Monday, March 9, 2020

Who's Watching the Watchers of Watchmen?

"I wrote a randomizing algorithm, to deter amateur sleuths looking for any kind of pattern..." - Adrian Veidt, a.k.a. Ozymandias

The above quote is one of many "self aware" comments made in HBO's 2019 Watchmen series. Indeed, the storytelling style can often feel driven by "a randomizing algorithm," jumping around in time and space, from fiction to non-fiction, from one shocking racial/conspiratorial topic to the next, leaving the viewer confused as to where anything begins and ends. All the while, applying a steady stream of emotional "hot buttons," to keep viewers engaged. By the time we think all of the loose ends are finally tied up, we've been subjected to such a kaleidoscopic torrent of information, it's just a lot easier to let our "Watchmen freak friend" or the New York times interpret what we just saw. And it's safer, especially where racial matters are concerned, because if someone accuses us of being "racist" in our interpretation, we can always blame the person who's point of view we are parroting! So at the risk of being consolidated into any number of negative stereotypical categories myself by offering my own unbiased point of view, here are a few things that I saw in the series which I felt were worth pointing out.

"The color purple has been associated with royalty, power and wealth for centuries. In fact, Queen Elizabeth I forbad anyone except close members of the royal family to wear it." - livescience.com

The above image of Adrian Veidt shows him wearing a crude version of the all seeing eye within a pyramid, a symbol widely associated with the Illuminati. If you've read some of my blogs on the recent Star Wars film posters, we cover how the pyramids embedded covertly within them have the capstone removed, in the position of the head usually. Here, Veidt's head is ABOVE the capstone - which has NOT been removed. This reflects his narcissistic God complex. He's even got a golden halo around his head! This corresponds with the belief that the Illuminati worship Lucifer, that is, the secular intelligence within man. Veidt worships his own intellect. The color gold represents divinity and the light of the sun. [Lucifer = Light] Purple, as stated above, has traditionally been associated with royalty [think of Prince, and his "Purple Reign."] Veidt is played by the great British actor Jeremy Irons, who portrays an American in the series. Although Irons is perfectly capable of using a convincing modern American accent, his stuffy British elitist personality blasts right through his intentionally flimsy American accent. In this way, he embodies a sort of "Monty Python caricature" of the comic book mad scientist bad guy. A mockery of the "power mad conquering European" stereotype, with no regard for human lives or their suffering.

"The Moscow Signal was a reported microwave transmission, varying between 2.5–4 gigahertz, directed at the Embassy of the United States, Moscow from 1953–1976, resulting in an international incident. The US government eventually determined it was probably an attempt at espionage, and that the concerning health effects on embassy staff were incidental, though biological effects on humans from microwave transmission are apparent." - Wiki

The character Wade Tillman [aka Looking Glass] wears a tinfoil hat. He does this because of a trauma he suffered during "11/2" [an obvious reference to 9/11] Weird Al mocks the "tinfoil hat" wearing conspiracy theorists in the image above. This was more of an 80s thing, reflecting the Watchman's heavy nostalgic references. This stereotype of the "tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist" seems to date at least as far back as the Moscow Signal story, briefly summarized above. The fact is, certain frequencies are known to affect the human brain and body in various ways, and can be lethal - which is why we are told not to stand right in front of a microwave while it is on. This is the same reason we limit ourselves to X Ray exposure, or the ultra violet rays of the sun. Now, a tinfoil hat may not protect us from any such types of threats, but "Tinfoil Hat Guy" is still a fairly effective stereotype to consolidate people into, who's character we want to categorically assassinate. You see, once you are "tinfoil hat guy," nothing you say will be taken seriously anymore by the suggestible masses, even if the information you have is verifiable! This is why Agent Laurie Blake keeps calling Tillman "mirror guy" with a mocking tone. She's reminding the audience that he is a "tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist," so nothing he says is to be taken seriously. The purpose here is to ENFORCE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES.

During one of many flashback scenes, we see a young Wade Tillman on 11/2/1985, as a young Jehovah's Witness. The Jehovah's Witness' are a sort of cult offshoot of Christianity, known for knocking on doors to hand out their Watchtower magazine, and for going out and attempting to lure youth away from negative mainstream pop culture. According to a New York times article published in 11/29/1984,

"Fundamentalist preachers of all faiths have long warned about the evils of contemporary culture. But for the Jehovah's Witnesses, the message is more difficult to get across these days because of the popularity of the most famous Witness of all - Michael Jackson, whose rock music and videos have made him one of contemporary culture's biggest stars."

While Wade Tillman is attempting to convert some debaucherous teens, he is lured into a "funhouse" and a woman attempts to give him a blowjob. But just before she does, she gets him to strip down to his underwear and then runs off with his clothes. While the song "Careless Whisper" plays in the background, the 11/2 frequency incident happens, and all the mirrors in the funhouse shatter, leaving Tillman on the floor, bleeding, and shocked. This is the reason he begins to wear a tinfoil hat. The song "Careless Whisper" continues to play in the background of many scenes of the Watchmen series, subtly carrying with it the trauma felt by Wade Tillman on that terrible night. But there is another level of trauma at work here.

The Watchmen series came out just before Christmas, 2019. The "present day" sequences also take place just before Christmas, 2019. A film called "Last Christmas" came out around this same time, and was critically panned. The music of George Michael is of course, all over it. George Michael died on Christmas, 2016. I spoke about how the latest Star Wars trilogy films were being released around Christmas, and I suggested this was done for occult reasons. Christmas has pagan roots, and is probably the most emotional time of the year for most Americans. The combination of Christmas and George Michael brings deep emotional feelings of loss to many people, as Michael was loved by almost anyone who grew up hearing his songs in the 80s. His sister Melanie Panayiotou then died on December 25th, 2019.

Now, mix together Tillman's traumatic experience - the shock of being stripped naked/shamed in public as a virgin, just before the 9/11 type disaster occurs, the shattered mirrors/ego, the piles of bodies at the carnival, the giant one eyed squid emitting its sonic blasts, The Jehovah's Witnesses and their often questionable public reputation, the themes of Judgement Day, the threat of Nuclear War, Michael Jackson's questionable reputation, Michael Jackson's horrible death, George Michael's music/Death on Christmas, Christmas itself and all of the emotions associated with it, Melanie Panayiotou's death on Christmas...what we have here is a profound mixture of traumatic events - both fictional and historical, rolled all into this one character.

Consider all of the above in context with the themes of mesmerism and mind control portrayed in the series for a moment. Consider the collage of images used in Tillman's "pod" interrogation room. I think we have some very serious questions we need to ask, regarding where this series is REALLY coming from here.

The Watchmen TV series isn't really a story about superheroes. In fact, the only character who actually has "magical powers" in it is Dr Manhattan, who was portrayed in the original film adaptation by Billy Crudup [pictured above]. The HBO series is more of a science fiction story, with a very strong racial theme. One of the many aspects to this racial theme, involves the switching of Dr Manhattan's racial appearance from that of a white man to black. According to the plot, he does this in order to be more appealing to a black woman he has decided to fall in love with [Angela Abar/Sister Night.] But the writers of this series obviously had a larger reason for making Dr Manhattan black, which culminates in the series finale. I will explain this in greater detail later in the blog.

While the racial themes in this series dwarf many of the others, there are also strong references to Christianity made throughout, both symbolically and within the dialogue. From Sister Night's "evil nun" costume, to the Jesus/walk on water allegory associated with Dr Manhattan within the dialogue of several scenes. In fact, the series ends with Angela Abar/Sister Night attempting to walk on water, after swallowing a chicken egg containing the life essence of Dr Manhattan! The association between god/Jesus and the powers of Dr Manhattan are pretty crudely forced in this series on several levels.

[If you are on a smartphone, you must tap on the above image first, in order to enlarge it at the correct resolution]

[Astrological symbol for the Sun.]

Upon Dr Manhattan's head is a symbol representing the hydrogen atom. The larger circle represents an orbiting electron around the proton/nucleus, which is the larger circle in the center. This is almost identical to an ancient symbol for the Sun - which is simply a circle with a dot in the middle. Jesus was "the SON" of god, the SON of man. Researchers such as Jordan Maxwell have noted the correlations between ancient Sun worship and Christianity.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12

The idea that Jesus represented "the sun" and that the 12 apostles represent "the 12 houses of the zodiac" is a fascinating study worthy of pursuit. From this perspective, the seemingly dramatic, frequently caricatured miracle of Jesus "walking on water" becomes a much less campy, increasingly poetic allegory. Does not the sun "walk" through our sky for 12 hours, in theory? Does not the sun leave a shimmering trail of light upon the coastal oceans as it sets in the west? Could not this shimmering light then be said to allegorically "walk" upon the water, as it descends downward into the underworld?

THE PENIS ISSUE

"I'm gonna squeeze your man like a grape, and drink him all up" - Senator Keene, just before attempting to suck the life essence out of Dr Manhattan

"Moore recalled that he was unsure if DC would allow the creators to depict the character as fully nude, which partially influenced how they portrayed the character. Gibbons wanted to tastefully depict Manhattan's nudity, selecting carefully when full frontal shots would occur and giving him "UNDERSTATED" genitals—like a classical sculpture—so the reader would not initially notice it." - Wiki

When Dave Gibbons refers to Dr Manhattan's "understated" genitals, in the tradition of "classical sculpture," I assume this refers to Ancient Greek sculptures such as the one pictured above. So let's be perfectly clear, that one of the creators of Dr Manhattan specifically depicted the character as WHITE and with UNDERSTATED genitals.

"Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing." - dictionary.com

To say that all white men have "understated genitals" like the ones depicted in the classical sculpture above would be a stereotype, just like saying that "ALL black men have large penises" is a stereotype. I know a woman who only dates black men and she has told me that the idea that all black men have huge penises is a myth. This is not to say that plenty of black men DON'T have large penises! It may be true that black men have larger penises than most other races, I don't know. But as fans of Watchmen know very well, Dr Manhattan's penis is part of his "costume." Therefore, he has not just been made black in the series, he has been given a larger penis, something which is shown clearly in several scenes. Most notably, just before a white supremacist states loudly to Angela Abar/Sister Night "I'm gonna squeeze your man like a grape, and drink him all up." What he is saying there allegorically is, "I am going to take that black penis and all of the superior strength that comes with it, and transfer it into my white body. Then I will be superior to the black man in EVERY way and will have "god like" powers!

While this dialogue is going on, Dr Manhattan kneels within a WHITE cage and his penis is shown several times, so we are reminded that it is LARGE. Why do people kneel? Usually, this is done to worship one's god or to show subservience to a figure of authority. Again, the religious aspects combined with social stereotypes of racial inferiority/superiority are being amplified all over the place here. This is another exercise in stereotype enforcement, there is no "higher moral message" here.

[Senator Keene, wearing the same "underwear" worn by Dr Manhattan as he was depicted in the comic]

Consider again Senator Keene's crude reference to a grape, Dr Manhattan's penis/essence, and drinking it all up. Dr Manhattan's genitals being "the grape," which is squeezed revealing the essence [wine] which Senator Keene then intends to drink up. Not long after this, Senator Keene is reduced to a thick liquid pool of a, "wine-colored" substance when the transfer fails, which Dr Manhattan touches, resulting in his final "miracle" that helps fold lady Trieu's plan, via her white father! [as I hinted earlier, this all gets too involved to cover completely in one blog, but watch the series again with all of this in mind and it should all become obvious]

The purpose of this scene, and probably the entire series itself, is to encourage the audience on multiple sides of the racial coin to relate as strongly as possible to their most negative racial insecurities. While the show uses plenty of legitimate history to illustrate these points, it uses an equal amount of fiction to blow them up to ridiculous proportions. At that point, it's not a history lesson anymore, it's exploitation and sensationalism! So you see, the purpose of making Dr Manhattan assume the form of a black man was to set this final scene up, because obviously the racial aspect would have had a lot less impact had Billy Crudup been kneeling naked in that white prison cell - although technically it is the same white character. It is the SYMBOLIC IMAGE of a black man kneeling in a white cage, awaiting his essence to be sucked out into a white supremacist politician that is crucial here to the writers of this show.

[I did not create the above meme, it is being included here merely to demonstrate the manner in which many view the Trump administration, and the heated racial environment which has been created around it. Whether this is a legitimate or artificial media manufactured environment is not the question here, but that it exists, and Watchmen is expanding upon it]

The fact Dr Manhattan appears blue merely abstracts the imagery, giving journalists an excuse to overlook what can easily be regarded as blacksploitation, and probably whitesploitation as well! I have read quite a few articles on this show, and the media has definitely taken on an extremely lopsided "benefit of the doubt" perspective on this series. Why has the media so unanimously translated all the ambiguous racial symbolism in this show as "positive?"

[Stigmata symbology, just before Lady Trieu is killed in the final episode of the Watchmen series]

"Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives, including criminals, etc. However, the genre does rank among the first in which black characters and communities are the heroes and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks or villains or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s." - wiki

Regina King plays Angela Abar, the main character in the first Watchmen series. In this alternate reality, a law was passed requiring cops to wear masks, "for their own protection." Abar's masked police identity is "Sister Night." She took this name from what appears to be a Blackploitation film, which she saw as a child living in Vietnam. This is not a real film, it is a fictional one based in the alternate universe of the Watchmen series. In this alternate universe Roger Ebert, according to watchmen.fandom.com, calls this type of movie a "Black Mask" film. Sounds like a thinly veiled term for "Blackploitation" to me.

The word "Sister," in her alias, is a double entendre, where in one sense she's a "sista," in another - a caricature of some type of religious figure. This is similar to a poster advertising the 1992 film "Sister Act," starring Whoopi Goldberg.

A caricature is generally a mockery, something we might expect in a comedy. Although the Watchmen series does contain some dry humor, it deals with very serious, often violent, historical American racial subject matter. Seems like a precarious approach to telling a story during this heated racial era of the Trump administration, but perhaps that is the point of this series - to push people's racial insecurity buttons. It's easy to see why, if you assume for a moment, that all mainstream entertainment is a form of social conditioning, designed to help create the exact divisive political climate we see today. But as long as we buy the lie that we are truly "free," such a perspective can only be translated as a direct affront to our existing worldview, before it can even be considered rationally. In this way, we become "the Watchmen," guarding the walls of our own ignorant society.

Nun: a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. - dictionary.com

Modern films such as "the Nun" play off of the widely held negative American belief that nuns are creepy, repressed, delusional woman who live miserable, solitary lifestyles. In fact, when I googled the word "nun" while researching this blog, the above image was the first result. Looks more like Marilyn Manson than a nun to me! Clearly the nun aspect of Sister Night's character is designed to make her appear more demonic, or threatening - rather than saintly. The OPPOSITE of what a nun is supposed to be, by definition!

I Googled Angela Abar's last name, Abar, and some interesting results came up. The very second one on the very first page was a 70s Blacksploitation film called Abar. Here is how one reviewer on IMDb.com described it:

"The movie is actually racist in that it makes every single white person racist against blacks, even when (not to give anything away) really bad things happen to the black family. There's not a single white person in the whole movie that pretty much wouldn't fit right at home with KKK."

I have not seen this Abar film, but obviously it contains similar white supremacist type themes found in the Watchmen series. There is even reference in the above advertisement to "the first black superman," which mirrors the "first masked/hooded vigilante" in the Watchmen series - a character who also happens to be Angela Abar's grandfather, Hooded Justice.

Abar, according to Wikipedia was "a Nubian queen of the Kingdom of Kush dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt." Nubia "is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between Aswan in southern Egypt and Khartoum in central Sudan. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, as the Kerma culture lasted from around 2500 BCE until its conquest by the New Kingdom of Egypt under pharaoh Thutmose I around 1500 BCE." The above image acknowledges the heated racial debates surrounding the racial history of ancient Egypt, suggesting it has been "stolen" or appropriated by non black races. I am not here to argue whether it was or not, it's just another racial hot button the show is pushing!

Apparently, this name "Abar" has a very strong historical association with black heritage. I even found a website for an "anti racist" organization, using this name "Abar." It seems the writers of Angela Abar's character wanted to emphasize her racial identity from as many angles as possible. I realize this show is derived from a comic book, but at what point do these racial references become redundant and enter into questionable territory? We know Angela Abar is a black woman. How does it benefit the story to constantly remind the viewer of her racial identity? We've got eyes! If anything, it takes emphasis away from other aspects of the story, and forces us to steer our focus disproportionately upon the VISUAL, over the intellectual.

Is this show trying to impart some sort of higher moral lesson to the viewer by encouraging them to metaphorically don their own "black mask," so that we can see what the American black person sees and sympathize with their daily struggles? Or is this being done in order to ENCOURAGE the audience to mentally RE-INTEGRATE these negative racial stereotypes that the American civil rights movements have fought so hard to overcome? This is NOT my attempt to lessen the historical atrocities suffered by black Americans, but come on! When does a graphic "history lesson" become a "snuff film?" The atrocities of WWII were horrible, and should not be forgotten. But how many times must we watch footage of bodies being bulldozed into a pit until we've got the point? Should we all wear little bulldozer models around our necks to commemorate the atrocities of WWII?

Although Sister Night's face is mostly covered by a hood/robe, her "mask" is actually painted directly on her face, using a dark black color. Supposedly the police in this alternate universe are trying to mask their identity, so that criminals do not figure out who they are and where they live. By painting her face a darker color than her skin, she is not only suggesting that she is a "black person" to everyone, but she is going the extra step to enforce that fact.

Angela Abar's grandfather, Hooded Justice, also painted a mask onto his face, but he chose white in order to HIDE his racial ethnicity. This is because he lived in an older, more outwardly racist America. Therefore, he was hiding his racial identity so that the public would think he is white, and would welcome his heroic efforts, rather than branding him a "violent negro vigilante."

The writers of this show have taken the idea of a "black superhero," and reduced it to a clown. A caricature. A living mockery of the righteous black person. How else can one interpret the meaning behind a character who paints his face white in order to be accepted by, and even RISK HIS LIFE for, the very people who are the source of his oppression? On top of that, he has a homosexual relationship with a white superhero, who fetishizes and objectifies him. This indicates he hates himself, and is a masochist. A black hooded vigilante who walks around with a noose around his neck is like a Jewish vigilante walking around with a big swastika pendent around his neck. He carries this symbol openly on his person, reducing himself to a walking advertisement for the oppression leading to his condition. Juxtapose this against Sister Night's decision to paint her "face mask" dark black, and you've got a kaleidoscope of racial symbols so murky that the best word one could use would be ambiguous.

"Blackface isn't just about painting one's skin darker or putting on a costume. It invokes a racist and painful history." - CNN.com

One of the main symbols associated with Islam in relatively recent times is the star and the crescent moon, with a red background. Part of Angela Abar's false identity as a civilian, is that she owns a bakery, who's symbol is a star and CROISSANT against a red background.

"The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an African American political and religious movement, founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. Its stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States. Critics have described the theology of the organization as promoting black superiority over whites, antisemitism and anti-LGBT rhetoric. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks the NOI as a hate group." - Wiki

The connection here to Black Muslim extremism is heavily enforced symbolically by the fact that this is a bakery. Some of you may have never heard of this before, but I remember seeing these bakeries around, and even walked into one as recent as the 90s.

"Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) was a chain of bakeries opened by Yusuf Bey in 1968 in Santa Barbara, California, United States, and relocated to Oakland in 1971. A power broker at the center of a local community, it was held out as a model of African American economic self-sufficiency. However, it was later linked to widespread physical and sexual abuse, intimidation, welfare fraud, and murder...The group was not affiliated with Louis Farrakhan's movement, the Nation of Islam, though early connections and similarities were evident." - Wiki

As you can see, there are very heavy historical references to black Muslim extremism here being made, which is more or less non verbalized in the series and more or less ignored within the critical reviews I've read. That seems strange considering how blatant the symbolism is within the show's main character, and especially considering the strong white supremacist aspect of the plot. Sure, it makes sense that Sister Night and her grandfather [Hooded Justice] would wanna take out the white supremacists, but would we be as amused if her character was overtly presented as a blatant militant political activist? And yet, it is being symbolically associated with her character on multiple levels. Why didn't they just make it part of her character, instead of slipping it in slyly like this, with tacky suggestive symbolism?

"Sister" references the affectionate black "sista" title one one level. "Night" indicates darkness. Her skin is dark. So the name "Sister Night" is referencing her skin tone from 2 different angles. Her name is a constant reminder of her racial identification.

One of the more popular promotional ads has her standing in front of a clock, striking 12. Midnight = Middle of the night = Darkest part of the night = another dark skin reference.

Sister Night is a cop. There is a stereotype in America which more or less states that black people in general get hassled by police disproportionately, often due to "racial profiling." If you've ever heard the song "Fuck the Police" by NWA, that is more or less what it is about. This racist cop stereotype is directly referenced within the dialogue during a flashback scene when Angela's grandfather, Will Reeves, becomes a cop, demonstrating that the writers of the show want this racist cop stereotype to be fresh in the minds of the viewers. This subtly suggests that Angela Bar, as a cop, is a traitor to her own race in title.

Upon conclusion of the last episode, I went out on the internet and started reading what was being said about it. This was something I purposely avoided while watching the series, because I wanted my own opinions and ideas regarding it to be fully formed before viewing the opinions of others. I suspected there would be a campaign in the media to influence HOW people watched it and interpret it. This turned out to be true.

Notice how the "critic ratings" is nearly 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience rating is about half of that. This means about HALF the people [you and I] watching the show did not like something about it. Are we just not smart enough to understand what the show is all about? Does one need an academic title to have the ability to judge the entertainment shoved into their faces fairly?

Notice how the "critics consensus" above references this "kaleidoscope effect" I was speaking about earlier, but instead they refer to it as "layers of cultural context." They state the show is "not always easy viewing," without explaining why - but immediately go on to use this as a compliment, focusing on the complexity and originality of it. How does the achievement of "originality" justify the inclusion of ubiquitous, ambiguous/negative racial themes/stereotypes in the eyes of these "critics?"

First page Google results for the search term "Watchmen tv series" tries to instruct you on what you "need to know" about it. This suggests that there are things you DON'T need to know. Recalls the famous New York Times quote: "All the news that's FIT to print." Just what news ISN'T fit to print, and why Mr news journalist?

The above images were taken from first page Google results, clearly demonstrating an aggressive effort by the media to control people's perception of the Watchmen series, and maintain damage control upon those negatively reviewing it. Going so far as to create negative stereotypes around those on the left AND the right criticizing it.

Why has the news media been so disproportionately biased in defending the ambiguous/covert racial themes placed in the Watchmen series? Racial ambiguity is quickly condemned in many other contexts. Why is it so unquestionably embraced here? What is this apparent campaign to aggressively consolidate "detractors" of the series into categories designed to render their opinions invalid? It seems discussions along these lines ruins the "magic" of the show, and the media is apparently invested in keeping that magical spell going - by policing, and attempting to control the dialogue/thoughts of those watching it.

This brings us to an interesting topic: mind control. Funny enough, mind control is an important part of the plot in the Watchmen series.

During a flashback scene, a book on "mesmerism for the masses" is found by Hooded Justice when he takes out a gang of Cyclops members [white supremacists], who produce films in their secret compound encoded with subliminal messages. These films are then shown in black movie theaters, driving audience members to attack and commit violence upon one another, via mind control.

What is this series trying to say about the film/entertainment industry here? If such techniques were/are in fact being used, why would individuals so devoid of morality and humanity stop at just one racial group? If these types of individuals exist, they would want to control every type of person, not just blacks. So on one hand, the series seems to be "blowing the whistle" a bit here, but at the same time, using it to stir up the worst racial insecurities in viewers - by making it a RACIAL white/vs black issue, rather than what it probably is in real life today - technology designed to oppress "the masses," as indicated by the book pictured earlier.

The Masses: the ordinary or common people. - Merriam Webster

Hooded Justice/Will Reeves depicted in 2019, using the same mind control/mesmerism techniques to encourage Judd Crawford [white supremacist leader] to Lynch himself from a tree. This episode began with a warning to viewers, that some of the flickering lights may cause seizures in certain people. Is this a hint that there is a level of reality to what is being depicted as fiction here?

"he masterminded a plan to incite black people to commit violent acts to worsen race relation between black people and white people." - https://watchmen.fandom.com

Judd Crawford [played by Don Johnson] hanging himself under mind control from Will Reeves. In the beginning of the Watchmen series, this man is depicted as a close family friend of Angela Abar, and is also a fellow police officer. He turns out to be a 2 faced white supremacist of the highest degree, suggesting that even the nicest, most seemingly NON-RACIST white American men are secretly plotting against the black race.

Jean Smart plays the unlikeable, uptight, sexually frustrated white lady [FBI agent Laurie Blake] who's trying to sniff out Angela Abar's connection to the murder of Judd Crawford. Although it is never explicitly stated, there are hints that Abar and Crawford had an affair before he died. This creates unspoken tension between Abar and Crawford's white supremacist wife. There is also subtle racial tension between Abar and Laurie Blake, who is plainly still in love, or at least in "lust" with Dr Manhattan - illustrated crudely in the scene where she lays down with an absurdly large blue dildo. Again, highlighting the fact that Dr Manhattan was originally depicted with "understated genitals." Does that dildo look "understated" to you?

In this final section, I'm going to focus on a cryptic joke Laurie Blake tells Dr Manhattan when she calls him from the "Blue Booth," which we later find out is going to Lady Trieu, and not Dr Manhattan at all. To be clear, no attempt will be made here to decode this "joke" in reference to the plot of previous Watchmen comics or the film. The focus here will be on the symbolic references in and of themselves, and what they point to in our world today in general.

"There's this guy, he's a bricklayer...he's a real master of his craft."

A bricklayer is a form of mason. Bricklayers perform MASONRY. "The Craft" is another term for "Freemason." "Fellow Craft" is the title of the 2nd degree in Freemasonry. A "Master Mason" is the title of the 3rd degree in the BLUE lodges. I think it is safe to say that this joke is making a reference to a Freemason.

"...this guy has a daughter and he's going to teach her to be a bricklayer because after all, all a man has is his legacy..."

Although Freemasons are typically encouraged to join by a father or relative, females traditionally have much more limited roles in the largely fraternal order. Merriam Webster gives one meaning to the word Legacy as: "a candidate for membership in an organization (such as a school or fraternal order) who is given special status because of a familial relationship to a member." So again, the Freemasonic reference is being enforced repeatedly by this language. This is no surprise given the references to the Illuminati and the New World Order conspiracies mentioned earlier.

"...when he finishes, it’s a beauty. It’s a perfect barbecue. Just the way he drew it in BLUEprints. Only one problem. There’s a brick left over. One single brick. The guy freaks out. He must have done something wrong. He’s gonna have to start all over again. So he picks up his sledgehammer to knock the thing to pieces and his daughter suddenly says ‘daddy wait! I have an idea.’ She picks up the orphan brick and throws it up into the air as high as she can."

The allegory of Christ as the stone which was rejected by the "builders" [Masons] seems to be heavily hinted at here. If this extra brick represents "Christ" then clearly, this mason is not Christian - because he sees the extra "stone" as a mistake, rather than the "capstone" or "cornerstone." Apparently this is a hotly disputed topic, but what if Christ was supposed to represent the "cornerstone" or "capstone" of a pyramid?

The use of the word "orphan" made me wonder if this brick was supposed to represent a character in the series. Angela Abar is an orphan, and it is her car which falls from the sky immediately after Laurie Blake leaves the phone booth. There is then a twinkle in the sky, so as to suggest that whoever she was speaking to, heard her joke and threw the car down to represent the brick which was just thrown in the air by the "daughter" in the joke. [Let's not even get into the part about how Angela Abar's grandfather got into the car before it was picked up and carried into the sky, and how he left his "memories" in it, via Lady Trieu's Nostalgia pills]

"And the woman looks at God and she quietly says ‘I’m the little girl who threw the brick in the air.” And a sound from above, something falling: the brick. God looks up but it’s too late. He never saw it coming. It hits him so hard, his brains shoot out his nose. Game over. He’s dead. And where does God go when he dies? He goes to hell."

This part makes no sense in the literal way because "god" is not flesh and blood, and therefore, cannot be killed with a simple brick, much less go to hell! However, one posing as god in human form could. Perhaps this is a reference to a Freemason, falsely assuming the role of God at the top of the pyramid, where our missing brick/stone may have gone. The one rejected. Following the logic of the Bible, if one rejects the stone representing Christ, one's structure does not stabilize in Christ, and instead stabilizes upon the secular intellect of man. A Luciferian.

Dr Manhattan more or less represents "god in human form" in this series, which basically makes him black/blue Jesus. Everyone either wants a piece of him, or wants to suck out his essence. He is the "false god," and ultimately Angela Abar is the one who eats the egg containing his essence. We don't know if those powers were transferred into her because the show ends before we can see her walk on water, but there seems to be continuity here again in the allegory, although I do not pretend to fully understand it. But then again, this might just be "a randomizing algorithm, to deter amateur sleuths looking for any kind of pattern."

CONSIDERATIONS

This blog was completed just as the Covid-19 outbreak began to dominate the news. I think it is important to note that the Watchmen series seems to echo many aspects of the Covid-19 climate a good month BEFORE it actually broke out. Here is a small list of coincidences to consider:

1: Senator Joe Keene's covert "race war" operation, and anticipated 2020 presidential campaign mirrors the aggressive efforts by the news media to falsely portray Donald Trump (who is running for a 2nd term in 2020) and the "Q-Anon" movement, as a hard right Neo-Fascist organization. The symbolism of a black man (painted blue) kneeling in a white cage before a white supremacist politician seems to predict the "kneeling trend" initiated by the George Floyd murder, and subsequent race riots. Again, what the show appears to be doing is creating negative racial stereotypes designed to enforce a false media narrative which has not yet occurred!

2: Consider the fact that this show is largely centered around the 1921 Tulsa, OK race massacre, and that Donald Trump's first campaign rally of 2020 has been scheduled to occur in Tulsa, OK during the height of racial tensions relating to the George Floyd murder. Again, an example that the creators of this series seemed to have knowledge of political events which had not yet occurred. Was the focus upon the Tulsa massacre within the plot of the series an attempt to shine a light upon an important, lesser known era of American history - or is it being used here to stir up negative racial feelings in preparation of a planned race riot during Trump's 2020 presidential campaign?

3: Themes of distrust and racial leanings by unethical police officers is central to the plot of the Watchmen series. These stereotypes may be enforced in many cases, but to say "all cops are bad" is simply not accurate. Is this another negative stereotype emphasized by the series in order to again, play into a planned series of "race riots" which would be in response to the killing of a black man by a white cop only a few months after the series aired?

4: The use of masks in the series, and the idea that cops must hide their identity in order to prevent criminals from hunting them down is being reflected in current news stories on multiple levels. Although police officer's names are being removed from their uniforms to prevent rioters from tracking them down at their homes [think White Night], their uniforms all have badges that say "POLICE" or other identifying labels. Despite that, news media is publishing stories that enforcement officers with NO identifying badges are committing random acts of violence against protesters [who are ironically, committing all sorts of random violence!]. Is it a coincidence that just a couple months after this series concluded, we would ALL be wearing masks and racial tension/violence would be thick in the air? Don Johnson's character seems particularly designed to enforce the negative stereotype of a 2-faced racist white cop.

[click on image to enlarge at the correct resolution]

5: In the Watchmen series, black Americans who's family trees can be traced back to the Tulsa massacre are offered financial "reparations." This is a cause of racial tension between blacks and whites in the series. Now we see this unfolding in the real world, just months after the series aired.

[Bubba Wallace, pictured with his father, Darrell Wallace Sr]

6: "On June 21, 2020, a member of Wallace's team reported to NASCAR that a noose had been placed in Wallace's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway...A day after the race, an investigation by the FBI concluded that Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime: the alleged noose was a pull-down rope with a loop that was located on an overhead door, and had been in the garage since the fall Talladega race in 2019." Bubba Wallace is a RACE car driver. [we're talking about RACE here] Note the prominence of the NOOSE in the Watchmen series. The character "Hooded Justice" is lynched (almost to death) in a flashback scene. He then wears a noose around his neck, as part of his costume. As an old man, he uses mind control to get a 2-faced racist cop (played by Don Johnson) to lynch himself. The noose plays a very prominent symbolic role in the series. Was this done partly in anticipation of the false Bubba Wallace media stunt?

7: The fictional "11/2" frequency event, emanating from a giant squid with 1 eye that appears in New York, deployed by Veidt [the illuminati] is extremely loaded. We already mentioned the 11/2 - 9/11 connection - but this idea of a deadly frequency is reflected in the current paranoia over 5G networks. Wade Tillman's character represents that paranoia, and so he is depicted as a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. The giant squid has 1 eye, reflecting the "Cyclops" symbol used by the fictional Neo Nazi group in the series, symbolically associating the group with the catastrophe. Since the "present day" followers of Cyclops are lead by the crooked "2020 president elect to be" [Senator Keene], this again leads all of the negative connotations within the series directly to this political figure, who is obviously supposed to represent Trump symbolically. 11/2 [November 2nd] just happens to be a few days before the November elections are typically held. Is this show suggesting that around election day 2020 we will see a major catastrophe on the level of 9/11?

It seems to me that the Watchmen series is a perfect example of political propaganda MASKED as entertainment, and that the mainstream news media is invested in making sure that audiences react a particular way to it - to ensure it's effectiveness. When are we going to stop and realize that mental warfare is being utilized by way of "entertainment" upon the public for political purposes? Rarely does the real dangers of deceptive "entertainment" reveal itself so immediately, violently, and perceptively. We'd be wise to pause and 2nd guess our knee jerk reactions to the Covid-19 outbreak and the George Floyd incident - as these incidents are likely "real life" propaganda campaigns designed to provoke those very knee jerk reactions in order to ultimately oppress ALL of us collectively, once we are done warring with one another.

My latest blog:

The Letter that Shall not be Named

Here are some others I have done, click to read.

The Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott Murder
The Chris Cornell Death
Star Wars and the Occult
America: Land of the Plumed Serpent
THE WATCHMEN SERIES
mass shooting at an Eagles of Death Metal concert.

This blog was researched, written, and continues to be maintained by 1 person. If you enjoyed it and would like to encourage more of them, donations can be made by clicking the button below.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Bathory and the Scandinavian Metal Attack PT III: The Lost Sons of Odin

[These headlines are here to help people find the page]

Bathory Documentary

Deicide Fryshuset 1992

Ultima Thule Band

["I heard somebody wants me dead...You want me, here I am!" - Glen Benton, Fryshuset, Sweden 1992]

"In 1992, Deicide was on tour in Europe with Atrocity from Germany and Gorefest, a Dutch death metal band. In Stockholm, during the Gorefest set, a bomb was discovered on-stage. It exploded in the club in which they were playing. The bomb was located to the rear of the stage, behind a heavy, fireproof door. The explosion was big enough to deform the door and blow it off its hinges. Deicide managed to play three songs before the police decided to stop the concert and evacuate the club. At first, Benton blamed that attack on the Norwegian black metal scene, where Deicide's brand of death metal was despised. Many people blamed animal rights activists who were angered at Deicide's lyrical themes of animal sacrifice." - wikipedia

Gorefest's guitar player Frank Harthoorn recounts this event:

"...we're playing this large sports hall somewhere on the 3rd floor of this huge building called the Fryshuset... we're about 5 songs into our set when this huge BANG!! just hits us from seemingly everywhere. We all think it's fireworks, JC mouths 'Keep playing!' and we finish our set, having no idea what's going on behind the stage. We get off stage, Quorthon's there giving us the thumbs up - he was working security for the show - and right behind him this massive emergency exit door has been blown from the wall...We never did find out who was behind it...Maybe it was Norwegian black metal dudes hating on US...JC [guitars/vocals] and B had met Euronymous the night before in Oslo, and had a chat with the little caped avenger about threats he'd made to Gorefest in some publication. Didn't have much to say for himself, but some of his small pack of followers had just about reached the right age to get a drivers license and travel to Stockholm overnight. I myself to this day think it was tour manager Adam, in cohoots with the insane bus driver, stirring up shit for even more publicity. And it worked, because if the places weren't fully packed at the start of that tour 5 days before, they sure were after that night." - http://toughriffs.weebly.com/

Here is what Quorthon had to say about it...

"I was head of security, and I was doing my very best to sorta like, sneak around in the shadows, cause, I mean, 80% of everybody there had my picture on their walls back home... I was backstage, when Gorefest was on stage, and they played so loud, that nobody could hear the bomb, when it went off. I mean, it was a big, big fucking bomb, about let's see, feet...about 25 feet from the stage, and it was an open area I mean, it was indoors, but it was an empty space between where the bomb went off, and the stage, but still, nobody could hear it. It was just this enormous, uh, you know, impact, you know, the pressure from the bomb. And I was standing probably 5 feet away from where the bomb went off, and I still didn't hear it: cause, you know, they were playing so loud. All of a sudden, I could smell my hair burn, and, uh, there was, you know, all this dust, concrete dust flying around, and I turned around and I saw a huge, you know, burning hole in the wall. So, yeah, I was there." - metalunderground.com

This was obviously a very significant blast, according to both Harthoorn and Quorthon. Harthoorn's description of this blast from the stage was "huge BANG!!" There is also a quote from the Swedish Death Metal book [Daniel Ekeroth] making direct reference to this sound:

"...during the middle of their set a LOUD BANG WAS HEARD. Everybody assumed the sound was part of the show, and Gorefest finished their set as usual."

Bang: a loud, sudden, explosive noise, as the discharge of a gun. - dictionary.com

A "BANG" is an audible sound. Harthoorn was ON THE STAGE, presumably where the music was blasting intensely. Quorthon was BEHIND the stage, probably closer to the blast than anyone else. Speakers face the crowd, so the power of the music should have been directed towards the band and the crowd. Yet, Harthoorn heard the blast and Quorthon didn't? He states 3 times in that short quote that the bomb could not be heard - and two of those times he says NOBODY could hear it.

"It was just this enormous, uh, you know, impact, you know, the pressure from the bomb."

It is very strange how much effort Quorthon puts into trying to convince the interviewer that nobody heard this blast, especially when others clearly did. I mean, what is an "enormous impact" from a bomb, but an audible blast? He makes it sound like some sort of time/space Manhattan Project type event occurred silently!

After Gorefest's set, Quorthon gives a "thumbs up" to them from backstage. A wall directly behind him just got blown open by an enormous bomb blast. Is that really a "thumbs up" moment? I'm going to assume that this "thumbs up" was to do with Gorefest completing their set, despite the blast. Seems like getting people out of the building before another blast hits would have been the more sensible action to me, as the job of security is to keep people safe! Perhaps the danger of a riot was possible, and keeping them secure meant avoiding a riot?

Quorthon was a rather tall man, but quite skinny most of his life. That doesn't mean he couldn't kick some serious ass, but we also know he had a heart problem - which he unfortunately died from eventually. Also, anyone who views enough interviews/photos with Quorthon will inevitably notice his decidedly feminine manner of speaking, posing, and carrying himself at times. There is no need to quote Pelle "Dead" Ohlin again here like I did in the previous blog, but "Rockstar attitude" and "wimp" and "poser" were words he used to describe Quorthon after their encounter in 1987. Another interviewer quoted in a previous blog stated Quorthon looked more like a "glam rocker" guy in person, comparing him to the "Cold Lake" era of Celtic Frost, commenting on his cowboy boots. Again, doesn't mean he couldn't kick some ass, but certainly doesn't spell out SECURITY GUARD CANDIDATE. Much less HEAD OF SECURITY for a show where known death threats were being made towards the bands and their members!

[The "Cold Lake" era of Celtic Frost is widely considered to be one of the great sellout embarrassments in underground metal, a reputation well earned by the above image alone. For an interviewer to compare Quorthon's "look" to that of this era of Celtic Frost is at least as extreme as any of Dead's criticisms.]

Quorthon often bragged about how many record sales Bathory has had over the years. His father was "very rich" already in the 70s, according to his ex wife. Besides running Tyfon/Black Mark, "Boss" was representing the giant German based record distributer SPV in Sweden as early as the late 80s, up till their financial issues in 2000. Quorthon had spent, according to him, a whole lot of his own money on the "One Road to Asa Bay" video for Hammerheart - which was shown on MTV. Doesn't seem like Quorthon was struggling for money in 1992, at least not to the point of needing to take a security job at a Death Metal concert where Death threats were known to have been made against the bands. But who knows?

Quorthon states that he was trying to "sneak around in the shadows" during the show because you know, "80% of everybody there" had his pretty face on their wall somewhere. This is similar to what he said in another interview I quoted in a previous blog, where he describes driving up in a limo to the famous L'moure Rock Club in New York for the first time, and "tries not to be noticed" by throngs of fans dying for autographs on their tits and hits off of his cigarette butt. Quorthon loved playing the rockstar role in public. I mean, if he didn't, he sure hammed it up when the camera pointed his direction!

My opinion is that Quorthon's explanation quoted earlier was more of his "bad acting," and that he was covering something up. I don't mean to suggest that he was BEHIND the bombing, but I think he knew more than he was stating about it. Besides his questionable recounting of the soundless "impact" of the bomb and his questionable role as "head of security" that evening, he presents what seems to me, the most plausible theory as to who planted the bomb - a theory which seems to have gone almost completely ignored by most underground media sources who have covered this event in any detail. Here is what he said about it in the same interview:

"20 feet away from there you have the militant Stockholm neo-Nazi organization have their headquarters, 20 feet away from the concert, and they have been placing bombs just about everywhere, 2 times a week for the past 12 months or so, but, I mean, you couldn't say it straight out."

Not only is Quorthon suggesting that Neo-Nazis were responsible, he further suggests that this was known, but "you couldn't say it straight out." Why not? What is this hesitance he hints at regarding the ratting out of Neo Nazis? One thing is for sure, there was a well documented Neo Nazi Skinhead presence at the Fryshuset during this time.

This next section contains a lot of information about Neo Nazi Skinheads, with a focus on Sweden around the time of the 1992 Fryshuset bombing. I would just like to make it clear that it is not my intention to glorify or justify any of the Neo Nazi activity or symbols described/pictured. Nor is it my goal to incriminate Bathory, any other band, or Pagan cult/religion/group of having a "Neo Nazi" agenda at any point in time. But if facts, sources, and/or quotations appear to lean a certain way, I will not shy away from pointing out what appears to be obvious to me. Readers may gather a different interpretation from the same information, or gather other data which is contradictory to my findings, and that is ok. People SHOULD do their own research and verify facts for themselves, rather than simply taking my, or anyone else's words for it. But for my own part here, I am striving for objectivity. Whether that is accomplished or not is up to the reader.

["Anders Erik Carlberg [1943-2013] was a Swedish socialist politician, social worker and writer...He became active in the political left, and was the leader of the Swedish Young communists in 1967-1970...In 1984, Carlberg co-founded the Fryshuset [with help from YMCA], the activity center for young people in Stockholm, Sweden, offering social projects and educational programs." - Wiki]

"For many years, the [Neo Nazi] movement was personified by a single person, Ian Stuart Donaldson. In the 1980s, he created the Nazi organization Blood & Honor, which received sales in several countries, including Sweden. In 1988 he helped a couple of skinheads in Södertälje, Peter Rindell and Göran Gustavsson, to start the militant racist magazine Vit Rebell, which later became Storm." - Expo.se, Translated from Swedish

"In the summer of 1986 when riots broke out between teenage groups in Stockholm, the Swedish government asked Fryshuset to step in...But Carlberg also stirred up a great deal of controversy in the late 1980s when Fryshuset allowed Sthlm Skins, a group of young neo-Nazi skinheads, to use part of its premises...This was at a time when right-wing extremist groups were on the rise in Sweden and young skinheads used to gather in the Old Town of Stockholm...Shop owners complained that the youths were scaring off tourists and Carlberg allowed them to gather at Fryshuset...Two years later one Skinhead burnt down the premises and Sthlm Skins were allowed to move into Fryshuset's main building." - thelocal.se

"In the spring of 1988, Sthlm Skins got a room in the form of two construction stores in connection with the Fryshuset on Södermalm" - Expo

The above confirms that Neo Nazi skins were residing within the Fryshuset compound as early as the late 80s. Fryshuset seems to have had, and probably still has, multiple buildings. However, the above article confirms they were moved to the MAIN building, as a result of arson upon the previous one by a skinhead. [I assume this "main" building is the large building Harthoorn referred to in an earlier quote, regarding Gorefest's performance and the bomb going off] Expo calls the arsonist a "Leather Skull" in another article, which I presume to be a rival gang. Therefore, the idea that skins would attempt to destroy a building in which other radicalized skins resided, was not unprecedented in the relatively short amount of time Fryshuset existed at that point in 1992 - lending credence to Quorthon's theory.

It is also interesting to note in the article above, that SWEDISH GOVERNMENT were the ones who asked Fryshuset to "step in" and do something about the Neo Nazi Skinhead problem. We will look closer at who was funding this Skinhead project in a moment.

"The Storm magazine, now in its third issue, began to call itself "the body of White Aryan Resistance", and its subscriber register became a kind of informal membership register in what was first called "Storm's network", but which became known as VAM." - Expo

"White Aryan Resistance (Swedish: Vitt Ariskt Motstånd, VAM) was a militant neo-nazi network active in Sweden between 1991 and 1993. The name of the group was derived from the US white supremacist organisation White Aryan Resistance (WAR)...VAM has been implicated in many serious crimes in Sweden, including the infamous Malexander police-murders, car BOMBINGS of political journalists and murders of perceived opponents." - wiki

"...it [VAM] was a circle of few skinhead activists in Stockholm. The group engaged in theft of weapons, burglaries in mobilization stores, bank and postal robberies. A number of activists were arrested and convicted in trials between 1991 and 1993." - Expo

Notice that the Fryshuset bombing occurred exactly in the middle of VAM's criminal activity, 1992.

"The role of mass media in establishing the VAM brand cannot be overstated. In particular, the evening newspapers wrote huge volumes of articles about the "Nazi leader Klas Lund" and his organization preparing for the coming "war of war"...A new subculture that could no longer be said to be [merely] part of the skinhead movement [developed] - it was excellent to have even long hair...the clothing increasingly resembled a uniform: black boots, black military trousers, black so-called bomber jacket and black military cap. Everything except the boots taken from the US Armed Forces, despite the model's attitude to the US federal authorities." - Expo

If you read my previous blog, you may recall the section on a Norwegian documentary film called "Satan Rides the Media." This film shows how the Norwegian press was more or less responsible for sensationalizing, and PROMOTING the radicalization of Varg Vikernes, which in turn, encouraged the NSBM movement he seemed to usher in. Hense the title, "Satan Rides the Media." The above Expo quote illustrates how the Swedish media did something similar with the VAM Neo Nazi Skinhead organization. Even giving a glimpse of how this sensationalism began to spill over into, and influence the "long hair" community. Also known as, Metalheads and Rockers. Was the media simply being manipulated by some larger organization, with the long range purpose of radicalizing Scandinavian youth, and beyond?

"...VAM had in a few years developed into a unifying concept that gave rise to a radical youth movement with its own dress code and its own symbols. Only in Stockholm, around 1994, the number of black-clad right-wing teenagers who were gathered in the so-called "skinhead room" in the municipal youth house Fryshuset, and who listened to bands such as White Aggression, Division S and Svastika, counted about 1,000." - Expo

At this point it is pretty clear that the major Neo Nazi Skinhead movements in Sweden during the very early 90s were either centered around the Fryshuset dwelling, or it's members were heavily involved with it. Again, going back to Quorthon's comments earlier - it seems he had knowledge of these extreme Neo Nazi skinhead groups. But so did many Swedes apparently, as this was something in the news media often by the sound of things. So why were the skins not immediately implicated in the 1992 Fryshuset bombing, or at least publicly investigated? Perhaps they were, but I found no evidence of it - which is odd considering this was a pretty well publicized event.

[If you are on a smartphone, you must tap on the above image first, then enlarge it, in order to properly blow it up. Enlarging the screen without tapping on it first will not produce a readable image]

"Nordland was created by the young guard skins. Employees were drawn from the Riksfronten in particular and from the Stockholm Skins who received desk top training at the Fryshuset. An important role was played by Peter Rindell (Melander), former publisher of Storm and one of the ideologues behind Vam. In 1994 he began publishing a Swedish edition of the magazine Blood & Honor, Blood & Era, which became the mainstay of the white power movement's flagship, the newspaper Nordland."

Notice the direct connections here from the Sthlm Skins of Fryshuset, to the Storm Network, to Blood and Honor, then to Nordland.

Swedish Death Metal band Unleashed was featured in the above pictured Nordland magazine. Does this mean Unleashed was a Neo Nazi band? I leave that to the reader to decide, as I have not found the article in it where they are featured, so I have no idea what is said in it. But at the very least, this indicates to me a level of "normalcy" or at least "tolerance" of the White Power element in the underground Swedish Metal scene of the day. I did however find an interview with Varg Vikernes, taken from Nordland Nr 5/96. Here is an excerpt, roughly translated:

Q: You have been accused of being a Nazi multiple times. What does the swastika mean to you? What do you have to say about these accusations?

A: Svastikan is a hammer, which splits darkness. The most powerful weapon. With it, we are going to crush the skull of the Christian "god" and his captive faithful. Sorry, I'm not a Nazi, I'm a white Aryan Odenist !! Call me whatever you want. I remain proud. I take it as a compliment when I am called a Nazi. For I would rather be a Nazi than a laughable democratic cheater against my own race. Hell Wotan! Lots of the white breed!

"The Allgermanische Heidnische Front (AHF) was an international neo-Nazi organisation, active during the late 1990s and early 2000s, that espoused a form of neo-völkisch Germanic Neopaganism. It grew from the Norwegian Heathen Front (NHF), which was led and founded by the musician Varg Vikernes in 1993, although he and the organisation denied his involvement. The program was based on his first book, Vargsmål (1994), published shortly after he was convicted for church arson and the murder of fellow musician Euronymous." - wiki

The symbol pictured on the cover of Vargsmål is a Celtic Cross. "French neo-fascist groups adopted the Celtic cross as an ambiguous "Christian and pagan" symbol since the 1940s."

Below that is the logo for defunct record label Axis, who released Candlemass' 1987 album "Nightfall." Axis was owned by British label Music for Nations, who's subsidiary Under One Flag released Bathory albums in the 80s. I couldn't help noticing the logo for Axis also contained a cross and a circle, similar in proportion to the Celtic Cross - only the circle has been moved north and rotated slightly [indicated by the graph lines - which also contain a cross within them]. The red X in the word "Axis" seems to emphasizes the cross' occult meaning, which I will explain in more detail later in the blog.

[If you are on a Smart Phone, you must tap on the above image in order to then properly blow it up with the correct resolution]

Pictured above is the Nordland compilation, released 1989 on White Power Records, a sub-label of Rock-O Rama, a German label active for many years. Take note of the symbols highlighted in yellow by myself. This was before Nordland Magazine came about, but as you can see, certain terms and symbols were/are widely appropriated by Neo Nazi/White Power organizations - doesn't mean those ancient Nordic terms/symbols BELONG to such radical groups, but they can unfortunately become tainted [like the ancient swastika] to the point where prominently brandishing them on say, an album cover, might give the public perception that said artist holds the same views as the extreme political groups, whether it is true or not! With the knowledge of how people may respond to the brandishing of such terms/symbols, one knowingly runs the risk of being accused of something they may or may not be. So the artist must then make a choice: to use them anyway, and deal with the potentially violent backlash, or to express their pride in their heritage in other ways less prone to be associated with extreme groups. This obviously brings attention to the symbolism and terms Bathory has used, and the fact that Quorthon did seem to follow what was going on in the streets of Stockholm. We will look at statements made by Quorthon regarding this topic in a moment.

"The Elder Futhark Odal rune (ᛟ), also known as the Othala rune, represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *ōþalan "heritage; inheritance, inherited estate". - wiki

["In February [1996] the skinhead room [at Fryshuset] was visited by the king [Carl XVI Gustaf] who threw a dart with the skins and was photographed under the banner of VAM. Several immigrant associations criticized the king for the visit...Carlberg was forced to respond to the accusation that the skinhead [room] was VAM's headquarters" - Sweden's Expo Magazine. Note the Othala rune highlighted by the yellow arrow. Also, a Confederate flag can be seen partially far off to the right, a symbol of "Southern Heritage" in America. The radical skins obviously perceived a common link between the two symbols.]

"The king's concerns were prompted by attacks on a small anti-racist magazine called Expo. Its staff have been threatened repeatedly since the first edition came out last September. Several retailers have taken it off their shelves, and the printer has refused to put out any more issues after ATTACKS...When police raided the headquarters of the National Alliance, an extreme right group accused of the attacks, they seized EXPLOSIVES, tear gas, clubs, and other weapons." - independent.co.uk

From Expo.se [issue #3, 1996 issue], translated from Swedish:

"During the entire time the Fryshuset project has been going on, skinheads have been involved in various violent incidents..."

It is unclear to me what the symbolic gesture of the King's visit to the Fryshuset Skinhead room was supposed to represent to the people of Sweden, but what it clearly demonstrates is a climate of tolerance towards their presence. How this was supposed to combat the increasing violence committed by them during this turbulent time (according to the press) I am not sure.

"In 1993, a dramatic stage change occurred. Bert Karlsson signed a record deal with Ultima Thule, thus opening the doors to the breakthrough of white power music. "National" cellar music moved up the charts and Ultima Thule was awarded three gold records." - Expo

Again, what we are seeing here, is a level of acceptance, perhaps even normalcy to the White Power concept in Swedish society at the time. Ultima Thule [who formed their "Viking Rock" band the same year Bathory formed, 1984] has made it clear they do not wish to be associated with Neo Nazis. But accurate or not, they get associated with the "Neo Nazi/White Power" scene time and time again by the media. The fact a band with such a reputation, accurate or not, can have "gold records," indicates a vast difference between say, America's idea of political correctness in the 90s and Sweden's. It also indicates that the "white power" genre was lucrative at the time, and those driven by money would no doubt shave off all their hair and siege heil as many times necessary to get a piece of it. Especially in an environment where that type of music is tolerated to a degree - the consequences would be less extreme than they would in say, today's politically correct climate. But we must remember that this climate was being tolerated, even encouraged by Swedish News media of the day and by the King himself, symbolized by his little dart game in their room at Fryshuset.

"Resistance Records owns several smaller labels, most notably black metal labels Cymophane Records and Unholy Records. It is a front for Cymophane Records, which was purchased by the National Alliance, mainly to gain the rights to distribute Burzum albums in the United States...Also in 1999, Resistance Records bought Swedish white power label Nordland Records, doubling its roster." - wiki

The National Alliance was a US based Neo Nazi Organization which bought Resistance Records and the Record Production aspect of Nordland Records, Sweden, in 1999. Nordland... "merged with Folktribunen (the People's Tribune), the mouthpiece National Ungdom (National Youth (NU), the Swedish Nazi organization closest to [William] Pierce and his National Alliance...NU is lead by Erik Hagglund and Klas Lund...head in the early 1990s of the terrorist network Vitt Ariskt Motstand (White Aryan Resistance) - VAM)." [Antiseminism Worldwide 2000/1]

Getting back to the Fryshuset, and who was funding the Skinhead project, Expo magazine is again quoted below. Remember that they were ATTACKED after publishing some of this information:

"In 1988 and 1989, the business was financially supported by the social service. Between 1990 and 1995, Fryshuset's skinhead business was based on financial contributions from the Municipal Coordination Office for Crime Prevention (SBÅ)...In 1991, the board of the association Sthlm Skins at the Fryshusets consisted of nine people: Stefan (chairman) Torbjörn (vice-chairman), Hans (secretary) and Elisabet (treasurer). Roger, Erik, Roine, Robert and Sebastian served as members...Several of the board members had long criminal records behind them. Four of these would be convicted of serious crimes within two years as VAM activists."

"In the financial year 1993 SEK 150,000 was allocated to cover the premises' rental costs. In 1994, the skinhead project received a total of SEK 310,000, including grants from the General Heritage Fund. In addition to rental costs, the grants included the construction of a Viking ship. In 1995, the sba granted SEK 200,000 in grants to, among other things, be able to arrange a white power concert every month...Compared to other youth groups, skinheads have always been biased in the form of social grants and financial encouragement."

"The intention of the municipality's investment in Fryshuset's skinhead project was certainly good - to keep a bunch of quarrels away from the Old Town [Stockholm] - but the failure and unwillingness to see the reality in the white eye meant that the municipality in reality financed the construction of a racial revolutionary network.... During the same period, several people with insight into the context claimed that VAM's operations were controlled from the Fryshuset. On the other hand, it was difficult to lead the claim in evidence, and those who should have been able to present facts, such as Anders Carlberg, instead went out in the media and dismissed all claims as "innocent claims". No serious examination of the link between Nazi bank robbers and Fryshuset's skinhead association was never carried out...Fryshuset's skinhead project is a political and moral breakdown where not only Carlberg but also the politicians in the city hall bear the responsibility. The result was that the country's Nazis were able to build up a political terrorist group, which in turn laid the foundation for the many times greater movement that poses problems today."

Justification for housing the skins, as stated above, was initially presented as a way to get them off the streets. This seems like it was at first regarded as an acceptable step in their rehabilitation, or at least, a humanistic approach to the problem. However, this apparently turned into an enabling factor. Given that, one must consider whether the financiers were actually invested in the radicalized skin's activities, if not directing them. But to what end? To achieve a Nordic Neo Viking utopia, free of foreigners? Somehow I doubt it.

Bathory's final albums were titled "Nordland I" [2002] and "Nordland II" [2003]. Although "Blood on Ice" was released in 1996, it was an older album Quorthon had resurrected from about the "Hammerheart" era. So technically speaking, the Nordland albums were the first Viking themed ones he had written since "Twilight of the Gods," marking over 10 years since the last newly written Viking Metal material. Given that Bathory's "non Viking" themed 90s output was probably the least well received overall, Quorthon's decision to go "Viking" again was probably at least partially motivated by a desire to sell more records. That doesn't necessarily mean his heart wasn't in it though. In fact, there is a good argument to be made that these last 2 albums were his most earnest.

This next section is not intended to prove one way or the other, whether Quorthon had any "extreme" political intentions with his music. The following is merely an EXPLORATION of how deep Quorthon's connection was to the Viking themes in his music, and how far that passion may have extended. Regarding the Nordland title - I have no idea if the decision to name the albums "Nordland" was at all influenced by the Nordland magazine discussed earlier, but here are some quotations from Quorthon responding to such types of accusations, and on the topic of white power/Neo Nazism/Heathenry in general.

"Metal Maniacs asked me about it a couple of days ago. They asked if I knew that my albums were a big influence on the skinhead scene in the US...I disconnected all that kind of discussion when we put out an album called Hammerheart. We had a sunwheel on the back of the album, and people - especially in Germany, 'cause they're the most paranoid people in the world, anyway - got very upset about it 'cause they thought we had serious Nazi connections... The sunwheel has been carved into mountainsides for 3,000 years in Sweden. We're talking about a little historical period that was 12 years in Germany. If we should judge cultures and symbols from all over the world because of a 12-year intermission in German history, then something is wrong here. You can't chase ghosts in a white linen shop... I've seen a talk show with a Neo-Nazi and a big, fat Negro saying, "the Bible is the true book," and they refer to the same phrases in the same fucking book. So, we shouldn't look at symbols as something evil; symbols in themselves are innocent." -maelstromzine.com

"We used the sun cross on the back of the album [Hammerheart]. There is a lot of political shit out in Europe, it seems you are not allowed to use Scandinavian symbols as you please." - Slayer Mag

"...Here in Sweden, although not at such a paranoid level as in Germany, Nationalism is a very hot issue. Everything that has got anything to do with Sweden or Swedish history is a bit taboo over here, don't ask me why....but underground, if that's the light way to describe it, and above too it seems these days, no one gives a shit and kicks the shit out of anyone claiming you to be a nazi or psycho when you say or show off that you are proud of either your nationality or history or whatever....This whole reborn Nationalism we see in Sweden nowadays is a result of us picking up on the Scandanavian mythology and pre christian Sweden all those years ago on BFD and HAMMERHEART...but this was never our intension in the first place...we just wanted to do something original....What you call Odinism was just simply a different topic for the lyrics and not a sign of a different sort of awareness or national pride. Well, a little maybe." - Descend Magazine

"The only reason we brought up the satanic lyrics [in the beginning] was that we were very young...so it was like a protest thing. Just like punk or the skin movement is today..." - Slayer Magazine

"I feel, myself, like a lost son. For my entire upbringing here I was exposed to Christian propaganda. We are born into Swedish [National] Church whether we wish it or not. During school we get lessons on Christianity time and time again. Then I was never interested in either religion or history. Christianity was, of course, the Jewish history. It was when I first read about the Viking Age and Asatru that I became interested...."Under the Runes" is to begin with, just my way of saying regardless if it's in the sky, the land, or deep down in the oceans, we will fight for my father's gods right to have a place in any form of discussion when we discuss Sweden...we have a history of 2000 years of being Asa Faithful, and just 970 years of Christianity. And if they (the Swedish) don't want to talk about it, I'm prepared to fight any kind of war by the great hail, under the runes, for my father's gods. Because there are certain values from those times worth fighting for...I wrote it so that it would be taken as a SECOND WORLD WAR song. Because then I knew people would keep on picking out that lyric, and then I would keep having to answer questions about it, and would get the idea out there." - Lords of Chaos

Notice the above Quorthon quote, taken from the book "Lords of Chaos," is easily the most sincere sounding, articulate comment he has made publicly on the topic of how serious he was regarding the "Viking thing." Whether Moynihan inaccurately edited this quote to suit his own political agenda in the final version of the book or not, is impossible to know. Although Quorthon has often hinted he was misquoted by the book, he never directly states so in any interviews I have come across. He also does echo most of what is articulated in the "Lords of Chaos" quote in other places. Some of which will be shown in the next section.

Hail (as a Noun): a shout or call to attract attention: They answered the hail of the marooned boaters. - Merriam Webster.com

Note Quorthon's alleged use of the phrase "by the great hail" in the above quote from "Lords of Chaos." In the lyrics to "Under the Runes," Quorthon says "by the great hail" 3 times. The 3 times it is used, it is followed by marching, fighting, or dying "Under the Runes." If Quorthon intended it to be a "second World War" song, it is then understandable that people might have interpreted this to be code for something such as "under the great HEIL," which has a more specific connotation, if you are coming from a Neo Nazi standpoint. The "Runes" can then be seen as code for the doppelte Siegrune, or "Sig" runes of the SS - not just any old sacred pre-WWII Viking Runes. For me, this is a bit vague. But since Quorthon makes direct reference to it in more than one interview, I assume there must be something to it.

"The broken sun cross used by the German Faith Movement and the 5th SS Panzer Division, also used by the Thule Society" - wiki

[The above image was taken from an interview with Moynihan at dark-hidden.com, presumably a promotional photo for his band, Blood Axis]

"The Axis powers, also known as "Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis" (also acronymized as "Roberto"), were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allies. The Axis powers agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity...The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War (1939–1945). The Allies promoted the alliance as a means to control German, Japanese and Italian aggression." - wiki

Remember the Axis Records logo from earlier? Besides the fact that it happens to contain all the shapes found in the Celtic Cross [if rearranged slightly], the word AXIS combined with the color RED suggests a BLOOD AXIS.

As we saw above, the opposition to the "Axis Powers" was the "Allies," also known as "The United Nations."[logo above] Notice how in the United Nations icon the earth is rendered in this graph style, similar to the globe pictured in the Axis Records logo. It also contains a cross within a circle.

Considering the ominous title "Music for Nations" and the politically suggestive "Under One Flag," I think there is something to all of these Record Label logos and titles - but to explore this topic further requires a digression probably better left for another blog in the future. For now though, I hope the larger implications here are starting to sink in.

[Michael Moynihan, primary author of "Lords of Chaos," clearly flirting with Sun Wheel/Celtic Cross imagery, in context of his band "Blood Axis." When pressed regarding his potential ties to Neo Nazi ideals, Moynihan always scoffs at such lines of questioning, as though they are completely unwarranted.]

PSICOTERROR: Blood Axis has a fascist/nazi connotation. What does this doctrine mean to you and why did you choose the Gothic Cross as a symbol of the band?

MOYNIHAN: I don’t think it is really correct to say we have a “connection” to such things, although of course it is true that people have accused us of being things like that, but I think they don’t even understand us in the first place…The Kruckenkreuz (or “Gothic Cross”, as you say), originates in the Soul of Pagan Europe, although it was later adopted as a Christian Cross, specifically during the Crusades. This impregnates it with a second connotation, as a symbol of the Holy War. In the 1920’s it was taken as the sigil of the Order of the New Templars, Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels’ ariosophist lodge in Austria. It is still employed as a nationalist symbol in Austria, as well as appearing in Masonic and Christian Iconography. It seemed to me a perfect symbol for controlled and contained power- the Will to Power. There are a number of other ways to view it as well: two overlapping sunweels in opposite rotation; four Thor’s Hammers projecting out of a center point; and these only confirm my instincts about adopting it. - dark-hidden.com

"I have assisted in operating White Devil Records, based in Seattle, which has issued 3 releases by Charles Manson...I had already inaugurated Storm as my own small company, doing silkscreened prints and also publishing books. I released the book "Siege" back in 1993, having already published an illustrated edition of Nietche's Antichrist..." - Not Like Most #4"

[The above image is taken from Discogs.com. This Allerseelen release features a known occult Nazi symbol, "The Black Sun," as seen in Wewelsburg Castle's North Tower." [wiki] It is illegal to print this image in certain countries for obvious reasons. This was released in 1995 by Storm, a record label operated by Michael Moynihan, co-author of the book "Lords of Chaos."]

[The Secret King is the first book to explore many myths surrounding the popular idea of Nazi occultism, while presenting the actual esoteric rituals used by Heinrich Himmler’s SS under the influence of rune magician Karl-Maria Wiligut, the “Secret King of Germany.” - Amazon]

"The black sun (German: Schwarze Sonne) is a symbol, a type of sun wheel (German: Sonnenrad) employed in a post-Nazi Germany context by neo-Nazis, other far-right groups, and some occult subcultures, such as Satanism... - wiki"

Although I don't know if there is any connection between Moynihan's Storm Record label and the Storm Neo Nazi network mentioned earlier, I think it is a safe bet to assume Moynihan knew people would consider whether there was a connection at some point. You don't mess around with symbols like this, then release it on a label called "Storm," and expect people NOT to make Neo Nazi accusations! Someone who does this, is looking for a reaction, whether they admit it or not.

"...Michael Moynihan, a guy who had sent me tons of letters for a number of years, usually including a new issue of his occult/heathen styled fanzine and even midwinterblot greeting cards..for Michael's part in that book should the rest of it be as incorrect, I felt slightly sorry. I'd rather contribute with details and info than have people write pieces like that stuff that's entirely build on personal assumptions and not too solid accuracy." -Bathory.nu

Above it seems pretty clear that Quorthon read Moynihan's book, "Lords of Chaos," or at least the section where he is quoted.

"I am sure the people who wrote Lords Of Chaos are able to read and therefore capable of directly quoting me from several interviews throughout the years when I've talked about the Under the Runes thing. The provoking pun made in Under the Runes is no secret at all. I haven't seen or read Lords Of Chaos myself, but I have heard it contains tons of errors in regard to BATHORY. Kind of sad, I mean to produce such a pretentious piece of work and not even consider doing something so simple as dropping us a letter and ask us a few things. I think the guy's who write these books and Lexicon's of metal, write them to feel important and initiated. I was once sent a Lexicon by some German journalist who'd written a Metal Lexicon, and 75% of what he wrote on BATHORY was totally incorrect. I wrote Under the Runes in such a way it would make every paranoid German journalist go bezerk. We had had to take a lot of shit in Germany because of a sunwheel on the obverse of the cover artwork for Hammerheart. To us it was an ancient Scandinavian symbol for the sun and cycle of life, linking with the Nordic and mythological theme of the album. But in Germany, they got it all wrong, and they didn't care the sunwheel had been a perfectly normal symbol in Scandinavia for two thousand years before that twelve year jackboot period in German modern history."

Here Quorthon says he never read "Lords of Chaos", and speaks about it as if he doesn't know the author(s) at all - despite naming Moynihan and recalling items mailed by Moynihan to him in the previous quotation, taken directly from Bathory.nu! At the same time, Quorthon does allude to a "provoking pun" in the song "Under the Runes." So perhaps this is a half admission that his quote in "Lords of Chaos" was partially correct? Quorthon also claimed he never watched his own video to "One Rode to Asa Bay" in an interview quoted in my previous blog, but I have since found an MTV clip from youtube where Quorthon introduces the video! Obviously Quorthon was the king of contradicting his own statements, but they never cease to shock and entertain in their prolific absurdities.

"I felt we had been used as a pawn in their "going-hysterical-for-the-sole-reason-of-going-hysterical" game. So after that, I decided to include "hot" issues in BATHORY lyrics every now and then. Just to keep them on their toes frothing their hearts out. People like that will find crap all over the place anyway. It's like when the church goes bezerk over a line in a Queen or Madonna song, instead of focusing on extreme Black Metal acts or the pedophiles within their own ranks. Attacking Queen and Madonna gives the church a bigger exposure as oppose to wasting their energy on lesser-known extreme Black Metal groups. They'll play the records of big acts backwards and claim to have uncovered the devils plan to conquer the world or something." - http://www.nocturnalhall.com/interviews/bathory_e.htm

I don't think Quorthon ever really properly explained these potentially "Nazi Leaning" messages in Bathory's music/album art - but he seems to have acknowledged that they were there.

"And you should remember that Norway is a very, very conservative country in reference to say, Sweden or Denmark. You wouldn't believe how much is forbidden over there. You could never achieve a viking society or whatever. We are no more vikings than the folks in Zimbabwe. ..So much has changed and the modern man could not lie by the standard rules and laws and ideals of the vikings...I believe that these guys [Nordic Black Metal Church Burners] not only had a crush on vikings but also had it up to their ears with satanism and neo naziism and that their "pride" in their "viking blood" was just one of several ingredients in their own soup mixed with perhaps drugs and a troubled and suppressed childhood. If any of these guys or anybody else have done similar things and claimed Bathory to be their main influence in doing so I can only say I am sorry and accept that all may not have it as easy as others to take reality for what it is and fantasy as a spice." - Descend Magazine

Over time, we see Quorthon alternate between scoffing at the idea he was "serious" about the Viking themes in his music, only to occasionally slip and display a sincere dedication to it. The following is the strongest proof I have found that he was indeed, a believer in the Heathenry/Asatru religion. This comes in the form of a recently published letter he wrote to a pen pal, author Dean Andersson. Apparently, they were mutual fans of each other's work, and Quorthon even thanks him in album credits.

[These are not the best quality, so if you are on a smart phone, it is best to tap on the image, then zoom in. If you simply zoom in without tapping first, the resolution will be very poor, or unreadable]

"Heil: to salute with the German exclamation heil...German, interjection, hail (used by the Nazis in such phrases as Heil Hitler! Hail Hitler! and Sieg heil! Hail victory!), from Middle High German, from heil, adjective, healthy, from Old High German" - Merriam Webster.com

The letter is dated 1989, and is from Quorthon to an American, Mr Dean Anderson, an author of several fantasy/horror books dealing with Norse Mythology, among other things. Quorthon starts the letter "Heil Dean." Now I don't wanna get too caught up on this "HEIL" bit, but given the section above on "Under the Runes" and the whole "by the great hail" thing, it's again, very easy to interpret this through the eyes of a Neo Nazi as "code" to a "comrade." That may very well be completely off, but difficult to pass off completely as it kind of smacks you in the face right away.

In this next section, Quorthon speaks of "our heritage" and seems to include Anderson into the concept. Again, I'm not assuming as much from this, but one could easily view it from the "Nazi comrade" angle, as a subtle statement about how the message must be delivered subtly in the music, so as not to reveal the larger political agenda. On the other hand, it is fair to presume that Quorthon was simply acknowledging the fact that it was very hard to be open about one's pride in their Scandinavian history without easily being falsely branded a "Neo Nazi." I remain open to both interpretations myself, because frankly, how can anyone really presume to comprehend the full subtext of this letter as an outsider?

This is probably the most revealing, candid statement I have found anywhere from Quorthon regarding the political reality of the world he lived in, and how his dedication to the Viking concept fit in. This, at the very pivotal time he was writing "Hammerheart," which could be regarded as the quintessential Viking Metal masterpiece. For the first time that I have seen, Quorthon mentions by name a Heathen order he belonged to, [or claimed to] the Breidablikk-Gildet.

"In Sweden, the first Heathen groups developed in the 1970s; early examples included the Breidablikk-Gildet (Guild of Breidablikk) founded in 1975 and the Telge Fylking founded in 1987, the latter of which diverged from the former by emphasising a non-racialist interpretation of the religion." - wiki

"Telge Fylking had close ties to Breidablikk-gildet, a nationalistic semi- religious order founded by Arne Sjöberg in 1975." - paganism in Sweden

"The ethicist Breidablikk-gildet was made in 1975 by Arne-Sjöberg (1921-2000), with an initial structure patterned after the Good Templars. It had its most successful period in the mid-80s, with an estimated 130 members, but folded after the death of Arne-Sjöberg's death in 2000. It's main goal was cultural, rather than religious, in the narrow sense. Its focus was the cultivation of National tradition and history. This ethicist and Nationalist orientationfaciliotated contacts to militant right wing milieus, resulting on controversies with an a-racist group that was influential for the formation of later Asatru, the neo shamanic network Yggdrasil." - Norse Revival: Transformations of Germanic Neo Paganism

"Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the pre-Christian belief systems adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably." - wiki

I'm not going to attempt to interpret what Breidablikk-gildet was all about, nor am I qualified to do so. But at the very least, I think this information confirms that Quorthon had a deep personal interest in writing music which would help usher in a more Heathen, less Christian culture into Scandinavia. Whether this was his idea, or if he was just following orders is really the heart of the matter I am exploring here. Especially when you consider the extreme direction this all took in the 90s once the Church burnings started, on through today.

The original compilation containing Bathory's first recorded studio tracks, released by Tyfon Grammofone in 1984, the same year Fryshuset was founded. Also the same year Ultima Thule, from Sweden, formed.

Ultima Thule compilation, utilizing the same cover art used by Tyfon for the Scandinavian Metal Attack comp.

[Cover painting: Tors Strid Med Jättarna (English translation: "Thor's Fight with the Giants") by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1866-1872, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.]

Obviously, this breathtaking image was created well before the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party - so the use of the Swastika in the painting, clearly has no connection. But to use this painting on an album cover post WWII is to knowingly place a Swastika on it. Obviously, most people will miss it as it is very small when not blown up this way. But an interesting question would be, "who exactly made the decision to use this image?" Quorthon would have been about 17 or 18 at the time, with 3 albums of Satan worshipping hymns to create still, and was generally busy trying to master the perfect Venom/Cronos kneeling pose. He wasn't screaming "Viking Metal pioneer" at this point in time, and there is also the fact that "Scandinavian Metal Attack" was a compilation of bands, including OZ. In fact, Bathory was added at the least minute to the comp, as the story goes.

"Fire in the Brain" was released by Tyfon before "Scandinavian Metal Attack." It is known that the hand on the cover is Quorthon's. Note the Runic styled font, the same one used on Scandinavian Metal Attack. A similar font is also used much later on Bathory's "Blood on Ice" album. When we consider the rune-styled font, the use of a historical Viking themed painting, and the title "Scandinavian Metal Attack" - all created before Bathory recorded their first notes, this demonstrates that the Viking theme Bathory would later adapt was already being used as a marketing theme by Bathorycorp. So who's idea was it? Considering Quorthon was a teenager, I would guess Boss came up with this theme. But since Boss and Quorthon are now gone, we may never know for sure.

IN CONCLUSION

Ultimately, I think what happened exactly at Fryshuset in 1992 is a story for someone who has inside information to tell. Unfortunately, I don't think that person has ever come forward - and I believe those who have are holding back or not telling the entire story. But whoever planted the bomb probably did not intend to hurt anyone, as they would have placed it inside the building or somewhere people were standing. The skinheads residing in the building had access to explosives and were in the midst of a violent period, as you read earlier in the blog. But they didn't seem to have a motive, leaving me to guess that if they did do it, they were acting under orders from an unseen entity.

As far as Quorthon and Bathory's potential political motivations - I think Bathory/Quorthon was acting under orders as well, even if there were some genuine statements being made in the music. I believe there was/is a larger movement to radicalize Scandinavians [and beyond] by appealing to their Nationalistic/Ethnic pride, via the government or some branch of intelligence agency, the news media, and counterculture movements/music. Whether Bathorycorp was an active participant in this or not, I think they were clearly used for this purpose, eventually manifesting into the Norwegian Church Burnings, and then into the NSBM movement. Meanwhile, ANTIFA has plenty of targets to fuel their hard left campaign - which only seems to be feeding the problem, not solving it. What I see here are pawns in an international game of divide and conquer.

FURTHER INFORMATION OF NOTE

This concludes my blog series on Bathory, and I do not plan on doing anymore. But there were some interesting bits of information I came across while researching this topic that I couldn't quite fit neatly into any of them. Here are a few of the more interesting ones briefly summarized for your consideration and further research.

[Logo for Swedish Record Label Tyfon Grammofone AB, run by Boss as early as 1978. Note how the record also looks like an eye.]

According to Wikipedia Germany and Rock Hard Magazine [April 2018], Stig Borje "Boss" Forsberg, at a young age, "became a sailor and worked for shipping companies and oil companies."

A "Tyfon" is a known type of horn that ships have used for many years. In fact, Kockum Sonics, based in Malmo, Sweden has been in the business of making them for at least 80 years. It seems pretty likely that Boss named his record label after this horn.

[Beckomberga Hospital was built in 1929–1935, and was intended to play an important part in the therapy of mentally ill patients. It was closed in 1995 as part of the psychiatric reform and relocation from the institutions. The hospital was once one of Europe's largest mental hospitals with 2,000 patients. According to Wikipedia, notable patients were Sigrid Hjertén - who died at the hospital in 1948 after a botched lobotomy intended to treat her schizophrenia. Nelly Sachs - admitted in 1960 after suffering a series of nervous breakdowns]

"Borje [Boss] graduated from education in psychiatric care with distinction. From 1970 worked as a psychological nurse in Beckomberga Clinic in stockholm." "At the same time he worked for Hans Edler's label Marilla, having already completed an internship with Tyfon gramophone. Shortly thereafter, he returned to this label as a music producer and produced some pop and Schlager records until about 1989." - Rock Hard, Wiki Germany, translated

[Book about the real "Lords of Chaos," from which Michael Moynihan lifted the title for his book about Black Metal, and which Jonas Akerlund also used for the film.]

I wanted to dedicate more space to this topic, but found it was just too big to include, and too far a digression from the subject of Bathory. But one very strange thing I discovered, which does not seem to be well known, is that the 1996 Florida Teen Militia group "Lords of Chaos" actually created a manifesto, which was titled "Declaration of War," which goes on to describe their anticipated "reign of Terror." Coincidentally, the next full length Mayhem release after Euronymous was killed, was called "The Grand Declaration of War," in the year 2000. There are more parallels I could get into, such as the fact that Florida Death Metal was one of the main verbal targets of Nordic Black Metal elitism, but as I said it just gets too big and I encourage readers to look into this themselves.

"After a night of destruction Kevin Foster [Florida Lords of Chaos ringleader] decided that they should form a militia dedicated to reigning terror upon the community. The creation of the group's symbol ( ( Ø ) ) came from an in joke involving a question Foster missed on a math test..."

As stated in the above Wiki quote, this "empty set" symbol represented the Florida Lords of Chaos Teen Militia group. But it is also a Scandinavian letter. This same symbol was placed in the above poster for the film adaptation of Moynihan's book. Of all Scandinavian characters they could have chosen, was this one in particular used merely because it "looks cool and adds a vaguely Nordic touch" or was it put there because it is the exact symbol used by the Florida Teen Militia? The symbol could not have been used in a more literal way, if you think about it. It's embedded in the name itself! There is also a scene in the film where the characters are staring at themselves in the mirror and Dead announces "we are the Lords of Chaos!" Well actually, no, you are not - the Florida teen militia group goes/went by that name, not the Nordic musicians portrayed in the film - but if you say so Mr scriptwriter!

[Trinity Church , a worship service formerly belonging to the Trinity Church Methodist Assembly in Stockholm , Majorsgatan 5–7, not far from Östermalmstorg . In 2014, the church location was sold to director Jonas Åkerlund.] -Wiki, Sweden

"Swedish church could be rock 'n' roll venue"
"Lady Gaga's video producer, Swede Jonas Akerlund, has bought a 120 year old church in Stockholm, Sweden for an unknown amount of money. He and his company, J Å Sweden AB, plan to use it for cultural activities. “It is a great sadness for us to have to sell it,” says Pastor Solveig Högberg of the historic Holy Trinity Methodist Church in Östermalm, Stockholm, which had been for sale because the congregation no longer has the capacity and means to manage the building. “But it still feels good that it will be used for cultural activities and not as offices as some other buyers wanted.” Jonas Åkerlund has produced music videos for Madonna, Metallica and Lady Gaga, among others. "- http://www.nordstjernan.com

[Metal Injection] "Back in 2014, it was a kind of metal news that you had purchased a church which caused some confusion. Did that church actually come in handy during the filming of Lords of Chaos?"

[Akerlund] "Unfortunately not. I wish. I still have it in Stockholm and it’s uh… it’s been under r-renovation for a time and it’s…it’s…it’s…it’s uh…yeah, it’s a fun project…."

[MI] "So it’s strictly just a renovation project?"

[Akerlund] "Yeah I mean it’s pretty big I mean and it was bad uh..it was in very bad condition when I bought it so..we been trying to save it and uh um fix it up, yeah.."

If you read the text version of the above Metal Injection interview, the stutters are taken out. But watching the video reveals no less than 10 stutters in Akerlund's short answers above. The part where he says "it's" 4 times is not an exaggeration. Akerlund got very nervous answering these. I was going to spend some time exploring why, but again, digressed too far from the topic. But if I were to write a headline for an article on this topic exclusively, it would probably read something like:

"Former Drummer of Satanic Black Metal Band buys Church, Directs film about Church Burnings"

Last bit of information is in reference to the wife of former Bathory drummer Jonas Akerlund. Bea Akerlund has worked with many of the same artists as her husband, including Lady Gaga and Madonna - but also bands like Ghost - in costume design. If you watch the youtube promotional videos for her Ikea furniture product line, you will find many motifs which are mentioned in books on the topic of mind control, such as the black/white line/checkered theme and Alice in Wonderland references. But what really struck me was this strange pillow in her product line...

When I first looked at this, I saw the word WHORE. I didn't know why, I just saw it for a second. Then I realized it does say BE A WHORE, but in an abstract manner, when the letters are shifted around. Something else that stands out is the fact that when you remove all the letters which spell out "BE A WHORE," what is left are the letters Y-O-U. The fact that the letter W functions both as a W and an E makes this harder to pass off, as all the letters, including the hidden E, can be switched around to exactly spell out YOU BE A WHORE without one single extra letter left out, or added.

I thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me, until I started watching her promotional videos, and on this particular one titled "IKEA + Bea Åkerlund – OMEDELBAR tillfällig kollektion" you can clearly hear that the first thing she says is: BE A WHORE. Now, she can also be heard as saying BEA FOR IKEA. And I am sure that is what people would insist she is saying. But if you pay attention to her phrasing, there are distinct pauses for emphasis before and after the word "whore." Written out, it might look like this: "BE-A....WHORE..." Her voice is also very low and she sounds drugged out and/or sleep deprived to be honest. Turned on even, which is nothing out of the ordinary in advertising. Nonetheless, strange way to advertise furniture I'd say!

From the logical left brain view, it seems like you are being encouraged to think for yourself. "bewhoyouare!" But covertly, it's actually SUGGESTING on how to view yourself, simultaneously to a different part of the brain - using more of an abstract "right brain" delivery method. Just watching this short video almost makes you feel dizzy, certainly designed to be hypnotic.

As stated earlier, this gets into a whole other topic worthy of discussion and research that I simply could not begin to fit into a blog about Bathory. But considering this is the wife of Jonas Akerlund, it does support the idea that both Jonas and Bea are part of a larger intelligence campaign of some sort, which uses entertainment, fashion, and even furniture style to forward their agendas. This agenda may just be about making money, but it may very well be much more than that.

CLICK HERE FOR PART II

CLICK HERE FOR PART I

Here is my latest blog:

The Letter that Shall not be Named

Others I have done...

The Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott Murder
The Chris Cornell Death
Star Wars and the Occult
America: Land of the Plumed Serpent
THE WATCHMEN SERIES