(written by Islander)

Hostility to the Christian church has been a hallmark of black metal going back to its earliest roots. Even today, some people don’t consider black metal “true” unless it is based on a devout Luciferian foundation. Of course, the music of many black metal bands has nothing to do with such themes, and others use satanic lyricism and imagery more as costumery than expressions of personal belief, while some are more broadly anti-theistic than merely anti-Christian.

The black metal band Kafir (the solo project of any anonymous musician) is explicitly anti-theistic and specifically anti-Islamic. Kafir has identified its location as Saudi Arabia. If that were true, the lyrical stance would make some sense.

For the progenitors of black metal who lived in countries where the Christian church had stamped out pagan traditions and dominated communal belief, it was natural to express their disbelief and anti-theistic rage at that religion. On the other hand, if Kafir lived in a country dominated and repressed by Islam, then that would be a natural target of Kafir’s own disbelief, rebelliousness, and rage.

But Kafir has made comments in an interview which explain that the identification of Saudi Arabia was done to satisfy a Bandcamp location requirement, and was inspired by Kafir’s musical themes, rather than a literal truth. And so the specific hostility to Islam may have other explanations. Continue reading »