Introduction

Music, in many cases, is an expression of emotion, a response to the issues and situations that the artist is facing. In this sense, it is undeniable that an artist’s environment has a great impact upon the art that he or she creates. A prime example of this idea is black metal: a form of extreme metal, influenced by the speedier and more extreme thrash metal groups of the 1980s, that did not become visible on the public radar until the early 90s, when a new wave of extreme Norwegian bands drew attention from both the metal community and news networks alike. This second wave of black metal is sonically characterized by harsh vocals, blast beats, distorted guitars, and lo-fi production. However, the first associations that people make with black metal are not musical: the reason for Norwegian black metal’s infamy is tied to a series of church arsons and gruesome murders that these Norwegian bands willingly claimed a part in.

In fact, according to University of Tasmania media professor Michelle Phillipov, many of these Norwegian bands even believed that their authenticity was directly connected to committing such heinous acts, and that such transgressive violence is actually central to the ethos of the genre. Furthermore, these Norwegian black metallers also established the precedent of theistic Satanism and paganism being the predominant ideologies professed in black metal lyrics. As a result, black metal has always been associated with extremes in both ideology and sound.

As the genre grew more popular and more commercialized in the late 1990s, it began to change sonically and aesthetically with the influx of newer artists. Bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir introduced more symphonic and theatrical elements into the scene, which led some of the original performers of the genre to disparage these newer bands as inauthentic and claim that the genre of black metal had been contaminated. Many of the originators then began to distance themselves musically from the black metal scene, and thus, the genre in its original incarnation was viewed to have mostly died off near the turn of the century.

However, recently, there has been a resurgence of black metal, in the northwestern region of the United States, in states such as Washington and Oregon. Artists from this new wave, often referred to as the Cascadian Black Metal scene, do not appear to embrace controversial ideologies or musical abrasiveness as readily as the European bands, because they instead opt to create music extolling the beauty and purity of nature, with less harsh musical accompaniment.

To explain these sharp sonic and ideological differences between the two scenes, it could be argued that the ideas and sounds of a black metal scene are a direct result of the geographical and cultural environment from which the scene originates. Therefore, it is expected that black metal bands from different regions will sound incredibly different, as is exemplified by the Norwegian and Cascadian scenes, because the issues against which these scenes are rebelling are so dissimilar. Black metal, in all of its forms and subdivisions, has always been and still is a reflection of its surroundings, a lens through which its artists describe the world around them.

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Geography

The most direct connection between the ethos of a black metal scene and its respective environment is that relationship that exists between the music and the geography. Specifically, the weather of a region is a major deciding factor in the sound of that region’s black metal. In the article, “’True’ Black Metal: The Construction of Authenticity by Dutch Black Metal Fans”, by An H. Kuppens and Frank van der Pol, Dutch black metal fans, in responding to a survey, claimed that bands from “sunny and warm countries cannot produce good black metal.” As Dutch fans generally could be considered part of the same scene as the Norwegian bands, this sentiment expressed by Dutch fans illustrates the idea that weather plays an important role in making authentic black metal.

Certainly, the frostbitten sound of Norwegian black metal is a reflection of Norway itself; the relentlessness of the blast beats and the harsh distortion of the guitars mimic the relentless and harsh elements of the Norwegian winter. Furthermore, this connection is apparent in the lyrics as well. “The Sun No Longer Rises”, by Norwegian band Immortal, literally describes an apocalyptic scenario in which demons arise from the darkness, yet lyrics such as “surrounded by black and mourning moonfog” also appear to be an obvious reference to the polar night, a natural phenomenon in which Arctic regions experience long durations of time during the winter when the sun remains below the horizon, sometimes leading to almost an entire month without sunlight.

The pessimistic attitude that one could naturally develop as a result of being shrouded in darkness for extended periods of time is understandably reflected in the music that Norwegian bands create, which is riddled with misanthropic sentiments, extreme sonic qualities, and a strong penchant for isolation. Essentially, an extreme climate begets extreme music.

In contrast, the weather of states considered part of the Cascadian region, such as Oregon and Washington, is nowhere near as extreme as the Norwegian climate because Cascadia is not located within the Arctic Circle, as parts of Norway are.

This geographical difference results in a sharp stylistic divergence between Norwegian and Cascadian black metal. For instance, the sound of Cascadian bands like Agalloch and Panopticon deviates strongly from the extreme characteristics of the Norwegian scene. Agalloch, whose song “I Am The Wooden Doors” lends this blog its name, blends acoustic guitars and clean vocals into the black metal, which give the music a folk leaning, while Panopticon, from Kentucky, heavily incorporates bluegrass into his music, thereby giving the music a distinctly Appalachian sound. Evidently, the musical style of the Cascadian black metal scene is a syncretic mixture of elements from the original Norwegian style and the American cultural influences that surround these artists.

The influence of geography is also apparent in the ideologies of these Cascadian bands. According to Sascha Pöhlmann, a professor in American Literary History at the Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich, the lyrics and beliefs of Cascadian bands are connected to the American Romantic movement, Transcendentalism, which revolves around the idea that divinity can be found in all aspects of nature and the environment. In his article “Whitman’s Compost: The Romantic Posthuman Futures of Cascadian Black Metal,” Pöhlmann analyzes the music of Washington-based band Wolves in the Throne Room, and concludes that in their lyrics, “the nature presented…is always already landscape, something perceived by a beholder, and so the lyrics do not offer a pastoral idealization of a nature untouched by humans but instead address the relation between humans and nature.” Essentially, the driving idea behind Cascadian black metal seems to be that humans, as parts of nature, will ultimately return to nature upon death, and therefore interacting with nature by retreating into the forest signifies connecting to something more primal and more inherently human than the superficial constructs that comprise civilization.

This is an idea that is very similar to the notions of regeneration in nature professed in Transcendentalist writings such as Walt Whitman’s “This Compost,” in which Whitman asks “is not every continent work’d over and over with sour dead?” Nature and mankind are not viewed to be two separate entities; rather, the lyrics of these bands as well as the writings of Transcendentalists such as Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman emphasize the interconnectedness of humans and nature, in which the death of one facilitates the growth of the other. Being from America, the Cascadian scene’s sound and ideology is largely informed by both American geography and cultural elements such as philosophy. If the nature surrounding these bands was to be as extreme as the Norwegian climate, these bands might not have such a romantic idea of nature. Thus, the environments of these two scenes has a much larger impact upon the sounds and ideologies of its artists than one might notice upon a cursory glance.

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Religion and History

Other important aspects to consider are the religious and historical components of these scenes’ respective countries. Norwegian black metal, unlike its Cascadian counterpart, has always been associated, by the general public and the members of the scene alike, with Satanism and misanthropy. This is simply because the members of the Norwegian scene had reason to do so, a reason which is connected to the idea of black metal being a rebellion. Norwegian bands use Satan in their music with the intention of disrupting and undermining the Christian mainstream. According to Kenneth Granholm, an academic in contemporary esotericism, “Satanism…existed as a ‘script’ that the Norwegian ‘second wave’ Black Metal musicians could use for antinomian purposes.” The idea of Satanism just being a “script” that these bands follow rather than being their actual belief supports the idea that black metal is a means of retaliating against one’s surroundings. Also prevalent in the discussion of Satan in metal is the idea that Satan is utilized as a signifying tool; according to social psychologist Vivek Venkatesh in his collaborative paper titled “Eschewing Community: Black Metal,” “donning the inverted cross or similar symbol sends a message to those both inside and outside of the black metal culture that she or he wishes not to follow the Christian ‘flock.’”

However, some context is needed to understand why black metal artists would want to oppose Christianity: notable Norwegian black metal artists, such as Varg Vikernes of Burzum, push for a return of Norwegians to their pre-Christian roots. Vikernes and like-minded individuals tend to view Christianity as a corrupting and morally bankrupt influence upon Scandinavia, and therefore, despite not actually worshipping Satan, they identify as Satanists in order to paint themselves as adversaries to the Christian mainstream. A Satanic identity gives them mainstream attention that simply identifying as a Germanic neopagan would never get them, and therefore they use this misleading attention in order to promote their actual beliefs. This deeper understanding of these artists sheds light upon their motivations for committing and supporting church arson: they view such acts as removing the influence of Christianity in Norway and “reclaiming” their land. Vikernes, in an interview given for the black metal documentary Until The Light Takes Us, had the following to say about his alleged burning of the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen, Norway:

“Originally, the place was an old Pagan holy site…where our forefathers used to celebrate the Sun. What the Christians did, was to move [their] church from another place, and put it, not close to the Pagan site, but on top of it…breaking up the circle. On the Pagan hörgr, they put a big stone cross. So, if they have no respect for the Norwegian culture, why on Earth should Norwegians respect their culture?”

Surely, after hearing this explanation by one of the alleged leaders of the black metal church arson epidemic, it is obvious that there is more meaning behind the church arsons than simply striking up controversy and portraying themselves as evil. This yearning for a pre-Christian Norway is expressed beyond the church arsions, in the music itself; in addition to Vikernes’ own band Burzum, other Norwegian bands also created songs centered around concepts of Germanic paganism, such as “The Pagan Winter” by Darkthrone and “Pagan Fears” by Mayhem. Norwegian bands’ dedication to making their music reflect Norway in multiple ways indicates that the idea of a traditional Nordic identity and culture that Norwegians should embrace and reinstate is one that permeates nearly every aspect of Norwegian black metal.

In contrast, the Cascadian bands do not incorporate Satanism into their music, because they have no reason to do so. Whereas the Norwegian bands felt that their country had been stolen and their heritage had been eradicated by Christianity, these American bands have had no similar experience; if anything, their ancestors are the ones who had stolen the land from the native population. Therefore, the Satanism and ideological extremism evident in the Norwegian scene is absent from the Cascadian scene, whose members instead espouse the transcendentalist views mentioned earlier. This leads to a stark contrast in the lyrics; Portland-based band Agalloch’s song “In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion” is about a dying, faithless man who treks through the winter forest in search of inner peace, and then exclaims about the forest that “if this grand panorama before me is what you call God…then God is not dead.” This belief in the divinity of nature is a far cry from the blasphemous Satanic lyrics often found in Norwegian black metal, and is an interesting phenomenon to note because it shows that, because American black metal artists do not seem to be fighting religious oppression in the way that the Norwegians do, American black metal is notably less extreme in both its sonic texture and its lyrics. Furthermore, this is an example of how, due to American black metal being a syncretic musical form, not only does it gain new elements due to its new environment, but it can also lose musical elements found in the Norwegian scene.

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Reconciling the Two Scenes

With such blatant sonic and ideological differences between the two scenes, one might question whether they should even be considered part of the same genre at all. This argument has no validity, because while their viewpoints and sounds might differ, the ultimate reason underlying these differences stems from the very essence of black metal. Ideologically, both scenes attempt to retreat into something they view as spiritually purer than what is offered by the mainstream. Granholm explains this as being a result of sociological change and globalism:

“The pre-Christian religions of Europe…represent that which is beyond the mainstream in contemporary society, and as such they are an appealing ‘tradition’ to turn to in the esoteric search for perennial wisdom. The religious atmosphere of the West is changing, and one result of this change is that we need to look to alternative arenas of religious life”

While the Norwegians subverted Christianity in favor of Nordicism and Germanic paganism, the Cascadian bands discard Christianity for Transcendentalism. Beneath their ideological differences, there is a common desire which both scenes are attempting to satiate, and both use black metal as a weapon with which they fight the desolation of mainstream society. Both scenes simply have a thirst that is not satisfied by mainstream modes of spirituality.

As for the sonic differences, if one looks past the various surface-level ornamentations, one will notice that both scenes use the same core black metal elements (such as blast beats and harsh vocals), but for different purposes. Whereas Norwegian bands used the vocals in order to sound abrasive, unwelcoming, and occult, Cascadian bands use them because they believe such vocals are truer to the essence of their music than clean vocals are. According to Pöhlmann, in Wolves in the Throne Room’s music, “the vocal performance plays an important role in expressing this despair beyond the semantic content of the lyrics, often adding an element of resistance to this misery by the aggressive delivery”; essentially, there are certain emotions that can only be conveyed effectively through harsh and abrasive vocals. The explanation of the use of harsh vocals in Norwegian black metal given by Phillipov does not stray far from the reasoning given by Wolves in the Throne Room:

“Such performance styles assist in leaving the conventional self behind and more completely embodying the sentiments and atmospheres of the music…As Faust indicates…these performance styles are employed as a source of transcendence of the ordinary and everyday, but it is a transcendence explicitly centred around iconographies of violence.”

As a result of Norwegian bands and Cascadian bands using harsh vocals to express extreme anger and extreme sorrow, respectively, the theme of harsh vocals being the perfect vehicle for expressing extremely personal and introspective emotions is common to both scenes.

In this sense, we could postulate that black metal is not only a reaction to one’s external surroundings, but also an outlet for one’s internal strife. Portland black metal artist Circle, whom I interviewed about his motivations and inspirations for making black metal music, corroborates this idea:

“Ultimately, I like to observe. I watch, and I regurgitate. If I see something, for example, the landscapes, I’ll mimic it in my music. If I feel hate, I’ll scream hatred.”

That is, his music is meant to both describe his surroundings as well as describe how he feels inside. In our discussion, he explained how he is not necessarily any more angry or depressed than average person, but playing black metal allows his deeper emotions to rise to the surface, and provides him a cathartic release. The reason he gives for his initial attraction to black metal is that black metal allows one to express emotions that would be difficult to convey accurately and sincerely through a lighter or less extreme style of music. Playing black metal, he says, is “a way to not be okay, and have that be okay.” Essentially, feelings such as extreme hatred or extreme sorrow are rarely touched upon in most mainstream music genres (most other genres of heavy metal even look down upon artists expressing weakness or vulnerability in their music), so black metal is a respite from the emotional restraint that society often places upon people.

This relationship with black metal he describes is similar to how the Norwegian bands used black metal as a way to release their anger and hatred of mainstream society. Considering the similar motivations for members of each scene to play their music, it is not appropriate to say that either scene is somehow less or more black metal than the other or that the two scenes are completely separate entities – both scenes explicitly and proudly embody the attitudes and ideas that represent the genre, and utilize black metal for similar purposes.

The Cascadian black metal scene and the Norwegian black metal scene are distinct yet bound by common principles and aspirations. Ultimately, the glaring differences between these two scenes are the overt symptoms of the fact that black metal, in its entirety, is a product of its environment. Every aspect of a society, from its history, to its religion, to its climate, is reflected in some way by the black metal that it produces, whether it be through the lyrics of the songs, the aesthetics of the artists, the sonic qualities of the music, or simply the overall extremeness of the scene. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see whether black metal, in the future, will shift to having a greater focus on introspection, as the Cascadian scene has evidenced. Doing so would mark an interesting duality within the identity of black metal: it would simultaneously reflect both the artist’s external surroundings and internal emotions. Negru, of Romanian black metal band Negura Bunget, described the genre as follows:

“Black metal is maybe the only musical genre where the concept behind the music is more important than the music itself…the music is more of a reflection of the ideas, but the main thing is to get the concept across.”

Black metal, in all its incarnations, has consistently been a style of music created with intent. When a band makes black metal, it has a specific idea it wants to profess, a cause it wants to champion, or an evil it seeks to combat. Fundamentally, black metal is a response to the events and issues of the world surrounding it. The implication of such a conclusion is that, as society evolves, black metal will forever be changing both sonically and ideologically, and will continue to serve as a musical snapshot of the non-mainstream and the unconventional.