Careercow Luc Mertz - Zarach 'Baal' Tharagh - Black metal musician who has released hundreds of terrible demos.

[GolgoXIII]

Most of you are probably unfamiliar with Encyclopaedia Metallum, so before I talk about this individual I should probably give a little background on the site.

Most people are probably aware of the numerous black metal bands which have graced the internet. What most people are not aware of is that the reason why so many black metal bands exist is because it’s easy to develop a fanbase on this site. If a band (like, say, Happy Days) gets 2-3 negative reviews, it will attract the attention of metal fans. If a band gets a single positive review, it will attract the attention of metal fans. If a metal band sings about lolicon (more on this later) they will develop a small fanbase, and if a man releases hundreds of albums, he will attract some attention.

A little side note, there was a black metal musicians who called himself Shadow Of Death who was in a one-man band called Apocalypse who gained a following on the site simply for posting low-quality recordings online at a time when such recordings were a little less common. There was also a musician named Evil Lolicon who gained a bit of notoriety for writing songs about lolicon and anime.

The metal community on this site is extremely dedicated to making sure that everybody hates the bands they hates, and loves the bands they like. So, what tends to happen is that Luc Mertz, who produced hundreds of low-quality black metal albums has developed a cult following on the site.

Interestingly, he started recording his music in 1987, yet his earliest release listed on the site is nearly a decade later. So, either a lot of releases are missing (they’re mentioned in the interviews) or the albums listed on Metallum are dated when they were ‘officially’ released instead of recorded.

He’s a musician who’s heavily interested in improvisation rather than songwriting. Which means that he only rarely writes actual songs, most of his music is him setting up a drum track, then playing whatever comes to mind over the beat and leaving all the mistakes in the recording. This is how he is able to release so much music, it is also why he is disliked amongst metalheads.

He has a wife and kids who are both involved in music projects. This actually surprised me a little because, even though he is a grown man, in his interviews he talks like a teenager obsessed with raw black metal.

He’s also French, which unfortunately means that a lot of relevant material can’t be researched easily because I do not speak or read French well enough to translate.

This is a forum where people used to talk about Luc.

http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92135

This is the page for his band.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Zarach_'Baal'_Tharagh/13677

And this is the page dedicated to him, complete with a short biography.

http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Luc_Mertz/36634

Here are some interviews with Luc Mertz (not in english).

http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/interview-groupe-Zarach_Baal_Tharagh-id_inter-371-l-fr.html

http://www.lahordenoire-metal.com/interview/zarach-baal-tharagh/zarach-baal-taragh.html

 

[SpessCaptain]

Deleted a bunch of "not a lolcow" replies. Definitely an interesting character, while not stricly classic lolcow he is eccentric eniugh for discussion. he's more of a career cow thiugh.

 

[QE 757]

Enjoy his musical talent :

Spoiler

Burzum cover :

Spoiler

Apparently this is the official youtube channel :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPmXcXw8eTlzc2P9y3wbcVQ/videos

 

[Daughter of Cernunnos]

Many cows in the extreme metal scene. This dude's music is autistic. E. Metallum is a prime breeding ground of cows and spergs. Surprised there aren't more threads on characters from that site.

 

[Abethedemon]

This guy is interesting, I certainly admire his dedication to his craft, even though it ends up pretty edgy.

 

[GolgoXIII]

Many cows in the extreme metal scene. This dude's music is autistic. E. Metallum is a prime breeding ground of cows and spergs. Surprised there aren't more threads on characters from that site.

I think it's because the glory days of the cows and spergs on the site are pretty much done, that and a number of potential cows only released a limited amount of content before disappearing (Shadow Of Death). The more interesting people like Evil Lolicon didn't even release too much content in their prime. Although, I will probably do a thread on Evil Lolicon if these threads that i've posted are relatively well-received and people want to learn about someone else, because even though the WarLoli drama is over (i'm pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore) it was a pretty lulzy bit of forgotten Internet drama.

The point is, if given the choice between a guy like Chris who in his prime was publishing a page of Sonichu on a fairly regular basis, while also being active on social media sites and providing note-worthy content regularly, and a reclusive edge lord black metal musician who might release a demo or an album once every few months (if you're lucky, many of them have releases spaced years apart, and more than a few only release a single album or demo before deciding not to produce content) then the choice of who to pay attention to becomes obvious.

 

[Abethedemon]

I think it's because the glory days of the cows and spergs on the site are pretty much done, that and a number of potential cows only released a limited amount of content before disappearing (Shadow Of Death). The more interesting people like Evil Lolicon didn't even release too much content in their prime. Although, I will probably do a thread on Evil Lolicon if these threads that i've posted are relatively well-received and people want to learn about someone else, because even though the WarLoli drama is over (i'm pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore) it was a pretty lulzy bit of forgotten Internet drama.

The point is, if given the choice between a guy like Chris who in his prime was publishing a page of Sonichu on a fairly regular basis, while also being active on social media sites and providing note-worthy content regularly, and a reclusive edge lord black metal musician who might release a demo or an album once every few months (if you're lucky, many of them have releases spaced years apart, and more than a few only release a single album or demo before deciding not to produce content) then the choice of who to pay attention to becomes obvious.

A bit of a side statement, I actually met Evil Lolicon (Frost Reubensthal) in real life. He's actually quite nice, but he's super fat and also kind of a racist. I'm friends with him on Facebook, and most of the interactions I've seen him take part in have to do with him complaining about refugees and white genocide. He's probably a lolcow, although he does have a really nice girlfriend and seems at least somewhat intelligent.

 

[GolgoXIII]

A bit of a side statement, I actually met Evil Lolicon (Frost Reubensthal) in real life. He's actually quite nice, but he's super fat and also kind of a racist. I'm friends with him on Facebook, and most of the interactions I've seen him take part in have to do with him complaining about refugees and white genocide. He's probably a lolcow, although he does have a really nice girlfriend and seems at least somewhat intelligent.

Well, that's interesting, I didn't expect to hear that. I've been following him on and off for a while.

He does have some talent and he does seem fairly intelligent, but it's the nature of his content that makes me think he has lolcow potential. Stuff like this mostly.

 

[drain]

I'm not a TRVE metalhead or anything like that, nor I know much about black metal, but I always kind of lurked the community, because jesus, there's so many lolcows! The fans, the musicians, even the 'posers' sometimes enter lolcow territory.

I remember when I was reading a metal forum, because I was trying to find a thread about metalcore, and there's this dude that was being really agressive towards the other members, saying things like "the only true metal is black metal" "you're all pussies and r.etards" and giving links to Youtube videos and BM sites. I clicked in one out of curiosity, because honestly, the dude was chimping hardcore, and I was redirectioned to a page talking about a guy named Dead that killed himself with a shot on the head and the other members of his band found his corpse and took pics and used them as a album cover or something like that. Pretty brutal.
I lurked the community for a few months after that, because if the genre didn't interested me, the culture sure did.
What I'm trying to say is: I think that the Extreme Metal Community needs a thread in "Community Watch", because we don't have one major lolcow, but various minor lolcows that we can discuss.

and also kind of a racist.

That's why I didn't really liked the BM music. I'm not a fan of racism and the majority of musicians apparently hate anything that isn't white.

 

[GolgoXIII]

I'm not a TRVE metalhead or anything like that, nor I know much about black metal, but I always kind of lurked the community, because jesus, there's so many lolcows! The fans, the musicians, even the 'posers' sometimes enter lolcow territory.

I remember when I was reading a metal forum, because I was trying to find a thread about metalcore, and there's this dude that was being really agressive towards the other members, saying things like "the only true metal is black metal" "you're all pussies and r.etards" and giving links to Youtube videos and BM sites. I clicked in one out of curiosity, because honestly, the dude was chimping hardcore, and I was redirectioned to a page talking about a guy named Dead that killed himself with a shot on the head and the other members of his band found his corpse and took pics and used them as a album cover or something like that. Pretty brutal.
I lurked the community for a few months after that, because if the genre didn't interested me, the culture sure did.
What I'm trying to say is: I think that the Extreme Metal Community needs a thread in "Community Watch", because we don't have one major lolcow, but various minor lolcows that we can discuss.



That's why I didn't really liked the BM music. I'm not a fan of racism and the majority of musicians apparently hate anything that isn't white.

Seriously, you just found out about Dead and the drama that occurred when he killed himself? That's like one step above finding out about the church burnings?

Here's a short list of drama from the black metal scene.

Euronymous (the guy who took pictures of Dead) actually drove Dead to commit suicide because he wanted publicity for his band. Later on he was killed by Varg Vikernes (Burzum) after he allegedly planned to murder him. Varg was sent to prison for the murder because of his involvement in the church burnings, as well as stabbing Euronymous more times than was probably necessary to defend himself.

The drummer for Emperor murdered a homosexual man in the woods. Apparently he lured him into the woods with the intention of murdering him.

There's a lot more. For some reason the genre seems to attract a number of racist people who commit violent crimes and even mutilate themselves when performing. The death metal scene is only slightly better, but even that scene had a child molester who dressed like a psychotic clown (i'm serious).

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/new..._hit_with_child_porn_charges.html?no_takeover

 

[Daughter of Cernunnos]

Seriously, you just found out about Dead and the drama that occurred when he killed himself? That's like one step above finding out about the church burnings?

Here's a short list of drama from the black metal scene.

Euronymous (the guy who took pictures of Dead) actually drove Dead to commit suicide because he wanted publicity for his band. Later on he was killed by Varg Vikernes (Burzum) after he allegedly planned to murder him. Varg was sent to prison for the murder because of his involvement in the church burnings, as well as stabbing Euronymous more times than was probably necessary to defend himself.

The drummer for Emperor murdered a homosexual man in the woods. Apparently he lured him into the woods with the intention of murdering him.

There's a lot more. For some reason the genre seems to attract a number of racist people who commit violent crimes and even mutilate themselves when performing. The death metal scene is only slightly better, but even that scene had a child molester who dressed like a psychotic clown (i'm serious).

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/new..._hit_with_child_porn_charges.html?no_takeover

The guy from Dissection killed himself for Satan and killed a homo.

 

[GolgoXIII]

The guy from Dissection killed himself for Satan and killed a homo.

Right, I forgot about that. He was found dead after performing some kind of satanic ritual wasn't he?

 

[drain]

Seriously, you just found out about Dead and the drama that occurred when he killed himself? That's like one step above finding out about the church burnings?

I think I won the 'weird shit on the Internet' lottery, because my first link was about the Dead guy.
Honestly, I liked the "Filosofem" album by Burzum, the concept of Varg's music is interesting, but he is a very racist dude, so I don't listen to it very much.

The guy from Dissection killed himself for Satan and killed a homo.

Right, I forgot about that. He was found dead after performing some kind of satanic ritual wasn't he?

That's why I loved the culture, I had many 'holy shit' moments.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

The real question is: among the French black metal dipshits, who will win, Fadades or Luc Mertz?

I liked the "Filosofem" album by Burzum, the concept of Varg's music is interesting, but he is a very racist dude, so I don't listen to it very much.

The music itself isn't racist at all, but really, the guy just says what he thinks.

Varg-sperging below

Spoiler

I know it's weird to have someone with my username and such commenting on Varg (and trying to "defend" him). If you look at his newer videos on Youtube, he's toned down the racism as compared to what used to be on his website when he was in prison, and really, a lot of what he says is understandable - he wants white Europeans to be proud of their culture. He's really moreso against "multiculturalism" or what he considers forced integration of non-European ideals and concepts into Europe.

When you see the stuff that's been happening more and more frequently in Sweden, in Germany, etc, you start to see sense in some of what he says.

Then again who knows, maybe I'm just a racist too.

 

[drain]

The real question is: among the French black metal dipshits, who will win, Fadades or Luc Mertz?

This is satire or what?

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

This is satire or what?

The guy has been at it for so long that either it's a 6 year long troll in the making, or he's serious about his own little subgenre of metal (hypermetal, as he calls it).

 

[GolgoXIII]

This is satire or what?

Nah, this is satire.

 

[drain]

He's really moreso against "multiculturalism" or what he considers forced integration of non-European ideals and concepts into Europe.

I understand where you're coming from, and I like Varg's music, I think it's interesting.

Spoiler: minor powerlevel

But as a eurasian, I'm 'multicultural' myself, so I felt a little hostile vibe from him.

Again, I'm not the type of person who let's emotion clouds the reason, and I must admit the guy is talented and is a strong opinionated individual, wich isn't a bad personality trait.
Btw, you know how's he doing nowadays?

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

Btw, you know how's he doing nowadays?

You're asking me like I really am Varg, or in direct contact with him

From what it looks like, he's just living his life out in the country with his wife and multiple children. His Youtube channel is Thulean Perspective if you're interested in the content or whatnot. Some of it is interesting, he does tend to talk a lot about his tabletop RPG "MYFAROG" a lot, which I'm entirely uninterested in, and some of his videos do go a bit overboard, but sometimes he has interesting things to say.

 

[GolgoXIII]

You're asking me like I really am Varg, or in direct contact with him

From what it looks like, he's just living his life out in the country with his wife and multiple children. His Youtube channel is Thulean Perspective if you're interested in the content or whatnot. Some of it is interesting, he does tend to talk a lot about his tabletop RPG "MYFAROG" a lot, which I'm entirely uninterested in, and some of his videos do go a bit overboard, but sometimes he has interesting things to say.

He's always been into RPGs, he was imprisoned pretty young for the murder of Euronymous, so I imagine that he never really had a chance to grow out of that mindset. Heck, in prison he actually recorded what sounds like music from an RPG.

I honestly believe that prison, as well as losing some of the most important years of his adult life, affected him deeply. The fact that he was able to overcome that and live a fairly normal life after prison is impressive.

That being said, if you look online you'll see that a number of individuals are convinced that he is still dangerous. Murder and arson are things that will stick with a person for life.