Criticism of SJW infiltration of metal peeks out behind media blackout

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Despite being mostly in favor of the SJW infiltration of heavy metal, media sources sometimes reveal skepticism of this rigid mind-meld that is replacing quality metal with an inferior but politically-correct substitute. In fact, the political correctness is merely a method of inducing you to buy it because it has the right “message,” while ignoring the low artistic quality of the material as a whole.

But the SJWs don’t know that. They are not unique, having appeared first in the 1980s with a group that would not call itself politically-correct but acted the same way as today’s SJWs. As hardcore waned, local scenes arose in which people wanted to participate for social reasons: to be popular, find dates, have parties. Their music was not ground-breaking, so they took over with superior numbers, and used politics as a means of filtering out all other music. Thus they triumphed, and promptly made punk so boring it self-destructed in dissipation.

Today’s SJWs are not history students of hardcore punk or any other subject. Their goal is to make themselves important, and to seize control of a genre they think will give them social power, but they cannot replicate its greatness nor understand it, and so they are doomed to failure. What do they care, however — they will simply move on to the next genre, take it over, and have their five years of glory there too before covering up those tats and going to a cubicle job just like everyone else.

But doubt is spreading already. In an editorial over at Stereogum, Michael Nelson launches into the usual SJW rhetoric, and then does something really interesting. The article is a top 50 of metal of the year, but as is typical these days, it must editorialize. So he makes an introduction and then cuts to the real topic on his mind:

But mostly, more than ever before, metal found its very character scrutinized by a hyper-aware, politically divided public — a public largely informed by metrics-focused media outlets eager to weigh in on the issues of the day. This was a carryover from late 2014, when popular blogs like Metal Injection and Metalsucks ran essays with titles like “The Problem With Heavy Metal Is Metalheads: Stop Calling Everyone A Faggot” and “Why Is It Okay To Be Racist And Misogynistic About Babymetal?” And in 2015, the takes arrived on an almost daily basis, via articles like “Racism And Sexism In Heavy Metal Highlighted In New Study” and “Why Is The Convicted Murderer Of A Gay Man Being Celebrated At A Major Metal Festival?“

This past July, renowned metal journalist (and occasional Stereogum contributor) Adrien Begrand wrote a piece for Pop Matters titled “Some Talk, No Action,” putting the entire metal community on blast for failing to effectively flush out certain musicians whose art and/or actions seemed to suggest some form of bigotry or separatist ideology. Begrand called out by name such bands as Cobalt, Inquisition, Lord Mantis, and Bölzer, but he extended the indictment to include countless participants — primarily the media and fans who support (or fail to condemn) any artists who support (or fail to condemn) intolerant worldviews.

This is actually a good (albeit incomplete, but give him a break, he had two paragraphs) history of the explosion of #metalgate. In the late 1990s, the underground fizzled because it had no more greats to offer, and the imitators surged in. Since that time, record labels and hipsters have been trying to find a way to make rock and punk rock — which, unlike metal, which emphasizes transcending the individual, emphasize the importance of individual desires over attention to consequences — into a “metal flavored” form. This is an ideal product for local mediocre bands to make and labels to hype since anyone can do it so there can be a steady stream of profits. SJW-metal is just their tool of forcing everyone else out and taking over.

Nelson goes on to look into the chaos that followed Disma being accused of being horrible Nazis, and he pretty much beats the SJW tin drum here, but then, something interesting happens:

The last thing any of us here wants to do is give additional exposure to artists who peddle or preach hatred or intolerance. The other last thing we want to do is act as some Orwellian thought police slowly sanitizing metal by doling out oxygen only to those artists whose views reflect our own, whose actions meet our personal standards of acceptability. It’s easy enough to treat Burzum’s Varg Vikernes as a pariah: The guy is an enthusiastic, unrepentant bigot and a convicted murderer. (It helps, too, that he hasn’t released a decent album since 2011.) I often wonder, though, how the world would react to “Angel Of Death” or “Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity” if those songs were released today. This is dark music! It’s not supposed to be safe! It can be safe, but nobody ever got into this shit because it was safe; we got into it because it was scary and transgressive and primal. Who are we to make it safe?

Then again, who are we to promote art or artists fostering unsafe environments?

I’m not winding up for some big, poignant conclusion here, sadly. I’m leaving this as an ellipsis.

There’s a certain subtle brilliance in this. The whole point of this lengthy introduction was to get himself SJW cred, then point out that censorship is just like the totalitarian ideologies that SJWs claim to dislike. In fact, Nelson writes that it is even worse, since it is done in the name of good, and points out that many of metal’s classics would not pass this test. Then he leaves the question up to us, since he obviously cannot directly contradict the herd or they will amass and ruin his life (or a least get Stereogum to fire him, and then mob his Facebook account!).

SJW is still a potent movement because it gives power to the unmemorable by allowing them to take down people better than themselves. It gives a voice to the mediocre and a reason why their mediocrity should jump the line ahead of artistic superiority. Like all mass movements, it is a revolt against quality, with the pleasant notion that everyone will be equally important concealing the reality, which is that when everyone is the same nothing good can rise. Metal stands against that, and this is why SJWs target it. But the tide is turning even now.

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#Metalgate: SJWs stage mass complaint attack to remove our accounts

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Although the death of Facebook has been widely reported, it remains the market-leading source for metal bands and others to share information. Last night, SJWs mounted a mass attack of complaints against my personal account, leading Facebook to remove it early this morning. Coupled with what looks like an attack on our database server, this shows exactly how mad and defensive SJWs have become about recent #metalgate activity which has revealed their censorious nature. Their decision to censor via a complaint attack simply confirms this, and reveals a fundamental weakness in Facebook and a reason metalheads should distrust it.

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#Metalgate: SJWs try to redefine metal

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Freaked out by the refusal of metal to bow to their guilt-induced accusations, SJWs have reverted to their first tactic: acting as wise teachers, instructing us in how metal thinks, which always includes the narrative of progress and enlightenment replacing those bad old ways.

The latest comes from Vice, which should know better but keeps hiring cheap talent. In this year-end review, somehow an agenda of political control slips in:

Once the go-to genre for tasteless gore and shock value, most younger bands seem to have cleaned up their image. The violent misogyny that frequently appeared in the genre’s golden age is now passé if you’re not a generic slam band. There just isn’t any room for “Entrails Ripped From a Virgin’s Cunt” or “Skin Her Alive” in today’s metal scene, and more importantly fans have responded angrily when actual violence against women occurs, as blackened death band Deiphago learned when guitarist Sidalpa was accused of punching a woman in the face backstage.

…Death metal listeners are also clearly taking a stand against racism. Over the summer, Malevolent Creation were raked over the coals because of blatantly racist and xenophobic Facebook posts. In the fall, Disma were booted from multiple festivals due to frontman Craig Pillard’s alleged Nazi associations. Netherlands Deathfest organizers said that “at least 10 bands” would have refused to play on the same bill as Disma had they not been removed. Pillard is a major figure in the scene, having been an integral part of Incantation’s prime years, but even in the normally apolitical (and extremely white) world of death metal, fans and artists are starting to lose patience with prejudice—even if the majority of listeners are not yet swinging left.

…So, what is the state of death metal in 2015? The music is still as vital as ever and the genre is flooded with talented musicians.

“Vital as ever” seems a stretch considering how the writer struggled to find examples and came up with very little other than classic bands continuing, but in order for his narrative to succeed, he has to brainwash the audience into believing that the new material is just as good as the old. And as usual, this is implied to “prove” that metal has simply matured, not been taken over by the same people who converted hardcore punk into insipid soundalike material in the name of political correctness.

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Stream of provocative black metal band Blliigghhtted – Kosmoskampf

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Turkish provocative avant-garde black metal band Blliigghhtted releases its latest, Kosmoskampf, via London-based Merdumgiriz Records on December 24, 2015. Death Metal Underground presents a live stream of the album for you to hear before ordering.

Live Stream:
01. Laughing Siblings

02. In Absu’s Absent Presence

03. And Tiamat’s Present Absence

04. Nepheshous

The band issued the following statement:

The audial part of the Kaoskampf project, which also includes a 16mm film, is 4 epic songs of purist black metal in its most innovative and spiritual form divide the 44-minute album. Emir’s signature bassy vocals reign over a technical chaos of his slithering hypnotic guitars and Merdumgiriz’ off the wall explosive drumming. It would be just to claim that these three musicians who have been continuously banned from every platform and circle for their shining of truth has reached their pinnacle in audial craftsmanship with this album. The music takes many forms including doom lead parts stitched together by fast and relentless black metal to strong melodic death metal marches. This album, along with its poetic lyrics of chaos myth that take its essence from the Chaoskampf theme and runs with it in the timeless self exploration and destruction of mankind that is “theology”. This raw but powerful as fuck production will be released through Merdumgiriz where Emir hand makes all the tapes, all this brings to mind the best of underground times in the 90ies. The innovation is embedded in tradition just as light is embedded into blight, this album is an epitome of doubt, hΩpe(lessness) and devotion thereof.

Formed by Ruahanathanas known for her work in VIRANESIR. BLLIIGGHHTTED is a psychodrama for exploring the history and philosophy of dark spirituality through correlations and juxtapositions of tradition and degeneration in essence and form. Current members include filmmaker-musician Emir Togrul of YAYLA and the idiosyncratic drummer Merdümgiriz. The project is releasing the fourth album through Merdumgiriz Records December 24th.

As with all his work on Merdumgiriz Records, Emir Toğrul’s grand vision, each copy of Kosmoskampf CD, Tape, t-shirt and patch will be made by hand in the artisanal style. Emir paints the discs, cuts and inserts the prints for the jewel case and jacket, making all non-machined parts from scratch. All current and upcoming merch comes to fans direct from the hand of the creator himself.

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    Line-up

  • Emir Toğrul – Guitar, Bass, Vocals
  • Ruhanathanas – Vocals, Lyrics
  • Merdümgiriz – Drums
    Tracklist

  • Laughing Siblings
  • In Absu’s Absent Presence
  • And Tiamat’s Present Absence
  • Nephesous

Below is the Kaoskampf film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYWviLc4LNI&feature=youtu.be

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#Metalgate: SJWs trying to block Demonic Christ appearances

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If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that SJWs speak in code. “I’m just going to pass this along” is the dog whistle for “if you’re one of Us, you should ready for attack mode now.” Apparently, SJWs are disturbed by an early 1990s interview with Demonic Christ frontwoman Dana Duffey, and because they disagree with her, they’re forming a Two Minutes Hate to get her removed from upcoming festival appearances.

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#Metalgate: Waldteufel barred from performing with Psychic TV in Portland, OR

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A reader writes:

Waldteufel just got pulled from the Psychic TV gig here, tonight, for “connections” bullshit. Markus Wolff is an incredible artist. His albums are an honest exploration of Germanic folklore and religion. Is that artistically illegal? People excited to see this very RARE performance have been robbed! I don’t get to shut down artists I see as corroding the environment. Vapid, stale, message-less vomit gets to be played any night of the week. That garbage actually decays the spirit of the entire environment, yet those performances can continue to go on and on. My guess is thought police people put club’s nuts in vice. The promoter did a great job even getting Waldteufel here to do a surprise set but had to unfortunately bend to the tears. The irony of SJWs complaining about this is beyond me. Waldteufel is playing a show with GENESIS P-ORRIDGE of all people!

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Waldteufel issued the statement below.

The misguided guilt by association witch-hunt that has ensued over Waldteufel’s billing with Psychic TV is sad and deplorable. Just because I have worked with some bands that are deemed controversial does not mean I share all or any of their views. And people evolve and change over the years, and I have done so as well. I am certainly far from perfect.

This much should be clear to all who know me – that I disdain all totalitarian forms of government including Fascism. I support indigenous cultures the world over. I have sided and been fascinated with American Native peoples since I was a child. Colonization has been a horrible mistake, and native peoples need more of a voice in what happens to their lands. I have always loved being outdoors in nature, so it’s a no-brainer I support environmental causes and justice and saving what we can of nature and wilderness, as well as finding ways to live sustainably with nature. I hope we can find a way out of capitalism and materialism. My spirituality is based on all of that, and I certainly do not buy into the notion of one’s culture or ethnicity’s superiority over another. I try to focus on the positive and life-affirming aspects, not division and emnity.

The underground scenes I have been lucky to be a part of include people of many diverse backgrounds, sexual orientations and viewpoints, and I feel privileged to call so many of them friends. I would not go through the trouble to make and maintain these connections if I was motivated by anything but love and support among artists and musicians.

I hope this clears up any misunderstandings some of you might have.

Apparently, it’s not enough to have some of the right thoughts; if you have any thoughts which do not conform to those right thoughts, or the appearance thereof, you must be censored. One might ask what the censors fear: that someone might spontaneously agree because the music is compelling?

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Metal blog CvltNation demands censorship and coverup

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Turkish record label Merdumgiriz — people who might actually face law enforcement consequences for their anti-Islamic expressions — found itself in the center of yet another controversy as band Azerine withdrew from the label after pressure by modern metal blog CvltNation.

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Although only the least savvy of metal fans would go to some place named “Cult Nation” for their news, the blog has made a name for itself by covering war metal alongside the usual wash of hipster black metal and tryhard imitators. Merdumgiriz, on the other hand, is a small label which spends its time dodging Turkish religious authorities and authoritarian Western SJWs alike.

Merdumgiriz issued the following statement:

Yesterday I released the album of a so-called “extreme” metal band. I worked so hard on the released that I forgone one of my PornHub premium shemale sessions. Not to mention the money and hard work spent making merchandise. They are a band that uses Lovercraftian lyrics (the trigger on their brains must be malfunctioning for using that “racist” writer) and much “occult” symbolism. Today they wanted me to remove their entire name and work from my label like my label had Ebola saying “Pull all support for my band from any Merdumgiriz websites immediately. Members were not fully aware of the political associations with your label, we wish in no way to have any political or religious anti religious associations.”

Mind you, they share the stage and a member with Anti-Cosmic Satanist bands and frequently use upside down pentacles.

I have heard from good sources that the website CVLT NATION have told them not to work with my label. I apparently support National Socialist bands (which band is this?) anyway, this “Nazi” was kind enough to disregard the legally binding record contract those grown up men have signed with him and let them go. Not to protect their fragile feelings or PC image, but because I do not want to insult the name of “extreme art” with supporting pussies like this.

It is no secret that Viranesir uses racist and sexist terminology to open discussion and mock taboo subject matter. I think using overly offensive language will pull the strength out of taboo subjects and render them unusable for those in power.

Here are some lyrics for the VIRANESIR song HITLER RAPE:

I have lost all my sensitivity toward the taboo subjects in my life through art and I think it can be the same for everybody else. Of course, this will be a nightmare for those in power because they won’t be able to use those taboo subjects as a means of control anymore, hence they will do all within their power to not let words like “nigger, hitler, rape” lose their power. All you have to do is use them without fear. All you ever have to do is commit the greatest sin of freedom.

I am as shit as everybody else, but I seem to be the only one knowing, not fighting, even celebrating and all the while changing it…

You make fools out of yourselves doing extreme art and being pussies. You aren’t extreme, and you are not fooling anybody with screaming and playing loud. I am the real Satanist; I am LUCIFER the bringer of true black light. I change the false meaning of things into harsh truths and fight a lonely fight to break the tyranny of cosmic order, unlike pseudo-prophets singing safe songs about mythical phenomenon. Makes me vomit.

Emir Togrul
9.12.2015

While many of us are not fond of hearing some of the words in those lyrics, we realize that defending speech means defending unpopular speech, even Christian speech. And while this blog has no anti-Christian, anti-Islamic or anti-Semitic agenda, nor a racialist one, we understand that throughout human history demonized ideas have become the basis of the next era of society, and so we encourage open discussion of all topics. Viranesir, Merdumgiriz and Blighted take it further with pure provocation for the sake of pointing out how censored our society is, and for that reason as well we refuse to censor them.

Others feel differently. They have an agenda, but will not state what it is, preferring to work behind the scenes to sabotage the ability of others to express their point of view.

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By threatening to “blacklist” metal bands for not conforming to its agenda, CvltNation creates the exact opposite of a safe space: a paranoid community where people fear accidentally saying or thinking the wrong thing as their careers will then be destroyed. This is the same method of control used in totalitarian systems like Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.

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A second band, Chronovorus, withdrew in fear of the blacklist as well. The fear spreads, and in the name… what? Fear of ideas? How metal is that?

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Youtuber “generates” technical metal with randomisation

So perhaps procedurally generated music and chance based (aleatoric) music isn’t either, but sometimes, it’s interesting (at least from a vague ‘intellectual’ perspective) to hear these ideas applied to metal music. In today’s case, we have guitarist Pete Cottrell playing “randomly generated” metal, which was created by using various sources of randomness (dice, Scrabble tiles, computerized pseudorandom number generation) to determine several properties of the music. In this case, however, only a song fragment’s tempo, time signature, and key signature were randomly generated; as far as I can tell, everything else was written and composed by the guitarist.

This latter point offers me a few bits of discussion. The first is that the next logical step would perhaps be to apply randomization to the actual riff-writing process, creating note and rhythm progressions that could end up difficult to play or simply very chaotic based on whatever algorithm was used. A synthesizer like Native Instrument’s Flesh might come in handy, although its timbral/textural relevance to metal is debatable. The other thing that occurred to me while I watched this video was that a ‘random’ compositional style on its own isn’t likely to create particularly well planned and arranged music. I wouldn’t be surprised if even the more fanatical devotees of the technique ended up using their own efforts to jam random fragments into a more sensible shape. Until the upcoming wave of strong generalist AI outpaces us at most cognitive tasks, though, there are limits to how much randomly generated we’ll hear.

Pete Cottrell has some other videos that may be of interest to metal performers, generally focused around equipment and recording technique.

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Wolves Among Sheep: History and Ideology of National Socialist Black Metal book published

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Italian publisher Tsunami Edzioni has released Wolves Among Sheep: History and Ideology of National Socialist Black Metal, a book by Davide Maspero and Max Ribaric detailing the rise of this tributary of the black metal movement that officialized many of the right-wing and traditionalist leanings of black metal as a whole.

The publishers offer the following FAQ about the book and how to obtain it:

We’ve been silent for some time, but that’s because we have been busy sending orders and replying to e-mails. The response to the book has been great so far, and we thank everyone who purchased a copy.

We compiled a brief FAQ for all those who need some information regarding the book and how to obtain it. We hope you’ll find it helpful.

IS THE BOOK IN ENGLISH?
Yes, it is. The whole of it.

IS THE SPECIAL EDITION STILL AVAILABLE?
Yes, we still have some copies left.

HOW MUCH DOES THE BOOK COST?
It depends on where you’re located.

Standard Edition:
Europe and Mediterranean Basin – 38 Euro
Americas, Asia, Africa – 43 Euro
Oceania – 50 Euro

Special Edition:
Europe and Mediterranean Basin – 46 Euro
Americas, Asia, Africa – 52 Euro
Oceania – 60 Euro

HOW CAN I ORDER?
By making a Paypal payment to: info[at]tsunamiedizioni.it

HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
Via Facebook messages on this page or via e-mail to: wolves_info[at]tsunamiedizioni.it

I NEED TO BUY MULTIPLE COPIES, CAN YOU GIVE ME A
SHIPPING QUOTE?
Yes. Just mention it in your message and we’ll get back to you.

I RUN A DISTRO AND NEED TO KNOW YOUR WHOLESALE RATES
Just mention it in your message and we’ll get back to you.

WHEN ORDERING, PLEASE STATE CLEARLY YOUR FULL ADDRESS (NO P.O. BOXES – WE SHIP VIA EXPRESS COURIER AND THEY NEED A STREET ADDRESS) AND A TELEPHONE NUMBER.

National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) remains controversial because global civilization has shifted leftward since the late 1940s with the fall of fascist regimes in Italy and later France, National Socialism in Germany, and Nationalist movements in Japan. However, starting in the 1990s when the 1968 generation took power in politics and media, a counter-movement has arisen which is critical of democracy, equality and diversity.

Sometimes this movement is merely anti-liberal, as with Michel Houellebecq in France, or libertarian as with the Tea Party and Neoreaction, but often it takes a more potent form. The original black metal bands from Norway, Sweden and Finland embraced the idea of nationalism, or a society being defined by its indigenous people, and rejected the morality of pity, equality and pacifism. Others took this farther and explicitly endorsed the older belief systems, not just National Socialist but the traditionalism of Julius Evola, the nationalism of pre-war Europe, and the monarchism and naturalism of völkisch conservatism.

During the early 1990s, when this material first emerged, I was unwilling to play such bands on the radio when I learned of their beliefs. Later digging found the nationalism of Bathory, the pro-Hitlerian sentiments of Morbid Angel, and the generally conservative — realism plus a belief in transcendentalism — surging through heavy metal. Then came Lords of Chaos and the interviews of Varg Vikernes, tearing the lid off any obscurity that black metal had regarding its anti-humanist views. For that reason, I report on them as they are part of the black metal movement and heavy metal, and it is better to have such things in the light than darkness.

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Old Funeral briefly reunites at Bergen BlekkMetal festival

My own experience with Old Funeral went through three quick stages – excitement as I discovered it was home to musicians who would later go on to play in famous black metal bands, disappointment as I learned none of the famous members were in the band at the same time, and finally, cautious appreciation of their interesting but admittedly scatterbrained demos. For whatever reason, the first lineup of the band (featuring Abbath of his own solo project and formerly Immortal) briefly reunited earlier this month to play a quick concert in Bergen. The band played four songs – the Abduction of Limbs demo and a cover of Celtic Frost’s “Procreation of the Wicked”. Most likely, this brief reunion is a historical footnote at best, but I’m sure the locals had a good time. If you want to experience the band’s recordings, seek out either a copy of The Older Ones (a demo compilation) or the more recent Our Condolences (which essentially contains The Older Ones as its second disc).

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