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MUSIC COLUMN BY RICHARD MARTIN |
"I don't feel that there's an easy distinction between good and evil," says a bright-eyed, youthful-looking Michael Moynihan over a cup of tea one recent afternoon. He's explaining the objective point of view used in Lords of Chaos, his exhaustive study of the sometimes murderous Satanic metal underground published earlier this year by Feral House. He's also defending the murky polemics of his band, Blood Axis, which makes its local performance debut at the Paris Theater this Saturday. Moynihan is Oregon's most intriguing personality at the moment and potentially its most controversial. His book, co-authored with Oslo rock journalist Didrik Søderlind, features interviews with Norwegian and American metal musicians who espouse--and in some cases have committed--such acts as church burnings and homicide. Written in a detached, academic tone, Lords of Chaos catalogs the rise of an underclass comprised of youths who embrace Satanism and neo-Nazism and who revile contemporary Western society so deeply that they often cross over the line of protected speech in their music and instigate violent, reprehensible crimes. Moynihan says his music background earned him access to notorious figures like convicted murderer Bård Eithun of the bands Thorns and Emperor; he notes that hearing their stories never inspired him to castigate them in print. "I'm not sympathetic to their actions, but to their impulses," Moynihan says of his subjects. Later, he adds: "On a personal level, I actually enjoyed talking to them." Moynihan's own music bears only passing resemblance to the foreboding, usually guitar-generated sound of black metal. Blood Axis' 1995 album, The Gospel of Inhumanity (recently rereleased on the English label Misanthropy), features dense, swirling organs that employ Bach motifs and serve as variously serene and ominous backdrops to spoken-word samples of Ezra Pound and Charles Manson (who's thanked for his contribution in the liner notes). Blood Axis' darkly atmospheric compositions certainly have artistic merit--and may appeal to fans of underground tribal, industrial and Gothic music--but they're rife with philosophical messages that many will find offensive, if not dangerous. Seated beside Moynihan during our chat, bassist Markus Wolff, who masks a bemused expression behind an overgrown and scraggly patch of facial hair, wears a jacket emblazoned with a symbol that appears on Blood Axis' album covers and posters, a cross that looks like intersecting barbells. Wolff and Moynihan refer to it as a "crusader cross" with pagan and heathen origins, and they admit that it leads some to suggest that their band is sending a pro-fascist message. Yet Moynihan is unrepentant: "I would say that if there's an ideology, it's Nietzschean spirituality rather than political." For his part, Wolff emphasizes the European folkloristic aspects of Blood Axis' material, stating that it's "rooted in mythology, and poetry even." When Moynihan gives an eerie reading of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra over a sweeping violin figure and swelling synthesizers in his song "Between Birds of Prey," it certainly blurs the line between good and evil, but does it constitute something more sinister? Is the artist making a menacing political statement with racist overtones? If he is, does it matter? Fundamentalists from the religious right and politicians from both major parties regularly accuse musicians of polluting young listeners' minds and, in extreme cases such as the church burnings in Norway or the school killings in the United States, of catalyzing these horrific events. It's irresponsible to claim that music plays a cause-and-effect role in such instances, especially when other societal factors are left out of the equation. But this doesn't necessarily let bands like Blood Axis off the hook. When challenged about his assertion that he's not political, Moynihan counters, "I don't feel like a liberal. I don't see things in a moral way." It'd be facile to denounce his stance. In a way, he should be commended; Moynihan's work could force the issue about whether or not music has a role in societal terrorism. It's therefore more productive than Marilyn Manson's naive glamorization of violence and unfocused attempt to shock. But Moynihan's journalism and his band's music stop short of answering any of the troubling questions they raise, which makes his statements about the vagueness between good and evil sound more threatening than useful. Portland Postscript: On a lighter note, the Northwest Film Center will screen three episodes of Fishing with John on Sunday. Local cable operators refuse to carry the Independent Film Channel, on which the hilarious show airs, because they're too busy cramming in more home-shopping networks. The Film Center may be the only place you'll be able to see New York hipster and musician John Lurie take friends such as Tom Waits and Jim Jarmusch out for some not-so-leisurely fishing. Check out the screen listings for details. Blood Axis headlines an all-ages show that also features the Port Townsend, Wash., black-metal band Corvus Corax and the Portland satanic metal band Thy Infernal at the Paris Theater, Saturday, Sept. 26. The time is listed as "early evening." For Blood Axis' three-date West Coast tour and subsequent 10-week jaunt through Europe, Michael Moynihan has assembled a band consisting of violinist Annabel Lee, bassist Aaron Garland and drummer Markus Wolff (a founder of Crash Worship).
originally published September 23 , 1998
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