Elena Bathory

First, for a bit of background, can you tell us about how you got started as a model?

I have always wanted to be a model since I was a kid. As I got older I relaized I wasn’t a candidate for the typical model. I started getting into the alternative scene and came across some modeling pages on myspace for alternative models. I got so excited and started planning out a shoot right away.

You’ve worked with some pretty big bands – Dark Funeral, Skeletonwitch, Verkrag – can you tell us how you managed to hook that up? What’s it like working with bands?

Well, with Dark Funeral I was one of two winners of a merchandise modeling contest for the band. I also won the Devian metal model contest. With Verkrag, Anton, the man behind Verkrag, contacted me on myspace to be a part of his “13 victims” project. I started with Skeletonwitch just by asking them if they would like me to model their merch. I actually was supposed to work with them last year when they shot a music video at this metal bar here in Brooklyn. They had wanted a girl to dance on the bar during their performance and someone contacted me from the bar to do it but I had to work that day. So, I was glad I was eventually able to work with them after missing that opportunity.
It’s great working with bands! I love supporting the metal scene and the bands.

What have been some of your favorite modeling jobs / shoots?

Some of my fave modeling shoots are horror shoots. I love getting all bloody and posing with sharp objects lol. When I shoot horror I can become a completely different person. I can be a psycho killer or a helpless victim. It’s really fun! My fave modeling job of recently has been a beach shoot for an alternative clothing designer, Isabelle Batz, new swimsuit line. It was a chilly day but I had fun and it was exciting.

Do you have any modeling horror-stories?

Hmmm well once I did a rooftop shoot with this photographer who kept talking about how much of a sex addict he was and just talking about things that were inapropriate. As if that would impress me or something lol.

Elena Bathory

How do you think TV shows like America’s Next Top Model have helped, or hindered the modeling industry, in particular the alternative modeling industry?

I think it has helped the modeling industry in a way. That show gave ordinary girls a chance to become actual models, which I think is cool. I just think they should have a similar show for alternative models. They probably will when I’m too old and wrinkly to participate lol.

You shoot nude shots for conceptual art. Can you tell us how you got into that? How do potential clients react to you nude shots? What, in your opinion, separates artwork featuring nude women from pornography?

I got into it very early in my modeling career. My work was seen by a fetish art photographer who wanted to include me in his upcoming book. At that shoot I also shot with another photographer who included me in his book as well. They are called “upskirts, and panties, and girls, oh my” by LC Misfit studios and “Rebound” by David Lawrence, in case anyone wants to check that out;)

Potential clients react well to my nude shots. They see that I am open minded and comfortable with my body and photographers enjoy working with models who are confident about themselves.

What seperates artwork featuring nude women from pornography is, artwork explores the beauty of the naked body and pornography focuses on the act of sex.

You now model full-time. That’s a dream-come-true for many models. Can you tell us how you’ve managed to get to this point?

I don’t really model full time. It’s not like I’m travelling the world and shooting everyday. I would love to travel to places like the UK and do runway shows and stuff. That’s when you know you’re a hugely successful alternative model, when you’ve got jobs on the other side of the world and appearing on the cover of alternative magazines. Hopefully I am on my way there! I have good months and bad months with work. I am working on my own website so hopefully once that’s up I will be noticed more and offered more jobs.

You’ve also recently launched your own clothing line “Metal Vixen Threads”. Tell us a little about how “Metal Vixen Threads” started and what you’ll be doing with the line in future?

I started MVT of October of last year. I just wanted to create a casual line especially made for metal girls that they can wear at concerts or wherever else they want to show off with pride that they are a metal chick. I just added some mens t-shirts too.

Elena

I love your clothing line because I don’t think there’s enough casual fashion out there specifically for metal chicks. Goth chicks yes. Punk chicks, yes. But not metal chicks. Any thoughts on why this is?

They are out there, my line is more casual and laid back than those out there.

As an “alternative” model, you probably deal with some negative reactions when you tell people what you do. How do you cope with doing something for a career many people consider “vulgar” or “satanic” or “weird”?

I really don’t care if others see what I do in that way. If they find it weird or whatever then that just shows me that they are not open minded and can’t appreciate art in all forms.

What advice would you give to anyone else wanting to become a metal model?

Get yourself noticed by bands. Work with as many bands as you can to get noticed.

What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you because of modelling?

The best thing that’s ever happened is making new friends with cool people who support me and my work. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the people I have met along the way.

What is the next step for Elena Bathory?

The next step is my membership website;p There you will be able to see exclusive photos and sets not seen anywhere else plus videos of photo shoots and more. There, fans can also purchase posters and other Elena Bathory merchandise. I will also be working with more metal bands and appearing on a few album covers. I will also be appearing in an upcoming issue of Bizarre magazine as an ultra vixen and some of my photos will be featured in Girls and corpses magazine next month.

What was the first album you ever brought? Your first metal album?

Slayer’s Hell Awaits!

Can you name your top five metal albums?

Hard to narrow it to just five. Hell awaits, Black album, The somberlain, Chaos A.D., Iowa

What bands and albums have you heard recently that have stood out to you?

One band that I can really say have greatly caught my interest is Skeletonwitch. Their new album Breathing the fire is awesome! I have done merch work for them and will be doing more soon:)Another band that I have done merch work for that the music has stood out to me is Wrath Passion. A great Norwegian black metal band. The new Deftones album is good too.

What was your best ever live music experience?

Iron Maiden a few years ago at Madison square garden. I was really far from the stage but it was still awesome!

Who or what inspires you?

Metal inspires me a lot as well as horror movies. As for a person, I really like the alternative model Masumi Max. My fans also inspire me. They make me want to be the best I can so I can give them the best.

Thank you Elena for stopping by to answer some questions. It’s always great seeing metal chicks rocking their own thing. You can find out more about Elena Bathory by becoming her fan on facebook, checking out Elena’s model mayhem page, her Elena Bathory Myspace page, or keeping an eye on her up-and-coming website:

Peace, Love, and Fucking Metal

Setting up for the suspension

Went to see Gen-xx (a stripped-down version of the Genitorturers) at the Transmission Room in Auckland last night. Hell of a show.

Let me clear this up from the onset: I am not a “festish-y” type girl. I don’t like wearing latex or PVC, I’ve never been a big fan of industrial music as something to listen to. I am not exactly … vanilla. More like strawberry ripple, or orange chocolate chip. But I’m definitely not triple dark chocolate with mascapone cherry ganache, sprinkles, and assorted nuts, if you know what I mean. I’ve only been to a couple of these kind of gigs before, and I mostly like going because the crowd are so interesting, and the music is great to dance to.

In between sets, Skindependent put on a couple of suspension shows. Now, for those uninitiated, suspension is where a person with extreme body piercings all over their body has those piercings attached to giant hooks, and they are then hoisted up into the air on a pulley, where they hang by their skin for a little while, before being winched down to earth again. Don’t ask me why you would want to do this – I don’t even have my ears pierced, so I couldn’t tell you. But I watch this guy do one, and it was both fascinating and profoundly disgusting at the same time. Props to him though, for hanging there while everyone watched.

Skindependent suspension

We missed the opening band, but caught NZ industrial doom metallers Cripple Mr Onion’s set. If you asked me to name my favorite NZ band, metal or otherwise, Cripple would be it. Not only do they have a wicked name (which they have Terry Pratchett’s permission to use) they have a unique, dark sound – quite unusual for the NZ metal scene, which is dominated by BROOTAL black metal, and Pantera and Lamb of God sound-a-likes. They’re also the nicest bunch of guys, which goes a long way in my books.

Listen to Cripple Mr. Onion on their myspace page, or wait for this week’s Metal Mixtape …

After Cripple we had to wait around for a long time for Gen XX to start. This wouldn’t be so bad if the Transmission Room had a place for people to sit and hang out, but it doesn’t. After an hour of waiting over half the room was sitting on the concrete floor, and a couple of guys were yelling at the DJ to get the band up.

But when Gen started, boy did she start. Surrounded by beautiful dancers (three local lasses who put on an AMAZING show – Hannah, Leila and Eva, you guys were total stars), Gen ripped through a furious set of older Genitorturers stuff, and songs from her new album and upcoming solo project. I was really bummed about the serious lack of grunty guitar, but the show was so visually enjoyable, raunchy, and fun, it didn’t matter. There’s a few seriously dodgy photos of me and Gen’s 10 inch strap-on floating around on the internet. It’s a good thing I never intended this website to be PG :)

For the finale, the gorgeous Hannah regaled us all with a dance with her fire fans. This girl is seriously talented (I’ve done fire Poi once and kept smacking myself in the arm. I couldn’t imagine swinging these things around AND looking so sexy at the same time!)

A great night out, and I’d recommend the Genitorturers / Gen XX to anyone wanting a fun night out, who doesn’t mind a lot of foul language and having a strap-on penis waved in your face.

Yours, with a 10 inch \m/

Countess Elizabeth Bathory

I admit, I didn’t know much about Elizabeth Bathory (Báthory Erzsébet in the original Hungarian) but the research I’ve been poring over has encouraged me to look further into this case. I’ve not gone into much detail about the scholarly debate here, but suffice it to say Elizabeth’s case is so poorly documented it leaves lots of room for various interpretations.

There are two main schools of thought surrounding the case of Elizabeth Bathory: the “she was a clever, educated women who was a victim of vicious rumors” and “she was a demoness sent from hell who bathed in her victims blood.” With very little historical documentation surviving, and what remains thick with heresay and contrived evidence, the story of Elizabeth Bathory remains shrouded in mystery. (also, it’s quite gruesome, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, don’t read on).

Born in Hungary on 7 August 1560 to noble parents (members of the Bathory family ruled Poland and Transylvania), Elizabeth Bathory was a clever child, educated in politics, science and the arts. She spoke four languages and showed a fondness for astronomy.

According to some scholars, Elizabeth suffered from fits and flights of intense rage. She became pregnant by a peasant at the age of 14, and the family had to take drastic measures to avoid a scandal.

Elizabeth married Nádasdy Ferenc, on 8 May, 1575, when she was 15, at the beautiful palace of Varannó. Elizabeth moved to Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár, where she managed the estates while her husband studied in Vienna and commanded the Hungarian troops. To his new wife, Nádasdy gifted Csejte Castle, in the Little Carpathians, and 17 villages.

Apparently, according to some very tenuous accounts, Elizabeth’s husband also taught her a few great “tricks” including how to freeze a girl to death in winter by pouring cold water over her until it froze and she could not move, or how to torture a girl by covering her in honey and leaving her tied up for bugs to nibble and bees to sting.

Part of Elizabeth’s duties included looking after the peasants and serfs, including providing health care. During the Long War she even organised the defence of her husband’s estates against the Ottoman empire. She aided several destitute women, including women raped and beaten by Ottoman soldiers.

According to some accounts, she was incredibly vain, changing clothes six times a day and spending hours admiring herself in the mirror. She was known throughout the land as a great beauty.

Elizabeth gave birth to six children, four of whom survived past early age. Anna (1585), Katherine (1594) and Paul (1597) and Miklós (unknown). In 1604, Nádasdy died from an injury sustained in battle.

The Crimes, the Rumors, the Blood.

From 1602, rumors started spreading about atrocities in the area. It took eight years for the authorities to take these claims seriously, and in 1610 Juraj Thurzo, the Palatine of Hungary and a relative of Elizabeth, sent two notaries to collect evidence.

The notaries took evidence from over 300 witnesses, including commoners, nobility, priests, and members of Elizabeth Bathory’s household. Witnesses say she had started with the torture and murder of the daughters of local peasants, who’d come to the castle to work, but then moved to daughters of the lesser gentry, who came to her gynaeceum to learn courtly etiquette.

one of Elizabeth Bathory's estates

When asked of the nature of the torture, Elizabeth’s servant Flicko said:

“They tied the hands and arms very tightly with Viennese cord, they were beaten to death until the whole body was black as charcoal and their skin was rent and torn. One girl suffered more than two hundred blows before dying. Dorko [another accomplice and procurer] cut their fingers one by one with shears and then slit the veins with scissors.”

According to witnesses, Elizabeth committed many crimes upon these hapless girls, including:

• severe beatings, administered by Elizabeth herself, who reportedly beat girls about the face “till their bones broke”.
• applying red-hot irons to the soles of girls’ feet.
• mutilation of the face, hands and genitals, including cutting off or splitting open the fingers,
• sexual abuse of the most depraved nature
• placing oily rages between a girls legs and setting them on fire.
• mock “surgury”, including forcing one girl to strip a piece of flesh off her own arm.
• abductions. If girls did not come willingly, they were beaten unconscious and carried to the castle.
• biting off their flesh, sometimes until they died. Witnesses report she would have male servants eat their flesh.
• stabbed with needles and scissors
• freezing to death
• forcing girls into small cages filled with spikes, or tying them up to the walls in the dungeon.
• starvation.

Witnesses also said they saw the Countess having sexual relations with the devil himself “due, in part, to his impressive male organ”.

No one knows the exact number of girls Elizabeth tortured and killed. The notoraries listed 80. King Matthias says he knew of 300. One servant speaks of a book containing over 650 names, written by the Countess herself. (supposedly, diaries of Elizabeth Bathory are kept in the state archives at Budapest, but the translation is difficult because of damage, wretched handwriting, old lauguage and horrific content.)

In December 1610 Thuzro arrested Elizabeth, locked her in the castle and arrested four of her servants. When they searched the palace they found one girl dead – her hands burnt and her breasts bitten off, and bones, body parts and personal effects from missing girls. A more thorough investigation threw up more bodies – many with no eyes or arms. They found one girl burned in the fireplace, and more in shallow graves around the castle. Thuzro claimed he “saw no orgies” but, as a relative, he might have been attempting to salvage some dignity.

King Matthias wanted Elizabeth brought to trial, but Thuzro and other family members convinced him against this. Scholars debate his reasons for this: some suggest he realised the negative effect executing a member of such an influential family (who ruled transylvania at the time). Others believe he was under Elizabeth’s spell.

Her servants were not so lucky. The trial in 1611 found all three servants – Dorka, Ilona Jo and Flicka - guilty, and sentanced them to death. Ilona Jo – Elizabeth’s childhood nurse – admitted to killing about 50 girls. She said:

“she had applied red-hot pokers from the fire, shoving them into the mouth of some hapless girl, or up her nose. The mistress herself, she testified, had placed her fingers into the mouth of one girl and pulled hard until the sides split open. She had also stabbed them all over with needles, making them bleed, or had torn open their flesh with sharp pincers. She liked to slit open the skin between their fingers.”

Dorka and Ilona had their fingernails ripped out before they were thrown on a fire, and Flicka was beheaded before he joined them on the flames.

Elizabeth was never tried or convicted, and maintained her innocence, claiming the girls had died of various natural causes. In 1610 she was bricked into a suite of small rooms at Csejte Castle, where she lived in solitude until her death in 1614.

Erzsebet Bathory (painting by Wild)

Legend has it that when they tore down the wall to retrieve her body, they found a brief document to the effect that before her imprisonment she had invoked a dark ritual to send 99 cats to tear out the hearts of her accusers and judges. The priest, who read it, recalled the many cats they had seen that night when they entered the castle.

Some scholars debate the validity of the case and court records. Many of the testemonies sound invented – like her consort with the devil – and based on heresay and peasant myths. Many would have been drawn from witnesses under torture. Some scholars believe the entire case was a conspiracy theory aimed at deposing the powerful bathory family.

Her family buried her in the church of Csejte, the villagers’ revolted over having “The Tigress of Csejte” buried in their cemetery, so they moved her body to her birth home at Ecsed, where she lies in the Báthory family crypt.

Elizabeth’s story inspired tales of terror from the 17th century to this day. The first account of her case, written in 1744 by a catholic priest, included details of witchcraft, vampirism and occult rituals, because at the time, the Catholic church was “discovering” and executing witches, vampires and warewolves. The legend of her bathing in their blood seems to have been created in the 18th century, as part of a tale warning against vanity. The text (translated) reads:

“Elizabeth was wont to dress well in order to please her husband, and she spent half the day over her toilet. On one occasion, a lady’s-maid saw something wrong in her head-dress, and as a recompense for observing it, received such a severe box on the ears that the blood gushed from her nose, and spurted on to her mistress’s face. When the blood drops were washed off her face, her skin appeared much more beautiful—whiter and more transparent on the spots where the blood had been. Elizabeth formed the resolution to bathe her face and her whole body in human blood so as to enhance her beauty.” Her servants would catch the blood in a tub so that Erzsébet could bathe at the hour of four in the morning. After the bath she appeared more beautiful than before.”

Further Reading:

• Craft, Kimberly (2009). Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory.
• Penrose, Valentine (trans. Alexander Trocchi) (2006). The Bloody Countess: Atrocities of Erzsébet Báthory. Solar Books
• Farin, Michael (2003). Heroine des Grauens. Elisabeth Báthory. Munich: P. Kirchheim

If Elizabeth Bathory was alive today she would …

• Be BFF’s with Anne Rice, and they would meet for coffee and cupcakes and natter about boys.
• Speak fluent Elvish
• Marry Dani Filth

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this week’s installment of Metal History.

Blood milkshakes and strawberry cupcakes \m/
Steff Metal

Nightwish – The Poet and The Pendulam

I’ll come right out and say this, and you can all shoot me if you want. I’ve never been a big Nightwish fan – it always seemed a bit “poppy” for me, as thought Tarja’s vocals overwhelmed the music which “accompanied” them. Bow Tarja is gone, and Nightwish have Annette, whose vocal style lends more to rock than opera, and this is what they sound like. I adore this song, all ten minutes of it, and it’s the perfect epic song to begin our girl power mixtape.

Epica – “Never Enough”

A Dutch symphonic metal band – they incorporate elements of black metal in some songs. I found, on first listen, some of their songs seemed a bit “choppy” – a series of elements shoved together without any cohesive theme, but when you listen to them again, and again, you notice the subtle shifts and changes and themes, and you realize how good they really are. Simone Simmons – arguably the hottest woman singing in metal – and the stunning Epica. I saw these guys live at Wacken and … wow. I will be seeing them again.

Amanda Palmer – “Oasis”

From her solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, the song “Oasis”, which cracks me up. WARNING: this video contains offhand references to rape, molestation, abortion, crack whores, fundementalist Christiams, and Blur *shudder*. But seriously – hilarious!

Arch Enemy – “Carry the Cross”

This is a death metal song for EVERYONE who doesn’t think they’d like death metal. Yes, that means you. I’ve had the pleasure of being front row centre when these guys played at Bloodstock, and … I’m a fan for life.

Lacuna Coil “Our Truth”

Italian metallers Lacuna Coil are staples on the “female-fronted, mid-tempo, power-metal” circuit. I’ve never been a HUGE fan of these guys, due to the way the music seems to sit back, allowing the vocals to take centre stage. (I normally prefer the music from my metal bands to smash me in the face) but this song I like. Christian Scabbia – aside from being gorgeous – can really sing.

And, it goes OFF Live, as evidenced in this Wacken 2009 video (I was here!)

Within Temptation – “Ice Queen”

From Holland, Within Temptation play gothic-rock music in the style of Evanescence, but better. WAY better. I’ve chosen “Ice Queen” from Within Temptation’s best album Mother Earth.

Bik Naked – “I Love Myself Today”

From 2001′s Purge, this is Bif Naked at her rocking, ass-kicking finest. Canadian-American Miss Naked has been on my stereo for about ten years, and she’s also a noted poet, songwriter and actress. I’ve just discovered Bif released a new album in 2009, which I shall have to find.

Opera IX – “Dead from the Grave”

a little Italiam black metal, to finish. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart.

I have missed LOTS of amazing female-fronted metal (and non-metal) bands. Tell me your favorites in the comments!

Steff

Ew, my stockings are falling down a bit. I need to get some garters.

• Black lace dress with lace tail. (Smoove, on sale for 50%)
• Black leather bustier (21st birthday present from a big group of friends. One day I will tell the amusing story of how we found this corset.) It’s beautiful and very unique – I think it’s been handmade. It’s lots of little scrappy squares of leather sewn together into the bustier. There’s no boning so I won’t call it a “corset” but the stiffness of the leather gives it a nice shape.
• Red ribbed thigh-high socks, from Sock Dreams (present from wonderful Mum and Dad Metal.) They’re so lovely and warm
• Steel-cap NZ-Safety boots
• Orange scarf, gift from Mum Metal, from Australia (not many of you would know this, but orange is actually my favorite colour. Or would be, if I could see colours.)

I have a tail!

Orange Scarf

I’ve seen Amanda Palmer before, when she came with the Dresdon Dolls in 2006, I think it was. They were most excellent then, but now, she’s incredible. Ten minutes before Hera, the opening act, was to start, she came out into the bar to give out hugs and sign stuff. I got me a hug, and one of my postcards signed. She’s tiny, and lovely. I went by my lonesome, but met up with my friend Levi and some of his friends, Max from the good ole Hawke’s Bay, sporting some fine steampunkey threads, Vince and Louisa (hi guys!) who were all very lovely. I squeezed my way to the front for the show.

Everyone’s jostling to get the three inches closer to the front of the stage, the lights dim, and nothing happens. Suddenly, everyone turns around. Amanda’s on top of the bar, dressed in a corset and star-spangled stockings, singing “he’s making whoopie” and strumming her Ukelele. She saunters up to the stage, sits down at the keyboard and hits a dramatic first note. Nothing happens. Que soundman – who manages to make the keyboard work. She opens with two songs from her solo project, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? – “Ampersand” and “Astronaut”.

Amanda Palmer

If you go to an Amanda Palmer show, you can’t expect to just stand there, arms folded, and watch. It’s an entire performance experience. You, as the audience, collectively create the experience. She encourages this. One of the first thing she said when she saw two of the girls in front of me trying to take photos of the setlist (why? I don’t know) was “Don’t worry about that. I don’t use it anyway. I normally just ask what you guys want to hear. I want you to tell me “.

Next, we had “Ask Amanda” where we all wrote questions down on scraps of paper and passed them onto the stage. The first one she pulled out wanted her to tell us about the first song she ever wrote. We asked her to play it: Herein follows the delightful video evidence (poor Amanda.)

She then performed an Exorcism on the first Twilight book.

Twilight Exorcism

What did we have next? More song requests: “Oasis”, “Half Jack”, “Coin-Operated Boy”, a brilliant cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” (it has to be good for me to say this because I’ve never liked Michael Jackson songs. Don’t shoot me – it’s just not my thing). Then she played the song she wrote in Wellington, NZ, backstage during her last tour. I have a video of that, too.

10 Reasons Why Amanda Palmer is awesome

1. She’s a testament the power you have to touch people’s lives with music, especially when you reach out to fans over and above simply writing and releasing songs.
2. She’s a shining example of how an effective use of blogging and social media can grow your business and totally change your career
3. When she performs, she gives it everything she’s got. I’ve seen bands who “go through the motions” but when she plays, you feel as though you’re hearing this song as she writes it, with all the emotion dripping from her voice
4. She is clueless about pop culture
5. She’s beautiful, inside and out
6. She writes crazy, wild music about life in all it’s glory, beauty and folly
7. She loves Black Sabbath
8. She’s brutally honest and completely open
9. She creates am incredible live atmosphere because of her devotion to creating the show YOU want to see. Her shows are more a conversation between herself and the audience. I believe they call it “breaching the wall”. I wish more bands would embrace this – I’ve only seen one metal band do this, and that was Opeth.
10. She’s engaged to Neil Gaimen, which shows us all she has impeccable taste.

So yeah, I had a good night. How did you spend St. Patrick’s Day?

Steff

Italian growler Cadaveria

It’s a long-held belief among self-righteous metalheads that girls can’t do extreme metal. Extreme Metal is probably the most aggressive, angry, violent form of music there is, and every study ascertains its audience as overwhelmingly male. There’s a kind of “lost boys club” surrounding extreme metal, a sort of grymm forest treehouse with a badly handwritten sign on the door: NO GIRLS ALLOWED.

But is this assumption true? Can girls growl, scream, grunt, rasp and shriek as well as you blokes?

It’s a good question, and one I attempt to answer in my post No Clean Chicks Singing, which is up at No Clean Singing, if you care to have a read.

I’ve been investigating underground female-fronted extreme metal for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve found some wicked new bands. You can hear a few over at No Clean Singing, or wait for the upcoming Metal Mistape.

Goats Cheese and Satan’s Knees \m/
Steff

Move along weary adventurer, nothing to read here. You’ll be travelling through the ether to find today’s post.

If you’ve been curious on my thoughts on post-apocalyptic fashion, pop over to Wicked-Whimsy where I talk to the always awesome Michelle (she of the wicked hair) about Apocalypse Ladies: Dressing for the End of the World.

It seems horribly clich’ed, but I’m not a Valentine’s Day fan. It seems like such a fake, commercial “holiday”. There’s no real “holiday” aspect to it. You don’t relax on the beach, or curl up on the couch with a good book, or hang out with friends. You buy some tacky teddy bear with a heart balloon and hope you’re gonna get laid.

The origins of Valentines Day are lost in the ages. No one even knows if it’s related to Valentine. It’s likely our modern traditions derive from the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. When the Romans were Christianised, they transformed all their pagan holidays into church-sanctioned parties. In 496 AD the Pope declared Lupercalia the feast of St. Valentine, who had performed secret marriage services during their reign of Claudius II and was executed for this <>. Claudius ruled during a great period of strife and believed marriage made his soldiers weak.

In medieval France and England (thanks Chaucer) St. Valentines Day came to be associated with romance. The church tried to bring the holiday back to sacred pursuits, but it’s popularity as a day for courtship and romance grew. In the Middle Ages, handmade cards and gifts were exchanged between lovers, and this practise moved with the expansion of the empire until it reached the Americas, where the first commercial Valentines cards were printed in the 1840s.

I think, as always, the church takes these things far too seriously, and Valentines Day, if you choose to celebrate it, should be a day of fun and frivolity. But there’s so much pressure now: “how many Valentines did you get?” “What did YOUR husband do?”, “Don’t worry, I’m sure SOMEONE will give you a Valentine” that Valentines Day just isn’t any fun. And more and more people boycott this holiday, including us.

CDH said once “I’m not participating in a gift grab designed to make insecure women feel special. My job is to make you feel special every day of the year.” And it’s true, and I agree with him, and he does.

I tried to find a picture of a metal valentine, but these guys kept coming up instead. Aren't they ... well sculpted?

But not everyone agrees with me and I don’t see the harm in a retail-mandated excuse to indulge your beloved. As a lady easily swayed by romantic notions (although my idea of romance differs considerably from that of the “average” female) I offer some tips to my male readers on romantic gestures for your metalhead missus, for Valentines Day, or any day.

1. Instead of buying her sexy lingerie, find her a limited-edition Pestilence vinyl.

2. Instead of saying “I love you,” throw her the goat. (bonus points if it’s a real goat).

3. Forgo sappy flowers. She’d much prefer a deadly nightshade plant.

4. Instead of a heart-shaped necklace, present her with a Thor’s Hammer on a leather thong.

5. Instead of buying her heart-shaped chocolates, cook her steak, eggs and chips.

6. Instead of taking her out to dinner and a movie, rent a bunch of cheesy b-grade horror films and pop a giant tub of popcorn.

7. Instead of serenading her at her window, let her choose the songs in the car stereo.

8. Instead of scattering rose petals around the house, paint the walls with inverted crosses and pentegrams.

9. Instead of ringing the local radio station to dedicate a cheesy ballad to her, dedicate a song to her at your next gig. Bonus points if it’s Manowar’s “Pleasure Slave”.

10. Instead of a romantic picnic beside a babbling steam, go see a Deicide concert. 

Do you have any more ideas for metal alternatives to valentines traditions?

Steff

Born in the early 90s of a disgust at the emerging death metal scene in Europe, and a general disgust at middle-class, conservative Christian Norway, black metal emerged as a rasp of defiance. The first wave bands like Bathory and Celtic Frost cemented the music style, while the second wave – the infamous Black Circle bands like Mayhem, Burzum and Dark Funeral – created the black metal mythos. Crimes were committed, churches were burnt, band members were murdered and their brains turned into milkshakes. Misanthropic music was written, and it all sort of died down a bit after Varg Vikernes was ushered off to jail.

Black Metal exists today as the most underground and difficult-to-get-into sub-genre of metal. The screeching vocals, demoniac blast beats and lo-budget, static-infused production make it probably the most difficult music in the world to appreciate – it’s almost anti-music, a black fuzz of angst and anger, hatred and loathing. Most black metal albums are senseless noise, but sometimes, it’s magic. Dark magic, evil magic, but beautiful nonetheless.

And black metal, like every sub-genre of metal, has it’s own fashion. At any festival, you can pick the black metallers out by their surly expressions and t-shirts featuring unreadable names of bands you’ve never heard of. They’re the dudes with runic tattoos poring through the $2 vinyl boxes, looking for those obscure records of misanthropic gold. They’re the last of the Great Hunt, the demons of the night, the metalheads of your nightmares.

Clothing

The kreigest black metallers know that, like the music they so love, tr00 black metal attire must come from Scandenavia. So when you shop for black metal attire, you should look first to the underground boutiques of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. However, when buying from these sources, be wary, the kvlt kreig tr00 scandenavian look does not come cheap!

The first fashion item for any discerning black metaller is a pair of tight jeans in the darkest, grymmest hue of black. Acne, Cheap Monday and Anti-Sweden jeans make black jeans specifically tailored for the black metaller’s waifish, undernourished physique. And they’re all from Norway or Sweden, for additional scene points.

Next, you’ll probably want a t-shirt. Like most metalheads, the best black metal t-shirts are band t-shirts, the more unpronouncable the name and more unreadable the logo, the better.

If you can’t find a band tee suitably indecipherable, your next best buy is a standard satan shirt. You can find these at Infidel Concepts (warning, Australian company, NOT Norwegian), Satan Shop or Turbowolf. I wrote a post last year about shopping for satanic shirts, which also has some great shops to try.

Also, tees with runic designs and pagan symbols work well, too. Steer away from cheery, pot-bellied Vikings, however.

Remember, black metal is not a fashion that accepts color. There is black clothing with white designs, and white clothing with black designs. That is final.

To prevent wrinkling, wash your clothing in virgin’s blood.

Accessories

To dress up your brootal outfit for a night on the town, you should start with a belt or twenty. Spiked and bullet belts make great accessories, the spikier the better. Wear them around your waist or cross them over your chest.

Spiked or rune-adorned gauntlets encircle your wrists, and a chain. Upside-down crosses, pentegrams, runes and other pagan symbols adorn the neck. A black metaller is never without his or her trusty Thor’s Hammer or pentegram necklace. My favorites come from Wulflund in the Czech Republic. These are replicas of archaeological finds. You can slo find Thors Hammers and other pagan / satanic pendants at Little Devil Designs, WodansWolf and Vermorlian Magick Shoppe.

To carry around your church-burning kit, Broake and Thumb designs offer Thor’s Hammer messanger bags.

fur and feathers give a naturalistic, Dark Ages feel to any black metal outfit. Ravens were the messengers of Odin, and the carrian harbringers of doom, so black raven feathers obviously the kreigest of them all. Pluck them from a live raven for maximum kreig factor, and string on a low necklace or sew around the edge of a black skirt.

For even krieger outfits, carry a weapon, like a sword or axe or mace. Add spikes to it. The more spikes, the more black metal scene points you earn.

Makeup

No article about black metal fashion would be complete without a discussion about Corpsepaint. To perfect a corpsepaint look, paint your whole face white and add black (or VERY OCCASIONALLY red) details, around your eyes and mouths. The style mimics the face paintings of the Norse Oskorei.

Most black metal musicians have a specific corpsepaint “look”, which seldom changes. With a little experimenting you can perfect your own black metal “look”.

See this tutorial on how to apply corpsepaint.

It will take a bit of experimenting to find the perfect white paint. Black Metal legends Behemoth recoomend Kryolan Supracolour Cream Makeup, which is professional theatre makeup. Others suggest using ordinary acrylic paints instead of makeup. Just make sure it’s non-toxic, first!

For some great examples of corpse paint, see rate my corpsepaint, which is my new favorite makes me giggle website.

Style Icons

Resources:

Black Metal Fashion Show

Ann-Sophie Back – Swedish avant-garde designer and lover of black metal.

Anti-Sweden Jeans: Made in Oslo, Norway. The tr00est, kvltest black metal jeans you ever could find. Exchange an old pair of jeans made in Sweden and get your Anti-Sweden jeans for NOK$666. Brootal.

Cheap Monkey: Swedish purveyors of fine black metal jeans.

Rakk and Ruin: jewellery and accessories for the black metal babe.

Wulflund – swords, jewelry, clothing, helmets and misc. from my fave Czech Republic historical shop. For all your Thor’s hammer and guantlet needs.

This was actually one of the most fun articles to write so far. Please let me know what you think, and if you know of any great black metal designers, shops and accessories.

Stay Grymm \m/
Steff

And far from looking menacing and dangerous, the bands prefer to prance around the stage dressed as bards, minstrels and courtly princes. Power metal’s themes more closely resemble courtly love and chivalric poetry than any crude odes to the battle gods.

Rhapsody of Fire wearing their renaissance-inspired finery

Power metal fans and musicians are geeks at heart – lovers of Sci Fi/Fantasy novels, computer games, and progressive, technically brilliant music. Of all the metal genres, power metal is the one most likely to be adopted by the mainstream, for the simple reason that the music, the bands and the fashion is accessible and inoffensive, unless you’re particularly offended by dragons. Look at the popularity of Dragonforce – do you see my point?

Dressing power metal means taking inspiration from the land of geekdom. The power metal fashion could also be called “Lord of the Rings” fashion. Natural materials like leather and cotton embrace the pseudo-medievalism of the music, and amulets and alchemic symbolism add to the “magical” aspects. While maiming and murdering the enemy do not feature prominently in power metal lyrics, musicians often carry a sword on their hip.

Power Metal Fashion

The central mainstay of power metal fashion (for guys and gals) is a pair of tight leather pants, in either black or brown. Leather is very medieval, and it shows off your manly (or womanly) curves.

rouched leather leggings from Behrle Leather NYC

Leather panel leggings from Blackmarket Baby

A pair of decent, form-fitting leather pants will set you back hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. If you’re a metalhead on a budget, you could look for faux-leather leggings and trousers for a fraction of the price. You’re also not endorsing the animal-clothing industry, if you happen to care about that.

Fortunately, because people we’ve never heard of (like Rhianna) have been wearing leather leggings recently, these babies are back in style, and you should be able to pick up a flattering pair off the high street.

If you’re more of a skirt kind of girl, you want to find longish, flowing, medieval-style skirts in dark colours – black, brown, red, purple or blue. I’m especially fond of wearing below-the-knee bias cut skirts with a pair of sexy boots. Take inspiration from medieval / renaissance styles rather than dressing like you’ve arrived on horseback from a LARPing event.

handkerchief skirt, comes in many colours, from Sisters of the Moon

medieval-style skirt, from Metal Star

Over your leather pants you need a flattering, puffy-sleeved shirt, preferably without buttons. Buttons are post-medieval, and therefore not kreig. You can find these skirts at any medieval-re-enactment shop. Avoid polyester and satin – they just look ick.

Ladies, don’t layer a pheasant shirt over your long skirt – as a general rule, an item of loose clothing needs to be balanced with a form-fitting garment, or else your figure swims away in an ocean of black fabric. Find a corset or bustier top to complement your skirt, and you’re on your way to being a power-metal goddess.

Accessories

Your accessories should be understand (for metal, which means not understated at all) and carry an auro of “magic”. Look for medieval-inspired pieces, especially those covered with esoteric symbols, or look like something worn by a character in Lord of the Rings.

Leaf-patterned belt from Buckleman

Belts should be leather with large metal buckles. Studded belts look great, but spikes are out – you don’t want to look like a dungeon-master. The chick from Battlelore wears several thin strings of metal chain around her waist – they look kick ass!

Jewellery should always be large and made of metal and leather, because dammit, this IS heavy metal. Crucifixes (not upside down), alchemic and magikal symbols, dragons, swords and daggers make excellent necklaces, earrings, amulets and charms. Diadems, circlets and headpieces are not out-of-place.

medallian and chain maille, from Chrissy Gemmel

Inspiration

Liv Kristine, Leaves Eyes

Simone Simons, Epica

Sharon den Adel, Within Temptation

Within Temptation

Blind Guardian

Shopping

• Blackmarket Baby
• Sisters of the Moon
• Behrle Leather NYC
• Buckleman

If power metal isn’t your genre of choice, never fear! I’ll be covering all the different metal genres in upcoming articles. See you again soon!

Super Snuggles and Shoggoth kisses
Steff