reading my webpage, you may have noticed i am a fan of both burzum's and marilyn manson's music. both groups are synonomous with their frontmen, and both frontmen are pieces of shit. i'm going to assume you know who multiplatinum-selling marilyn manson is. lots of people liked the banananana song. if you're unfamilar with burzum, it is the solo project of outspoken neo-nazi (which lead to him being convicted in france of inciting racial hatred) and convicted murderer kristian vikernes. he also invented a sub-genre that combines scandinavian-style metal with ambient music, inspiring countless 8-track owning metalheads to start their own solo projects. i'm a huge fan of his music (which, for whatever it's worth, doesn't have racist lyrics. like with most second-wave black metal groups, vikernes was a teenage tolkein/d&d nerd when he started recording. he has a mournful instrumental track called "the crying orc") and i can't deny that using a picture of a church you personally burned down as your album cover is hard as fuck.
whenever i think, generalizing of course, that the fandoms for fromsoftware or megami tensei are the fucking worst, then i remember that black metal has actual neo-nazis and other fascists in its fanbase. i don't believe this is a hopeless scenario though because the punk scene was able to successfully ostracize the racist skins and force them (sometimes through street violence!) into their own dinky little scene. these days, there is more feminist, anarchist, anti-facist black metal than ever before and your typical racist black metal fan isn't particularly likely to start a street gang.
marilyn manson, on the other hand, does have misogynist lyrics (the first song that comes to mind is "para-noir") but until someone does jock jams for mall goths better, i can't see myself stopping listening to his music. every single digital burble & squelch on antichrist superstar is perfect, probably a result of having dave ogilvie and the entire nine inch nails live band pressing keys and turning knobs. i also think combining a creeping bauhaus bassline with a big glam rock chorus in "the dope show" was the most musically clever thing the group has done. i'm betraying my love of his music right now, aren't i.
there is also so so much misogyny in the 2000s emo/screamo/metalcore world. dead women on album covers. songs ostensibly about heartbreak but use words like "slut", "harlot", "temptress", "seductress", "bitch", etc. underoath, being good christian boys, only imply that they're calling the subject of one of their songs a "whore". what nice young men. i've never heard any lyrics that use "strumpet", "hoochie mama", "trollop", or "hussy" but i'm sure they're out there. calling this reheated tripe "problematic" is pulling our punches. however, i'm not ready to give up incredibly sexist post-hardcore band glassjaw either, as a fan of the singer's vocal style and the band's unique wah-pedal inflected sound.
i'm not trying to deflect criticism here. if you believe that i am a piece of shit for listening to music made by pieces of shit, you are completely free to do so. no art exists in a vacuum and "separating the art from the artist" requires a special kind of ignorance. however, i think it's possible to like an artist's work (in any medium, not just music) at the same time as calling them out, pirating their works, and keeping the discussion open. rocking out is not advocation.
i think a big reason why this is such a complicated topic is because of our viewpoint of famous musicians. we want them to be party animals with bad attitudes so we can live vicariously through them. we also want their political beliefs to align with our own so it feels like they're on our side. we want to root for them. i'm certainly not immune to this line of thinking. despite the bands sharing members, i like misery index's lyrics much much more than dying fetus'. i got very excited when i saw that fit for an autopsy, who also make excellent music to dance to, have a t-shirt that says "anti-facist" for sale in their merch shop. we "consume" our rock stars in the same way we're consumers of music streaming services. frequently this consumption is incredibly conspicuous.
we're adults capable of critical thinking, nuanced thoughts, and good faith arguments. i'll do my best to extend to you this same courtesy even if i don't initially understand. if you need flawless heroes to idolize, the catholic church will be happy to provide you with a guide to the saints. i am a queer feminist (angry) and i love weirdo 80s slasher "sleepaway camp" as well as discussing it with other queer feminists. i think the movie is far too bizarre to be genuinely offensive. plus how many movies exist where *every single character* is memorable?
PS for musicians: don't say you were cancelled unless you're literally fela kuti, sinn sisamouth, or, um, damageplan
lastly, here is a screenshot of a real kristian vikernes tweet (that i could only find on ifunny for some reason) that really cements the fact that facists don't know shit:
