“Kanye West reveals album cover inspired by notorious nazi band Burzum”

We Wuz Thulêans n' Shit

I did not expect to wake up and see an album cover reveal by Kanye West that people were mistaking for a black metal release. Obviously, I have several opinions about this. Since my thoughts were relatively succinct and straightforward, I thought I would crank out a piece since it will (in all likelihood) reflect well on the new blog.

The new face of white nationalism, Kanye “Ye” West, is apparently a huge Burzum fan.

To put it bluntly, I hate rap music. I understand that rap was interesting and countercultural twenty-five years ago. Black metal remains a transgressive artform while rap is promoted on a massive scale by institutional media. In my (semi-professional edgelord) opinion, rap has been defanged and completely transformed into a mass-marketable product. Not only this, but rap is being engineered to make the most money possible off online streaming services. Currently, black metal and rap represent antithetical ends of music. Rap is inescapable. Every time I make contact with any sort of popular media I am immediately exposed to some kind of rap or hip-hop. Even at the local “punk and metal” clubs in my home town, all they play inside is shitty metalcore and trap music. Contrarily, the idea of hearing real black metal being played anywhere in public is unimaginable. Rap and black metal represent antithetical ends of the cultural spectrum, which is part of why the album cover for Kanye West’s upcoming album, Vultures, is such a bizarre development.

Clearly, the resemblance is uncanny. I have seen “proof” (via Instagram post) that the artist took direct inspiration from Burzum when designing the cover. Beyond this, I find the allegations of West being a Burzum fan dubious. The fact is, black metal has an evocative presentation. Most people, whether they listen to it or not, acknowledge that black metal does something interesting with its look and style. This is why I am not upset about the Vultures album reveal, I guess. It is a quiet acknowledgement of the artistic merits of black metal, whether they recognize it or not. Most popular music is engaged in a downward spiral of mindlessly copying more interesting art to provide a novel experience for the average listener. The way I see it, there is very little depth or thought that goes into this process. It could be directed entirely by ChatGPT at this stage. The album cover for Vultures is not representative of a meaningful move towards anything. West will rip Burzum for this album and something completely different on the next. From the outside looking in, pop music is a vortex of meaninglessness and un-reality. The moments when it begins to resemble extreme music or transgressive art are coincidental. In no way is this some attempt to take black metal from us.

Black metal has been consistently attacked since its inception. For forty years, people have been trying to wrest control of the genre from the true believers (you and me). Constant attempts to turn it into another product for the music industry and another political tool to advance progressivism have largely failed. This new Kanye West album is the latest in a long list of moments where the mainstream is exposed to a small dose of black metal. It might change the climate within the scene momentarily, but the vast majority of people that wander into (real) extreme metal will leave. To put it lightly, they will not be able to handle it.

I think people forget just how radioactive black metal is for most Millennials and Zoomers interested in popular music. It is, after all, the only genre noted by the media as having a significant “nazi” problem. Even bands like Mayhem, Taake, and Darkthrone are labeled “nazi” bands by a surprising number of people. In fact, there is an entire media ecosystem dedicated to attacking the perceived political crimes of black metal as a genre. As we speak, the music media is cranking out pieces about how Vultures explicitly references “Nazism” with the album cover. This coverage is not meant to detract from Vultures, but instead to raise additional awareness of “problematic” black metal and guide readers on how to avoid inroads to the progressive Heart of Darkness that is... Burzum. Most young people listen to rap because they tacitly want to participate with mainstream society and they want to fit in. Kanye West has said some nominally edgy shit, but he is an institution within mainstream rap culture. Labeling his listeners as nazi-sympathizers would suddenly outcast hundreds of millions of people, many of whom are not white… and that would completely shatter all the (remaining) credibility of music journalism. The vast majority of Americans are not prepared to confront the allegations of political and moral offenses that large numbers of black metal enthusiasts confront on a regular basis. Again, they just will not be able to handle it…

While I think there will be very little fallout from this album’s release, it does not mean we should just sit around and wait for things to blow over. If anything, this is a great opportunity to double-down. I saw a great post on Xitter related to this. In order for extreme metal to be taken seriously again, bands should,

“Stop dressing like they just woke up in their mom’s basement in a pool of spilled bongwater, and start dressing like they’re the ones who make sure the trains… run on time. Every time.” (@ScarverShawcro1)

I could not agree more. There is a final frontier of transgression in music, and it will keep the normies out forever…

Hail the underground…