Jacob Bannon of Converge, in interview here
Today I'm going to write about an album that changed my life:
Burzum.
This self-titled album by Burzum from 1992 is the first non-demo album by notorious Varg Vikernes, or "Count Grishnakh." It is widely considered to be the first atmospheric black metal album. It is shrill at times, evoking the poor production quality that was heralded by the Norwegian Black Metal (NBM) scene. It involves a lot of references that I'll try to include here, and it's part of a complex NBM mythology that is anti-Christian and anti-commercial.
I - Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown
I have to give Vikernes a lot of credit. He played this entire thing himself. He's clearly got a lot of talent, and you can tell some of the timing is off and his concepts of solos and other musical ideas come from a background where he can't choose which instrument he really wants to play. Perhaps that is part of the genius? Overall he creates a very dark mood here that you can't help but see as hugely influential. He has said crazy things, like:
What strikes me as crazy here might not to most. I'm more worried about the welcoming of catastrophe, and labeling the best amongst us.
"We saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
Burzum means "darkness" and was originally first named "Kalishnikov" (after the inventor of the AK-47) and then Uruk-Hai (the name of Orcs from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series). Varg referred to himself as Count Grishnakh, an orc commander from the aforementioned series. So it's kinda goofy, right? Varg has also made mention of influence by lots of classical music as well. So maybe it's not so goofy? The album features shrieks that would have probably been chill-inducing in the early 90s. Track II is about Ea (Babylonian), or Enki (Sumerian), as he was originally known, a great God who (at least in Babylonian lore) took the shape of many twisted creatures.
Vikernes himself seems to be like this. Sometimes supporting racist music (Waffen SS) and claiming to be incredibly racist, and then an Enki-like maneuver to be as void of contact with them as possible, Vikernes is wearing whichever face seems to thrill best and then stripping himself of the facade in time to avoid consequences. I am fully aware that he served time in prison. It's possible that he should have served more, however. He was sentenced to 21 and spent almost 16.
"Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable -- unless something drastic happens very soon -- , and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture."
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy -- alien influences."
That's about as racist as it gets, and sad. It's disappointing. I'm grateful for artists taking the quality parts of this and moving forward with it, but it begs for explanation, I feel. The music is metal, which is fairly multicultural, when you think of bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Metallica, who have all had non-caucasian members. It continues to become more multicultural and diverse, a fact that must really irritate Varg, enabling him to belch out lines like, "The world's tragedy, is served at my feast!"
Still, this album doesn't really showcase his bizarre worldview. It's an album worth hearing, there can be no doubt about it.
References
Film
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008.
Literature/Websites
-Atmospheric black metal, from rateyourmusic.com
-Ea, article at wikipedia
-Lords of Chaos, Moynihan and Soderlind, 2003 (Updated version)
-Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
-On the Importance of Burzum, from burzum.com
-Time's Arrow: Show No Mercy - An Interview with Jacob Bannon of Converge, via Pitchfork here
Music
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992.
Other things of interest. A new video for "Astral Body" by Between the Buried and Me off of their forthcoming Parallax part 2, new songs by Converge, "Aimless Arrow," which was made into a good music video, and a second mentioned by Stosuy in his recent Show No Mercy.
New Bob Dylan, new Swans, new Grizzly Bear, new Fiona Apple, new Max Richter, along with checking out notable releases this year of bands I'm not at all familiar with, like Tame Impala, and so much more that I still need to hear this year. I've listened to bits and pieces of all of those above, but I'm so focused on black metal right now that it's difficult to give them the amount of time they deserve. I am working on it.
Speaking of black metal (and metal in general), I missed a couple of really good shows this last weekend and Monday, with bands like Yob, Ash Borer, and Menace Ruine. It makes me that much more desperate about making the Converge trip happen. To end it for this week, here's a fun new song by the fun stoner metal bad Red Fang, out of portland.
I - Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown
I have to give Vikernes a lot of credit. He played this entire thing himself. He's clearly got a lot of talent, and you can tell some of the timing is off and his concepts of solos and other musical ideas come from a background where he can't choose which instrument he really wants to play. Perhaps that is part of the genius? Overall he creates a very dark mood here that you can't help but see as hugely influential. He has said crazy things, like:
What strikes me as crazy here might not to most. I'm more worried about the welcoming of catastrophe, and labeling the best amongst us.
"We saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
Burzum means "darkness" and was originally first named "Kalishnikov" (after the inventor of the AK-47) and then Uruk-Hai (the name of Orcs from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series). Varg referred to himself as Count Grishnakh, an orc commander from the aforementioned series. So it's kinda goofy, right? Varg has also made mention of influence by lots of classical music as well. So maybe it's not so goofy? The album features shrieks that would have probably been chill-inducing in the early 90s. Track II is about Ea (Babylonian), or Enki (Sumerian), as he was originally known, a great God who (at least in Babylonian lore) took the shape of many twisted creatures.
Vikernes himself seems to be like this. Sometimes supporting racist music (Waffen SS) and claiming to be incredibly racist, and then an Enki-like maneuver to be as void of contact with them as possible, Vikernes is wearing whichever face seems to thrill best and then stripping himself of the facade in time to avoid consequences. I am fully aware that he served time in prison. It's possible that he should have served more, however. He was sentenced to 21 and spent almost 16.
"Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable -- unless something drastic happens very soon -- , and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture."
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy -- alien influences."
That's about as racist as it gets, and sad. It's disappointing. I'm grateful for artists taking the quality parts of this and moving forward with it, but it begs for explanation, I feel. The music is metal, which is fairly multicultural, when you think of bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Metallica, who have all had non-caucasian members. It continues to become more multicultural and diverse, a fact that must really irritate Varg, enabling him to belch out lines like, "The world's tragedy, is served at my feast!"
Still, this album doesn't really showcase his bizarre worldview. It's an album worth hearing, there can be no doubt about it.
References
Film
-Until the Light Takes Us, Aites and Ewell, 2008.
Literature/Websites
-Atmospheric black metal, from rateyourmusic.com
-Ea, article at wikipedia
-Lords of Chaos, Moynihan and Soderlind, 2003 (Updated version)
-Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
-On the Importance of Burzum, from burzum.com
-Time's Arrow: Show No Mercy - An Interview with Jacob Bannon of Converge, via Pitchfork here
Music
-Burzum, Burzum, 1992.
Other things of interest. A new video for "Astral Body" by Between the Buried and Me off of their forthcoming Parallax part 2, new songs by Converge, "Aimless Arrow," which was made into a good music video, and a second mentioned by Stosuy in his recent Show No Mercy.
New Bob Dylan, new Swans, new Grizzly Bear, new Fiona Apple, new Max Richter, along with checking out notable releases this year of bands I'm not at all familiar with, like Tame Impala, and so much more that I still need to hear this year. I've listened to bits and pieces of all of those above, but I'm so focused on black metal right now that it's difficult to give them the amount of time they deserve. I am working on it.
Speaking of black metal (and metal in general), I missed a couple of really good shows this last weekend and Monday, with bands like Yob, Ash Borer, and Menace Ruine. It makes me that much more desperate about making the Converge trip happen. To end it for this week, here's a fun new song by the fun stoner metal bad Red Fang, out of portland.
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