Norway to train diplomats in black metal

[I disagree]

The government of Norway has begun offering training for foreign diplomats in black metal, following a reported rise in global interest in the genre.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/09/norway-diplomats-black-metal

Not sure how to feel about this. While it's great that black metal has been deemed important enough for diplomats to learn about, and I'm not exactly sure what principles will be taught, I would hope they did their research, and not get all their info from Dimmu Borgir.

[Dinaric Leather]

I would hope they did their research

Haha, come on, lets get real. These diplomats wouldn't be extolling the true virtues of Black Metal, that would make Norway very unpopular, and you know what that means.

[August]

The government of Norway has begun offering training for foreign diplomats in black metal, following a reported rise in global interest in the genre.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/09/norway-diplomats-black-metal

Not sure how to feel about this. While it's great that black metal has been deemed important enough for diplomats to learn about, and I'm not exactly sure what principles will be taught, I would hope they did their research, and not get all their info from Dimmu Borgir.

The problem here is that, if it is taken seriously and interpreted correctly, black (and death / thrash etc.) metal should by all accounts be as taboo as nazism or pedophilia to the liberal government of Norway. As is apparent from this turn of events, they obviously do not take it seriously, or have at least never understood it. This is a slap in the face!

[Andrew]

Nobody takes black metal seriously anymore except for teenagers and subhuman man-children.  There were a few great bands in the early years that stood for something, but black metal itself at this point is just a nerdy flavor of rock'n'roll.

[Heydrich]

Nobody takes black metal seriously anymore except for teenagers and subhuman man-children.  There were a few great bands in the early years that stood for something, but black metal itself at this point is just a nerdy flavor of rock'n'roll.

That is, for the very most part, uncomfortably true...

[August]

I sure do hope we all take metal seriously, or otherwise the DLA woud be the most elaborate hipster joke known to man! I think it goes without saying that it is something like early Darkthrone, rather than Cradle of Filth, that is "metal" in this context.

[David_Brent]

Conservationist must be the coolest hipster out there, he constantly fills hearts with warmth & love.