Burzum - Filosofem

It's always said that children are amazed by things that their parents can't stand. Well, when I was growing up my parents absolutely detested metal. The funny part was, they didn't hate it because they found it offensive, they hated it because they're a pair of ex-punks that lived through the metal genre's many rises in to the mainstream. Just like when you hear the word "punk" you think of angry young kids with mohawks and safety pins all over their clothing, when my parents heard "metal" they'd think of greasy, acne ridden kids who are under the delusion that metal was the best thing to ever happen to music. Not an enjoyable thought for a pair of aging hipsters or for anyone really. So when I started to pick up interest in the odd bit of metal, I get the feeling that my folks were worried that I'd go down that road. It never really happened. I can't stand having really long hair and the absurd self importance that seems to go with the "metal scene" just gets on my nerves. I have however kept a passive interest in the genre and hold the music that comes out in as higher regard as any of the "cool" genres.

I've been in to Burzum for a few years now and know the ridiculous story behind this one man band. Don't quote me on these bits of information but the basic controversy goes like this. Burzum a.k.a. Varg Vikernes was arrested in the mid 90s for church burning and for murdering a member of the band Mayhem, who were supposed to be friends with Vikernes. It is well known that Vikernes is homophobic, racist and generally a faux-intellectual, nasty little shit. He's supposed to be out of jail soon but has no intention of bringing back Burzum because he thinks, and I quote, "guitars are for negroes". What's even more disturbing about that quote is the fact that he takes negroes not to mean people with black skin, but anyone who's philosophy in life he disagrees with. His belief seems to go around a corruption of the Aryan race due to black influence. As I said, he is a stupid, vile, unpleasant, hateful little shit.

So I guess by now you're asking "so why do you listen to this and why are you making it known". Well the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that I believe in the complete separation of an artist from their work and I guess listening to Burzum is the highest level of this train of thought. It's always interesting to strip a musician away from their music so you're left with just the music and not left with a towering thought of the musician who made it. There's plenty more examples. The Bad Brains would prove themselves to be homophobic morons but there's no questioning that their early work was some of the finest hardcore ever made. Morrissey is a dull little bastard but no one's going to speak ill of The Smiths. So by the same standards, Varg is a horrible person but he's made some of the finest black metal ever.

Here's a few tracks from one of Burzum's more hard to get albums.

Burzum - Dunkerlheit
Burzum - Jesus' God

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