NEWSLETTER

PHOTOS BY THOMAS LETH
STYLING BY VICE STAFF
CO-ORDINATED BY MILÈNE LARSSON

T-shirt by Antestor

Vice: What do your parents think about you playing black metal? Robin, drums, Admonish: They don’t really understand it. I think it’s mainly because of the singing. People think it sounds like the devil or something. But they have come to respect my choices and I think they understand my vision now. I play music for God. What do you think about satanic black metal? I think that you can fill your cup with whatever you want. I think that the satanic black metal bands choose to fill their cup with darkness, and when they express themselves, that darkness spills out. They want to spread hatred and evil, and I know the music is a powerful means of communicating. I’ve heard people bear witness to it. For example, there was this girl in Germany who got a Pantokrator CD from a friend. She listened to it and started crying. She couldn’t understand why she reacted so strongly, and asked her friend, who was Christian, about it. Her friend gave her the lyrics to read, and she became a believer. So I know that music is a powerful way of channelling the Spirit of God too. And you know what? There is one reading of the bible that indicates that before Satan was banished, he used to be paean master in heaven.

Wool hoodie by Karin & Pias, shoes by Converse/Beyound Retro

Vice: So you and Jonas are twins, do you have the same taste in music? Emil, guitar, Admonish: Maybe we feel different about some little fraction of black metal, but we both like black metal more than anything else. How did you get into playing black metal? We used to be in a different band before we joined Admonish. But they went in a different direction, they were becoming more Children of Bodom, and I wanted to stay black. How do you feel about the satanic black metal bands? I think the satanic part of black metal is a big image thing too, people are being too true to change their drawers… Admonish are booked to play Nordic Fest in Oslo in the beginning of November. www.admonish.org

Hoodie by Antestor

Vice: Black metal is a genre filled by Satanists, and you’re Christian, how does that work? Linus, guitar, Shadows of Paragon: All music is created by God. I see the music we make as our tool given by God to reach our goal. To bring a joyful message to a depressed and destructive scene. If you look at black metal you see that it’s filled with hatred, racism, death, and suicidal thoughts. We’re rebelling against that. The only reason the band exists is to reach these people and bring them light. Have you ever converted anyone through your music? We always pray after our shows, we’ve even healed people. Once after a show a Goth girl came up to us and said that she had been in a lot of pain due to unsuccessful surgery, and that the pain just went away while we prayed. She was cured.

T-shirt by Shadows of Paragon, studded belt used as bracelet, by PunktShop

Vice: How did you get into playing Christian black metal? Zharlie, guitar, Shadows of Paragon: My father is a priest and a missionary, so we were always travelling when I was growing up. I spent five years in Africa. When I turned 15 I felt very indecisive about my future. I listened to a lot of heavy metal and I wanted to play music, but I didn’t really get any support. I’ve been taught to give up everything for God and I was finally ready to do so. I just really wanted to know what I was supposed to do with my life, what His plan for me was. I’ve never been so scared in my life, but then I felt a message shoot straight into my heart, it said “You will play. You will honour me through music.” www.shadowsofparagon.com

CHRISTIAN BLACK METAL PRAYER WARRIORS | 1 | 2 |

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