Black metal where it shouldn't be

Satyricon play a fashion show

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Here are two can’t-look-away trainwrecks that have been blowing my mind.

The first, above, is Satyricon playing “K.I.N.G.” at a fashion show at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo last month. What a fashion show is doing at a ski competition is beyond me, let alone why Satyricon are playing such an event. Also, the fact that this was broadcast on Norwegian national TV is mildly mind-blowing.

The second, below, is Keep of Kalessin playing “The Divine Land” at the Melodi Grand Prix, the competition that determines who represents Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest. Accompanying them on violin is Alexander Rybak, the 2009 Eurovision winner. Hang on until the end, because it gets progressively more and more absurd.

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Keep of Kalessin: WTF

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Recently I got a press release saying that 1349 were playing the afterparty at a fashion runway event sponsored by Anti Sweden, whom you may remember as the purveyor of “True Norwegian black denim”.

(Incidentally, Frost has drummed for all three of these bands.)

What the hell is going on over there in Norway?

Actually, what the hell is going here in general?

The simplest explanation is that these bands were offered sufficient money to overcome their misgivings about playing these events. (Hello, Scion.)

But maybe there’s more going on than money or sheer lunacy/idiocy.

Maybe these are brilliant moves by these bands to reach audiences whom they’d never otherwise reach. Instead of preaching to the converted (i.e., metalheads), they’re springing their art upon an unsuspecting public.

Admittedly, that’s a dubious theory. It’s certainly dubious for Keep of Kalessin, who (a) have not had much to say for a while (basically since they signed to Nuclear Blast), and (b) are, by the nature of the Melodi Grand Prix, seeking acceptance. In that situation, the last thing they want is confrontation with their audience.

But maybe the situation is more complex with Satyricon. Satyr is a smart guy, and Frost is black metal to the bone. (In this blog post, Wrath of Averse Sefira says, “In many interviews, I have stated that nobody came out of the womb wearing corpse paint and spikes, but maybe Frost is an exception”.) Sure, Satyricon sort of turned into a rock band. But the band retains lyrical and musical trappings from black metal, and if it really wanted to “sell out”, it wouldn’t make plodding, almost-difficult records like The Age of Nero. Maybe Satyr with his Chris Isaak hair has rock star ambitions. But something got Frost into that fancy jacket.

What do you think it was?

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