Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Malaysia's Islamic authorities are probing the alleged revival of a Satanic heavy metal cult whose members practice animal sacrifice and destroy religious texts including the Quran, a news report said Wednesday.
The cult, believed to be led by a foreigner, was actively recruiting teenagers in the northern districts of Sungei Petani and Baling, the Star daily cited Kamaruddin Kassim, a senior officer of the Islamic Affairs Department, as saying.
Bizarre rituals of the cult include drinking the blood of a slaughtered goat hung from a cross and the burning of holy texts including the Quran, the report said. Members of the cult "would also get high" though incantations, urinate on and tear up holy scriptures of various religions.
Kamaruddin did not identify the foreigner but said members of the cult were divided in two groups called "Black Metal" and "Red Rover." He said the cult members, who dress all in black and wear eyeliner, loiter around shopping malls to recruit teenagers.
Kamaruddin was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
"This is worrying, we are placing undercover officers to monitor the situation," he told the Star. The report said most of the cult members are ethnic Muslim Malays. A majority of Malaysia's 25 million population are Malays.
Malaysian authorities have warned that such cults could cause social problems and lead to moral decadence among its youths.
The cult was first discovered in 2001 with about 150 members, many of them students, who were ordered to attend religious sermons and eat an herbal diet to help stimulate their thinking.
To win public support for that crackdown, the government showed pictures of the cult members dressed in black leather and heavy-metal garb, some with faces painted black and white, reminiscent of the 1970s rock band Kiss.