Gaahl Says Emperor's Faust Was His First Supporter When He Came Out As Gay

Of those metal musicians who have publicly come out of the closet as gay, one of the more interesting -- and, for some, unexpected -- was Gaahl, former frontman of Gorgoroth and, more recently, of his own project Gaahl's WYRD. Known for his spike- and blood-covered performances and for hissing, "SATAN" in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Gaahl is to many the epitome of evil. But not only did Gaahl come out of the closet, in a recent interview he also says that one of his earliest supporters was former Emperor drummer Bård "Faust" Eithun -- who went to prison for murdering a gay man during the Norwegian black metal terror.

In an interview with Metal Injection, Gaahl discussed the metal community's reaction to his coming out, saying, "I think the metal community is one of the most open communities there is. I have never seen any disturbances there. Of course, they are linking things back to the early days with Dissection and Faust and Emperor.

"The first person to send me a message after the media caught up with me being gay, was Faust," he continues. "He sent me a message of support. So people can imagine whatever they want, I don't know anyone in the Norwegian black metal scene that is against gays. It's an extremely liberal scene. So anyone that pretends or try to make it something else, it's not going to work. Because it's never been that."

It should be noted that Faust murdered a gay man, Magne Andreassen, in the woods outside of Lillehammer, Norway, in 1992. However, Faust has said in the past that he did not target Andreassen because he was gay, but only used his sexuality to lure him to the spot where he murdered him. He also described it as an "impulse killing" that had "nothing to do with black metal."

In the interview, Gaahl is also asked if metalheads have started coming out to him since he revealed his sexuality, to which he replies, "I've had several people, especially in eastern Europe. It's been a lot of people coming up to me and it is something as simple as that, by all means, be yourself. And if I could make it easier for people...it's frustrating that it has to be some one pushing it forth. It's so extremely limiting, in the sense of 'why would anyone care?' But it's more frustrating for me to see that people actually have to have some one tell them that it's okay. I would like it be more relaxed. But I can see how hard it is. It's a pity to see that they have to have some one like me pushing them forth."

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