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Well, let’s see…Warning: beware spoilers and prepare for a long answer.I’m essentially bringing up every single thing of why The Godfather: Part II is one of the most critically acclaimed films and sequels of all time?Gladly.The critical acclaim that this film receives can be predicated from these following factors:Narrative.Dialogue.Casting.Themes.Characters.Acting.Cinematography and music.It all starts with the two men above.Michael Corleone. And his father, Vito Corleone (née Andolini).The central plot of the second Godfather film focuses on Michael’s efforts in the present day of 1958 to expand the Corleone franchise, namely into Nevada and into Cuba, which brings him into conflict with one of the main antagonists, Hyman Roth, and sees him desperately attempting to hold on to every last scrap of power he can.The secondary, but no less significant, plot arc chronicles the rise of Vito in the early 20th century, from a near mute child forced to flee his homeland, to a petty criminal working the streets, to New York City’s most respected and powerful Don.There is a lot of thematic symbolism in this film, which contributes to its success. Contrasting the rise of the father both personally and professionally with the fall of the son in the same areas creates brilliant dramatic weight.Francis Ford Coppola highlights those professional and personal challenges that Michael has to face by contrasting them with those of his father in their very different times and cultures.Now, of course, the plot of the first Godfather film feels much more memorable seeing as I have observed it a few more times than the sequel.And yet, from over two years since I last fully watched it, I can still vividly recall Michael’s attempted assassination and his bedroom walls exploding in gunfire, “keep your friends close”, Don Fanucci’s scathing ‘paisano’ remarks and his ensuing murder, Vito diagonally dissecting Don Ciccio’s stomach, the pandemonium of the Cuban Revolution, Michael and Kay’s row, Frank Pentangeli committing perjury upon seeing his Sicilian brother at the trial, Fredo’s murder, and Michael sat all alone at the side of the lake.Writing and DialogueJust because a film has memorable moments does not necessarily equate to greatness, ’tis arguable. You were possibly less than impressed by the film’s pacing?It’s a valid criticism; it’s nearly 3.5 hours long, and no teenager or young adult is going to want to pay attention to all the talking and the talking and the talking in between “Oh, blood! Oh, gunshots! Oh, screaming and dying!”But it’s my belief that all that dialogue is one of the film’s greatest testaments to its stellar writing. The pacing helps to reflect that because we have two extremely significant narratives operating and the film needs to give it that appropriate amount of time to flesh it out to its maximum; otherwise, the characters and storylines don’t get to breathe.Some lines could leave you feeling confused and thinking “Huh? What- what is he trying to say there? What does he mean?”But on the other hand, the dialogue and its delivery reveals so much about each character. It makes them feel real and exhibits their flaws, personalities, motivations and development clearly.Not everything has to be spelled out for us, as was Coppola’s intention for his target audience; this film is aimed at a more critically thoughtful and intelligent audience that are able to make inferences and come to their own conclusions.As well as, you know, patient.Furthermore, the trilogy is a set of gangster films (genre defining, I might add) yet the plot of both the first and second Godfather’s deal with the power struggles of crime families, but in starkly contrasted ways even when isolating the two central characters of Vito and Michael.Both of them are powerful character studies, disguised as an epic crime drama, that seek to be explored, evaluated, revoked, criticised, condemned and ultimately remembered.The first film covers both of their perspectives on the same family in the same time frame; Vito’s efforts to maintain his family’s position of relative security and Michael’s attempts to distance himself from this lifestyle, as he promised Kay at the film’s beginning, whilst ironically being drawn even closer to the same life through time and fate in order to protect the family.The second film has the unique narrative development of a simultaneous prequel and sequel. Both Vito and Michael’s handling of the Corleone syndicate are explored in greater depth. Characters we met in the first film are given more material, and characters we meet in this film are no less excluded from being sucked into all that is unholy of the Corleone criminal empire.The most prominent theme throughout the film, both in Vito’s rise and Michael’s fall, is all about power. It is about the character’s struggle to acquire or maintain their personal and professional power, and how it changes them.Vito would inevitably rise to power because he is a person that had nothing in the beginning and would have continued to have nothing if he did not do whatever was necessary to survive.He is the ironic personification of the American Dream promised for first-generation immigrants sailing past the Statue of Liberty. Vito Corleone is the ultimate New Colossus.He at least had a conscience, however; he wasn’t a common thug, murdering, stealing and harloting whatever and from whomever he pleased. Vito had high ambition, a natural charisma, a smooth, tranquil voice and impeccable vocabulary.Most importantly, he had warmth. That was his greatest strength. The warmth he exuded to the people around him engendered their loyalty and respect.Comparatively, Michael would inevitably fall and not lose the power he gains, but his soul, because he followed what Vito said as a throwaway one-liner in the first film to a tee.“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”Michael is not the perfect father, husband and Don that his own father was. That’s okay. They are both completely different men in different times with different people and circumstances to contend with.Michael feels distant with his children and wife because he places too much importance on maintaining the balance of power he established at the end of the first film. That, inevitably, neglects his personal duty to his family.Michael’s character serves as an exploration of fatherhood, masculinity, expectation, and tradition. He feels like he wants to spiritually impress his father by taking the family franchise above and beyond what his father could have dreamed of.Yet, Michael had too much ambition.He wanted to spread further and increase the family’s power, but his cold pragmatism stands in stark divergence to his father’s methods of ascension. You can see this difference clearly just from the first scenes of each film where both Don’s are receiving their ‘favours’, as it were.In Vito’s introduction, you can clearly see the level of utmost respect that the people he meets with try to maintain. One shows fear, another, excitement and another, admiration. They are awed to be in the mere presence of Don Corleone.Even Luca Brasi, one of the most violent and dangerous hitmen to be in current employment, stumbles over his words when treating with the Godfather. Vito was able to achieve this level of reverence through earning it.He didn’t force everyone he met to fear him. He was fair and loving to those that wanted his ‘protection’, but wholly unforgiving to those who were disloyal.Now consider Michael.When he sits down to meet with the Senator, you can see how different things are. Michael has disrupted the equilibrium of power in New York’s crime framework.He didn’t earn people’s respect. Only through fear and control does he keep his family associates on his side. The Senator can pick up on that, and freely mock the Don, even cursing his Sicilian heritage and his family.Can you imagine him saying that to Vito’s face? He’d be diced up faster than a boiled egg. Nevertheless, he did do a decent job of controlling himself and not let the Senator’s words provoke him too much, because he knows the offer he gives the Senator (as proven in the whorehouse later) is one that he cannot refuse.The first film demonstrated Vito’s extraordinary ability to deal with his enemies, and love his allies. The second one shows that Michael’s intelligence was not enough when it came to the inner mechanisms of his crumbling family. Not to mention, he had more dangerous foes to contend with, internally and externally.Firstly, Hyman Roth.Roth was a former associate of Vito, closely affiliated with Moe Greene, who was the king of the Las Vegas franchise that Michael wished to add to his monopoly.I can never give Lee Strasburg enough credit for his prowess in the role; the old codger pretending to have one foot in the grave whilst attacking Michael on two fronts and playing a very devious game of chess.Strasburg himself was a method actor, like Vito’s predecessor Marlon Brando was, who collaborated with Stella Adler, one of the few people who studied with Stanislavsky, the originator of this acting style. He even trained Al Pacino, who’d go on to have the most iconic role of all time in his whole career.Michael goes down to Havana to meet with Roth in discussing the future of their various business prospects. This is after Frank Pentangeli, who is one of Michael’s underlings and was being harassed by the Rosato brothers, is nearly whacked. Michael wishes to know who gave the order.To show you what I mean by the film’s masterful dialogue, look at what Roth tells Michael about his father and Moe Greene:“There was this kid that I grew up with; he was a couple years younger than me, and sort of looked up to me, you know. We did our first work together, worked our way out of the street. Things were good and we made the most of it. During prohibition, we ran molasses up to Canada and made a fortune; your father too. I guess as much as anyone, I loved him and trusted him. Later on, he had an idea to make a city out of a desert stop-over for G.I.'s on the way to the West Coast. That kid's name was Moe Greene, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man; a man with vision and guts; and there isn't even a plaque or a signpost or a statue of him in that town. Someone put a bullet through his eye; no one knows who gave the order. When I heard about it I wasn't angry. I knew Moe; I knew he was headstrong, and talking loud, and saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go, and said to myself: this is the business we've chosen. I DIDN’T ASK, who gave the go ahead because it had nothing to do with business.”It’s not just the words themselves that makes them so enthralling to listen to; it’s the delivery by Strasburg and the context surrounding the current situation that makes his subtle threat to Michael all that more dramatic.His anger increases and his face sours into an ugly glower as he gets towards the last quarter of his speech, recounting how Moe was murdered. Moe was his closest associate, but, hey, “it’s just business”, right?No. And that’s why Hyman Roth is a great character. Strasburg holds our attention for nearly four minutes to give us everything we need to know about his history and goals. He spouts that he is all about business and never taking things personally, but you see and hear and feel the hatred in his voice at Michael, because both of them know ‘someone’ (Michael) put a bullet in Moe’s eye.He took that extremely personally, so Roth is driven by revenge.Michael, on the other hand, is the real mobster driven by business. He sees a potential threat to his criminal interests and he eliminates it. It’s how he could murder all of the Five Family Dons, Greene and Carlo during his nephew’s baptism, how he could renounce his sins whilst fully relishing them, and how he could kill his own brother.Keep in mind, as well, that Roth’s enterprises in Cuba were entering a strenuous turning point. He over-extended himself there and the chances of revolution were high. Should the risks have beared out, Roth would have been financially ruined.So, the only way he could hedge this risk was if he seized control of the Corleone empire. A finger up Fredo’s ass, a dead Michael Corleone, and Roth would be set for usurping the enterprise.This is what I meant earlier by having to make inferences. The audience has to actually think about each character and what they’re saying and whether it is the truth, or some other subtext is not being uttered.Personally, I’ve always interpreted this lecture as Roth saying that Michael’s murder of Moe effectively balances out his own hit order on Pentangeli.He’s telling Michael (by using a monologue instead of the explicit words, so we have to think for ourselves about what he’s really saying) to not ask about who ordered Pentangeli to be killed and to let it go… because it had nothing to do with business. And, as a kicker, he equates that to Michael’s murder of Moe Greene.That’s what makes the subtleties in the acting and dialogue of this film so great. You can have different matters of perspective on just one line, one way of that line being delivered, one scene, one look, one glance. You are rewarded for thinking about the film instead of just merely watching it.And secondly, there is Fredo.For the record, I will not go through my meaningless life without at least experiencing a banana daiquiri, it must be honoured.Oh, Fredo, what to start?Let’s start with the obvious. Fredo was jealous. He was obsessed with being overshadowed by his younger sibling, and we even see from his birth in Vito’s narrative that he was a weak child. A sycophant, a womanising entertainer.He was gentle, true, but he had neither the mentality nor the pragmatism to play the game and come out on top. He was a threat to Michael ever since he let slip that he knew Johnny Ola when he previously said he did not.And even though he is largely tacky and made to look like a childlike fool, Fredo still feels as real as the rest of these people. I completely understand his outbursts of always wanting to be respected and feeling underestimated, underappreciated. We’ve all felt like that at some point.But… he was just not meant to be the Godfather. It was tailor cut for Michael. And with being cast aside for the likes of his elder brother Sonny, his spiritual brother Tom Hagen, even his sister, that pressures Fredo to be the biggest version of himself, which ultimately reveals to be the ugliest one. He almost had Michael killed because of his naivete and poor judgment.And, once more, it all comes back to Michael. If he had actually succeeded what he had promised Kay, and made the family legitimate in five years, then Fredo would have no need to betray him.But his powerful resentment for being passed over as Don because Michael wasn’t paying enough attention to him, and the escalatory buildup of humiliation he has suffered from his own family, pushes Fredo into conspiring with the Corleone’s enemies.Because it’s nothing personal. Just business.Now, having talked about writing and dialogue and themes, let’s move on to some more human elements.Casting and Acting.I’ve talked about Strasburg’s impactful performance as Roth, which will never be understated, so let’s begin with the focal characters again.I’d say Al Pacino’s performance in II is only slightly underneath his performance in I, but he is by no means any less of a presence in this film. A tell-tale sign of a great actor is their ability to delude you into thinking the character they’re playing is a real person. Of course, you’ll always have the sinister nagging voice of cynicism bellowing in your mind “it’s made up.”But Pacino quells that voice with as much a silent, deathly stare as with his explosive rounds of emotion. Another sign of a great actor is their ability to convey speech and thought without saying anything. We don’t need to have everything spelt out for us because that would subsequently detract from the actors’ effort to ‘show, don’t tell’, which is criminally unseen nowadays.He proved that in the first film when he’s building up to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey, and you see his face and eyes and mouth dart, contort, relax, flare and tighten, waiting to pull the trigger.In that same scene with Roth in Havana, Michael listens to his lecture in silence. And he just stares at Roth - a neutral but penetrating stare that demonstrates just how ruthless he has become since becoming the Godfather.It also serves to highlight again the stark contrast between the father and the son. Michael has none of Vito’s genuine love for the people he meets. Even his close relatives are met with some variation of a man in a controlled madness. He is intoxicated by power and he lets it corrupt him.But Michael is still very much a human being. He has his brother killed, and it still gives him pause. He’s devastated that his unborn son was not miscarried, but aborted. He loves Fredo with all his heart, and his betrayal stings all the more.He’s angry that he and his family were directly threatened so intimately that he vies to protect them at all costs. The power of protection he seeks, however, contributes to the loss of his soul.The zenith of this capacity to summon raw emotion with no words and little effort comes when Michael receives the worst news for a Mafia boss and Italian-American father raised with Sicilian standards.Consider the scene where Kay reveals to Michael that she aborted their unborn son instead of it being a miscarriage. This is the apex of Pacino’s acting, as well as Diane Keaton’s unflinching conviction in espousing what her character believed to be the right thing to do in the current predicament.Consider the stages at which Michael builds up to and finally strikes Kay. He’s shocked with the realisation of a dead unborn son, he momentarily grieves, then his anger starts accumulating and is finally unleashed in a inferno of rage.It’s all in the eyes and the trembling mouth. It progressively gets more contorted and stretched as Keaton ramps up the venomous delivery of her defence.This scene is honestly the most uncomfortable thing in the film, more than Vito’s mum being blasted by a shotgun, because Pacino’s apocalyptically hard stare is so intense. You cannot watch him for fear of being caught in his crosshairs.And yet Diane never flinches, she just lets the suffocated feelings of longing, loneliness, frustration, natural maternal instincts of protecting her children’s welfare and dissatisfaction of being this Godfather’s wife laid on the table. She knew how to hurt his pride and emotional foundation with the ultimate insult. Just listen to the speech here:“It wasn’t a miscarriage. It was an abortion. An abortion, Michael. Just like our marriage is an abortion. Something that is unholy and evil! I didn’t want your son, Michael. I wouldn’t bring another one of your sons into this world! It was an abortion, Michael! It was a son and I had it killed because this must all end! I know now that it’s over. I knew it then. There would be no way, Michael, no way you could forgive me, not with this Sicilian thing that’s been going on for 2000 ye-”Then she gets fucking wrecked.Sorry, couldn’t resist.The mastery of the acting in this scene shows how each character is feeling. Both Michael and Kay have been pushed to a breaking point; Kay with Michael’s continued emotional and personal absences, and Michael with being forced into the Mafia lifestyle to protect his family and contend with all the ensuing pressures threatening to tear them apart.You can understand where both of them come from, yet just fucking run from that stare, man. That’s all I can say.And I will not move on before addressing the other titan of the film that catapulted his name to infamy.Robert De Niro.Marlon Brando may have set the gold bar for this role, but De Niro completed the other side to make it platinum.The majority of his lines was spoken in Italian, and yet it won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He even travelled to Sicily for a few months to study the actual dialect that he would try and portray.He not only had to play a highly regarded character but also accurately depict his predecessor’s mannerisms in said role, otherwise it would be clear that it would be distinguished as “Brando’s Vito” and “De Niro’s Vito”, instead of two actors playing exactly the same character.He had to find a new type of performance without deviating too widely from the older counterpart.And when you consider this was in an age where makeup enhancements were uncommon, and CGI was non-existent, for an different actor to convince you that you are watching the younger incarnation of the same character, De Niro pulled it off brilliantly.I feel Vito’s warmth through De Niro’s silkily suave speech patterns and how incredibly vibrant he feels with his newfound beginnings of power. I love how he bonds with Peter Clemenza and Sal Tessio in their quest to overrule the abhorrent Don Fanucci.I love in the clip below how he uses his charm (and the landlord’s ‘friends’) to help the hounded widowed tenant of the landlord’s property.At 1:34 in the clip, an extra walks by and nods to De Niro, who returns the exchange. Apparently that was an improvisation, and it adds to the perception of Vito’s vast network of contacts.He asks the landlord, Roberto, to ask his friends in the neighbourhood about him as the landlord none too kindly threatens to kick his Sicilian ass into the street. After Roberto does, the effect is more than enough as would a gun be pointed to his skull.He later shows himself into Vito’s office and apologises profusely, offering to lower the widow’s rent and let her keep the dog whilst he stumbles over his words.Despite Vito’s love for his community, it was essential to build up this dangerous reputation so that people knew that he is highly capable of strategic violence and operatic displays of generosity and sentimentality.And as Roberto makes to leave, he’s gibbering away in Italian and fiddling with the lock, all the while as Vito looks to Tessio with a subtle triumphant smile. He’s that good.Another one of De Niro’s strengths in the role is how calm and collected he demonstrates Vito to be. Just like Brando established, there is more power and dominance in subtlety and calmness than there is in wild gesticulation and vehemently spouted tempers. He was the epitome of class when dealing with Roberto and with Fanucci as well.Rewind a flashback or so and look at where Vito meets with Fanucci during the parade to hand over his commission.He puts his hat over the money, just to see whether Vito is a man of his word. He sees it is not the right amount, but decides to take it, pinching Vito on the cheek as he walks out.Two very significant occurrences are made in this scene which highlight Vito’s powerful character.Firstly, if Fanucci had not taken the money, then it would have demonstrated to Vito that Fanucci has principles; he would never accept any less than the ‘right’ amount. Vito would have to be more careful, even more appeasing, with this higher class of criminal.But because Fanucci took the money regardless, Vito could infer that Fanucci just cared about where the next wad of cash came from. Fanucci had little ambition, less so than Vito, which would make it easier for Vito to remove Fanucci, a common thug, from power.Secondly, Vito looks on in Fanucci’s wake after he leaves, then he feels the pinched cheek with an almost inscrutable look, but you can see his brow ever so slightly furrowed. That was an insult to him, and you all know what happens next:And finally, some more technical commendations.Cinematography and MusicA good indicator of what separates a standout film from a mediocre or forgettable one is found within how it looks as well as how it flows, how coherent and layered its plot, and acted its characters.The Godfather: Part II is a standout with cinematography. It is all thanks to the efforts of Gordon Willis.He was a pioneer in photography lighting; underexposing his films (bring the darkness factor up) which is called “crushing the blacks”. He came around at a time where Hollywood was beginning to take bolder steps beyond the studio and actually film on location.You feel that you are in the Corleone’s premises, that you are driving with Michael in Havana, you are with Pentangeli as he is getting whacked by the Rosato brothers.The production could elevate the standard of storytelling just from increased mobility and freedom with wherever they chose to shoot.You would have noticed in The Godfather films that there is this yellowish, almost tangerine, hue to everything on the screen. Vito’s flashbacks, Michael meeting with Pentangeli after his attack, the courtroom scenes, they all vividly demonstrate this quality.It adds this minimalistic layer to the film, making it look and feel like it was made in a more classical era of cinematic production.In concurrence with the film’s thematic depth, Willis chose to underexpose this film even further (some scenes are extremely subjected to this, admittedly) to further highlight the contrast in tone between the first and the second film.The tone is much darker as Michael’s personal and criminal life is slowly melded together, often through trauma and violence. It is a departure from the first film where, yes, there was tragedy, death, abuse and destruction, but it felt more innocent and ‘romantic’ (ironic word choice, I know); the lighting felt softer and was doing its best to preserve the cohesion of the Corleone family before Vito’s shooting.Just the way the film is made to feel visually demonstrates how far Michael has (and will) fall.Consider the above picture towards the end where Michael verbally disowns Fredo.Observe how the wintry snow outside is whitened further to act as a template for the ‘frosty’ mood, as well as the interior of the cabin being underexposed too. You can barely make out Michael and Fredo’s faces beyond their silhouettes.The darkness exposes how much the darkness inside Michael is consuming his family as hard as he tries to protect them. And cinematography is impossible without there being an actual camera at work.Visual storytelling is just as important to a narrative as the characters. Look at how the frame captures Michael’s upright domineering posture opposite Fredo’s slouched, weaker, nearly horizontal position.Imagine that you only know the film through this picture, but you can deduce that Michael is the one with the ultimate power, not just as the Don but accentuated by his younger age, standing higher and taller than his older sibling.Fredo’s status is inversely diminished; the elder is looking up at his younger brother (and made to look more childish subsequently), underlining Fredo’s obsessive resentment over Michael’s level of power and respect whereas his is much less acknowledged.Even the freakin’ chair has a symbolic purpose; holding him back whilst he tries to move forward, underpinning his entire existence.The camerawork and lighting prepare you for the actor’s words before they are even spoken. This is how you distinguish between a ‘film’ and ‘art’.And, lastly, the music.The opening fanfare of masterful composer Nino Rota’s The Immigrant could not be any more iconic.The motif could not be any more affiliated than with the character of Michael Corleone; the lone, cursed son, continuing the sins of his father, and his journey of intoxicated self-destruction that would encompass everyone he met and ever loved or hated.They are all ahead of their time. Tragedy, beauty, despair and the struggle for power encapsulated within a few symphonies. Music is the ultimate expression of human emotion, and the film’s soundtrack strings all of those threads together.It is nostalgic, mournful, evoking images of times eternally lost, stirring emotions that the audience should not feel for such a violent story, but Rota’s music sways our feelings for the brutal events of the film.ConclusionThe Godfather: Part II did what every decent sequel should have done and improved upon the material that its predecessor provided.Two such questions arise from the end of the first film: “how did Vito build his empire?” and “where would Michael lead it?”The answer? Soul crushed, alone, and to the side of a lake.The very last shot shows the audience what Michael has transformed into: evil incarnate.Juxtaposed masterfully with the last flashback when he excitedly announces and stoutly defends his decision to join the military, here Michael’s face is a mask of implacable hatred. He has lost every shred of morality since the day he lost Apollonia.He has become an insecure, merciless, empty shell. In trying to fill his father’s shoes, he has lost sight of the core values that made Vito Corleone the prestigious crime boss that he was. He has vanquished all of his enemies and threats… and for what?The sequel’s masterstroke is its willingness to pull back the curtain on organised crime. The trilogy has been holistically accused by some viewers as glamorising or glorifying the Italian-American Mafia (something that is brought up again with Goodfellas and critiqued in The Sopranos).The first film has that line of thought, but the sequel deconstructs the Mafia through its characters. None of them are truly good. They are all doing their best to make their lives better through gaining the most power.The irony here is that Michael’s power evolved, but his character devolved. Nobody definitively won in this film. The crucial difference between the two leads is that Vito always was a sympathetic character, dying the hero, and Michael lived long enough to see himself become the villain.After all, it’s just business.Peace and Love.A short life and a merry one.

First, lets define what Metal is.The answer that would, in my opinion most resonate with what Metal tries to achieve is - DualityMetal is essentially the balance. Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Peace and Chaos…The one does not exist without the other - Yin and YangThis is easy to spot when going deep into the genre, while looking at it from the outside may seem only one-sided, however that is only a mirage.It also is pretty nerdy in its soul and sometimes also ridiculous in its approach.But sometimes it tries too hard to look like something which it in reality is not(on that later, especially with the Norwegian Black Metal).A thing to bear in mind !Metal is known for its connection to making listeners want to headbang - moving one’s head up and down to the rhythm(seriously it may be hard not to sometimes!)You may want to limit INTENSE headbanging(if you have the urge to do so), apparently it may lead to some brain and neck injuries if done for too long and too much.Regular and controlled headbanging should not prove dangerous however.With that out of the way…Metal is not just music, a state of thought of a sort too.The basic idea behind Metal was to touch on the subjects which society did not want to talk about or things that it deemed inappropriate and focusing these things on the values similar to that of a horror fiction.That is why Metal became feared in the 80s, because some people took all that darker imagery and whatnot too literally and seriously and many false or greatly overblown conspiracies were made against it and its fans.Satanic panic in the 80s especially harmed it, but some bands took it as a way to get recognition and protest against the overblown views of society on these subjects. Satanic imagery became relatively common in the Extreme Metal, especially in Black Metal, although it never truly went beyond the fiction level(apart from a few bands).Overall it is an interesting, although very misunderstood genre of music. And I wish it had a better understanding among people than it currently holds, because it usually gets hated for things which are quite misinterpreted. This guide is a sort of an attempt to explain.People usually are prejudiced against Metal because of them starting on the wrong foot, that is starting with the Extreme Metal, but that is like going swimming to an ocean without knowing anything about swimming. Metal needs to be taken slowly and gradually in order to get, one has to start with the gentler stuff and then slowly start building up on it. Open-mindness is the key. There is something for everyone. Metal is a genre that needs to grow on you, but when it does, it is very hard to stop listening to it(personal experience there).That is how I got from hating the genre to being literally obsessed with it(as you will see from the length of this guide…duh…or is it my want to write? Hm…)Metal is made up of many genres and sub-genres(literally I have seen a video with around 200 of them, but that is very inaccurate).There is not more than 15 main and 25 sub-genres of these genres, thus the number is officially somewhere around 40–50... It is only when people try to come up with the new genres based on the lyrical themes that you can get to a number of 200, where most of them do not even make sense…genres are made around the sound, not lyrics.What you should also know is that these genres are divided into groups of the Non-Extreme Metal and Extreme Metal - which has levels of Low-Extreme Metal(Thrash Metal or Gothic Metal for example) and Top-Extreme Metal(Brutal Death Metal or Norwegian Black Metal for example).The rest in the middle is Extreme Metal(standard Death Metal or Extreme Thrash)Be sure to use at least relatively good headphones for the best listening experience, this is crucial with the Extreme Metal.The main genres you should know are:THE NON-EXTREME METALHeavy Metal - The original Metal genre. This genre is characterized by distorted guitars and guitar solos and usually energic sound.People usually use this term to refer to the whole Metal genre, while that was possible back in the 70s, when there were not genres yet, today that term is already incorrect when describing the whole Metal genre.Lyrical themes are many, social issues like war, some fantasy or literature oriented, some historical, or just about having fun…Heavy Metal originated in the early 70s, it all started from Blues when the musicians like Pat Hare or Joe Hill Louis began to add distortion to it, then it was also Surf Rock with classics like Misirlou by Dick Dale. If you turn off the distortion on many Metal songs, it sounds very much like Surf Rock.Then it was Psychedelic/Acid Rock with bands like Cream, Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly, other pre-Metal bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, The Who, even Beatles with their Helter Skelter…Black Sabbath however is considered to be the first Metal band.They followed the trend of the horror atmosphere, even with the use of occult that was started by bands like Coven or Black Widow.Originated in Birmingham, around that time the first fully-industrialized city in the world. Black Sabbath drew from more Bluesy and Rock and Roll sound with some Classical influence, however Black Sabbath at first did not want to connect themselves with Metal, but the sound they created truly started it all, this heavy and thick distorted, doomy sound in their first song was created by a sheer coincidence and that is that the guitarist had an accident at his last day of work in the steel factory, where he cut-off tips of 2 of his fingers while cutting steel plates on a machine and thus had to be very careful playing a guitar, which got that doomy, sad and slow sound. This also gave the birth to Doom Metal.Thus metal created Metal ! \m/ This is also where the genre may have got its name from. Another genre name origin may be taken from Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild, with the line “Heavy Metal Thunder”However Judas Priest also formed around the same time as Black Sabbath. Judas Priest, together with Iron Maiden and other bands became one of the leading bands in truly establishing the term Heavy Metal and being one of the leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the late 70s, which took some influence from Punk to create faster and energic sound, which was probably started with Motörhead in 1975. Motörhead pretty much also created a genre called Speed Metal which was not that long-lasting of a genre, but it led to the creation of 2 new genres - Power and Thrash Metal.Speed Metal was practically just more heavier and faster version of Heavy Metal drawing again from Punk inflence.Also band Mercyful Fate with King Diamond was a great influence for further Metal development with its horror themes and imaginery.The 80s were where Metal started to grow and soon became a well known genre. That is where Heavy Metal became mainstream and soon found out that it went with a terrible price, it was Glam Metal that was the main thing in mainstream during the 80s, Glam Metal was practically Heavy Metal, but it stood for that which Heavy Metal did not, it went for ridiculous looks for TV rather than music, probably starting the trend that went on in the mainstream since then - music made solely for a commercial purpose.Songs were primarily centered about stuff like partying, fun and whatnot. But Glam in the late 80s started to fall out of popularity and was probably changed for something even worse...The most influential Heavy Metal figures are usually referred to as Metal Gods - people like Tony Iommi, Rob Halford, Rommie James Dio, Lemmy Kilmister, Bruce Dickinson and Ozzy Osbourne or King Diamond and many others.Dio is considered to be the one who popularized the “Horn Sign” \m/ in Metal(not to mistake with “I love you sign”, thumb is holding the middle fingers).In reality, it was taken from his Grandma in Italy, who used it as a symbol of warding off the evil eye/spirits - malocchio.However, only when used pointing downwards, when pointing on someone it may be taken as an offensive gesture as it is seen as the individual is an evil spirit. It has a very similar use in Hinduism too.The gesture however lost its meaning throughout the years, now it has both positive and negative meaning.First adopted by satanists, later in the popular culture too and even the most dangerous gang in the world - MS-13 is using it, which they took from the Metal community in the 80s.This is considered to be the first Metal song. You can also see the injured tips of the guitarist’s(Tony Iommi) fingers when he plays. The starting riff is Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer of War, Iommi was very interested in Classical and Holst. This Classical piece sort of became a Metal tune.This song also basically started this stereotype of Metal being dark and satanic or what, while it was all just to make a horror atmosphere…This song is not only the first Heavy Metal song, it also is the first Doom Metal(on that later) song.Speed MetalGlamOkay…that is the first genre…damn this is gonna be long again…Power Metal - Originated from Speed Metal, unlike the other genre Thrash Metal, it took away the Punk influence. DIO was the first who probably created a template for Power Metal.Power Metal started in the mid-80s, practically in Germany with bands like Blind Guardian and Helloween, but Helloween is considered to be the first Power Metal band with its 1987 release, where Blind Guardian went with the Speed Metal sound until the early 90s. Also the Swedish band Stratovarius is among the first and most influential in the genre.US Power Metal is a bit different from the European PM(also referred to as Melodic Power Metal), it is more Heavy Metal based, unlike the early Blind Guardian or Helloween were which were in Speed Metal. Bands like Manowar, Virgin Steele or Iced Earth.In the 90s, Power Metal took some Symphonic elements to its sound mainly thanks to the band Rhapsody.Power Metal is known for its very uplifting, epic and happy sound, high-note vocals, epic guitar solos and very nerdy and also sometimes kinda cheesy lyrical themes that are centered around heroism, fantasy and historical themes and sometimes the bands even create their own story-telling sagas like the Emerald Sword Saga of Rhapsody or Gloryhammer’s story. But it is mainly about escapism and fun.US Power MetalSymphonic Metal - Originated in the mid-90s, took influence from Orchestral music, Gothic Rock and Power Metal, pretty much known for its Female Opera vocals and Symphonic sound. The lyrical themes are usually more spiritually based.The first band was Therion, however Rhapsody were the first ones who took this orchestral idea. Later bands like Nightwish and Epica popularized the genre.Neo-Classical Metal - This is not really a genre as it is just the usage of Classical music in Metal, usually translated into the electric guitar shredding. But I guess it is worth pointing out. Started by Yngwie Malmsteen which was based on the guitar shredding.Folk Metal - Metal and Folk music in one. The first bands were Skyclad who where more Thrash Metal influenced and Cruachan, who were more Black Metal influenced.Bands like Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, Arkona, Ensiferum helped to popularize it. Many bands also adopt Black Metal into their music or vise-versa.The genre is particularly popular in Scandinavia, but on the other hand, Scandinavia is the Kingdom of Metal as of whole,so...There are many regional Folk influences, depends on a band.Blackened Folk Metal(fused with Black Metal)There exists also Oriental Metal, instead of the European Folk it is the Middle-Eastern Folk, likeMedieval MetalProgressive Metal - Prog is a complex genre, relying on more complex song structures and lenghts, may draw from Classical music, Jazz, Prog Rock and such. It started with the bands Fates Warning and Queensryche.Among the first most influential Prog Metal bands is Dream Theater and Opeth who are best known as one of the major influencers within the Progressive Death Metal genre. Many concept(story-telling) albums are to be found here, the long compositions have multiple smaller parts and segments. You could take each part a single song.Lyrical themes are many - Dream Theater goes for more “in reality” themes like religion, psychology, relations etc., Opeth goes for darker and more horror-like themes in a more poetic way. Symphony X goes for mythology stuff, Ayreon goes for Sci-fi story-telling.It requires the listener’s full attention and patience, in turn it can be like a musical version of an adventure.I will also mention Avant-Garde Metal, or also called Experimental Metal.Avant-Garde Metal is related to Prog, but it often has more experimentation and being greatly unconventional, while Progressive Metal usually has a tighter focus on traditional instrumentation and higher levels of technical complexity.Avant-garde metal also uses unusual sounds, breaks conventions, and often includes new elements. The lyrics and visual presentation of the genre are eclectic as well.Igorrr and Diablo Swing Orchestra are good examples of the genre.Avant-GardeAlternative Metal - Mainstream Metal genre of the 90s.Grunge(rock movement) started it all with bands like Nirvana. From Glam Metal, Grunge took more “pessimistic” approach. It was no longer about having fun.Alternative Metal is known for its downtuned guitars, mid-paced speed and a bit of mix of clean and more harsh vocals.Alternative Metal led to creation of sub-genres like Nu-Metal that took rap and funk influence, like the early Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, which was like the new Glam, thus it saw hate from the community. It may draw influences from Extreme Metal.Industrial Metal which took the Industrial music influence and usually employs aggressive Punk influence, even in its lyrical content, with bands like KMFDM(as one of the first in the genre) and Rammstein took the sub-genre into the spotlight, especially with the success in the USA.AlternativeNu-MetalThe legend himself - Ice-T also has his own Metal band.:/Industrial MetalAdditional stuff - Metal BalladsUnder this term we refer to songs by Metal bands that are very calm and easy to listen to. Some may be purely accoustic.Yes, that is the real Sir Christopher Lee, he made naration for multiple of their albums(starting with The Symphony of Enchanted Lands II), he was a great Metalhead. He even made an album - Charlemagne: By the Sword and the CrossTHE EXTREME METALNOTE - Extreme Metal is NOT for the beginners in the genre(frankly, it is for quite advanced listeners), so if you are one, be aware that you may probably not like, perhaps even hate most of it, especially the extreme genres upon your first listen, as it is VERY demanding to listen to, not to mention to enjoy it with no experience. First, it is needed to spend time in the Non-Extreme Metal territory and once familiar with its main bands enough, then starting slowly with stuff like Gothic Metal(Theatre of Tragedy), Blackened Folk(Ensiferum), Non-Extreme Thrash(pre-Black Album Metallica), Melodic Death Metal(Amon Amarth), Prog Death Metal(Opeth) etc.I would appreciate if you would not belittle it just because you do not see its appeal(you know, stuff like “It’s just noise, there is no talent in this” or “It is just screaming and satanic”, it is seriously unproductive to both sides), I will try to explain what it is about as much as I can. It is greatly an acquired taste though.A Metal fellow of mine, Nick Barrett described Extreme Metal in a very accurate and informative way, I would say he nailed the nature of that music. I advise reading it :)Nick Barrett's answer to What metal/rock band do you feel isn't just pointless screaming? Why is that?I had been there too, hated it wholeheartedly before I listened to the actual songs and understood what it truly involved, because I had not got its idea, but as time went by, I learnt to appreciate it and found the hidden beauty in its pure raw emotion, Extreme Metal does not play around anything, it hits hard, so just do not get dissuaded. As I said earlier, it must be taken periodically in order to truly understand. I repeat that headphones are crucial here. And again…Here especially. Do not bother listening to it without them…Otherwise it will all make sense the more you listen to it.Thrash Metal - The second genre from Speed Metal. This one took the heavy Punk influence. The gateway into the Extreme Metal. Known for its aggressive and intense sound. Lyrical themes are usually based around social problems.Originated in the early 80s. It is a well known genre of Metal in America. The Big Four of Thrash - Bands Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, where Slayer is the most Extreme out of these. Other very notable Thrash bands are Annihilator, Exodus or Testament.Another famous Thrash Metal is Teutonic Thrash Metal, under this name are referred the bands coming from Germany and Swiss region. Bands like Kreator, Sodom or Destruction. It is usually on the more extreme side of Thrash, like Slayer.Groove Metal is technically a slower version of Thrash. Bands like Pantera or Sepultura.Thrash led to the creation of the two most Extreme Metal genres - Death and Black Metal.Slayer does in no way approve of the Nazis, they merely tell a history lesson of why they were evil, the song is about Mengele - The Angel of Death.Teutonic ThrashGroove MetalDoom Metal - Known for its slow, thick and sad sound. Practically the first Extreme Metal genre.With bands like Candlemass(Epic Doom), Electric Wizard(brought psychedelic oriented Doom Metal - Stoner Metal), My Dying Bride, Draconian that go with the Gothic Metal influence.Epic Doom has a heavy classical influence. One of the main characteristics are the vocals; vocalists typically employ clean, operatic and choral singing, with instrumentation that tries to go for “epic” feeling. Lyrics are usually Fantasy or Mythology based.Then bands like Funeral started Funeral Doom Metal that took influence from Dirge Music, it is an extreme Doom genre, even slower than the regular Doom and much more depressing. Not a music that should be listened to if you do not want to get your mood down.Black Sabbath created a template for Doom Metal with its first song, thus creating two genres at once.It also led to the creation of Gothic Metal(has nothing to do with the Goth sub-culture) that came from Death-Doom Metal which was started by the bands My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost or Anathema - The Peaceville Three(Because of them being singed by this record label at that time).Gothic Doom Metal(standard Gothic Metal may not use Growling and is in mid-tempo) is known for its Beauty and the Beast style of signing, where there is a woman using clean, calm vocals or Soprano or calm clean vocals and male Growling, started by the band Theatre of Tragedy(one of the starting Gothic Metal bands), it creates this theatrical concept of Yin and Yang that Metal is in many ways about. Also, lyrics may be written in the early modern English.The name comes mostly from its ties to gothic literature, Gothic Metal does not have a connection to the Goth sub-culture. That one came from Punk, just like Emo for example, yet even there, Goth and Emo are absolutely different and do not have anything to do with each other.It also uses dramatic and romantic lyrics and atmosphere from Gothic Rock with the melancholy of Doom Metal.The idea of Beauty and the Beast may have been taken from the play of St.Hildegard of Bingen - Ordo Virtutum, where there is a role of Devil who only “yells” and “grunts”, while there are female sopranos with the roles of souls and The Virtues.Epic DoomDeath-DoomGothic DoomGothicFuneral DoomDeath Metal - Started by bands like Possesed and Death(from which it probably got its name) in the early 80s.At first it was very much like Extreme Thrash Metal. Both Death and Black Metal were a response to the likes of Glam Metal. Later introduced Growling vocals(not screaming) and known by blast beats, very heavy and distorted guitars and mostly brutal lyrics(there however also are many fantasy, philosophy or history, religion, war etc. related lyrics) going with the extremes like Brutal Death Metal where only brutality matters.Notable Death Metal bands include Death, Possessed, Morbid Angel, Orbituary and many others.Technical Death Metal has a particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting.Despite the popular belief, it is NOT synonymous with Progressive Death Metal. Technical is pretty much just about being demanding, where Prog Death is more about progressive compositional structures from Prog Rock. Bands like Edge of Sanity, Opeth or Ne-Obliviscaris are Prog Death.For Technical Death, bands like Gojira or Atheist, that also included Jazz fusion. or Nile who are more Brutal Death influenced, having Ancient Egypt-themed lyrics. The members of Gojira are ecologists and are known for their enviroment-themed lyrics.However there are also genres like Melodic Death Metal that are not that extreme. It uses standard Heavy Metal instrumentation rather than the Death Metal one.Death Metal it self also has melody and harmony, but it is usually less apparent to be heard, especially with Brutal Death.Bands like In Flames, Amorphis, Insomnium, Amon Amarth,Arch Enemy.Death Metal, just like other Extreme Metal genres are all about being just like a horror film, that is scary, disgusting and brutal and being provocative. That means they are not serious at all and thus they also never should be taken seriously. This goes for the Extreme Metal in general.Growling is usually criticized by “non-metal” people as being something talentless and “just screaming”, although it has very little to do with the actual screaming. It is referred to as an advanced vocal technique by vocal teachers, as it requires the knowledge of knowing what one’s doing, with the wrong technique, such as using one’s throat to generate the sound it may be fatal for your vocal chords. The vocal cords are actually not moving at all, which is how they are not damaged. It's a sound produced by the diaphragm/breathing.This creates white noise that the diaphragm can force out, and then pitch is controlled by the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue. With the right technique the damage is minimal or even non-existent and it gives you the ability to seamlessly transition between the clean and Growl vocals.Some people who criticize it say that they could do it, while perhaps they could, I am not saying they could not, however I highly doubt that, they would probably started screaming with their throat, only to then wonder how it is that not only it does not sound like that, but also they cannot hold it for a long time and why then their throat then hurts. I mean…everyone could do it, right ?Proper, professional Growling(example Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth) requires years of practice.Growling is used to express the darkness of Extreme Metal. It is a theatrical aspect of evil. Growling is not used in the same way singing vocals are, it essentially has a role of another instrument and lyrics are there to make it constant and not random. Using voice as an instrument like that has been here since the early history, Vikings did the same, it is later that people assumed that voice can only be used as a singing tool.Although apart from Brutal Death Metal, with a bit of practice and paying attention you should be able to understand most of it. But understanding them is not necessary their role.Growling may have indeed been inspired from the Vikings, according to a certain Middle-Eastern merchant Ibrahim ibn Yaqub who visited Denmark in the 10th century and heard their music described it as following:"Never before I have heard uglier songs than those of the Vikings in Slesvig. The growling sound coming from their throats reminds me of dogs howling, only more untamed."That is what Growling is, it resembles the ugliness and darkness, but it is a very effective way of expressing this side of things that Extreme Metal focuses on, normal singing would just never work, just like Growling would not work with a song about picking up flowers on a sunny day(albeit I would LOVE to hear that :D).But it takes time to actually get and enjoy, that is just a fact, some love it instantly, but that is an extremely rare occurence.I have also struggled getting into it, but because I took it gradually, in the end I have come to love these vocals.That is why you should not expect liking these as the beginner’s place is in the Non-Extreme Metal(Note that the first Death Metal bands did not use Growling and were more akin to Thrash Metal, with the same sort of Punkish vocal style).Melodic Death MetalProg DeathTechnical Death MetalThis song in particular also has an ecological meaning(it is against mining minerals out of the earth)Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer of War in the beginning.In case you thought only men could Growl(and anything related to it).No effects, just the right technique.Brutal Death Metal(this is nearly as heavy as you can get with Metal, only the total fanatics and experts of Extreme Metal will usually be able to enjoy sub-genres like this, even I do not)Black Metal - Originated in the early 80s by band the Venom and also took influence from the Heavy Metal band Mercyful Fate of King Diamond. Another influential band was Bathory, who started as a band with satanic imagery and lyrics, but later changed for Pagan themed music. That was the First Wave.Black Metal is one of the most evil and darkest genres of music.It is literally regarded as the black sheep of Metal.Black Metal was about being anti-society and that also means anti-religion, in its basic idea it was practically just it, its goal was to be very provocative, but not necessary serious.It was focusing on the themes that were anti-society(like its use of Satanism) there was no intentional sound attached to it, but that idea was kinda buried with the 2nd Wave in Norway in the 90s.Using Shrieking vocals(not screaming in the common sense) and corpsepaint(just a white makeup with black places around the eyes and lips) and also using pseudonyms instead of the real names. A great deal of bands take their names from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, like Gorgoroth, Burzum or Isengard.The main lyrical theme revolves around Satanism, which mostly is not for real, there is also a lot of Pagan themed bands, nature, mythology, folklore, fantasy and such.Satanic themes went down in popularity in BM and Metal after the 90s, changed to Paganism usually. Although there still are many bands focusing on satanism, it kinda became associated with the genre.At first Black Metal was anything that had satanic lyrics.Just a horror aesthetic or a form of protest.The Second Wave, with bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone or Gorgoroth attached a sound to it later on, however despite what its creators did, it also was not truly satanic.While Death Metal and the first wave of BM is essentially all just about the shock value and horror atmosphere, the Second Wave of Black Metal took these to a whole new level.Being all evil, well, just like Death Metal it was an answer to the music industry that was producing Glam Metal and other stuff that is only about the looks and commercialization. So, what did the Second Wave of BM do ?Exactly, it practically did the same as Glam did, where the main thing was EEEEVIL and TRVE KVLT aesthetic that is trying to be anti-society, so the music was the least you cared about, also they intentionally tried to make it as crap and low-quality as possible as a way to rebel.The main individual behind it claimed that only being known by a small group of “the chosen ones” was the way, although doing the exact opposite by trying to attract people to his shop through their controversies to make money off it…nice hypocrisy there…Wait, what?Yes, they did not realise that they mostly did the same thing as Glam, but in the more extreme and opposite way and were just much more EEEEVIL. They put image in front of the music, which kinda contradicts their idea and the idea of Metal…—————————————————————————————————————>—————————————————————————————————————>—————————————————————————————————————>You can skip this part to another arrow, as it goes quite in-depth with the information that is not needed for understanding Metal, it merely serves as an example of ill mental state of some individuals and their damage to the scene in Norway in the 90s. Seriously, it is a very disturbing and rather long read.Also, I would like you to not base this as a reason to condemn Metal or Black Metal or its community, we do not stand for these actions and we reject them heavily. I am merely showing the amount of damage it has caused both to Metal and its community. Also I do not defend any actions mentioned here, frankly I condemn them heavily.Also, do not take the information I present here as 100% factually correct, it is merely what I was able to find and learn about in regard to these things.Do I have your attention now, society ? Huh ? Not yet ?What else could we do to change that ?Hm…what if the creators of this Second Wave were some really mentally unstable/retarded(depends which one you prefer) individuals too ?Black Metal is very controversial especially because of Norway, the name Mayhem, a guy called Euronymous(Øystein Aarseth), who basically single-handedly created the Norwegian Black Metal(also known as the Second Wave of BM), he was apparently quite a nice person originally, but eventually he fell into the madness of his Black Metal Shock Act and became extremely damaging. He also may be an indirect reason Dead(Per Yngve Ohlin), an original vocalist of Mayhem, commited a suicide by blasting himself with a shotgun as they hated each other, at one point Dead even stabbed Euronymous.Another person is Varg Kristian Vikernes of Burzum, who was a session guitarist in Mayhem for a time(later when Necrobutcher left in 1991 after Dead’s suicide and obvious conflicts with Euronymous) and in the end things have gone completely south with him and Euronymous. He also burned a few churches in Norway, supposedly because they stood on the sacred Pagan ground(he holds some racist views and Pre-Christian Europe nationalistic views of pure white European ancestry) and had ties with Neo-Nazis while Euronymous is said to been a member of a Communist party at one point, although he left and was really only interested in the idea of the Communist dictatorship as he “wanted to see the world rot under the communist dictatorship.”The day Dead kiled himself, Euronymous was commanded by other band members to guard Dead to not attempt to kill himself as they were away at that time, but instead he went out and left him alone, he probably wanted Dead to kill himself and may have been a tool for making him do it as Dead was planning to leave the band not long before that.Dead was however from the beginning also severely mentally ill, to the point he viewed himself as a corpse(he most likely suffered from Cotard Delusion), so that was likely the main reason."He [Dead] didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die." - Occultus(Stian Johannsen), a vocalist that took Dead’s place in Mayhem for a short time.Dead's suicide note notably read "Excuse all the blood, cheers." and included an apology for firing the weapon indoors.However Euronymous, instead of calling the police went to a shop, bought a camera, rearranged the scene a bit to make it look “better” and then took a photo of his corpse where later it was used as a cover for their bootleg album by a Colombian record label owner who knew Euronymous, and who put that bootleg album together, he used that photo.Euronymous used Dead's suicide to foster Mayhem's 'evil' image and claimed Dead had killed himself because “Black Metal had become 'trendy' and commercialized”.The rest of the band severely condemned this behaviour and one even quit, which was obviously a sensible thing to do - Necrobutcher(Jørn Stubberud).He is one of Mayhem's founding members and later in 1995 has reformed the band again with new members.This is what he says happened on the next day:“(Øystein(Euronymous) called me up the next day ... and says, "Dead has done something really cool! He killed himself".I thought, “Have you lost it? What do you mean cool?”He says, "Relax, I have photos of everything".I was in shock and grief. He was just thinking how to exploit it. So I told him, "OK. Don't even fucking call me before you destroy those pictures".)”Euronymous also used small bits from Dead’s skull and made necklaces off them, then he sent these necklaces to people he deemed worthy. Currently I know that at least one tiny fragment was sold for $3,500 a couple of years ago. Not sure if there were truly more though…some BM musicians said that they own others, but I have not yet found it to be confirmed.It may also likely had been another of Euronymous’ tricks to appeal more extreme and shocking, as a kind of boast and nothing more, with some fake fragments as it is not confirmed also whether the skull fragment really belonged to Dead...Either way, this is literally an example of extreme psychopathic behaviour.Do not forget that Euronymous was doing the “evil” thing to actually get attention to his shop Helvete(Hell) and practically make money off it, so you can already see how stupid and hypocritical he was.Later though he suddenly changed his idea about the whole “underground only” view and said instead that increasing popularity would benefit in pushing his idea of Black Metal to the world.Even later Euronymous was finally forced to close his shop, some say it was because of the lack of money and because he owed a lot of money to Varg Vikernes because of the shop. But, the main pressure for him to close the shop probably came from his parents, here is what they said"We had a lot of contact with Øystein(Euronymous), and continually discussed his business with him. When the church fires were linked with his shop, it became too much for us. We had very several family meetings, and put pressure on Øystein to make him see what the consequences were for his family that he was seen as a leader in this environment. Reluctantly, he closed the shop last April."The scene was pretty much non-political, but Varg was the reason some actual Nazis or White Supremacists later infiltrated the genre, although just a very small number, it has some bands that promote anti-semitic and nazi ideology. This has become known as National Socialist Black Metal, the worst thing to ever happen to Metal in my opinion as it goes completely against its idea, not to mention it is just twisted.Although it makes up only a fraction of Black Metal(outside of the Black Metal related stuff it is non-existent) and it is despised by the community, the fact that it exists is unsettling. Same goes for Communist Black Metal, or Red and Anarchist Black Metal.But there were also some bands that just wanted to extremely provoke and had no beliefs or connections to these things.Both of these are greatly despised in the community, including its main figures and it tries to fight against them, the same problem persists in many different genres too, notably Neo-Folk, Noise, and even Punk…even Hip-Hop apparently actually has something like that, in Germany especially…horrible…Spit on both of these ideologies.The burnings were criticized in the Black Metal community, claiming that the Christianity already belongs to the history of Norway and because the buildings were historical, which I agree with as no historical buildings, and those that serve the local populace should ever be destroyed, but there were a few individuals however that shared Varg’s views in this matter, like Gaahl(Kristian Eivind Espedal) of Gorgoroth(another very controversial band).Varg later murdered Euronymous who was supposedly going to torture and kill him, making a snuff film, apparently what played into this idea was the fact that Euronymous told it only to a circle of very close friends.According to Varg it went like this:Euronymous invited him into his apartment to bury their dispute(Euronymous owed Varg quite a bit of money for his former shop), so Varg came and they had an argument, Euronymous panicked and attacked, kicking Varg to the chect, then running to get a kitchen knife, Varg blocked him, they had a fight, in the end he kicked Euronymous unto broken glass which severely cut him all around the body, then Euronymous tried to run, but Varg finished him off on the staircase. In the end his body was found in the stairwell on the first floor with 23 stab wounds—two to the head, five to the neck, and 16 to the back. After the murder, Varg and Blackthorn drove back to Bergen. On the way, they stopped at a lake where Vikernes disposed of his bloodstained clothes.But this is only Varg’s side of the story, Faust doubts it. As Varg drove 8 hours to Euronymous from Bergen, which is not a time that anybody would consider travelling to bury a dispute... So it is pretty debatable whether it is true. He was also found with guns and explosives.Varg was sentenced to 21 years in prison (Norway's maximum penalty) for the murder of Euronymous, the arson of 3 churches, the attempted arson of a 4th church, and for the theft and storage of 150 kg of explosives, which is believed that he wanted to use to destroy Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.Blackthorn was sentenced to 8 years in prison for being an accomplice as he drove Varg there, although he did not participate in the killing, he later also drove with him back to Bergen.Varg served 16 years in prison, was released in 2009.Faust(Bård Guldvik Eithun) is another one of them, he played for the band Emperor, one of the first Second Wave bands along with Mayhem, he also assisted with the burnings and he also murdered a homosexual man who proposed to him while he was walking down a street(apparently he was very much into serial killers and wanted to feel what it is like…yes, that is what he said…but at least he was sorry for it later on).In 1994 he was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment, but was released in 2003 after serving 9 years and 4 months.He later denied he had any Fascist, Nazi or Satanic beliefs, and felt remorse for his actions.The Second Wave ideology practically died with Euronymous,but the sound and gimmick remained as a distinctive characteristics of Black Metal since then.The media however falsely accused them of Satanism, they never had any real connection to Satan or Satanism, they just wanted to be viewed as evil beings(especially Euronymous who had extreme misanthropic views), I guess because of them going for provocation and controversy, which Euronymous wanted to use to promote his BM and shop.So, although Euronymous told people he was a theistic satanist, people who truly knew him said that he was only making that up, because he wanted to look “cool” and “shocking”. Apparently Euronymous, as told by other members of the scene was quite a friendly guy when with his family, but he got consumed by his Black Metal persona.Him and Varg apparently agreed for an interview with someone they knew about the whole BM thing, so they obviously made over the top and satiric comments of them being satanic etc. and were joking though the whole interview, laughing and what not, however this person after that gave this footage to the Media for money which turned it over and intentionally misinterpreted it to gain attention and views.Which is why the media later stopped claiming they were satanic, because they knew that was an information which did not reflect the reality and there were no proofs that would say otherwise, while plently of claims against it.There is only one thing to say here, and that is just how little is needed to become destructive.All this mayhem(no pun intended) was made by just a small group of people with severe issues that were attracted to a genre which was heavily misunderstood by the society(that viewed it very seriously, and made up accusations which were not true) and banished it from its culture, deemed it as a thing for anti-social outsiders(which never was its intention).This was, in my opinion the main reason why people like these found comfort in it and then used it to fuel their hatred and evil.But there is a black sheep in everything, things like these make us learn to be better people than they were and to make us remember to not repeat their actions.PS: Do not take the film Lords of Chaos(if you were to watch it) as a representation of what and how it happened, it is mostly overblown to appeal the “Hollywood crowd” and does not portray the true personalities of the members. It was based on the book of the same name and apparently they did not talk to the actual members of the scene.Although I know that the information on this Black Metal thing and Mayhem is not easy to truthfully get as there are many things unclear, some are just rumours and some may even be made up, which I again also say to not take what I have written above as necesarry correct as it is merely what I have gathered, it would be better to watch some Black Metal documentaries instead if you were interested...—————————————————————————————————————>—————————————————————————————————————>—————————————————————————————————————>Putting aside all of its evil doing, it is still a genre that provides a lot of freedom and that is very reflective of the evil side of the human nature, literally.One of its sub-genres is Atmospheric Black Metal, usually one-man projects that focus on being Atmospheric, meaning they borrow from Ambient music, but also Folk. With bands like Agalloch, Summoning(based entirely on Tolkien’s Middle-Earth) or Saor. Started by Burzum.It often features synthesizers or classical instrumentation, typically for melody or ethereal "shimmering" over the wall of sound provided by the guitars. The music is usually slow to mid paced with rare blast beat usage, without any abrupt changes and generally features slowly developing, sometimes repetitive melodies and riffsMostly focusing on the nature, while being rather instrumental and trying to achieve this…hypnotic, barren and cold atmosphere.How one should look at BM(although the song is more Melodic Blackened Death Metal) - not taking it seriously musically and lyrically. Has flashing images at two points(0:37 to 0:55 and 1:46 to 2:05), duh…in case you have epilepsy.It is based on a comic of the same name. The vocalist is from Insomnium.The album cover is a monochrome photo of the east side of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway.AtmosphericThis band is also concerned about the ecology and nature.If you have made it this far without skipping - Huge respect for you ! :) Hopefully it helped with understanding Metal.So, I guess this is kinda all you need to know(even this is too much, but since I like writings and wished to delve deeper, it may also contain information that is not really needed, but nonetheless I believe is at least interesting to know) about Metal and its genres, sure I have left out many, and there yet is a lot to talk about in the absolute scope of Metal, but generally speaking, this is all the knowledge one needs of Metal.I did not include the -core or -grind genres because they are not Metal genres, they are fusions that came from Punk and fused elements of Extreme Metal together. While there are bands that are more Metal, overall the genres themselves are not.The information I have presented here was taken from wikipedia, certain Metal pages and then from documentaries about Metal, interviews, videos about Metal, fan discussions and experiences of many other Metalheads. Simply, it is everything I have learnt about Metal for the last 6 years of daily exposure to the genre.Some additional stuffEncyclopaedia Metallum - Listed over 130 000 bands currently from the whole world and every decade of Metal. Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal ArchivesIt is the main place of Metal on the Internet.Also Map of Metal is a useful thing. Although there are some errors here and there, for the basic idea, it is good enough…Map of MetalAnd also https://www.boundbymetal.com/en/... - showing where a certain genre came from.About Metal Music - the full list of Metal genres and sub-genres, while also adding Punk and all its related Extreme genres that primarily came from it like Core, Grind etc.If you like to play games, Brutal Legend is a must, while it is merely low budget and an old game, it is totally Metal :DStudies/Statistics made about Metal.Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing - A research showing how Metal music is beneficial to the listener as it makes him calmer, not angrier.Implicit violent imagery processing among fans and non-fans of music with violent themes - Death Metal does not make its fans inclined to violence.https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2015/06/head-banging-tunes-can-have-same-effect-warm-hug- Angry, aggresive music makes its fans more happy and less stressed(which I also can report as true)Finding Happiness in Angry MusicWhich Music Genres Have the Loyalest Fans? - Metal fans the most loyal music fans overall.Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles - people who listen to Metal tend to go towards “systemized” thinking, and like music featuring “cerebral complexity”, instead of the emotional thinking.The Metalhead Kids Are All Right - A study that claims that young Metalheads“sought psychological counselling for emotional problemsless than any other group, indicating a more happy and fulfilling perspective on their 1980s adolescence.” and “were significantly happier in their youth, and better adjusted currently,compared to peers who were into other music in the 80s“Heavy music helps fans deal with fear of death, study suggests - How Metal helps dealing with mortality and death.Heavy metal 'a comfort for the bright child'

You’d better sit down. Take a deep breath. Clear your mind and still your heart. What I reveal within this post has never been revealed publically before. What is contained herein has the power to shake the earth, changing each and every life it touches. BUT. IT. IS. TIME.Second only to the overcoming of death that was “Jesus the Christ’s” message to this world was Joseph’s “First Vision” of rending the veil of unbelief. Because the people of his day were largely unprepared to receive it, Joseph was compelled to offer them the “crumbs” versions. Oh, how he longed to give them ALL. But they would not accept.(I welcome you to tune in to my Quora Post where I reveal just what ACTUALLY happened to Joseph in what has been termed his “First Vision.”)Former LDS Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, spoke truly: “Our whole strength rests on the validity of that [first] vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.” – THE MARVELOUS FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH, October Conference 2002. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/10/the-marvelous-foundation-of-our-faith?lang=engWell… The “First Vision” DID occur. Just not as it has been understood nor represented publically. Until now. Yet, the “work” represented by Gordon B. Hinckley, and each of the others since Joseph Smith, Jr. IS “a fraud”… though many involved within its membership are some of the most sincere representatives that humanity has produced. President Hinckley did get his last declaration correct, however: The work represented by Jesus, Joseph (and now I)… IS “the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.”Taught in melody and rhyme from infancy on up, children of the current LDS Church sing:Joseph Smith’s First Prayer1.Oh, how lovely was the morning!Radiant beamed the sun above.Bees were humming, sweet birds singing,Music ringing thru the grove,When within the shady woodlandJoseph sought the God of love,When within the shady woodlandJoseph sought the God of love.2. Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing–‘Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer–When the pow’rs of sin assailingFilled his soul with deep despair;But undaunted, still he trustedIn his Heav’nly Father’s care;But undaunted, still he trustedIn his Heav’nly Father’s care.3. Suddenly a light descended,Brighter far than noonday sun,And a shining, glorious pillarO’er him fell, around him shone,While appeared two heav’nly beings,God the Father and the Son,While appeared two heav’nly beings,God the Father and the Son.4. “Joseph, this is my Beloved;Hear him!” Oh, how sweet the word!Joseph’s humble prayer was answered,And he listened to the Lord.Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,For he saw the living God;Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,For he saw the living God.”Text: George Manwaring, 1854-1889Music: Sylvanus Billings Pond, 1792-1871; adapted by A. C. Smyth, 1840-1909https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lds+hymn+about+joseph+smith&view=detail&mid=1302966F22873D1A094E1302966F22873D1A094E&FORM=VIREThough the above rendition is the most widely taught, there are at least four different “first vision” accounts by Joseph Smith. First Vision AccountsIn 1832, Joseph described it thus:“…and while in the attitude of calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my age a piller of fire light above the brightness of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me and I was filled with the spirit of god and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee. Go thy way walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life...”In the 1832 account, Joseph wrote that before praying he knew there was no true or living faith or denomination upon the earth as built by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. His primary purpose in going to prayer was to seek forgiveness for his sins. “…by searching the scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith, and there was no society or denomination that was built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ…”The current Mormon Church considers the 1838 account as its official version. This was published in the Church’s “Pearl of Great Price” as Joseph’s history. Until the 1960’s, the other accounts were largely forgotten and unknown. Even today, most members are oblivious of the other accounts, the reasons for their discrepancies, nor the paramount importance of their central message.In the 1838 account, Joseph wrote:"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join"..."(for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong). Joseph wrote that he was forbade “to join any of them, and MANY other things that I cannot write at this time.”Because they were not ready, Joseph did not tell his family, friends, or anyone, the real and complete truth. Until 1838, many differing accounts spread through rumor circles of the early LDS church. These rumors stemmed from the 1832 version of the account and from two entries in his diary written by Warren Parrish in 1835.Yet these versions are inconsistent in their presentation of such an important part of Mormon history. Depending upon the account, a spirit, an angel, two angels, Jesus, many angels or the Father and the Son appear to him.What truly happened? What did Joseph experience? Why?During the visitation, Joseph learned many things. Among them, he learned that there is one, and only one, Christ assigned to each solar system. This Christ represents the Father in all things. Thus, he becomes the Father to all humans assigned to this solar system. Joseph knew he could not reveal this to the people of his day because they would have rejected it and killed him. Not being able to reveal the symbols, he could not either make plain the symbolism. Oh, but he wanted to!Why didn’t Joseph tell the truth from the beginning? Because he was not allowed to! The people were not yet ready for real truth then and the LDS Mormons are still not ready. Their hearts “are set so much upon the things of this world and they aspire to the honors of men.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121: 34-35.) Thus, an accounting of their own true history has been withheld from them.In Joseph’s 1838 account, he wrote the things he was commanded to write because of people’s weaknesses of “looking beyond the mark” as given in Matthew 25 and explained in both Matthew 5, 6, and 7 and the Book of Mormon’s own 3 Nephi 12, 13 and 14. Because the people did not want PURE RELIGION (“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” James 1:27), Joseph gave the people what they desired…. He used the account given in the Book of Mormon where Christ visited the people as a template for his “official” version of the “First Visitation.” Joseph never revealed “even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach him.” (3 Nephi 26: 6-12) Yet, he gave the people every hint he could to assist them to become a more righteous people.What Joseph never disclosed to his followers was how much he despised doing what he was required to do. He was NEVER comfortable with the mandate given him to let the people stumble against their own humanity by their own free will and choice.The Mormon people do not know real truth because they do not deserve, or are not ready to know something they don’t SEEK to know. They are not “knocking” on the door. They wait for their leaders to get answers for them. These leaders have no determinate source other than what is established within the body of their own words; the “philosophies of men mingled with scripture.”Joseph later used the date of his “First Vision” (April 6, 1820) to commemorate another event that was paramount in continuing to give the people “the LESSER portion” of “the Word.” Ten years later from that date, Joseph legally established “The Church of Christ;” the “lesser portion.”Yet, these early members were not sufficiently humble. Neither were they capable of truly BELIEVING sufficiently to apply the stupendous message to themselves. Because they chose to not apply Joseph’s message… within their own personal life, they became those he described as “passed feeling.” In the nearly 200 years since that time, those who claim to honor and revere both Jesus the Christ and his chosen messenger, Joseph Smith, put their names and lives to shame."Destiny finds those who listen and fate finds the rest." (Marshall Masters)Tragically, NOT ONE of those who claim to have followed the Prophet Joseph caught the vision and FOLLOWED him to claim their OWN “First Vision.” NOT ONE of them can then, rightfully, claim the ability to be a “Prophet, Seer and Revelator.” No. Not one. They CAN, to varying degrees, be considered good and upstanding men of the world. They CAN, to varying degrees, believe that they are assisting Joseph in carrying on a good work. They might even believe much of the time that they are truly acting in the name of God. Yet, not one President of the LDS Church truly honors the message nor life of the one they worship and set up as “restoring the original gospel of Christ along with its keys and authority.” While claiming to personally hold these special “Keys,” not one… no, not one other “Prophet, Seer and Revelator” of the LDS church has used any “key” to unlock any door and prophesied, seen, nor truly revealed anything since Joseph.Yet, there IS one… me… who did “Ask, Seek, and Knock”… with all my heart. I did not allow the incomplete understandings of any “leader” to “dam” my progress. I did not allow unbelief to stop my fervent seeking. And my search has not been in vain. I have now been commanded to publically reveal my experience in a sincere attempt to create a vision for YOU and to whet YOUR appetite to “go and do thou likewise.”Nothing conveyed about Joseph and his “First Vision” was what actually happened. I know. I experienced it for my self.What follows is *My* personal “First Vision”:I grew up from strong LDS Mormon stock, giving all of my “time, talents, and energy,” every cell of my body, to the LDS Church in my attempt to live “joyfully” and find all the truth and meaning possible in life. Along the way, I was “tutored” by “Spirit,” often being mentored in many things that appeared to be out of the realm of interest of most other members around me. Yet, it was not enough for me to know all about God the Father and Jesus Christ. I wanted to KNOW THEM. I yearned to hear their voice with my own ears, to feel their arms around my mortal body, to see them with my own eyes, to be considered their friend.I voraciously read The Book of Mormon, all the standard works of the church, the lives and writings of the prophets and apostles, gradually amassing quite an extensive library along the way. And yet, I wondered often why there was no one else that seemed to be having the experiences, receiving the directions, learning the things I was. Didn’t we all belong to the same church?Whenever I would share my apparently “para-normal” experiences in an effort to help and buoy up others, I would often receive blank stares or looks of disbelief. At other times, people would confide how their lives had been positively changed because of our interactions. However, through my insatiable searching, I occasionally would stumble on deeply personal, spiritual accounts written by others.It was, thus, on the evening of Monday, April 26, 1993, at thirty years of age, that I was given an unprecedented and singular experience. My husband at that time was out of town and I had all the children in bed for the night. Stretched across the bed, I was reading from a book compiled by one of my former BYU religion professors concerning “personal revelation.” As I read, I resonated so deeply with the experiences shared. These were individual accounts of a very personal and spiritual nature. Oh, how I resonated with these stories and with the desires of the pure-in-heart to rend the veil. As I read, I seemed to be a part of each scenario, living their precious experiences with them.While deeply pondering and resonating with these stories of others, life in my 3-D world seemed to withdraw. Without warning or precedent, I was filled, completely, with the most brilliant, warm, pure light; every atom cohesively became bound and pulsated in a symphony of fire. It is impossible to verbalize the amazing JOY I felt, joy that seemed to nearly consume me. It seemed I was literally wrapped up in the presence of the divine, basking in a glorious sea of tranquil bliss. I put the book down and reveled in this overwhelming feeling for quite some time.Words are not able to express what I then experienced. It was so beyond beautiful. Warm flames of light and love seemed to both fill and shower forth from not only my heart, but from each atom of my body, descending from the crown of my head to my feet.I marveled at what I was experiencing and felt that I could no longer exist in my physical form without being taken from off the earth. My desire burned so deeply within me that I might see and hold the Savior… personally, in the flesh. I wanted to not only know of him, but I wanted to truly know him; to be his dear friend. I realized that this was my deepest desire. *He* was my true “soul mate” and the great yearning of my heart.As I pondered on the feelings burning within me, I had many thoughts arise into my awareness. I had understanding wash over me that every righteous desire of my heart would be fulfilled. The words: “Everything I have ever given to any of my children is held in reserve for you… as soon as you truly desire it,” echoed and reverberated within my cells, never, ever, ever to be extinguished!. I was being promised and instructed that every gift ever given to any of God’s children were available to all—me included, as God was no respecter of persons.I pondered on the experiences, as I understood them then, of Mahonri Moriancumr, those of Joseph Smith, Jr., even those of Jesus the Christ. I was given to understand that I had been given every gift and power ever given before to anyone… and would receive them as soon as I truly and completely and purely desired them. I claimed at that moment that I would, too, live in such a way as to bring forth the very same gifts and experiences that they had.This incredible feeling… of being filled with light and fire and that I would soon start “ascending” right off the earth… stayed with me for quite a while afterwards and I basked in this bliss at least an hour, I’d guess, although *time* did not mean anything. After the feeling seemed to dissipate somewhat, I decided to get up and prepare myself for bed. As I was passing through my bathroom, my peripheral vision caught sight of a brilliant light coming from my left side. Stunned, I turned my head. From out of the bathroom mirror, was the reflection of *my face,* aglow with an ethereal light. I saw, instead of my physical body, a brilliant being of radiant light. Through the intense flames that were my face, I could see my facial features, but I couldn’t even look at myself directly in the mirror, it was so bright.Through the coming months, I often pondered this experience. What was I to understand about myself from this? What did it mean? This desire of my heart, to KNOW Christ and to be “one” with him, continued to burn within me, making this point of reckoning in my life like a “new birth.” Yet, this personal “First Vision” experience intensified my efforts to realize all that the Father hath in store for any of his children. I resolved that, with every fiber of my being, everything that I am and everything that I have or ever hoped to be or have, I dedicate to consistently and correctly serve God and my fellow man.As precious as the experience I just relayed, it was only my “first.” I have since gone beyond. Indeed, there is such profound potential awaiting for each one of us. So much lies in wait for the pure in heart who have real and sincere intent on receiving and experiencing for them self, not being content for the “trickle-down” versions.I have pledged to be Christ’s voice to this generation; to bring the hope and joy to others that I feel; to help rid the world of fear and unhappiness. I want each to know “pure light and truth,” to have “intelligence” distill itself upon each one, within each one, until there is no “one” left. I endeavor to assist each to purify their love and learn how to appropriately apply it to benefit each one in our global family of mutual “brothers and sisters.” I have felt the divine and glorious love for myself, and Oh, how I want all my “brothers and sisters” to experience what I have. Some day, each WILL!Yes,What Joseph and I both experienced, EACH ONE OF YOU must experience in order to “fulfill the measure of YOUR creation” and overcome death… the final test.The sixteen men of the LDS Church who believe they follow Joseph, holding the same keys and authority he did, hold no more keys or authority than you do. Joseph’s message was that YOU and each of you must claim the same gift! AGE is not a factor. GENDER is not a factor. RACE is not a factor. God is NOT a respecter of persons! YOU must rend your own personal veil of unbelief, opening up in sincere humility and pure desire to know the mysteries of godliness in full… for your self… or suffer the consequences!Alma 9: 9 “And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.”Now can you see why Joseph could not begin to fully disclose his experiences to the early members?Yet…Because there ARE some at this time who have “exercised their faith” and know not where to look for their answers to their pure desires, I have been authorized to share both Joseph’s complete experience (again, read my Quora post titled “Joseph Smith, Jr.’s First Vision), as well as my own.Only as you have your own, literal, “First Vision” can you truly know and understand Christ and his intended message. Only then can you truly know and understand Joseph and his. May you each… “Go and do thou likewise.”In service….Thank you, Greg, for your request to answer this most important question! :-)