Following a show by the band Dark Funeral at Rock Castle, Romania (a country that upholds the controversial figure Vlad the Impaler as a savior of Western civilization) has recently announced that all future metal shows in the area will have to be approved by the orthodox church. How ironic.
The first I heard of this situation was through the facebook posts of Lord Ahriman and his band Dark Funeral.
This is part of the greater narrative between metal and the church in Eastern Europe and Russia. With events such as arresting and then deporting Behemoth, sending a military unit to break up a cannibal corpse show while banning the bands lyrics and artwork, and more recently Russian Orthodox Priests spitting on metal bands at the airport – it’s safe to say the orthodox church has a stranglehold on both the government and culture of the area. Conflict between the church and extreme metal artists is not new – and often quickly reported on by independent metal media. And up until this point, the conflict has been centered on specific bands – and metal media has been quick to report on such things.
So why is it that now, when ALL METAL is being targeted by a cooperation between the government and church of Romania, is metal media silent about this? This isn’t targeted towards a specific band – they’ve literally declared that all metal shows must be approved by the church. This sort of censorship hasn’t happened in Western Culture since the fucking dark ages. Where is the metal media when it is needed the most? Where are the Social Justice Warriors/Hipsters who bitch about minor isolated occurrences in the metal scene and make them out to be such grand struggles?
I’ll tell you where they are. While parts of the world are working hand in hand with the church to ban metal music and oppress thousands of metal fans – sites like Metal Injection, MetalSucks, Blabbermouth, Pitchfork, Lambgoat, and the like are busy promoting a band that calls itself black metal while spewing a manifesto that goes completely against the spirit of the genre. They’re literally promoting a band that would see black metal reduced to a socially acceptable construct, free of the transgression inherent in the DNA of the genre.
I guess it’s only worth writing about if it effects a rich American white kid who pretends to be edgy and like transgressive art. It’s a sad day when the metal media is so self absorbed that they miss something as huge and culturally significant as what is going on in Romania right now.
Thank god the members of Dark Funeral have the fucking balls to stand up for transgressive art and freedom of speech and expression in an area that obviously needs it.
Both the Romanian government and metal media should be ashamed of themselves for their conduct (or lack thereof) towards this situation.
EDIT:
A note to the Romanian people,
I am not writing this in any way, shape, or form to insult the Romanians as a whole. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on a disturbing situation that is unfolding in your country.
Recently there was a festival at Bucovina Rock Castle with roughly 10,000 attendees. Following the show, the cultural association “Saint Metropolitan Dosoftei” caved to pressure put on them by a local priest.
The reaction was to grant him the ability to decide which bands are allowed to play in the town. This is in violation to several sections of the Romanian Constitution.
It violated article 15 (All citizens enjoy the rights and freedoms granted to them by the Constitution and other laws, and have the duties laid down thereby) by giving the priest and his congregation the freedom to take away the freedom of the 10,000 concert attendees.
Article 15
(1) All citizens enjoy the rights and freedoms granted to them by the Constitution and other laws, and have the duties laid down thereby.
It violated Article 16 (Citizens are equal before the law and public authorities, without any privilege or discrimination) in the same manner as article 15.
Article 16
(1) Citizens are equal before the law and public authorities, without any privilege or discrimination.(2) No one is above the law.
It violated Article 29 almost in it’s entirety by forcing the religious ideals of one group on the masses.
Article 29
(1) Freedom of thought, opinion, and religious beliefs shall not be restricted in any form whatsoever. No one shall be compelled to embrace an opinion or religion contrary to his own convictions.(2) Freedom of conscience is guaranteed; it must be manifested in a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect.
(3) All religions shall be free and organized in accordance with their own statutes, under the terms laid down by law.
(4) Any forms, means, acts or actions of religious enmity shall be prohibited in the relationships among the cults.
(5) Religious cults shall be autonomous from the State and shall enjoy support from it, including the facilitation of religious assistance in the army, in hospitals, prisons, homes and orphanages.
(6) Parents or legal tutors have the right to ensure, in accordance with their own convictions, the education of the minor children whose responsibility devolves on them)
It violated article 30 by allowing censorship of the freedom of expression of the 10,000 concert attendees:
Article 30
(1) Freedom of expression of thoughts, opinions, or beliefs, and freedom of any creation, by words, in writing, in pictures, by sounds or other means of communication in public are inviolable.(2) Any censorship shall be prohibited.
(3) Freedom of the press also involves the free setting up of publications.
(4) No publication shall be suppressed.
(5) The law may impose upon the mass media the obligation to make public their financing source.
(6) Freedom of expression shall not be prejudicial to the dignity, honour, privacy of a person, and to the right to one’s own image.
(7) Any defamation of the country and the nation, any instigation to a war of aggression, to national, racial, class or religious hatred, any incitement to discrimination, territorial separatism, or public violence, as well as any obscene conduct contrary to morality shall be prohibited by law.
(8) Civil liability for any information or creation made public falls upon the publisher or producer, the author, the producer of the artistic performance, the owner of the copying facilities, radio or television station, under the terms laid down by law. Indictable offences of the press shall be established by law.
It restricts access to culture guaranteed under article 33…
Article 33
(1) The access to culture is guaranteed under the law.(2) A person’s freedom to develop his/her spirituality and to get access to the values of national and universal culture shall not be limited.
(3) The State must make sure that spiritual identity is preserved, national culture is supported, arts are stimulated, cultural legacy is protected and preserved, contemporary creativity is developed, and Romania’s cultural and artistic values are promoted throughout the world.
It opens the door to economic restrictions on local metal bands not approved by the priest, and allows for the possibility of future violations of your citizen’s rights by limiting their access to the local economy in violation of article 45.
Article 45
Free access of persons to an economic activity, free enterprise, and their exercise under the law shall be guaranteed.
And the town council members are in violation of articles 54 and 57 through this act…
Article 54
(2) Citizens holding public offices, as well as the military are liable for the loyal fulfilment of the obligations they are bound to, and shall, for this purpose, take the oath as requested by law.Article 57
Romanian citizens, foreign citizens, and stateless persons shall exercise their constitutional rights and freedoms in good faith, without any infringement of the rights and liberties of others.
So, while I might not live in Romania – the internet allows access to your laws. And your constitution is obviously based on the United States constitution (which I am very familiar with).
Maybe instead of getting angry at a person you will never meet over the internet you can focus your energies on protecting the rights of the 10,000 people who had multiple constitutional rights violations perpetrated against them to silence a dissenting priest and his congregation. Nothing about this action is OK.
When anyone acting under the authority of a government (even a public arts council who appropriates government funding) – they are acting for that government. The Suceava Council (elected officials) have responded to a letter from a pastor – stating they will allow him to have some say in who does and does not get to play in the country. So, when I say “Romanian Government decrees” that is exactly what I mean, and it is 100% true. Because, until your government says otherwise – this is the will of the Romanian government and people. You’re allowing the church to remove the rights of taxpayers, and to dictate the use of your tax dollars into cultural events that have to be approved by the church. That’s not democracy – that’s oligarchy.
metal stuff 
August 23, 2016 at 6:11 pm
The Romanian government did not decree such a thing. The local council of Suceava promised that would let the church approve the bands that will sing at Bucovina Rock Castle festival. I feel the need to mention that the constitution guaratees freedom of religion and religious minorities are not to be discriminated. The local council said that just to shut the church’s “mouth” and avoid a scandal from the fanatics.
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August 23, 2016 at 6:14 pm
Well, then perhaps the Romanian government should do something about this – as it is clearly in violation of their constitution. Silence on this behavior is condoning it.
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August 23, 2016 at 6:16 pm
Allowing something like this to happen to strip the rights of citizens in order to appease fanatics is not something I would condone – thank you for the clarification!
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August 23, 2016 at 7:31 pm
Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.
People can also be free to have have no religion.
No way do bands like Vital remains, Marduk enc…Violate religious freedom.
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August 23, 2016 at 7:36 pm
right
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August 25, 2016 at 1:48 pm
The churches “mouth” could have been shut with the Constitution. This sets a dangerous precedent for our country, since the fall of communism we have been free, now the church is taking the role of the oppressor using weak minded politicians with no character to grab more and more influence.
While we, in the big cities, think the churches influence is a joke, it keeps growing stronger and stronger in the poorer half of the country. No one wants the church to be more powerful, yet none oppose them. Which means they make progress regardless of how incompetent they are. Evelina, next time we have a protest against corruption, be it religious or political, please call all your friends and join us in the streets. We need to take our country back again.
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August 25, 2016 at 1:51 pm
I think this is the heart of the discussion – everybody has been dancing around it. Even the people who don’t like the article, or how it was written, have expressed a similar sentiment. Thanks for saying something!
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August 25, 2016 at 2:08 pm
I also don’t like what the Romanian Orthodox Church is doing, but in this case there is nothing about oppression.
No authority was given to any church group. They wrote a petition which any citizen has the right to do. And if enough people sign it, then in a democratic country, the local authority has to respect that petition. That’s all. Actually, not respecting such a thing would be oppression. Free speech goes both ways. If you preach hatred against someone they also have the right to criticize you. And the band in question does burn crosses, so although I’m no way a member or a supporter of the Romanian Orthodox Church, I have to admit that in this special case they are rightly offended, and they are justified to use legal ways to fight against what they perceive as harassment. If a Christian group were burning your symbols, were preaching against your beliefs, and would organize an event in your town, and a petition would be written against them, would you sign it or would you not?
Are you metal-heads here, or freaking children, who bully others and if someone strikes back you start crying about your rights?
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August 25, 2016 at 2:15 pm
A very good argument. So, it’s ok if a christian does it and removes the access to culture and public funds for a group of people who have views different than theirs? The subtle nazi reference was a nice touch – that’s a slippery slope argument. Dark Funeral does not and has never condoned violence against christian people – many of their fans are christian. They do advocate against all organized religion – which is a valid cultural viewpoint protected equally to the church in your constitution.
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August 23, 2016 at 6:43 pm
This is a sensationalist lie. Stop spreading misinformation.
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August 23, 2016 at 7:35 pm
So, there wasn’t a council that granted authority for a church to oversee local shows?
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August 24, 2016 at 5:29 am
Nope, that priest has no power lol
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August 24, 2016 at 11:44 am
that’s funny – because some of your own countrymen are saying otherwise buddy.
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August 24, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Yeah, well before I see real information, and not just hearsay, this is a sensationalist bullshit article. It doesn’t cite any sources, and has zero journalistic credibility. Maybe some more research needs to be done beforehand? Or there was a large need for website views and traffic?
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August 24, 2016 at 1:29 pm
Maybe this is only concerning metalheads and how laws are applied to them, regardless of country.
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August 25, 2016 at 2:00 pm
No, no authority was given to a church group. They wrote a petition which any citizen has the right to do. And if enough people sign it, then in a democratic country, the local authority has to respect that petition. That’s all.
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August 25, 2016 at 2:08 pm
So, the verbal declaration the Suceava Council made was false? Because some of your own countrymen are stating to the contrary.
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August 25, 2016 at 2:47 pm
The Council did indeed make the decision on hand of the petition, but that can happen if any citizen makes a petition and enough people sign it. So it was a democratic decision, even if you don’t like its results.
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August 25, 2016 at 2:58 pm
See, now what you’re saying contradicts what I’m hearing from other people. And even if it’s democratic – it’s still contrary to your constitution and should be questioned.
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August 25, 2016 at 3:12 pm
What exactly is the contradiction? I admit I don’t know absolutely every detail because I wasn’t there, but one thing is clear: no law was passed which grants the church a general right above music, it was all about this specific event. Someone said they found it offensive, and they had enough supporters to back them to convince the council to cancel it. This is what happened, nothing more.
Look at your title:
romanian-government-decrees-all-metal-shows-must-be-approved-by-the-church
If you have to lie to get your point across, maybe you have to rethink if you are really fighting for a right cause after all.
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August 25, 2016 at 3:23 pm
Nothing got cancelled. And nothing was done except for the council giving a public statement, through the cultural institute of Bucovina saying that they will be more carefull about which bands they select in the future so that the christian sensibilities are not touched (which is where the problem lies), which we both know will not happen. There was no petition in the sense of signatures being drawn up, it was an open letter, a protest by one asociation directed to the county council (consiliul judetean).
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August 25, 2016 at 4:24 pm
The contradiction is that you’re saying it was an act of the democratic process of your country. No such thing happened, it was an open letter (as micky pointed out) to the elected council (therefore a government entity) which they responded to officially by saying they will base their decisions on which musicians are allowed to play in the area based on christian sentiment. Specifically the christian sentiment of the pastor in question.
So, this elected group of officials (cough government cough) representing the secular government of Romania in that town has made a public statement (a decree, if you will) that ALL FUTURE bands that come to the area will take the approval of the church and this pastor into consideration.
After reading your countries constitution I cannot see how anyone can defend this as anything other than blatantly illegal and immoral.
So, before you accuse me of lying maybe you should know all the facts?
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August 25, 2016 at 7:38 pm
A news article mentioned the word petition, but indeed it can also mean that someone petitioned (in a letter, representing a group as their leader) and not a gathering of signatures.
But if it indeed was just a simple letter without too many consequences, this blog post is even more false.
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August 25, 2016 at 7:58 pm
Well, the letter was a petition by Father Justinian Remus Cojocaru, the president of the cultural association, to the town council. The town council said they would allow him to have a say in who was allowed to play in the town. This is literally what the article is saying.
The town council is the local (elected) government, who acts on behalf of all citizens. So, for them to favor the church by allowing them to decide whether a band will play in the city is allowing the church to dictate who the government will allow into the country. That’s how politics works.
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August 23, 2016 at 7:31 pm
The story is false, it’s regarding a local council sho gave a formal statement. In no way this applies to the whole country as it would be against the constitution
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August 23, 2016 at 7:36 pm
then the whole country should do something about it – silence is complicence
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August 23, 2016 at 8:04 pm
Silence is complacence. True. Writing an article that misinforms people is even worse. Had you written a well documented article, you would have been informing the people of that incident. However, you roughly sculpted something that sounds as you wanted it to sound, outrageous, worth condemning.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:10 pm
A valid opinion – however, nothing in my article is technically false. I can see where there might be errors in translation – when it was written I chose to leave out certain transitive words that are commonly omitted in news headlines. And even a small town council is still acting with the authority of the government of the entire country when they pass laws – what they did was unconstitutional by Romanian standards as I understand it.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:12 pm
And that, my friend, is outrageous and worth condemning.
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August 24, 2016 at 8:56 am
“nothing in my article is technically false”. When someone says “technically”, the shoddiness comes out. Technically all dictators had good intentions. Technically all metal bands are satanist. Technically you wrote some shady article to appeal to our rebel side. And that, my dude, is outrageous and worth dismissing as garbage journalism.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:59 am
Fair enough – you’re saying your country deserved a fair shake when it comes to writing a story. I like that, and it’s a good argument. I’ll counter with, the 10,000 fans who attended that festival deserve a fair shake against a single pastor and his congregation who are raising this fuss in the country. It wouldn’t be a big deal if he hadn’t been granted (even symbolically) the right to decide what bands will receive public funds in that town.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:50 am
“nothing in my article is technically false”
Everything in your article is technically false.
“a small town council is still acting with the authority of the government of the entire country when they pass laws”.
A town council acts with the authority of the law and regulations. And they passed no laws. Not even one.
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August 24, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Acting with the authority of who’s law?
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August 23, 2016 at 7:59 pm
Agreed to everything up until “Both the Romanian government and metal media should be ashamed of themselves for their conduct (or lack thereof) towards this situation.” Then I remembered the title, “Romanian Government Decrees all Metal Shows Must be Approved by the Church”. Really?
First off, don’t blow this out of proportion for the sake of “such a shitty thing happened let’s share it” likes.
Secondly, do you know anything about the majority of the population there? Suceava (and the Bucovina) area are well on the map when it comes to rock music. However, the inhabitants of the aforementioned region is predominantly made out of religious and very religious people who live in the city and rural area. Most importantly, they are religious people who live their lives under the belief of god and with fear of most of the things that might hinder their good relation with him.
Now, bare with me a couple of more rows.
How in the flying fuck do you not expect a promoter of faith to stand by idle when in his eyes that band comes as satan worshipers? Be realistic for a moment. To a predominantly religious population with actual faith in god and fear for him, Dark Funeral is fucking scary. I’m a fan of rock and in no way one of god or gods, and even I think they are scary.
Be realistic, you’re just taking the chance to bash on some form of actually nonexistent rock oppression. Oh jeez the government is going to allow the church to filter what rock is played.
To quote “Conflict between the church and extreme metal artists is not new” , well shit. I would have expected you to treat it more objectively if it is such a common occurrence. Maybe, do your research on the matter?
There is one fact you haven’t mentioned in your article, or rather an event. The Colective Club one in which a distressing number of people died during a fire at a rock concert. You see, there is more to that priest’s proposal, more to fuel his resentment toward the band and their music.
One narrow-minded fuckhead of a priest who has a flock to tend to, and brainwash, will defend his constitutional right to do so. That is a problem, I can’t deny it and it bothers me all the time.
Still, how is it that Lord Ahriman isn’t blaming the Romanian government and the rock media? Maybe it’s because he has more common sense than you do?
What’s most infuriating about that grand finally in your article is that you unintentionally assume that the people and government will just go with that amazingly absurd proposition.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:09 pm
Tell me how you really feel about the situation. Regardless of the dominant group of people’s religious beliefs in an area – if a country has a constitution that states there will be no discrimination based on religion – it pertains to all religions. or, for that matter, a lack of religion. a governmental institution allowing discrimination against a group because they think they are “scary” is still a governmental institution discriminating based on religious ideals. and i spoke with lord ahriman before i even wrote the article, and he was in full agreement with what i was going to say. he then reposted it on twitter, as i don’t use it.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:21 pm
How I really feel? Religion in my country is a clustefuck of bad. Mental oppression through fear, which defines most religions. I’ll fight that proposition in a way I see fit. If it will come to that, I will however be sure to properly inform people of what’s going on.
My main issue however is with your approach. A title is a statement to a fact, “Romanian Government Decrees all Metal Shows Must be Approved by the Church”. Yet you provide no actual legislative proof of a decree. Where is the proof of that? Why imply that the government and the media people should be ashamed? It’s fucking offensive to those who actually care about this event.
That’s the problem. If you want to inform people of something, do it in a fair manner.
When that fucker’s rant ends up being a pis in the wind, after your post gets to a few key people, you have undeniably fucked the rock scene there by spreading misinformation about a non-existing decree. Get the big picture?
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August 23, 2016 at 8:24 pm
Well, like I said, I left out certain transitive words from the title that would have brought a tad more clarity. Perhaps “A Romanian governmental entity speaking with the authority of the Romanian government has declared that a local fanatical pastor has been given the right to approve or disapprove all musical groups that come into the area beforehand” would have been more accurate – but in truth less people are likely to pay attention to such a thing.
If they want fair treatment, maybe they should have conducted themselves in a fair way.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:27 pm
And that fucker had the authority of a governmental entity of Romania behind him – no matter how trivial you may think it is. And as for the rock scene – no publicity is bad publicity. If this enacts a change in the way things are handled there because the place has been put under a microscope – then good! Maybe they will think twice before deciding to discriminate against a globally recognized band because a local pastor is scared of them.
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August 23, 2016 at 8:48 pm
Hei , this is not true, in one smal city from Romania the church make a scandal obout Dark Funeral, but don’t bring the whole country in this , black metal is more tolerated in Romania than USA, England, France, Italy, so keep it cool!
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August 24, 2016 at 12:39 am
Hey, this is true. If one small city makes an act of government in violation of romanian constitution and the romanian government and people do nothing about it – they are complicit in it. silence equals support, and small town governments act with the authority of the major government of a country.
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August 23, 2016 at 9:50 pm
yep, I also find the way this story is written quite misleading; you chose to ignore or omit some details, while generalizing others, for the sake of emphasis. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. Because what sane citizens in Suceava and Romania should have done was to protest against such a stupidity of the local council, and make this local story matter for the entire country. Maybe from now on…hopefully….
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August 24, 2016 at 12:42 am
Thank you. I can see why people wouldn’t agree with the way some of this was written, and that’s fine. Because the people who are most angry are the ones who are blaming me for saying something – not the local city government for doing something in violation of the romanian constitution. It’s a case of shooting the messenger – and I’m ok with that. The important thing is that this starts a discussion among romanian people so they can decide whether or not this is how they want to be known to the rest of the world.
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August 24, 2016 at 5:32 am
“Romanian Government Decrees all Metal Shows Must be Approved by the Church”
Our Government has nothing to do with this, nor our country. It just happened in that town.
Please inform yourself and do not spread the world misinformation.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:45 am
if it happened in a town, in your country – then your country had something to do with it. please inform yourself as to how politics work.
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August 24, 2016 at 6:04 am
this is a BIG WRONG information.I’m from Romania and here’s NO ANY PROBLEM about metal concerts.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:46 am
that’s good to hear – i’m sure the people in this town would disagree with you.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:48 am
if the country doesn’t act on it they’re supporting it.
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August 25, 2016 at 9:09 am
You can’t stop something from happening if it’s NOT happening.
Some priest or whatever he was spoke in the name of the religious people from that town, asking to stop Dark Funeral from performing. Did he stop the performance? No. Nor will that group ever have the power of deciding what bands the organizers can or cannot book.
Couldn’t think of a more appropriate title? How about “Romanian church demands to have a word in the country’s metal scene”? The government has nothing to do with this. And it is not illegal for the church to ask for it(although it is NOT going to be listened to), either. You are implying that a decision has been made(for the sake of the “wow journalistic effect”), and that is quite disturbing.
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August 25, 2016 at 11:47 am
Well, it’s good that the protesters from the church are listened to. I’ve provided my sources stating that this is happening – and I’ve seen nothing to the contrary.
And I’ve heard a few different descriptions of what purpose that council serves – but regardless of whether it’s an arts council or a town council that decides political policy, the bottom line is they decide what to do with taxpayer dollars. And made a public statement that is contrary to what you’re saying.
If you have a source that’s contrary to this, I would love to see it.
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August 24, 2016 at 7:11 am
The title is misleading. The government didn’t impose anything. This incident is on a local level since the event was sponsored by the mayorship of Suceava. Private events won’t be banned. It makes me angry too but please stop giving incorrect information.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:47 am
actually – it sounds like you’re the one spreading misinformation. i read the letter the priest wrote to the local council – and he’s talking about discriminating public funds for the arts on the basis of religion. acting on that by a governmental agency, as i understand it, is contrary to your country’s constitution.
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August 24, 2016 at 7:15 am
Dear propagandist. Your desinformation act is that bad like soviet propaganda.
You lie like shit.
I know personally members of gouvwrnment and nobody made nothing in this direction. They are also rock music fans.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:49 am
Well, it’s not a lie that a pastor in a town in your country was given the right to decide who plays and who doesn’t play in the town. after that, the details are irrelevant. don’t get mad at me, tell your fucking government to do something about it.
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August 25, 2016 at 1:58 pm
This is another lie. The pastor in question just wrote a petition, which any citizen has the right to do.
Another misinformation on this site is presenting the case as if some close-minded religious people were prejudiced against metal music and were spreading hatred and so on. Maybe some people do have this prejudice, but in this occasion that’s not the case.
Actually, one of the most important concerns in the petition was that the band in question does burn crosses and so does promote aggression against Christians. So, in fact, it’s not the priest who wrote the petition the one who doesn’t respect the freedom of religion, but the band. If you were burning the Star of David or were performing Nazi salutations in a Nazi uniform, and people in Jerusalem would sign a petition to perform there, their action would be justified.
You speak against prejudice but it seems you are the one who is prejudicial, and you see anyone who doesn’t agree with you as either stupid or an evil oppressor.
By the way, before you start classifying me, I do like metal music, and I do like even the hardest styles, but I don’t like when a band openly spews hatred against a religion, and then when someone criticizes them, they start crying like children and try to hide behind the “free speech” slogan. If you didn’t know, free speech works in both ways! If you think you have the right to preach hatred against a group, don’t be surprised if they also reserve themselves the right to criticize you.
By the way, on an event organized by a town, at least partially funded by of taxpayer money, the people living there have the right to decide who they let to perform there and who they don’t. And if it’s a cultural festival, the organizers are free to listen to petitions if they claim the style of someone doesn’t fit the culture of the local community.
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August 25, 2016 at 2:08 pm
Burning crosses does not equate to inciting violence against christians. I’m not going to classify you. Of course the church had a right to protest, I’ve read your constitution so I’m fully aware. I’ve read the pastor’s letter/petition, and he specifically advocates against allowing taxpayer dollars to go towards funding something his church finds offensive. It makes sense, but it is prejudiced and contrary to the concept of a secular state. They are imposing their own religious values and views on a group of 10,000 people, while restricting their access to culture that literally poses zero harm to them while bringing valuable contributions to the local economy.
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August 24, 2016 at 7:45 am
You don’t spread shit and then let people decide whether it’s true or not. That s not the way to do it man. And it also seems that your real (personal) battle is against those metal sites. No offense but this is bad journalism.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:51 am
Cute. People don’t have to decide whether it’s true or not, the fact of the matter is it’s true. I didn’t say that the country of romania banned heavy metal, i said “romanian government decrees all metal shows must be approved by the church”. which is true, i can send you links in your native tongue if you prefer.
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August 24, 2016 at 7:55 am
I can imagine that people’s indignation springs from an almost “false friend”. You are using government as authority, though local, while in Romanian the word “guvern” (government) stands only for the executive power, the ministers assembly, if you like. It is indeed a little misleading. I’ve read the statement issued by the Council of Suceava County and it seemed to me an attempt at eating the cake while still having it. Indeed, the Church is quite influential in Romania, too influential for my taste, but they mostly vent about this and that – Dark Funeral is a good case in point – but do not go further. (…Yet). What is more, the Romanian body politic cannot afford to upset the Church because the latter has the means to manipulate their potential voters. But the “flaming” statement was rather something along the lines of “yeah, yeah, cool down, we’ll ask your opinion next time”, which is probably as untrue as it gets. They simply couldn’t let the respected priest bark at the moon without one response or another, but it doesn’t mean they’ll really go the church authorities to ask their permission for booking a band in the future.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:55 am
See, this is the best explanation I’ve heard for this series of events yet. Thank you for commenting. I completely understand what you’re saying. But the fact of the matter is that no matter how much of a fuss one pastor raised, this was a 10,000 person festival. Much larger than that pastor’s congregation. Even if the gesture to him was symbolic, that council is symbolically allowing him to discriminate against at least 10,000 people in your country – using public funds if I read his letter to the council correctly.
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August 24, 2016 at 8:16 am
The region of Suceava is a highly religious one just so you know. If Dark Funeral performed in other parts of the country like Cluj, Timisoara or even the capital city of Bucuresti such situations wouldn’t have existed that I can assure you of. I am not saying this is not a problem that we should be concerned about just as “Grulog” suggested but we shouldn’t trust such articles blindly as they can be misleading, just as half of the one above is.
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August 24, 2016 at 11:57 am
Never trust anything you read on the internet sir – I think it’s more important that Romanians have a conversation and ask if it’s ok for even a single town to discriminate against the 10,000 people who attended a recent festival because a single pastor raised a fuss.
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August 24, 2016 at 9:02 am
This is why people like you shouldn’t have blogs. You are a disgrace to this area. Learn how to spread an information. You are nothing different from the scandalous newspapers around the world that licks Miley Cyrus in the ass. Learn how to put a title on an article, dumbass. Learn how to write a news. This is total bullshit. The rock festivals in Romania are one of the best across Europe. There are so many metal events here, that you can’t afford to go at all of them. Oh, wait. You have a blog and you ask for press release to go free and then be a dumbass. Riiight. Geez. Go fuck yourself!
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August 24, 2016 at 12:01 pm
If you have a problem with it, maybe you should take it out on the people in the town in question. If your government does nothing about this unconstitutional act (I’ve had enough people tell me about the romanian constitution that I know it doesn’t allow religious discrimination) then the last thing you should be worrying about is some asshole (me) with a blog.
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August 24, 2016 at 10:11 am
What annoys me the most about this article is that it seems you’ve only written it with the thought in mind to smash social justice warriors and the likes. “Oooooh, look what is happening in a shitty country you’ve never even heard about before, metal is dying! And you go on with your stupid minorities’/woman’s/ animal’s rights!!!” That’s precisely the tone of this post.
Were you to actually care about the situation with religion here (which is, I admit, pretty shitty, but not sensibly shittier than in many other civilized countries, including states from the USA), you would’ve written a well-informed piece concerning this issue, not just as a way to attack some groups of metalheads, that you don’t like.
Your article is spreading misinformation, is arrogant and condescending, is creating “panic” where it shouldn’t (as others have already explained, nothing really happened here, this is way blown out of proportions. The metal media and SJWs don’t care about this as there’s nothing to care about) and makes Romania seem like a fucking medieval state (which it almost is, mind you, but this is not the proper context for making this assertion).
You might want to AT LEAST change the title of this piece of crap. How about: “METAL BROTHERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, BEWARE!!!! A PRIEST IN ROMANIA IS ATTACKING METAL BANDS USING A SWORD OF LIGHT. ONLY MANOWAR CAN SAVE US NOW!!!!!!!!” I betcha this will get you more clicks and is about as accurate as the current title.
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August 24, 2016 at 12:06 pm
No, I hate social justice warriors. I do enjoy the chance to shit on them whenever possible – that much is true.
Apparently you need to go back to school and take some interpretive writing courses, because the point of this article is that in your country – a town has passed a rule that is against your constitution. And they’re justifying it by saying “it was just said to quiet down a local pastor” and the like. Don’t get mad at me for reporting these events how I see them here in America – get mad at the people who allow this sort of thing to even happen. If you don’t want to be seen like this, don’t let the authorities in your country act like this. Because, honestly, that was an act of discrimination against 10,000 metal fans at that show. And metal fans are the only minority in your country I’m speaking about right now. A single priest and his congregation gained the right to strip 10,000 people’s right to public entertainment because he found it offensive.
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August 24, 2016 at 10:59 am
Just one more post to make things clear, as I had no intention of attacking you, rather the tone of your article.
The festival where Dark Funeral played is funded by the local council’s budget (in other words, taxpayers’ money). As someone previously put it, Romanian citizens and taxpayers are (on average) largely religiously inclined. So it is not really that big of a deal for no one if the church, which they approve of and whose views they respect, meddles with where the public funding goes and decides it should not be given to so-called satanic bands (an actual bigger problem, if you do care about the situation here, is that the church is entirely and heavily funded by taxpayers’ money and almost no one, except some secular organizations, bats an eye). There is no way this formal statement of the local council represents the views of the government or that metal shows need to be approved by the church to happen. Not even in fucking Romania. It’s just a normal (well not really, but statistically normal) response from the council to appease the church and citizens revolted by satanic bands & music in their town.
You will find that, as is the case for MANY other civilized countries, while in theory and in the constitution, Romania IS a secular state, in practice, religious groups are thoroughly privileged (both financially and otherwise). And this, my “metal brother”, is indeed a problem that SJWs and the metal media should discuss. Not now, in this particular situation (which, as I’ve already stated, is inflated way out of proportions), but generally.
Do yourself a favor and research before writing an article. And when it comes to countries and legal systems you know nothing about (which is of course natural, no one should give a shit about this crappy country), you should at least go to the length of discussing the issue with some people who actually live there and might enlighten you on some issues.
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August 24, 2016 at 12:12 pm
That, sir, is literally the best response I’ve gotten to this yet. I would love to learn more. And I guess a lot of people outside the United States aren’t familiar with the concept of using “sensational” journalism to jumpstart conversation on a topic. This religious control of public funds seems to be in direct violation of the secular state – we have the same problem with fundamentalists in the USA. And they control a large block of the voting public. I understand it’s a fine line that politicians walk in regards to appeasing religious people and staying in the 21st century.
But, as far as legal systems go, it looks like your constitution (like most of them in the world) was based on the US constitution. So, by inference, I know enough about the law to understand that freedom of religion means freedom from religion. Only 1 in 5 people reading this article (as of right now) was outside of your country – meaning in the period of less than 24 hours I have played a small role in getting a conversation going in your country. I’d like to continue that discussion and get learn more about the laws and power structure in regards to religion there – but to be honest my quest for social justice only extends to the arts in so far as they effect heavy metal fans and artists.
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August 25, 2016 at 10:13 am
Hmm, well if that is the best response you have gotten to this, maybe it would be wise to include it in your article.
Look, we all get what you are saying, we all KNOW this is happening and it’s not just agaisnt metal fans, but agaisnt all groups that don’t conform to the church orthodox dogma. HOWEVER what you need to understand about romanian culture and it’s relationship to the church is that the church does not get to decide anything. They try to cry foul, and they have before so many times, but other than cause a media stir they achieve nothing, which is saying something when it comes to the percentage of people that declare themselves to be religious.
Another thing that you have to understand is that in cases like these, where an asociation creates such a stir that it goes in the media, and especialy local media, so so close to elections (there will be parliamentary elections in november) the council will have to give out some reply or risk to lose voters. Now i get that you don’t speak romanian, and are not familiar with our laws, which is why i will try to break it down for you:
The reply sent to that asociation, was sent via the manager of the Cultural Center of Bucovina, and in it’s essence it states that it will not modify the schedule for the show due to contractual obligations, and that they have heard and respect the asociations point a view and will, in the future do (im trying to give you an exact quote/translation) ” a careful filtration for bands that will perform in this project (festival), without bringing slight to the christian orthodox values of the romanian people”.
So again this was an open reply to an open leter, sent not by the county council, but a lackey from the cultural institute. Now i went to the County council official page to see if this translated to any official decision, posted in the official monitor (untill it is written in the oficial monitor it is NOT LAW, and not aplicable) and it was not. In fact there was no mention of this anywhere, not even in things to be discussed. I even went to website for the cultural instutitue of Bucovina, again, no mention there either.
So, you see, legally, untill they actually do try to make it official it is just words, which every metal fan, in fact ever minority memeber has heard 10000 times before. It’s the politicians trying to please the goat and the cabbage (as we say) before the vote (even if it’s the parliament vote that happens, the country council members come from the parties which will compete in november and they have to “perform” in atracting voters to the colors).
You will also note that in said reply theres no mention of the church actually deciding anything, or even have a say, since it will still be the organiser (in this case the cultural institute) who will decide. And believe me, in a country that so desperately needs funds, and needs to promote tourism, it will not do anything to jeoperdize a festival that brings 10k people a year, and has done so for the past 6 years.
The reply they gave was shitty, and it made a lot of fans, and non fans angry, the media coverage on this alone will most likely make sure that that “filtration” does not happen.
If you are still reading this (and i really really hope you are) I’ll try to explain why you have gotten such a negative reaction to your article. You said it yourself the concept of using “sensational” journalism to start a debate, is not that popular outside of the US, and for good reason. Especially in eastern Europe, sensational journalism like this has been used in the past primarily to manipulate masses during communist times, and even after. It has been used by the socialists (which btw tend to be the most pro-church bunch in politics as they both target the same demographic), by foreign media (Russia usually), anti vaxxers you name it. For us it stinks of manipulation and we have developed a sort of allergic reaction to it. We don’t like it, the author will not be taken seriously, and the issue adressed, even if it’s valid in it’s essence, will end up being burried.
A more balanced tone combined with a firm and researched opinion would have gotten you farther, the tone makes the music. Long lasting change comes slowly, and it is coming, through the hard work and stand made by younger generations, and minorities and secular people in general. So please, don’t throw that hard work under the train with a “sensationalist” piece that paints over all those people and makes them invisible.
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August 25, 2016 at 12:09 pm
fair enough – honestly i think answers with the thought, knowledge, etc you’ve put into this would warrant their own post (which i will probably do in the next few days). when i wrote this article it was for a very limited audience – my only real interest in global politics is as they relate to heavy metal culture and free speech. i didn’t expect to read an audience of more than 1-500 people. when i saw the incredible response (in the tens of thousands) i was getting from the citizens of romania i added to the article to clarify a bit. i’m still confused as to how (if people are so mad about this) and why things like this can happen – in America our constitution is considered the bottom line. If something is in violation of that, and removes the civil liberties of an individual or group of people, it will immediately go to court and the highest court in the land will make a decision that ends such things.
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August 25, 2016 at 12:45 pm
(hope this reply goes where it’s supposed to :p)
Oh dear, honestly everyone here could write a thesis on WHY and HOW things are the way they are. I suppose the simple answer is that while we have a constitutional court they can only act if theres a formal complaint done by an official institution, a lower court or the peoples attorney (which unfortunetly is a total incompetent, no we didn’t pick him) and not by single individuals. Maybe by petitioning the peoples attorney, but like i said, he is incompetent and unless theres a HUGE public support, it will get burried. At best a parliamentary group can ask for the Constitutional Courts rule on a specific law article, or change in current law. Also, as far as i know they cannot pronounce themselves on unofficial (meaning not published) decisions. So in this case, since nothing was published in the official monitor, there is no decision to make a stance on.
I guess in this case an NGO could file a formal complaint with maybe the anti-discrimination agency, but it would be a tough case to pitch, again because an open reply such as the one given does not mean theres a decision, or rule established. My advice would be to keep an eye out on the subject for next year, when the festival is to be organised again, and THEN see if theres anything published or if there are any legal grounds to pursue a discrimination case, such as this band (or simmilar) are denied access based on religious grounds.
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August 25, 2016 at 1:44 pm
interesting – i’m writing a follow up to this blog and i will be sure to include this information. thank you!
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August 24, 2016 at 11:10 am
“Grulog, the bad journalist who writes inflated lies, for likes and fame only
Grulog is one of the worst journalists in history. Whenever he writes about something, you can be sure it’s an inflated lie, inspired by some small and not-interesting local event, somewhere in the world. He never does research, likes to just invent events, people and places, and does it all purely for fame. In his latest “article”, he blamed a whole country for the rumblings of some priest in a town in northern Romania. More, he falsely accused said country’s government of actually taking heed of the priest’s runblings andmodifying the constitution and freedom of speech.”
Dude, what is a local city government? The city council and the country’s government are not the same thing. It’s not, by default, the government’s fault that a city council makes a mistake. Or that some church cries in fear.
There is also quite a big difference between “plan to” and “has been done”. And who gives a fuck that the church has made a national request? A mad man can mumble and ask for lot’s of things. The sad part is wheb someone takes him seriously. And, this time, you, and only you, are the one who fell in that trap.
As for the first part of the comment, I think you can agree that I was just trying to emphasise that you have just written a bad article
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August 24, 2016 at 12:12 pm
But you have heard of me?
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August 24, 2016 at 11:36 am
Misleading. The decision has been taken by the local council of Suceava and it only affects that (small) region of Romania. The Bucovina Rock Castle show might suffer from this, but the rest of the country has nothing to do with it.
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August 24, 2016 at 12:13 pm
So, it’s ok because you’re only discriminating against the 10,000 metal fans who attended the show?
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August 24, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Grulog might have exaggerated on some points but lets be real here… it is not okay to give so much power to the church, even if it’s a ‘isolated’ case… if it happened once it can happen again.
So, sorry fellow Romanians, but we kind of deserve to be hit over the head like this. In the end we do live in a country leaded by the church. They are funded by the state and always get donations and have a lot of unnecessary privileges, and think they are above the law.
So getting offended by a simple article when there is so much shit actually happening around us is so damn pointless.
(pfff… it is sad but this situation amuses my in such a terrible way..)
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August 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm
yes, i’m actually going to add a section that points out the violations to your own constitution the topic of this article entails. it is my opinion that the violation committed by the act far outweighs anything a random person on the internet writes.
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August 25, 2016 at 9:07 am
By “might have exaggerated on some points” you mean “he invented the whole ideea of the article”, right? Because that is what he did.
“In the end we do live in a country leaded by the church” I think that you live somewhere else, and believe that you live in Romania. Because, no, we do not live in a country led by the church.
I can’t believe that there are more than 0 people who actually condone blatantly lying and inflating stories, for likes and fame. The “I want to prove a point” thing is kind of bullshit. He even admitted that he made no research on the matter, and just plainly invented.
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August 25, 2016 at 11:59 am
He did not invent the whole thing, the Church representatives were pissed off about the festival and they demanded that they be consulted before such festivals take place. They had no right to be pissed off publicly about this. End of story.
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August 24, 2016 at 4:38 pm
I am deeply shocked of this ..hope isn t happening in Romania ……. but let s rememer ..in 30 november 2015 after the tragedy in COLECTIV h metal club in Bucharest …when 63 metalheads died burned alive… no action were taken …and we ..romanians got outside and changed the government in 3 days of huge street protest …. so I hope will never happen such things against metal …cause we are strong I say …below are images from the tragedy !!!! thanks for reading this … and here is the url on youtube !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFMzD-Sk4Fk
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August 24, 2016 at 4:46 pm
crazy, thanks for commenting!
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August 25, 2016 at 5:26 am
30 October, not November 😉
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August 24, 2016 at 5:33 pm
Well, dear Grulog, your rationale is not really based on Romanian realities. Not too sure where are you from and how the things are run on your own country but in Romania the city councils are in no way under the authority of the Romanian government. For sure, there are plenty of idiots and hypocrites among Romanian politicians but the large majority would never agree to the situation you just described. Anyhow, are you Russian or just played by them? Cause usually those kind of fabricated reports are all made at Radio Moscow command.
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August 24, 2016 at 5:41 pm
They do, however, determine where public funds go. I’m actually American – not a reporter or anything. Just a fan of heavy metal culture. I saw this start to unfurl, asked permission from one of the members of dark funeral to quote him in my blog, and wrote based on what i knew.
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August 24, 2016 at 5:43 pm
A question though – is determining the dispersion of public funds governmental?
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August 24, 2016 at 8:54 pm
That’s just a lie, there’s no such thing here in Romania :))
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August 25, 2016 at 2:43 am
No such thing as what?
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August 25, 2016 at 5:19 am
People are angry mostly because, for us, government means the prime minister and his cabinet. A word like “local” would have solved the issue. I saw that in the introduction you wrote that concerts need aproval in the area so it was somewhat clear from the beginning that it is about that particular area and not the entire country. From what i know, in the US, government has a slightly different meaning, this is where the confusion started.
I did not get the hipster, social activists part though. Everyone fights for whatever they find important, you might not care about DJ, hmm, Tiesto? being imprisoned wrongfully but you might care about cats being held captive in basements around the country or vice versa. The first ones to act should be the ones that are the closest to the subject.
Do not worry, there is no generalized threat towards the romanian metal scene. I think Alex explained very well the background and context of that particular north-eastern region. Fear no more, the huge influence of the church is slowly diminishing. A hipster
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August 25, 2016 at 11:57 am
The hipster thing is pretty much purely American – people seem to think it’s me with an axe to grind or whatever. More or less it’s me asking why it’s more important for heavy metal related media to report on things like which bathrooms people are using and not focusing on a 10,000 person metal festival causing a town verbally confirm a pastor will be allowed to approve what shows can and can’t receive public funds in that area (i’ve heard different things about the governmental function of that council – but the one constant thing is that they do determine where taxpayer dollars go)
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August 25, 2016 at 12:04 pm
Priests, not pastors, pastors are for the Evangelical churches
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August 25, 2016 at 5:24 am
Just as a side detail, the Romanian Constitution is not based on the Constitution of the US and they really don’t have much to do with one another. The Romanian one took the French Constitution model.
Besides, I know in the US the Constitution is the supreme law. While it is essential here, in Romania, as well, it does dot weigh as much as yours does in your country, although it should, because people are not properly educated to respect the Constitution and to abide by its articles.
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August 25, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Well, I think the American constitution preceded the French one by four months or so if my memory serves me correctly – and even if my american hubris gets in the way sometimes the fact of the matter is that the documents are very similar.
And if the people aren’t going to abide by the constitution of your country what is the purpose of having one?
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August 25, 2016 at 5:32 am
Anyway, I saw there were a lot of mean comments to your article and I don’t think you deserve them as such. There was some inaccuracy in what you said, but you are not basically wrong. You cannot know everything that goes on in Romania and all the political details, but at least you are trying and you can learn all this from people’s comments. You see, this is one of the things that I don’t like about Romanians: we jump to conclusions too fast, we are too eager to offend people and god forbid (pun intended) somebody makes a mistake, because that’s when the stone-throwing begins.
I just wanted to thank you for your interest in our country. At least you know where it is on the map (I hope), which is something I can’t say about too many Americans 😀
Rock on!
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August 25, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Ha, thank you! Actually, I had been hearing good things about the Romanian metal scene – besides this I still am. From my experience in America, this sort of thing has a tendency to explody waaaaay out of proportion. In the United States, for example, this sort of behavior on behalf of governmental agencies led to the entire genre of heavy metal becoming under attack by the government – and metal artists had to testify before congress.
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August 25, 2016 at 9:21 am
This is bullshit. There are not even rumours about such a thing in Romania. STOP spitting on a country just to get free publicity.
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August 25, 2016 at 11:49 am
There are, in fact, rumors about it. If you’re not understanding the content of the article, I would suggest reading some of the links I provided to articles written in Romanian.
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August 25, 2016 at 9:30 am
first of all, this isn’t music, it’s just some horror noise. when you have some retard who is screaming “I want to cut your vagina open”, this is beyond brainless retarded fucktard monkey bussiness. I am an old rocker who lived with everything from metallica, acdc, nirvana, even manowar, maiden, nightwish etc. But some bands novadays do stuff only to impress and they saw the more aggresive they are, the more retards they impress.
The moment you want to build such an imbecilistic arena show, at 50 meters from a well established church, you will obviously have issues. I am not against fucktards enjoying crap noise, but do it in an open field, not near the place some believers are praying for the souls of the beloved dead ones, it’s an offense.
There is also this extremely retarded movement. which goes “you can’t be a metal head if you respect church, so you need to tatoo 666 on your dickhead or clitoris in order to be cool”. I piss on them and with me, great bands like Axel Rudi Pell and others.
Too long didn’t read story: Grow some brains, make difference between music and noise.
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August 25, 2016 at 11:53 am
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion on music – I’m starting to think a lot of new music is garbage myself, so I guess it’s a symptom of growing older.
And it wasn’t Dark Funeral who decided to build the venue right near a church. In fact, it shouldn’t matter where the venue is – that doesn’t change your laws.
Also, Nirvana is garbage.
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August 25, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Respect goes both ways, you know? A concert takes place once, but how many times do people pray for the souls of their beloved ones ? I guess you can take a rain check on praying during that single concert or just pray somewhere else or just pray during the concert, but accepting the fact that there is a concert.
If some idiot plays manele outside the church, in his car, is that ok? And the fact that you don’t like the music doesn’t give you any more rights than the people who like it, you know?
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August 26, 2016 at 3:52 pm
Meanwhile in Sweden, Muslim migrants are raping non-Muslim women every day, making Sweden second only to South Africa in having the most rapes in the WORLD. In London, the newly “elected” Muslim mayor just banned all advertisements on public transit of women dressed immodestly. Women and children are sexually assaulted and raped in Germany by Muslim migrants on a regular basis now. Terrorist jihadi attacks are occurring on a weekly basis around Europe.
But this thing in Romania is cause for alarm? THIS will bring down western civilization and take us back to the middle-ages? I admit it is pretty stupid, but I’m thinking there are bigger fish to fry in the grand scheme of things. Good luck playing metal when islamic shariah law is in place, since it bans ALL music.
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August 26, 2016 at 5:43 pm
Well, I’m glad you brought that up. This is a good example of the Russian Orthodox Church having more in common with the extremist Muslim Ideologies than it does christianity in the rest of the world.
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August 26, 2016 at 5:47 pm
These are more or less separate things. While it’s absolutely horrible that this happens in Sweden and in Germany (I didn’t know things are so bad), this is comparing apples to oranges. Of course there are worse things out there than this incident, but ignoring this harms just as much as ignoring rape and famine, because it’s not just the outcome that has to be measured, but also the principles and values that are being harmed with it.
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September 30, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for writing this piece. I had no idea this even happened. In my own country.
I disagree with the usage of “all” in the title, though. Pretty misleading. You had me kinda worried for a minute there.
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September 30, 2016 at 12:55 pm
yeah, the wording could have been more precise. too late now.
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