Black Metal Act Defend ‘Trendy’ Corpse Paint

Swedish black metal band Marduk has taken swipe at critics of their corpse paint style, with guitarist Morgan Håkansson saying it's an expression of their 'musical beliefs' in a genre that isn't about image - or even music.

“Corpse paint has always been an important part of the visual side of this band,” Håkansson told Drum Media Perth. “Of course it doesn't affect the music at all but it expresses our attitude and our belief in this music. I don't care that it became trendy and that people started laughing at bands that used corpse paint. To us it's a part of what we offer and we're not going to stop using it because other people think we should.”

Håkansson added, “Having said that, to me black metal isn't about corpse paint, it isn't even about the actual music – it's all about the attitude you bring. We're very proud to play black metal but I know that I've been influenced greatly by traditional heavy metal and a lot of great death metal bands. I remember back in the early '90s a lot of black metal bands didn't want to play with death metal bands. We were never like that and did shows with Suffocation and other death metal bands.”

In spite of the band's appearance, Håkansson believes they stand out by keeping things simple, especially when performing live.

“We keep things as simple as possible on stage, just four guys playing their instruments to the best of their ability. We don't bother with all the effects and other sonic 'bells and whistles' some black metal bands lean on. This means we keep total control over what we do and we are able to offer consistency every time we play because there's a lot less that can go wrong. I find that live we have a unique sort of power – the songs really come alive and often sound even more vicious and visceral than they do on record.”

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