has cited Dissection, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, Opeth, Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Panopticon, Immortal, Bathory, and Mayhem as influences. Lyrically, Krieger deals primarily with the themes of Native American history and connection to nature. Blackbraid I contains lyrics referring to genocide of indigenous peoples; of the track "Barefoot Ghost Dance on Blood Soaked Soil", Krieger said, "This song is about the suffering and genocide of my people all across these continents, and our resistance to it. I think in my head I was loosely writing about the Wounded Knee Massacre when I started but it quickly evolved into something much broader. It is definitely a war song." The single's cover art features American photographer Edward Curtis's 1908 photo "Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne". Krieger has also used other Curtis photographs on Blackbraid merchandise, including "Kutenai Duck Hunter" and "Atsina Warrior".https://blackbraid.us/product/atsina-warrior-t/ However, Krieger has also been clear that Blackbraid is primarily an emotional outlet for him, saying, "I think music can be a powerful weapon no matter how it is used. Obviously, I would like to see strides towards decolonization made, but when it comes to Blackbraid, the project is largely just an outlet for my own emotions and is not politically oriented whatsoever." When asked whether he saw Blackbraid as resistance against far-right politics in black metal, he stated, "Obviously I hate nazis and consider them to be the biggest cowards on Earth, I’d happily beat a nazi’s ass any day but I’m not going to let the fact that they play music ruin black metal for me either." Blackbraid's music is "anti-Christian in nature", but "also not really about Satan". Krieger views Blackbraid as a project that can help listeners reconnect with nature and help him explore his own relationship with nature: "For some Indigenous people, they think nature is ours, but I think it belongs to everyone, though Indigenous Americans really do seem to be more connected with it...And it doesn’t take much to enjoy nature. You just need to open your eyes. You're already connected; you’re just actively ignoring that connection. I think with Blackbraid, that’s really what I want the music to do. I don’t really need to educate people because they already know it's there; they've just forgotten, and I want Blackbraid to kind of reawaken things they may not think about every day." Discography Blackbraid I'' (2022) References American black metal musicians Living people