Czech Pagan Black Metal and its Others
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.26048Keywords:
metal music, black metal, Czech Pagan black metal, contemporary Paganism, Czech PaganismAbstract
The article deals with Czech Pagan black metal and its Others in the context of the development of Pagan black metal in Czechia since the late 1990s. In this discussion of Otherness, there are conceptualized positive, negative and ambivalent Others. The positive Others for Czech Pagan black metallers include the larger black metal scene, not merely the Czech scene, especially the “second wave” of black metal, out of which Pagan black metal arose, and the larger world of Pagan religions across Europe and beyond, not only Czech Paganism. Nature constitutes another very positive Other, as does Czech history and identity. The primary negative Other is Christianity, understood as an alien and destructive force in Czech life and culture. The main ambivalent Others are far-right and Satanism, toward which Czech Black Pagan metallers have varying degrees of sympathy. The article is based on the analysis of the main Czech Pagan black metal bands and on own field research including interviews with nine participants of the Czech Pagan black metal scene realized between 2010 and 2022.
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