NORWEGIAN EMBASSY VISIT ENSLAVED ON U.S. TOUR

(EDITORS NOTE): Being that black metal is Norway's biggest cultural export, it is no coincidence that the Norwegian embassy visited their native sons ENSLAVED during the closing of the their most recent U.S. tour with Swedish progressive death metal heroes OPETH. Even back in the 90's, Norwegian black metal heroes EMPEROR were given a Norwegian government grant (Norway a socialist country) to record their first two releases. Black metal and government embassies make weird bed fellows as black metal stands for individualism and anti establishment vs. the power structure of the government. Hails to NORWAY \m/
FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER AND BLABBERMOUTH.NET: Norwegian Embassy makes it metal
By: Kiki Ryan and Jeff Dufour

05/29/09 12:05 AM EDT

You can’t say the Norwegian Embassy doesn’t take seriously its commitment to supporting the country’s art. Even when that art happens to be death metal.

On Wednesday night, the Norwegian death metal band Enslaved played the 9:30 Club, its first show in D.C. (Sample lyrics, for the uninitiated: “As we emerged/From darker dungeons/Splendor of yellow hells/Expanded swollen eyes.”) And, to the crowd’s surprise and delight, there were a group of embassy staffers in the VIP section, getting a shout-out from front man Grutle Kjellson.

Anne Myklebust, a cultural adviser at the embassy, said she and four of her colleagues went to see the show. But that wasn’t by any means the beginning of their support. She said the embassy helped the band out with funding for its U.S. tour. So “they asked if they could see the embassy,” and Wednesday afternoon, the band met with Ambassador Wegger Strommen for an hour.

Did they wear suits?

“No,” Myklebust laughed. “They wore their road wear of T-shirts and shorts. But the ambassador wore a suit.”

The second half of the night’s bill: Swedish metal band Opeth. So were any staffers from the Swedish Embassy on hand? “We know them pretty well, but we didn’t see any of them,” Myklebust said.

The Swedish Embassy was closed Thursday afternoon, so we couldn’t confirm that no one attended. But maybe the Norwegian Embassy just rocks harder.
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-