that Satanism is a "Christian product".<ref name=bathory-lyrics/> Nevertheless, some artists use Satan as a symbol or metaphor for their beliefs, such as [[LaVeyan Satanism|LaVeyan Satanists]] (who are atheist). Vocalist [[Gaahl]], who follows [[Norse paganism]],<ref>Tatiana Godarska: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514024208/http://www.imhotep.fi/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2151&Itemid=135&lang=en ''GORGOROTH'S GAAHL – INFINITE DIMENSIONS'']}}, 19 June 2006, accessed on 28 October 2012.</ref> said: "We use the word 'Satanist' because it is Christian world and we have to speak their language ... When I use the word 'Satan', it means the natural order, the will of a man, the will to grow, the will to become the superman".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214650/http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/gorgoroth.html Interview with Gaahl of Gorgoroth, 7 October 2004]}}. Tartarean Desire Webzine.</ref> Varg Vikernes called himself a Satanist in early interviews but "now downplays his former interest in Satanism", saying he was using Satan as a symbol for [[Odin]] as the 'adversary' of the [[God in Christianity|Christian God]].<ref name=detsomengangvarg>''{{'}}Det Som Engang Varg{{'}}<!-- This is no spelling error. -->''. In: Jon Kristiansen: ''Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries'', p. 292.</ref> He saw Satanism as "an introduction to more indigenous heathen beliefs".{{sfn|Moynihan|Søderlind|2003|p=191}} Some bands such as [[Carach Angren]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/2012/06/interview-with-carach-angren/|title=heavymetaltribune.com|website=www.heavymetaltribune.com|access-date=25 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129041923/http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/2012/06/interview-with-carach-angren/|archive-date=29 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Enslaved (band)|Enslaved]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/arts/music/08ensl.html?_r=0|title=Enslaved – Music|first=Kelefa|last=Sanneh|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/director-sam-dunn-picks-the-five-most-important-extreme-metal-bands.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927194349/http://www.revolvermag.com/news/director-sam-dunn-picks-the-five-most-important-extreme-metal-bands.html|url-status=dead|title=Director Sam Dunn Picks the Five Most Important Extreme-Metal Bands – Revolver Magazine (13 August 2013)|archivedate=27 September 2014}}</ref> do not have Satanic lyrics.<!-- These should not be lumped together. Pagan metal like Enslaved and In the Woods... on the one hand and Immortal singing about Blashyrkh on the other, none of whom use the black metal term for their music, are two completely different things.-->

Others shun Satanism, seeing it as Christian or "Judeo-Christian" in origin,<ref>Varg Vikernes: [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story03.shtml "A Burzum Story: Part III – The Lie-Propaganda"]. Burzum.org.</ref><ref name=bathory-lyrics>[http://bathory.nu/08/08_writing_the_deeds_of_darkness_and_evil.htm "Writing the deeds of Darkness and Evil"]. Official [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]] website. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref> and regard Satanists as perpetuating the "Judeo-Christian" worldview.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Cosmo |date=21 September 2011 |title=Mayhem vs. Burzum: Opposing views of black metal |url=https://www.invisibleoranges.com/mayhem-vs-burzum-opposing-views-of-black-metal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925024020/http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/09/mayhem-vs-burzum-opposing-views-of-black-metal/ |archive-date=25 September 2011 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=[[Invisible Oranges]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Quorthon]] of Bathory said he used 'Satan' to provoke and attack Christianity. However, with his third and fourth albums, ''[[Under the Sign of the Black Mark]]'' and ''[[Blood Fire Death]]'', he began "attacking Christianity from a different angle", realizing that Satanism is a "Christian product".<ref name=bathory-lyrics/> Nevertheless, some artists use Satan as a symbol or metaphor for their beliefs, such as [[LaVeyan Satanism|LaVeyan Satanists]] (who are atheist). Vocalist [[Gaahl]], who follows [[Norse paganism]],<ref>Tatiana Godarska: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514024208/http://www.imhotep.fi/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2151&Itemid=135&lang=en ''GORGOROTH'S GAAHL – INFINITE DIMENSIONS'']}}, 19 June 2006, accessed on 28 October 2012.</ref> said: "We use the word 'Satanist' because it is Christian world and we have to speak their language ... When I use the word 'Satan', it means the natural order, the will of a man, the will to grow, the will to become the superman".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214650/http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/gorgoroth.html Interview with Gaahl of Gorgoroth, 7 October 2004]}}. Tartarean Desire Webzine.</ref> Varg Vikernes called himself a Satanist in early interviews but "now downplays his former interest in Satanism", saying he was using Satan as a symbol for [[Odin]] as the 'adversary' of the [[God in Christianity|Christian God]].<ref name=detsomengangvarg>''{{'}}Det Som Engang Varg{{'}}<!-- This is no spelling error. -->''. In: Jon Kristiansen: ''Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries'', p. 292.</ref> He saw Satanism as "an introduction to more indigenous heathen beliefs".{{sfn|Moynihan|Søderlind|2003|p=191}} Some bands such as [[Carach Angren]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/2012/06/interview-with-carach-angren/|title=heavymetaltribune.com|website=www.heavymetaltribune.com|access-date=25 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129041923/http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/2012/06/interview-with-carach-angren/|archive-date=29 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Enslaved (band)|Enslaved]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/arts/music/08ensl.html?_r=0|title=Enslaved – Music|first=Kelefa|last=Sanneh|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/director-sam-dunn-picks-the-five-most-important-extreme-metal-bands.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927194349/http://www.revolvermag.com/news/director-sam-dunn-picks-the-five-most-important-extreme-metal-bands.html|url-status=dead|title=Director Sam Dunn Picks the Five Most Important Extreme-Metal Bands – Revolver Magazine (13 August 2013)|archivedate=27 September 2014}}</ref> do not have Satanic lyrics.<!-- These should not be lumped together. Pagan metal like Enslaved and In the Woods... on the one hand and Immortal singing about Blashyrkh on the other, none of whom use the black metal term for their music, are two completely different things.-->