Let’s “understand” Black Metal
Posted by The Accidental Lyricist on 08 Jan 2006 at 8:11 am | Tagged as: meanings, protest, religion
What is it with Black Metal? It reminds me of early punk when the goal was to be outrageous at any cost (remember the Christ crucified over a Swastika T-shirt?). But then people began to take it at face value and it became a whole lot less funny.
So is Black Metal an elaborate joke? Can they be for real? I still find it hard to believe. But I could be wrong. In any case, I have been given a lesson in open-mindedness by… a Jesuit priest! This report from Blabbermouth covers the comments of religious bodies in Malaysia about Black Metal. Many obviously balk at the lyrics. But I give pride of place to Fr Jojo Fung: “Of course, the anti-Christ ideology is rejected by the Catholic Church but at the same time, we must recognise that many use this kind of music as a form of social protest. Do not sit back and judge them without understanding why they are subjecting themselves to the culture,” he added.
See Blabbermouth for some interesting comments (and some others that sound like Beavis and Butthead).