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Black Metal and Anonymity: A Traditionalist Perspective

Experience dictates that the modern black metal listener is in essence a “hipster”; a self referential, individualist, egocentric and more or less self-pitying individual. Moreover, experience also dictates that the modern and profane black metal musician has more in common with the lowly pop artist than with the principles and individuals that helped to create the original Norwegian black metal movement.

There was once a moment in time when black metal, like all great artistic movements strove to express something eternal, whether that was the paradoxical juxtaposition of beauty and death, the joy in battle and the growth that ensues due to struggle, or the essentially inexpressible infinite cosmos.

One of the more salient features of the nascent black metal scenes was the romantic obsession those involved had with the past. Black metal’s obsession with bygone ages pointed to a nascent, articulated, although perhaps not fully defined, desire to rediscover traditional knowledge, including the mythology, and the social and traditional norms that defined their venerable, Indo-European culture, namely Norse. As these individuals invaded the undergrowth of wisdom distilled in the remaining works of bygone ages, listeners, onlookers and now later historians were and are provided with a glimpse into the workings of a movement that pre-eminently strove to rediscover lost wisdom and to participate and explore the multifaceted plains of reality, and its highest level therein, namely the Supreme Principle.

This desire to participate in the highest level of reality can be used to shed light on the enigmatic drive to self-imposed anonymity, such that these original European Mystics indeed strove towards. As we traverse the iconography and interviews, or lack thereof, of the original black metal scene we are forced to recognize the tools by which these individuals imposed anonymity among themselves; one recalls the corpse paint, used primarily although not exclusively to obscure their physical attributes. Indeed, we recall, the use of pseudonym to obscure, nay to eschew their name and ego. Recall lastly, the ambiguous relationship these individuals had with media, in itself the pre-emptive tool for modern ego worship, as either non-existent or outright hostile. Regardless of later sensational developments in the scene, the originators reveled in a mystique of anonymity that pointed not to a new marketing gimmick but rather to the participation in a higher principle or reality, from which peek their ego and its gratification seemed comic.      

Awaiting the sign of the horns
A thousand black clouds storms
Blasphemous Northern rites
Mysticism touched
Pentagrams burning

-Immortal, “Unholy Forces of Evil”

The Main purveyors of the early black metal scene, and especially the Scandinavian Mystic Varg Vikernes seemed to be in fact consciously aware of this higher reality, from whence all proceeds. Commenting on the “illusory” nature of material reality, and its reliance upon a higher principle for its substantial and formal manifestation, the lyrics of “Lost Wisdom” proclaim:

While we may believe, our World, our reality
to be that is, is but one manifestation of the Essence

-Burzum, “Lost Wisdom”

Although such an outright recognition of the Supreme Principle is rarely encountered as explicitly in other black metal bands of the time, the anonymity and symbolism utilized by many of the protagonists within the scene, for example Enslaved and their conscious decision to explore the themes surrounding the Norse gods and the profound metaphysical symbolism implied therein, seems to point to an implicit recognition of higher principles, and perhaps the higher principle itself, from whence an expression of anonymity logically follows.

Rene Guenon teaches us that it is a mere modern deviation from the Supreme Principle and traditional doctrine that has led to current notions of crass individualism, ego worship and “originality”. Current artists are very nearly obsessed with having works attributed to their ego, and such modern profanities have even led scholars on an endless search to provide the public, and novelty seekers, with the names of those artists who completed Medieval masterpieces. Of course these Medieval artists, due to their participation in the higher Principle from which all things emanate, had not the hubris to associate their works solely with their own ego. Likewise, a search for traditional knowledge and the participation of and recognition of a supreme Principle led to a general anonymity amongst the original black metal adherents from Norway. This participation precludes the notion of anonymity described as “infra-human”, implying the dissolution of a particular in a crowd, but entails rather a participation in a higher supra-individual order. Consider the words of Rene Guenon:

The being that has attained a supra-individual state is by that fact alone, released from all the limiting conditions of individuality, that is to say it is beyond determinations of name and form that constitute the essence and the substance of its individuality as such; thus it is truly anonymous because in it the ‘ego’ has effaced itself and disappeared completely before the ’Self’

-”The Reign of Quantity and The Signs of the Time”

The key to understanding what has been said above is to recognize that in this case the Ego has effaced itself in the face of the higher Principle from which it has emanated, nay from which all things, states and possibilities emanate, while in itself remaining unaffected and unchanged by this manifestation. It is the ego that produces the “subject vs. object” sensation and produces the dichotomy of “I and Thou”. However, participation in the Supreme Principle implies a transformation, in which one becomes consciously aware that all of existence is indeed one, and that all must fundamentally be attributed to It, the Supreme Principle. Indeed, all dichotomies will have been overcome, the barriers of subject versus object will have been overcome, and one will attain immortality. Hence, in aspiring to this reality and perhaps participating in it, Black Metal musicians were quick to live among the shadows, obscure, nameless, formless, recognizing themselves and their works as naught but one of the infinite possibilities inherent in the supreme principle. It should therefore come as no surprise in connection with these thoughts that certain musicians chose such pseudonym’s as if to reflect cosmic principles, representative of the venerable Indo-European tradition of the Norsemen.

Brahman cannot be realized by those who are subject to greed, fear and anger.
Brahman cannot be realized by those who are subject to the pride of name and fame.

-”Tejobindu Upanishad”

Delving deep into primordial traditions long forgotten, those Scandinavian mystics seem to have uncovered long forgotten mystic truths, hidden within the depths of the most primordial of the Indo-European traditions – Hinduism. It should come as no surprise to those familiar with Indo-European traditions that a study of, and adherence to strict Traditional principles, a fascination with the Norse Legends combined with some occult influences, however badly understood, would lead the black metal warrior down the road of ‘Self’ discovery. It is well known that Odin himself is etymologically derived from Gwoden, another name for Indra, a God venerated as the leader of God’s in the Hindu Pantheon. With the inherent and complimentary relationship between these two Indo European worldviews, namely Hinduism and Norse Mythology established, not only etymologically but through the recognition that all true traditions aspire to the same essential goal, realization of the Supreme Priciple, it is fair to conclude that both contain within themselves the seed for mystical realization, or a knowledge of the “essence”. Of necessity, we turn to Hinduism, a more complete metaphysical system to fill in some of the blanks as to what Vikernes and company were aspiring to during the apex of the black metal phenomenon.

Return to the ring of our forefathers gods
The flames of Midgard’s fires and ancient mysticism still are

-Enslaved, “Fires of Midgard”

According to Hindu tradition the purpose of life is to become united with the ‘Self’, Brahman, the Supreme Principle, that which is enshrined in the hearts of all, according to ones station in life and capacity to do so. Again, this is the same Supreme Principle alluded to above, from which participation in, a true supra-individual anonymity necessarily springs. Although the original black metal purveyors may not have been consciously aware of the heights to which they were ascending, nor of the full traditional implications of what they were doing, it comes as no surprise that when re-discovering their traditional legends that they would inadvertently ascribe to the goal of, and rediscover some of the outstanding tenants of a more primordial, and complete Indo-European tradition, Hinduism, whose purpose again, much like that of the ancient Norse religion, was and still is to help facilitate the discovery of ‘Self’ knowledge, participation therein and the realization that all proceeds from the Supreme Principle.

“Once again, truth is one, and it is the same for all those who, by whatever way, have attained to its understanding.”

-Rene Guenon, “Oriental Metaphysics”

Death Metal Album of the Week: Unholy – The Second Ring of Power

Like the great Vuoksi river pouring its secrets into Lake Saimaa, the ancient Finnish Doomdeath cult of Unholy‘s second album is an hypnotic and psychoactively charged procession of swirling currents towards an expanded state of consciousness. ‘The Second Ring of Power’ is maybe a controversial selection for this week’s album, with its emphasis on a funereal pace that is practically unable to propagate riffs in a manner recognisable to Death Metal connoseuirs, the heavy use of keyboards and even clean female vocals, but this is no less an auspicious choice and as far from the effeminate Doom Metal of the past 15 years imaginable. If Pestilence were under the influence of Mescalin during the recording of ‘Spheres‘, it might have sounded something like this, although the spacey and downright evil keyboards by and large subordinates the guitarwork, still informed by the likes of Celtic Frost via. Unholy’s former incarnation of Holy Hell, which simplified this style yet injected it with some mysterious flavours. Beneath this recipe is a blissfully undulating bass line that connects the various mood premises of the songs to wider, meditatively layered soundscapes and adjusts the mind’s eye to synchronise it’s vision with the eternal and omniscient cosmic consciousness as guitars release streams of radically transformed melody, riding the endless waves of bass. Further influences, from the sonic incense of Dead Can Dance to the ethereal and evil rock of the Cocteau Twins are pulled in at points to enhance the ritualistic and trippy elements, but the brutal death vocals and the spirit of nihilistic awakening ensure this album remains a proud classic of the unholy left hand’s own path to Divinity.

Death Metal Album of the Week: Morpheus Descends – Ritual of Infinity

The power of Death Metal as an esoteric form of popular music was perhaps never better demonstrated than by New York’s Morpheus Descends on their collosal debut album. These grotesque and violent mazes of deconstructionist composition are so ridden with diseased, downtuned guitars and seismic drumming, it presents a indistinguishable cacophony that somehow elucidates as much as it obscures the decaying riffs, like the rotten animation of countless maggots covering and consuming the matter of an otherwise soulless corpse. The guitarists’ manipulation of the lower extremities of their axes remains an unmatched exercise in brutal craftsmanship, with both rhythm and subtle melody pinned to a logical structure far greater than the sum of those parts, quite unlike even the more complex examples of NYDM such as ‘Pierced from Within‘. Also, thankfully disimilar to arguably the best from Suffocation‘s discography, the production here has been carefully engineered to retain a filthy sound with an appropriate amount of space between the instruments so that even the bass can stand out from the rumbling guitars, and the drums have a depth in the mix that enables a really tangible influence over the musical dynamics where the guitars, in their sludgy modulations, are largely unable to do so on their own. The content of this album turns away from another New York outfit, Cannibal Corpse, who would later even bear the influences of Morpheus Descends. Though caught in the stench of decomposing bodies and scenes of graphic gore, as the title ‘Ritual of Infinity’ might imply, there’s a profoundly mystical coordination to the music rather than the aforementioned band’s mere infatuation with graphic perversions or the morgue therapy of early Carcass. The multi-faceted burdens of mortality are stripped away as this album decomposes, with songs like ‘Trephanation’ reciting lyrics that sound like a kind of lobotomy as exacted on neophytes by a group of violent Vedantins in order to, we must imagine, negate the mind and its individuated, finite perceptions. As if possessed by the direct insight of an Aghori, ‘Ritual of Infinity’ is an intense meditation on the supremacy of death and the ultimate moksha that the corpse state represents.

O.D.I.R.

Death Metal Album of the Week: Septic Flesh – Mystic Places of Dawn

Septic Flesh’s first album fits very neatly into the old Hellenic scene as a collosus of melodic majesty, but where this one differs from the other noteworthy Grecian offerings is precisely what makes it suitable listening for our ritual of death-worship this week. Not unlike the infamous Nordic Black Metallers in the earliest stages of their musical careers, a lot of the Greek Black Metal bands began playing more rotten music before unleashing their fusion of epic Heavy and Black Metal, and Septic Flesh would be no exception two albums later with their own output of blackness, ‘The Ophidian Wheel‘. ‘Mystic Places of Dawn’ however, retains a little more of this band’s origins in Death Metal and Grindcore even though what ensues on this record is some of the most melodically articulate and enchanting music produced by this ancient country in modern history. The Greek underground was definitely a pandaemonic entity, and where some would exhalt Lucifer or some unknown underworld monarch, the band in question carved out their own mysterious and forgotten mythology of a far less ‘blackened’ conception, leading to the diverse approach of this release.

The opening track launches from deep below the Aegean sea floor and is quick to demonstrate Septic Flesh’s background in Death Metal with intense, rhythmically conscious blast-beats and kick-drumming that approaches the speed of Proscriptor on Absu’s famed percussive exhibition known as ‘Tara‘. Amidst this brutality are epic melodies that, although following familiar scalic patterns, are beautifully woven together between windtunnel shredding and grind-encrypted riffs. The slower tempos that dominate the rest of this work explore ethereal sensations of reflection upon lost spiritual wisdom, with keyboards taking cues from Rotting Christ. Older, sometimes tribal, sometimes Classical sounds produced by additional instrumentation goes further to create an atmospheric Metal approximation of the mystical, neoclassical and world music of Dead Can Dance on albums such as ‘Within the Realm of the Dying Sun‘ or ‘Aion‘. Caught in a dream of the past that might enliven the yearning of our waking lives for civilisation to once again resonate ancient and cosmic knowledge, Septic Flesh took Greek underground Metal to new heights, managing to seamlessly encapsulate all the major styles of Metal in the process.

Death Metal Album of the Week: Kataklysm – Sorcery

Just like another Canadian Death Metal band by the name of Cryptopsy, it’s hard to imagine that there was a time when Kataklysm were once an unstoppable juggernaut of hyper-blasting, cthonic cacophony. ‘Sorcery’ is a continuation of the ideas set forth in their ‘The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation’ EP, refining the sense of melody that formed the skeleton of those wildly fluctuating epics of metempsychotic insanity. These signature phrases aren’t subject to as much of a riff salad, as this time Kataklysm have a tighter playing style in general. Majestic, evil riffs collide with conventional but brutally executed Death Metal rhythms that are churned up from the bowels of the Earth and shredded apart with a neoclassical flair for melody, truly harnessing the tension it creates. Showing the compositional prowess that sets this earlier offering apart from their later albums, Kataklysm seamlessly combine these patterns of malignant sound into evolved riffs of totality, like consciousness opening up to nihilistic visions of simultaneous creation, destruction and rebirth. The multi-layered, textural assault of Sylvain Houde’s vocal work is awesome not just in terms of how frighteningly bestial it sounds but also the intelligent sense of musicianship. The incantations are subjected to the exact dynamics of the compositions, rather than the typical rhythmic awareness of Death Metal vocals. Duhamel’s drumming is full of character and complexity is acheived in the balance of restraint and the height of rapid-fire blasting. Their first full-length album, this is one worth digging past most of their later discography to uncover. The follow-up, ‘Temple of Knowledge’ is worthy but would be the last to include the vital contribution of Monseuir Houde, signalling the degeneration of this former mystical entity.