From the teased mullets of hair metal to the corpse-paint of the darker categories, heavy metal music and its subgenres have long been reinforced by visual cultures and styles. This week in the magazine, Sasha Frere-Jones writes about the darkest metal of all: black metal, which emerged in Norway in the early nineties.
Over a period of six years, the photographer Peter Beste documented the secretive, insular community of black-metal musicians and fans, with a focus on the bands Darkthrone, Mayhem, Emperor, Enslaved, Gorgoroth, Carpathian Forest, as well as several lesser-known acts. “Black metal in Norway is unlike any other musical scene I have ever witnessed,” Beste told me. “It’s heavily influenced by ancient Norse religions, and a common theme is a disdain for Christianity and a desire to revert to the ancient pagan ways.” In his book on black metal, Beste describes the genre as an isolationist movement, and notes that this “same subculture that initially embraced obscurity, solitude, and its inherent marginality instead has reverberated around the world, trickling into the mainstream as Norway’s largest musical export.”
Beste is currently working on a project documenting Houston’s gangster rap culture, with a book coming out September of 2012. Here’s a selection from “True Norwegian Black Metal.”
