Necronomicon - Photo Credit Navneet Johal
| Author: Aaron Chatterpaul Often people who interpret Heavy Metal as being too loud or too noisy do not understand the aesthetics of the style. The many styles of and sub-genres of Heavy Metal are often attributed as the cause for the youth’s rebellion against their superiors (such as their elder and the government), their turn against religion and acts of suicide. In his book “Unveiling Satan’s Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal”, Jonathan Cordero, argues that Christianity is the cause of many social problems, and reason for the suffocation of the human spirit. He refers to the rebellion toward Christianity in the Black Metal sub-genre. He explains that heavy metal |
allows an emotional release of the human spirit and can express frustration towards sensitive subjects (without resorting to physical violence). If Metal is described an expressive form of art, why is metal often generalized as unruly?
Many people do not understand the aggressive nature of Metal because of its destructive musical sound and strongly worded lyrics. Politics and parents believe that the qualities found in the Heavy Metal style turn young people into rage junkies. In his book “Bringing Metal to the Children” Zakk Wylde claims that as long as there are troubled or angry children, Heavy Metal will always have a place in this world. He also establishes the phrase “Going berserk.”1 According to Zakk Wylde, when one goes berserk, they reach a breaking point of adrenaline in either performance or deep listening, expressing various emotions in an intense form. If Heavy Metal is about the expression of emotion, how can Heavy Metal be the cause of emotional issues or suicide? These are questions that one should ask before blaming Heavy Metal for the anger or emotional dysfunctions of today’s youth. Other genres of music, such as country also have songs advocating suicide, though does not suffer the same stigma.
The aggressive nature of Heavy Metal is highly feared. If Heavy Metal was contraband because of its intense aggressive nature, young people with anger issues or emotional dysfunctions wouldn’t have a way to express these emotions which could result in more suicides or violent acts. Heavy Metal is antagonised as the genre that supposedly influence young people to misbehave or commit suicide in the public eye. Heavy Metal is a genre that was built on pure rage, frustration and on an unorthodox form of musical expression, which many teenagers and young people portray. The unorthodox expressive nature of Heavy Metal is frowned upon in the public eye because of the inclusion of satanic imagery, political controversy and its violent roots. The public may look down on the violent nature found in Heavy Metal, but these concepts are the only way for emotional individuals to reflect their inner ambitions or to get their adrenaline flowing.
The Black Metal genre is supposedly one of many reasons why an abundance of young people committed suicide due to the nature and history of the style. Mayhem vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin (also known as “Dead”) committed suicide while alone in a house shared by his band. Dead was described as odd, introverted and depressed. Before performing on stage he went to great lengths to make himself resemble a walking corpse. His onstage ritual would include cutting his arms while singing. Black Metal was originally used as a term for extreme metal bands with Satanic and anti-Christian lyrics. Today, the most common lyrical theme is opposition to Christianity and other religions. Many artists write lyrics that seemed to promote atheism, antitheism, paganism or Satanism. Other themes found in Black Metal include depression, nihilism, misanthropy, death and other dark topics. In the early 1990s, many Norwegian black metal fans posed as morose devil worshippers who wanted to spread hatred, sorrow and evil. In “Lords of Chaos Book” Michael Moynihan, mentions that most of the “first wave” (foundation of Black Metal) bands were not Satanists, but merely used Satanism to provoke Christianity. 2 He also explains that many Black Metal artists (such as Dead) felt the need to provoke Christianity because they wanted to vanquish the last bit of Christianity within themselves. The Black Metal artists were forced into Christianity at an early age, believing what they are told to believe. Many of them felt suffocated and grief-stricken within the religion. As a result, they proceeded to extreme measures to strike fear into modern day Christians, so that they would be left alone as their own social group.
Musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene took part in over 50 arsons of Christian churches in Norway from June “1992 to 1996.” Some of the buildings were hundreds of years old and seen as important historical landmarks.3 Many individuals brought into custody for the church burnings have said that their actions were a symbolic retaliation against Christianity in Norway. The reasoning for the church burnings differs among the members of the black metal community. Members of the Black Metal band Gorgoroth have praised the church burnings. Due to the fact that Gorgoroth is one of many Anti-Christian Black Metal bands, they felt the need to promote future church burnings. On the other hand, members of the band Mayhem have condemned this act. In “Unveiling Satan’s Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal”, Jonathan Cordero explains that the church burning occurred because individuals were trying to gain acceptance, approval and status within the Black Metal Community.
Black Metal is designed to present a controversial statement religious public. Many fans and musicians of this genre truly execrate religion, but have no other way to fully express their aversions. Many young people are antagonized by their peers or their parents for not practising a religion. Black Metal was the main sub-genre of metal that these anti-religious individuals would turn to in their time of need. As said by Cordero in his book “Unveiling Satan’s Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal”, it is mainly conservative parents and politicians who accuse young people for worshiping Satan, if they are not regularly practicing religion. Though Black Metal musicians were not originally Satanists, they took more of a satanic image due to the constant vex of the public eye. The dark lyrics in this style of music were not written to be taken literally, as they were written for the sole purpose of free expression.
Heavy metal has always touched on social and political issues. Metal bands such as Black Sabbath criticized the Vietnam War in their songs “War Pigs” and “Children of the Grave.” Other song such as Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” was an angry denunciation of the displacement of the First Nations people. The resulting criticism from dark imagery led to the use of “Parental Advisory” labels on their music. Heavy Metal caused paranoia to parents of teenagers. They blamed the music for causing teenagers to commit suicide. Ozzy Osbourne’s “dark music” was blamed for causing people to take their own lives. Ozzy’s song "Suicide Solution" was blame acts of suicide. Rather than advocating suicide, the song was a statement against alcohol abuse. The "solution" did not refer to an answer to a problem; but rather mixture of an alcoholic drink. The lyrics in this song, as well as many other Metal songs, were misinterpreted by politicians and media. In 1985, two American men, (under the influence of alcohol and marijuana) made a suicide pact while listening to Judas Priest albums. A of couple hours later, they attempted to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the head. One of the men died instantly, while the other survived (but had destroyed most of his face.)4 Politicians and media blamed Heavy Metal for the ordeal, ignoring the fact that they were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The mass media and politicians use the aggressive nature of Heavy Metal as a scapegoat to cover up mistakes and conspiracies caused by the government or the media. In the film documentary “Bowling for Columbine” (directed by Michael Moore), Moore questions Marilyn Manson about his music and image being blamed for causing teen violence. In the interview, Manson mentions that he feels that his music is being used as a scapegoat for the world’s real issue. Within his argument, he mentions that President Bush shoots bombs overseas while Manson is the bad guy his music. “The President was shooting bombs overseas, yet I'm a bad guy because I, ell I sing some rock-and-roll songs, and who's a bigger influence, the President or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to think me, but I'm going to go with the President.”5 Heavy Metal is antagonized by the United States government for the violent nature within its culture, yet hypocritically performs acts of violence on a much larger scale. In Bowling for Columbine Manson states “I think that's really ironic, that nobody said 'well maybe the President had an influence on this violent behavior,' because that's not the way the media wants to take it and spin it, and turn it into fear, because then you're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear, there's floods, there's AIDS, there's murder, cut to commercial, buy the Acura, buy the Colgate, if you have bad breath they're not going to talk to you, if you have pimples, the girl's not going to fuck you, and it's just this campaign of fear, and consumption, and that's what I think it's all based on, the whole idea of ‘keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume.’ In this quote, Manson was elaborate on the concept of the government using dark music to cover up their own violent acts while trying to profit from the public’s fear. Manson demonstrates a great understanding of why the mass media and the government use his face as the symbol of fear. “I definitely can see why they would pick me. Because I think it's easy to throw my face on the TV, because in the end, I'm a poster boy for fear. Because I represent what everyone is afraid of, because I say and do whatever I want.” In this quote, Manson mentions that he does and says what he wants. Like many other Heavy Metal artist, Marilyn Manson is not bothered by the government and media blaming them for young people acting out. It’s because of artists such as Marilyn Manson that young people are still alive. “When I was a kid growing up, music was the escape. That's the only thing that had no judgments. You know, you put on a record, and it's not going to yell at you for dressing the way you do. It's going to make you feel better about it.” Manson and many other Heavy Metal artists live by the concepts found in this quote. The tradition of Heavy Metal is to present angry young people with a sense of escape from judgement. The aggressive lyrics and timbres of the music provide many people that sense of comfort and acceptance.
Though the controversy mostly centers on heavy metal, many other musical genres, such as country music have been accused of promoting suicide as well. There is contention that the themes found in a lot of country music promote a suicidal mood amongst those people who are already depressed and at risk of suicide.6 There are plenty of country songs about cheating spouses, financial problems, and alcohol abuse, which are thought to foster a suicidal state. Themes found in country music nurture a suicidal mood among people already at risk of suicide. So why it is that only Heavy Metal is pestered by the media for suicides? Country artist such as Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, or Carrie Underwood are not consider as controversial as Heavy Metal artists, despite the outcome of the study. No one made the accusation of Garth Brooks’ music being Satanic, or that he is the Anti-Christ, despite the fact his song "The Night Will Only Know", which is about a woman committing suicide.
If the Heavy Metal genre was not always a mass media pariah, the individuals within its culture would not feel the need to use to such extreme procedures to provoke Christianity, the media and the government. When the Black Metal fans and artists were committing arsons in churches, they were retaliating upon the Christian community judging their beliefs and aesthetics. As the Black Metal community grew, they were further judged by the Christian community. Certain individual believe that writing music is an excellent way to fully express how one feels about any given subject. The Heavy Metal community is full of angry individuals that express their rage by writing music about government issues or even physical violence. If enraged Heavy Metal artists are angry, why should they be judged based on their lyrics or playing style? It is highly unlikely that an angry person will write music about unicorns or rainbows. If an artist or songwriter has an issue with either the government or even religion, they should have the right to fully express how they feel about the subject. If the public did not antagonise Heavy Metal the way they did, a lot of controversy could have been avoided. If Heavy Metal fans are being labelled as Satanist or out of control individuals, some will act in the role which they have been labelled (following Tannenbaum’s theory of “tagging”.)7 Heavy Metal has shown examples of reacting to provocation. As long as there are angry and enraged individuals that crave adrenaline, there will always be Heavy Metal.
1 Zakk Wylde, Bringing Metal to the Children, (HarperCollins, 2010).
2 Michael Moynihan, Lords Of Chaos, (Port Townsend, Washington: Feral House, 1998).
3 Jonathan Cordero, Unveiling Satan's Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal,
4 Antonia Monacelli to Music Makes You Kill Yourself online forum, September 7, 2011, Can Music Influence You To Do Something You Normally Wouldn't?.
5 Moore, Michael, "Bowling For Columbine," Michael Moore, October 11, 2002,
6 Steven Stack, "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide," Social Forces, 71, no. 1 (1992): pp.
7 Frank Tannenbaum, Crime and the community, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957).
The aggressive nature of Heavy Metal is highly feared. If Heavy Metal was contraband because of its intense aggressive nature, young people with anger issues or emotional dysfunctions wouldn’t have a way to express these emotions which could result in more suicides or violent acts. Heavy Metal is antagonised as the genre that supposedly influence young people to misbehave or commit suicide in the public eye. Heavy Metal is a genre that was built on pure rage, frustration and on an unorthodox form of musical expression, which many teenagers and young people portray. The unorthodox expressive nature of Heavy Metal is frowned upon in the public eye because of the inclusion of satanic imagery, political controversy and its violent roots. The public may look down on the violent nature found in Heavy Metal, but these concepts are the only way for emotional individuals to reflect their inner ambitions or to get their adrenaline flowing.
The Black Metal genre is supposedly one of many reasons why an abundance of young people committed suicide due to the nature and history of the style. Mayhem vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin (also known as “Dead”) committed suicide while alone in a house shared by his band. Dead was described as odd, introverted and depressed. Before performing on stage he went to great lengths to make himself resemble a walking corpse. His onstage ritual would include cutting his arms while singing. Black Metal was originally used as a term for extreme metal bands with Satanic and anti-Christian lyrics. Today, the most common lyrical theme is opposition to Christianity and other religions. Many artists write lyrics that seemed to promote atheism, antitheism, paganism or Satanism. Other themes found in Black Metal include depression, nihilism, misanthropy, death and other dark topics. In the early 1990s, many Norwegian black metal fans posed as morose devil worshippers who wanted to spread hatred, sorrow and evil. In “Lords of Chaos Book” Michael Moynihan, mentions that most of the “first wave” (foundation of Black Metal) bands were not Satanists, but merely used Satanism to provoke Christianity. 2 He also explains that many Black Metal artists (such as Dead) felt the need to provoke Christianity because they wanted to vanquish the last bit of Christianity within themselves. The Black Metal artists were forced into Christianity at an early age, believing what they are told to believe. Many of them felt suffocated and grief-stricken within the religion. As a result, they proceeded to extreme measures to strike fear into modern day Christians, so that they would be left alone as their own social group.
Musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene took part in over 50 arsons of Christian churches in Norway from June “1992 to 1996.” Some of the buildings were hundreds of years old and seen as important historical landmarks.3 Many individuals brought into custody for the church burnings have said that their actions were a symbolic retaliation against Christianity in Norway. The reasoning for the church burnings differs among the members of the black metal community. Members of the Black Metal band Gorgoroth have praised the church burnings. Due to the fact that Gorgoroth is one of many Anti-Christian Black Metal bands, they felt the need to promote future church burnings. On the other hand, members of the band Mayhem have condemned this act. In “Unveiling Satan’s Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal”, Jonathan Cordero explains that the church burning occurred because individuals were trying to gain acceptance, approval and status within the Black Metal Community.
Black Metal is designed to present a controversial statement religious public. Many fans and musicians of this genre truly execrate religion, but have no other way to fully express their aversions. Many young people are antagonized by their peers or their parents for not practising a religion. Black Metal was the main sub-genre of metal that these anti-religious individuals would turn to in their time of need. As said by Cordero in his book “Unveiling Satan’s Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal”, it is mainly conservative parents and politicians who accuse young people for worshiping Satan, if they are not regularly practicing religion. Though Black Metal musicians were not originally Satanists, they took more of a satanic image due to the constant vex of the public eye. The dark lyrics in this style of music were not written to be taken literally, as they were written for the sole purpose of free expression.
Heavy metal has always touched on social and political issues. Metal bands such as Black Sabbath criticized the Vietnam War in their songs “War Pigs” and “Children of the Grave.” Other song such as Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” was an angry denunciation of the displacement of the First Nations people. The resulting criticism from dark imagery led to the use of “Parental Advisory” labels on their music. Heavy Metal caused paranoia to parents of teenagers. They blamed the music for causing teenagers to commit suicide. Ozzy Osbourne’s “dark music” was blamed for causing people to take their own lives. Ozzy’s song "Suicide Solution" was blame acts of suicide. Rather than advocating suicide, the song was a statement against alcohol abuse. The "solution" did not refer to an answer to a problem; but rather mixture of an alcoholic drink. The lyrics in this song, as well as many other Metal songs, were misinterpreted by politicians and media. In 1985, two American men, (under the influence of alcohol and marijuana) made a suicide pact while listening to Judas Priest albums. A of couple hours later, they attempted to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the head. One of the men died instantly, while the other survived (but had destroyed most of his face.)4 Politicians and media blamed Heavy Metal for the ordeal, ignoring the fact that they were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The mass media and politicians use the aggressive nature of Heavy Metal as a scapegoat to cover up mistakes and conspiracies caused by the government or the media. In the film documentary “Bowling for Columbine” (directed by Michael Moore), Moore questions Marilyn Manson about his music and image being blamed for causing teen violence. In the interview, Manson mentions that he feels that his music is being used as a scapegoat for the world’s real issue. Within his argument, he mentions that President Bush shoots bombs overseas while Manson is the bad guy his music. “The President was shooting bombs overseas, yet I'm a bad guy because I, ell I sing some rock-and-roll songs, and who's a bigger influence, the President or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to think me, but I'm going to go with the President.”5 Heavy Metal is antagonized by the United States government for the violent nature within its culture, yet hypocritically performs acts of violence on a much larger scale. In Bowling for Columbine Manson states “I think that's really ironic, that nobody said 'well maybe the President had an influence on this violent behavior,' because that's not the way the media wants to take it and spin it, and turn it into fear, because then you're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear, there's floods, there's AIDS, there's murder, cut to commercial, buy the Acura, buy the Colgate, if you have bad breath they're not going to talk to you, if you have pimples, the girl's not going to fuck you, and it's just this campaign of fear, and consumption, and that's what I think it's all based on, the whole idea of ‘keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume.’ In this quote, Manson was elaborate on the concept of the government using dark music to cover up their own violent acts while trying to profit from the public’s fear. Manson demonstrates a great understanding of why the mass media and the government use his face as the symbol of fear. “I definitely can see why they would pick me. Because I think it's easy to throw my face on the TV, because in the end, I'm a poster boy for fear. Because I represent what everyone is afraid of, because I say and do whatever I want.” In this quote, Manson mentions that he does and says what he wants. Like many other Heavy Metal artist, Marilyn Manson is not bothered by the government and media blaming them for young people acting out. It’s because of artists such as Marilyn Manson that young people are still alive. “When I was a kid growing up, music was the escape. That's the only thing that had no judgments. You know, you put on a record, and it's not going to yell at you for dressing the way you do. It's going to make you feel better about it.” Manson and many other Heavy Metal artists live by the concepts found in this quote. The tradition of Heavy Metal is to present angry young people with a sense of escape from judgement. The aggressive lyrics and timbres of the music provide many people that sense of comfort and acceptance.
Though the controversy mostly centers on heavy metal, many other musical genres, such as country music have been accused of promoting suicide as well. There is contention that the themes found in a lot of country music promote a suicidal mood amongst those people who are already depressed and at risk of suicide.6 There are plenty of country songs about cheating spouses, financial problems, and alcohol abuse, which are thought to foster a suicidal state. Themes found in country music nurture a suicidal mood among people already at risk of suicide. So why it is that only Heavy Metal is pestered by the media for suicides? Country artist such as Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, or Carrie Underwood are not consider as controversial as Heavy Metal artists, despite the outcome of the study. No one made the accusation of Garth Brooks’ music being Satanic, or that he is the Anti-Christ, despite the fact his song "The Night Will Only Know", which is about a woman committing suicide.
If the Heavy Metal genre was not always a mass media pariah, the individuals within its culture would not feel the need to use to such extreme procedures to provoke Christianity, the media and the government. When the Black Metal fans and artists were committing arsons in churches, they were retaliating upon the Christian community judging their beliefs and aesthetics. As the Black Metal community grew, they were further judged by the Christian community. Certain individual believe that writing music is an excellent way to fully express how one feels about any given subject. The Heavy Metal community is full of angry individuals that express their rage by writing music about government issues or even physical violence. If enraged Heavy Metal artists are angry, why should they be judged based on their lyrics or playing style? It is highly unlikely that an angry person will write music about unicorns or rainbows. If an artist or songwriter has an issue with either the government or even religion, they should have the right to fully express how they feel about the subject. If the public did not antagonise Heavy Metal the way they did, a lot of controversy could have been avoided. If Heavy Metal fans are being labelled as Satanist or out of control individuals, some will act in the role which they have been labelled (following Tannenbaum’s theory of “tagging”.)7 Heavy Metal has shown examples of reacting to provocation. As long as there are angry and enraged individuals that crave adrenaline, there will always be Heavy Metal.
1 Zakk Wylde, Bringing Metal to the Children, (HarperCollins, 2010).
2 Michael Moynihan, Lords Of Chaos, (Port Townsend, Washington: Feral House, 1998).
3 Jonathan Cordero, Unveiling Satan's Wrath: Aesthetics and Ideology in Anti-Christian Heavy Metal,
4 Antonia Monacelli to Music Makes You Kill Yourself online forum, September 7, 2011, Can Music Influence You To Do Something You Normally Wouldn't?.
5 Moore, Michael, "Bowling For Columbine," Michael Moore, October 11, 2002,
6 Steven Stack, "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide," Social Forces, 71, no. 1 (1992): pp.
7 Frank Tannenbaum, Crime and the community, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957).
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