Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

Heavy Metal Music 107
AC/DC, 1977 (Archive Photos)
murder of another musician. He continues to be
popular among black metalists, writing articles
and music from prison.
Mayhem, the band who lost a member to the
founder of Burzum, is perhaps the most influential
Northern black metal group. One of their
most well-known songs is “Carnage,” another
Mayhem tune is “Deathcrush.” As indicated by the
burning of Christian churches and other antisocial
acts, for some black metal groups violence is
more than just a topic for sensationalistic song
lyrics. More characteristic than violence, however,
is black metal’s sustained assault on Christianity.
For example, black metal bands often sport such
names as Fallen Christ, Diabolos Rising, Impaled
Nazarene, and Rotting Christ.
Although black metal is deeply interested in
Satan and Satanism, black metalists typically
despise organized Satanic groups such as the
Temple of Set or the Church of Satan, viewing
them as moderate or even as liberal organizations.
This “liberal” strand of Satanism initiated
by the work of Anton LaVey is viewed as overly
individualistic, as being in bed with capitalism,
and as being more interested in words than in
actions. In contrast, black metal sees itself as
more aligned with Nordic racialism and neo-
Nazism, and thus opposed to the liberal, capitalist,
and individualistic orientation of the LaVeyan
tradition. The majority of such organizations are
overtly Nazi. For example, the Order of the Nine
Angles’s Black Mass asserts that “Adolf Hitler was
sent by the Gods to lead us into greatness,” and
Hitler is worshiped along with Lucifer. Thus
almost all of the tiny Satanist religious groups
active in black metal circles—groups like the
Order of the Nine Angles, the Ordo Sinistra
Vivendi, and the Black Order—are new organizations
that have arisen among black metalists for
black metalists, and represent a strand of spirituality
distinctly different from, and even at odds
with, LaVeyan Satanism.
See also Goth Subculture; Hell’s Angels; Night Stalker
For Further Reading:
Baddeley, Gavin. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship
and Rock’n’Roll. London: Plexus, 1999.
Introvigne, Massimo. “The Gothic Milieu: Black
Metal, Satanism, and Vampires.”
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/gothic.htm.