My dear friend Sam, he who is responsible for my sporadically recurring posts detailing the finer aspects of Black Metal, had another idea last week that he thought would add some humor and spice to this page, and boy is it a hoot!
Apparently there is a sub-genre (or ideology) in the black metal scene known as NSBM, which stands for “National Socialist Black Metal.” Sonically it does not differ from the general style of black metal, but lyrically there is a world of difference. Instead of singing (or, more typically, emitting a guttural howl or shriek) about death and war and misanthropy, NSBM bands advocate racism, anti-semitism, and Aryanism. In many cases, the much more normal notion of nationalism towards a band’s homeland is combined with these hateful ideologies.
Sam thought it would be funny to read my opinions about a few NSBM albums he owns. The first I’ve received was recorded by a band called Nokturnal Mortum, and the album is called “NeChrist.”
Nokturnal Mortum formed in Kharkiv, Ukraine around 1994, and features two guitarists (one of whom sings), bass, drums and a keyboardist. So basically the utilize the old Pink Floyd approach circa Dark Side Of The Moon. Nokturnal Mortum are considered one of the major black metal bands from eastern Europe. They associate themselves with the NSBM movement, and their lyrics, interviews, shows and articles — basically everything available to the public that would clue us into their motives — does not contradict their beliefs. For the most part, it would appear that Nokturnal Mortum are not using NSBM as a publicity stunt.
The history of Ukraine is worth noting when one considers the fact that a Nazi-sympathizing band formed there recently. Although there were some rogue nationalists in the Ukraine who fought both Nazi and Soviet forces during World War II, the Nazi army did not choose to exploit the mounting frustration many Ukrainians felt towards their Soviet occupiers. Instead, they killed most of the Jews and deported ethnic Ukrainians to Germany so that they could bring in more Germans to live there. So basically, most of the people in the Ukraine hated the Nazis. And this is entirely unrelated to the 2.7 million ethnic Ukrainians who were killed fighting the Nazis.
But, whatever, apparently Nokturnal Mortum don’t care about that enough to agree with their hatred for anyone who isn’t Aryan or Slavic.
NeChrist opens with “The Funeral Wind Born In Oriana,” a tune which begins with a series of bird chips and horn blasts heralding the coming doom. Without delay, the group launches into their theatrical black metal, and they have certainly mastered all the nuances of the genre. Their speedy assault is juxtaposed to what sound like old eastern European folk melodies, which are buried beneath the cold expanse of sharp crunching guitars and blood-curdling screams. Of course, lyrics such as “We are stepping down on this world / It was sold to the sly nation / It will die together with them” and “We will gather together again / and our power has multiplied into thousand / we are ready to fight against Judeo Christianity” sure don’t sit well with me, and probably wouldn’t with some other listeners.
“Black Raven” might be my favorite track. It begins with a low-end drone and some sort of spoken chant before a tom-heavy drum beat enters the mix accompanied by a woman’s singing and a distant flute. Then it erupts with extremely trebly, howling guitars and gets all crazy and fast for the next four minutes. I can’t understand what he’s singing because I think it’s in a different language. Probably Ukranian.
It’s a shame too, because when they’re not spreading messages of hate, the lyrics are actually quite good! “Night Before The Fight” contains beautiful descriptions of nature from the perspective of a hardened soldier readying for war.
Of course, the only track that anyone really is going to talk about when listening to NeChrist is “The Call of Aryan Spirit” which spews hatred at pretty much anyone who isn’t of Slavonic decent, most notably Jewish persons and non-white persons, because they are called out by name (Catholics are despised too, according to the track “Jesus’ Blood”). It’s kind of strange to hear, because I don’t know if it is a publicity stunt or the truth. Whatever it is, it seems pretty hypocritical when one considers the person delivering the message lives in a country that was invaded by Hitler’s army and lost millions of lives fighting to keep Nazism out of their land.
By about the fifth track (there are 88 on this album, but tracks 10-87 are just wildlife recordings), it starts to sound old. There’s still about 32 minutes worth of music left. For those who are unaware, 88 is a number used by white supremacists to identify one another. The 8 refers to its corresponding letter of the alphabet, H. So, from “88” you get “HH” or “Heil Hitler”. Pretty stupid, right?
Musically, this is one of the five best black metal records I’ve heard (it is worth noting that I have heard six black metal records to this point in my life). Lyrically, it is the worst. I’d rather listen to the guy from Wolves In The Throne Room talk my ear off about animal rights for an hour.
