Our conversation with Nergal starts with a discussion of the ethos of black metal – which is a type of extreme metal music. As a genre, Black metal has become perhaps most known for challenging more traditional religious norms, including embracing Satanism. But in talking with Nergal, the challenging of religious norms is almost more of a byproduct of what he sees as the spirit of extreme metal music. And he talks about two key concepts that he sees as critical to his understanding of and approach to extreme metal. The first is that every human being is important and has value as an individual. Your unique thoughts, feelings, perspectives and potentially artistic contributions are important. And the second is that an important part of an individual’s life, particularly as an artist, is to keep pushing oneself and challenging oneself to develop new ways of looking at the world and expressing oneself.
Photo credit: Sylwia Makris
