Metal Animals
While creating a playlist, I felt compelled to write about this subject and noticed how these animals appeared repeatedly.
Personally, I feel drawn to Ravens and Wolves, just in the same way many of my friends are also attracted to some of these animals.
This got me thinking… why the same animals? Why Dragons, Ravens and Wolves?
I started thinking about these animals and what they represent.
I concluded that our community is assembled and based around way more than music but is united by it.
I am thinking here about archetypes and symbolism. What do they represent? These animals that are repeated in songs populate our subconscious.
In addition to the archetypes and symbolism, there is also the element “mythology”, but mythology goes along these same lines as a body of stories associated with a culture and based on legends, mythical creatures, symbols and archetypes.
A more pragmatic approach when it comes to Folk/Viking and Pagan Black Metal is that these animals are the animals they were familiar with, lived with and were found in their lands.
When Amon Amarth sings about the Raven, all these elements are combined: ravens were part of Viking life and an important reference in Norse mythology, and therefore, this extra part on what the Raven represents for us Metalheads.
And yes, they are “cool” animals and easy picks, of course… but other music styles do talk about other sort of animals: rats, bunnies, dogs (bitches ew, so disrespectful) and other symbols that are not necessarily animals but are representative of what people who love the music have imprinted in their minds.
I want to use a Jungian approach to what these animals represent in the collective subconscious to us. Our community, the term Metalheads as an Identity AND a community
Dragons, Ravens and wolves were used to create lyrics, album titles, and band names; therefore, they are a common factor and present in our subconscious.
When I think about the “Metal world”, I have built a mental image of a “fantasy world” with many areas.
They evoke specific human feelings, sentiments, values, behaviours and actions.
On Thrash, most themes are political, war, or violence-related, about real matters and facts, and focus on the world and our reality. Power, Symphonic Metal is a world tuned into fantasy and adventure with a zest for drama and heroic actions but also suffering and war.
Death Metal has a “gore shocking” component, like cultivating the most terrible human feelings and actions, like murder and socio/psychopathic behaviour, diseases and the fragile human condition leading to death, the depths of the human mind and even philosophy. On Black Metal, we add a spiritual element with cults, rituals, religion, Occultism, Satanism, demons and angels to the gore and brutality of Death Metal and the fantasy vision of the world from Power.
On NU, Industrial and Progressive Metal, we talk a lot about Human interactions, relationships, love, lust and sex, but also self-consciousness, self-questioning, self-deprecation and suicide. There is an irreverent tone and a touch of humour, irony, and sarcasm in NU, IND, as a consequence of the focus on human interactions.
What sort of archetypes and symbols do Metalheads identify with?
What does represent the Dragon… the Raven… the Black Goat, and the Wolf:
Dragons
As a myth, Dragons fit perfectly in the Power Metal fantasy world.
The dragon exists as a mythical creature around the world. It is perhaps one of our oldest legends, inhabiting our subconscious since the beginning of times. If you take the three primary predators primates faced: snakes, large cats, and raptors, and combine them, you would get something that looks an awful lot like a dragon.
The archetype of the Dragon is associated with mystery, fantasy, adventure, power and wisdom, and it is vastly used in Power Metal songs.
The Dragon is the animal Number 1 in Metal.
The Wolf
The Wolf is the second Metal animal, and the archetype of the wolf represents loyalty, family, communication, wisdom, teaching, intelligence, bravery, and a badass attitude since wolves prey on much larger creatures.
In nature, Wolves are pack animals with excellent communication and body language skills needed for hunting and protection. The “lone wolf” archetype also represents individuals who may belong to a community but are introverts or loners.
This fits perfectly with the Metalhead sense of community, which is quite strong and disassociated with race and culture, unlike other genres of music that are culture-ethnic-oriented.
We are a community apart; even if there may be some disagreements, they are often music-oriented and not culture- or ethnic-related.
One final feature that made this identification with wolves strong is that wolves can’t be tamed and stay true to their nature, which is also a trait that most Metalheads will identify with.
We like what we like, want what we want, and are proud of our choices even when they don’t fit easily in what civilians consider ” normal “.
The Raven
We also have the Raven, a plain black bird but extremely clever and cunning.
Crows and Raven’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder. They aren’t as pretty as a parrot or any other exotic bird but dark, mysterious and wise.
Many of our songs present a plain-looking, dark, yet somehow fascinating blackbird.
In the Metal world, talent and skill trump aesthetics; even if charisma helps, I dare say that physical looks are secondary.
They are also seen as “tricksters” and mystical dark creatures that you could associate with the darker depths of the human psyche.
Finally, they are associated with hard living conditions and survival.
Ravens capture our imaginations to such a degree that you might even call them iconic figures, and yet they don’t need to be particularly pretty to hold attention; their talents are enough.
Black Goat
In Christianity, the goat “symbolizes those damned in the last judgment and is shown to distinguish sinners from the righteous”.The scapegoat is Christ, burdened by the sins of the world.
The goat is also a familiar of witches and a form of the devil.
The Black Goat may represent Satan in the form of the satyr, a half-man, half-goat. In folklore, the satyr symbolized a man with excessive sexual appetites. The Black Goat may also be a female, earthly form of Shub-Niggurath, an incarnation she assumes to copulate with her worshipers.
Baphomet is an invented pagan or gnostic idol or deity that the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping, and that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions.
The name Baphomet appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights Templar, which started in 1307. A being with the head of a black goat represents Baphomet, and its head is the logo of the band Venom, considered the very first Black Metal band.
Baphomet is imagined as a “Sabbatic goat”, a hermaphroditic winged human figure with the head and feet of a goat adorned with numerous esoteric symbols.
We also have reptiles who represent adaptability, wisdom and cold blood (lack of emotion); eagles who represent freedom; and the Phoenix, a powerful, mystical creature that represents rebirth; Bears, boars and tigers who represent pure strength and also a wild ferocious trait.
To resume, we could say, “Birds of a feather flock together”. “Our feathers” are particularly interesting, and they are Raven Black.
We have a natural sense of community that is not culture-ethically oriented, and we can feel this in any proper Metal festival.
We are not the easy-to-tame kind and are rather proud of our choices. Let’s say this is our “wolf heritage”.
The Black goat represents our acceptance of the dark, whether in or out and also acceptance of our primal impulses and instincts.
The Dragon shows creativity and a powerful, rich inner world.
What is your favorite Metal animal?
Here is a list of many songs with these animals, and I also created a Dragons, Raven and Wolf Playlist on Spotify. I hope you enjoyed the reading and the songs.
Raven and Crows
When Crows Tick on Windows, Crach Angren
Murder of Crows, Semblant
The Raven, Rotting Christ
Raven’s Cr of Despair, Scythe of Sorrow (Album)
Too many Raven songs! Click to see our Spotify Playlist.
Band name Raven
Those Damn Crows
See playlist
Baphomet’s Throne, Samael
Baphomet, Belphegor
Baphomet’s Altar, Black Sanctuary
Baphomet, Dark Fortress
Baphomet, Angel Witch
Obey Baphomet, Black Death
Goatwhore
Scorpion
The Shooting Star, Gojira
Scorpions
Snake
Law of The Serpent, Coronation of The Serpent, Rotting Christ
Snake Eyes, Sworn In
Smoking Snakes, Sabaton
Year Of The Snake, Chimaira
The Serpent’s Kiss, Cemetary
Serpent”s Embeace, Agathodaimon
Snakes, Solence
Phoenix
Phoenix Rising, Annihilator
Phoenix, Satyricon
Phoenix, White Ward
Wolf Moon, Type O
Wolf, Iced Earth
She Wolf, Megadeth
In the Year of the Wolf, Motorhead
The Howling, Within Temptation
To The Wolves At My Door, Soulfallen
Howl of the Wolf, Double Dealer
The Wolves of Fenris, Lorcan Ward
Legend of the Ice Wolf, Spellblast
Beware The Wolf, Exhorder
Bark at the moon, Ozzy
Night of the Wolf, Saxon
Unchain the wolves, Lone wolf winter, Destroyer 666
The Wolf You Feed, Alyssa White Gluz and Nita Strauss
A Dream of Wolves in the Snow; Cradle of Filth
Of Wolf and Man Metallica
A Wolf Cries in Anger, Satanic Warmaster
Werewolves of Armenia, Where The Wild Wolves Have Gone, Lupus Dei, Powewolf
Thrown to the wolf, Death Angel
Wolf’s Blood, Misfits
Wolf’s Blood, Pentagram
Lycanthropy, Six Feet Under
Wolf’s Trail, SatanaKozel
The Wolf is Lose, Mastodon
Wolf Bands
Wolf at the throne room
Wolfheart
Powerwolf
Wolfchant
Lair of the dragon, Wolf and Raven
Black Dragon Dissection
Apophis Black Dragon, Belphegor
Blck Dragon, Luca Turilli
Black Dragon”s Tale, Samorra Shadow
Dragon Mistress, Marty Friedman
The Dragon Lies Bleeding, Hammerfall
Power of the Dragon Flame, Rhapsody of Fire
Dragon Reborn, Black Majesty
Fight the Dragon for the Village, Manowar
In the Dragon’s Den, Symphony X
Dragonborn and many Dragon songs, Twilight Force
Dragons Awakening, Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms
In the Court of The Dragon by Trivium, many Dragon songs like Becoming the Dragon, Feast of Fire
Tears Of The Dragon, Bruce Dickinson
Dragon’s Tale, Dracovallis
Dragons of the North, Einherjer
Rise Of The Dragon Empire, War of Dragons and Tears of a Dragon Heart Bloodbound
Dragon Bands
Dragon
Dragonforce
Dragoncorpse
Dragonlord
Eagle
Eagle Fly Free, Helloween
The Eagle Flies Alone, Arch Enemy
Bears
The Shooting Star, Gojira talks about Bears, SCorpions and tigers lol
Tigers
Tigers of Pan Tang
The Shooting Star, Gojira
Lions
Jackal
When the Jackal Come
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