I disagree with you on this one. I'm actually not sure if we've had this discussion before (or maybe I was just going to write about it, but didn't bother
), but the way I see black metal, it isn't about hate. Admittedly I'm not the biggest bm fan in the world anyway, and only listen to a few select bands, but the ones I do listen to focus more on the Nordic folklore / frostbitten lands -type of themes. And even if some bands are really straightforward in expressing their anti-religious sentiments, I don't know, I guess I'm just able to not take the lyrics too seriously, and focus on the music as a whole.
Anyway, point being, I don't think of black metal as "hate-music".
Your position is reasonable; black metal can mean just about anything, anyway. However, because it is such a holistic, extreme form of music means that it is open to all emotions, which inevitably includes hate; nothing is off limits. Some bands are just more hateful than others. It's safe to say that there is a LOT of black metal with little emphasis on hatred, and more on pride, but the emotion is always there, as is all others. It's really all semantics.
Graveland/Lord Wind is much like Hammerheart era Bathory, and very pro Nordic, but ironically, it's a Polish band, and Poles suffered the most under Hitler. The guy behind it dresses in faux-chainmail and LARPs, too.
As usual, taking the Engrish lyrics seriously isn't necessary for enjoying the music, but it's helpful to know the general theme of the music to try to grasp what is trying to be expressed.
Battlecry is very tongue in cheek, and liking them is like liking Celine Dion. They're a guilty pleasure that I rarely play, but when I do, I crank it up and sing!
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