Norwegian black-metal legends have been recycled so many times they’ve become a cultural commodity. Netflix makes teen drama-horrors about them, academic anthologies dissect the “bloody dawn,” and Euronymous–Varg stories circulate like campfire tales. They’ve turned mythic, sanitized by distance and repetition. Varg’s long out, Mayhem have become elder statesmen, and the “danger” of black metal now mostly lives in documentaries, not back alleys.
But there are still places where black metal really gets people killed over “non-trueness.”
Case in point: Thailand, 2014.
The Crime Scene: January 8, 2014
On the night of January 8, the wife of Samong “Avajee” Traisattha, 36 — vocalist and bassist of Thai black metal band SURRENDER OF DIVINITY — found her husband lying in a pool of blood in their Bangkok home.
She told police that earlier that evening a visitor had arrived:
a 26-year-old fan named Prakarn Harnphanbusakorn.
Police quickly discovered two crucial pieces of evidence at the scene:
Prakarn’s mobile phone
A blood-soaked knife
But the suspect himself had vanished.
The Facebook Confession
A few days later, Facebook exploded.
A user named Maleficent Meditation posted a long manifesto taking full responsibility for Avajee’s murder — accompanied by graphic photographs (NSFW) from inside the Traisattha home. The images circulated rapidly, horrifying the Thai public and metal communities worldwide.
The post read like a twisted sermon:
“Since I turned 25 I knew I would end my life. And if I’m going to die, I will take with me those who have tarnished Satanism — though not women or children. I have more respect for true Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims than for those who call themselves Satanists without knowing anything.”
He continued:
“If I didn’t kill him, someone else would have. Satan is not a toy. Do not call yourself a Satanist if you don’t believe in Satan!”
The killer boasted that:
he never liked SURRENDER OF DIVINITY to begin with,
had planned to kill 30–50 people,
stabbed Samong more than 30 times,
and “enjoyed his screams and begging.”
He ended with a triumphant statement that the Devil would accept him.
This post gathered hundreds of likes in hours — a macabre, surreal moment where social media merged with true crime.
The Suspect Returns
For almost a month police searched for Prakarn without success.
Then, unexpectedly, he turned himself in — pushed by his father, who (ironically enough) happened to be an attorney.
At the press conference that followed, Prakarn attempted a complete narrative reversal:
He claimed the killing was self-defense.
According to him, he and Samong were drinking beer, talking about “Satanism,” tempers flared, and Samong supposedly grabbed the knife first.
Prakarn said he wrestled the knife away and acted only to “protect himself.”
He denied ever posting anything on Facebook.
But he added — with a straight face — that he still would not allow anyone to “insult Satanism.”
(Self-defense. Thirty stab wounds. Sure.)
Trial and Sentence
The Thai court didn’t buy the self-defense story.
Prakarn Harnphanbusakorn was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Funeral: Black Metal as a Farewell
At Avajee’s funeral, the two remaining members of SURRENDER OF DIVINITY performed one of their own tracks — “Blasphemous Beast Rising.”
It was Samong’s widow who insisted on this brutal, cathartic farewell, saying it would let her feel her husband’s spirit again. They had two children together.
Fans, musicians, and countless members of the Thai metal scene came to say goodbye to one of the country’s most recognizable underground figures.
The band, shattered, has not found a new frontman since.
But that, of course, is another story entirely.
