Is Norwegian Black Metal Evil and Satanic?

Did they really partake in 'devil worship rituals' or was this just another invention of the media, as many claim?

I remember reading somewhere that Satyr, of Satyricon, once said: 'We were about 30 people or so in the Inner Circle and no one worshiped the devil or anything like that.'

Samoth, of Emperor, also said of 'devil worship' that it was a 'media creation' and King ov Hell, of Gorgoroth, even named specific Bergen Times journalists who he claimed 'invented the whole thing.'

On the other hand, there is ample evidence that Euronymous did at least pretend to be a devil worshiper for shock value, although he - and the others - hated the Church of Satan and the 'satanic' crowd.

So where is the true story?

Euronymous claimed a lot of things in the later stages of his life. First that he was a communist and wanted to make people disappear like they did in the "Old Regimes of Albania", then that he was tired of "political correctness" and started associating with NS elements (Paul Watson from the UK, Marduk from Sweden, etc).

He also dressed in a cape according to the members of Deicide - of all people - and pretended to be a vampire, though that was after Dead passed away.

As for the other members of the Norwegian scene, few of the bands you hear about today were even part of the so-called "Inner Circle". It was mostly just Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor, Satyricon, Enslaved, and a few select other bands. Notoriously, Immortal was NOT part of it.

Necrobutcher, talking about Euronymous:

He would use Satanism as a way to shock. [...] I don't think he had any real ideology. We all thought he was mentally ill or something.

Source: The Norwegian Scene vs Euronymous on Black Metal and Satan

Which makes sense as he literally had photos of the founder of the Church of Satan with his address and threats to "put them to silence" on the back of early Mayhem demos.

The only band that I can think of that was seriously into Satanism, in the way people understand the concept, is Dissection. And even then, it was only mostly Jon Nödtveidt and the Misantropic Luciferian Order (MLO) which was more of a biker gang that - ironically - had ties to Sweden's far-right political parties (NordNat, SD, etc).

You're saying Dimmu Borgir didn't really engage in human sacrifice ? I'm shocked.

Shocked I tell you, that such an edgy band would be more interested in selling records than preaching the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Satan !

@Babtour: Idk man. Those vocals on For All Tid really sound like someone is being sacrificed. To what cause I dunno but they are pretty out there.

Well you had Gaahl of Gorgoroth go around on MTV saying the entire purpose of black metal was "Satan". They even made a Vice documentary about Gorgoroth in the 2000s claiming they - Gaahl and King ov Hell - invented black metal, when in reality no one had ever heard of Gorgoroth in 1993. Pure poserish behaviour. Should be shamed out of existence.

@Touhou: Yeah Gorgoroth are the definition of late comers, very much like Antekhrist, Watain, Dork Funeral and the rest of the clown show.

But as for serious black metal musicians into "Satanism"? AFAIK there only ever was Euronymous, and that one interview Varg Vikernes, which he claims was tongue in cheek and playing on the gullibility of the interviewer.

I find it pretty hilarious that the entire devil worship gimmick was started as a prank on the media by the Norwegian Inner Circle - Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, occasionally Immortal, Emperor and Taake - and that a decade later a bunch of Swedish spergy death metal kids would take it seriously, swallowing hook, line and sinker. Far from proving they were "in" on it, they only ended up demonstrating they were in fact the involuntary butt of the joke.

@Monstrosity: It wasn't limited to 2000s era Swedish kids.

The only band that I can think of that was seriously into Satanism, in the way people understand the concept, is Dissection. And even then, it was only mostly Jon Nödtveidt and the Misantropic Luciferian Order (MLO) which was more of a biker gang that - ironically - had ties to Sweden's far-right political parties (NordNat, SD, etc).

There was another thread about this exact subject the other week. See Dissection, Nödtveidt and the Misanthropic Luciferian Order. They even mention how Nödtveidt literally believed it was Fenriz, rather than Varg Vikernes/Count Grishnakh, who had killed Euronymous in 1993.

I think Ihsahn was the one saying he had a friend in the media at the time (newspaper), and when they wanted the 1990s equivalent of clickbait, they would run random stories about the Black Metal bands. It was a big deal back then. They would always accuse one or the other of being Satanic, Racist, Fascist, Terrorist, etc. Talk about sensationalism.

Necrobutcher and nearly every other Mayhem member said it was bull from the start. Only Euronymous ever pretended to go along, and they made it clear that he was just pretending. As for Dead, the man who came up with the entire Black Metal aesthetic (well corpse paint comes from Alice Cooper but lol), he was never a Satanist in any meaningful sense. He described himself as raised religious in a 1988 interview (Morbid).

The major sign of bad music is the amalgamation of multiple genres/names/tags to describe it. Example: "Ultra-subterranean lofi symphonic crustgaze blackened punk sludgecore" to describe your run of the mill Phantom or Burzum clone.

So you can imagine how shitty your average "orthodox Luciferian misanthropic black metal" sounds like. Not much outside the early Norwegian scene is worth listening to. Norway is where is has always been at.

They would always accuse one or the other of being Satanic, Racist, Fascist, Terrorist, etc. Talk about sensationalism.

This was mostly made up stories fed to them by the lying pig Metalion/Kristianssen. There is a user who even made an exposé on all Metalion lies in another Morbid related thread. Read it if you want to see how bad the influence of this loser was on the scene and its image. Among other stuff, he claimed Dead was a "bisexual swinger" in Slayer Mag.

@Anti-Dissection: Early underground norwegian black metal was certainly peak music in every way. But not all their bands were good. What do you do about boring stuff like Emperor (who have one good song, and made a career off it?) or garbage like Gorgoroth who play washed up deathcore? And don't even get me started on the Dimmu Burger King.

@Hellfire: Emperor have 0 good songs. Listen to some real black metal or gtfo.

Also this.

They even mention how Nödtveidt literally believed it was Fenriz, rather than Varg Vikernes/Count Grishnakh, who had killed Euronymous in 1993.

Is beyond hilarious. What a moron.