THIS TRANSITION SEEMS TO BE RELATIVELY PAINLESS. WHY IS THIS?
I think it is because the Black Metal scene doesn’t primarily function from ideological premises, but is usually motivated by a desire for excitement. Fascination with Norse mythology is common in Black Metal circles. The next step for many will be to get into something that is more ideologically defined. Though it should be said that the ones that take this route are usually not the ones seen by their peers as “serious activists.” They tend to be out for excitement—they’re ones that like to use provocative symbols, drink a lot and go, “Sieg heil!”
WHAT IS THE COMMON GROUND BETWEEN BLACK METAL AND THE NATIONALISTS?
Both scenes let people cultivate their dark sides. The right-wing people admit that they have prejudices and are proud of them. Other people would suppress them, circumvent them, or forget them. Instead, these extreme right-wingers scream out their prejudices. And with romanticizing violence, the extreme right wing is more open to irrationalism and forces that aren’t governed by common morality. It’s permissible to hate.
THIS MAKES SENSE, AS ONE OF THE LAST TABOOS IN SOCIETY IS HATING PEOPLE FOR THEIR ORIGIN. THE BLACK METAL SCENE HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY CONCERNED WITH BREAKING TABOOS. NOW THAT THEY SEEM TO BE DROPPING DEVIL WORSHIP IN FAVOR OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY, AND THE RIGHT-WINGERS AT LEAST PAY LIP SERVICE TO THE SAME SYMBOLISM, THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONVERGENCE ALONG THESE LINES.
It is a continuation of the fascination with Norse culture to say that the Norse things are somehow elevated. For many, it is merely another step along the same axis.
Certain circles of the revolutionary right and some elements of Black Metal have achieved an ambiguous but undeniable level of interaction. Much of this centers on Vikernes, who is outspoken in his nationalist views. It is difficult to say how much influence he still has on the Black Metal scene, but if the sales of his records are an accurate barometer, it is considerable. In the nationalist realm, the Einsatzgruppe clearly supported Vikernes, and a few radical skinhead magazines have begun to publish interviews and articles about him. Beyond this, it is unclear if his views or controversial public persona are widely accepted by more established groups of the extreme right. Regardless, Vikernes continues to spread his opinions via the media and through private channels. He has easy access to the press due to his infamy, and he clearly sees the new potential in presenting a strong image of himself through television interviews. Still, he is restricted by which of his comments the media allows to reach the public, and often complains of being inaccurately portrayed. Not long after the alleged breakout scheme by the Einsatzgruppe failed in the spring of 1997, he achieved one substantial propaganda victory—his Vargsmål book was finally published.
It is unclear who was behind the production of the 156-page paperback book, which appears to have been printed in Italy. The cover features a motif of the Norwegian flag, redesigned into a nationalist sunwheel cross. Vikernes has added a recent foreword to the text, which urges readers to write to the Nazi organization Zorn 88 for further “good Norwegian literature.”16 Varg has also included a dedication to his adopted namesake: “Vargsmål is in its entirety dedicated to Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling, for his effort and struggle for his people and fatherland in the hardest of times. May he receive a seat near Odin’s, in Valhalla!”17
VARG’S BOOK
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG
If Black Metalers and extreme rightists could agree upon an allegory for the coming apocalypse they await, it would surely be the Norse mythological tale of Ragnarök. This legend dramatically divulges all of the blood, fire, and warfare which can be expected as the present world reaches its demise. The skaldic poems of the Elder Edda relate how the events are to unfold, and a cynical observer might conclude Ragnarök is already upon us:Brothers will battle to bloody end,
and sisters’ sons their sib betray;
woe’s in the world, much wantonness;
axe-age, sword-age—sundered are shields;
wind-age, wolf-age—ere the world crumbles;
will the spear of no man spare the other?18
In the prophecy, these portents signal even stormier trouble on the horizon—the cataclysmic battle leading to the Twilight of the Gods. Odin and the rest of the Æsir pantheon must war against the forces of darkness, despite the fact their own doom is foretold. Diabolical Loki, the impetuous and mischievous trickster, is unleashed from his chains and joins the fray. His son, the terrifying wolf Fenris, defeats Odin and swallows the sun, casting the earth into shadow. Surtr, the demonic fire giant, carries aloft his blazing sword and lays waste to the world with flames of purification.
In the myth, the destruction of the earth is followed by its ultimate rejuvenation and rebirth. Fields grow green and bloom again; the sun god Balder returns. A hall for the “righteous rulers” now stands on the mountain of Gimli. A perfect parallel to Ragnarök can be seen in the legends of the mythical Egyptian bird, the phoenix, which consumes itself in fire only to rise again, renewed in beautiful plumage, from the ashes.
At one point in time, the prime movers in Black Metal dreamt of Ragnarök, and hoped to accelerate its arrival. They attempted to light the fuse on the powderkeg of alienated resentment which lies behind the façade of twentieth-century civilization—as their occasional allies, the right-wing revolutionaries, have also tried to do. Neither of them succeeded. This does not mean the powderkeg is not there, just that no one has found the end of the fuse yet.
A verse by Tarjei Vesaas, one of Norway’s most treasured writers and poets of this century, prefaced our lengthy investigation into extreme junctions of music, crime, and infernal spirituality. In it he writes of the “bird in the flames,” the compelling phoenix of legend. Such inspired words may reveal more about the operant forces, compulsions, and convulsions of the world than any amount of theorizing and research can hope to provide, for they convey the ineffable. They also allude to the cyclical nature of human existence: the endless organic undulation of life, death, birth. It is here in the realm of symbols—and man’s terrifying need to assert himself symbolically—where the keys to an otherwise inexplicable phenomenon like Black Metal may be found.
It is fitting that the uprisings in Scandinavia were marked by the insistence upon fire as their weapon. Fire embodies the intrinsic forces which are apparent under the surface of all such outbursts. According to the noble Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “Everything becomes fire, and from fire everything is born.”19 In his book The Psychoanalysis of Fire, Gaston Bachelard elaborates on its function:
If all that changes slowly is explained by life, all that changes quickly is explained by fire. Fire is the ultra-living element. It is intimate and it is universal. It lives in our heart. It lives in the sky. It rises from the depths of the substance and offers itself with the warmth of love. Or it can go back down into the substance and hide there, latent and pent-up, like hate and vengeance.20
The European fire myths express well the energies we have seen at work in our investigations. The Titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man; he is the example of the defiant, questing rebel who abhors stasis and stagnancy. He serves as an ideal for the visionary and artist, the seeker. Prometheus moreover represents an important archetype for the Satanist: he is the adversary, the willful iconoclast who spurs change with his actions. Another mythical giant comes in the form of Surtr, guardian of the thermal realm of Muspellheim, who controls the destructive capabilities of fire. He wipes away the old and weakened, that something pristine might appear in their stead. Surtr is another patron of the rebellious, but his efforts must lead to renewal. Without this, the rebellion is little more than nihilism made tangible.
Fire stirs the spirit of human artistry; it is the spark of the will-to-create. It expresses the polarity of emotions, as Bachelard notes, and represents both the passionate higher ideals, as well as the hot and consuming tempers of irrationality. The political revolutionary is possessed of flaming disposition, and for h
im a corrupt world destroyed by fire has great appeal. The religious fanatic—be he Christian or Satanist—also dreams in visions of a grotesque, burning hell.
Fire is not appreciated in our civilized society, either in its literal or spiritual manifestation. Most people have lost interaction with real fire; the once universal, mystical experience of blazing night fires is gone from their lives. Stoking the flames of resentment or dissension is frowned upon in a world which depends on the smooth exchange of services. Those possessed of unrestrained spirit are silenced, or ordered to fit in. Their tendencies must be stifled. Extreme emotions are shunned; those who act on them become outcasts. Mainstream culture produces a bulging sea of quaint diversions, the ostensible rewards for good behavior. The music and art made available to the masses has the consistency of soft, damp pulp—hardly a conducive medium for fire.
Despite all this, the fire is still there. It has been locked away, its coals covered over—yet it cannot be extinguished. The forces of finance and materialism attempt to root it out and then stamp it out. But the more the lid is put on fire, the more intense the pressure builds for its release. Rather than dying away and flickering out, rebellious embers glow brighter. They begin to move, searing a path toward any source of oxygen. The burning sparks of mind, spirit, and emotion seek one another. Their ultimate hope is that they the may catch hold again, to unleash their full powers. With the necessary fuel they could illumine the darkness and incinerate that which is stagnant.
In his poetry Tarjei Vesaas speaks often of fire, that untamed energy in our midst. He tells of an allegorical “land of many fires.” It is a place one can visit, but not in the external world. It lies within man. To end with another quote from Vesaas’s pen seems appropriate:Heaps of cinder all around—
eruptions half-forgotten.
Dead refuse.
And the dim remembrance
of another time, another place
—the land of many fires.
Hidden under heavy crust
waiting for eruption,
and the heat of the netherworld
—fires that feed upon themselves.21
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
“WE LIT THE FIRES” by Finn Bjørn Tønder
[Front page story, Bergens Tidende newspaper January 20, 1993]
Devil Worshippers Take Responsibility for Eight Church Fires.
“We are behind all church fires in Norway. It started with Fantoft Stave Church. And we’re not stopping now.”
—Anonymous youth from Bergen, about 20 years old.
“Our intention is to spread fear and devilry. Fear of the powers of darkness—that is why we are telling this to Bergens Tidende. It started with Fantoft Stave Church. And we’re not stopping with the eight church fires so far.”
The person behind these words is an anonymous man from Bergen, about 20 years of age. By way of two youths that knew him, Bergens Tidende was able to meet him at nighttime in his apartment in the southern part of the city.
“Call us what you want. We worship the Devil, but prefer to not use the word Satan. That name has been made ridiculous by foolish groups of poseurs. Morons who think they are tough.”
The youth’s story is cruel and perhaps not immediately believable. However, he can give details about several of the fires. Among the details is information which has not been made public—information that Bergens Tidende had confirmed by police and the Gades Institute (the Forensic Science Institute at Haukeland hospital) yesterday. Therefore, much indicates that BT’s interviewee is telling the truth. In that case, there are groups in Norway that the public needs to take very seriously.
He Hates the Light
It is completely dark in the halls while we ascend to his loft apartment at the hour of midnight. We have also been given the message that the youth is armed—“In case you have contacted the police.”
The apartment is clearly not the residence of an ordinary person. It is either just an overgrown kid who finds Nazi paraphernalia, weapons, and Satanic symbols exciting, or BT’s reporters have come into a “world” few people understand.
The windows are completely covered by carpets. “I hate the daylight,” explains the thin, long-haired creature that introduces himself with an unintelligible name. [Translator’s note: This was obviously “Count Grishnackh,” Kristian Vikernes’s preferred alias at the time.] We quickly get the feeling that the youth simply likes excitement. It is difficult for us to grasp that he can be speaking the truth.
Later, we check the details he gives us about the church fires. One of the investigators of the fires tells us that he finds the youth’s description of the torching of Åsane Church to be credible. At the same time, Associate Professor Inge Morild at the Gades Institute, confirms information about the burned rabbit that was found by Fantoft Stave Church.
Fantoft
“We caught a rabbit by the Fana mountain. It was much more laborious than burning down Fantoft Stave Church. By the church we decapitated the now dead rabbit. We lay the body on the church steps. The head was laid on the ground next to it. The point was to spread more sorrow. Our hope was that the innocent rabbit would be found,” says the youth, “a symbol of goodness to be burned on the fire,” as the youth describes it.
Associate Professor Morild confirmed to BT yesterday that the rabbit carcass which was found was headless.
He says this is information that has not been made public before. “I don’t even think the police knew it,” says Morild. He cannot determine whether the head was cut or burned off the body. “Our examinations cannot determine this.”
One Man
The Devil worshipper tells us that there was only one man that set fire to Fantoft Stave Church. “He wanted to do it himself, he didn’t want to share the sacrifice with anyone. A church that had been revered for 800 years was something really big for us, and had more power. The day itself was carefully planned. The Eve of Pentecost, 1992 revealed the Satanic symbol 666. [Note: The arson took place on the sixth day of the sixth month, at six o’clock] The intention was that our contacts all over Norway should do the same with other churches at exactly the same time. But the others chickened out. They let it remain just talk. Luckily, their cowardice led to us gaining more power over them. Therefore they became easier to manipulate later.”
A Dead Student
He gives a detailed description of how the church was ignited. The information corresponds with the police investigation of the fire.
“We had been there for a long while before the arsonist stepped into the open hall on the East side of the church. We had planned to assault the first person that came through the forest. We knew that students [Translator’s note: Bergen is a university town] often walk that way. Unfortunately, no one came. It would have had greater effect to sacrifice a dead student than a rabbit,” he says.
He neither laughs nor looks sad. The brutal sentences just keep coming.
Åsane Church
The Devil worshipper talks in “we” form. He says there are six persons that have participated in the eight church fires in Norway. Even if he does not want to confirm it, BT gets the impression that he was himself present when Åsane Church was burned to the ground the night before Christmas Eve.
“That Åsane Church was ignited the night before Christmas Eve was just a coincidence. The fire was not planned. Åsane Church went up in flames because the word “peaceful” was said on TV. We got so irately mad at all the righteousness in society. A less intelligent person was utilized. He came with one of “us.” Tried to get into the church through the windows. That didn’t work. Even with an axe. The door, however, quickly gave in to the axe blows,” he says.
Gasoline
BT’s source tells that the two doused gasoline on the altar and on a Jesus figure. “If the church didn’t go up in flames, at least Jesus would burn.” He claims that psalm books were torn up and piled up against the walls. Under the church tower they poured extra amounts of gasoline
. It didn’t take many matches before the whole church was in flames.
“After a few seconds, the church bells started tolling. The fire engines were there after two or three minutes. We were nearby. The descriptions of us in the press were almost accurate. The poor sucker that was called in for questioning had nothing to do with us,” grins the youth. The smile quickly stiffens: “It’s not good for us to laugh. We have nothing to laugh at in this laughable society.”
[Reprinted by courtesy of Finn Bjørn Tønder. Translated by Didrik Søderlind.]
APPENDIX II
[The following essay is an intriguing investigation into the correlation between elements of modern Black Metal culture and older folk practices of the Germanic peoples. It is written by the Austrian researcher and musician Kadmon, and originally appeared in his journal concerned with varied esoteric subjects, Aorta.]
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