Church Burning
<p><i><b>via </b></i><b><i>"Top 10 Worst Crimes Committed by Black Metal Musicians"</i></b> (By Graham "Gruhamed" Hartmann)
"Black metal and church burnings are like peanut butter and jelly. They've become so synonymous with each other that the most casual of discussions about the genre will rarely go without a mention of anti-religious arson. Musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene alone, took part in over 50 arsons of Christian churches from 1992 to 1996.
Burzum mastermind Varg Vikernes was convicted of four church burnings, including that of the Fantoft Stave Church, an eleventh-century national landmark whose loss galvanized Norwegians. He later used a picture of the burned church for the cover of his EP <em>Aske. </em>(English translation: <em>Ash</em>)
Samoth, guitarist of <strong>Emperor</strong>, was sentenced to sixteen months in jail after being convicted of church arson in Norway. Jørn Inge Tunsberg, guitarist of <strong>Hades</strong> (now <strong>Hades Almighty</strong>), was also convicted for burning down a church in Åsane, Norway, and spent two years in prison.
Faust, drummer of Emperor, traveled to Holmenkollen Chapel with Euronymous of <strong>Mayhem</strong> and Varg Vikernes of Burzum with the intension of bombing the chapel. When the homemade bomb they put on the altar refused to detonate, they soaked hymnals and Bibles in gasoline and lit them on the altar, burning the church to the ground.
Church burnings have been praised by many black metal musicians, perhaps most famously by Gaahl of <strong>Gorgoroth </strong>during an interview with Sam Dunn in the documentary, <em>Metal: A Headbanger's Journey</em>, stating:</p>
<blockquote >"Church burnings and all these things are, of course, things that I support 100 percent and it should have been done much more and will be done much more in the future. We have to remove every trace from what Christianity and the Semitic roots have to offer this world.""</blockquote>
<p>source: <a href="http://www.metalinjection.net/lists/top-10-crimes-committed-black-metal-musicians">http://www.metalinjection.net/lists/top-10-crimes-committed-black-metal-musicians</a></p>
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<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria">Gematria</a> numerical values of the relevant words corroborates the Black Metal connection/resonance to Church Burning and also underscores how much black metal is truly a cult:</p>
<p>
Black Metal = <b>1140</b> (Reverse English Sumerian)
Aleister Crowley = <b>1140</b> (English Sumerian)</p>
<p>
Black Metal = <b>480</b> (English Sumerian)
Church Burning = <b>48</b> (Chaldean) & <b>408</b> (Reverse Franc Baconis)
Freemason = <b>48</b> (Reverse Full Reduction)</p>
<p>
Black Metal = <b>26</b> (Full Reduction ) & <b>21</b> (Jewish Reduction)
Saturn = <b>26</b> (Septenary) & <b>21</b> (Chaldean)</p>
<p>
Church Burning = <b>56</b> (Septenary)
Cult = <b>56</b> (ALW Kabbalah)</p>
<p>
Not to mention that many black metal fans refer to black metal as "true cult black metal".</p>
<p>
True Cult Black Metal = <b>56</b> (Full Reduction)
Church of Satan = <b>56</b> (Full Reduction)</p>