Whoops, looks like you jumped headfirst into the discography of newly-discovered black metal band Øde Festning without checking to see if their lyrics are a steady stream of far-right, fascist hate speech. Rookie mistake! Haven’t you learned anything over the course of the last few decades? Everyone knows black metal, beyond any other genre, requires you to comb through every song lyric and interview to make sure the members aren’t Nazis. Don’t you remember how embarrassed you were after you purchased that Burzum ‘Filosofem’ shirt without learning how repugnant Varg Vikernes is? Looks like we’ll do your homework for you since you apparently can’t be trusted with your fandom of this type of music.
As it turns out, we’ve got great news for you! While one of the members of Øde Festning has been jailed on multiple occasions, most notably for a pretty heinous and unprovoked murder, it does not appear to have been racially motivated. Phew!
In 1998, the band’s drummer Tempter stabbed a random bystander to death outside of a night club in Oslo, because according to him, “one cannot truly be black metal if one’s knife has never parted innocent flesh”. Um, ok. We’re just glad that it wasn’t extremist political ideology that led him to take the life of that hapless 31-year-old law clerk. If only all black metal musicians were as morally upstanding as Tempter is!
Furthermore, all of the outspoken messages of ill will and hatred espoused by the band throughout their career appear to be directed at the human race on the whole, and not towards any peoples in particular. Looks like you’re in the clear on this one (at least for now)! As fascism continues to take its toll around the globe, it’s only a matter of time before at least one member of Øde Festning supports an unsavory political candidate or makes a horribly misinformed and prejudiced statement on immigration, so be sure to do your homework on this one. At least when that happens, you can outspokenly eschew all future releases by the band while telling people you liked them when they were just murderers and hadn’t lost their minds yet.
There you have it! Turn up the volume on their latest LP and relish in the tinny, purposely under-produced majesty that is Øde Festning! Also, we see that Nokturnal Mortum album on your shelf back there. Are you sure you want to display that?
