Attacks spark hunt for Satanists

June 18 2007 at 03:56PM

Brest - Police in western France were on Monday hunting a group of Satanists who they believe are responsible for burning down a 16th century chapel at the weekend as well as a series of attacks on other Christian sites.

The Chapel of the Cross at Loqueffret near the remote tip of Brittany was gutted in Saturday’s blaze, which left just the four walls standing. Several original polychrome statues were also destroyed.

Police on Monday said that the doors of the chapel had been forced and the letters ABM sprayed on the walls.

The same graffiti was found at eight other Christian shrines - six roadside granite crosses and two fountains - which were torn down or smashed last month in an area of the Finistere department near the popular holiday resorts of Benodet and Concarneau.

The letters are believed to signify Aryan Black Metal, a Satanist movement which has links to heavy metal music, paganism and far-right politics.

“This area was heavily influenced by druidism, and many Christian sites were built on places sacred to the old religion. Maybe certain people want to return them to their roots. That’s one theory we are working on,” said gendarme Philippe Davadie, one of a 15-member team investigating the attacks.

In a similar series of incidents in early 2006, a chapel was destroyed in the neighbouring Morbihan department. However police subsequently arrested a couple who admitted responsibility.

Like many of the thousands of Christian sites in western Brittany, the Loquefrett chapel was in a remote setting - in a wood outside the village in the Arree hills. A sum of 300 000 euros ($400 000) had just been raised to have the listed building renovated.

“This is a bolt from the blue. Now we are going to have start from scratch,” said village mayor Jean-Claude Albert.

“There are so many shrines that it is impossible for us to keep watch on them all. In the old days the priests lived next to the chapels and knew everything that was going on. But nowadays there are so few priests that many places are left unattended,” said Davadie. - AFP

Deathspell Omega (France) - “Kenose III”

Obscurus Advocam (France) - “To the Bone”

Loincloth - “Church Burntings”

Don’t say the Deciblog never gave you anything. Peanut Butter Wolf’s 666 Mix is a one-take live recording of P.B. Wolf’s practice for his 6/6/06 DJ set. In 66 minutes and six seconds, Wolf mixes Sabbath, Death, Venom, Sepultura, Wendy Carlos, Queensryche, Iron Monkey, Satyricon, Skinny Puppy, Cannibal Corpse and more. Originally out as a free podcast, briefly available as a CD from Stones Throw, free online again from your pals at Decibel. Trust me, it’s 100% worth the download.

Peanut Butter Wolf - 666 Mix

Josh Scogin of The Chariot is down with J.C. and Behemoth, takes great care not to offend anyone and still feels guilty about this one time in Nashville when he was in a foul mood and didn’t give his fans their money’s worth. That’s just the kind of guy he is, though you might not guess it from the throat-lacerating vocals on the quintet’s new album The Fiancee. Scogin has obviously learned a thing or two from watching Jacob Bannon; there’s nothing as amazing as, say, “Concubine” on this record, but then again, it’s pretty refreshing to find a metalcore act that’s this good-natured. Turns out that even Scogin’s sensitive side has a sensitive side; he occassionally posts weepy acoustic tracks on his own MySpace page under the alias A Rose By Any Other Name. Up now: “I Sing a Lot.” Ryan Adams has gotta be way jealous he didn’t think of that title first.

It’s not quite on the level of the Disgorge debacle (in which bands from the US, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Australia, Sweden and even Liechtenstein all decided to name themselves Disgorge at various times), but today we were faced with dueling Nightbringers. First up is Nightbringer from Ann Arbor, MI, who are kind enough to offer their demo as a free download, and are pretty good at the Poison Idea/Japanese hardcore/rock ‘n’ roll thing.

From Colorado, the other Nightbringer claim to play “Dark, Scathing Occult Black Metal of a Higher Caliber,” but you can download “Vir Sapiens Dominitabur Astris” and decide for yourself. Nightbringer CO also organize the annual Gathering of Shadows black metal fest, taking place “under the night sky deep within the Rocky Mountains” and invite-only. Now that’s elite!

By Tony Foresta, Municipal Waste.

Propaghandi
Less Talk, More Rock
Fat Wreck Chords
I still listen to this album once a week, and it was released in 1996. The songs are so fast, catchy and pissed-off that you just can’t help but rock the hell out to it. Serious and political lyrics, but they also have a sense of humor, which I think is much needed with a lot of political bands. They also have a pretty big metal influence in their sound. These guys are still putting out great records and their style changes with each album.

Screeching Weasel
Kill the Musicians
Asian Man Records
Ever wonder why at least two of your friends have the ugly-ass Screeching Weasel logo tattooed on them? Well, it’s because they’re the greatest band ever, thats why! It was really hard for me to pick the best album because I love certain things about every one of them—it’s kind of like picking your favorite kid. I chose this album because it is kind of a collection
of their hard to find stuff and it has a couple of really good Ramones covers on it. It also has some songs from their “Punkhouse” 7-inch, which are some of their best songs.

Malignus Youth
Holy shit this band is amazing, but their music is so freaking difficult to find. It took me almost a year to get a damn CD-R of their songs. The only record I have of theirs now is their first 7-inch. Imagine if 7 Seconds had blast beats, with extremely fast yet catchy vocals and a bass player who rivals Matt Freeman from Rancid. It blew my mind the first time I heard them. Please do yourself a favor and hunt their music down, then buy me a beer the next time you see me for hooking you up.

Pink Razors
Waiting to Wash Up
Robotic Empire
I wanted to add this newer Richmond band in here because I think these guys are really bringing back what pop-punk should be. Despite possibly the worst album cover/layout of all time, these guys have some of the best songs I’ve heard in years and their new stuff keeps getting better. I’m really looking forward to another full length from these dudes.

Decibel’s Nick Terry was fairly kind to Big Business in his review of the duo’s second album Here Come the Waterworks, but I didn’t really get it until, like, the 15th time I spun “Grounds for Divorce” and remembered how historically funny bassist Jared Warren has been as a lyricist. But I haven’t come to praise Big Business or bury ‘em; they’ve just been added to take over for Melt-Banana as openers on this summer’s Tool tour, so they don’t really need our help. Then, of course, there’s the whole Warren and drummer Coady Willis being assimilated into the Melvins thing with A Senile Animal, which is really only surprising if you haven’t spent any time with Warren’s former group Karp.

Aside from the Melvins circa Bullhead-Lysol-Eggnog EP, Karp was pretty much the heaviest thing going in the Pacific Northwest in the early ’90s.  All three of the group’s full-length records have aged reasonably well and are available for mere pennies on the dollar through your second-hand outlet of choice - find yourself a copy of the 2001 b-sides/singles collection Action Chemistry for an even better overview. Karp was also the oddest act on K Records roster; being on a label known for twee (Beat Happening, Tallulah Gosh, Heavenly) and queer-positive artists kept the dudes firmly under the radar. But anyway: Big Business is basically just an extension of Warren’s punishing turns in Karp and the short-lived, but brilliant (and also highly recommended) trio The Whip. Check out Warren and his tight bros melting faces in a full 30 minute set at an Alabama college radio station circa ‘96. Hot damn.

DUCK STAB ARE FUCKING DEAD. They announced: “Duck Stab’s not pinin’, it’s passed on! This band is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late band. It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed them to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies! It’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-band!” So download their third demo while the site is still active!

Felt Tip Pens and I’m Anyone’s

I Wanna Talk to Samson
As Long as We Shout the Loudest
Mechacoyzilla Versus Corporate Rap
You Don’t Like How I’m Living Well Fuck You

First in a series of bands that are not metal, but are totally metal. Per Wikipedia:

Following the somewhat unexpected success of this album, Negativland faced the prospect of going on a money-losing tour. To prevent this, they put together a phony press release. It claimed that the acts of a mass-murderer named David Brom had actually been incited by their song “Christianity is Stupid.” The song contained samples deriding Christianity taken from the pro-Christianity film, If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?.

The resulting fallout and media frenzy, based on the hoax by Negativland, had the effect of pointing out the herd mentality of the mass media. Though the press release was completely unsubstantiated by any facts, the lurid combination of murder, religion, and “rock” music proved too tempting for the media to ignore. The story ran on TV news shows, newspapers, and magazines, with little to no fact-checking. Soon the world was informed of the “Killer Song” that caused a kid to murder his parents with an ax.

The scandal became the foundation for their next release, Helter Stupid, which featured a cover photo of a TV news “journalist” intoning the fake ax murder story, with the news station’s caption “Killer Song” above his head, and a photo of the ax-murderer.