In recent years, many formerly "black metal" bands have put forth a new sound, and a new image. More timid, more effeminate, attempting to appeal to the "spiritual but not religious" Starbucks dwellers, who branched over from emo goth rock to depressive (DSBM) black metal in search of a more "extreme" genre of music.
Under the vast umbrella of this "nu black metal" wave, we can name a few bands that stood out - in the wrong way - by vapidly "selling out" in search of a way to monetise their (often) failing careers.
Not all of these bands were failed musicians though, and one of the most successful "commercial oriented" black metal band is none other than the much maligned Dimmu Borgir, although they are far from the only one.
We should also mention bands like Emperor and nu-Immortal, who have disgraced their legacy with their recent outputs.
Satyr Fires Heavy Shots at Shagrath
Satyricon frontman Sigurd Wongraven, mostly known as Satyr in the underground black metal scene, is not one to mince his words.
Even in the early days of the Black Metal Inner Circle he was known to sometimes get into verbal altercations with Euronymous, over bands which he perceived to be too "soft" and shouldn't be allowed to play black metal - speaking mostly of the Gorgoroth clown show, but there are many more I'm sure.
Satyr: "Black Metal is Supposed to be Transgressive!"
In a recent interview with Antoine Grand, the author of the international best-seller "Real Satanic Black Metal" (reviewed here), Sigurd went straight to what he believes is the "heart of the matter" when it comes to modern black metal... it has lost its edge to the Tiktok generation.
In particular, he seems to blame Kanwulf of the German black metal band Nargaroth for black metal's "silly" image.
Satyr: We can't subscribe to some teenager in Germany's idea of the purity of black metal. [...] They weren't there, they had no idea about us, about Euronymous, about the Inner Circle.Antoine Grand: Were you close to Euronymous?
Satyr (laugh): I spent so many nights, so many hours, talking with him about black metal. His thinking was a huge influence on all of us. [...] This was in 1992, so for someone born in 2002 to tell me I'm not doing it properly? Oh, thank you!
But if Kanwulf is a target of his attacks, he reserves most of his vitriol for Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir... and the "goth black metal" scene.
Satyr: Black metal is meant to be transgressive. I had my ups and downs with Euronymous, but he was a true philosopher [...] Bands like want to be 'mavericks' and 'reinvent' the genre [Ihsahn, Shagrath, tn] just don't get it, they never will. [...] They weren't there with us to begin with.
He also mentions Varg of Burzum in passing. Satyr was always close to Varg Vikernes and Fenriz (of Darkthrone), looking up to them as models - as well as Euronymous, of course.
Satyr: The murders and the killings? If that's an obstacle that people have to overcome, then I can't work with them. I'm not gonna distance myself from the scene I grew up in. I'm not gonna apologise and, a lot of the people who personally have something to answer for, they're my friends. They did what they did, they were prosecuted, they served their time and they were released. That's how society works.
The rivalry between the old guard (black metal) and the so-called "new school" of passive blackened metalcore is one that's not going away anytime soon, unfortunately.
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