In yet another move to convince us that Scandinavian politics makes sense: the government of Norway is inexplicably offering to ‘train’ foreign diplomats in the ways of black metal. As in, the musical genre. Specifically, ‘True Norwegian Black Metal’, which you would know by now if you were a foreign diplomat in Norway.

‘True Norwegian Black Metal’ gained popularity in the early 90’s, with fun-sounding bands like Immortal, Darkthrone and Emperor leading the genre. Which is apparently sufficiently significant in a cultural sense to merit a primer for would-be-diplomats.

Says Kjersti Sommerset, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Centre Of Excellence:

“We now have 106 foreign service missions and they get many enquiries from people who want information about Norwegian black metal as a phenomenon. In the training program, we have a large cultural programme in order to give the trainees a good understanding of Norwegian culture and the cultural industry. Black metal is clearly a part of this ‘global awakening’.”

Snorway.

[Source: CMU]