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Philosophically the question has shown itself to be difficult -- if not impossible -- to answer. Nevertheless, an attemp to answer will be done. The greatest use of this answer will possibly be to illustrate what a can of worms this is.
This answer tries to cast some light on who is usually considered a Satanist. The answers is certain to displease some people, but remember that this essay does not contain the definitive say on the matter. Those who require all the details and subtleties are encouraged to skip this introductory document and go directly to the many books in the alt.satanism FAQ section on resources on Satanism.
My basic proposition is:
"Those who say they are Satanists probably are."This is the simplest answer, and it will be the foundation to this FAQ.
One valid objection to this answer and definition of "real Satanists" is that it is too inclusive -- that it includes a lot of individuals whom many people wouldn't call Satanists; especially Satanists have trouble with too inclusive definitions. Thus, later on the definition of "real Satanists" will be narrowed down a bit. Too embracing definitions of the term "Satanism", well actually any term, is a problem. If anything and anybody can be a Satanist the terms loses meaning and it cannot be used to communicate anything meaningful.
One very big problem with the "real Satanists" question is that at times a group or organization (or individual) harps on the issue, usually promoting themselves as the "One True Way." Those people usually try to convince everybody else that they are the only true Satanists, and everyone else is a pseudo-Satanist or unauthentic. However, those who have been involved in those bloody catfights usually recognizes that no unanimous decision is reached and no hard facts can settle the matter. What is at issue is often not truth or fact but simply differences of opinion which are essentially impossible to resolve in a way which relates meaningfully to truth. The discussions between members of a religious movement are certainly important to the involved parties and it also helps to define the movement in the long run.
Does this sound crazy? Well, try to think of the problems Christians have had defining who are the "real Christians": Protestants calling the Catholics Satanists; Jehovas Witnesses calling everybody else Satanists, false teachers and so on; Baptists, Mormons, Davidians, Methodists, etc. calling other Christians names -- most of them claim it is themselves who have the pure and unadulterated truth. The same applies in the Moslems where Sunni and Shiite factions have quite divergent views of who is the proper and true representatives of Islam. To an outsider these "Battles of the True Ways" seem impossible to resolve. This looks quite a lot like the Satanist scene. At most we can say who has the most followers, but this doesn't solve the philosophical question; practically, in the long run, size have shown to be important. Thus, not only in Satanism, but also in Christianity, the most useful answer is that whoever calls himself a Christian or Satanist probably is.
Because organizations have the same problems as individuals, the basic proposition can be extended to include groups too:
"Modern Satanic organisations reserve the right to define Satanism as they see fit."
This is in accord with how things work most of the time, and it is practical too. Most investigators would not ask Adolf Hitler about the joys of Passover or Hannukah, or just who and what Jews really are...and take his word as gospel. In the same vein, one should be cautious when asking the Satanists' enemies who or what "real Satanists" are; many Christians behave quite paranoic and see Satanists everywhere.
But can the definition be narrowed down a bit more? Yes, hopefully, and this will be done later on by discussing some specific persons or groups that are often associated with Satanism -- some almost certainly Satanists and some which are questionable at best.
At caveat when trying to determine whether someone is really a Satanist is the problem of enemy demonization. This is a common propaganda strategy where one accuses the enemy of unspeakable deeds in order to legitimize persecution, oppression or war. This is said to remind the reader that Xtian propaganda is not necessarily true and this is important to remember when trying to determine whether someone is a Satanist or not.
It may also be helpful to compare a person's or group's beliefs with the things traditionally held to represent Satanism or Satanic thought. This may help point out those who are either deluded and/or insincerely promoting themselves as Satanists. "Satanism" is a label which sells quite well, so caveat emptor.
Also it may be worth mentioning that almost all Satanists have a respectful
relationship to scientific truths and most often do not try to deny
reality (contrary to Christians for example). So a number of problems CAN
be resolved in a factual way. Some already have been.
EXAMPLES:
CRIMINALS WITH A M.O. SUGGESTING SATANIST LEANINGS
What is often the case for this kind of criminals is that they are
mentally unstable persons who are searching for a way to justify their
deeds. Often they have already decided to commit the crime, but they just
need a little justification. Justification is a rather ubiquitous human
need because it gives a feeling of security and mental well being. Sometimes
an individual will choose Satan or Satanism as the justification mechanism:
"Satan made me do it!" (much like many people say "...but I was drunk").
Schizofrenics hearing voices could be an example.The choice of religion
could just as well have been any other prevalent one, e.g. Islam or Christianity.
Remember that many, many more crimes have been committed in the name of
God/Jehovah than Satan; Revelations from the Bible is probably the greatest
influence of serial killers today compared with any other litterary work.
Most people would say those persons were not real Christians, or at least
most people would agree that their acts were not a legitimate part of their
religion. Thus, a crime would not be called "Christian ritual abuse" if
a Bible or crucifix were found in the criminal's home or at the scene.
What one must remember about these people is that they are first and foremost
criminals and the religious aspects enter at a later point because
of their criminal/mental inclinations. Their religious leanings are secondary.
Upon close examination most of these people also show themselves to lack any systematic, philosophical or theological base on which they found their so-called "religion" -- this is exactly due to the fact that they are not religious people, it isn't religion which is important. These thoughts are also valid for people like cannibal Stanley Dean Baker, the Matamoros (drug gang) killers and the Norwegian Black Metal Mafia. The latter, some of whom killed each other, are now serving time for murder -- they have been referred to by many Satanists as "nasty Christians" because of their loose and blatantly Christian-based theology. Also, whenever a consistent pattern of belief is found with these people, it tends to be a very idiosyncratic set of beliefs. The killer in the movie "Seven" could be said to have a consistent, but highly individual set of beliefs.
Just as there are criminal Satanists there are criminal Xtians. Remember this: what is considered criminal is cultural and time-bound -- hence subject to change, Nevertheless much effort is used on excommunicating members from their religion in an attempt to "look good" in the eyes of the public. That a person is criminal does not always conveniently exclude that person from the religion, no matter whether the religion is Satanism, Christianity, Islam or Jewish.
For a much more thourough introduction to the law enforcement perspective see Ken Lanning's reports found on Hr. Vad's site.
WICCANS AND OTHER PAGANS
More than once there have been debate whether Wiccans are Satanists.
Christians often claim that the Wiccans are Satanists. Likewise, some Satanists
have claimed that the Wiccans are really Satanists (or that they should
be). Other Satanists say that Wiccans are really more like Christians.
The Wiccans themselves claim that they are neither of the above. Whom do
we believe? Well, according to the findings above, it is reasonable to
grant the Wiccans the right to define among themselves who and what they
are. Thus there is no good reason to call these folks Satanists or Christians
-- they are a "breed of their own" and have every right to define themselves
as such. The same can be said of other types of pagans.
This said, it is worth mentioning that within the Wiccan community there are a lot of cross-overs, e.g. some call themselves Satanic Wiccans or Xtian Wiccans. This is generally true for most religions: at the fringes there are those who are an eclectic blend of two or more established religions. Have this in mind as you proceed.
ALEISTER CROWLEY & THELEMITES
In many ways the jury is still out on this question. One thing is for
certain though: Most Thelemites and/or O.T.O.'s do not call themselves
Satanists -- nor do most Satanists consider Thelemites to be Satanists
-- which according to the findings above more or less settles the matter
(if you agree to the basic premise that is). Crowley himself is a little
more difficult because there is no doubt he used some Satanic symbology,
e.g. he referred to himself as the Beast of the Revelation, called his
current woman "The Scarlet Woman" (a reference to the Whore of Babylon)
and generally tried to appear as "the wickedest man in the world." However,
in all fairness, Crowley should probably not be called a Satanist -- even
though many present-day Satanists are inspired by his life and works; at
best he could be labelled a de facto Satanist (see below). Crowley's
beliefs were an eclectic blend of many different religious ideas from around
the world; his Satanic imagery was only one of the many ingredients in
the mix.
Analogous to the Wiccans, Thelema has a lot of cross-overs and some considers themselves both Thelemites and a Satanists.
FASCISTS & NAZIS
Once in a while Fascist or "Nazi-Satanists" make the headlines, but
quite often this is because other Satanists refuse Nazism to be lumped
together with Satanism. Many consider the expression a "Nazi Satanist"
to be an oxymoron, and they consider the "Nazi Satanists" to be deluded
wrt. what Satanism represents.
You basically get two opinions on the "Satanism and Nazi question". One is that Nazism and Fascism are terrible, terrible things and they should be battled, avoided and refused. The other is a more disinterested attitude by those who consider words like "Nazi" and "Fascist" largely as buzzwords intended to manipulate the public.
If you have spotted some similarity between Nazism and Satanism it is probably because of a shared Nietzschean lineage. This, however, is not enough to conclude that Satanists are Nazis -- most aren't because they feel that the fascist/national-socialist/collectivist doctrines conflict with the Satanic emphasis on individualism. Simply saying that a Nazi is a Satanist, because one doesn't like Nazis or Satanists alike, is a stretch.
Some refer to themselves as Occult Fascists which is often in reference to the great "fascist" emotions of love, hate, glory and victory and so on. However, this line of thought predates the fascists and nazis.
Also, Satanism scares a lot of people -- so does Nazism -- so some Satanists like to dress up Nazi style simply because they love those horrified, shocked expressions on the faces of ordinary folks.
Finally, most Satanists don't give a damn about Fascism or Nazism as they harvest their share of fear and loathing when they proclaim themselves to be members of something even more dangerous: Satanism.
HEAVY METAL & ROCK BANDS
So are heavy metal bands into Satanism? Well, most Christians would
have you believe so, but let's have a look. There is a kind of bands which
should not be labelled as such. Examples of such bands could be AC/DC,
Black Sabbath, Dio, Iron Maiden and Slayer. What usually characterizes
these bands is that they use a lot of Satanic imagery because they think
it is fun, it shocks (now that the sex thing is fairly burnt out), and/or
it sells records. The lyrics from those bands should not
be taken literally, as they are often intended just for dramatic impact:
Surprise! Heavy metal bands often write fictional lyrics! However, very
few of them actually call themselves Satanists, and when asked usually
deny any and all connections with the dreaded "S" religion.
It isn't unlikely, though, that many people consider some of this music Satanic. However, according to Satanists a lot of music is "Satanic" ranging from: classical works, to old 1920-30 tunes, to ABBA, to techno, to black metal and who knows.
There are some anti-Christian bands, or bands which have been critical towards Christianity in one way or another, e.g. Carnivore, Manowar, Metallica, and Sucidal Tendencies (not to mention Phil Collins for that matter, though he's not metal). They have lyrically criticized Christianity, but this doesn't make them Satanists -- they deny any such affiliation publicly. They are simply atheists, skeptics, or otherwise critical of Christianity. Not all critics are necessarily members of the enemy. Nor do most of these bands spend all their time in opposition to Christianity. Most often it amounts to a few songs and no more.
There are, however, a few bands or individual musicians in the heavy metal scene who are Satanists, e.g. King Diamond, Acheron and Deicide. Some members of these bands openly call themselves Satanists and they probably are. Views differ sometimes. E.g. in the view of many Satanists, Glenn Benton of Deicide violates certain Satanic values. However, there isn't any objective way of "ruling anybody out" unless we are ready to accept one specific kind of Satanism, e.g. the kind espoused by one of the various Satanic groups.
That, eventually, some heavy metal bands would come to have Satanists as members seems inevitable. But remember that no laws have been broken, nor any rights transgressed by those bands and Satanists. In some bands, like King Diamond, the lyrics aren't even especially "Satanic" in the sense of trying to influence the listener to accept Satanism. Some of course are, but it is my impression that the preaching is kept at a much lower level than among Christian (metal) bands.
It cannot be denied that some heavy metal bands may influence their listeners or even make them interested in Satanism -- let's not be naive -- but remember that this is not a crime. Satanism is a legal and recognized religion (in most countries). All kinds of music influences their listeners, but no one forces anybody to listen to heavy metal -- actually even less than other kinds of music -- the fans listen to it of their own free volition.
I'd recommend the book Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music (1993) by Robert Walser for a more detailed introduction to this genre.
DE FACTO SATANISTS
De facto Satanists is a name for (mainly historical) individuals
who are regarded by many Satanists as having possessed certain Satanic
virtues, even though they did not call themselves Satanists. This
includes a wide variety of people; The US founding fathers (Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson, etc.), Gabriele D'Annunzio, Niccolo Machiavelli, Friedrich
Nietzsche, Ragnar Redbeard, Basil Zaharoff, Rasputin, P. T. Barnum, Aleister
Crowley, the apostle Paul (who invented Christianity as we know it, as
alluded to in The Dead Sea Scrolls), the Yezidies, Albert Pike, etc. Probably
not all are agreed upon unanomously among Satanists -- some Satanists do
not even like the de facto label -- but the picture should be clear: These
are all people who have been "one of the few influencing and ruling
the many"; they have been strong willed individuals; they have been
the ones writing the history books; the leaders of the pack; they have
expressed vital ideas of Satanism in their writings, behaviour or religions;
and so on.
A FINAL WORD
Some definitions of Satanism are more widespread than others, while some are virtually unknown but to a few select individuals. What is one to do then, when somebody claims to be a Satanist? You need not pontificate on whether someone is a "true Satanist," but it is up to you to decide whether the person is your kind of Satanist. Look at: who the person is, what he does, how he behaves, treats animals, other people, things and the nature around him, etc. Based on that, you can decide whether you wish to associate with that particular individual.