Thoughts on Black Metal

[Pronouns]

Oh look, I'm still alive haha! Anyways, before I begin I'd like to point out that I may not be the first to bring this up on the site, but I'm curious and I don't want to look through eons of old threads. I also want to make it clear I don't hate or look down on anyone for liking Black Metal, this is more of a thread of me trying to understand it since I've had some traumatic experiences with the genre and I don't want to be biased or come off that way. (Agalloch being the only one I can emotionally handle) I legitimately want to understand or at least want to try, even if I disagree in the end.

So I was talking with some peeps in a chatroom today. With Deafhaven's new album being out, naturally, the conversation went to black metal. From artistic to Norwegian and while I was uncomfortable I just didn't say anything. It wasn't until someone brought up "Mayhem - Dawn of the black Hearts" that I said something. I didn't criticize it or them but it just don't understand how someone could listen to something so graphic. For those who don't know, the album cover alone is a graphic picture of Per Ohlin's dead body. I was also informed that his skull was made into necklaces and that someone ate his brain? I dunno, I feel kinda sick just writing about it. Regardless, I asked why anyone would listen to something with incidents surrounding an album (let alone a band)? I was told by the people in the room that "It's experimental. It's raw and its pretty creative. Just like shows from South Park." another said "Its extremely interesting sonically, its like the horror movie of music." Now, again, I can't and won't judge someone for liking something for artistic value (Alcest, Deafhaven, Agalloch, ect). But here's the thing for me...some of these incidents seem almost normalized...not accepted but not condemned either. One other person considered album covers from Cannibal Corpse as "tame" this was on a basic rock chatroom mind you, its not like I was mingling myself in a metal chatroom. Personally, I think there's a big difference between Per Ohlin and South Park and I'm aware that not all black metal is like this. But in this scenario, is this normalized too much? Does the argument of "you don't have to like the artist but you can enjoy their work." go this far? I'm not going to call someone a satanist for listening to black metal but when is too much too much? Can Per Ohlin really be considered art or just an act of insanity?

I already expect some answers and I have a few of my own opinions but I want to hear the various opinions here before I make a hasty and biased opinion. Hope to hear from you!

God bless
-G

[Tap]

There are many more transgression heavy areas of music, and I imagine they can all have certain specific appeals. In general though I think the communities around them find success because people who have been made to feel unacceptable can feel accepted. Like with bronies. Things can look graphic from the outsider's perspective, and it certainly gets complicated when real life violence is involved like this, but I don't think that's a place you can guilt someone out of.

[undefined]

black metal is surprisingly broad both in terms of sound and the culture and iconography surrounding various scenes. genuine satanists within the genre are pretty rare and mostly only exist among a handful of musicians from Scandinavian second wave BM. while satanic imagery did play a role in the first wave of black metal, it was purely to carve out a certain aesthetic and I don't believe any of the musicians purported to be actual satanists by any measure. the music can be extreme of course whether or not the expressions are genuine, and it's 100% valid to be emotionally viscerally driven from that kind of thing, just as black metal musicians can be emotionally viscerally driven to make that kind of thing.

working off of that, it's very rare in general that any of the more distasteful aspects of black metal extend beyond exaggerated imagery utilized as a means of expressing truly extreme emotions on behalf of the artist, or just as often just an aesthetic (and yeah sometimes that aesthetic can go way further than it needs to when attempting to be subversive, often veering into pointless "edgelord" territory). obviously there are notable exceptions in stuff like Burzum being a murderer/church burner (though ironically Burzum's music plays off of black metal transgression tropes a lot less than many of his peers), but generally speaking, as violent and dark and unrelenting as black metal can be on an artistic level, it is exceedingly rare that this culminates (or is the product of) any real-world consequences (beyond perhaps the darkness of BM being a genuine reflection of an artist's emotional state, as is the case with much music and art in general). Inversely, much rock music is perfectly tame in its aesthetic presentation and lyrical content/musical expression while the musicians themselves can be absolute monsters; Sarcófago sang about satanic rituals and sacrificing virgins, as far as I know all the members were perfectly good people. Aerosmith made standard well-loved rock tunes while Steven Tyler legally adopted and repeatedly raped a 14 year old girl. Art need not be a perfect reflection of the moral wellness of the artist.

all that said I do detest edginess for edginess' sake. especially hate it when the primary goal of your expression is to offend or "trigger" as many people as possible, like bro you're not subversive you're just an asshole. thankfully I haven't seen too much of that in black metal and I hope it stays that way


also key difference between south park and black metal is that black metal is often good

[glynspsa]

Though dissonant music doesn't bother me, I do not like loud fast aggressive music where it sounds like everyone is just playing for speed and not for feel or emotion and the vocals are just screeches and screams. i realize this does not describe the whole genre but the segment that is like that does not appeal to me at all.

[LedZep]

I don’t listen to a lot of black metal, due to the reasons you’ve mentioned. Lyrics can be a big turn-off for me, as I am (relatively) a Christian. That being said, I definitely think it’s a varied genre with talented musicians and a lot of cool experimentation. And because of that variety, I don’t think I could ever dismiss the (sub)genre as a whole. There are black metal bands who have extremely interesting and very much not appaling lyrics, and that coupled with uniqueness, good songwriting and athmosphere is a “must” for me in black metal. Those 4 key elements. On the other hand, the whole genre has a bad reputation, in most cases unduly so people avoid it without even trying to listen to a black metal album. And of course like with any genre, you have “elitists” and “cool people” as I like to call them. I’m always happy to meet and discuss music with people who respect different opinions, no matter what genres they like, so I absolutely agree with your “non-judging” attitude.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[LedZep]

[RockyRaccoon]

I can't tell you one line of lyric I've ever heard on a black metal album.

I love black metal. The whole "aesthetic" of black metal has never mattered to me, I really only listen to the music. That being said, I can acknowledge that stuff like the aforementioned Mayhem album is too much or that people like Varg Vikernes are shitheads, but as dbz said, there are good and bad people who make all genres of music.

I think what I love most about black metal is the all-encompassing wall of sound that the music hits you with (especially in atmospheric black metal). The constant guitars and drums mixed with the vocals are all so big and completely envelop you (when done well), it's one of my favorite subgenre of metal. However, similar to doom metal, black metal done poorly can be extremely dull and formulaic, but when it's done well, it's sublime.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart