National Socialist black metal

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National Socialist black metal (also known as Nazi black metal or NSBM) is a title used to refer to black metal acts with an emphasis on National Socialist beliefs in their music. It is not necesarily a "sub genre", as there is no way to play black metal exclusively in a National Socialist way. Bands that promote lyrics advocating ideas of racial separatism, anti-Semitism, and Aryanism are often differentiated as "NSBM" to separate such bands from other black metal groups which do not exemplify these beliefs.

Artists in the NSBM scene typically argue that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are major causes for the perceived troubles of modern European peoples. As an alternative to Christianity, most NSBM bands have advocated variations of Pagan beliefs and traditions; the most common being Ásatrú and Odinism. Among black metal listeners, interest in Paganism is not restricted to those involved with NSBM. Environmentalism (such as the writings of Richard Darré and Savitri Devi) and Julius Evola's teachings of traditionalism are recurring themes.

Contents

[edit] History

NSBM is sometimes considered to have started with the work of Burzum (Varg Vikernes). However, there is no direct reference to National Socialism in Burzum's earliest compositions, and Varg has actually gone as far as to denounce NSBM in recent interviews. His anti-establishment ideology, however, is most likely what spurred this assumption. One of the earliest black metal bands to actually write overt lyrics espousing white racialist beliefs was the Polish one-man band Graveland.

While nationalism (or at least national romanticism) has been an influence in black metal from early on, NSBM adds a focus on advocating National Socialism as an alternative to modern liberal society. However, while Nazi Germany was never overtly opposed to Christianity, NSBM continues the black metal tradition of opposition to Judeo-Christianity in its entirety, while placing more emphasis on anti-Semitism.

In the 2000s, NSBM music became increasingly sold by Rock Against Communism (RAC) and other white power music outlets, and bands such as Gestapo SS, Sigrblot (this Swedish NSBM band covered Fortress´ popular WP song "I hate commie scum" on their cd "Blodsband") and Bannerwar have covered RAC and Hatecore songs on their NSBM releases. NSBM bands are beginning to perform alongside RAC bands.

[edit] NSBM and the broader black metal scene

Sometimes there is confusion over whether a band fits the label of NSBM. Darkthrone is often said to be a NSBM band mainly because Norsk Arisk Black Metal (Norwegian Aryan Black Metal) was written in the back of their album Transilvanian Hunger. Later on they denounced that and maintained an apolitical outlook as a band.

Some black metal bands, although unrelated to NSBM, include some mostly meaningless references to Nazi Germany in their lyrics. These are mainly used for shock value; a tradition with precendent among 1970s punk bands such as the Sex Pistols. This has caused some black metal bands to inaccurately be labelled as NSBM. One example of this was the Czech band Amon (which from 1995 to 1999 was called Amon Goeth).[1]

One of the most mispercieved black metal bands is Marduk. Many have considered Marduk to be NSBM after the release of their album "Panzer Division Marduk". Marduk has written songs about the Nazis in World War II, including "The Hangman of Prague", which is about Reinhard Heidrich (head of the Gestapo). Despite this, both band founder Morgan Hakannson and ex-vocalist Legion state that Marduk is not National Socialist, and that the topic as source for song writing just fascinates them.

[edit] Notable bands

[edit] See also

Heavy metal
Black metal - Classic metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Folk metal - Glam metal - Gothic metal - Grindcore - Industrial metal - Neo-classical metal - Nu metal - Post-metal - Power metal - Progressive metal - Speed metal - Symphonic metal - Thrash metal
Regional scenes
Scandinavian death metal - New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Bay Area thrash metal
Other topics
Fashion - Bands - Umlaut - Slang

[edit] External links

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