IRM in the Light of the Gospels

By Taherinejd Abdulmottaleb, Ph.D.

According to The Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the promised Saviour, the one through whom God fulfilled the promises he made to his people in the Old Testament. The Gospels teaches us, that Jesus Christ, as the great Teacher and the Son of God, is the Messiah (a Hebrew title meaning "the anointed one"), he whom his Father chose and sent as Saviour and Lord. Jesus our Lord did not die on the cross for nothing. He died for our sins in order to put us right with God. As The Romans tells us: "Because of our sins he was handed over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God" (Rom 4:25). As a firm believer in God and our Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that the Second Coming of the Messiah is upon us. There is much evidence in the Bible that suport this statement. In fact, this Second Coming has already taken place, and it all points to one direction: the city of Norrköping, Sweden, where the industrial act known as IRM was manifested. This I believe: Martin Bladh, the lyrical genius behind the band, is the new Messiah, whom God has sent here on earth to spread the Good News and bring us to Salvation. His holy vehicle is IRM, as made manifest through the music of Erik Jarl, also known as Korv (Swedish for sausage). What follows is my interpretation of the lyrics on their latest full-length album, Oedipus Dethroned (CMI.87, Cold Meat Industry 2000 A.D.). Although the interpretation is my own, I believe it to be universal as it shows the true meaning behind Martin’s lyrical intensions, namely, to bring us to faith with the Christian God and to redeem ourself through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is IRM in the light of the Gospels!

The lyrics on the first song, "The Celebration of the Untouched Skin", is clearly a reference to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, which concerns sexual morality, with questions about sex and marriage. Martin rejects the body of sin and the pleasures of the flesh and woves chastity. He celebrates "the Untouched Skin" and – or so I interpret it – teaches us to use it for God's glory. We should remain chaste until we have found our Christian partner and joined in Holy Marriage under the acceptance of God. Until then, we should spend our time in prayer, so that we may be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation "because of our lack of self-control", as Paul states in 1 Cor 7:5. Martin teaches us that we are a "disease" and we need a "cure" and everything we touch most be clean: "I will be pure / I will be clean", Martin sings on "The Stage". That is to say, the body is not to be used for sexual immorality, but to serve the Lord; for our bodies are parts of the body of Christ, and "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God" (1 Cor 6:19). There is also a clear reference to Mt 27:32, which describes the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour: "Prepared, put in the casualty section / outstretched on the blank table / an arrangement for a crucifixion / an old picture inside a new frame..." Martin here identifies himself with Christ. He is "prepared" for the holy mission to redeem us and put us right with God. Just as Christ was crucified in order to reveal himself as the Son of God, so Martin is put in "the casualty section". His cross is "the blank table", where he dies or is "deflowered" in order to pay for our sins. Martin has died but he will be raised from death and live forever in Heaven with his True Father, God the Almighty. This is in truth "an old picture inside a new frame". That is to say, Martin has come back as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, whom it is spoken about in The Gospel of Matthew.

The scene of the Crucified Christ is a recurrent picture on Oedipus Dethroned. On the title track, "Oedipus Dethroned", we meet Jesus Christ on Golgotha or the ”stage” as Martin has it. The stage is where "the final liberation" will take place. Golgotha, "the place of the skull", was where Simon and his two sons took Jesus before he was taken up to Heaven. "There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves" (Mark 15:2). The scene which take place on the stage is very similar to the description found in The Gospel of Mark. Martin rejects his body, the myrrh, which is poisoned by "the meat – the animal, the flesh – the human". Simon and his two sons are the physical surgeon and his assistans performing the "operation" on stage. They offer him the spoiled "meat" and try to steal or remove his spiritual organs or "sensibility", but Martin fights them like a true Christian soldier. Finally he is taken up to Heaven or "liberated" and becomes one with his Father, our Heavenly Lord. On "Oedipus Dethroned" Martin also predicts the Second Coming: "Soon the time will come to approach the picture of the Crucified Christ." That is to say, judgement awaits us, but it is not the Father who will judge us, for he does not judge anyone, it is Martin, the new Christ, who will judge us. "He has given his Son [Martin in his roll as Christ] the full right to judge, so that all will honour the Son in the same way as they honour the Father who sent him (John 5:22-23). Further on Martin sings: "Lets invite Christ to the apartment below to make his reproduction"e; [blank type added]. The lyrics end with the words "one picture, one Christ"e; [blank type added]. Here no further analysis is needed. Martin's true identity is established. Amen!

Before we end , I want to leave you with a final note; my first encounter with this Christ like figure who goes by the name of Martin. It was in the summer of '96. The sun waved over the city of Norrköping and the birds sang as they were trying to deliver a holy message. Suddenly the bird song stopped and the whole world seemed to hold its breath. There, among the city crowd, I saw a young man in his prime riding a pink bicycle. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a par of black jeans. Upon his head was his now famous Ska hat, crowning his majestic being. In his right hand he held a "folköl" (Swedish for a beer with up to 3.5% alcohol). As he whirled back and forth, with his left hand on the handlebar, he uttered incomprehensible words of wisdom, which sounded like "raj, raj, raj... " (I have yet come up with a satisfying translation to these words, but they most mean something profund and holy.) When he passed by the crowd he sprinkled the beer upon them and accused them of being in his Way. It all happend in front of my eyes and it was like a revelation. Then I came to remember Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, as described in Mt 21:5, where one of the disciples says: "Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." So I realised, Martin was the Messiah, the bicycle his donkey and Norrköping the new Jerusalem. Blessed be him who has come to redeem us from our sins and bring us right with God. Blessed be! Amen!

For further study se Mt 4:23-24, Mt 9:27, Mt 8:16, Mt 9:35, Mt 19:2, Mk 3:9-12, Mk 19:2, Mk 21:14, Mk 1:32-34, Mk 3:9, Mk 3:9-12, Mk 6:53-56, Lk 4:40-41, Lk 5:6, Lk 8:12, Lk 7:21.

This article was originally published in the second issue of the Polish industrial fanzine Stetoskop in 2001. The English translation is made by the author. Published with permission.

MORE ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS WILL BE ADDED SOON. HAVE PATIENCE.