In 1982 I hosted a radio show on Friday nights from midnight to 2 a.m. called, The Metal Spotlight at McMaster Universitys CFMU 93.3 FM. Venom had just released the literally genre defining Black Metal album and I was happily spinning that as well as what I understood at the time to be occult metal; bands like Witchfynde. Slayer was on the horizon as was the development of thrash bands with occult overtones like Sepultura. 82 also saw the debut of metals most prominent Satanist, King Diamond whose band Mercyful Fate released an EP of furiously epic blasphemy in the fall of that year. It was a good time to be young and annoyed with ones creator. That being said its been suggested in the ensuing decades that perhaps all that Satan worshipping wasn't as sincere as the bands would have had us believe. Whatever you (or they) might think about that some of us grew tired of songs praising the dark one very early on. Fortunately, the bands in question also enjoyed writing cheery ditties about being buried alive, mythical monsters and horrific historical characters. Click next, if you dare, to begin your our journey through 10 great 80s black metal songs not about Satan.