Hellig Usvart is a seminal 1994 album by Australian metal multi-instrumentalist Jayson Sherlock. Dubbed "unblack metal" or Christian death metal, it's unclear whether the album is a proclamation of Christian faith in a death metal idiom, or a deadpan parody of death metal's Satanic tropes. Consider the track list:
1. "A Church Bell Tolls Amidst the Frozen Nordic Winds"
2. "Blasphemous Abomination of the Satanic Pentagram"
3. "Behold, the Rising of the Scarlet Moon"
4. "Thine Hour Hast Come"
5. "Release and Clothe the Virgin Sacrifice"
6. "Drink From the Chalice of Blood"
7. "Silence the Blasphemous Chanting"
8. "Invert the Inverted Cross"
9. "An Abandoned Grave Bathes Softly in the Falling Moonlight"
10. "Crush the Bloodied Horns of the Goat"
11. "Weak, Feeble, and Dying Anti-Christ"
12. "The Day of Total Armageddon Holocaust"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellig_Usvart
Can't wait to check it out! As soon as I get out of traffic...
ReplyDelete"the album also kicked the door wide open and paved the way for many Christian black metal bands in the future to bring the light of Christ to an extremely dark music scene" ... I would love to see a Christian try to explain to his brethren that the black metal he's listening to is the Christian and not the Satanic kind. "Just listen to the lyrics, will ya?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps the inspiration for ICP?
ReplyDeleteBased on the quote in the article and listening to a couple minutes of the music, I see no reason not to take him at his word. It's not that different from the thousands of bands influenced by Slayer riffs who have nothing to do with them culturally.
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam except dude has been in bunch of brutal-sounding metal bands such as Paramaecium and Revulsed. I honestly can't tell if the Christian veneer is genuine (and thus very odd) or ironically contrived.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revulsed
Peter Ciccolo whaaaat? Are you saying ICP is Christian clown rap?
ReplyDeleteLev Osherovich Wikipedia lists Paramaecium and Mortification as Christian bands, but not Revulsed. It looks like he's been in various metal bands both Christian and not, mostly as a drummer where he probably has little to do with the lyrics. I don't see this as inconsistent.
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam It's consistently odd. Note that Horde is a solo project, so presumably he is a Christian... or not.
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam, Paramaecium sounds like some kind of protist music.
ReplyDeleteLev Osherovich Do you see Christian and brutal as mutually exclusive? Is it odd for Jewish people to love Wagner?
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam A false comparison. Wagner's music and themes are not antisemitic and the co-opting of his musical legacy by the Nazis is not his fault. In contrast, an uplifting Christian message in a style famous for Satanic leanings... that's just funny.
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam and no, history clearly shows that Christianity and brutality are not incompatible.
ReplyDeleteLev Osherovich Separating music vs lyrics is pretty easy in this genre. Especially to the point of reworking the music to such uplifting songs as "Weak, Feeble, and Dying Anti-Christ".
ReplyDeletePhilip Yam likewise, the music can be made cheerful by switching to a major scale. See here :
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/vq8ODuozdIo
Lev Osherovich : Obscurantist Christian clown rap. (Well, sorta.)
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Carnival_(Insane_Clown_Posse)
Peter Ciccolo wow, I had not until now appreciated the mystical aspects of ICP. Fucking magnets -- how do they work?
ReplyDeleteWow. Whether it's intended or not, the song titles have me laughing out loud. And now I am picturing a show at which half the fans believe it to be parody and half take it dead serious. That would be awesome.
ReplyDelete