Blackmetal is Krieg

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Black Metal ist Krieg: The Political Boundaries of BlackMetal 1

Attila Gyulai

AbstractAltough, the politics of black metal has been discussed extensively, politicsoften refers only to a well-known fixed relation of ideologies instead of

interpreting the political boundaries around and inside black metal. The titleof the study !lack "etal ist #rieg an album by $argaroth, is a slogan in thegenre and also a repeated political practice which needs to be explained interms of political theory. The title is a dubious one% what does war standfor& 's it a war against humanity, (hristianity, against the weak or theaverage& )r is it an interior war& )bviously, both of the answers are

plausible* moreover, they can not in the least be separated. (arl +chmitt, whodid not merely provide the friend-enemy distinction, but also described the

political epistemology of the political das olitische , enables us to moveaway from war to politics. !y reading +chmitt and listening to black metalone may understand that it is not the fixed opposition of friend and enemythat establishes the political, but a repeated declaration of war which

politically constitutes the position of any friend and enemy. !lack metal isable to wage war only if the possibility of war is given in the inside too.'rrespectively of definition/s origin defining black metal is an action of

political nature. 't is essential that the inner differences allow black metal to be political at all. Therefore the ruptures in the black metal community andideology, the existence of fractions like true black metal and post blackmetal are the preconditions for any declarations of war, for the identificationof war and the political and for any possible political position of the genre.

Key words: !lack metal, political theory, (arl +chmitt, das olitische, war

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I. A grand declaration of war

'n the discussion on the relationship between politics and blackmetal a lot has been dealt with elitism, radicalism, totalitarianism, sexism*alleged or declared political position of music, musicians, lyrics and imagery.There are black metal bands which define themselves politically active or


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______________________________________________________________committed to a well-known, often feared, at times denied ideology. Thereare, however, others who declare that they are above the earth-bound planesof communities, nations and politics. The latter remains in the realm of

politics too% the negation of politics is one of the oldest tactical weapons of public conflicts. !ut what is the meaning and functioning of politics in theseapproaches& Talking about the relations between music and politics, don/t weonly refer to some already given formulations of politics& 'n other words, onthe level of political theory% do we allow that relation to be political itself&'dentification of black metal and war in the title of this paper leads to

relations between music and politics and to the 1uestion of the politicalnature of that identification. 'n that act black metal becomes an act of war aswell. There is no war without warlike definitions and interpretations whichmeans interpretation as war defining war and interpretation as an act of warsimultaneously. !lack metal, therefore, identified with war is not anymore amere representation of something given before the interpretative move.2eclaration of war is already an act in the state of war.

II. !ecline and fall

The composer of Thomas "ann/s 2octor 3austus bound by anunholy covenant in order to achieve a breakthrough, to pass formalrepresentation of art, with every composition moves closer to his ownapocalyptic collapse .4 5is friend, +erenus 6eitblom while describing the

process of this decline gets gradually closer to the fall of 7ermany in a war ofwhich it/s hard to decide% is it only represented by the musical and aestheticalevolution of Adrian 8everk9hn or is it affected by it. The collapse of7ermany, in the time of the narrator, repeats the collapse of the composer,however, due to the intervention of the breakthrough of representation,repetition bears difference in sameness. That difference enables the ideologyof black metal to shift the meaning of war. !lack metal in the sense of theabove mentioned identification is the repudiation of mere representation. 't isabout the necessity of the infernal 8everk9hnian breakthrough. The shift inthe meaning of war leads to the boundaries around and within black metal.These boundaries need to be explained regarding the process in which theyconstitute the political. To sum up% black metal is repeating war in adifference and conflict of meanings and so it defines itself as a political act or

practice. 'ts ideology here, ideology in the broadest sense refers to anepistemology of politics declares the right, the power and the ability ofintervention and opposes the desertion of mere reflexive art.

III. "n#ity

The political scientist, 7iovanni +artori in an article described (arl+chmitt an author of 3austian temperament .: ;e


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______________________________________________________________criticism towards his work comes mostly from the disputed relation betweenwriting about war and advancing it. 'n his book, The (oncept of the olitical

2er !egriff des olitischen , +chmitt observes the disappearance of the boundaries between state and society, which were sufficient to locate andidentify politics before the triumph of democracy. +ince the content of

politics is not determinable anymore, he introduces the specific distinction between friend and enemy, which provides a definition in the sense of acriterion and not as an exhaustive definition or one indicative of substantialcontent. = This reduction led to serious political charges andmisunderstandings. 5owever +chmitt is more significant and useful for uswhen read as a political theorist instead of an ideologist of war. The5ungarian political scientist and advocate of interpretative political theory,">rton +?ab@ drew attention to the shift regarding the term the political% anad


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______________________________________________________________ becomes impossible. 'n war interpretations of the political are politicalinterpretations as well.

$. %tabilisation

!lack metal ist #rieg became an often repeated slogan since $argaroth released an album under that title G. Although, the album musicallydid not subvert the genre its effect was significant. The title and the sloganwere both transformed into a political practice in two ways. 3irst, the songcalled !lack metal ist #rieg is an attempt to regain the essential centre of

what is known as true black metal. The lyrics are the repetitions of the titlesolely, which renders a warlike meaning to the music too* especially becausethe musical patterns follow the most elemental forms of the genre. 't is notHiking, not symphonic or other kind of black metal, it declares to be true

black metal, the only subgenre which is able to declare and wage war. Theconclusion comes from the interwoven elements of lyrics, musical patterns,the title as a slogan, and the slogan which represents the ideology and acategorical standpoint in a conflict, which is established around the essentialcentre of the true black metal. 3rom this point of view the musical pattern

became a slogan too, repeating a tradition which was not stabilised earlier bya reflexive act which so expressly interprets itself as a reflexive act. Thedefinition, !lack "etal ist #rieg, therefore, doubles the frontlines of theconflict% the first identifies black metal against everything else e. g. other

genres, (hristianity, society while the second constructs boundaries within black metal. 5owever, no definite separation of these two is possible% we willsee that the first presupposes the latter.

$I. Me#orial of ru&ture

The complete title of the album, !lack "etal ist #rieg - A2edication "onument leads to the other way of the above mentioned

political practice. As every commemoration, this monument also representsand repeats the original act or event simultaneously. Articles dealing with

black metal do not forget to detail the violent events murders, arsons whichoccurred in the IGGJs in $orway. 5owever, the album by $argaroth dealswith the events in a specific way. A song, called The 2ay !ur?um #illed"ayhem tells the well-known story of a murder the background of which is

still unclear. The title and lyrics of the song institutionali?es the murder%instead of personalities it deals with two bands in the context of a war withinthe genre. The most important thing here is not the interpretation of themurderous act, or how it is transformed into a battle of the ongoing war. Theideology behind the identification of music and war redefines the rupture, soit allows the passage from the re


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Attila 7yulai =

______________________________________________________________Dithout the conflict, without the intervention of the political black metalwould be only a passive chronicler. 5owever, to dedicate a monument to!lack "etal in its identification with war is already theappearanceEfunctioning of the political. The framing of the oppositionsalready presupposes those ultimate distinctions on which the political rests.

$II. !eco#&osition

Dhile the album by $argaroth follows and repeats closely a set ofmusical patterns and at the same time stabilises frontlines and distinctions ,the following important album refers to its own musical and ideological

background by the explicit decomposition of them. Thorns vs. Kmperor is asplit-album IJ of the two eminent $orwegian bands. Lnlike similar split-records Thorns vs. Kmperor is more than only songs by two performersfollowing each other% the album contains mutual reinterpretations by them. 'tis not about covers, but the rewriting of patterns, structures of songs,sounding, guitar riffs. This kind of composition and its theory is accepted inother genres, e. g. in electronic music, but it is incompatible with theideology analysed earlier. Therefore, the album defines itself over againststrategies of unity and claims of the essential centre of true black metal.Those strategies, e. g. in the case of !lack "etal ist #rieg, claim thenecessity of subversion and formulate the ideology of immediate action.5owever, the split-album in 1uestion formulates the same ideology regardingthat unifying strategies. 't proceeds from the common concept but aims at theideology of the genre* it establishes the most obvious tactics which attemptsto break up the unity of the other ideology. Actually, it has its own label evenif it is rarely used by the bands themselves% post-black metal is a fragmentarycanon, the elements of which are disputed as well. The functioning of the

political distinctions appears in the differences regarding the capacity and power to wage war.

$III. 'ractal &ossession

't is worth to mention a few records from the sub-genre to point tosome of the possible strategies in which the difference is manifest. TheThorns vs. Kmperor album is a nodal point among them partly because thedescents performed by a group of musicians. Lntil now the only album by

Thorns is very close to ;ebel Kxtravagan?a by +atyriconII

and to the later2Mdheimsgard 257 I0 % they all moved to a minimalistic and repetitivedirection. )thers, among them the later Abigor I4 , 2eathspell )mega I: movedtowards dissonance and a radical reduction of repetitions of musical patterns.The temporality of the label Npost-black metal/ becomes important within theideology of the classical canon, for this temporal distinction interprets thechange of music in terms of decline. !lack metal once was capable of


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!lack "etal ist #rieg

______________________________________________________________conducting war, after that period, however, the inner rupture was only

preparing the fall. ;e


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Attila 7yulai C

______________________________________________________________into the external conflicts of it. Therefore, the sublime in black metal meansthat it becomes unavoidably a criti1ue of representation, the ideology ofimmediate action. The interpretations which establish the boundaries of blackmetal eventually aim at the right to wage war, but they are already in it.2eclaration of war is already the state of war. !ut repeating declaration ofwar is an attempt to stabilise the capability and power for any declarations.

)otes


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I An earlier and more detailed version of this paper is forthcoming in 5ungarian% T@falvy P #acsuk - H>lyi editors % 6eneih>l@?atok. 6ene, mQfal@?atok Rs a? >talakul@ ?eneipar kor>ban. 8 5armattan. 0JIJ. U"usicalnetworks. "usic, genres and communities in the age of online networks and changing music industry.V0 "ayhem% Grand Declaration of War . +eason of "ist. 0JJJ.4 ODoe, woeW A 2e rofundis, which in my ?eal and love ' am bound to call matchless. Xet has it not - from the point ofview of creative art and musical history as well as that of individual fulfilment - a rton% olitics versus the olitical% 'nterpreting Ndas olitische/ in +chmitt, (arl, Distin#tion1 candina!ian

Journal of ocial Theory1 $o. I0. "ay 0JJ .Attila ,yulai is hd-student at KStvSs 8or>nd Lniversity, !udapest, 5ungary. 5is fields of research are the meanings ofgovernment after the transition in 5ungary and the political theory of aul de "an. 5e is a senior analyst at olitical (apital'nstitute.

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Blackmetal is Krieg