Borderline Black Metal?

No, smart-ass, it's the band concentrating too much on their own image. Why wear make-up to prove some kind of point? Make-up, masks, loin cloths all annoy me. Of course I'd still like Opeth if they started painting themselves up, but I'd say, "Hey girls, lose the make-up!!"

Now I know all BM bands aren't Kiss look-a-likes, but the whole satanic thing is another dumbass idea. Why go against a religion with another religion? Actually, it's the same religion. If you believe in God, you believe in Satan too, am I right? It's all just choosing sides. Why aren't there anti-Buddhist bands out there? How about an anti-Scientology band (actually not a bad idea, but may turn more into a comedy act)?

Point is Satanism and corpse paint does absolutely nothing for me. I don't like poor production for the "vibe" it may give off either.

Just my opinion, though.:heh:

Can I just send all my posts through you? You're able to word my thoughts exactly.
 
You should research black metal more clearly if you think that most bands are praising/writing about theistic Satanism like you're referring to.
 
I think probably 99% of any genre is rubbish. Most death metal is boring shite, but there are some great bands around. Black Metal has a few good bands, although most of the best ones are good because they eventually developed their sound into something different, which led a lot of the Kvlt idiots to label them 'sell outs' or whatever for not still recording their albums on a dictaphone in their parents basement. Personally I like Emperor, Satyricon, and Enslaved, although Enslaved have gotten quite prog now so they're barely black metal. Akercocke are one of my favourite bands but I don't think they're really black metal as such, sure they have a lot of influence from it but I think they're more towards the death metal side of things, although I think on the whole they're almost as unclassifiable as Opeth.
 
OK, I'll start with you. Please define "black metal".

Wikipedia's definition of black metal:

"Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It is typically abrasive and usually makes use of fast tempos, high-pitched electric guitars often played with tremolo picking, high-pitched shrieking vocals, and unconventional song structures. It is prone to experimentation and certain elements typical to black metal are not always used by every band within the subgenre."

Skipping to the more important parts:

"The most common and founding lyrical emphasis revolves around Satanic, Pagan, and/or occult themes. Opposition to Christianity is a nearly universal theme among black metal bands. War, misanthropy, and suicide are often explored. Lyrics may also celebrate environmental origins of bands, celebrating darkness, winter, snow, blizzards, forests, and other natural surroundings of northern European countries, as well as their folklore and history. Lyrical content may also be inspired by fantasy. The Austrian band Summoning focuses almost exclusively on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth for its lyrical content. Other bands create their own fictional realms (for instance, certain songs by Immortal depict a fictional kingdom called "Blashyrkh"). Bal-Sagoth's material is made up of various song cycles, and original fantasy narratives, inspired by writers like Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft."

Theistic Satanism is different from LeVeyan Satanism.

LeVeyan Satanism: "In LaVeyan Satanism the Satanist does not worship Satan in the theistic sense, but plays the role of an adversary to spiritual creeds, espousing hedonism, Randian Objectivism, Nietzschean philosophy and atheism."

Theistic Satanism: "Theistic Satanism, also known as Traditional Satanism, is a general term for the belief that Satan is an actual deity or force, and worthy of reverence or worship."


I don't see Negura Bunget or Burzum praising Satan. Nor do I see Austere or Nyktalgia praising Satan. I don't see Enslaved praising Satan, either.
 
Theistic Satanism is different from LeVeyan Satanism.

LeVeyan Satanism: "In LaVeyan Satanism the Satanist does not worship Satan in the theistic sense, but plays the role of an adversary to spiritual creeds, espousing hedonism, Randian Objectivism, Nietzschean philosophy and atheism."

Theistic Satanism: "Theistic Satanism, also known as Traditional Satanism, is a general term for the belief that Satan is an actual deity or force, and worthy of reverence or worship."


I don't see Negura Bunget or Burzum praising Satan. Nor do I see Austere or Nyktalgia praising Satan. I don't see Enslaved praising Satan, either.

In a LeVeyan sense, all of those bands do.
 
Hmmm, this could just be bullshit, but maybe Mike just meant the atmosphere of the album. I couldn't help myself and listened to Watershed once and it had a really twisted atmosphere... definitely different from any other Opeth album and definitely the closest to black metal.
 
You must have not listened to any good bm then. Akercocke, Negura Bunget, and Deathspell Omega are easily just as good as Opeth. So are Enslaved and Emperor.

Haha.. comparing Akercocke to Opeth.. and saying they're just as good.

You may like the bands you mentioned as much as you like Opeth. This does NOT make them objectively 'as good'.
 
I think it's a bit bold to be generalizing and judging something you have little understanding of, Cerberus III and SerenityNow!, but I can see where you're coming from with the limited scope of black metal that you have. Corpse paint actually has historical/mythological connotations and specifically anti-Christian themes are common because black metal first ignited in a country that is, historically speaking, very firmly rooted in paganism; a way of life that was destroyed by the Christian church. While I think Satanic themes are counter-productive due to the fear it evokes in people thus reinforcing or even spawning faith, the resentment towards the church tends to be expressed in this way because it's a very clear and simple way of portraying anti-Christian ideals.

And I couldn't agree more with you, liquidcow.