Secular versus Theistic

1. Introduction

For hundreds of years there has been a battle between the secular world and the religious world, it began under Napoléon Bonaparte of France that the term secular was used. It was back then used to describe the government, especially when the government took over land that was owned by the church. These days secular simply describes those who lack religion. When it comes to the topic of metal, it is safe to say that there is a big secular presence in the genre as a whole. Other genres thrive off of a secular view, yet metal is conflicted with many views. It’s because although metal has its fair share of secular musicians, it has a high number in musicians at least claiming some or other religion. Even Satanism is a religion, that defies the basic secular principles but at the the same time a lot of secular people can even be involved in Satanic bands. When it comes to organised religion, the official Satanic church are openly atheistic – however ironic that may be. Although there are various kinds of sects in the Satanic church, some comparable to that of Scientology that are money based faiths and others that are built mainly around the aspect of criticising Christianity. Most however still lay within the realm of an atheistic fundamental premise. Despite this, black metal artists who are Satanic hardly seem to divulge the same information as the Satanic church. So where does secular meet theism in black metal?

 

2. It’s All For Show

Frequently metal fans can be cited saying how musicians do things for show, because how could they really believe in these religious ideals? As well as more extreme views, that the artists are not even representing the views they claim to believe. This is most commonly said about Satanic bands or bands that discuss lyrical topics such as murder. One can easily see a fan refute a claim that bands would actually commit murder. The most common example would be with a death metal band like Deicide, where the frontman gave his word he would kill himself reaching the same age as when Jesus was crucified and that this would somehow make him the exact opposite of Jesus. Needless to say, he did not kill himself and so the discussion is built that really a lot of Satanic artists do it for show. That this is all a part of the image and has no deeper meaning. For some acts this may be true, that to these people it is nothing more than showmanship and they don’t believe in any kind of deity or faith. A lot of these musicians may not even be atheists, some are just people who haven’t really considered what they believe – so their outlook is to not really believe anything without holding to a label. This can still safely be considered as a secular worldview.

 

This leads to a lot of doubt behind the genuine faith that Satanic musicians in the genre really hold in their words. Which as far as some consider to be the rules of conformity for true black metal ideology, should be considered a contradiction. However, as established before in the previous article, there is no black metal ideology – there is only the black metal genre. This just goes further to prove that a lot of the religious acts within black metal become questionable at their authenticity to uphold their faith. This has happened in more than just the Satanic sphere of things, as there have been confirmable bands who have used Christianity for show too. The South Korean black metal act Malakh was one band that openly said words to the effect of that Christianity is used as a part of the image of the band rather than actually believing in Christianity. A lot of secular listeners of black metal with Christian artists are at times convinced that the Christian bands use their religion the same way as some Satanists. Above you would have noticed a listener convinced that Antestor uses the same lyrical content as Satanic bands. It’s not uncommon to find non-Christians listeners convinced that either Christian black metal bands sing about Satan or are not actual Christians, but are simply for show. Whether or not a band is for show and tell though entirely boils down to said band. For any avid listener of Antestor though it is not a general quandary whether or not the band is faking their Christianity. Antestor clearly uses Christian lyrics and not Satanic lyrics, also claim their Christianity outside of the band rather than just in it.

 

3. When It’s Not For Show

What about all the artists who are not faking their beliefs? The artists both Christian and Satanic that mean what they say and do it too? These bands do in fact exist. A large majority of the Christian scene of bands tend to be authentically Christian, although there may be disagreements on what true Christianity is or whether or not a band may have covered all fundamentals. The main point being a large majority of Christian bands in the black metal scene are not showman, they actually are theists. On the specifics of Christianity in black metal, those will be covered in a later article. For now the focus will continue on bands of a genuine faith of some kind. A band that is confirmed as being truly Satanic is harder to come by then one would think. For instance, a lot of Satanic bands have a criterion of unspoken rules they have to reach in the black metal world to please fans. They must have the image down, they must have lyrics about Satan and then they must claim to be Satanists. Yet, none of these unspoken rules honestly govern what a true Satanist is – so let’s put forward the basic fundamental of any religion. In Christianity if you believe Jesus is the only God, you’ve got the basic first part down; in Islam if you believe that Allah is the only God, you’re stepping toward being a genuine Muslim, in Atheism if you believe there are absolutely no gods or God of any kind, you’ve established the main understanding of Atheism.

 

So to be a Satanist, you have to believe in an actual Satan. This is where simply writing Satanic lyrics is not enough, acting like you believe in an actual Satan is too not enough. Just like other religions, it cannot be an act. This is perhaps what Varg Vikerness or Kristian Vikerness discovered when he changed his faith to Odinism. That believing in Satan is also believing in the Bible, Satan does not come from another faith outside of the Judeo-Christian spectrum. Buddhists do not confess a specific being named Satan to exist. So then which Satanic bands can say they believe the Bible, since they believe in the existence of Satan? It’s a paradox that has little representation among black metal bands who are Satanic. However, for Pagan bands it is less doubtful that they can truly uphold their religious beliefs whilst participating in the black metal scene. If a Pagan truly believes in their deity or deities, they’ve reached their first step of faith like other religions. This doesn’t mean it is impossible for a Satanist to actually believe in Satan, it does mean though that they will have to concede that Satan is from the Bible. All the Satanists who want to burn the Bible instead of be well read in Scripture like Satan is shown to be in the Bible, are perhaps less learned on the character of Satan. The authentic Satanist would have to know more than three verses in the Bible by heart.

 

4. The Catholic Influence On Black Metal

Although black metal can not be a religion of its own and has no true ideology, it has attracted many religions and a host of bands have been influenced – some without even knowing. Catholicism has its differences with Christianity, particularly Protestantism. After Martin Luther’s start of the Protestant reformation, not all that is Catholic has since been considered Christian – as there are some stark differences. Yet there are still parts of Catholicism that are Christian enough to convert an Atheist to Protestant Christianity. Modern era Catholicism doesn’t do justice to what it once was, even during the papacy of the reformation. However, there have still been Catholics who draw closer to the old Catechisms of the faith despite who may be pope now. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a devout Catholic, one who even managed to help Clive Staples Lewis convert to Christianity in the Protestant form. John Tolkien would have probably preferred it if Clive Lewis had become a Catholic instead, but he’d probably be more shocked at how many black metal bands he has influenced. It’s almost a guarantee that choosing any name from Tolkien’s Middle Earth fictions and typing them in to look up a band will lead you to a black metal band. Again Tolkien’s influence on black metal is something that has been noted by musicians, even to mention Varg Vikerness twice, Tolkien’s influence is obvious. The current response at least from Vikerness is that although there are elements of Judeo-Christianity in Tolkien’s books, there seem to be elements of Paganism in them too. Either way this is another point of irony for so many bands that take their names and even song inspirations from Tolkien to write “trve Satanic black metal” when Tolkien ultimately does write from the paradigm of a Catholic. What the particulars are of Tolkien’s Catholicism could be up for debate, but there are a collection of open letters between him and an assortment of religious questions asked by the Catholic Church or at least a priest thereof. These questions are all aimed at the Catholic understanding of things, where Tolkien’s intention in answering is to remain within the Catholic side of things than another faith.

 

5. Conclusion

Today there is a wide spectrum of bands in the black metal genre, from all kinds of religious beliefs to various non-religious philosophies. Despite all this, it’s clear that the Satanic stance is as thought out as Venom’s song “Black Metal” which says “Lay down your soul to the gods rock `n’ roll” and not Satan – only to find out Venom says later “rock n roll is dead” in the song “The Death of Rock n Roll.” Perhaps the only Satanists who are serious about their faith are the Satanists that left their belief to become something else, because the motivation of most simply revolves around Christianity.

Black Metal versus Unblack Metal

1. Introduction

Black Metal used to be the stuff of controversy, a musical genre supposed to be anti-humanistic in all its thinking. Started off the backs of bands from the 80s who played thrash and new wave British heavy metal, it began in what is termed “the second wave” in Norway. Second wave black metal technically is the first black metal to have existed with a genuine identity in genre. This all happened in the early 90s. These early bands drew influence from thrash/death metal bands like Brazil’s Sarcofago, not just musically but lyrically. Sarcofago was a band that wanted to have a shock factor, choosing Satanic themes in their lyrics. This has lead to a flimsy identity in philosophy for second wave black metal to be evil and Satanic. Why flimsy? A lot of those early black metal musicians seem to be incredibly strict about this identity, so how could it be anything other than religious? In short, black metal is not a religion, it lacks all basis of religion. Religion is a practice of set principals and beliefs, black metal has not literature, doctrine, set principals, precepts, statutes, laws and so forth. However, religion is deeply involved in black metal, so what is that religion?

 

2. Religion in Black Metal

Religion has always been a part of black metal, since its inception in the 90s. Whether religiously Satanic or other, religion has been present. Satanism is often described as the main religion of black metal, members of the scene have often described genuine black metal as exclusively Satanic. When secular artists joined the scene to play black metal with a socialist or nationalist philosophy, they have been shunned to a degree. This has been to a much lesser degree though than to Christianity in black metal. In 1994 American record label Nuclear Blast signed a Christian black metal band which gained more hatred within than the black metal scene than any other. The band was Horde from Australia, Horde developed the terminology of “unblack metal” with their debut album. The intention behind the term unblack metal is to create a divide from regular black metal. A number of Christian black metal musicians have adopted the term, but at the same time a good amount of the unblack metal bands prefer simply being catagorised as black metal.

 

This is where the debate begins for most non-Christian black metal enthusiasts. Black metal is described as having its own rules and regulations, things that Christians simply could not pass to be qualified. Ironically, these strict rules are not written but unspoken – meant to be understood without further dictation. These rules are that black metal needs to be anti-rules, anti-morals, anti-hospitality to humanity. The strict adherence of these rules generally falls on Christianity more than other religions that participate in black metal. As well as religions that openly break these rules. Pagan involvement in the genre has been done so openly for decades, pagan religions such as Wicca and others that hold the understanding in themselves that being pro-humanistic is best. A pro-humanistic view according to some of black metal’s earliest musicians would be the exact opposite of what black metal is about. Even then, modern day secularised Satanism in its prevalent form of organised religion claims to be pro-humanistic. In the 21st century, a religion adopting the view of pro-humanism is incredibly common. It has been pushed on by the modern day desire to attain social justice. So what happened to the fervent advocates of genuine black metal over these contradictions?

 

These days it is not entirely uncommon to find out that early black metal musicians have walked out on the Satanic faith, in favour of other religions. Odinism is a pagan religion that has seen a revival from early black metal musicians who have abandoned Satanism. Satanism has undergone a re-evaluation by some of the most prominent musicians of the scene, Satanism has even been described as too Christian – being linked to closely with Christian Scripture. For the simple deduction that all of these musicians have borrowed from the Bible, since Satan is not an active entity in non-Christian religion. Despite this dramatic change in belief systems, Christianity still faces much debate playing a musical genre. It is commonly held that black metal should still be Satanic, despite prominent members of the genre leaving the faith, despite pro-humanistic non-Christian bands dominating audiences. A black metal musicians faith can even remain secret to audiences, even if they were secretly Christian and it could be acceptable. So does black metal really have a strict law? The only law it seems to have is against Christian involvement. However, lacking any written out citation, it is hard to determine exactly how Christian involvement is objectively bad from an assumed genuine black metal view.

 

3. Christianity in Black Metal and Why it’s Bad

Christianity has been involved in black metal since the early 90s, it came about with bands like Vomoth, Antestor, Horde and Admonish. Ever since these bands started, they have remained underground cult classics gathering a much smaller following than non-Christian counterparts. Even at the height of success, Antestor being signed to the same label as Dimmu Borgir and selling over ten thousand copies of their 1998 release has maintained a safe distance from the commercial boom of Dimmu Borgir. Another unspoken tenant of the black metal creed is to be unsuccessful, to stay unknown in the larger scheme of things. The biggest bands in the scene were generally all once believers of this tenant, until they reached a significant audience. However, commercial success would only be unwelcome to a Christian band if it meant compromise of their faith or even keeping it secret. Otherwise, a band like Antestor would be all for reaching the masses at least in the same number as Dimmu Borgir. If there were ever a true follower of what might be called the “cvlt tenant” the rule of remaining unknown, you probably wouldn’t know about them. Which comes to why Christianity could possibly be bad in black metal. All the major Christian black metal bands have avoided being major black metal bands, they’ve not made their music any easier to listen to for a commercial audience. If anything, they have stuck to an extreme form of the genre, not compromising on a faith that has cost them acceptance – Christian black metal has effectively kept itself underground and controversial. Where Satanic black metal used to stand, being the upset of people aware of its existence now Christian black metal stands. Christian black metal has almost a universal hatred for it, almost how black metal was intentionally desired to be hated – in spite of what people say it should be, instead it exists how it wants to be. This again proves a strict adherence to a black metal ideology is not truly observed by anyone. This all has been leading to a conclusion most refuse to acknowledge, there is no black metal ideology to begin with – since an ideology is a systematic view of something.

 

4. A Biblical Context of Black Metal

Christianity has frequently had its own internal debates, one such debate also exists around black metal and whether or not Christians can use the genre. For the same reasons some avid black metal listeners oppose unblack metal, so to do Christians. As well as debated from the same view as the non-Christian black metal audience, that black metal has had Satanic involvement and therefore Christians should avoid it. Since the common view has already been discussed, the next view needs to strictly be Christian. Christianity has 2000 years of practice behind it, even then it goes further being built on Judaism of the Old Testament. Christianity used to be seen as a sect of Judaism, with all the first Christians being Jews who desired to follow Jesus Christ. It moved into the Gentile world with the efforts of Paul the apostle. So the real question is, what is the Christian question for black metal that is absent of non-Christian influence? That question is: is music inherently evil? The Bible has over 900 verses that talk about music, that is approximately 300 more verses than those that deal with salvation. Needless to say, music is significant in Christianity. The Bible also can display up to 613 rules and regulations in a book like Leviticus alone. A purely Christian view also holds faith that the God who wrote the Bible, is in fact the true and living God incapable of error. So out of a concise and even thorough Bible, what condemns music? There are verses like “Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps” (Amos 5:23 NIV). Is this verse prophetic of black metal or some specific genre inherently evil? No, the context was condemning a sinful people, who most likely used the same genre their forefathers did to sing to God. It is hard to even provide a proof-text in the Bible to show a genre of music as inherently evil. What about the verse “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17 NIV). So what is the context? There is no need for any kind of elaborate reasoning at 2 Corinthians 6 is a warning against idolatry, that to follow the God of the Bible you can really follow no one else simultaneously. Since music in the Christian view is not inherently evil, how do Christians make black metal then in respect to their faith? A Christian would need to do what a Christians need to do anyway to be a Christian – follow the God of the Bible. The same rules apply to any genre a Christian musician will make, in order for it not to contradict Christianity.

 

5. Conclusion

Christianity is a rich ideology, with thousands of years of systematic and concise reasoning behind its many facets. Christianity is the in depth philosophy that a genre like that of black metal has been posing to have the same level of in its roots. Therefore the combination of the two only make sense to the Christian black metal bands out there. A genre that has been craving a deeply religious experience, that has only had superficial meanderings and a religion thoroughly structured with a lengthy history. The only debate left comes down to subjectivity. What ecclesiastical expression of sorrow can be evoked in an emotive sounding genre, all that is left is for the listener to openly hear what is already there.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton