JUMPING DARKNESS PARADE: DAATH’S EYAL LEVI URGES AMERICAN BANDS TO STOP WEARING CORPSE PAINT
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 4:30pm by Eyal Levi
Am I the only one here that thinks that American bands shouldn’t be allowed to wear corpse paint? There should be a law in the metal books that states it. There’s some rules that us American metalheads must follow, like the famous “Don’t Wear Your Own Band’s Shirt Law,” for instance. It doesn’t apply to Europeans and that’s okay, they’ve got their own set of laws. It applies to us, though, and when you break it, people get to talking.
Well, I think that corpse paint should fall under the “Must Never Be Applied To The Face Of An American” law. I think it should be punishable by excommunication from the community. I’ve got my reasons.
Do you guys understand what corpse paint represents? It’s part of a political and nationalistic agenda that we have no say or part in. I know that there’s a million different styles of black metal, but what I’m referring to is the genre that was spawned as rebellion against the Christian invaders. See, back a long time ago in Scandinavia, the Christians invaded and crushed the native people’s Pagan cultures with maximum brutality. The corpse paint is a symbolic war paint to accompany music which is essentially nationalistic rebellion music aimed at pushing out the Christian invaders.
Now explain to me how an American band can justify wearing that look with any reality behind it? You going to push the Christians out of your nice suburban neighborhood? Get over it. You’re not Scandinavian, you don’t have pagan roots, and the only thing you need to push out is your parents from your bedroom so you can jerk off to your dad’s Victoria’s Secret catalog.
In DAATH-land, any time we play with an American corpse paint band, we call them The Peter Criss Band. We like to sit in the van and videotape them getting out of their mom’s station wagon and putting on their makeup in the rear view mirror. It’s so cute. For a style which is supposed to be cold, evil, bleak, and raw, you guys aren’t doing a very good job at representing. I suggest you ditch the act and write some dark music that actually represents something you might understand.
It’s possible for American bands to have a black sound and still be real. Goatwhore is a perfect example. They don’t wear corpse paint by the way. And they don’t consider themselves black metal. But in my opinion, they are the closest thing to a true American black metal band. The music is evil, the intent is real, and it comes from an honest place. If they were to dress like panda bears and try to sound like Emperor, then it wouldn’t work. But they sound like where they come from. Dark, Sludgy, blackened death metalish Satan rock. And it’s real. And it has just as much attitude as when I see a true black metal band like Watain.
The point is that Goatwhore keep it real, and that’s why the respect is there. You guys should all keep it real. Corpse paint is just makeup unless you have the roots and the lineage to back it up. American’s wearing it is about as bad as Belgian gangster rap.
-EL
Eyal and the other members of Daath are too pretty to be obscured by corpse paint. Why don’t you visit them on MySpace?
First
And “corpse paint” is totally lame as a ton of fucking lame ass shit. European or not it’s lame.
I never even realized it was a problem
What if you relocated here from Scandinavia? I think you should be able to wear corpse paint if you’ve actually burnt down a church at some point. I feel like thats a fair trade off.
Oh, snap, here we go…
Tell those fuckers how it is.
The whole black metal aesthetic is silly if you ask me, but it just adds to the already over-the-top nature of the music. This issue doesn’t really bother me too much (although I do think that the suburban kids in corpse paint at concerts are just silly), so all I’ll say is that nobody has mastered to black metal image quite like Immortal. End of story.
Truth.
the interesting thing here is that nobody asked you.
I’m a European (not Scandinavian) but to me corpse paint is shit and I don’t like that culture too… what I love is the bands wearing their own shirts though.
what are your resources in regards to the Christians crushing the pagan cultures?
Last time I checked it took a few hundred years to convert them as they had no interest in the religion .After super imposing there pre-existing holidays it became fairly easy and peaceful.There was an instance of a newly converted pagan king, who ’s name escapes me right now, that punished all sorts, not just pagans.
As far as pagan roots, if you’re of Indo-European decent then you have pagan roots,hell if your African you have pagan roots as pagan is a term for any polytheistic religion.
Corpse paint in general is for the most part gay as hell but I don’t believe anyone has the right to wear it anymore than anyone else and you have even less right to say who can and can’t.
It was awesome when Dead from Mayhem was doing it, Celtic Frost looked retarded in it, Gorgoroth know how to rock it , Immortal look like lucha libres, Avere Sefira ’s make up looks pretty damn good, see where Iam going here?
also if you are from a non-English speaking country, STOP SINGING IN FUCKING ENGLISH!!!!!!!!
how about that band wagon slap-nuts?
I disagree with just about everything you said: Your historical and anthropological assumptions are shaky, at best. But as you’re not willing to dig up references to support your assertions, I’m also not interested in digging up college textbooks or calling in old favors from academia to gather the ammunition to refute anything you just said. If I’m not getting graded, it’s not worth my time.
But I disagree with nothing more than your assertion that bands who hail from countries for which English is not the national language shouldn’t compose their lyrics in English. THAT IS RIDICULOUS and I wish you would re-think your position. Bands who compose, record, and perform their lyrics in any language other than English automatically limit themselves in their potential audience and appeal. The point in even having lyrics is to communicate most effectively and immediately. If language is a problem, keep it instrumental.
For better or worse, like it or not, English (until the Chinese or Indians, whichever it’s going to be, supplant America as the preeminent power on the world stage) is the international language of commerce, business, culture, EVERYTHING. The vast majority of people in the world don’t speak English as their first language, but a basic grasp of the language IS the common denominator among those who wish to participate on the global stage. Globalization, my friend, is the key here: It’s not necessary for anyone to forsake their cultural roots or native language, but to survive, thrive, and proliferate, finding and exploiting the common thread effectively IS. That goes for just about every aspect of contemporary life — not just metal.
I find it funny how Bob seems to reply to everybody else’s post but yours.
I m getting there , shit.
“Your historical and anthropological assumptions are shaky, at best. ”
the same could be said for your statements as well .
as all I have is the memory of researching for several weeks the history of the Christianization (?) of Scandinavia I have no academic favors or text books to bring into the argumentas sadly all my information was on the internet.
Do I need to point out my resources when you stated none in your rant and refuse to do so now? Seems you might want to instead expecting anyone to just take your word for it.
It a very lame debate when the opposing side says:” Well I think your full of shit , but since I don’t feel like proving my point with resources and facts, I win”
Its dismissive and pretty much drops the bottom out your whole “piece”
When I started looking for the stories of the specifically Scandinavian conversion to Christianity the only acts of violence I found were perpetrated by there own king, who granted, had been converted to Christianity but was not an invading Xian.
I would like to say that as cool as Odin and Loki are they are still figures in a religion that is no more honorable than the person practicing.I think Christianity in theory is pleasant enough but people with that as there banner to convert or kill those who will not be turned is decidedly un-christian .Vikings raped and pillaged , Christians converted and tortured Vikings.I’m not seeing why they are seen as such peace loving victims of the invading evil when they themselves were renowned as the scourge of the North.whatever,I am a little off point I suppose.
When I made the comment about singing in English I was being sarcastic, making the comment to draw parallels to your own statement .
I would love if you had any kind of references I could look into in regards to your claim, as I have heard other people speaking of it as well and find it very interesting.
Perhaps in Scandinavia it is part of the curriculum to learn of the Xian oppression??
shit I thought I was speaking to Eyal, my bad.
Everybody else on here seems to get by just fine with “I’m right, you’re wrong”/ “No, I’M right, and YOU’RE wrong”/ “You don’t agree with me, so you’re just a douchebag” which then leads to “No, YOU’RE a douchebag” and so on, so why not you and I? I was just trying to fit in. Let’s not bust the Metal Sucks Bell Curve, shall we?
Truth be told, I typed out that counter-position in about one minute-flat and then sat back to giggle while the fur flew. (Eyal, you cheeky devil. It’s almost like you’re spoiling for fights or something…) The multi-track debates this one small blog has sparked are just too freaking entertaining to ruin with solid references to back up either of our points, so please don’t spoil the fun by doing so. :)~ No really, please? After all, conjecture is what this site DOES.
If nothing else, glad to see you’ve done some research.
In the interest of keeping this quick and not sending you on a wild goose chase for a million books check this out – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization_of_Scandinavia – read the sections on Sweden and Norway.
Also, one thing I’ve noticed in the European Black Metal Culture from having subbed in a KVLT band over there is that what a lot of these people believe to be true is not entirely historically accurate since they get their information via a handed down oral history.
My blog more refers to what the corpse paint represents to them which I know to be true because I’ve experienced it, rather than meant to be the definitive history of the xian invasion of Scandinavia.
And if this were academia, we’d all be discredited for citing the “encyclopedia.”
Oh, sweet freedom!!!
And that’s a perfectly relevant point you make, Eyal: That perception is most people’s reality. One thing (of many) I’ve learned from living and working abroad is that this seems to be the case almost universally. People just don’t seem to notice it as much when examining their own culturally-accepted values.
this is remarkably civil . hahaha.
Even if the Chinese or Indians supplant American as the preeminent global power, it will be a long time before English gets pushed out as the international language of commerce. Especially if India emerges the victor instead of China. More people in India speak English (of a kind, at least; I, too, have had exasperating encounters with overseas tech support) than in the US.
It’s an accident of history that the language from a small, rainy island governs so much of world affairs, but, that’s the way it is. I agree that bands who publish in their native, non-English languages limit their audience, and it’s just as easy to sing about Vikings in English as it is in Norwegian (or whatever).
That being said, I like non-English lyrics at times, both because I’m a language nerd, and because I can then listen to the music instead of the lyrical message, which is sometimes a pleasure.
people I was being facetious!!!
Besides no one gives a fuck actual lyrics anymore! do they??Especially ones that for the most part you can’t understand.
When I heard Finntroll’s Visor om Slutet I thought it ruled that they didn’t sing in English,and looking up the translation made it a lot more intellectual , for me at least, and therefore a more enjoyable heady experience.
I wish I could sing in Swedish or Latin it sounds way more eviillll!! no?
“Avere Sefira ’s make up looks pretty damn good.”
You’re fucking kidding me. First of all, that band is absolute fuckin’ shite. Second, how can you say their make up looks pretty damn good?
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/1/2/6/1126_photo.jpg
They look like fuckin’ clowns.
I’m not saying they are a good or a shite band. and yeah that pic is pretty shitty I ll give you that.I think they have good make up, its an opinion not a fact.
http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk/images/artist_bandshots/averse.jpg
what about this one?
They do look like clowns.
hahahaa, aw mannnn.
I think their makeup looks pretty fucking killer but maybe for Halloween…not playing shows. For one it appears to take forever to apply…which is a little too hair band-ish for my liking.
I’d say if you live in the america’s and your of european descent then by default you don’t have claim to pagan roots anymore due to the fact that your ancestor’s most likely came to this part of the world as christians. Although it would be cool to see a native american metal band wearing war paint. Someone let me know if they know of such a band.
Hmmmmmm………something similar……sort of…..and the now-defunct band scattered to the Four Winds to join Sevendust, Stuck Mojo, Dark New Day, Evanescence, Comes With The Fall, Danzig, Violent Plan………(a pat on the back to anyone reading this who can “Name That Band”)……..
Wait, you said war paint. Nevermind.
36 crazy fists?
I believe there is a such a band Marc, MICTLANTECUHTLI.
http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=16618
Cool, i’ve heard of them. I’ll have to check em’ out. Thanks!
Immortal look like lucha libre ??? ( that`s mexican wrestling for all you folks )… that made laugh !!..
+ 100
Oh fer crissake, everything comes from something else. My great grandaddies were both Irish peasants and are probably descended from druids/celts/vikings/U-name-it. These idiot kids in Europe got no more reason to rebel against Xian invaders than Americans do against the British.
Metalheads are such children sometimes. Play the feckin music and STFU about irrelevant and poorly-informed politic issues, coz your fans don’t give rat’s ass about it.
Pretty much.
I do agree with the “cannot wear your own band shirt” rule, also known as the Jason Newsted rule…
id let it slide for him. i think he was just really happy to be in the band
The only band who should be allowed to wear their own shirts are Iron Maiden, cos it just wouldn’t be Maiden otherwise.
took the words literally from my mouth (fingers).
the fact you even care enough to write of it is very telling, I mean surely there are far more gayer goings on in your little metal microcosm to comment on ???it’s petty ….. oh shit!! that makes me even more petty for commenting on a petty observation!!! fuck!balls!
Agreed. American music today is one big fucking fashion show. So much so that most shitty bands out there rely on their “look” to get them signed… sadly it works.
yes American music is ALL fashion , look how attractive and stylish Isis, Today is the Day, Clutch, Morbid Angel and Tool are! get the fuck out of here!
looks sell albums to tools who don’t care about music and more about a scene.
They do not define American music, that is a very asinine glib statement sir.
Everyone has some sort of look, or fashion, how can you not? some are just gayer than others!
I got it , Attack Attack and all that shit totally has huge emphasis on a “look” but do they define American music? really?
Please re-read. I said “MOST,”"ALL” was your word. Also, Tool and Morbid Angel are very bad examples if you’re trying to prove your point. Douche.
douche, good one.
what the fuck are you talking about?
So fucking true.
I agree with the t-shirt rule. Hell I don’t even wear the t-shirt of a band that I am going to see. I’m weird like that.
Meh, corpse paint is corpse paint. It doesn’t matter who wears it.
Corpse paint is really just stupid. I mean, painting your face like a ghost?! That’s SCARY and Br0000000tal!!!!! Save that shit for halloween, it will be much more impressive with your Kiss outfit.
I can’t really comment on the cultural and historical siginificance that it has in Europe so perhaps their application of it is truly based on a political or religious statement that means something. Overall, it’s just a fad that will be here today and be gone sometime soon in the future.
Lady Death expressed much the same opinion in her (I assume the feminine) comments on the interview with Nergal. Fair enough. When I first saw corpse paint, I thought it was silly, too; now that I understand it’s original intent, it makes more sense. Everything Eyal said about what it represents culturally for some (and I reiterate, SOME) of the European acts who use it as a dramatic device is actually true. Many of the ancient pre-Christianity European cultures applied face and body paint like women today apply make-up and moisturizer, or many cultures still apply to protect their skin from the sun or bugs, to attract a mate, or to frighten and intimidate their enemies.
The original intent in black metallers applying so-called “corpse paint” was to reference a pagan pedigree and thereby indicate rebellion against religious values they felt had been used to subjugate and repress their ancient ancestors, much the same as black leather jackets were equally protective gear and a symbol of rebellion for the original motorcycle gangs. This practice has of course been largely perverted, as Eyal said, by people who don’t understand or appreciate the original intent and cultural significance. (I’m not interested in getting drawn into any arguments about so-called Black Metal Pagan Ancestor Street Cred, either, so nobody bother trying with me.)
If nothing else, it might be more helpful for you to think of corpse paint more like the makeup stage actors or kabuke artists wear. It’s like it’s own stage prop. Trust me, it’s not that serious. Everyone has their shtick (even if it’s the supposed absence of shtick), whether you realize it or not.
I agree with you. I am not a purist who frowns on bands for using props/oufits to enhance their live show and I wouldn’t write off a band just because they paint their faces, but I do find it silly. While it sounds like it’s certainly based on something meaningful, I feel that the current application and popularity in the metal scene today is simply a trend that will fade with time in the US. Europe may be another story since music over there seems to be less influence by trends and it has more meaning for them.
And now I think we understand each other. \m/
Id like to point out that those “Christian” invaders were catholic and catholicism is NOT Christian. It is a pagan is it comes and even satanic.During the papal inquisition it wasnt just he pagans getting killed it was anyone whom tried to read a bible.
That paint stuff is retarded…they look like bored children with paint to waste….
Speaking of motives and keeping it real…whats daaths motive with that kabbalah?
DAATH has Zero motives with the Kabbalah. The dude who was all into that got kicked out of the band.
oh i c cool
Are you a fundagelical?
Agnostic
An Atheist without balls, I see…
Nope.
An Atheist actually claims to KNOW there isn’t a god
I’m not cocky enough to claim to know JACK SHIT about the universe, its origins, or about your mom’s corpse paint fetish
they’re not mutually exclusive. most modern atheists are agnostic atheists or apatheists. we have no knowledge or belief of any particular deity existing (nor a need for one), but we won’t completely dismiss the possibility. gnostic (or strong) atheists claim to know for certain no deity can exist.
i’m guessing eyal is more of an agnostic atheist.
I haven’t studied very much so I don’t know what you would classify me as
I don’t have beliefs about things like god, afterlife, etc. etc. etc.
If they were to show up at my doorstep, hand me a 3 million dollar tourbus and a guaranteed six figure salary for myself and each of my bandmembers plus amazing tours and recording budgets for life with no chance of injury or illness to any of us or loved ones then maybe i’d start believing a bit.
I mean that would be a miracle, right?
it could happen. but only if you BELIEVE, man.
I agree with you that the Catholic church has done some very heinous things, but they are, in fact, part of the overall Christian faith, just like Baptists or Episcopalians or what have you. They just have several differing viewpoints. Look up the word “denomination” sometime.
I know what a denomination is lol. But Christianity has rejected Catholicism
A: because it dosent follow any scriptures
B: has been noted to be a false religion belonging to satan by the bible itself
C: all the pagan symbolism:
-crooked cross baton
-upside down cross [ = antichrist] on the popes throne
-daagon hat [pagan fish god peices]
D: its claimed to b the driving force behind the new world order
F: the jesus they whorship is depicted as the son [pagan] with long hair and in a satanic posture]
look up saturnalism and the origin of world “religion”
then they blame it on the Christians, when they themselves were persecuted tortured and mass murdered for exposing the catholics
Alright…I’m a baptized Catholic and pretty well studied on the religion. I’m not a follower anymore, mind you. I’m there with Eyal in the agnostic front (hehe). But a lot of what you are saying is pretty much bullshit. I’m thinking you grew up in a strict protestant household or knew somebody who did…or you are just getting your facts from a biased source. Catholicism actually predates all other Christian sects being practiced today. That’s not to say it isn’t inherently evil, as Catholics were the culprits of the Spanish Inquisition and many other horrific violent situations in history. But in that sense, every Christian religion is evil and cult-like when followed to a T.
Se7en ??… really ???… dude…….. I have a thousand words to throw at you as a replay, ….but somehow I am speechless …… but I gotta say this because if I dont my tongue will blister:
- The Upside down cross on the Popes Throne has nothing to do with paganism or antichrist at all….
If you knew better, In Catholicism, The Pope is the succesor of St Peter, and St Peter was crucified the opposite as Christ was….hence the meaning of the upside down cross in the Popes throne…..
+100 Metal fuckin Dave…………….. very well put…
You totally nailed this whole thing with your comment !!…
hmmm, let’s see here…
christianity doesn’t/cannot reject catholicism since catholicism is just one denomination, unless you’re referring to another (competing) denomination like fundamentalism.
A. not true, it does follow scripture but also leaves it open to interpretation by the vatican counsel
B. somewhat true, in that according to the new testament jesus himself would have rejected being treated as a god as it contradicted his own practice of judaism
C. true, but no more so than any other variation of christianity, which would not have survived if they hadn’t adopted almost every other form of pagan symbology as their own. there’s absolutely nothing original about any christian symbol/holiday/etc…
D. no comment, wacko
E. ooh ooh, freebie!
F. whore-ship, giggity. this whole point made no sense so i have nothing to say for this one.
nice try. i’m guessing you know nothing about catholicism but wanted to jump on the bandwagon to hate on it for a bit based on random stuff you read on the internets. admittedly i have to support you on this since i’d love nothing more than to see the disintegration of organized religions in my lifetime, but i couldn’t resist the debate. game on.
Maybe corpsepaint worn in solidarity against the forces of superstition, religion, and all means of oppression would be OK? It’s not for you or me to decide. Our opinions have no weight regarding anyone’s actions regarding non-verbal and symbolic expression. Kiss my Pagan, Hermetic, Scientific, corpse-painted ass.
There was this one band I saw at Ozzfest 2 years ago called Chthonic. They’re from Taiwan but they wear their makeup as part of rebellion against Chinese government/customs. Their music has nothing to do with satanism.
I agree with the whole thing on Goatwhore, they’re American black metal but they don’t need the corpse paint/costumes to prove it. Music should never be about the image anyway.
Anyways Eyal what are your thoughts on the whole metalhead image/fashion? I think it’s ok to wear band shirts sometimes but I hate Hot Topic and how it personifies metalheads and punks.
Don’t you think sometimes that wearing band shirts all the time or dressing metal can be off-putting to the opposite sex unless they’re gothic or something? And I don’t like the gothic look/fashion. Don’t get me wrong, I love metal just as much as the next guy but listening to it as well as dressing like it all the time can get old. Also I’m not trying to attack anyone here because I used to do the same thing where I’d wear nothing but metal shirts, but what I’m really trying to say is one’s music taste should not limit them to who they date.
My thoughts on metalhead image/fashion? Wear what you want and what’s true to you. Don’t try to fit in with whatever scene is popular at the time. Those are my personal ideals but I know that they don’t really mesh with what the majority of metalheads or just people in general will gravitate towards. If there’s a trend, no matter how it started, people will follow it, hence it being a trend. Metal being a genre with rules and subcategories and cliques will have its own set of trends. Some more annoying than others.
What American black metal bands wear corpse paint?
European or not, you still gotta admit the whole corpse paint looks goofy. I’m glad Emperor stopped doing it.
What if you live in Minnesota?
This is different but what do you think of those bands that wear masks/makeup like Slipknot, Mushroomhead, (Old) Mudvayne, Motograter?
All for show and image
funny, the first time I saw a Daath band picture I mistook you for Mick Thomson.
…How?
Was it my mask or my jet black straight hair?
I was going to go there, but then you spanked it…. So nevermind.
For Halloween, maybe?
it was your hair and the kickass beard.
Didn´t bother to skim the above replies (as most are made by americans, who by and large are dumber then religion and so ignorant they can´t locate Canada on a world map) , but being of icelandic birth and having lived most of my life in Iceland, Sweden and Norway (and having spent a lot of time in Denmark where they can´t afford landscape and never bothered to develope a real language) this corpsepaint theory is news to me, and I´d very much like to see some references
The Sagas do no,t to the best of my knowledge, speak of anything resembling “corpsepaint”(although I could be mistaken, in which case I apologise
. Norwegian black metal I concede did spring out of rebellion as they are the only Nordic country (excluding the Faroe Islands, which are under danish rule) to fully embrace retard,,,,sorry, Christianity. The swedes and finns halfheartedly followed suit, although not suffering the same cultural infection of the plague of Christ (Sweden´s favorite national holiday is in fact the summer equinox, a day of celebrating fertility, culminating in a “ritual” of people dancing in a circle round 20 foot high phallic symbols, testicles included, fully wrapped in flora).
Icelanders meanwhile made a “don´t ask, don´t tell” pact with the Christian invasion wherein they paid lip service to “God”, while being permitted to continue practicing Ásatrú behind closed doors (although for some reason we had to forgo the the names of weekdays that start with the name of a pagan/heathen god- as in Týr/Tuesday, Woden/Wednesday, Thor/Thursday and Freyr/Friday).
Given our general reluctance to kneel in front of a cross, there were few seeds of antagonism that took root and thus our black metal scene is paltry at best.
You are a long-winded, halibut -eating jackass.
“dumber then”…and any credibility you had went right down the toilet
Wow, Bogi. Sounds like you got it all figured out. Maybe you should get away from all the retards and americans that you hate so much and go on to a site that caters to self-righteous windbags such as yourself.
dude the Icelandic asshole here is right and he should know.
I can find Canada on map sir, its right next to my balls , which border your face.
he is right even if he is being an elitist dick about it. Besides he said most Americans not all Americans.
again, pagan catholic rule
That is a fucking uncanny ability you have… you know, the one that allows you to determine someone’s nationality by looking at their chickenshit fake name. I am assuming that is how you did it, since you admittedly didn’t even bother to “skim” the content of the posts. I don’t give two shits about the major religions on the planet, much less whatever little load of shit your island tribe buys into. You don’t have black metal, because all 10 of your inhabitants are wacking off to Bjork metal. Before you go insulting an entire nation in one of your little rants, maybe you should ponder where the technology that allows you to post here originated (Google DARPA). Put that in your voclano and smoke it.
who gives a fuck its all fun and games. chill out.
What about ironic corpse paint? Is that still okay?
always!
Why the fuck are you asking him if it’s okay? Do what you want but just realize the consequence that if you’re a douche…with corpse paint….guess what…..You’re still a fucking douche!
Yo Eyal ,
I personally think painting your face now days is about as cool as usesing gummie bears to bate kids at the ole’ playground…”can you find the hard gummy worm, young man”!
I guess if your one of the 2 bands to actually like hit the states and are scandinavian and u wore some paint id prolly be like hey “dude dont drip that nasty shit on my fukin joint asstard”
Ya i always laughed when you pop around the corner of that dive bar club and 6 guys are unloading there van in drag and Kiss makeup…fukin riock on muppets!!
Americans are just fuking stupid imo Thats why old Tmack Jefferson Or thomas for you dolts said to Over-throw our government every 150 yrs because it will become corrupt, but i think they took that out of the Newest “declartion of Indepenedce”
Considering that the next *original* looking “corpse” painted face will be the first, it’s probably time to retire the tired fashion statement. And second, I’ve seen an actual corpse. “Corpse paint” looks less like an actual dead person than those body muscle suits with huge pecs and six-pack abs look like real bodies.
And while we’re at it, can we tell King/Hanneman to stop with the rubber wrist spikes and hockey/football gear already? It doesn’t stop them from looking eternally bored on stage.
Wow, what a ridiculous thing to even fucking waste time thinking about. A good band could have dicks tattooed on their faces for all I care. Anybody hear any good new bands lately? Shit.
umm then move on to the glam band section , sir sheep alot
of course norwegian bands “get their information via a handed down oral history”. we don’t have schools in norway, and we’re sent to work in the potato fields at age 5!
Wow, really??! Same as us Southerners!!! *sarcasm mode turned off*
I knew it!! just like the Irish!!!
Way to misunderstand what I wrote
enlighten me then, my lack of education clearly prohibits me from understanding!
I love your sarcasm. Oooozing with hilarity.
The people I was encountering during said experience were obviously not as educated as you. The amount of people I was enougtering were entire bands, their friends, and fans here and there. Black Metal is all they ever wanted to talk about and their stories were always different, some more outrageous than others. When I tried to find out where they got their facts from it just came clear that MOST of them, not ALL of them just went on what they had heard.
How that insults your level of education I’m not sure but if you want to take it as an insult feel free.
i was really stoned when i wrote those two posts, it makes the dick in me come alive (that didn’t sound too good). sorry about that. my level of education is OK, the problem is my intellectual level…
still waiting for black metal bands to start attacking islam instead of the rather harmless christian faith.
Thank you Bob. I may be an elitist dick, but really I just love getting yanks all riled up. In fact I love the states (have even lived and worked illegally in VT for a winter) and despite it´s myriad faults I would gladly move there as soon as you get with the universal health care program.
Sorry for “insulting an entire nation”, although that statement indicates that you consider the words “most” and “everyone” to be synonymous. Also I apologize for being “longwinded” during “a little rant”. Most of all I regret that someone who “don’t give two shits about the major religions on the planet, much less whatever little load of shit your island tribe buys into” was forced to read a whole post regarding things he doesn´t care for.
But I´m being longwinded again. Still it´s uncanny how, while not skimming the posts, I managed to determine people´s nationality by their “chickenshit fake names” which I in the act (or rather lack of action) of not skimming I never read. Maybe that ever so tricky “most” word I used coupled with the fact that this is an american site, and with america being a populous country I made a reasonable guess that a majority (a word similar to “most”) of the sites fans might be american.
I think you rule , I’ve always had an unnatural love for the elitist.
well played sir.even if you are being a dick it takes a HUGE dick to offend an entire country, keep up the good work.
I am sure we must be related as Iceland was settled by a couple hundred Vikings and a handful of Irish chicks they ganked on the way there, right?
are Americans that easy to spot?
Thanks again dude.
Spot on with the Norwegian/Irish slave women coktail, a blend that has thus far spawned three Miss Universe and 8 World Strongest Man titles from a population of 300.000. As to us being related, are you of irish descent?
Then again with the elitism. Is giving people a history lesson elitist? Isn´t then Levi being an elitist? Or am I being elitist for making fun of people? Wouldn´t that make this entire site a bastion of elitism?
As to americans being easy to spot. Just a couple of hours ago I strolled down to the local supermarket and met four guys sipping from beer cans who threw a “Howdy!” my way. I knew they were americans before I left the house.
Take care man.
The funniest thing though is when you´re sitting at bar chatting with a yank and you ask them whereabouts they´re from and they reply “The States” not realizing that obviously you´re curious about which city or state. Like they haven´t got a clue their accent gave them away from the word go.
Hey, now, careful how wide you throw that “Yank” label. Applied to the wrong person, them’s fightin’ words.
I use the word yank ´cuz it generally applies to americans I meet, i.e those traveling abroad. Sure you get some Californians and the odd midwesterner, but the majority are New Englanders. I´m assuming it would be southerners that take offense at the Yank label, but in my experience they never leave the country. I can honestly say I´ve never met a tourist hailing from south of mason/dixon (save for a floridian or two) nor have I met anyone admitting to being a Republican, which makes one a laughing stock in all but two countries in the world (according mock elections held at american embassies around the world during election night ‘08- Here Obama won by 92% with Mc Cain taking third to an independent) . So there you go.
LOL! Respect. \m/
Ja ja , I got a lot of Irish amongst the variants of Iberian .
I mean to say you are an elitist in your tone and delivery.Not that the message is elitist.
I assumed you were meaning to sound pompous to put an edge on your statement.
I meant are yanks easy to spot posting or if you were serious when you said you can spot them in online posts?
take care
I take it all back then. You only insulted the large majority of yanks. Obviously we should all just assume that we happen to fall in the minority group that isn’t stricken with stupidity. That’s like shooting into a crowd and expecting everyone who didn’t happen to get hit to be perfectly fine with it. And newsflash, douchebag, they went international with the internet. You can get to this site from all over the world. We are no longer tethered by physical location. Run and shout the news from the top of Öræfajökull.
Actually I “insulted” the majority of “americans”, not yanks. See, yanks are generally better educated and more left leaning then the average american and hence I would hesitate to claim the majority of them are dumb. Of course this applies to the west coast as well, but that´s nitpicking. Now you can assume what you want about you being my aim, but your insistence on taking offense at a teasing claim by a random douchebag on the internet is a strong indication that you were indeed hit.
As for the internet reaching everywhere (except Cuba and probably North Korea) that´s an extremely astute point, I was actually wondering how in heck it is that on this miserable little rock in the sea I´m able to access this newfangled american phenomenon.
But you see here´s the catch, metal as a musical genre is less far reaching then this internet thingy, and out of the few countries were metal has any kind of following only the populations of the U.K, Canada, Scandinavia and the Netherlands have a firm enough grasp of the english language to comprehend this site´s contents. Now let´s assume for arguments sake that the limeys are for the most part content with reading their own sites. That leaves a potential foreign audience significantly smaller then the U.S counterpart. Now am I getting through to you sir?
Take care man, and rest assured I´m duly impressed that you managed both to refer to an icelandic glacier by name and that you went to the trouble of breaking out the “Æ” and wielding some umlauts.
Thanks for the little diatribe on slang used to refer to people in my own country. You would obviously be more familiar with that than I would. Now, some might tell you that the word “yankee” (for which “yank” is short) refers to a northerner when used within the United States, but when used by someone of a different nationality it generally takes on the British meaning, which is ALL Americans. Yeah, I used Google to find the correct spelling of that little glacier. You may not have heard of Google, it is an American search engine.
How I love this delightful banter of ours, it really is fulfilling that I can contribute a little to sate your bickering addiction. Obviously yank is short for yankee, but the former saves me a couple strokes and keeps me from being reminded of a certain god awful sport. If you´re into making fuss over such trifling matters I urge you to pounce on my earlier use of the word “limey” as an umbrella term for all britts when it in fact only refers to the bloody english.
As for that obscure Google thing you speak of my uncle lives in this nerdy valley I believe in California where they pay him to do utterly boring things for a company with that name, but I heard it´s like spread all over the world, like maybe it´s kinda international. Anyway there was some guy ranting at about things being american didn´t matter because of people no longer being tethered by physical location, or something to that effect.
Still I´m dumbfounded by direction your taking with your insatiable argument, I thought that you we´re peeved off at my naively thinking this site was mainly read by americans.
Personally I´m a bit annoyed at myself for continuing to use the term american only for people from the U.S when most of North America is actually made up the enormous Canada and the delicious Mexico plus a handful of other troublesome little countries. But of course, if the superpower won´t share it´s precious little their meek neighbours can do about it.
Well, as long as you keep confidently and ineptly arguing points you don’t understand, I’ll be glad to oblige you by responding. Let’s take them in order, shall we:
1. You are the one who made a fuss over the usage of the word “yanks”. And I quote:
“Actually I ‘insulted’ the majority of ‘americans’, not yanks”
2. I didn’t point out your misuse of the word “limey” because I’m not English, and I don’t purport to be an expert on derogatory terms for all nationalities. That is your field of expertise, apparently.
3. Google is international in the same way that anything on the internet is international. That was the fucking point. You can say a site is “American” because it is hosted or based in “America” but that obviously does not preclude anyone with an uncensored internet connection from accessing it. You can’t assume everyone (or even a majority) of the people on this site or Google or any site are from a particular physical location. And what does your uncle have to do with anything?
4. Actually I would argue that the term “American” traditionally refers to something or someone from the the United States (as in the “American Civil War” and “American Football”). I’m not saying that is fair to other countries on the continent (although I wouldn’t limit the scope of the injustice to just North America, since there is that other America dangling off to the south). So don’t beat yourself up too much about using that term.
5. The only “argument” I’m really trying to make is this: maybe you should think twice before making a blanket statement about a large portion of a nation’s inhabitants. You are, after all, an enlightened European.
Having said all that, you are welcome to respond to my counter-counter-counter-argument, but I have really always had a fascination with Iceland and a desire to travel Europe more extensively. I think they are intriguing places with a much deeper history and more cultural variety than we are exposed to over on this side of the pond. As much it pains me to end the bickering, I’m offering a truce here.
Damn, I was having so much fun when you were being pissed off. I´d never posted anything anywhere before and getting you to resort to words such as douchebag meant opening up a whole new realm of playing with overly sensitive people´s feelings.
Obviously I don´t think most americans are stupid, but if you had a chance to look at the States from a european standpoint you would perhaps come to the same conclusion we do regarding the level of ignorance to, among other things, the outside world displayed by a significant proportion of the american population. Fercrissakes, the percentage of americans that believe the earth is only 6000 years old is well into double digits. Anywho, iceland is cheaper the a two dollar hooker right now so if you ever make it over here look me up on couchsurfing.org.
I´ll leave you with a quote from Eddie Izzard performing to a New York audience, “I´m from Europe…where history comes from”.
Definitely the longest exchange I’ve ever had in ASCII. I don’t totally disagree with the European view of the U.S., but goddamnit, we are not all clones of George Walker, Texas Ranger over here. I think that the issue of religion in this country is more complex than it may appear to people outside the country. Most religious folks over here are not nearly as fanatical as the people and events depicted in the international media would seem to indicate. I believe religion is slowly losing its grip almost everywhere except the deep south (which is where my poor atheistic ass lives, incidentally). I think the belligerent rash of neoconservatism in America is just a dying gasp of a WASP majority. They are going out kicking and screaming, but the important thing is that they are going out. If I ever get the ducats to come to Iceland, I’ll ask the first person I see in corpse paint how to get to your turf house. Kidding. Respect.
American Black Metal seems like an oxymoron to me. (everything America stands for black metal goes against.)
Care to elaborate?
yes,please do.
The typical American tends to be (or pretends to be) conservative unlike black metal(or all metal). Also, when you see American black metal bands they tend to be in it for the trend or the shock appeal but when you see the Scandinavian black metal bands they are in it for the movement.
I don’t even have the energy to pick that one apart, someone else can do it.
meh.
You sound like me: I have MetalSucks ADHD. Just like the kid whose most immediate agenda is “I’m going to Timmah’s house to play…Oh, look, a shiny thing!” you’re like “I’m going to pick apart this…Oh, look, new Converge!”
no, I honestly didn’t have the energy, I wanted to really, but it was way past my beddy bye time.
AND the post was so perplexing as far as what he was trying to say versus what he actually said grammatically. My head involuntarily cocked sideways like a kid with Down’s Syndrome trying to contemplate cold fusion.
not that I don’t have adhd
Yes, we Americans do all tend to have conservative values and can’t possibly abide this metal of which you speak. Now, excuse me while I go fuck your mom’s corpse with a sharpened crucifix.
And I actually thought you had a good argument…typical Americans don’t even know what black metal is, but whatever…
Save the face paint as a way to clearly symbolize the juggalos in this world so they can be executed.
*snorts*
Oh wow. The absolute nastiness in the majority of these comments leads me to believe that most of you are taking this shit WAY too seriously. Lighten up.
The only worthy black metal band worth a shit is Impaled Northern Moon Forest.
Impaled Northern Moon Forest? Is that one band? If so that is the most ridiculous name I’ve ever seen.
they are beyond fucking kvlt and are totally fucking necro!
http://www.myspace.com/impalednorthern
i vote for a special halloween Daath gig with the whole band in corpepaint.
anyone?
AYE!!!
I never cared if they wore corpsepaint or not. If the music is good, whatever! If the band wants to look like jackasses on stage, it makes for an entertaining stage show! That’s how I see it. Lighten up folks, if you don’t like it, it’s not going to stop others from wearing it.
Caring about what a band looks like is quite….lame. It reeks of a jock mentality. Boring article and subject that’s been done to death by a boring musician from an atrocious band.
i think the only time corpse paint should be allowed is if you are in a king diamond or kiss tribute band – being that i am in both i am an exception to the rule – but as bearer of both a cross bone microphone stand and and a sequined jumped suit i have the authorization
OK so coverbands can wear it but wannabe posers can’t? I’m so damn confused. I know some coverbands are tributes but aren’t others wannabe posers?
The only American band that ever rocked corpse paint successfully wasn’t even metal: the almighty Ink & Dagger.
What I take from this post is: the only American metal bands that have any right to wear face paint of any kind would be a band comprised entirely of full-blooded native americans who use their music to protest their white christian invaders/oppressors. That would be pretty intense…
It would be – but they should wear their own brand of warpaint
I’ve been a metalhead all my life. However, in high-school, I still made fun of all the dorks that would actually goth-out before class. I’d walk into the bathroom, with a few piercings and a cannibal corpse shirt, and i’d see these kids standing in front of the mirror with a fucking kit-n-kaboodle full of corpse make-up, doin’ themselves up like their goin’ to fucking prom night. Not to mention wearing a god damned Matrix halloween costume out in the middle of hot-ass Florida weather, so you can only imagine how bad these fuckers smelled by the end of the day.
Now, if you’re in a metal band (which I am) and you’re doing yourself up before every show (which I don’t) then you’re relying and caring more about what you look like on stage, rather than the actual music you’re playing. I’m actually not just against the whole corpse paint thing, but getting all dressed up in shit as well. Seriously, let your music do the talking. Not your image.
Its one thing to be metal and make it known. Its another thing to be an attention whore.
indeed.
passion>fashion wish more bands would realize that
Case in point
http://www.ratemycorpsepaint.com
Go here for a good laugh once in a while. lol
we would never wear corpse paint but we WILL wear our own shirts. oh yes. just like iron maiden, metallica and trivium. haha
What?
I think sometimes people just wear corpse paint to make for a better stage show. Not everything has to be symbolic…
word
As a matter of fact, I think no band should be allowed to wear corpse paint. Period.
Goatwhore fucking sucks.
Hell yeah man, Nickelback and Creed 4 lyfe!
My boss knows I love metal, so when she saw the black metal versus death metal episode of “Bones” she went out of her way to show it to me. It was kind of goofy, but at least they did SOME research….
Anyway, yeah. Random.
Being in a shbitty band like Daath should be punishable by excommunication from the community.
Oh course, your misspellings and half-assed attempt at alliteration just tanked the burn rating on your bid to deliver a put-down.
“Realness” comes from your beliefs, sincerity, and actions, not where you are from, what you look like, who you distant relatives were, or even how good your music sounds.
Black metal is not even “pagan” music, it is satanic/nihilistic. As intensely individualistic philosophies, the idea of trying to restrict someone’s behaviour based on your own prejudices about what is “appropriate” is a total anathema. A genuinely satanist/nihilist BM band from the US has much more credibility to wear corpse paint than commercial bands like Dimmu, but anyone with a brain realizes that your look has nothing to do with the quality of your music or the integrity of your life philosophy, hence why bands like Emperor and Dissection stopped wearing corpse paint quickly, or never did in the first place.
Eyal mocks the idea of a Belgian gangster rapper – would he also mock the idea of a black or asian BM bands and band members (Blasphemy, Sigh etc)? Try judging people as individuals based on their merits, not their nationality or background. You know, the whole point of being a metalhead?
We toured with an asian BM band called Cthonic and there was nothing to mock about them. They had a cause they stood for and were 100 percent real.
Novelty Black Metal!!!
amen
The point isn’t wether Cthonic is TRV or not
The point is that we toured with an Asian corpse paint band and we didn’t mock them
Eyal man, these blogs of yours seem to be sparking tons of activity. Whether the responses are positive or negative, you’re really stirrin’ some shit up! Which is exactly what a blog is supposed to do!
Keep it up!
Cheers!
i just want to point out that thrash bands are allowed to wear thier own shirts. cuz they’re dick heads.
Look America, I’m Irish, Italian, German and Norwegian and I’ve lived in Norway most of my life. I live back in the States now, but go over there and Ireland every year. I’ve asked everyone that I know in black metal bands, including my cousin who plays guitar in Aborym, and the general consensus is: Wear what you want, that’s the most “metal” thing about metal. There is no unwritten rulebook, so you can toss that thought and assumption right out the window. Anyone who takes this dude from who? Daath? Didn’t they only release like, what, two albums, and all of a sudden because he gets a column in metalsucks, this dude gets to make these rules and assumptions? Yeah that’s right Eyal I’m talking to you. Make sure your side of the streets clean before you start throwing trash on someone else’s. And make sure your credibility checks out before you start making these rules. Who cares what KVLT bands you know? That doesn’t mean the music you play is any good. Your band sucks, who are you again? I know a band from Texas, Blood Stained Dawn, tell them what you think broseph. Secondly, a lot of American metal sucks and so do the festivals over here. Metal is not taken seriously enough over here the way it should be. You have people like Eyal making up these “unwritten” rules and that’s thr kind of shit that is holding back the American people from making kick ass metal. Like seriously, if it was someone like Hellhammer or Fenriz making these statements, then I would take it seriously, but dude from Daath? Cmon America wake the fuck up and take your heads outta your asses!!
**BLOOD STAINED DUSK** – Correction
**BLOOD STAINED DUSK** – Correction. Check them out, kick ass black metal band from Texas with Pest from Gorgoroth on vocals.
with the rise of evangelicism, shouldn’t we be wearing MORE facepaint like corpses?