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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2017

Abstract

Forest covers 37% of Norway’s combined area, almost half of which is made up by the tree species called Norway spruce. The rest consists of mostly pine and birch. It is therefore only natural that spruce forests should feature so heavily on black metal album covers and lyrics. The extreme music genre of black metal, as we think of it today, was birthed in Norway. Although it could be said that its place of origin was accidental, the subsequent use and appropriation of that place’s topographic features was not. Since its inception in the early nineties, the genre has spawned countless bands across the globe, many who take on its misanthropic ethos, but also a deep reverence and respect for nature. Within black metal’s aesthetic, photographs of ominous black tree lines and lyrics about disappearing into the depths of the forest abound – it is almost as if the spruce tree has become its own character in the mythology that black metal has become.