When the Norwegian singer Gaahl on February 1, 2004 with his band Gorgoroth performed in Kraków, blood flowed. It should have been eighty liters. In addition, the black metal band provoked their audience with impaled sheep heads and two naked women and two men hanging on crosses. If you then read that Gaahl alias Kristian Eivind Espedal approved of the burning down of churches in interviews and has been imprisoned twice for assault, the image of the black metal bad boy seems perfect. But there’s also Gaahl the painter, who has his own gallery in Bergen and was involved in a women’s clothing collection. Gaahl, the vegetarian and wine connoisseur. And Gaahl, the homosexual who was named “Gay of the Year” at the “Bergen Gay Galla” in 2010.
As one of the few well-known homosexuals, the 47-year-old has been a role model for many musicians and fans in the black and extreme metal scene ever since. And without a doubt, he’s one of her most colorful and contradictory characters. On October 24th, the Norwegian will be in Munich’s Backstage Hall with his current project Gaahl’s Wyrd to guest. The quartet has been around since 2015. In addition to the singer, guitarist Lust Kilman (Ole Walaunet), bassist Eld (Frode Kilvik) and drummer Spektre (Kevin Kvåle) are there. Like Gorgoroth, the music is dark. There are hard, shimmering guitars and thundering blast beats. But there are also quiet, very atmospheric moments. Gaahl’s singing is dark and murmuring, but there is hardly any shouting.
Gaahls Wyrd’s debut album “GastiR – Ghosts Invited” was released in 2019 and was voted Metal Album of the Year in Norway. The 5-track EP “The Humming Mountain“. The content is about the vibrations of creation. And about Nordic myths, such as that of the witch who feeds on salty ice. That’s where the “Nordic shaman” comes through, as Gaahl already called himself in Gorgoroth times. On the other hand, he was never a Satanist, and if at all, “Satan” is just another word for “freedom”. In black metal, individuality and truth are the highest good. And so he never made a secret of his sexual orientation. His coming out in 2008 was only so late because he hadn’t had a relationship before.
The rock and metal scene is still predominantly white, straight and male
How did the black metal scene react to that? Very open, Gaahl said in an interview three years ago. This is “extremely liberal” and the metal community is one of the most open. The singer also tells us in “Heavy Metal saved my life” that he has at least not had any personal negative experiences: a two-part documentary that will be available from November 17th in the ARD media library you can see. It’s about metal as “music of the underdogs, of the powerless”, which the hard sounds helped, among other things, over life crises. The second part is about “queer metal” and Gaahl is one of the protagonists. Alongside him, the Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum, who came out as homosexual in 1993, and a young Italian transgender metal fan have their say.
The fact that the rock and metal scene is still predominantly white, heterosexual and male is not concealed in the documentary, which is well worth seeing. Also that this is not really a “safe place” especially for women, as Roddy Bottum from Faith No More tells. He was specifically aware of this on a world tour Guns n’ Roses become, where it was actually only about “sex and women” backstage. At the time, his outing was also a way to distance himself from it.
For a long time, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford was also thought to lead a wild rock star life. Until he also came out as gay in 1998. Again, reading about it was a life-changing experience for the Italian transgender metal fan. Because if the best metal singer in the world is gay, why shouldn’t there be a place for him in the metal scene? But maybe there’s too much fuss about gender anyway. In any case, for Gaahl, sexuality is just one of many “energies” and by no means the decisive one. “I prefer to use my sight,” says the singer. And the energies, the extremes? He lets it out through art, through extreme metal. Otherwise, his rule today is: only “the good” and “good people” to gather around.
Gaahls Wyrd, live on Mon, Oct 24, at Backstage (Reitknechtstr. 6). The documentary “Heavy Metal saved my life” can be seen in the ARD media library from November 17th.