Now, I ain’t gonna go into a history of black metal (y’all can check the link for that), except to say that it sucks donkey balls.
Gaahl, typically for a black metal artist (I use the word “artist” loosely) takes himself too seriously, and fails utterly to comprehend that Satanic metal was just a gimmick, a joke. He does his best to be dark, brooding, dangerous, and incomprehensible, by doing such things as going 3+ minutes without blinking, a parlor trick he obviously perfected in order to try to freak out naive interviewers.
Now, Gaahl does indeed have some bona fide antisocial tendencies. He was convicted for torturing a trespasser on his homestead property in rural Espedal, and had to pay an award to his victim in a civil trial over the incident.
So the guy might be a “legit” Satanist psycho, whatever that is. But I think he probably did that just to enhance his “street cred” (or whatever Nordic black metallers call their equivalent of gangsta rapper life experience).
Anyway, he just tries too hard. Notably, for all he whines and sneers and snarls about the evils of Christianity and traditional cultural and political power structures, he offers nothing in its stead. Just sophomoric fist-shaking and moaning. He has no sophisticated philosophy to offer in place of the oppressive “Right-Hand Path” religions. He’s just a reactionary. Not a visionary. An adult adolescent, who really didn’t grasp the fact that Ozzy and Slayer and Alice Cooper were JOKING. Mods: This isn’t particularly vitriolic, but I understand if it needs to be moved to the Pit. I put it here 'cause it’s music/culture criticism.
Yeah, I mean Glen Benton went way too far back in the day. I know that isn’t really Black Metal, but remember when Glen said he would kill himself when he turned 33?
But yeah, this Gaahl guy seems to think the whole thing is serious.
I dunno. I the phrase, “Gaahl tortured a trespasser,” deserves a couple of scare quotes. I’d expect actual torture would result in criminal charges, not a civil suit. The OP’s link just says he “assaulted” him.
Varg Vierkefuckitican’tspellit has a similar defense in his slaying of Euronymous. Euronymous threw a badly timed karate kick at his front door and ran. Varg ICan’tSpellIt chased him down with the knife, all over his apartment building, slashing at him until he finally buried the blade in Euronymous’ forehead. But it was self-defense. And he didn’t stab him as many times as it looked. AND the whole trial was a big conspiracy against him.
This is the story exactly as it was told on his wall of text from Burzum.org. I sort of like Burzum and Gorgoroth, but the antics get to be a bit much. I would never tell either of that to their faces though, because they would hurt me. I don’t like getting hurt.
Two different dudes - while Vikernes probably isn’t reformed in any way, shape, or form, he’s not actually been caught doing anything that’d send him back to jail, yet. (He only got out last year.)
Gaahl has never killed anyone. That we know of. Yet. (He’s also not a Satanist, though several of his former band-mates are.)
Yup. Another reason he doesn’t scare me. (Though I prefer the term “vocalist” because what black metal vocalists do can’t by any reasonable interpretation be called, “singing”.)
Know what else? Gaahl is also gay. And a women’s fashion designer, for Chrissake. I didn’t mention this up front, 'cause I didn’t see it as relevant. (Also, just 'cause somebody is gay, does NOT mean that he’s a weak, effete nancy-boy: many of the leaders of the early Stürmabteilung [SA, or “brownshirts”] in Nazi Germany, including Ernst Röhm himself, were gay, and were scary, sadistic, hypermasculine thugs. I’m sure there are a few very dangerous gay sociopaths out there…Jeffrey Dahmer was one, for example.)
But a fashion designer??? Come on, Gaahl, now you’re just being a puss. Whatever fear you might’ve ever evoked in people, you forever diluted when you and your boyfriend started that women’s clothing line.
And btw, Varg Vikernes, aka “Count Grishnach”, former bassist of infamous Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, convicted and imprisoned for 15 years for slaying bandmate “Euronymous”, is a different person than Gaahl. Jus’ sayin’.
Here’s what the Guardian article says (the one wiki cites):
It is alleged he beat his victim - a man who had turned up uninvited and inebriated to an after-hours party at his house - threatened to sacrifice him and gave him a cup into which to bleed. Acting as his own defence, Gaahl claimed in court that he had been attacked first and his assailant was only provided with a cup ‘so that he wouldn’t make such a mess in my house’. The singer refuses to discuss his version of events in detail now for fear of prejudicing the outcome of the trial, but insists he was attacked as part of a hit organised by a man with whom he had a prior dispute.
Course, Euronymous wasn’t a saint or anything, either. (Not that it gives the other guy a right to kill him, but still.) He’s the guy who found a bandmate who committed suicide, and instead of calling the cops he went and bought a disposable camera, arranged the scene a bit, took pictures (which ended up as the cover of one of their “semi-official” bootlegs), and took pieces of the guy’s skull (he blew his own brains out, pretty much literally) to make into necklaces for people.
I like metal, I even like some black/Norwegian metal, but man, a lot of these guys seem to redefine crazy.
The people that are very immersed in this whole genre are somewhat odd to me, although I do try to be very open-minded - there was a little girl in my daughter’s class named Vortex - after this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICS_Vortex
On the other hand, Dead himself would have probably done the same if the situations had been reversed - he might not have been as violent as Euronymous, but he was a morbid mofo.
