THE BRITISH MEDIA REACTS
Cradle of Filth began to make some waves in the Black Metal scene after the release of their first album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. It was at this time that Paul Timms was allegedly in “awe” of them. The band began fairly quickly to distance themselves from their musical peers in Scandinavia by employing evocative aesthetics in the album artwork, and covering more romanticized themes drawn from nineteenth century literature and poetry. They wore the requisite Black Metal corpsepaint, but began to cultivate an atmosphere befitting of Hammer horror films rather than the one-dimensional “evilness” projected by other groups. Later releases Vempire and Dusk and Her Embrace brought the group to a exponentially increasing audience.
Cradle of Filth has many critics in the Black Metal scene who consider them “fakes” or “sell-outs,” and it is true some of their publicity efforts have made them look silly. The band is not a necessarily a harmless theater troupe, however, and comments made by Dani and his bandmates in glossy U.K. Rock mags put things in a different light. “Think of all the people like Countess Bathory and [mass child murderer Gilles] de Rais and the Marquis de Sade. All these people had money, and that’s what allowed them to do what they did. Don’t think for one minute, if we had access to those opportunities, we’d all do whatever occurred to us. We’d do worse.”25 A few paragraphs later he elaborates on such urges, “Put it this way, if I was in control of the world, I would wipe out half of it instantly and indiscriminately without any remorse ... I’d nerve-gas half the world.”26 Combining such misanthropic visions with alluring graphics and sensual music, Cradle of Filth is reaching many more listeners beyond the typical Black Metal audience with its message. They wield considerable influence over the next generation of young musicians, writers, and artists. Guardians of morality are upset by the sounds and statements of groups like Cradle of Filth, but there is no end in sight. The future is destined to bear even more ominous fruit.
EASTERN EUROPE—RUSSIA & POLAND
Along with every other Western pop culture phenomenon, Heavy Metal made its way east, achieving added impetus from its forbidden allure in a totalitarian state. The belief in extreme music as “anti-system” has already been attested to by the members of Black Metal band Absurd, who reside in the territory that was once East Germany. Similar feelings must be commonplace in Poland, Russia, and other areas formerly under the communist yoke. Contemporaneous with its development in Europe and America, Death Metal rose to prominence amongst Russian youth by the the first half of this decade. Not as musically extreme as its Western counterpart, it more than compensated by courting the forbidden in other respects. News of the new wave of Russian Metal first reached Western readers in a Wall Street Journal article on February 18, 1993. Titled “Mayor of Moscow: Spider the Metalhead is Ready to Serve,” the piece revealed the strange, newfound allegiance between violent metalheads and the radical political parties of the right wing, or as the article describes, “nationalistic former Soviet Communists, in their cheap polyester suits, and Russia’s trash rockers, in black leather and chains.”27
KORROZIA METALLA
In a strange political twist, an extremist racial group, the National Radical Party, nominated the singer of Metal band Korrozia Metalla as a mayoral candidate in Moscow. His name is Sergei Troitsky, AKA “Spider,” and he normally dresses in black T-shirts, jeans, and jackboots. Korrozia Metalla’s most popular song among fans is called “Kill the Sunarefa,” a slang term for darkly hued minorities from the south. Fans call out for the song at concerts, which are frenzied spectacles of more than just amplified cacophony from the bands. Additional titillation regularly comes from naked females dancers who prance and masturbate on stage beside the musicians. After one such show, kids in attendance swarmed outside, set fire to kiosks operated by minorities, and turned over parked cars.
KORROZIA IN CONCERT [NOTE EFFIGIES ON SIDES OF STAGE]
A September, ’93, feature in Penthouse magazine included not only photos of sleazy live Metal shows (memorably exemplified by a shot of the dwarf singer of one band, onstage in his underwear, cavorting with a naked stripper) but also translations of the liner notes to the “Sunarefa” number: “We dedicate this song to all patriots who wage war against the southern Asiatic animals who poison our lives with their rotten fruits and vegetables and rape our women. Death to the Sunarefa is our anthem.”28
RUSSIAN RIGHT-WING BOOKLET
Sergei Zharikov, youth advisor to the National Radical Party and publisher of a paper called Raise the Axe, believes a magnetic figure like Spider may have serious chances in the political world. “[He] is charismatic, and he knows the mood of the street. Two million listen to his records.”29 Zharikov’s beliefs are probably similar to many of those few million who buy the albums: “We respect might and power, and we do not like all the Western pop that has clogged the airwaves.”30 He also admits concern for the edge the Party straddles in courting the energies of the angry Metal audience: “Our greatest difficulty is to keep the young from extremism and violence ... it could all end in anarchy...”31
The political parties cultivating the Russian bands eschew any kind of Satanism, due to the Christian nature of their overall constituency. Nevertheless, an examination of record covers by Korrozia Metalla and other groups reveals occult symbolism and upside-down crosses alongside Nazi banners, hooded Klansmen, and gratuitous illustrations of bloodthirsty violence.
RUSSIAN RIGHT-WING BOOKLET
HITLERIAN PRESS RELEASE
The union of these strange bedfellows is demonstrated in the right-wing newspaper Den (“Day”), which runs a music column alongside its standard political commentary and photos of prisoners of war being marched to internment camps with the caption “This is what we will do to the democrats.”32 The back page feature dubbed “Rock—The Russian Resistance” tries to bring in a younger readership, hyping the music of bands such as Korrozia Metalla, Exorcist, and Death Vomit. The Deputy Chief Editor of the paper, Vladimir Bondarenko, explained, “I’m not exactly a big fan of Heavy Metal, but you can’t deny that it’s an intrinsic part of Russian culture. ... We’re opposition and they’re opposition. We need them; they need us.”33
Neo-paganism and occultism have crept into certain areas of the Russian far right, although the large majority remain loyal to the beliefs of the Orthodox church. However, books on runes and Nordic history have begun to appear from right-wing imprints, and the youth in particular are ripe for an appeal cloaked in barbaric Viking imagery. The name Russia itself, after all, comes from the predominantly Swedish Viking tribe of the Rus who settled the region in the year 852 C.E.
GRAVELAND FOLLOWING THE VOICE OF BLOOD
It is difficult to gauge how the situation in Moscow and elsewhere has evolved since 1993. Things take longer to seep into Eastern Europe and take hold, although there is a rabid underground waiting to swallow up anything exciting from the West. The cassette kiosks which sell bootleg music tapes have been providing Black Metal for years, and undoubtedly the disenchanted there find much in it to rally around. When Russian bands—already happily using the stage as a platform for racism and calls to arms—decide to integrate the uncompromised grim outlook of Black Metal into their oeuvre, the results could be volatile. A Russian Rock critic already commented in 1993 that “an atmosphere of pogroms”34 was increasing among the youth. Flyers have circulated in 1994 for one band calling itself “SS Hitler Panzer Division.” The members have adopted pseudonyms in typical Black Metal style, although with a German twist: “Fuhrer” is the lead singer (or “orator” as their press release claims), “Dr. Goebbels” plays “anti-aircraft drums,” and Himmler is present on “attack bass.” The number of even more extreme bands incubating in the fertile and fetid post-communist Russian underground is anyone’s guess.
GRAVELAND
Outside observers might dismiss the images of these Metal bands as nothing more than exotic attempts to attract attention. But Russian bands like Korrozia Meta
lla feel they are involved in something much more serious than mere hedonism or entertainment. Spider matter-of-factly states, “U.S. Rock is a tea party. Here the fight is for real.”35 In a style similar to some of the pretentious exclamations of Norwegian Black Metal that would be heard a few years later, he calls on his audience to “join forces and rebuild the empire. We have a great task ahead of us.”36
Russia is not the only place on the eastern edges of Europe where such ideas have taken root. Poland, too, has a rapidly growing Black Metal scene which is closely linked to the rise of extreme right-wing activity there. The most visible band from that country is Graveland, led by the outspoken frontman Robert Fudali, AKA “Darken.” Musically Graveland has received rave reviews from Black Metal fans worldwide, but their political statements have engendered some negative reactions. In published interviews, Darken explains his goals in terms similar to Spider of Korrozia Metalla: “I prophesy the coming era of the great rebirth of paganism, the rebirth of the Aryan Pagan Empire, stronger because of the experiences of the last two thousand years.”37
He is also unequivocal in his support of Adolf Hitler, stating, “Without a doubt, I belong to those who think Adolf Hitler is the biggest figure in European history... His ideas stir in us great admiration.”38
Graveland releases its music on a German label, No Colours Records, which also produced the album by Absurd. And like their German and Norwegian counterparts, the Polish Black Metalers appear to be moving from the realm of music into one of action. Reports of church burnings in Poland are filtering to the West, no doubt fueled by the anti-Christian statements of bands like Graveland. As Darken warns, “I would like to teach people to search for their true pagan personality and identity. The pagan spirit sleeps in every one of us; it is very strong but dormant. Once awakened, it shall resent and destroy that which denied it life all these centuries.”39
UNITED STATES
AMERICAN BLACK METAL FANZINE PETRIFIED
The popularity of Black Metal in America has not yet reached the levels evident in Europe. There are far fewer bands, extremely infrequent concerts, and the genre has remained underground. There are a number of record labels attempting to change that, including Century Black (a division of Century Media Records), Necropolis, and a U.S. division of the French label Osmose. Century Black has released some of the more noteworthy Norwegian bands, including Mayhem’s legendary full-length De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Necropolis Records, run by Paul “Typhon” Thind, released Nordic Metal, a CD compilation dedicated to the late Euronymous. Thind claims close ties to the Swedish Black Circle or “True Satanist Horde,” and the label’s releases are almost universally of a vehement Satanic or anti-Christian nature. Their business appears to be thriving, despite a dearth of coverage in music magazines or any widespread store distribution.
An allusion to a more organized U.S. Black Metal movement appears in an old copy of the Florida fanzine Petrified, which glorifies the more notorious members of the scene from Norway. A 1994 issue includes interviews with both Bård “Faust” Eithun, who states that homosexuals “are nice to put knives into,” and Varg Vikernes, who extols readers to follow the example he has set and “lay waste the Jews’ world.”40 In the interview with Bård, the editor asks his opinion of the “new American Black Metal Circle,” to which Eithun replies: “I have to admit that I haven’t heard about this circle, but if it leads to any form of death or human suffering, I think it’s worthy.”41
GLEN BENTON OF DEICIDE
For the most part, there is little evidence any such American Black Circle exists, unless they have simply managed to thus far operate unnoticed. Fans of extreme Metal in this country are often far less intelligent than their Norwegian or European counterparts. The primary American interests outside of music include drugs and alcohol, neither of which played any significant part in the Norwegian Black Metal milieu. As a result, any antisocial actions are likely to be misdirected at best. The attempts to interrelate them into any kind of grand Satanic conspiracy are fruitless; the main similitude of these crimes lies in their irrational confusion.
Florida is also the home of Death Metal band Deicide, who have always projected a staunch image that is not far off from the “medieval” Satanism glorified by the early Norwegian scene. Singer Glen Benton branded an upside-down cross into his forehead years ago, and (to the obvious irritation of groups like Animal Militia) often advocates animal sacrifice in interviews. Allegedly the band’s albums have sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide.
In January of 1993, two 15-year-old boys in Vernon, New Jersey abducted and then sacrificed “Princess,” a neighbor’s dog. They ripped the animal’s tongue out and impaled the mangled creature on a large metal hook before hanging it in another neighbor’s tree. The youths later told police that their fascination with Deicide led them to kill the dog, and that they were listening to the band’s music prior to the act. One of the boys described the sacrifice to his lawyer as an “out-of-body experience.” Benton was quoted as stating he would not take any responsibility for the killing, but was not opposed to it. “I enjoy killing,” he told a New Jersey newspaper.42
COVERAGE OF THE EUGENE MURDER
Another crime related to Satanic Metal, and Deicide specifically, took place on April 10, 1994 in the city of Eugene, Oregon. A few minutes before midnight four teenagers, Michael Hayward, Johl Brock, Jason Brumwell, and Daniel Paul Rabago arrived at a run-down Dari Mart convenience store and initiated a robbery at the cash register using a 1.7 lb. metal bar as the weapon.
While Rabago and Brumwell stood guard, Hayward went into the rear cooler room, where a second store employee was restocking beverages. In a matter of seconds the female employee was lying on the ground, fatally beaten and stabbed to death. Before leaving the store the group brutally attacked another woman behind the front counter, although she survived the violent assault.
The youths were caught a few months later when detectives realized that a roll of Lotto tickets had been stolen from the store on the night of the murder, and these were later cashed in with the culprit’s name on them. There was ample evidence to convict the boys of their crime, and Hayward received the death penalty from the jury.
Civil lawsuits followed, wherein both the surviving store clerk and the family of the deceased claimed that the criminal’s behavior had been heavily influenced by the music of Deicide and Cannibal Corpse. Rabago had been recorded during his police interrogation as stating of the crime, “I did it in essence of Glen Benton and Chris Barnes [the lead singer of Cannibal Corpse].”43 The youths had also allegedly been listening to Deicide music in a church parking lot shortly before the convenience store bloodbath. The civil suits were levelled mainly at the record labels of the bands, Roadrunner and Metal Blade. CDs, T-shirts, band photos, and “Satanic literature” seized at the youths’ homes were entered into evidence. The cases were settled out of court, with the record labels paying substantial sums while “expressly not admitting guilt.”
There are human deaths tenuously linked to Satanic Metal as well. In early 1996 in Arroyo Grande, California, a group of youths murdered another teenager, allegedly as a Satanic sacrifice done to receive blessings of power and success from the deity. The youths were fanatical Slayer fans. The drummer for Slayer at the time, Paul Bostaph, resigned from the band shortly after news of the murder made headlines. His reasons for leaving revolved mainly around artistic differences, but he was also uncomfortable with the band’s dark image. Not long after his departing Slayer, Bostaph made a remark about the teenage murderers in an interview: “I guess these guys were total Slayer fans. After hearing that, it totally made me glad I left the band. I don’t want the music I’m involved with, or I create, to influence anyone like that.”44
The propagation of anti-Christian sentiments goes beyond the Heavy Metal genre in the case of Wisconsin band The Electric Hellfire Club. Their music is a blend of Industrial electronics, Psychedelic keyboards, and Metal guitar riffs. Since their
1993 debut album, Burn, Baby, Burn! (the cover of which featured a painting of a church consumed in flames), the band has extolled acts of Satanic crime by teenage psychopaths in their lyrics and offered exhortations to their listeners to continue such activity. One of their early anthems is “Age of Fire,” now a staple crowd-pleaser at their concerts. The lyrics ask:
THOMAS THORN OF THE ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB
Synagogues and churches burning
Can’t you see the tide is turning?
Lords of Chaos Page 39
