The Genesis of Unblack Metal and its Contemporary Reception. Cognitive Prospects

Abstract

Objectives The social and cultural phenomenon of the musical subgenre unblack metal (UBM) is analysed and presented in the paper. The paper aims to highlight the most important aspects and ideological content as a part of content analysis of the musical works by selected UBM bands that represent all three waves of this musical genre. Material and methods This paper is a first step towards creation of the consistent UBM image to present it in the Polish academic environment. It is a good start for further advanced research to be developed in the future. Several methodological problems that were encountered during research were presented before the analysis of UBM phenomenon. Results In the paper there is an outline of the UBM history, its ideological foundations that can be found in the musical works of the most important bands from the mid-90-ties until today, the author’s vision of the UBM three waves and preliminary content systematisation with thematic sections with the accent on the stylistic efforts and language. Conclusions UBM texts concern mainly Bible, both Old and New Testaments, but that does not mean that UMB texts are narrowed down to the religious content only. I emphasised eleven thematic sections, several dozens expressions and propaganda mechanisms that have been used. The main conclusion concerns general deficit of the Christian metal research in sociology of music. The paper therefore represents significant research value as a sound introduction into this barely explored issue.

Keywords

• sociology of knowledge
• christianity
• sociology of music
• black metal
• unblack metal
• satanism
• neopaganism