Diocletian

Before entering Serbian mythology as the "Adversary of God," the third- and fourth-century Roman emperor Diocletian saw himself as a restorer of traditional values and religion. His widespread persecution of the Christians in trying to do so earned him lasting infamy. Clearly inspired in part by the more lurid stories...

By Tom Murphy

November 30, 2010

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Before entering Serbian mythology as the "Adversary of God," the third- and fourth-century Roman emperor Diocletian saw himself as a restorer of traditional values and religion. His widespread persecution of the Christians in trying to do so earned him lasting infamy. Clearly inspired in part by the more lurid stories of the emperor's reign, the New Zealand black-metal band of the same name has, like its Scandinavian brethren, taken that basic rejection of what it sees as an imposed religion and its hypocritical values system to task with a maniacal glee. With song titles like "Antichrist Hammerfist" and album titles like this year's War of All Against All, the group isn't exactly making a secret of its hatred of modern-day traditional beliefs. Look at their videos: These guys mean it.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker