Voice of our blood

National Socialist discourses in black metal

Authors

  • Benjamin Hedge Olson University of Hawai'i, Manoa Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i1/2.135

Keywords:

black metal, moral panic, nationalism, neo-Nazism, Satanism

Abstract

Black metal defines itself to a large degree through transgression, alienation and provocation, and in western culture, few things are more transgressive, alienating and provocative than neo-Nazism. In this article on National Socialist black metal (NSBM), the author demonstrates how certain forms of metal can be controversial and counter-cultural within the wider metal scene itself. In discursive terms, NSBM may fit in well with the pagan, Satanic and nationalist concerns of black metal, but as the author argues, “the majority of black metalers are unwilling to cross the threshold of the radical-right.” This is not necessarily because of any principled objection to racism, more because of a discomfort with the literalism and narrowness that would focus black metal’s misanthropy onto any one sub-set of humanity. NSBM’s political connotations also threaten black metal’s cherished sense of independence and individualism. The author concludes that, even if black metal’s symbolism will continue to be appropriated by the extreme right, NSBM is likely to remain a marginal phenomenon.

Author Biography

  • Benjamin Hedge Olson, University of Hawai'i, Manoa

    Benjamin Hedge Olson is a fourth year doctoral student in the department of American Studies at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. He is currently finishing his dissertation on the heavy metal scene on Oahu, in which he conducted nearly three years of ethnographic research. His research interests include new religions, occultism, ritual studies, masculinity, and metal culture.

References

Interviews

Gliebe, Erich. 8 February 2008.

Books

Baddeley, Gavin. 1999. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock’n’Roll. London: Plexis.

DeLillo, Don. 1985. White Noise. New York: Viking Penguin.

Durham, Martin. 2007. White Rage. New York: Routledge.

Ellis, Bill. 2000. Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions and the Media. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Fine, Gary Allen, and Patricia A. Turner. 2001. Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America. London: University of California Press.

Gardell, Mattias. 2003. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press.

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 2003. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York and London: New York University Press.

Hockenos, Paul. 1996. Free to Hate: The Rise of the Right in Post Communist Eastern Europe. New York: Routledge.

Kahn-Harris, Keith. 2007. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford and New York: Berg.

Lee, Martin A. 2000. The Beast Reawakens. New York: Routledge.

Moynihan, Michael, and Didrik Söderlind. 2003. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. Los Angeles: Feral House.

Raschke, Carl A. 1990. Painted Black: From Drug Killings to Heavy Metal—the Alarming Story of How Satanism is Terrorizing Our Communities. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Shenfield, Stephen. D. 2001. Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, Movements. London: M. E. Sharp Inc.

Victor, Jeffrey S. 1993. Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend. Chicago: Open Court.

Magazines, fanzines, websites and documentaries

Bennett, J. 2006. ‘And Out Come the Wolves’. Decibel (May).

—2010. ‘The Wolf is Loose’. Decibel (May).

Burzum.org. 2010. The Burzum Story. http://www.burzum.org/eng/biography.shtml.

Close Up. 1992. http://true.mayhem.free.fr/interviews/interview6.htm.

Hate Forest. www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/hate_forest.htm (accessed March 2008, no longer available).

Maelstrom. Issue 11. http://www.maelstrom.nu/ezine/interview_iss11_130.php.

Minton, James. 2010. ‘The Man Behind the Myth’. Terrorizer (May).

Myspace.com. 2008. Wolves in the Throne Room. http://www.myspace.com/wolvesinthethroneroom (accessed March 2008, no longer available).

National Socialist Black Metal. www.nsbm.org/media/splc_report.html (accessed 12 December 2010, no longer available).

Nihilistic. 2005. http://nihilistic.darkbb.com/skull-fucking-metal-worship-satan-f8/interview-with-gbk-hordes-final-one-before-suicide-for-wsz-t636.htm.

Pit. Issue 15. http://www.angelfire.com/nh/carpathianwolves/graveland2.html.

Potok, Mark. 2000. Darker Than Black. SPLC Intelligence Report, Fall 2000, Issue 100. http:// www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2000/fall/ darker-than-black.

Ward, Eric K., John Lunsford and Justin Massa. 1999. Sounds of Violence. SPLC Intelligence Report, Fall 1999, Issue 96. www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/ browse-all-issues/1999/fall/sounds-of-violence.

Whalen, Gregory. 1997. ‘Emperor: Their Satanic Majesties Request…’ Terrorizer (May).

Zebub, Bill, director. 2006. Black Metal: A Documentary.

Published

2012-05-14

Issue

Section

Countercultures

How to Cite

Olson, B. (2012). Voice of our blood: National Socialist discourses in black metal. Popular Music History, 6(1-2), 135-149. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i1/2.135