Satanism and Popular Music
In the popular imagination, few products of popular culture
seem to connote so strongly with Satanism as heavy metal music. Within that
genre, black metal, particularly Norwegian black metal, has been more closely associated
with Satanism than any other subgenre. This is not merely due to the lyrical
content or the musical and sartorial style. More than anything else the image
of Norwegian “Satanic” metal revolves around the willingness among a few of the
early, ground-breaking bands to carry their torches where their lyrics claimed
they belonged—directly to old Norwegian churches to instigate arson and “make
war” on Christianity. In this chapter, I shall look briefly at the phenomenon
of black metal and its articulation of Satanism. The virulent anti-Christianity
and explicit imagery of satanic worship in the lyrics alone make it an
interesting case. However, my scope will be broader.
I shall compare and
contrast black metal ideology with the Satanism constructed by Anton LaVey,
founder of the Church of Satan. We shall see that those who had a certain prior
claim to defining Satanism have long had their own philosophy of music, and
their musical preferences may differ widely from what is popularly seen as
“satanic.” I shall present this philosophy briefly, and argue that although
black metal partakes, to some extent, of the Western demonological tradition,
its lyrics are bad examples of Satanist ideology. I will then propose that a
better entry to understanding Satanist ideology through popular music is to be
found in a less obvious place.
My primary sources for this article are interviews, lyrics,
published texts, Internet discussion boards, and personal discussions with
insiders concerning Satanism, satanic philosophy, and popular music. With regard
to black metal, I will focus on Norwegian bands and the Norwegian situation during
the first half of the 1990s. With regard to satanic philosophy, I view Anton
LaVey’s The Satanic Bible as the primary starting point and to the degree I
depart from his texts, I focus mainly on contemporary discussions among
Scandinavian (mainly Danish) and American Satanists.
NOTE= this article is not the property of this blog and this article is taken from the book called "The Lure of the Dark Side - Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture" so if you are interested in reading such articles the please get it from the link provided below
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