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from https://thetruepanopticon.bandcamp.com/

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​Black Metal Evensong

Interpreting Panopticon's
​The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong

Black Metal Evensong

Let's get one thing straight.  The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong is not evensong in the traditional Christian, primarily Anglican, kind of way.  It  does not consist of "prayers, psalms, and canticles, conducted according to a set form, especially that of the Anglican Church in the late afternoon or early evening."    You can listen to it in the late afternoon or early evening, but that's where the similarities end.  Maybe.

What's the genre?  I think of The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong as Elemental Black Metal or Pagan Black Metal.  Performed by an avid outdoorsman, Austin Lunn, it is an aural revolt against orthodox religion: orthodox Christianity or orthodox Satanism.  It is not religious in any conventional way.

​And yet it is worshipful.  It invites us to immerse ourselves in the elemental energies of nature as they elicit awe, wonder, fear, and confusion: energies from which we emerge and with which we struggle.  If you are influenced by the Bible, you might think of these energies as the elemental "dust" from which all life emerges, according to the second creation story in Genesis  Or as the chaos that was with God from the beginning, from which God called the universe into becoming, according to the first story.

They are what theologians Bradley Artson and Catherine Keller call the tohu va-vohu (chaos) or The Deep.  (See God Almighty? No Way!) The energies of the Deep are with God and maybe even before God, not temporally but ontologically, as the chthonic: part of the underworld.
   
Roots Music

The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong takes you into the Deep, and in doing so it goes beyond the binary of angelic and demonic, offering a certain kind of "roots" music:  roots in the earth, roots in ice, roots in fire, roots in the primordial chaos.  Such music is perfect for a worship service at the end of the day, perfect for evensong -- not because it consoles us but because it jolts us. 

The music/noise transgresses the boundaries of music and social expectation, taking us into a liminal space where, strangely and freely, says the Wesleyan theologian Sam Coker, a divine call can be heard: a call to that subjective intensity toward which all life aims.  That's how the philosopher Whitehead sees things.  He says that the whole of life, and the universe itself is living, aims at intensity.

Who calls us toward this intensity?  No need for names.  No need to say God.  It is enough to hear the calling, itself a calling to the intensity of the Deep, which itself is a calling to something holy, even if not God.

X is for Mystery

Rudolph Otto once described the Holy as an experience of mysterium tremendum et fascinans: that is, a mystery that is both terrifying and fascinating.  In their Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat add that the Holy, thus understood, is an important part of humanity's spiritual alphabet.  A is for Attention and B is for Beauty and C is for Connection and D is for Devotion, etc.  And X, they say, is for Mystery.  In their words:

"The first step in the practice of mystery is to cherish the baffling, curious, hidden, and inscrutable dimensions of your existence and the world around you. Live with paradoxes. Give up the idea that you can always "get it." Be suspicious of all the "ologies" that try to explain everything — from astrology to psychology to theology. Whenever you are honestly stumped by the existence of evil, injustice, or suffering, resist the temptation to ask "Why?" And never be afraid to admit "I don't know."

Listening to Black Metal Evensong is one way of practicing the mystery.  It is one way of experiencing the Holiness of the chthonic chaos. 

The best response to the music/noise is to say "I don't know."  In the "I don't know" the Holy is experienced apophatically, without definitions.  And it's beautiful.
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Metal Music: The Hunger for Transgressive Spiritual Spaces

One God, Many or None; A Deeper Look at Religion in Black Metal

Divine Decay: Black Metal Theology (work in progress - draft contents and chapter descriptions)

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Why Metal?
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Metal is the aural representation of my spiritual need to transgress traditional boundaries, not just of music, but of general social expectation. Deeply rooted in me is a desire to search for the liminal space where the divine can still be found outside of where authority says it should be. (Sam Coker in Metal Music: A Hunger for Transgressive Spiritual Spaces)

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​What is Evensong?
Evensong is a Christian service of evening prayers, psalms, and canticles, conducted according to a set form, especially that of the Anglican Church in the late afternoon or early evening.  

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The Idea of a Panopticon (from Wikipedia)

The Panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. The scheme of the design is to allow all (pan-) inmates of an institution to be observed (-opticon) by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. Although it is physically impossible for the single watchman to observe all the inmates' cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that they are motivated to act as though they are being watched at all times. Thus, they are effectively compelled to regulate their own behaviour. The name may also allude to the many-eyed giant Panoptes in Greek mythology, some of whose eyes were always awake, making him a highly effective watchman.

Panopticon 2016

Pagan Black Metal

"The one sub-genre of music most closely associated with hatred, chaos, misanthropy, individualism, and a lack of rules has come to be known as black metal.  Borne of a reactionary impulse against society and commercialism, the spiritual movement some say is long dead has actually existed for more than twenty-five years.  

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There exists a much more palpable and engaging wellspring of inspiration than the make-believe Satan, one that modern society has almost demanded we close our eyes to.  It is man’s ancient roots, our relationship with the Earth, the elements, and the forces which have shaped our history.  It is our struggle with our animal natures.  It is an ear bent to the echoes of history, aching for answers and spiritual fulfillment.  Pagan black metal, or as I prefer to call it, elemental black metal, arose from this pure struggle to understand where we have come from, what is inside of us, and ultimately where we are headed.  This is what has captured its creators like no Abrahamic doctrine ever could.
For individuals who have rejected theism, all existential questioning begins with opening one’s eyes to the wonders of Nature.  The stars on a cold clear night, the sheer nausea of infinity; mountains, oceans, forests and storms – these things may not be nearly as provocative as demons and three-headed goats, but who amongst us has not felt the oneness, the heady, edge-of-the-cliff majesty when considering them?  Pagan black metal sets out to articulate this feeling.  And while this isn’t a concept unique to pagan black metal, such elemental themes have become its primary hallmark."

 NICHOLAS FRANCO

The Band Panopticon (from Wikipedia)

​"Panopticon is a black metal band created by Austin Lunn. The project began as a studio-only effort with Lunn writing and performing all parts. While he remains the driving creative force, Panopticon has since expanded to include a lineup of musicians for live performances. The music features many familiar elements of black metal, but additionally incorporates bluegrass and Appalachian folk. In addition to sounds typical to heavy metal music, such as distorted guitars and rapid drumming, Panopticon also incorporates a diverse range of additional instrumentation, such as banjos, fiddles, bells, synthesizers and acoustic guitars...Lunn is an avid outdoorsman, and some listeners have noted the influence of the natural world on Panopticon's music; for example, in a review of "Autumn Eternal" on Pitchfork.com, one music critic noted, "one can easily imagine a Henry David Thoreau-like figure retreating to the woods to contemplate personal, spiritual, and environmental concerns." Lunn's music has also been described as "natural, organic, and methodical, masterful in its writing, fiery and alive in its execution."