Come, Lord!

20090218 skrev jag en text som handlar om Funeral Mist. Som synes så skrevs den innan nya skivan "Maranatha" släpptes och mycket av texten tyngs av förväntan inför den skivan, men framförallt av Funeral Mist's betydelse för mig personligen, min syn på black metal och (viss) andlighet. Eller kanske snarare min beundran inför genren och vad den, när den är som bäst, kan uttrycka och förmedla. Hursomhelst, här är texten.

Funeral Mist will release a new album next week, entitled "Maranatha". I am really looking forward to thar record. Their previous effort "Salvation" was one of the most terrifying moments in black metal history. A violent release of pure concentrated evil. Truly, a record that in many ways scared me. Not that much music actually does that, but Funeral Mist... In the same way that you know that David Eugene Edwards mean every word he sing in 16 Horsepower or Woven Hand, in the same way that you know that what he sings is what he believes in and hopes for... In the same way you know that the death and destruction that Arioch of Funeral Mist express in his musical and lyrical blasphemy really is what rages in his soul. That he really (to put it in his own word) wishes "to kill the human within" and that he means to take you with him. There is nothing that forgives in Funeral Mist. There is nothing that isn't supposed to be there and every part is a crucial part in a prayer to the Devil (and it isn't a beautiful, misunderstood Miltonian angel but a god of total destruction death and negativity). A couple of days ago I had a discussion (severely under the influence) about evil in music and in that discussion I stood by the claim that metal is a good way to express evil. Looking back at it, that might not be the case. But I can say that the only records that have felt really evil, the only records that have felt like they had come in contact with something truly ancient and evil is "Salvation" (and hopefully "Maranatha") by Funeral Mist, "Satanic Blood Angel" by Von, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" by Mayhem and, in parts, the first four black metal albums by Darkthrone. Maybe "Black One" by Sunn0))), but the feeling on that album is, although very similar, a bit different. Albeit it is dark, mysterious and ultimately evil, it isn't as malign as the previously mentioned albums. Jaculas first album might come close, but in the end it's a bit to... naïve, maybe. I am very impressed by the fact that the records sound quite menacing and very special, if nothing else just because it is made pre-Black Sabbath, but it still feels a bit... If I'd written this in swedish I would have used words like "spexigt" to describe it, basically meaning that it feels more like the musicians are trying a lot without having a real spiritual/emotional basis and understanding for what they are portraying. Sort of like white gangsta rap. I still love it, though.

Now, talking about music outside of metal that can evoke this feeling of malignant devilry, I can't really think anything. Maybe the Omen soundtrack, maybe something by Schnittke but I can't really be the judge of that since I haven't really heard that much of his work. Power electronics, noise, industrial... For all their flair for totalitarianism, serial killers etc. I don't get an "evil" vibe from them. I get a vibe of danger, of horrible things, a sense of fear and of psychosis, a sense of physical and mental harm, a sense of destroyed and corrupted minds, but not that sense of evil. Some might say that I am after a metaphysical evil, but that's not really it either. Although Funeral Mist musically can come of as chaotic, it is not. It is very structured, very thought through, very focused. What I am trying to say is that when most industrial (or related) acts come of as a total mindless psycho rapist killer just going at it with an axe, Funeral Mist is more like being strapped to an altar and surgically altered by a surgeon that hates you and enjoys cutting you up but it is not the goal, just a pleasurable road to the goal. And what is the goal? In the words of Darkthrone: "that is the Eye of Satan."