As a genre less defined aesthetically than on terms of propaganda, NSBM is the mark of Cain that stigmatizes bands that express a certain ideology. On the basis that music is pure Will, this article focuses on contrasting a split by Der Sturmer, Malsaint and Blutkult with Spear of Longinus on the grounds of understanding and conviction to their ideas, or, to be less dramatic, on how the need to express grander statements creates grander music.
Great metal bands have either derived inspiration from the bloodthirsty aspects of extremism or creatively cultivated their own ideals, and rarely were the ones to blindly follow. After all, the feanorian spirit of the true artist thirsts for transgression, adventure and critical thinking, which often, yet not always, is translated into originality, harmonic movement and a great metapolitical message that longs to be sang, purging the sterile dogma of ideology to accept infinity, nihilism and freedom through understanding of the natural laws.
Therefore, there can be no tolerance for political correctness in metal; herein nothing is sacred, not even God. Metal celebrates power, thus metalheads are stricken by awe before figures and symbols which radiate strength, often regardless of their position on the political spectrum. However, an ideology that is anti-egalitarian, obsessed with the past and perceived as inimical to society, resonates better with metal, since they are both rooted in the same brutal aspect of primitive reality, which, in truth, might be but the only reality.
Clearly, the main pitfall of such a genre is virtue signaling, stemming from the need for acceptance or sociopathic behavior, combined with lack of talent or effort. However, we shall find that the intent behind the lyrics might truly be important, since the ideologic direction of the following bands is analogous to the quality of the music. Thus, we will not endeavor to investigate any lyrics in detail, but we shall rather focus on the overall message. Having clarified our standpoint, let us begin with the review.
Overall, this split is worthy to enjoy with beer with a group of friends, as it evokes a feeling of concert atmosphere: you have the headliners, a band that opens up the moshpits and the local band that infrequently makes you look at your watch, because it’s worthless. Alas, the quality of this material does not often reach the apex of previous songs written by those bands, as Blutkult and Der Sturmer had perfected their craft on other records, while Malsaint stands out as a confused band that cannot mix its various influences.
Kickstarting the split with a brave dose of hate, the brew of Der Sturmer mixes violent riffing in Doric punk structures. This masculine music is excellent for stabbing people in the throat. Their doctrine and music therefore are on the lines of ‘fire and axe’ and embrace a timocratic glorification of strength manifesting in headbanging and boiling blood.
Usually, on other works, the band focuses on the transcendence of the Self through conflict, and although this transition is rarely happening in their compositions, they stand on a higher level of skill than most of their brethren, mostly because of their minimalistic and convincing riffs. On contrast, in this split, the idea to be articulated focuses most of all on violence. Perhaps it was not in the plans of the band to say something more, yet this attitude reflects on their work, which might sound non-contemplative, representing an almost materialistic aspect of their ideology.
I further recommend Transcedental Racial Idealism, which is a solid album for beating up helots. Erasithanatos (The Tragedy of Heroic Pessimism) is a fine example of the minimalistic style they are working on. In addition, herein, they have their own space to communicate more heroic and ambitious propaganda and this is often reflected on their music and highly philosophized lyrics.
Although initially promising by introducing themselves with a patriotic sample, Malsaint quickly sets off with a minor chord tremolo riff that sounds terribly average. Furthermore, trying to pry into their music, one can picture a naif atmosphere of French nature that fails to deliver any message. Then they include successful, but still mediocre, chord passages and top up the track with Philosophem-style keys that sound totally out of place and make the riff & style-salad masters Peste Noire sound like Richard Wagner.
In order to improve their musical vocabulary, it would be preferable for Malsaint to focus on using strumming volkisch chords more often, imitate more specific bands to begin with and expound their technique and imagination by studying more black metal bands on the DMU archives.
Blutkult are the German headliners of this record, who play glorifying chords representative of the violent nature of the universe, on which melodic leads of staggering beauty are added, in the same way that one beholds natural life on which he gives meaning by embracing a worldview of heroic self-sacrifice. The band does not fail to deliver feelings of awe and melancholy that arise when one beholds a stolen classical statue in a European museum. A truly special band, that transforms oi influences to create minimalistic sculptures of beautiful harmony.
Although 72 Schweinefressen exhibits the most convincing pig-squeals ever heard and the music is revitalizing and refreshing, inspiring the listener to fight to honor his blood, the vision is thoroughly accomplished and the world remains in a stationary state of eternal beauty. This is not bad, yet Blutkult’s swiney orgasms of accomplished triumph on this split reflect on the compositions which do not go anywhere but are caught in a perpetual motion of glory. As with Der Sturmer’s longer works, monotony is the enemy here.
In truth, I would appreciate this more if it was not for the more complete Die Letzten Wahren Deutschen Ritter. For example, 72 Schweinefressen is a nice song but it is definitely lesser than Der Herrscher kehrt zuruck on which it is based. The latter, changes direction towards the end, is more experimental vocally, it is shorter, the sound structure is more detailed and the drumming is reminiscent of angry pulsing panzer engines. Generally, this band is highly unique and evokes a sense of beauty, standing a head above most worthless virtue-signaling NSBM bands.
Overall, Der Sturmer and Blutkult are very strong representatives of their ideals. They exhibit glorification of strength and self-sacrifice respectively, and they have an attitude of self-overcoming. Contrasted with disoriented Malsaint, they have a clear vision and simple statements they want to express, which are translated into appropriate music that makes an impact.
However, although the above commands might suffice, one can expound on more topics to build a more complex statement, that contains more messages than the aforementioned bands, creating holistically better music in the process.
Spear of Longinus is the band that tears up the veil of Maya and becomes fully enlightened to the shamanic pagan mysticism of blood and time.
Their music is more than a form of propaganda, being more alike to a Zen master who slaps you in the face to realize the truth. To begin with, the clean oi riffing and technophobic melodies invoke an atavistic character, from when their ancestors were living inside forests, feasting on acorns and raw deer flesh, a music so unconventional that becomes rejuvenating in its call for freedom. The structure of the record is meaningful and logical, as it slowly silences the vocals to indicate that the listener now enters into deeper mysteries, which cannot be articulated with words. The minimalistic compositions say more, with less, and the laconic spirit is satisfied.
TYONS exhibits superior artistic merit than the previous split, and also the full-length works of the previous bands which use the same tools that they use on the split, not only because it is a (small) full-length, but because it has a more grandiose vision: its inspirations go beyond national heritage or war history and embrace spirituality, Hinduism, conspiracy theories, war and natural disaster, just a few topics that expand their musical vocabulary and help them employ a larger skillset and write more interesting works.
Another aspect of SOL’s superiority to all NSBM, is the lack of politically extreme keywords. The music speaks for itself, and is way more metal. Why?
Because, metal, as we said, is war music. And SOL go the entire way into primitive tribalism, destroying everything that could remain to reassure us, offering a musical landscape of conflict, yet of strong tribal emotions, religion, beauty, love and reverence for nature and the universe. The way the present their views makes them appear not stagnant and dogmatic, but alive and refreshing.
Metal is music that reflects upon reality on a meta-political level, while political ideologies focus on a smaller portion of reality. Our love for metal lies in the fact that it bears all those things that society denounces and does not want to speak about, and the more of them it bears, the more powerful it becomes. In contrast, political music and other forms of protest music want to express fewer things, use fewer techniques and care more about the message than the music, ignoring the fact that good music can speak of things that the feeble human speech cannot make manifest. This is exactly what Spear of Longinus has to offer, and that is the reason they are among the masters of this genre.
To conclude, the above suggest a correlation of ideological concepts with quality of sound. It was shown that the more intricate and concise the message is, the more interesting the music becomes, if musical talent is already existent. A limit to this article is the smallness of the sample. However, this can be expounded upon in a future article.
Finally, regardless of the faults of their ideologies, in an age of domestication, mental lobotomy and totalitarian silencing, the effort and courage of those musicians to record and perform must be recognized. One cannot help but hail the triumph of the noble spirit, which, regardless of race, pursues the truth; for when the howling wind of a nuclear winter will silence the meaningless chatter about “love” and “peace”, all idols will lie broken and hollow; but the truth remains. Forever.
