You've all heard the story before: according to legend, Nargaroth's frontman Kanwulf - aka Rene "Ash" Ketchum Wagner - once decided to "liberate" Varg Vikernes from a "high security" Norwegian prison in Kråkstad, so he infiltrated the premises dressed as a prison guard.
Unfortunately, he was confronted at a security checkpoint, and made to recite Christian verses to prove he wasn't "a Satanist". But Wagner, always thinking two steps ahead, had memorised the Bible in one night - right before the operation.
So he managed to pass the security clearance, only to find himself... in the wrong cell. As Varg Vikernes had been "transferred" the day prior. Finding himself surrounded by "Albanian gang members" he fought them off using "kung fu" and fled away, hanging to the back of a Mercedes on the Autobahn.
The Fabulous Stories of Rene Wagner
If all this sounds like bad science fiction... what can I say.
The 2000s were a crazy place, and before social media, every wannabe rockstar needed a personal blog to chronic their lifestyle. Yes, even black metal artists like Ash / Kanwulf.
The Prolific Fiction of Nargaroth
And no writer was more prolific than Wagner.
In addition to claiming the band Nargaroth was founded in 1986, making it the "first true black metal band", he would also document his theistic satanist philosophy, various attempts at guerrilla warfare against the German government, his clandestine "operations" to free Samoth, Faust or Varg Vikernes, or any other famous black metaller, his various fist fights against gang of drunken Afghans, etc...
There is little reason to believe anything he ever wrote. The archives of his blog are still available, if you want a laugh. But that about sums up the character of Ash Ketchum Wagner, more "fiction" than "science". More elaborate fantasies about "Nargaroth being the true black metal band" than actual music.
He should have been a science fiction writer, but to be fair, his post-Black Metal is Krieg (musical) output is not bad either.
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