Forecast for my brain: Storms.

(Note: I felt, since I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information on this topic, that it would be better to address all of the questions/prompts individually rather than in paragraph form, so I could better organize my thoughts.)

What do I already know about this topic?
     I cannot possibly answer this in one go. I have been interested in, and a part of, black metal culture (kvltvre?) since I was about 17yrs old. Let's just say I know a fucking lot.

What draws me to this topic?
     Part of why I'm doing my research paper on this topic is because I don't entirely understand why I am so drawn to this genre of music and the lifestyle. Emotionally, black metal music is a great release. Anger management, if you will. Intellectually, I am interested in the fact that this is (technically) still a very young culture, though it has roots that reach as far as Viking history, for example. Creatively, I am in love with the whole aesthetic of black metal- frosty, grim, lo-fi.

How would this project benefit me (or others)?
     I am viewing this project as a chance to reconcile many issues and questions I have about the culture I am so immersed in, and when has a quest for knowledge NOT been beneficial to someone?


What questions/concerns/excitement do I have about this project?
     In this culture, there are a lot of hot-button issues to address: anti-religion/satanism/paganism, racism, misogyny, rape, murder, church-burnings... it's quite a spicy topic. Controversy makes for an interesting read!

The Google search of "black metal" yielded expected results- the first thing was, of course, the Black Metal Wikipedia page. I took some screen captures of the results.

So after the publicly-edited info portal that is a wiki, we have blackmetal.com, a mail-order music and merch site. Then there are some image and video results of one of the typical heavy-hitters of the genre, Venom. A bit of Satanic imagery, a link to black metal radio (free/streaming mix)... some stuff about Norwegian bm, and NSBM (aka fucking racist metal)... not a very cheerful quick look for the casual browser.

5 potential guiding questions regarding research: I'll come back to this one...

Stream-of-consciousness keywords: black, goat, evil, Mayhem, Venom, Lucifer, Belial, crime, church burnings, performance, fire, grim, frost-bitten, cult/kult/kvlt, corpse paint, Watain, animal sacrifice, blood, pentagram, Crowley, snow, Norse gods/goddesses, bullet belt, fuck jesus, atheism, inverted cross, murder, I <3 Transylvania, Dead, shotgun, suicide, murder, Varg Vikernes, Until The Light Takes Us, Fenriz

More soon...

-Karla