Defenders of The Faith- The Rise of Unblack Metal
Black metal is a genre known for blasphemy and viewpoints that were strongly opposing the Christian ideology and belief system. Bands like Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Watain and countless others would promote Satanism and anti-Christian beliefs with iconography that showed pentagrams, upside down crosses and many occult-like symbols to stir the pot and rebel against the clean, wholesome beliefs of Christianity. These beliefs became one of the defining traits and imagery in the genre. Almost a trademark of the genre like the corpse paint many musicians would wear.
But Christians didn’t stay quiet in the burgeoning black metal scene. People who were fans of the genre, but didn’t believe in the anti-Christianity propaganda, chose to do something about. They decided they loved black metal music and the corpse paint and imagery, but wanted to change the lyrical message. Thus, the birth of unblack metal (or white metal), an opposite of the darkness and evil that black metal pushed in their music, was born. The official origin of white metal is hard to pinpoint or confirm who or what started the genre officially, but many fans of the genre seem to site one Australian black metal band as the torchbearer of the genre.
The band Horde was founded in 1994 and would release their debut album Hellig Usvart through Nuclear Blast that same year. Upon release, the album would receive backlash from the traditional black metal fans. Citing the release, and the band, as an insult to what the scene truly stood for, and trying to fit their music in a scene that didn’t belong. Horde’s sole member, Jayson Sherlock, stated that he wanted the album to “bring some hope and some light to the bleak black metal subculture”. There were even death threats thrown at both Sherlock and Nuclear Blast from the black metal community. Thankfully they were just threats, and no one was hurt. Regardless of the negative response from the scene, Hellig Usvart was still a good black metal album and would be an influential release. Inspiring other white metal musicians to continue the legacy that Horde would start with the release of their sole album.
Another band that is sometimes labeled as one of the originators of the unblack/white metal scene is Norway’s Antestor. With the release of the band’s second album Martyrium, the album did include the traditional white metal sound, but also incorporated elements of death metal and doom to the band’s Christian positive approach to extreme metal. The album would receive decent to middle reviews at the time of release and has a 70%+ review score on sites like Metal Archives and Metal Storm. The band would hit a bigger rise in the white metal scene with their album The Return of The Black Death.
Europe wouldn’t be the only country to develop a white metal scene. In Indonesia, the band Kekal would form and release their debut album in 1998 Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams. The band would go on a Darkthrone-esque run of productivity, releasing an album almost every year to every two years in a non-stop cycle. Through the band’s career, they would later incorporate elements of avant-garde and electronic music into their sound. The band’s most recent album is 2022’s Envisaged.
The 2000’s showed an explosion of white metal bands coming out the woodworks. One band from Norway, Lengsel, would receive critical acclaim with the release of their debut album Solace. Incorporating progressive black metal into their sound and later post-black/shoegaze and post-hardcore. Creating a sound that acts like Deafheaven and Alcest would make popular a few years later. Other acts like Sanctifica, Crimson Moonlight and Drottnar would begin to grow with the rising tide of the new wave of black metal that was beginning to establish the genre’s style and name.
North America would begin to create their own scene and bands would begin to come down from the heavens to preach their Christian message. Frost Like Ashes would become one of the first well-known white metal bands. With countless EP’s in the early 2000’s the band released their debut album Tophet in 2005. Illinois record label EEE Recordings would become one of the leading labels showcasing the burgeoning white metal scene. The label would launch popular bands from the scene like Light Shall Prevail, Flaskavsae and Glaciial.
Today, both black and white metal seem to help bring people into the black metal scene, regardless of your ideology. Even some of the originators of the black metal scene like Hellhammer from Mayhem has said in an interview with Metal Library his thoughts on the scene and how black metal doesn’t need ideologies:
"In my opinion, black metal today is just music. I will tell you that neither I nor other [current] members of Mayhem never really were against religion or something else. We are primarily interested in music."
And that’s what it boils down to a the end of the day. Black metal is aggressive, unrelenting, and harsh in its music and lyrics. As a fan of the extreme satanic black metal bands like Marduk, Darkthrone, Dimmu Borgir and countless others, I do like some white metal. Horde’s debut album is a good black metal album and worth checking out, even if you don’t agree with the Christian-heavy message, the music is still heavy and still good. Personally, I’m ok with this genre, they aren’t hurting anybody, they aren’t protesting outside venues of satanic bands or promoting racist beliefs like the NSBM scene does. They are just doing their own thing and I respect the musicians that wanted to do something different, instead of refusing to listen to black metal.
Horde front man Jayson Sherlock today, who currently plays in the band Revulsed
It’s inspiring to release this style of music in a HEAVILY critical scene like the black metal community. Knowing full well that these musicians would be made fun of, harassed, or insulted for their beliefs. Even going so far as to receive death threats for the music they make. Almost in a martyr like approach that they are literally being fed to the wolves for releasing the kind of music that the genre was built to tear down. Overall, black/white/grey, whatever color of black metal you like to listen to, you like metal and that’s the important factor. For me, black metal lyrics don’t really matter to me, I just love the music itself. With incoherent screams and some rough or demo-like production, I can’t make out half of the stuff the vocalists are screaming about anyway.
Not all white metal is for me. While working on this article, there were some bands I did like and some I didn’t, and that’s ok, its just not my cup of tea. If the bands and the white metal scene do not become preachy, overbearing, and forceful in its message, I am ok with the genre even though I am a proud atheist, and I don’t believe in the stuff they sing about. But it’s their music, they love making it and I want to support anyone who makes music, regardless of if I like it or not. Enjoy the music you like and don’t try to ban or stop music that you don’t. If you like white metal and don’t like black metal, that’s cool, just don’t try to ban or stop me from having it. And the same goes the other direction. Metal is a form of expression and a way to bring people together in their own unique way. Uniting us through music is one of the most powerful feelings and things we can do as a human race. Whatever happens after we leave this planet is up to your beliefs, whether it’s meeting God or Satan, they both had some killer albums that were inspired by them.
