Taking Sides: Burzum vs Skrewdriver

Michael Moynihan who wrote this is a pretty disgusting individual whose racial views stink. I hope you got sent a free copy and didn't put money in this piece of shit's pocket...

The only Burzum I have is Filosofem. Cool record, I like it a lot; I'd say it sounds more like the Dead C playing Black Metal than some shoegazer band. But then that pointless 25 minutes electronic piece really kills the album. What a wierd guy.

Anyway Skrewdriver wins for that classic first record, easy.

Antihuman - Misanthropy Records
Hadleigh in Suffolk may seem an odd place for Britain's Black Metal inner sanctum, but it is here, in this picturesque English village, that some of the key players reside. Not only is it home to Cradle of Filth, a commercially-minded mainstream Black Metal band, but it is also the base for the secretive Misanthropy Records, a key component of the international National Socialist Black Metal scene. Chris Cayton reports.
Misanthropy Records, launched in 1993, plays a pivotal role in producing and distributing some of the most extreme Black Metal and industrial music in the world. Misanthropy produces a dozen bands through its own labels, as well as acting as distributor for approximately another 50 acts. Its latest catalogue proudly boasts the entire back catalogue of the Norwegian Black Metal band Burzum, as well as CDs from bands as diverse as the Black Metal arsonists Mayhem to the Italian industrialists Ain Soph and Michael Moynihan's Blood Axis. Apart from the distribution of CDs, Misanthropy does a thriving trade in publications, t-shirts, badges and videos.

It is run by a 27-year-old German woman named Tiziana Stupia, who also goes under the name of Diamanda.

Misanthropy was originally created to assist the Norwegian nazi Varg Vikernes, who sings as the one-man band Burzum, in releasing his musical material, as no other record company would entertain this fascist. Vikernes has an unenviable reputation for violent and extremist politics.

In 1994 he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of the founder of Black Metal, Oystein Aarseth, and for setting fire to historical churches. For these crimes Vikernes was fined a total of 23 million Norwegian Kroner (£1.8 million). Despite this he has continued to be a major influence on the underground Black Metal scene and national socialist politics.

Vikernes has long been associated with Satanism, a label he is keen to dismiss. Asked if he was a Satanist in the Norwegian nazi publication, Fritt Forum, Vikernes replied: "No I have never been a Satanist. I have on the other hand used the term in the meaning as an opponent of all Jewish religions. Christendom, Satanism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc are all foreign religions, which have nothing to do with our race".

Misanthropy has become the main supporter and promoter of Vikernes's political and musical projects and despite his incarceration, it has little difficulty obtaining his work. Its mail order operation sells and promotes the entire Burzum catalogue of music and other merchandise including the notorious Burzum t-shirt and flag, "Support your local Einsatzkommando", which come complete with a death's-head symbol. Much of this seems to be organised by Rainer, the main influence and writer of the Burzum website.

Despite an announcement by Misanthropy that it intends to cease business, it has only recently released the latest Burzum CD, Hlidskjalf.

Misanthropy is not solely a distributor of Black Metal music. Its catalogue contains a wide variety of musical styles. Indeed it has a sub-genre label, Elfenblut, which specialises in what is known as dark ambient music. One thing binds them all. They are all considered extreme forms of music and some of the other bands have similar, if not identical, politics to Vikernes.

Like many distributors of nazi music, Misanthropy claims that it can dissociate itself from the politics and philosophies of the artists. It claims to be upholding free speech and simply to be providing a service to listeners. These claims fall flat, when one realises that its website is linked to some of the most extreme nazi sites across the world, including those of the Heathen Front and the Thulean brotherhood.

Misanthropy's extremist merchandise is not confined to the works of Vikernes. Among other items distributed is material by the American band Blood Axis and Allerseelen, the musical project of the Austrian known as Kadmon

Blood Axis is run by the Oregon-based extremist Michael Moynihan. Moynihan is a well known Satanist and nazi who has been an influence on the Black Metal scene since he wrote Lords of Chaos: the bloody rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. This book was written in conjunction with the former Morgenbladet journalist Didrik Soderlind, who now plies his trade for the Norwegian edition of Playboy magazine.

When Moynihan was asked by the Scottish based fanzine Compulsion whether he considered himself a fascist, he replied: "I will say outright: if fascism will restore some sense of order, discipline and responsibility to the world, then I am all for it".

One Blood Axis CD sold by Misanthropy Records is Blot - Live in Sweden. This album opens with a recording of a speech by the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, which begins "Brother blackshirts, my comrades in struggle. Our fight is for the soul and in that battle we go forward together until victory be won."

Politically, Moynihan courts controversy. His views range from outright fascism and Satanism, to a keen interest in paganism and social Darwinism. He denies being a nazi and has denounced the personality cult around national socialism, believing it too limited. However, when asked in an interview: "If you were given the opportunity to gas blacks and Jews, would you do it?" he replied: "If I were given the opportunity to start the next Holocaust, I would definitely have far more lenient entrance requirements than the Nazis did".

Kadmon, the man behind Allerseelen, also produces pamphlets on his particular form of nazi paganism and ultra nationalism. Included in Allerseelen's written works available from Misanthropy are tracts on Leni Riefenstahl, Vikernes, Nordic religions and the "volkish way". His music includes the single Kaferlied which is a tribute to the nazi and occultist Ernst Junger.

A more secretive figure involved in Misanthropy is Steven O'Malley. Formerly resident in England, O'Malley was deported back to Los Angeles in 1998 after failing to extend his work permit. Despite returning to America, he remains connected to Misanthropy.

Aside from Misanthropy, O'Malley produces and publishes the underground magazine Descent, a glossy and well produced publication for bands on the extreme fringes of music. The links with Misanthropy and those who are around them are obvious. As well as giving credits to Tiziana, O'Malley carries articles from Misanthropy's friends Blood Axis and Allerseelen, alongside advertisements for the Nazi skin band Rahowa from Resistance Records and Burzum.

Despite Misanthropy's extensive mail order and CD operation, readers may be surprised to hear that the company, Misanthropy Records Ltd, has no income. The directors' report attached to its latest financial statements, filed at Companies House, claims that the company has had no income or expenditure. And this seems to have been the case for the past four years. The explanation may be that Misanthropy is also the name of a linked unincorporated business, which would not have to file any accounts.

Misanthropy Records Ltd may claim to be up for sale, but it is likely that it will re-emerge in one form or another. The cynical may think that the timing of the sale is a little too convenient and aimed at deflecting any official interest in its links with Vikernes.

If Misanthropy does re-emerge, there is little doubt that it will continue to promote the nazis who use its services as a badge of convenience.

TOP

Copyright © 1999, Searchlight,

Antihuman - Misanthropy Records
Hadleigh in Suffolk may seem an odd place for Britain's Black Metal inner sanctum, but it is here, in this picturesque English village, that some of the key players reside. Not only is it home to Cradle of Filth, a commercially-minded mainstream Black Metal band, but it is also the base for the secretive Misanthropy Records, a key component of the international National Socialist Black Metal scene. Chris Cayton reports.
Misanthropy Records, launched in 1993, plays a pivotal role in producing and distributing some of the most extreme Black Metal and industrial music in the world. Misanthropy produces a dozen bands through its own labels, as well as acting as distributor for approximately another 50 acts. Its latest catalogue proudly boasts the entire back catalogue of the Norwegian Black Metal band Burzum, as well as CDs from bands as diverse as the Black Metal arsonists Mayhem to the Italian industrialists Ain Soph and Michael Moynihan's Blood Axis. Apart from the distribution of CDs, Misanthropy does a thriving trade in publications, t-shirts, badges and videos.

It is run by a 27-year-old German woman named Tiziana Stupia, who also goes under the name of Diamanda.

Misanthropy was originally created to assist the Norwegian nazi Varg Vikernes, who sings as the one-man band Burzum, in releasing his musical material, as no other record company would entertain this fascist. Vikernes has an unenviable reputation for violent and extremist politics.

In 1994 he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of the founder of Black Metal, Oystein Aarseth, and for setting fire to historical churches. For these crimes Vikernes was fined a total of 23 million Norwegian Kroner (£1.8 million). Despite this he has continued to be a major influence on the underground Black Metal scene and national socialist politics.

Vikernes has long been associated with Satanism, a label he is keen to dismiss. Asked if he was a Satanist in the Norwegian nazi publication, Fritt Forum, Vikernes replied: "No I have never been a Satanist. I have on the other hand used the term in the meaning as an opponent of all Jewish religions. Christendom, Satanism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc are all foreign religions, which have nothing to do with our race".

Misanthropy has become the main supporter and promoter of Vikernes's political and musical projects and despite his incarceration, it has little difficulty obtaining his work. Its mail order operation sells and promotes the entire Burzum catalogue of music and other merchandise including the notorious Burzum t-shirt and flag, "Support your local Einsatzkommando", which come complete with a death's-head symbol. Much of this seems to be organised by Rainer, the main influence and writer of the Burzum website.

Despite an announcement by Misanthropy that it intends to cease business, it has only recently released the latest Burzum CD, Hlidskjalf.

Misanthropy is not solely a distributor of Black Metal music. Its catalogue contains a wide variety of musical styles. Indeed it has a sub-genre label, Elfenblut, which specialises in what is known as dark ambient music. One thing binds them all. They are all considered extreme forms of music and some of the other bands have similar, if not identical, politics to Vikernes.

Like many distributors of nazi music, Misanthropy claims that it can dissociate itself from the politics and philosophies of the artists. It claims to be upholding free speech and simply to be providing a service to listeners. These claims fall flat, when one realises that its website is linked to some of the most extreme nazi sites across the world, including those of the Heathen Front and the Thulean brotherhood.

Misanthropy's extremist merchandise is not confined to the works of Vikernes. Among other items distributed is material by the American band Blood Axis and Allerseelen, the musical project of the Austrian known as Kadmon

Blood Axis is run by the Oregon-based extremist Michael Moynihan. Moynihan is a well known Satanist and nazi who has been an influence on the Black Metal scene since he wrote Lords of Chaos: the bloody rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. This book was written in conjunction with the former Morgenbladet journalist Didrik Soderlind, who now plies his trade for the Norwegian edition of Playboy magazine.

When Moynihan was asked by the Scottish based fanzine Compulsion whether he considered himself a fascist, he replied: "I will say outright: if fascism will restore some sense of order, discipline and responsibility to the world, then I am all for it".

One Blood Axis CD sold by Misanthropy Records is Blot - Live in Sweden. This album opens with a recording of a speech by the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, which begins "Brother blackshirts, my comrades in struggle. Our fight is for the soul and in that battle we go forward together until victory be won."

Politically, Moynihan courts controversy. His views range from outright fascism and Satanism, to a keen interest in paganism and social Darwinism. He denies being a nazi and has denounced the personality cult around national socialism, believing it too limited. However, when asked in an interview: "If you were given the opportunity to gas blacks and Jews, would you do it?" he replied: "If I were given the opportunity to start the next Holocaust, I would definitely have far more lenient entrance requirements than the Nazis did".

Kadmon, the man behind Allerseelen, also produces pamphlets on his particular form of nazi paganism and ultra nationalism. Included in Allerseelen's written works available from Misanthropy are tracts on Leni Riefenstahl, Vikernes, Nordic religions and the "volkish way". His music includes the single Kaferlied which is a tribute to the nazi and occultist Ernst Junger.

A more secretive figure involved in Misanthropy is Steven O'Malley. Formerly resident in England, O'Malley was deported back to Los Angeles in 1998 after failing to extend his work permit. Despite returning to America, he remains connected to Misanthropy.

Aside from Misanthropy, O'Malley produces and publishes the underground magazine Descent, a glossy and well produced publication for bands on the extreme fringes of music. The links with Misanthropy and those who are around them are obvious. As well as giving credits to Tiziana, O'Malley carries articles from Misanthropy's friends Blood Axis and Allerseelen, alongside advertisements for the Nazi skin band Rahowa from Resistance Records and Burzum.

Despite Misanthropy's extensive mail order and CD operation, readers may be surprised to hear that the company, Misanthropy Records Ltd, has no income. The directors' report attached to its latest financial statements, filed at Companies House, claims that the company has had no income or expenditure. And this seems to have been the case for the past four years. The explanation may be that Misanthropy is also the name of a linked unincorporated business, which would not have to file any accounts.

Misanthropy Records Ltd may claim to be up for sale, but it is likely that it will re-emerge in one form or another. The cynical may think that the timing of the sale is a little too convenient and aimed at deflecting any official interest in its links with Vikernes.

If Misanthropy does re-emerge, there is little doubt that it will continue to promote the nazis who use its services as a badge of convenience.

TOP

Copyright © 1999, Searchlight,

This is a rather old article, after Hlidskjalf Misanthropy has indeed stopped signing new bands, releasing new albums, promotion and all that. The infamous mailorder distro the article is about has also shut down. At the moment, Misanthropy only formally exists to keep its back catalogue in print.

That aside, Moynihan is clearly a complete nutter.

siegbran, please tell us that you're writing such a book.

Hard to tell, he certainly flirts with the image, but I'm not sure if there's any actual belief in the politics. At least a lot of the fans I know say it's just a sort of Laibach-like love of such imagery (and I assume the reactions it brings out of people)

do those Searchlight people source those Moynihan quotes they use?

I did like the fact that the Lords of Chaos book engages with the ideology of the bands the book covers, rather than just scoffing at it. It does still make the Black Metal bands sound rather unpleasant, though.

I get the impression Burzum are more musically inventive than Skrewdriver, not that I've actually heard either. apparently a lot of the Black Metal bands also like early Kraftwerk and would do side-albums of ambient electronica.

i'm lying, it isn't really

Yeah, Fenriz of Darkthrone did a couple of albums that sounded like Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze etc. I heard one, which wasn't too hot, but a friend of mine who's way more into that Berlin-electronica thing said the other one actually is good.
Not too surprising, I guess, as a lot of the early 90s black metal bands put more thought into trying to set an atmosphere than writing catchy riffs or melodies.

I know shit about black metal, but a friend of mine who does told me that this is partly because some of the Nazi black metalists finally realized that rock music was invented by the African-Americans, so they decided they should do racially pure (=beatless) music instead.

That's the reason Vikernes gave when he performed his ideological & musical volteface, yes. But tons of non-nazi black metal musicians did the minimalist electronic thing way before that too...the musical links between minimalist ambient and black metal have always been quite obvious.

Well, more like it inserted two-three chapters of comments by black metal musicians into a pre-existing wishful thinking treatise on the rebirth of Euro facism. I don't think most people bother reading beyond the first 100 pages, but Lords of Chaos really takes black metal for a ride.

http://spearoflonginus.ark11.net/img/nom01.jpg

investigate Aussie "nazi occult metal" act Spear of Longinus, twisted investigators of THE YOGA OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM.

http://spearoflonginus.ark11.net/tyons02.jpg

kult!

just wish that reissue of "nada brahma/nazi occult metal" would make it to the US.

Also, for the connection-mappers out there: Conrad Schnitzler from Tangerine Dream plays the intro "Silvester Anfang" on the first self-released Mayhem record, Deathcrush. That was in 1987, after Euronymous (the Stalinist) went to Berlin to meet him. I guess I'm not loathe to mention that Sound of the Beast is full of such gems, so go ahead and read it!

who the fuck writes this kind of thing? "pro-ZOG", ZOG meaning the "Zionist Occupation Government"? i hope to god this is just some wally making a provocative post just to annoy people and not deploying this term seriously. in any case, sad wanker on the one hand; deluded, paranoid, racist fuckwit on the other...