Dr Cordero reports that -
Unlike many heavy metal bands that utilize blasphemy, sacrilege, and evil images for superficial shock value, the wrath of anti-Christian heavy metal bands is rooted in authentic sources. The anti-Christian aesthetic within the Black Metal and impious Death Metal scenes derives from the ideology of popular satanism and the subordinate structural position of the scene. In addition to the defiance engendered by the scene's resistance to Christianity, the masculine imperative within the genre of heavy metal influences the extreme nature of the anti-Christian aesthetic. ... The homology among the aesthetic, ideology, and social structure suggests an authentic form of resistance rooted in the subordination of a deviant music scene. The anti-Christian aesthetic resonates with the supporting ideology of popular satanism and with the subordinate structural position of the scenes. In addition, the sensationalistic nature of the anti-Christian aesthetic derives from an additional ideological influence — the masculine imperative within the genre of heavy metal.Oh dear.
Cordero goes on to explain -
In the end the majority of band members construct philosophies that mirror the general perspective of Black Metal and impious Death Metal—popular satanism. At the heart of popular satanism is the idea that individuals should be able to think for themselves and to follow their own desires. This form of popular satanism or the self-as-god philosophy derives from the Satanic Bible's Law of Thelema (i.e., "Do what thou wilt") and is indicative of the perspective of most Black Metal and impious Death Metal band members. The combination of independent thinking outside the constraints of authority and the pursuit of human passion are based in part on the nihilistic beliefs that the only reality of life is death and that human beings are inevitably fallible creatures.We certainly can't have people thinking for themselves.
And on and on it goes, albeit without warnings about the strangling of kittens and shocking lack of personal hygiene among those very naughty satanists -
The development of the genre of heavy metal music attests to the continual progression of shock in alignment with masculine codes. Since the early 1980s, the genre has become more extreme in all its aesthetic dimensions, with emerging sub-genres outdoing its predecessors on all counts. Sub-genres of heavy metal alter the conventions of previous genres' music in a typically more masculinized fashion — that is, by continuing to take heavy metal musically, lyrically, and visually to the extreme. The recent rise of Death Metal and Black Metal illustrates the movement toward more brutal musical forms and a more sinister and grotesque content. Dismemberment, blasphemy, and necrophilia represent only some of the lyrical and visual content of extreme heavy metal. Inevitably, the masculine defiance endemic in adolescent subcultures converges with the cultural impetus toward perpetual innovation to produce extreme music. Extreme metal is not for the weak.Should we all head for the hills, pausing only to gather our shotguns, Mel Gibson DVDs and RFID-detectors as we go? Cordero concludes with reassurance -
The radical freedom advocated by the ideology of popular satanism and indicated in its critiques of Christianity point to an alternative vision for social life; however, recent research shows that the ideology's influence appears to be limited to the scene and that the anti-Christian aesthetic appears to have little impact upon institutionalized religion.
