My Titles Are a Game of Two Truths/ One Lie: Racism, Black Metal, and Paul Newman Eating as Many Eggs as He can
Video version here: https://youtu.be/wT3mVSpGLiw
So there’s this subgenre.
He’s kinda cute.
But ugh, what a douchebag!
Metal, yeah, the black kind.
Metal has always had this problem that I’m sure you’re aware of. From Pantera’s Phil Anselmo giving white power salutes to Varg Vikernes and his stupid beliefs, there has often been racism in metal. The latest in the long line of poo lords include the band Horna platforming(and being) neo-nazis, Behemoth’s Nergal advocating through t-shirts that people should kill Antifa members, and, of course, a black metal fan who decided to set fire to a historically black church. Naturally, a lot of keystrokes have been dedicated to how the Trump presidency divided the metal community because it thinned the veil of apoliticality people hide behind. I want to look at some of the things that make metal a fertile breeding ground for the far-right.
- Satanism and Nihilism are goofy, Sorry nerds
Satanism, as far as it’s used in black metal, is defined less by what it believes and more by what it rejects. It’s a rejection of Christianity, but it often does not define what about Christianity it does not like. If one makes the problem the people and not their actions, it becomes dogmatic. This has led to hatred of Christians, Jews, and minorities. White nationalism out of a rejection of Christianity is odd since I think the biggest reason to protest Christianity is its use to defend slavery, its intolerance towards gays, and biblical defenses of misogyny. If satanism is a real religion it should be more direct about its points. This absence of an ideology allows people to use it for the same if not worse ends than the norm it fights against. There’s plenty of room for bands to critique religion specifically. I personally think of Billy woods saying “Christianity is cultural appropriation” in a song. That’s heavier than a hundred inverted crosses. I would like to see a more involved critique of religion in this music which would seem to lend itself to it, often being explicit in its opposition to religion.
Metal is often seen as a critique of the world as it is, but unfortunately, it tends to dull its critiques with nihilism. I don’t want to say that no one should make downtrodden or nihilistic music; there are legitimate reasons to be hopeless, and sometimes it can serve as an escape for both the artist and the listener. I’m just pointing out that nihilism often doesn’t justify itself. Despair does not need a reason. If it isn’t clear what the lack of hope is about and the lyrics are hard to interpret, as they often are in metal, a song about a loved one dying and a song about the tragedy of the decline of “Western Culture” can sound the same. I think the same could be said about anger. It’s important to say what you’re angry about. Metal often leaves this up in the air, and it lets fascists insert their rhetoric. Music does not need to come equipped with rhetoric, but the people with the harmful ideas have it already, so people must provide alternatives.
2. Intolerance of Intolerance
Tolerance should never be for the sake of tolerance. Metal has set itself apart as separate from normal society and its “normal” ideas. This comes with the tendency to accept any and all world views in the name of absolute freedom, but absolute freedom should be the freedom of all people. If anyone exercises this freedom to control others they are breaking this contract by imposing on someone else. This should not be accepted. Some view this as intolerant, but to maximize tolerance on the whole it is necessary to stand up to the intolerant. The metal community needs to learn this because there’s a difference between open-mindedness and disagreement. Oppressive ideas don’t hold up to scrutiny, it’s not that they’re just too out there to ever be considered.
3. You’ve Been Had
The title’s lies actually had to do with the number of lies and truths. There were three truths, two lies, and in Cool Hand Luke Paul Newman eats 50 eggs. It’s sick.
4. The Illusion of both sides
Trump’s election has made many people decide because it made it impossible to simply be “apolitical”. It really always has been, as a refusal to act because “I don’t get political” is political. Antifa and Black Lives Matter are a response to active oppression, so indifference states that you’re okay with that. This shows why claims to apoliticality aren’t true. Nergal’s statement included, “we bow neither left nor right,” but it is clear who he sides with. In fact, he’s threatening to kill lefties. I think in some ways the two-party system of elections is felt here. Many people claim a sort of centrism because both sides get it wrong. It is true that both sides get it wrong, but both sides are part of the oppressive class. Now, don’t despair, you have many forms of direct action, you can still vote, though your vote doesn’t mean much, donate to worthy causes, help to feed the needy, join an anarchist organization, or start a totally radical, posi, explicitly left-anarchist black metal band with your humble narrator.
Class-interest is a helpful lens to view issues like this because it doesn’t lump all thought outside of Capitalist-liberal or Capitalist-republican together. To see what someone believes we should try to see where their class sympathies lie. I think these would be helpful terms to set up in the metal community because the left-right way of defining political beliefs isn’t entirely accurate and more explicit statements of belief would stop fascists from using the genre to recruit members. Also like, the music could spread positive ideas, which would be good, right?
