In the last two decades, a bizarre and violent musical subculture called
"Black Metal" has emerged in Norway. Its roots stem from a heady blend
of horror movies, heavy metal music, Satanism, Paganism, and adolescent
angst. In the early-mid 1990s, members of this extremist underground
committed murder, burned down medieval wooden churches, and desecrated
graveyards. What started as juvenile frenzy came to symbolize the start
of a war against Christianity, a return to the worship of the ancient
Norse gods, and the complete rejection of mainstream society.