American Black Metal: Struggling Against The Stereotypes and 'Standards' Set By Scandinavian Originators

Ipek Warnock has two tones when she fronts the band Wykked Wytch: When she's not shrieking the lyrics to tracks such as "Prayers of the Decapitated" and "Despised Existence," her voice drops to a guttural roar. Warnock doesn't deal with touchy-feely stuff, but for some metal fans, it's not hardcore enough.

Wykked Wytch is one of many American metal bands that claim some influence from "black metal," the subgenre that rose to prominence in Scandinavia during the late '80s. Bands such as Mayhem, Burzum and Emperor crafted songs utilizing distorted guitars, machine-gun blast-beats, and a noticeable lack of choruses. Low fidelity recording quality fit into the plan. Lyrics focused on hatred of organized religion, hatred of organized society, hatred of organized anything.

Those themes are popular in all forms of metal, but black metal musicians often practiced what they preached, becoming notorious for church burnings and murders, among other grotesque activities. Mayhem vocalist Per "Dead" Ohlin famously committed suicide in the band's home, leaving a note that read "excuse all the blood." Guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth took photos which would become the cover of the band's live album "Dawn of The Black Hearts." Although the band denied stewing the body, they acknowledged making jewelry from bits of the Dead's skull. Euronymous would later be murdered by Burzum vocalist Varg Vikernes, who was arrested earlier in 2013 under allegations of a terrorist plot.

In short, these bands weren't kidding.

The adherence to bizarre ideals by bands in Norway and Finland set a high bar for American followers however, players who just like the music. Purist fans often criticize American black metal bands for failing to live out the extreme standards set by their Scandinavian predecessors.

If you label your band "black metal," you better be ready to prove it, says Chris Alfieri, guitarist for Vermont group Vattnet Viskar.

"The black metal scene is very elitist," he said. "If you say you're black metal, you better be straight-on-Mayhem black metal."

Warnock draws issue with the expectations of such fans, but her complaints about the genre revolve less around arson and violence, and more around the questionable recording quality of "true" black metal bands. The original groups didn't aim for wide distribution, and would often record albums in basements with minimal equipment.

"I don't claim to be true black metal," she said. "True black metal has terrible production. The focus is on direction, not production."

Alfieri appreciates the early recordings for their ambience, if nothing else.

"There was always a constant noise, and I found that entrancing," he said. "There's a quality that you can respect, even if you can't hear everything that's happening."

Besides the issue of sounding like black metal, looking the part can also be divisive. The original bands might not have spent the time to sound good on their records, but they did spend a lot of time to fashion a look for performances: "corpse paint," which involves painting the face white and accentuating the eyes and mouth with black, as well as crafting spiked costumes.

Wykked Witch used to dress in theme when touring Europe during the '90s, but now the band doesn't much care what they wear; Warnock called the black metal look a "gimmick." And as black metal becomes more accepted in the mainstream, many of the original Scandinavian bands have also dropped the costumes.

"Young kids are really mesmerized by the image, but they don't understand the music," Warnock commented.

Even if groups such as Wykked Witch were to douse themselves in paint and release low-fidelity albums, the expectations of some metal fans just can't be met. Warnock recounted being turned down for an opening slot with Cannibal Corpse, a big name in the more American "grindcore" scene.

"They didn't want to put us on tour," she said with a laugh. "They said we weren't hardcore enough. It's all politics."

Alfieri said his group has "the most terrible, awful things" written about it on metal message boards, but he considers it ironic that people who don't play music, much less worship Satan, refer to his band as "fake."

"It's weird that these American metal fans who have never gotten a speeding ticket are getting angry that we don't burn churches," he said.

Wykked Witch has one more disadvantage: "True" black metal bands all originated in the wintry regions of Scandinavia, and Warnock's band operates out of Hollywood, Fla.

"Do depressed people only come from dark places?" she asked in defense. She takes a moment and reconsiders, before affirming that geography matters. "I've been to Norway. It's pitch black at 10 in the morning. No wonder they're suicidal."