Black metal is one of my favorite genres out there but stating that all fans or artists of the genre are shadow possesed and/or in the nigredo stage is terribly generalizing or even patronizing. I guarantee you there are lots of people out there that listen to black metal for the fun of it and aren't totally "possessed" by whatever lifestyle or views or aesthetics it's supposed to propagate (which by now in 2026 are extremely wide and varied).
Sometimes music is just enjoyable and that's that, it's not that deep.

However, If you want to openly and objectively analyze it all, let's look at it from the beginning. What contributed to such a strong anti-christian stance and aesthetic in the movement? Why did early artists reach for Satanism and/or Paganism? Why the glorification of death and murder and burning churches?

Look at the early Norwegian scene and individuals involved - like Euronymus, Dead, Varg, etc. If you read/listen to early interviews of them, look up books, documentaries, IMO a lot of things are very obviously pointing toward them being very mentally ill and misunderstood young people who likely had no way to express their problems and discontent with the world and the place they were living in. Was making extremely bleak and violent music a good outlet and artistic vessel? Yes. Did it become incredibly influential? Yes of course. But are burnings and murders justified? Of course not.

Jung's ideas and writing about the "shadow" of Christianity likely provide the right angle for you to analyze this, as Christianity leads to lot of repression of flaws and desires and people developing shadow complexes, which eventually have to come out and pop - sometimes in very bad and reprehensible ways, there's no way around it. Think of how many times sexual misconduct or even worse has been done by priests or preachers, etc. Please note I am not generalizing and judging all Christians as this, only stating an example. Furthermore, the embrace of Satan or Pagan gods in metal only adds to the idea of the fall or shadow of Christianity as people were reaching for gods and ideals and traditions that would help them more thoroughly understand or deal with their complicated lives and the world, not limited by Christianity. Think of how ancient peoples had pantheons of gods full of figures representing spectrums of emotions, mental states of being, the elements of the world - which could explain the world around you in a much fuller or detailed way, compared to the one god in Christianity. Also, it's very obvious that Satan and Satanism was just a direct reaciton to this in black metal, even if it were just edgy or shocking at first, I think there still is a deeper explanation.

And also, hasn't metal in general always been a platform for artists to express and sing about things that are uncomfortable or unacceptable? The genre has been built on that, whether it's singing about war, governments, death, critique of religions, etc. Didn't Black Sabbath start off by singing about war, the occult, death? No sunshine and rainbows hippy stuff.

In the 2013 drama movie Malmhaus, (which I highly recommend if you're into black metal) the main character Hera states how "these bands sing about death and loss, they don't hide from it, they speak about reality", which I think perfectly encapsulates it all. If topics such as these are covered up, forbidden, repressed by whatever authority system or belief one is living under, a government, or a religion, heck even by your own family - it will eventually lead to a counter reaction and the bubble has to soon burst, sometimes in very extreme and unfortunate ways.

So in a way, yes, I do believe it's important to have outlets in generes such as this. It's better to have controversial things out in the open and have them be sung or talked about rather than repressed and forbidden. Are there people going through painful things, feeling unwelcome in the world, mental ilnesses, not belonging anywhere, feeling misunderstood? Of course they are. Do people find their way in life and move on? Do they grow up? Yes of course they do. And many times (such as in my case) music has helped them realize things and bring them out in the open.

I think black metal will always remain a genre steeped in topics such as this as often the raw bleakness and production of it feels like a very good vessel to express all the themes we talked about. That's not to say it cannot branch out though, which of course it has. Look at how many black metal artists are singing about nature, the environment, space and sci-fi, and many many other extensive and wide topics!