THE EXTRA-Curricular activities of death-metallers have hit the headlines yet again. Four members of Acropolis, a black-metal band from Tunbridge Wells, were recently convicted at Maidstone Crown Court of causing £100,000 worth of damage to seven churches in Kent. In their defence, they cited the influence of Norwegian black-metal and its Satanic messages – said the band’s frontman, Paul Timms, adding that their only regret was the fact that the churches had not totally burned down!

Black metal, an extreme form of the speed/trash/death metal genre, has been adopted by Scandinavians in recent years who have taken the music’s Satanic symbolism to heart. Churches have been vandalised and burned, and even murder has been committed in the name of the music. Earlier this year Count Grishnackh, of Norwegian band Burzum, stabbed Euronymous, the leader of another local black-metal band, Mayhem dead. The singer with Mayhem subsequently killed himself and the band’s drummer was also charged with murdering a gay man in Lillehammer.

Ireland’s death-metal fraternity have rejected the notion that anything similar is likely to happen over here. “I don’t burn churches down myself,” laughs Michael Richards, guitar player with Dublin combo, Doomsgain. “As far as I know, there is only one local band who have been known to dabble in the whole Satanic thing but it’s just part of the image and it doesn’t interest me at all.”

Disturbing Development

A spokesman for the Catholic Press and Information Office in Dublin said they were not aware of any churches or church property being attacked in this way but added that he would be concerned if such incidents were to arise. “I’ve never heard of it happening here,” he said. “But it’s certainly a disturbing development and if music were to have this sinister effect on individuals we would not be complacent about it.

“Music has always had an effect on young people,” he continued, “but it’s usually a positive, harmless influence. In the past it was seen as pure entertainment but now it’s fraught with all kind of deep meanings and symbolic messages. You only have to look at the reaction to the death of Kurt Cobain and the cult that has surrounded his suicide.”

Thrash metal is arguably as popular here as anywhere else – Slayer, one of the prime exponents of this music, have already sold-out their upcoming show in the SFX and according to stockists of thrash metal records there is a healthy market out there. Jon Kenny, presenter of 2FM’s Metal Show confirms that half their weekly top ten chart would be made up of the death-metal variety but he says they would rarely refuse to play a track purely because of lyrical content.

“We’ve often looked at album covers of bands like Dismember and said ‘forget it’, but when we actually listened to the music it turned out to be unplayable anyway. So it’s lack of quality that we would be concerned with, not lyrics or hidden messages.”

How does he feel about the Satanic activities of some of the music’s aficionados?

“I think those guys are lunatics,” he says. “Obviously the music is designed to shock but some people take it too far. Most of it is just lads being lads.”

Pure Shock Value

Brian Grehan who works at Dublin’s Virgin Megastore is an ardent fan of hardcore metal and he also dismisses the notion that it can encourage people to carry out acts of vandalism or atrocities of any kind. “I don’t know how they can blame the lyrics anyhow – it’s almost impossible to decipher what the singers are saying!”

He attributes the attractions of the music partly to the reaction it engenders among parents and the older generation. “It’s pure shock value,” he says. “It’s the old rock ’n’ roll rebellion thing. It’s harder to shock these days and the kids are forced to become more extreme. The main reason me and a bunch of my friends started getting into bands like Venom, was the fact that it was so horrible. It just pissed everyone off. If I got an album and my mother liked it, I’d just get rid of it straight away! The music is radio-unfriendly and parent-unfriendly and that’s basically it.”

He does agree however that a small section of fans of the music might be dabbling in Satanism. “I think there would be a certain percentage, maybe ten per cent, who would be into it,” he says. “Some of the younger kids would be messing around not really knowing what they’re doing, but a small percentage would take it seriously. Anyway, cemeteries have been vandalised in the past, long before death metal came into the picture, so it can’t be blamed for everything.

“I would simply say to anyone who takes it too seriously to go out and get a life,” he concludes.