Från djävulsmusik till konstnärligt uttryck

Korpelarörelsen, black metal och kulturpolitik

Abstract

From Devil's Music to Artistic Expression. The Korpela Movement, Black Metal, and Cultural Policy
This text explores Korpelarörelsen, a Black Metal band that presents an audiovisual performance depicting a religious movement in Tornedalen during the early 20th century. In 2020 they received prolific funding from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee to conceive, rehearse and tour with the band. The article describes the band's unique portrayal of local history through the use of black metal music, while also discussing the boundaries between art and music, its implications for arts funding and the Black Metal genre's position in cultural hierarchies. The study draws on interviews, concert observations, and analysis of applications and documents outlining the funding decision from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.

The historic religious Korpela movement has been described as a doomsday cult, which believed that practicing music and dance, extrovert “childlike behavior” and even nudity and free sex, was the path to salvation. The band Korpelarörelsen depicts this through raw Black Metal, atmospheric elements, spoken word passages, and peculiar onstage-rituals. Visual aesthetics, including black robes, corpse paint, and blood-like smears, contributed to the atmosphere of mystique, darkness, and death.

Korpelarörelsen’s application for cultural funding strategically positioned the project as a collaboration between various art forms and emphasized the interaction between Black Metal aesthetics and music industry methods. Korpelarörelsen's innovative approach and funding success might offer possibilities for extreme music within culturally funded systems. This case study demonstrates how a Black Metal band from Tornedalen could potentially have cultural and political impact and pave the way for other extreme music groups seeking recognition and support.