“Black” metal is not really to my taste, but friend of this blog and brother-in-law extraordinaire Josh sent me a link to this article on Norwegian black metallers Enslaved from, of all places, the New York Times.

The whole Scandanavian black metal scene has seen some pretty creepy stuff, actually. Church burnings, murder and suicide being the most notable, along with a lot of Satanic/pagan themes. In other words, black metal often is just what hysterical parents have often assumed all metal to be. (The Wikipedia article helpfully points out that black metal bands have criticized, for instance, Swedish death metal bands for their lack of “evilness.”) Here’s another article.

For what it’s worth, the Times article indicates that Enslaved has tried to transcend some of the cliches of black metal. Here’s a clip from their newest album: