In case you didn’t know, extreme metal is a passion of mine. In particular, I really enjoy black metal, a form of music that came out of the frozen countries of Scandinavia, especially Norway. The epic imagery that the music conjures is second to none.

If explaining my love of death metal to people is difficult, then doing so for black metal makes it look like a walk in the park by comparison. Death metal may be loud, growly, and fast, but the folks involved with that scene didn’t go off the damned reservation the way many black metal band members and fans did. The gangsta rap world has a notorious reputation for acts of violence, but I think black metal surpasses that. Not only were people involved in the scene killing each other as well as innocent people, there was also violent suicide and widespread destruction of property, notably the burning down of Christian churches. This was done in defiance of Christianity’s supplanting of the pagan religions common throughout Scandinavia’s history. Then there’s the idiotic racism and other prejudice displayed by some black metal musicians. Put simply…some of these guys are fucking nuts. (For further reading on the subject, I highly recommend the book Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground.)

With all of that notoriety practically eclipsing the music, it’s hard to prove to people that one can enjoy the music without all of the assorted baggage. I’ve always been a proponent of separating a creator’s personal life and actions from their media, but with black metal, it’s hard for people unfamiliar with the scene to make that distinction, because everything is seemingly intertwined. I’ve gotten some horrified looks when I tell people about this stuff, let me tell you, and those looks almost always mean that I’m somehow fucked up for enjoying the music. Even if I point out how incredibly ridiculous some black metal bands look, due to heavy use of corpsepaint, spikes, and leather, it doesn’t seem to help.

So, I’m often left with just shrugging my shoulders in disgust. People are often going to remain ignorant, no matter what opinions are brought up to the contrary. My only regret is that I didn’t get into black metal back in high school. Maybe people would’ve left me alone!