Spellbound by the Devil Norwegian black-metal artists Dimmu Borgir keep harvesting success with their latest masterpiece; ”Death Cult Armageddon”, but critics claim that the album with its devil-worshipping and misanthropic manifesto isn’t ethically And therefore not appropriate in the society today referring to the numerous murders, suicides and other unchristian actions that are being committed everyday. Some of them possibly triggered by this kind of music. For example, the slaughter at a school in Germany a couple of years ago where sixteen people suddenly ceased to exist. They died by the hands of a former student who had gone postal and was said to be deeply infected by a well known band with satanic tendencies. He was also linked to a group of Satanists. (caption; Dimmu Borgir and their music- incoherent noise from hell or the truest piece of art? The experience is, as always, individual.) Sons of Satan Dimmu Borgir promotes the antithesis of Christian values referring to themselves as sons of Satan. Their lyrics are philosophically inclined and typified by darkness, sorrow, destructiveness, evil and Satanism. Combine this with their violent (but oh so beautiful in their minor keys) sound that creates this sort of aggressive atmosphere that really captures you if you embrace it, and you have the best piece of black metal there is. But with catchwords like “In Satan we trust” the criticism from all the moralising Christians are sure to follow (although the vast majority of them never heard of Dimmu Borgir) Good in nature, but evil by our own free will But are they real or just a bunch of sell-outs just doing what their label tells them? The vocalist Shagrath and the guitarist Silenoz in Dimmu Borgir have the answers. -Explain the lyrics, what are they based on? Shagrath – “My misanthropy… it’s just that some people don’t deserve to walk the earth.” -Is Dimmu Borgir a satanic band? Silenoz – “Yes, definitely, but the Satanism that we want to portray is from an individual point of view. It’s finding your true self instead of looking for your true inner meaning in religions, which is wrong. It all comes down to yourself and it’s important not to follow anyone’s word or path. Of course, you can take influences from people with other points of view, but if you follow something blindly then you’re not better than any hypocritical Christian.” Sure, black-metal has stretched, bent and broken the unspoken ethical rules of what’s appropriate. But will continue to exist as long as there are new generations distancing themselves from the establishment and religion. Black-metal is violent and shocking but, hopefully, not dangerous. Mikael Johansson SpNa2 © 2003 Freeway Writer: Mikael Johansson (sp05-31@park.se) HTML by: Jonas Ögren (te04-52@park.se).