| |
|
It is a tough one isn't it..
I think you've got to look at things on a subjective, personal level really.. I don't think there thought be any strict rules on the matter of what is/isn't acceptable listening..
And no, I don't think I'd go out of my way to listen to Burzum, as Varg Vickarnes is a violent self proclaimed white supremacist who uses his music to raise money which goes toward propagating his beliefs via some weird organisation he's set up, and is generally crazy and repulsive in every single way. So - I don't intend on buying/listening to music made by card-carrying murderous nazis. That's that one sorted out.
But the unsavoury connections of Black Metal don't end there - it's not a case of saying "he's a nazi, but those other guys are ok" - violent misanthropism and extreme beliefs are a big part of the whole thing - read any issue of Terrorizer and you're likely to find an interview with some corpse-painted so-and-so carrying on about how he's "superior to the human scum" or whatever, and mostly that kind of persona is just a matter of staying consistent with the tone of the music (I always end up puzzled by these metal bands who endlessly make music dedicated to violence, hatred and pain and then are sure to reassure everybody that they're really a nice, happy bunch of chaps). It goes with the territory to some extent.
I first got interested in black metal last year for, well, anthropological reasons I suppose.. just morbid fascination with these crazy guys who listened to all that Venom and Slayer stuff and *took it seriously* .. listening to the music is definitely a forbidden thrill.. just this incredibly intense noise made by these guys who geniunely despise modernity and want to be merciless viking killers striding through the dark forests blah blah blah.. it's quite something. It really transcends it's origins in trashy heavy metal and connects with the darkest aspects of the German romantic tradition, with an atmosphere of negativity and decay and isolation that I find a lot more convincing than any music that's emerged from the goth scene.. but you've also got to deal with the ideological implications of this tradition (think Wagner, "Romantic Nationalism", the romantic notions behind Nazism), and of course the whole thing is just an absurd and potentially dangerous pretention when it expands beyond the artistic realm into actual life.. which unfortunately it did, in 1993-94 (I won't bother recapping the details, I'm sure you can look them up if you're unfamiliar with the whole thing).
So, basically, I've grown to really like the music and aesthetic of Darkthrone, Emperor, Abruptum etc. None of them are avowedly nazi bands of course. As in other musical genres, openly racist/fascistic metal bands have an incredibly hard time getting anywhere, as their beliefs deny them access to the vast majority of potential listeners, record labels, shops etc. - and rightly so of course!
But what with the inevitable concentration on dark and unpleasant subject matter in metal, there are some huge, huge grey areas, and I still feel some ethical uncertainty about liking it..
For instance: consulting my 'Guide to Extreme Metal' (every home should have one!), I discover that Emperor's original drummer (Faust) has spent most of the last decade in prison for murdering a gay man who tried to proposition him. For fairly obvious reasons he hasn't played on the band's records and to my knowledge has contributed next to nothing to their music, but nevertheless it appears he's still on good terms with his bandmates and has written some (not obviously objectionable) lyrics for their (sensitively named) side project band, Zyklon. A metal magazine recently ran a brief telephone interview with him, making no mention of his crime.
Now, I mean, these days the Emperor/Zyklon guys seem fairly chilled out sort of dudes. They don't do maniac publicity stunts, they do interviews where they talk about things in a pretty reasonable manner and disassociate themselves from fascism and violence, they make good music and it gets good reviews and sells pretty well.. but stuff like the thing with the drummer makes you wonder.. I'm sure if he'd worked in any other musical scene, it would have completely disowned him, but the black metal world doesn't seem all that bothered that he stabbed a guy to death..
So my conclusion? I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. Just, well, just beacuse. Listening to music made by people who are channeling extreme emotions and ideas is paret of the appeal and, many would say, the entire point, and I think the same argument used by reggae fans regarding homophobia in dancehall applies (despite the fact that, as I'll again remind you, the music in question here is rarely ever actively objectionable in political terms): it has to be looked at in context, and for better or worse, immersing yourself in the context that created these mad neo-pagan goth-viking warriors with electric guitars is kind of fascinating.. |
|
|
