I'm all behind the political
trend of punching and scalping Nazis. Once you wear the swastika symbol or do
the Nazi salute, then you're fair game, you can be beaten, pissed on, burned
and so on, as you, in fact, have shedded your humanity. While this case seems to
me pretty clear, I wonder about others that don't appear to clearly warrant a
violent response. How about someone wearing the communist hammer and sickle
symbol? Is that an endorsement of genocide, given the communist atrocities? I
think people are less inclined to react to the communist mark, partly because
of ignorance, and partly because the communist threat seems so distant and
academic, compared to the Nazi threat, which became hard to ignore especially
after the election of Trump. Also, I'm a bit biased so I wouldn't punch a
comrade.
Things can get pretty tricky
when, like me, you're a leftist who happens to love black metal. The anxiety
about whether the hoodies and band-shirts you wear warrant you getting punched
is a real thing, especially when you yourself are itching for some political
violence. I'm a fan of Revenge, Marduk, and Peste Noire, bands singled out and
boycotted by Antifa as Neo-Nazi. Black metal is an extreme and serious business
and the rise of National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) seems to be a natural
development within a genre aimed at smashing all taboos. Peste Noire is easily
categorized as NS given, among other things, the frontman's, Famine, happily
doing the Nazi salute, a penchant for Third Right memorabilia, and the title of their first
demo, Aryan Supremacy. Revenge is a
bit harder to categorize, in light of their minimalist style and the fact that
they don't publish their lyrics. However, reading through the album and song
titles paints a vivid far-right picture. On Scum.
Collapse. Eradication. you get songs like "Parasite Gallows (In
Line)" or "Burden Eradication (Nailed Down)" Now, if you ask
yourself who are the parasites who need to be nailed down and eradicated, you
can get a clue from titles like "Sterilisation (Procreation Denied)."
Given that Revenge is from Alberta, Canada, where eugenics had been practiced mainly
against Aboriginal People up till the '70s, it's not far-fetched to conclude a
virulent racism against Natives is at work here, with yet another history of
genocide right on its tail. Taking into account the evolution of their style,
their changing aesthetics and the variety of themes behind their music, Marduk
is yet harder to pigeonhole than the previous two acts. Their early output was
straight Anti-Christian Satanic Black Metal. However, the Panzer tanks featured
on their EP Here's no Peace and the Panzer Division Marduk album, as well as the eagle insignia adorning
the cover of their Live in Germania
album, have raised a few eyebrows and placed them straight on the Antifa black
list.
Although NSBM is the more
explicitly political sub-genre of black metal, Satanic Black Metal also has
some grim political implications. Black metal is closely associated with
various forms of Satanism, and it has a cultish, fanatical side to it. And I
don't mean the watered-down, compassionate and humanitarian version of Satanism
defining the Satanic Temple, but the real deal: ruthless destruction of all creation, savage
misanthropy, a celebration of darkness, chaos, and death. This is the ideology
behind towering acts like Behemoth, Satyricon, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Watain,
Marduk, Inquisition, and so on. Now, genuine Satanic Black Metal hasn't
received as much political attention as NSBM, but it goes without saying that it
can be more dangerous. I mean, a real Satanist wants 99% of mankind eradicated
or enslaved by the Luciferian elite, not only the Jews or the Slavs or the
Blacks. If no satanic black flame of rebellion is burning within them, Aryans can line up in front of gas chambers
the same way as other misbegotten races. So, that's a tad worrisome, I'd say. Erik
of Watain eloquently states his views as follows: "For me,
Satan represents
something so much bigger than this world, than this universe, than the creator
of this universe. It is a force that is constantly counteracting the creation
and breaking it down until everything has returned to its totally unlimited
state of chaos." And the natural conclusion comes when Erik states that he
"totally encourage(s) any kind of terrorist acts committed in the name of
Watain."
So then, do I deserve to be
beaten up for wearing a Watain hoodie, just as I should be if I were wearing a
swastika armband? Should I be burned? After all, one of my hoodies claims
"Let the World Burn" and last time I checked I was part of this
world. Also, isn't a leftist supposed to destroy only the ruling class while
waking the working class out of its exploitative slumber and help it build a bright,
majestic, just future? Revenge hoodies have minimalist designs
(skull-and-crossbones, knives, gas masks and so on) and pretty vague inscriptions
("Doom Division," "Total Rejection," "Scum
Eradication," or "Nihilist Militant") so I feel pretty safe wearing them but I've
decided against buying a Panzer Division Marduk hoodie and settled on buying a
flag instead. I thought wearing that hoodie would be in bad taste, especially in
the ugly wake of Trump's election. Plus, what adorns the walls of my place is
private, my business, behind closed doors. The private/public distinction comes
with its own problems. My Facebook account is technically private but social media seems by definition to be
public. And what if I decide to throw a party, does my apartment then suddenly
become a public space for one night?
Philosopher Richard Rorty has an
original understanding of the private/public distinction. In the private sphere, we focus on self-improvement or overcoming ourselves. Or, to put it
differently, we focus on becoming who we are, as opposed to who others want us
to be. Nietzsche, Rorty argues, is a philosopher of the private sphere. His
metaphors regarding war are just meant to highlight the struggles we face on the
road to self-discovery, the struggle of the individual trying to distance himself
from the herd, the master trying not to drown in the sea of degenerate slaves.
For Rorty, privacy also comes with a spiritual and artistic dimension.
Following Whitehead's definition of religion, Rorty characterizes it as
"what you do with your solitude." The artistic impulse, for Nietzsche,
also comes from solitude, and it's aimed at transfiguring the world. This is
also the area of madness and perceived deviance from social norms. On the other
hand, Rorty argues, in the public domain the focus is on the public good, on
social and economic justice, and creating the conditions necessary for
everyone's development, including the gradual reduction of cruelty and
humiliation, which are harmful to the self in general. One example of cruelty
and humiliation is life in totalitarian states where the individual's private
sphere is crushed in the name of a collective purpose. By avoiding cruelty and
humiliation, the public sphere poses only minimal requirements on the
individual, the ones we're familiar with in liberal democracies, while giving
the space to the individual to develop in whatever way he sees fit.
Now, I have to admit I've been
using Rorty's private/public distinction to defend my infatuation with black
metal for a decade now, the idea being that black metal falls mostly in the
private sphere. Incidentally, Ash from Nargaroth has a similar understanding of
Satanism in black metal, one inspired by Nietzsche and Ash's own studies in
psychology. That is the philosophy behind Nargaroth's hit "Black Metal ist krieg!" Marduk's militaristic
imagery and glorification of war can be interpreted in the same Nietzschean
spirit. In addition to the destructive aspect mentioned above, Satanism also
has a more constructive dimension, rooted in its uncompromising individualism.
Echoing Nietzsche's distinction between master and slave morality, Satanism
emphasizes that we're fully responsible for our own lives, we're the authors of
our destiny, not God or our parents or the horde of sheep we happen to live
amongst. Satan is, after all, the romantic rebel angel, the accuser and
opposer, to quote a Marduk song. So then, to a certain degree, bringing satanic
symbols like the inverted pentagram or the inverted cross or the trident into
the public domain is justified as a
constant reminder of a commitment to individual freedom. For a more detailed
discussion of this point see my Satanism Without Gimmicks. Of course, the madness and cultish character
of black metal will also spill into the public sphere some statements that are
hard to justify like "Let The World Burn."
Another important line of defense
here is that black metal is an art form, just extreme music. Now, if the creators of that music also see it as a medium
of communicating a political message, that doesn't imply that the fans of the
music automatically agree with the message. The music itself is
non-representational, it's not about
anything. It can surely give rise to strong emotions but the direction of those
emotions is pretty much left open. Like, Revenge definitely has developed one
of the rawest, most barbaric and confrontational sounds in black metal and one
cannot listen to them without being overwhelmed by burning hatred. But what's
that hatred directed toward? Human scum, parasites? And we saw the meaning the
band attaches to these notions. But why can't the listener attach his own
meaning? Like, imagining beating Trump with a claw hammer and puking down a
hole in his skull. Both leftists and fascists feel burning hatred. The fact
that it's directed at different things doesn't diminish its intensity. Maybe
the song titles and lyrics of black metal bands point to the target of the
hatred? Maybe, but a text is open to various interpretations, and the author's
intended interpretation is just one of many. The Holy Bible, let's say, is a
militant book but not all readers of the Bible agree with its message.
Similarly, I find the lyrics of bands like Behemoth, Watain or Marduk very well
written and aesthetically pleasing, but that's not gonna turn me into a
church-burning Satanic terrorist. In one of their songs, Peste Noire uses a
poem by critically-acclaimed writer Charles Baudelaire. Obviously being exposed to such
sublime art is not gonna turn one into a raving neo-Nazi.
All in all, I don't think the
symbols and statements on black metal merch warrant the automatic violent
response that a swastika armband does. Although someone wearing a Revenge tee
or hoodie that states "Scum Eradication" is kinda asking for it.
These are complicated issues and all I did here was skim the surface. Another
layer to the problem is supporting Nazi-bands or militant Satanic acts with money by buying their merch
and going to their shows. What if that money is used toward terrorist
activities? Then there's blood on your hands? Does that, indirectly, make you a
Nazi? Truthfully, I don't yet have an answer to these important questions.
