Wall of Death

The Denver Warbler apologizes for disappointing the local pillaging community by failing to cover this past weekend’s Pagan Fest. To make things right, we offer this abstract on the Wall of Death phenomenon.

Popular at Norse Metal shows the world over, the Wall of Death finds the crowd willfully dividing itself into two opposing factions that, when cued by the band, charge one another.

Wikipedia traces the origins of this activity—also known as Braveheart—to the band Lamb of God.

“The Wall of Death consists of lead singer Randy Blythe instructing fans to part to each wall,” concurs Tom Sippola of the Dakota Student, “before he leads them into a Braveheart-inspired charge that crashes the two sides together at the center of the pit.”

Unbeknownst to Wiki and Sippola, it was actually Finnish composer Jean Sibelius who originated the concept, though he called it, Veloittakaa Bourgeoise.

Sibelius came up with the idea in 1893, while he was teaching at the Music Institute of Helsinki. He was working on an early version of his seminal Voces Intimae with a string quartet made up of advanced students when he became frustrated and parted the room. It was viola and cello versus the two violins, and although the players did not charge one another, the partition gave him a grand idea.

When he at last finished the piece in 1909, there was a grand unveiling. Before he cued the musicians, Sibelius had the standing-room-only crowd split down the middle of the room and create a moat between them. Then he began. The piece’s intensity worked the audience into quite a fervor, and when it his its crescendo, Sibelius spun around on his heels and yelled “Veloittakaa!” sending the two halves at one another’s throats. Though no serious injuries were reported, many cufflinks were lost in the melee.