On Retreat

"The true profit of virtuous deeds lies in the doing, and there is no fitting reward for the virtues apart from the virtues themselves."

[Seneca, On Mercy]

Interview With Nergal of Behemoth, in English

Behemoth lead vocalist Nergal being interviewed by Nadine Swiger of Musician Photo Journal. (Ozzfest '07)

Nigerian Army Had 'Three Hours Or So' Warning Before Attacks

Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang has told Voice of America that he received intelligence warnings prior to the murderous attacks that occurred outside the city of Jos in which hundreds of Christian villagers were systematically slaughtered. The warnings were passed along to military officials who were supposed to move troops to the targeted areas.

But according to Jang: "Three hours or so later, I was woken by a call that they have started burning the villages and people were being hacked to death. And I started trying to locate the commanders; I could not get any of them on the telephone."

Governor Jang is himself a retired military officer, but complains that even though in theory the Governor is the "chief security officer of the state yet you do not command even a fly."

Behemoth Frontman Formally Charged For Insulting Roman Catholics

Nergal (aka Adam Darski), lead vocalist of the Polish Metal band Behemoth, has been formally charged by Polish authorities for "offending religious feelings."

Hey. What the fuck is up with that? All the guy did was stand up on a stage and proclaim that the Catholic Church is "the most murderous cult on the planet," and then to emphasize his point he took a Bible and tore it to shreds, flinging the pieces out to the audience (which he then asked them to burn).

I think I'm in love.

So far the mainstream international media isn't touching this story. I found out about it from fellow blogger Kullervo (please check out his always fascinating Songs From The Wood blog), who first alerted me to this.

The following are excerpts from an article at metaltalk.net:

Apparently, in the first hearing Darski [lead vocalist for Behemoth] stated under cross examination that what he does on stage is part of artistic license and it wasn't supposed to offend religious feelings. However, an expert on religious history and studies from Jagellonian University in Krakow stated that every copy of a bible could be considered a religious icon.

There was no judgment ruled against Darski in the first hearing, but now that a second complaint has been filed, the matter will be heard by the courts.

If found guilty, Darski faces up to two years in prison.

In a 2009 interview with Decibel magazine, Behemoth bass player Tomasz 'Orion' Wróblewski made the following comments on the Bible-tearing incident.

"We'd been doing that for two years on tour before it happened in Poland, so we had discussed it many times before. A Behemoth show is a Behemoth show, and Behemoth fans are coming to a Behemoth show. Behemoth fans know what Behemoth is about, know what the lyrics are about, and know at least a little of the philosophy behind the band."

Will someone please remind me what year this is again, or even what freaking century?

This case is an excellent and very timely reminder of the fact that Islam is only one of the Big Three totalitarian ideologies currently threatening everyone's freedom. Poland appears to have thrown off one totalitarian ideology, Communism, only to fall prey to another, Christianity.

Click here for official Behemoth merchandise, including their "Youth Against Christ" t-shirts! And here is the band's official website (there are both Polish and English versions).

The charges against Nergal are quite real. In July of 2003, Polish feminist and artist Dorota Nieznalska was found guilty under the same law, article 196 of the Polish Criminal Code, which makes it a crime to "offend religious feelings." She was sentenced to six months of "restricted freedom", was forced by the court to close her gallery, and was also required to pay all trial expenses. Her trial received little or no attention in the English language press, but here is a page in English with information about her case.

Daimonos

[Music and lyrics by Nergal]

Honour me!
Chaldean priests
Bow to me, in adoration
Evangelize
Prophets ov the boundless joy
Sanctify the sin ov indulgence

We worship the sun
We worship the moon
Spreading like rats
Exalted above the stars ov god

All hail slain and risen god!
All hail Dionysus!

"Come, blessed Dionysius, various nam'd, bull-fac'd
Begot from Thunder, Bacchus fam'd
Bassarian God, of universal might
Whom swords, and blood, and sacred rage delight"

War be sustained!
My godless phoenix rise
Ne'er to lifeless shall I submit
Offering solely the sword not peace
Mercy and cowardice extinct within

We worship the sun
We worship the moon
Spreading like rats
Exalted above the stars ov god

All hail slain and risen god!
All hail Dionysus!

Are the Saudis leaning on Fox News???

In 2005 the world's fifth richest man, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, became the fourth largest shareholder of the world's second largest media conglomerate, Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp (the corporate empire behind Fox News as well as Beliefnet, MySpace, Hulu, AskMen, The New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, Harper Collins . . . . )

Now in 2010 Al-Waleed is actually the largest shareholder in NewsCorp outside of the Murdoch family itself. And earlier this year, the Prince met with Rupert Murdoch in New York "to discuss 'economic and investment issues, especially in the media sector' and a 'future potential alliance with News Corp,'" according to a story by Kenneth Li in the January 21st edition of the Financial Times.

So maybe this explains why the American right-wing's favorite propaganda outfit has suddenly started attacking Geert Wilders as a "fascist"?

Personally I find the newly unleashed anti-Wilders position at Fox a very welcome development. Too many American right-wingers have mistaken Geert Wilders for one of their own.

It is true that Wilders holds many positions consistent with American political conservatism. But whereas the American right has become addicted to the support it receives from slack-jawed religious fundamentalists, mysoginists, homophobes and racists, Wilders is a man who is waging a principled war against religious fundamentalism, and who strongly and frequently invokes his support for women's rights and gay rights, and who has nothing but contempt for racists and racist groups.

It is very unlikely that Fox has turned on Wilders (who has in the past been showered with praise by Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly) due to any disagreements over principle. Rather it appears to be the case that this is due simply to the influence of Saudi oil money, combined with the prospects for future media profits to be made in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world.