Top Five Satanic Bands

Top Five Satanic Bands
Written By: DG
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff

Number Five – Slayer

Disclaimer: Although not the most hardcore band, Slayer is number 5 because it has been tied to some controversial cases**

An American based band formed in 1981.  It is generally considered a heavy metal band and had its base in California. The band is more known for having Nazi-like paraphernalia more so then Satanic views. The band often writes lyrics concerning topics such as murder, necrophilia, torture, genocide, Santaism, Nazism, and war.

Most notably, the band was involved in a lawsuit by the parents of a 15-year girl who was raped and murdered. This was the case of Elyse Pahler.  This matter involved three young boys ages 14 to 16 years old, who were Satan worshippers and followers of the band, Slayer, who heard lyrics of Satanic practices. The three young boys lured the young girl into the woods, strangled her with a belt, slashed and stabbed her with a knife and trampled her neck with their feet until she was dead. After she was dead, they then proceeded to rape her dead body. According to sources, the boys were tried for the murder of Elyse and received lengthy prison sentences. The parents filed a civil suit on the basis that the band promoted this behavior, but the case was dismissed based on freedom of speech among other grounds.

Personally, I am not religious, but I do have beliefs. From the things I do remember when my mother made me go to Catholic School was that Satan was once an angel too. This fallen angel, in his/her own mind, was not bad. He/she justified his/her actions and had an unorthodox approach from his/her colleagues. Quite simply, pure evil does exist, and it has nothing to do with one’s ideologies or beliefs!

 

Number Four – Gorgoroth

Norweigan based black metal band formed in 1992. Their band is named after the dead plateau of darkness in the land of Mordor which is a place in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The band was formed by the guitarist known as Infernus.

The band is associated with satanic themes and anti-Christian lyrics. The founder, Infernus stated that he believes he is “Satan’s minister on Earth.” One vocalist of the band, Gaahl stated when asked what Satan represents to him, in the 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, he said “freedom.” Most notably, in a 2004 concert in Poland, the band displayed naked crucified models on stage, satanic symbols and sheep’s heads on stakes to name a few.

 

In the early 90s, there were a series of church burnings that took place in Norway. Although not directly tied to them, Gaahl and Infernus have been very supportive of those actions as anti-Christian believers. Gaahl further stated in the 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey that “there should have been more of them, and there will be more of them.”

 

Number Three – Watain

Watain is a Swedish metal band that has been active since 1988. Watain is recognized for having satanic views. Their shows often consist of crosses, pyrotechnics, blood animal and human corpses and satanic rituals. The band consists of three members, Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson. However,  Jonsson was replaced with another member, Emil Svensson in 2015. Together, the band has released approximately six albums to date. One of their most notable performance was in 2014 when hey doused the audience with animal blood at a concert in Brooklyn, New York.

There are been a substantial amount of controversy concerning their ideologies. In an interview with a reporter, Ronald Ziegler, one member, Danielsson was quoted as saying that by saying “the religion they are based upon, Satanism, or – to avoid confusion – Devilworship.” SOURCE. The Satanic views are often associated with animal abuse and death. However, in the eyes of Watain, this is a spiritual belief. In my own opinion, some people just want to see the world burn.

Check out Watain below:

 

Number Two – Mayhem

A Norwegian based black metal band formed in 1984. Mayhem is known for their crazy performance. Some decor has included pig or sheep heads impaled on steaks in front of the stage.

The band had gone through some members transitioning from its inception. Some of the original members included guitarist, Oystein Aarseth (known initially as “Destructor”, later “Euronymous”), assist Jorn Stubberud (“Necrobutcher”) and drummer Kjetil Manheim. Later, around 1988, Per Yngve Ohlin (“aka Dead”) as a vocalist.

Performances were taken to a whole new level, when member aka Dead, would wear corpse-like paint on his body during shows. One source indicated that Dead would often cut himself with hunting knives and broken glass during a performance. It was later reported that Dead had killed himself in the Spring of 1991. Apparently, Dead had slit his wrists and blew his brains out with a shotgun. Some speculate, one of the members, Euronymous, had an influence on Dead’s suicide and allegedly would often provoke Dead to kill himself and say things like “the band hates you.” Euronymous who apparently discovered Dead had killed himself, took pictures of the remains before reporting the incident to the police and was somewhat excited about one of the members committing suicide.

In an interesting turn of events, Euronymous was murdered by the bassist, Varg Vikernes (aka “Count Grishnackh”) along with another member. Vikernes had stabbed Euronymous in the chest 24 times and in mid-1993, he was arrested and charged with murder, arson, and possession of illegal weapons. He was convicted and sentenced in a Norwegian Court to 21 years in prison. He thereafter renounced his black metal beliefs and turned to a neo-Nazi philosophy. Lastly, the band was also alleged to be associated with a series of church burnings and other violent acts that occurred in the early 90s as stated above.

Whether it was the ideologies of Mayhem or a pure curse, the band has had a very dark history that came back to haunt them. Mayhem’s survivors regrouped with new members and still performs today. For further details, reporter, Chris Campion toured with Mayhem and gave his own view on the story interviewing former members who were witness to these horrific events. Check out the full article here.

 

See Mayhem below:

 

Number One – Peter, Paul and Mary

An American folk band formed in New York City in 1961. The band consisted of Peter Yarrow, baritone Noel Paul Stookey, and alto Mary Travers. The band often would sing about political issues. PP&M were eventually signed by Warner Brothers. They had a very long musical career and were always in a position of influence when it came to political issues.

There were no controversial issues with PP&M and in fact, there is very little personal information on the band except for their musical history. I had to put this band as number one because it is always the people you hear little about that are the scariest. It’s easy to put up satanic symbols and dead corpses, but to influence people and change the world is truly the scariest thing you can do.

Listen to this song and look at the singers. They are literally staring into your soul. You don’t know what they will do. It is the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. DO NOT BE FOOLED, THEY ARE THE TRUE DEVILS REJECTS!!! TUTTI FUCKIN FRUTTI!!

Check out the video below:

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