Black Metal is an imperial stout by Jester King Brewery in Texas. It is thick, oily, boozy, pitch black, and rather nice.
Black Metal (the music) was a mid-80s reaction to speed metal
When I was 14 years old I had two Iron Maiden records and an Iron Maiden t-shirt. I very much liked devils and skeletons.
One time I was wearing the t-shirt and a girl I knew laughed at it and made me feel stupid. I don't blame her. I was stupid, and she deserves credit for pointing that out.
Like gigantic furniture stores, Black metal originated in America, and was perfected by the Scandinavians.
In Norway, the godfathers of black metal were a band called Mayhem, famous for their grim aesthetic and violent stage performances. Mayhem's drummer claimed that the lyrics of their song Freezing Moon are, "Meant to make people commit suicide."
In Norway, the godfathers of black metal were a band called Mayhem, famous for their grim aesthetic and violent stage performances. Mayhem's drummer claimed that the lyrics of their song Freezing Moon are, "Meant to make people commit suicide."
In 1991, Mayhem's lead singer committed suicide. His body was discovered by the band's guitarist Øystein Aarseth, along with a note apologising for all the blood.
Rumours later surfaced that Aarseth had made a stew with pieces of the singer's brain, and made necklaces with fragments of his skull. The band denied the former rumour, but confirmed that the latter was true.
In the early 90's Aarseth and fellow band member Varg Vikerness burned down several medieval churches. They took photographs for the cover of their record Aske, which is the Norwegian word for "Ashes".
The first 1000 copies of Aske were packaged with cigarette lighters.
On a Swedish radio show, Aarseth said that when you burn down a church, "People will suffer from grief because something beautiful was destroyed. So you end up spreading grief and despair, which is a good thing."
Not long afterwards, Vikerness stabbed Aarseth to death. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, and smiled cheekily for the cameras.
On a Swedish radio show, Aarseth said that when you burn down a church, "People will suffer from grief because something beautiful was destroyed. So you end up spreading grief and despair, which is a good thing."
Not long afterwards, Vikerness stabbed Aarseth to death. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, and smiled cheekily for the cameras.
Last month a Norwegian airline aksed its passengers to vote for which deceased national hero they would like see depicted on the tail fins of their planes. Nominees included footballer Torbjørn Eggen, Lutheran revivalist Hans Nielsen Hauge, and saucy 70s actress Julie Ege.
The winner of the vote was Øyestein Aarseth.
No one ever voted to put Iron Maiden's picture on a plane. So they bought their own.
They never burned down historic churches or killed each other. They've been together for 37 years.
Their drummer doesn't actively promote suicide. He's a born-again Christian.
And someone made them a beer - An American IPA called Maiden The Shade. It's golden, hoppy, flowery, lacy, and rather nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment