Gloria Morti’s “Executioner” Offers A Controversial Perspective

by Shawn Loeffler

Gloria Morti, the Finnish death metal act, released their new album, Kuebiko, on March 18th, and with it the new video and single “Executioner.”

While the track is an absolute shredder, I’m not as confident about its meaning, which guitarist Juho Räihä says:

…is a song about the dualism of doing something that has a negative net effect in the world. Good and bad are just our evaluations of a deed from our perspective. A terrorist, for instance, sees his acts as divinely mandated and inherently good, while the rest of the world sees the same act as evil. It all comes down to perspective and thus enables people to do evil things. This point is wrapped up in a story about an executioner who is just following orders, and thus doesn’t do bad from his own perspective. All atrocities are done with ‘good intentions.’

Don’t get me wrong, I can see his point from a philosophical standpoint, however, I don’t see how any one can think they are serving the greater good by crashing a plane into a building or bombing a concert venue. What’s presented here in this song is a complicated concept, and I’m just happy to be a part of a civilization in which we’re free to discuss such topics.

Also, isn’t there an expression about “good intentions”? Something like, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”