National Socialist black metal
Encyclopedia
National Socialist black metal (also known as NSBM) is black metal
that promotes National Socialist (Nazi)
beliefs through their lyrics and imagery. These beliefs often include: white supremacy
, racial separatism
, antisemitism, heterosexism
, and Nazi interpretations of paganism
or Satanism
. According to Mattias Gardell, NSBM musicians see "national socialism as a logical extension of the political and spiritual dissidence inherent in black metal".
Bands whose members hold Nazi beliefs but do not express these through their lyrics are generally not considered NSBM by black metal musicians, but are labelled as such in media reports. Some black metal bands have made references to Nazi Germany
purely for shock value
, much like some punk rock
and heavy metal
bands.
According to Christian Dornbusch and Hans-Peter Killguss, völkisch
pagan metal
and neo-Nazism are the current trends in the black metal scene, and are affecting the broader metal scene. Mattias Gardell
, however, sees NSBM artists as a minority within black metal.
of Burzum
is generally seen as the main person to have brought Nazism into the black metal scene. According to an interview in Blood & Honour magazine, he got in touch with neo-Nazi organisation Zorn 88’s (later called Norges Nasjonalsocialistiske Bevegelse [NNSB]) magazine Gjallarhorn in 1992 and joined White Aryan Resistance
before he murdered Øystein Aarseth
. Although his lyrics do not express Nazi ideology and his music is therefore not seen as NSBM by the scene (but by external sources, like Mattias Gardell
) his writings are part of its ideological fundament. Furthermore, he has applauded NSBM bands for having "the guts to be different and politically incorrect, unlike the spineless poser-bands in the 'Black Metal' scene". He has posted some arguably racist essays on the Burzum website. However, Vikernes has since tried to distance himself from Nazism and the NSBM scene, preferring to refer to himself as an odalist instead of a "socialistic", "materialistic" Nazi. He still maintains his support of what he labels "race hygiene" for the European peoples.
and Thule Society
. Hendrik Möbus of Absurd described Nazism as the "most perfect (and only realistic!) synthesis of satanic/luciferian will to power
, elitist Social Darwinism
, connected to Aryan Germanic paganism
". Members of the band Der Stürmer (named after the anti-Semitic newspaper
edited by Julius Streicher
) subscribe to esoteric Hitlerism
, leaning on the works of Savitri Devi and Julius Evola
.
by eliminating their Artglauben and their "original" culture. These musicians usually reject the legitimacy of Christian antisemitism as well as the German Christians
movement, which celebrated and promoted Nazi ideology in the context of an unorthodox Christian theological
framework. Hjarulv Henker of the band Der Stürmer said:
.
Whereas Nazi leaders were influenced by German nationalism (Hitler deemed certain groups such as some Slavs to be inferior), the NSBM scene has had its German and Polish activists work together from the very beginning, though Germany and Poland historically had conflicts. This contradiction is either masked, relativised or excused as a historical mistake. A conspiracy theory says the Jews would have prevented an alliance between Nazi Germany and other Eastern European countries. Knjaz Varggoth
, singer and guitarist of the Ukrainian band Nokturnal Mortum
, gives the following explanation for the contradiction:
"Goruth of the Russian band Temnozor
sees the Slavs and Germans as a part of a Hyperborean Aryan race and nowadays differing due to its degeneration." Para Bellum of Blackdeath (and formerly of Draugwath) sees Nazi Germany’s war against Russia as "Hitler’s only mistake".
, depicting Satan
as an ancient Aryan counterpart to Yahweh
, the god of the Jews and Christians. This view is often called "völkisch
Satanism" or "Aryan Satanism". Chraesvelgoron of The True Frost sees Nazism as the political appearance of Satanism and the collective deification of man as a social animal, as godliness instead of humaneness. His bandmate Sadorass calls the same ideology a consequent development of blood and soil (völkisch way), diverse occult teachings and the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche
in connection to Darwin's evolution theories.
However, many pagan and far right
bands see Satanism as a part of Christianity or Judaism. Also, a few black metal musicians hold pagan bands in contempt, and do not recognise them as black metal bands, as their lyrics and ideology does not include Satanism.
, the worship of their alleged ancestors, or a mixture of Pagan and Nazi elements. For example, the booklet of the Absurd
album Asgardsrei depicts the Knights Templar
, the Teutonic Knights
and the Waffen-SS
as warriors of the "Asgardsrei", which the bands define as a term for an alleged godly and Germanic group of warriors. Varg Vikernes
of Burzum
called Adolf Hitler
a warrior of the Asgardsrei. Hendrik Möbus interprets church burnings in Norway as
have warmly received NSBM for its lyrical content and ideals, others have not, due to the music style as well as what they perceive as its association with sex, drugs and rock & roll. Some also reject black metal musicians and fans for having long hair, which they associate with hippies and left-wingers.
William Luther Pierce
, founder of the white nationalist National Alliance, sought to promote NSBM as well as other forms of white nationalist music through Resistance Records
, believing that music would 'make the National Alliance rich and spread its message most effectively'. To this end, he accommodated Absurd
frontman Hendrik Möbus while the latter had fled to the United States in order to evade German authorities. Although Pierce appreciated the ideological mindset of NSBM and Resistance Records, as well as the financial gains, the music did not personally appeal to him, and he attacked the "sex, drugs & rock'n'roll" and "negroid" influences.
, Tormentor
, King ov Hell
, Infernus, Lord Ahriman
, Emperor Magus Caligula
, and the members of Arkhon Infaustus
.
Many black metallers reject Nazi ideology and oppose its influence on the black metal subculture. Like organised religion in general, Nazism is regarded as authoritarian
, collectivist
, and a "herd mentality
". This ideology conflicts with black metal's traditional focus on individualism
. It also conflicts with the misanthropic
views of many artists – this is because Nazism demands a great respect for the "white race", rather than disdain for all humanity. While some black metallers boycott NSBM bands and labels, others draw a line between the music and the musicians, as they only care for the music. This stance has been criticised as passive support for NSBM.
The band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult
claimed that they share "certain views of so-called NSBM bands" but stated that "there will never ever be any of this misuse within our ranks. We do not want to have anything to do with this newest trend
". According to them, politics in black metal is "as inappropriate as black metal concerts at daylight". Darkthrone
have also maintained an apolitical
stance throughout their career – although Fenriz
claimed he was once arrested while participating in an anti-apartheid demonstration. Joakim of Craft
says that "I don't think national socialism mixes with the ideology of real Black Metal in a way, but that doesn't go further than labels. I only think NS Black Metal is an inappropriate label for the music".
The bigger print metal magazines tend to ignore records by NSBM bands. The book Unheilige Allianzen caused a short debate, leading Legacy magazine to stop printing advertisings for NSBM labels. Another debate happened in the "letters" section of Rock Hard
magazine following the article Der rechte Rand im Black Metal (Black Metal's Far-right Border).
was accused of supporting Nazism after the release of their album Panzer Division Marduk
(1999). This was because the songs on the album made numerous references to World War II
and because the album title referenced Nazi Germany's panzer division
s. However, the band stated that they were simply using war as a lyrical theme and denied supporting Nazism, although its guitarist Morgan Håkansson had stated "that we in Marduk want to prevent immigration to Sweden and that I was proud over the fact that my grandfather was a serving German officer during the second World War" when approached on the issue by Rock Hard Magazine from Germany - known for having pressed many black metal bands such as Gorgoroth on the subject of NSBM.
Similarly, the Singaporean band Impiety
were accused of supporting Nazism and anti-Semitism due to their depiction of Auschwitz and the practices of Josef Mengele
in the lyrics of the song "Carbonised" on their album Paramount Evil (2004).
There are also bands who say they use Nazi imagery simply for shock value
. An example is the band Taake
, whose singer had painted a swastika
on his chest before a concert on March 20, 2007, in Essen
, Germany and attacked the audience. He later claimed to have done so only to be provocative. On the same occasion, he called the club owner an "Untermensch
".
The pagan metal groups Moonsorrow
, Týr, and Eluveitie
have been occasionally labeled as Nazi influenced or supportive by anti-fascist groups. The groups have stated publicly that they believe in peace, are non-political, and strongly oppose the co-opting of pagan symbols by Nazi activists.
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
that promotes National Socialist (Nazi)
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
beliefs through their lyrics and imagery. These beliefs often include: white supremacy
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
, racial separatism
Racial separatism
Racial separatism refers to a belief that people of different races should live apart. It can be used in either the sense of:* Racial segregation* White separatism or Black separatism...
, antisemitism, heterosexism
Heterosexism
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior...
, and Nazi interpretations of paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
or Satanism
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
. According to Mattias Gardell, NSBM musicians see "national socialism as a logical extension of the political and spiritual dissidence inherent in black metal".
Bands whose members hold Nazi beliefs but do not express these through their lyrics are generally not considered NSBM by black metal musicians, but are labelled as such in media reports. Some black metal bands have made references to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
purely for shock value
Shock value
Shock value is the potential of an action , image, text, or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions.-Shock value as humor:...
, much like some punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
bands.
According to Christian Dornbusch and Hans-Peter Killguss, völkisch
Völkisch movement
The volkisch movement is the German interpretation of the populist movement, with a romantic focus on folklore and the "organic"...
pagan metal
Pagan metal
Pagan metal is an umbrella term for heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages", usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band...
and neo-Nazism are the current trends in the black metal scene, and are affecting the broader metal scene. Mattias Gardell
Mattias Gardell
Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
, however, sees NSBM artists as a minority within black metal.
Origin
Varg VikernesVarg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian black metal musician, writer, philosopher, religious and political activist, arsonist and convicted murderer.Vikernes was born near Bergen, Norway. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal...
of Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
is generally seen as the main person to have brought Nazism into the black metal scene. According to an interview in Blood & Honour magazine, he got in touch with neo-Nazi organisation Zorn 88’s (later called Norges Nasjonalsocialistiske Bevegelse [NNSB]) magazine Gjallarhorn in 1992 and joined White Aryan Resistance
White Aryan Resistance
White Aryan Resistance is a neo-Nazi white separatist organization founded and led by former Ku Klux Klan leader Tom Metzger. Part of the American far right, it is based in Warsaw, Indiana and is incorporated as a business....
before he murdered Øystein Aarseth
Euronymous
Øystein Aarseth , who went by the pseudonym Euronymous, was a Norwegian guitarist and co-founder of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem...
. Although his lyrics do not express Nazi ideology and his music is therefore not seen as NSBM by the scene (but by external sources, like Mattias Gardell
Mattias Gardell
Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
) his writings are part of its ideological fundament. Furthermore, he has applauded NSBM bands for having "the guts to be different and politically incorrect, unlike the spineless poser-bands in the 'Black Metal' scene". He has posted some arguably racist essays on the Burzum website. However, Vikernes has since tried to distance himself from Nazism and the NSBM scene, preferring to refer to himself as an odalist instead of a "socialistic", "materialistic" Nazi. He still maintains his support of what he labels "race hygiene" for the European peoples.
Ideology
NSBM ideology usually consists of Nazi beliefs as well as traits found in conventional black metal, such as hostility to Christianity and other religions labelled as Right-Hand Path, and preoccupations with Satanism and paganism, often with Nazi interpretations. The ideology may hearken to the preoccupations with paganism and esotericism practised by various officials and organisations in the Nazi era, such as Alfred RosenbergAlfred Rosenberg
' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
and Thule Society
Thule Society
The Thule Society , originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum , was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend...
. Hendrik Möbus of Absurd described Nazism as the "most perfect (and only realistic!) synthesis of satanic/luciferian will to power
Will to power
The will to power is widely seen as a prominent concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in man; achievement, ambition, the striving to reach the highest possible position in life; these are all...
, elitist Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
, connected to Aryan Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
". Members of the band Der Stürmer (named after the anti-Semitic newspaper
Der Stürmer
Der Stürmer was a weekly tabloid-format Nazi newspaper published by Julius Streicher from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945, with brief suspensions in publication due to legal difficulties. It was a significant part of the Nazi propaganda machinery and was vehemently anti-Semitic...
edited by Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine...
) subscribe to esoteric Hitlerism
Esoteric Nazism
The term Esoteric Nazism refers to semi-religious developments of Nazism in the post-World War II period. After 1945, esoteric elements of the Third Reich were developed into new völkisch religions of white identity. Examples of post-war Nazi mystical philosophies include Esoteric Hitlerism and...
, leaning on the works of Savitri Devi and Julius Evola
Julius Evola
Barone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
.
Anti-Christianity and Anti-Semitism
Typically NSBM musicians regard Christianity as a product of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to undermine the Aryan raceAryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
by eliminating their Artglauben and their "original" culture. These musicians usually reject the legitimacy of Christian antisemitism as well as the German Christians
German Christians
The Deutsche Christen were a pressure group and movement within German Protestantism aligned towards the antisemitic and Führerprinzip ideological principles of Nazism with the goal to align German Protestantism as a whole towards those principles...
movement, which celebrated and promoted Nazi ideology in the context of an unorthodox Christian theological
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
framework. Hjarulv Henker of the band Der Stürmer said:
I don't think that a dogma like Christianity has a place in Aryandom. There is no way to make Christianity fit into the Weltanschauung of the Aryan Overman. Christianity teaches humbleness, the loss of National and Racial identity, and equality, things alien to our cosmotheory. You cannot combine Jesus with characters who represent Aryan ethics. ... Christianity is Christianity and it is Jewish by its very birth and conception, a vehicle in the Jewish world domination and designed as such.
White supremacy
NSBM bands want to bring back the alleged ancient values and highlights of Germanic "Hochkultur" (the cultures of the ancient Greeks and Romans). They argue that the reason for the decline of these ancient cultures was "race mixing" and "degeneration". These views are comparable to those in the chapter "Volk und Rasse" in Hitler’s Mein KampfMein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
.
Whereas Nazi leaders were influenced by German nationalism (Hitler deemed certain groups such as some Slavs to be inferior), the NSBM scene has had its German and Polish activists work together from the very beginning, though Germany and Poland historically had conflicts. This contradiction is either masked, relativised or excused as a historical mistake. A conspiracy theory says the Jews would have prevented an alliance between Nazi Germany and other Eastern European countries. Knjaz Varggoth
Knjaz Varggoth
Yevhen Hapon , also spelt Eugeny Gapon and Ievgen Gapon, better known by his stage name Knjaz Varggoth, is one of the foremost figures in Eastern Europe National Socialist black metal...
, singer and guitarist of the Ukrainian band Nokturnal Mortum
Nokturnal Mortum
Nokturnal Mortum is a Ukrainian black metal band from Kharkiv.-History:Nokturnal Mortum started as death metal band Suppuration in 1991, then turned to black metal and changed name to Crystalline Darkness but "had to change the name back in 1993/94 to Nocturnal Mortum because there already existed...
, gives the following explanation for the contradiction:
"Goruth of the Russian band Temnozor
Temnozor
Temnozor is a pagan metal NSBM band formed in 1996 in Obninsk, Russia. According to the band in statements on its website, it was formed to express the pride its members had of being Slavic. Temnozor started out as a raw black metal band with folk influences, but folk music has increasingly...
sees the Slavs and Germans as a part of a Hyperborean Aryan race and nowadays differing due to its degeneration." Para Bellum of Blackdeath (and formerly of Draugwath) sees Nazi Germany’s war against Russia as "Hitler’s only mistake".
Fascist Satanism
Besides heathen beliefs, part of the NSBM scene embraces an interpretation of SatanismTheistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism, sometimes referred to as Traditional Satanism, Spiritual Satanism or Devil Worship, is a form of Satanism with the primary belief that Satan is an actual deity or force to revere or worship. Other characteristics of Theistic Satanism may include a belief in magic, which is...
, depicting Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
as an ancient Aryan counterpart to Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
, the god of the Jews and Christians. This view is often called "völkisch
Völkisch movement
The volkisch movement is the German interpretation of the populist movement, with a romantic focus on folklore and the "organic"...
Satanism" or "Aryan Satanism". Chraesvelgoron of The True Frost sees Nazism as the political appearance of Satanism and the collective deification of man as a social animal, as godliness instead of humaneness. His bandmate Sadorass calls the same ideology a consequent development of blood and soil (völkisch way), diverse occult teachings and the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
in connection to Darwin's evolution theories.
However, many pagan and far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
bands see Satanism as a part of Christianity or Judaism. Also, a few black metal musicians hold pagan bands in contempt, and do not recognise them as black metal bands, as their lyrics and ideology does not include Satanism.
Fascist Paganism
Most NSBM bands refer to Nazi notions such as blood and soilBlood and soil
Blood and Soil refers to an ideology that focuses on ethnicity based on two factors, descent and homeland/Heimat...
, the worship of their alleged ancestors, or a mixture of Pagan and Nazi elements. For example, the booklet of the Absurd
Absurd (band)
Absurd is one of the best-known black metal and pagan metal bands in Germany, classified as right-wing extremist by the Thuringian Landesbehörde für Verfassungsschutz....
album Asgardsrei depicts the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
and the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
as warriors of the "Asgardsrei", which the bands define as a term for an alleged godly and Germanic group of warriors. Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian black metal musician, writer, philosopher, religious and political activist, arsonist and convicted murderer.Vikernes was born near Bergen, Norway. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal...
of Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
called Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
a warrior of the Asgardsrei. Hendrik Möbus interprets church burnings in Norway as
a cultural atavism, a sudden and inexplicable plunge back into pre-Christian, medieval conditions in all but outward reality. Like the Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, would have said: Ancient archetypes resurfaced from our collective unconscious and repossessed receptive minds - which were, as a rule, still developing and thus especially impressible. The thus affected teenagers found themselves with an archaic state of mind and like in a mass-hysteria, they induced their condition unto others. It goes without saying that a, say, 18 year old adolescent who suddenly felt out of tune with his environment lacked the insight for a self-analysis.He argues that later on, they would have realised the meaning of these emotions, begun to identify with Paganism and taken "an active interest in Nationalist politics designed to preserve and to cultivate this very heritage".
NSBM and the broader white nationalist movement
While many white nationalistsWhite nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
have warmly received NSBM for its lyrical content and ideals, others have not, due to the music style as well as what they perceive as its association with sex, drugs and rock & roll. Some also reject black metal musicians and fans for having long hair, which they associate with hippies and left-wingers.
William Luther Pierce
William Luther Pierce
William Luther Pierce III was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and one of the most important ideologists of the white nationalist movement. Pierce originally worked as an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University, before he became involved in...
, founder of the white nationalist National Alliance, sought to promote NSBM as well as other forms of white nationalist music through Resistance Records
Resistance Records
Resistance Records is a record label owned by Resistance LLC, a society closely connected to the National Alliance. It produces and sells music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website...
, believing that music would 'make the National Alliance rich and spread its message most effectively'. To this end, he accommodated Absurd
Absurd (band)
Absurd is one of the best-known black metal and pagan metal bands in Germany, classified as right-wing extremist by the Thuringian Landesbehörde für Verfassungsschutz....
frontman Hendrik Möbus while the latter had fled to the United States in order to evade German authorities. Although Pierce appreciated the ideological mindset of NSBM and Resistance Records, as well as the financial gains, the music did not personally appeal to him, and he attacked the "sex, drugs & rock'n'roll" and "negroid" influences.
NSBM and the broader black metal scene
NSBM artists are a minority within black metal, according to Mattias Gardell. They have been rejected or strongly criticised by many prominent black metal musicians – including Jon NödtveidtJon Nödtveidt
Jon Andreas Nödtveidt was a lead guitarist and vocalist of the Swedish black metal band Dissection, which he founded in 1989....
, Tormentor
Tormentor (musician)
Tormentor is a black metal musician who is best known for his work as guitarist with the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth.-Biography:Tormentor joined Infernus in Gorgoroth in 1996, and participated as guitarist and songwriter on the two Gorgoroth albums Destroyer and Incipit Satan , both...
, King ov Hell
King ov Hell
Tom Cato Visnes , better known as King ov Hell or simply King, is a Norwegian musician and ex-teacher. He is best known as the former bassist of black metal band Gorgoroth, but he is also the co-founder of Ov Hell, God Seed, Jotunspor, Sahg and I...
, Infernus, Lord Ahriman
Lord Ahriman
Lord Ahriman is a Swedish musician and composer best known as the primary guitarist and songwriter of black metal band Dark Funeral. He is the only founding member remaining in the band, he is also rhythm guitarist in Wolfen Society...
, Emperor Magus Caligula
Emperor Magus Caligula
Emperor Magus Caligula is an extreme metal musician best known as the former vocalist, bassist and lyricist of Swedish black metal band Dark Funeral, performing for the band between 1995 and 2010. He has also been the vocalist of death metal bands Demonoid, replacing Christofer Johnsson, and...
, and the members of Arkhon Infaustus
Arkhon Infaustus
Arkhon Infaustus is a blackened death metal band from Paris, France. They formed in 1997, are signed to Osmose Productions, and have released four albums to date.-Brief History:...
.
Many black metallers reject Nazi ideology and oppose its influence on the black metal subculture. Like organised religion in general, Nazism is regarded as authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
, collectivist
Collectivism
Collectivism is any philosophic, political, economic, mystical or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists usually focus on community, society, or nation...
, and a "herd mentality
Herd mentality
Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Examples of the herd mentality include stock market trends, fashions in apparel, cars, taste in music, home décor, etc...
". This ideology conflicts with black metal's traditional focus on individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
. It also conflicts with the misanthropic
Misanthropy
Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
views of many artists – this is because Nazism demands a great respect for the "white race", rather than disdain for all humanity. While some black metallers boycott NSBM bands and labels, others draw a line between the music and the musicians, as they only care for the music. This stance has been criticised as passive support for NSBM.
The band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult
Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult
Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is a German black metal band from Dormagen. They are considered to be a very "pure" Black metal band, and as such has been interviewed in 2006 by the Franco-German TV network Arte....
claimed that they share "certain views of so-called NSBM bands" but stated that "there will never ever be any of this misuse within our ranks. We do not want to have anything to do with this newest trend
Bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have...
". According to them, politics in black metal is "as inappropriate as black metal concerts at daylight". Darkthrone
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...
have also maintained an apolitical
Apolitical
The state or quality of being apolitical can be the apathy and/or the antipathy towards all political affiliations. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased position in regard to political matters.-References:...
stance throughout their career – although Fenriz
Fenriz
Leif Gylve Nagell , better known as Fenriz, is the drummer and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal duo Darkthrone...
claimed he was once arrested while participating in an anti-apartheid demonstration. Joakim of Craft
Craft (metal band)
Craft is a Swedish black metal band, originally formed under the name "Nocta" in 1994. As Nocta they recorded an unreleased demo in 1997 and subsequently changed their name to "Craft"...
says that "I don't think national socialism mixes with the ideology of real Black Metal in a way, but that doesn't go further than labels. I only think NS Black Metal is an inappropriate label for the music".
The bigger print metal magazines tend to ignore records by NSBM bands. The book Unheilige Allianzen caused a short debate, leading Legacy magazine to stop printing advertisings for NSBM labels. Another debate happened in the "letters" section of Rock Hard
Rock Hard (magazine)
Rock Hard is a heavy metal magazine originally released in Germany. It was founded in 1983 by Holger Stratmann and is dedicated to all styles of rock and heavy metal. The magazine has independent offspring with the same name in France, Greece, Italy and Spain....
magazine following the article Der rechte Rand im Black Metal (Black Metal's Far-right Border).
False allegations
The band MardukMarduk (band)
Marduk is a black metal band from Norrköping, Sweden. The band formed in 1990 and released their first record in 1991. Their name is derived from the Babylonian god Marduk, patron deity of Babylon.-Musical style:...
was accused of supporting Nazism after the release of their album Panzer Division Marduk
Panzer Division Marduk
Panzer Division Marduk is the sixth studio album by Swedish black metal band Marduk. It was recorded and mixed at The Abyss in January 1999 and released in June 1999 by Osmose Productions...
(1999). This was because the songs on the album made numerous references to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and because the album title referenced Nazi Germany's panzer division
Panzer Division
A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....
s. However, the band stated that they were simply using war as a lyrical theme and denied supporting Nazism, although its guitarist Morgan Håkansson had stated "that we in Marduk want to prevent immigration to Sweden and that I was proud over the fact that my grandfather was a serving German officer during the second World War" when approached on the issue by Rock Hard Magazine from Germany - known for having pressed many black metal bands such as Gorgoroth on the subject of NSBM.
Similarly, the Singaporean band Impiety
Impiety (band)
Impiety is a Singaporean black metal band, formed in early 1990 by Shyaithan and drummer Necro-Angelfornicator. They are notable for being one of the first extreme metal bands to emerge from Singapore, including releasing records on notable Western record labels.-Biography:Impiety was originally...
were accused of supporting Nazism and anti-Semitism due to their depiction of Auschwitz and the practices of Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
in the lyrics of the song "Carbonised" on their album Paramount Evil (2004).
There are also bands who say they use Nazi imagery simply for shock value
Shock value
Shock value is the potential of an action , image, text, or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions.-Shock value as humor:...
. An example is the band Taake
Taake
Taake, pronounced [toke], is a Norwegian black metal band whose name is the old spelling form of the Norwegian word "tåke" .-History:In 1993, Ørjan Stedjeberg, now known as Ulvhedin Høst , formed the first version of the band Taake under the name Thule, together with Svartulv, who was only twelve...
, whose singer had painted a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
on his chest before a concert on March 20, 2007, in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany and attacked the audience. He later claimed to have done so only to be provocative. On the same occasion, he called the club owner an "Untermensch
Untermensch
Untermensch is a term that became infamous when the Nazi racial ideology used it to describe "inferior people", especially "the masses from the East," that is Jews, Gypsies, Poles along with other Slavic people like the Russians, Serbs, Belarussians and Ukrainians...
".
The pagan metal groups Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound...
, Týr, and Eluveitie
Eluveitie
Eluveitie is a folk metal band from Winterthur, Switzerland. The band formed in 2002 and their first EP, Vên came out in 2003. The band then released a full-length album, Spirit in June 2006. In November 2007, Eluveitie was signed by Nuclear Blast....
have been occasionally labeled as Nazi influenced or supportive by anti-fascist groups. The groups have stated publicly that they believe in peace, are non-political, and strongly oppose the co-opting of pagan symbols by Nazi activists.
See also
- Nazi punkNazi punkA Nazi punk is a neo-Nazi who is part of the punk subculture. The term also describes the related type of music. Nazi punk music sounds similar to most forms of punk rock, but it differs by having lyrics that express hatred of Jews, homosexuals, communists, anarchists, anti-racists and people who...
- Rock Against CommunismRock Against CommunismRock Against Communism started out as series of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism...
- Neo-völkisch movementsNeo-völkisch movementsNeo-völkisch movements, as defined by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, cover a wide variety of mutually influencing groups of a radically ethnocentric character which have emerged, especially in the English-speaking world, since World War II...
- Occultism and the far rightOccultism and the far rightTopics of occultism or Neopaganism and the far right:*Ariosophy **Irminism*Nazi occultism *Neo-völkisch movements **Esoteric Nazism **Integral Traditionalism...
English
- Nicholas Goodrick-ClarkeNicholas Goodrick-ClarkeNicholas Goodrick-Clarke B.A. , D.Phil. is a professor of Western Esotericism at University of Exeter and author of several books on esoteric traditions....
: White Noise and black metal in: Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (S. 193-213). New York University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8147-3124-4 - Mattias GardellMattias GardellHans Bertil Mattias Gardell is a Swedish scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden....
: Hail Loki! Hail Satan! Hail Hitler! Darkside Asatrú, Satanism and Occult National Socialism in: Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White SeparatismGods of the BloodGods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism is a book by Swedish scholar Mattias Gardell discussing Neopaganism and white separatism, neo-fascism and antisemitism.It was published by Duke University Press in May 2003....
. (p. 284-324). Duke University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8223-3071-7 - Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (journalist)Michael Moynihan is an American journalist, publisher and musician. He is best known for co-writing the book Lords of Chaos, about black metal....
, Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. Los Angeles, Feral House Books, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2
German
- Christian Dornbusch, Hans-Peter Killguss: Unheilige Allianzen. Black Metal zwischen Satanismus, Heidentum und Neonazismus. Münster, Unrast Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-89771-817-0
- Johannes Lohmann, Hans Wanders: Evolas Jünger und Odins Krieger - Extrem rechte Ideologien in der Dark-Wave- und Black-Metal-Szene in: Christian Dornbusch, Jan Raabe: RechtsRock - Bestandsaufnahme und Gegenstrategien. (p. 287-311) Hamburg/Münster, Unrast Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-89771-808-1.