A lengthy discourse on morality and music (ignore and scroll down if such things bore the proverbial underwear from off your body!)
It has been the case, in the past, that when asked why SonicAbuse cover bands with whose political or moral views we disagree with, the reply has been offered that as music reviewers rather than participants we are not partisan. To allow our own moral or political judgement to interfere with a review is redundant because it arrogantly suggests that we can (or should) in some way impose our beliefs upon others – a situation which is as unlikely as it is hypocritical. Reviewers exist as a means of offering advice to the public as to what release is worthy of their money and as a portal through which readers can discover new music. It is most categorically not the role of a reviewer to decide which bands are morally acceptable or not. This, in particular, has been thrown into sharp relief this week with the French festival Hellfest’s decision to cancel the appearance of the Finnish band Satanic Warmaster.
Satanic Warmaster are a band hailing from Finland who propagate the purist teachings of Satanism. Arguably the band have placed themselves in the firing line of the moral majority with several interviews that have aligned them with an extremist stance as well as song and album titles that are certainly provocative, although such provocation is hardly new in black metal and a band can gain a certain satisfaction from misinterpretation of their works by those who have only the comfort and hapless arrogance of their own moral standpoint with which to retaliate. Speaking purely for myself I would suggest that a far more reliable view of Satanic Warmaster’s standpoint can be found in the singular quote: “Black Metal is negative. For an average person Black Metal in all its immorality and nihilism should be a million times worse than neo-nazism or anything like that”.
If we are to take this statement at its face value then we can potentially discount the notion that Satanic Warmaster are a National Socialist or Nazi band simply because, as any political theorist will be able to tell you, nihilism and Nazism are rather different even if their followers may exhibit similar tendencies. Equally the pure philosophy of Satanism runs at odds with the self-sacrifice demanded of a national socialist or a Nazi given that its central teaching relates to the furthering of the self at the expense of all else in strict contrast to the Socialist principal of furthering the state before the individual (again accepting that means rather than ends may bear striking similarity). However, I am not here to defend or condemn the band – whether you wish to support, acknowledge or even listen to Satanic Warmaster is entirely your own choice and should in no way be influenced by anyone else’s superimposed morality. Furthermore it is arguable that one can enjoy a piece of art without necessarily sympathising with its creator’s belief structure. With this in mind it seems that the decision of Hellfest’s organisers to suppress the band’s performance is a surprising one. Even if the principals of a band, artist or speaker do run contrary to your own beliefs, in order to understand and discount (or support) any ideology one has to understand it. Simply sweeping a band away because you disagree with their views is a far more right wing tactic than allowing them to play and (possibly, but rather unfeasibly) influence the audience with their beliefs. Such a standpoint allows for the banning of the teaching of Marx, the reading of ‘Mein Kampf’ or the discussion of racism simply because it is unpalatable, yet without understanding there is no reasoning and no discussion – a fertile breeding ground indeed for the intolerance of the right wing movement even while under the guise of misguided liberalism.
This is, as was stated previously, not an attempt to condone, support or even fully comprehend the philosophy of Satanic Warmaster – rather it is an attempt to reintroduce an element of rational thought rather than knee-jerk reactionary behaviour into proceedings. In that light, we are to examine the music and art of Satanic Warmaster, rather than place the band’s beliefs on trial and here we find ourselves on surer ground for the band play unashamed, brutally precise black metal with a fervour that allies them with Burzum’s glacial misery, Darkthrone’s primitive racket and Mayhem’s puritanical self-belief.
Nachzehrer Review
Opening with a brief, yet discomforting ‘intro’ which sees amorphous noise and raging wind howling through the speakers, the first track proper on 2010’s Nachzehrer is ‘Satan’s werewolf’, an uncompromising piece that pledges allegiance, lyrically, to Satan via blazing guitars and vicious, unrelenting drums. It is a great track, overflowing with passion for the subject matter and expertly played and produced with a grit that sees the band aping the sound of mid-nineties black metal rather than aiming for the cleaner more technical sound that black metal bands seem to have been developing of late. Keyboards do exist within the sonic murk but they are buried low in the mix, something which actually adds to the feel and atmosphere and when they do rise to the surface the melodic aspect carries greater import than if the synths had been whirring away in the background the whole time. With a genuinely epic feel, the music is unerringly dark and yet maintains a soundtrack feel (albeit a soundtrack to some grindhouse horror rather than Lawrence of Arabia) and it’s clear that if you call yourself a fan of black metal then this is a CD you’ll want to immerse yourself in. And immerse yourself you can, while the guitars buzz like chainsaws the pace is almost hypnotic and by the time ‘vampires’ kicks in you’ll be enmeshed deep within the music’s blizzard of vitriolic instrumentation.
Phasing into being from a pure maelstrom of guitar the valedictory, majestic ‘Warmaster returns’ is a six-minute-plus journey into the black and beating heart of darkness that exists at the centre of Satanic Warmaster in the form of Satanic Tyrant Werewolf whose utter conviction to his cause and art has recently proved so contentious. While the production may vex those searching for a more modern sound, it is hard to imagine hearing anything more utterly sincere or heartfelt while lyrically the man’s philosophy is clothed in oblique metaphor and allegory that is far more open to interpretation than the band’s detractors would have you believe. ‘One shining star’ appears next, again with that epic feel mentioned earlier and offering up a disconcerting lyric that bears comparison to the notion of pleasure and pain being ultimately linked with “those who cannot conceive the delight of being speared by his black horns.” Musically, however, there’s more than just noise going on with a real element of dark melody apparent beneath the tinny mix and it is one of the best tracks on the album thanks to its well-written lyrics and masterly, if slightly masked, musicianship. More ambitious still is ‘Bestial darkness’, a huge gothic edifice built around a sweeping organ sound and fuzzed-up bass all topped off with those flesh-ripping screams and gargles so typical of the genre but delivered with a malevolent glee here that is quite extraordinary. ‘Rotting raven’s blood’ follows on nicely at a more sedate pace despite an equally inexorable will and the slower speed works well with the wall of guitars grinding out the songs twisted message while the lyrics are clearer here than at any other point on the disc. With even an element of early Celtic Frost appearing amidst the more alternative leanings of the track, it is another standout leaving only the short ‘Utag-Hul’ to close this short but dangerously pointed blast of obnoxious musical fury with a gentle, pastoral synth piece that seems a somehow fitting and majestic end to the album.
Whether or not you’ve found yourself at odds politically or morally with Satanic Warmaster in the past, if you follow black metal you would be foolish to ignore this excellent album. Here music, passion and conviction combine to form a convincing, fantastic (in the literal sense of the word) and savagely bleak record, bereft of hope but possessed of a self-belief that both inspiring and unnerving. Ultimately to attempt to impose moral order upon black metal seems somewhat contradictory. A musical force that was born out of the fire of a small group of musician’s passionate and unquenchable beliefs, it may well be impossible to entirely separate the creator’s values from their music but such is the power of free will and intelligence that you don’t have to practice the dark arts of the musicians you listen to yet those same people who laugh off the notion of Slayer or Judas Priest being responsible for murder, of Marilyn Manson inspiring Columbine or Iron Maiden encouraging Satanism are those who would demand you eschew this music because they either do not agree with or do not understand bands such as Satanic Warmaster. This is pure, uncommercial, unadorned art for art’s sake and is, therefore a worthy and intriguing release which is worth your time. As for Hellfest’s decision to enforce a ban it only goes to show that ignorance and intolerance doesn’t always need a Swastika to flourish.
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