| Judas Iscariot | |
| Alias: | Heidegger |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | DeKalb, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genre: | Black metal |
| Years Active: | 1992 - 2002 |
| Past Members: | Akhenaten |
Judas Iscariot was an American black metal band. It began in 1992 as the solo-project of Andrew Harris, who performed under the pseudonym Akhenaten (after the Egyptian Pharaoh of the same name).
With the release of Heaven in Flames (1999), Duane Timlin (aka Cryptic Winter) joined the band as a session drummer. During 1999 and 2000, Akhenaten twice performed live with a line-up featuring members from Nargaroth, Krieg, Absu and Maniac Butcher.
After relocating to Germany, Akhenaten announced the demise of Judas Iscariot on August 25, 2002.[1]
Akhenaten considered the story of the band Judas Iscariot as documentation of one individual's struggle against the moral boundaries set by Christianity.[1] Furthermore, he expressed contempt towards capitalism, which he dismissed as inextricably linked to materialism.[2] Akhenaten stated that his music was intended to give others strength to live in a world compromised by materialism and irrational religious ideology.
Some of the lyrics on early Judas Iscariot albums are borrowed from the works of English poet and Christian mystic William Blake,[3] as well as from English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, fundamental for understanding the connection between Dark Romanticism, the esoteric and their connection to heavy metal lyrics.
Akhenaten repeatedly denied association with the National Socialist black metal movement. In an interview he stated "Judas Iscariot is no Nazi band. I myself am no Nazi either [...] If other bands think they have to include politics into their music, it's their business, but this has nothing to do with my band."[4]