Thulean Archives

So were there any Satanists in the Norwegian black metal scene in 1991, 1992 or 1993? Let's find out.^[1] The real quick answer to that is no. And... I can quote the lead investigator in the criminal cases in that scene, who said simply that he had ripped the whole scene apart and gone through it real thoroughly, and he didn't find a single Satanist. And that is the truth. Nobody there were Satanists.^[2] However, many used a satanic imagery, many used a satanic theme, many said that they were Satanists, or claimed that they were Satanists, and some even thought they were Satanists. But none of them were Satanists. What they did, or what we did, was to use a satanic imagery as a provocation, and as a means to show contempt for the established order, so to speak, for the Christian society. And that was it, basically. There were no religious interests in Satanism. No rituals or anything of that sort. It was a purely provocative subject, really. And...^[3] Let me also add that not a single one in that scene thought very highly of The Church of Satan, by Anton Levey. That would be... he changed his name from Anton Levey to Anton LaVey, but I'd prefer to use the name Levey, because so many of my viewers will realize that, oh shit,^[4] when I say that, so I do. Anton Levey. Anyhow, nobody in that scene appreciated him or His Church of Satan one bit. In fact, on the first Burzum album,^[5] we have a crossed-out face of Anton Lévy.^[6] I will stick to the subject here, and stress that the media had a different opinion. The media, for some reason, wanted to promote The Church of Satan, and present it as THE Black Metal Thing. So, they didn't interview anybody about it, because they couldn't find anybody who wanted to talk about it, because everybody went negative. So instead, they said in some talk shows and on radio and so forth,^[7] that the Black Metal scene was satanic, and then they interviewed some experts on Satanism, and presented it as if the scene was "Church of Satan" satanic, so to speak. Never was. But with time, what this created was an interest in The Church of Satan, not in the Black Metal scene, but in all the new guys who wanted to be part of the Black Metal scene,^[8] and who eventually became a majority, and also, in a sense, took over. So, The Church of Satan and Satanism became a part of the scene, although it never was, and although it was the expressed opinion of everybody in the scene, that The Church of Satan was shit. So, it's kind of interesting. That's one thing. And also the image of the Black Metal image with leather jackets and these stupid boots with metal plate on the front, and nails and all that. This was created based on interviews with some guys who were just in the periphery of the scene, and to be specific, the guys in Satyricon. As you probably, many of you know, I mentioned in one documentary that Fenris and I discussed cornflakes one day in the shop as a reaction to one of these absolute clowns who entered the shop, who looked so over-the-top stupid that even Euronymous, who wanted a Black Metal image that was similar to that, thought it was stupid. And who do you think that was?^[9] Make a guess. That was the drummer of Satyricon. And that was also the band whom they used along with Immortal, who also looked over-the-top stupid. No need to stress that, everybody knows that. And these two bands were used to create the "How to Look" image for young, wannabe Black Metalers. So you had the Church of Satan, Satanism, and you had a Black Metal clown image. And this was pushed by the media. This is what became the Black Metal thing. Looking stupid, thinking Satanism is cool,^[10] or rather the Levey version of it. I never liked this development, so to speak, to put it mildly. Bye-bye. And to those who think they know better than me about this: What makes you think you do?

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1. About Satanism in the Norwegian Black Metal Scene 1991-1993
2. The mainstream media was not too eager to quote him on that though, I may add...
3. Euronymous wanted others to think otherwise, but in reality, he was not a Satanist performing Satanic rituals or anything like that either.
4. Oy vey! Stop this goy! Shut him down NOW!
5. Actually, it was on the 'Aske' EP, not the Burzum debut album. Sorry about that.
6. 2 minute anti-Anton Levi/Lavey rant removed from video for legal reasons. Thank the gods for the editing function on my video-making software, so to speak.
7. Their motivation? To confuse: By presenting a FALSE alternative, the REAL alternative (genuine anti-Christian sentiments) comes in the background.
8. You can actually tell if a band was a part of the Norwegian Black Metal scene or not, by their view on Anton Levi and the Church of Satan. If they use his imagery and talk warmly about him, they were NOT a part of the original scene.
9. The guy does look less stupid after he has a nose job though.
10. Black Metal post Spring 1339 = a PARODY of the original Black Metal.