The appearance of Norwegian Black Metallers TROLL at the Aronnesrocken Festival in Alta, in the north of Norway, on the 20th August, has stirred up the ire of the local branch of the ultra conservative Christian Democratic Party, who are one of the supporters of the festival, and who have threatened to withdraw their support for the festival as a consequence. Their objections, as is usually the case when it comes to Black Metal bands, centre on the use of Satanic or Anti Christian lyrics, which have been, once again, freely quoted out of context.TROLL issued the following statement regarding the matter:
“We are not at all worried by what has been said about us by the Christian Democratic Party in Alta, and the local press, and the only reason we have chosen to speak out is because of the threat made to withdraw support from Aronnesrocken, a festival simply trying to provide a variety of bands that would satisfy everyone’s tastes and make sure that everyone has a good time listening to some great music. Like most Black Metal bands, indeed, like metal in general, we are used to religious and political factions trying to get themselves some free publicity by using us. And of course, publicity works both ways, so we must thank them for the excellent promotion we have received over the past few days.
We admit to being a little surprised, though, that people who are in a position of power, and therefore supposedly more intelligent than the rest of us, think that anyone would take our lyrics as a literal call to call to kill. It’s arrogant and insulting of them to assume that the average person is that unintelligent. What does worry us, though, about this bullying stance is the fact that not only is the Christian Democratic Party trying to dictate what individuals should and should not listen to, but by denying them the right to explore different viewpoints expressed in our, or anyone else’s lyrics, they are denying them the right to make an informed decision as to what beliefs they ultimately decide to follow. And let’s face it, this should worry everyone. What comes next? Will the bookshops in Alta be told what books they can stock? Just look around at what is happening in the parts of the world where religion dominates the state, and ask yourself if that is what you want in your own backyard.
The ultimate irony is that anyone in Norway should even take such a view on Black Metal at all. Norway is famous the world-over for its Black and Extreme Metal bands, and is acknowledged as the leader in the genre, and, one has to say, benefits from the revenues it generates. Cities like Oslo and Bergen, for instance, put on internationally renowned festivals where Black and Extreme metal bands are heavily featured. These festivals are consistently sold out, and attract audiences from all over the world, as well as receiving considerable international press coverage. Local businesses benefit hugely from the influx of visitors, and for anyone to take a stand that could deny the people and businesses of Alta the same benefits as Oslo and Bergen, and all the other Norwegian towns that hold festivals, makes no sense. The threat by the Christian Democratic Party to withdraw their support from Aronnesrocken is incomprehensible, and once again, people should be asking themselves “what comes next”?
TROLL was formed in 1992 and released three critically acclaimed full-length albums, one of which, “Drep De Kristne”, is acknowledged as one of THE classic Black Metal releases. The band took an “extended break” before reforming in 2007, and releasing the long-awaited “Neo-Satanic Supremacy” on Napalm Records in early 2010. The band recently asked fans to vote for a track from the album which would be used on the next video, and ironically, given the circumstances in Alta and Christianity’s persecution of witchcraft throughout the ages, the track the fans overwhelmingly voted for was “Burn the Witch”.
More information about TROLL can be found on the band’s MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/troll
Source: Press Release
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