Mondo shtuff from around the interwebs about Black metal:
Essential Black Metal Albums: Black metal sparks an intense devotion amongst its listeners. Here are 11 essential black metal albums recommended for curious new listeners.
False: Untitled: The Minnesota black metal sextet False have generated an uncommon amount of excitement from a very sparse catalog. On their impressive full-length debut, they expand on their sound without diluting it, proving they are worthy of their promise and making good on the tantalizing glimpses of their earlier works.
Chris Campion on metal’s maddest: Mayhem: Ten years ago, Norway was rocked by a brutal murder and a string of arson attacks linked to the Black Metal band Mayhem. Now, on tour with the group, Chris Campion asks what really happened – and finds that even the darkest Satanists have a human side.
The Saga Of True Norwegian Black Metal: I met Metalion during a drunken night at Oslo’s Inferno Festival in 2003. I was impressed by his kind nature and unparalleled knowledge of extreme metal, so we stayed in touch over the next few years, occasionally geeking out over cameras and records.
Video-Special zum deutschen Black Metal: Am Anfang war der Black Metal rau, schwarz/weiß – und nicht in Deutschland hergestellt. Das hat sich über die Jahre deutlich geändert.
Agalloch Reluctant Kings: Agalloch are quick to deflect any suggestion that they are in any way responsible for Cascadian black metal. “We don’t really consider ourse…
Agalloch Reluctant Kings: Agalloch are quick to deflect any suggestion that they are in any way responsible for Cascadian black metal. “We don’t really consider ourse…
BETHLEHEM Replace LIFELOVER On Bill For Kings Of Black Metal Festival: German black/doom metallers BETHLEHEM will replace the newly disbanded LIFELOVER on the bill for the Kings Of Black Metal Festival 2012, which will take place on April 21st at Stadthalle, in Alsfeld, Germany.Acts confirmed for the event now include: BEHEXEN, BÖMBERS, DARK FUNERAL, GLORIOR BELL, ITSJUDER and BETHLEHEM…
Satyricon: The Age of Nero: The Norwegian veterans continue to defy black metal purists on their seventh album.
Satyricon Satyricon: Hailing from Oslo, Norway (the same tumultuous black metal community that birthed both legendary bands and some of metal’s most infamous cri…
Nachtmystium: Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1: Branching out with a new set of psychedelic compositions, Chicago’s Nachtmystium make one of the best hard rock albums of the year, a crowning achievement for the still-developing world of American black metal.
NIDINGR: Greatest of Deceivers: Featuring past and present members of Mayhem, Gorgoroth, 1349, DHG, and God Seed, the Norwegian black metal band’s fourth album is anything but orthodox.
Top 5 Dissection Clones: 5. Bane
Originally from Serbia but now located in Canada, death/black metallers
Bane (possible connection to album title Storm of the Light’s Bane, but
none to the Massachusetts-based hardcore band of the same name) take only
the fastest, brutalist, sickest moments in Dissection’s oeuvre for the The
Acausal Fire album. Actually, that’s not true, Bane are well versed in
Nödtveidt-styled (and by extension former axeman Zwetsloot) melancholic
harmonies. Released in ’12 on cult indie Abyss Records, it’s likely most
Dissection acolytes never heard The Acausal Fire (or Bane, for that
matter). From “The End of Humanity” to “Existence in Denial”, the complex
bombast of The Acausal Fire should make Bane a new favorite. Closing with a
cover of “Night’s Blood” wasn’t a bad move either.
4. Stortregn
Swiss death/black metallers are of recent vintage (formed in 2005) but are
relatively unknown. The quartet’s most recent album, Evocation of Light,
hit metaldom in 2013 on French indie Great Dane Records. Clearly, they
couldn’t get enough of Dissection’s Storm of the Light’s Bane era, having
cloned Dissection’s classical-styled attack and Necrolord “blue” cover
concept in respectable fashion. Though Stortregn (means “downpour” in
Swedish) could do better in the name and drum departments, they satisfy the
urge to hear Dissection when “When Dead Angels Lie”, “Night’s Blood”,
“Thorns of Crimson Death”, and “Unhallowed” have outplayed their welcome
(doubtful, but potentially possible).
3. Death Tyrant
What happens when members of Lord Belial, Trident (featuring ex-Dissection
six-stringer Johan Norman), and Satanized come together in the Year of the
Tiger? They form a band called Death Tyrant. Not too far removed from
Dissection in the melody and aggression department, the Swedes only
album—Opus de Tyranis—is a killer. Focus track “Ixion – The Fallen Kings of
the Laphits” is really all you need to hear from Death Tyrant. But there’s
no reason to not check out opener “The Awakening of Sleeping Gods” or
end-of-album track “A Greater Alliance” for a solid dose of
Dissection-esque death.
2. Cardinal Sin
When John Zwetsloot left Dissection in ’94, he resurfaced two years later
in Cardinal Sin, a band he formed with Decameron, Marduk, Allegiance, The
Ancient’s Rebirth members. A killer demo (officially unreleased) followed
in tape-trading circles. When debut EP, Spiteful Intents, surfaced in ’96,
it was pretty clear who was spearheading the songwriting (Zwetsloot), but
there was a Marduk-like directness to the music. Though only four tracks
and released on vanguard (but poorly managed) Wrong Again Records,
Spiteful Intents represents melodic Swedish death/black without the
corpsepaint or overt overtures to Satan. Sadly, the group faded from memory
after the EP and have since reformed with no clear indication of releasing
music. Fans (limited to maybe 2000 worldwide) have been waiting since 2003,
actually.
1. Thulcandra
Steffen Kummerer is better known as the lead ripper in Obscura. But he has
a dark side. One that involves—directly—a near-fatal attraction to Jon
Nödtveidt, Dissection and its overall aesthetic (pre-Reinkaos). Across
three albums (newest album, Ascension Lost, rules!), Kummerer and
Thulcandra comprehended, reinterpreted, and released what can only be said
as the most accurate homage to Dissection (again, all albums feature
Necrolord “blue” covers). The magic of Thulcandra is that they’re really
fucking good. It’s not just nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. The Germans are
actually writing songs, branched logically off of Storm of the Light’s Bane
and predecessor The Somberlain. If Reinkaos wasn’t Dissection’s proper send
off, then Thulcandra’s entire discography surely is.
** Other clones of interest are Soulreaper, Decameron, Sacramentum, Noctes,
Frozen, and Blot Mine.
My Mom Likes Deafheaven and the Future of Black Metal: It’s a little surreal for my businessman father to say that he thinks Immortal is ‘kind of cool’ or for my mom to talk about the therapeutic power of Deafheaven.
The Translator Blackgaze: What is it?
Blackgaze marries the harsh, alien instrumentation of black metal with the mellower, dreamy soundscapes of shoegaze. Heavily in…
an interview w/ Wolves in the Throne Room’s Aaron Weaver: I think that black metal fundamentally is an attempt to reawaken an ancient spirit. Aaron Weaver of WITTR at Scion (more by Anthony Childs) Wolves In The Throne Room are the outcasts of the outsiders…
Black Metal Is Sublime: In their propensity for corpse paint and murder, bands like Bathory and Gorgoroth are the unlikely fulfillment of Romantic ideals: absolute inwardness turned outward
Unpublished Watain Interview Extras! – Metal Hammer: Come on in for some previously unpublished interview snippets from our world exclusive interview with black metal royalty Watain on the eve of their tenth anniversary. By 1998 when Watain started, so much had gone before in the world of black metal, and there’s a difference between feeding off what had gone before and actually giving something back. When did you realise that you could give something back to black…
Interview with Carach Angren – Heavy Metal Tribune: Heavy Metal News, Interviews, Album Reviews: Carach Angren has over the years crafted a name for themselves not only with their symphonic approach to black metal, but also the horror-themed lyrics and concepts, and the story-telling format that are contained on their albums. With Where the Corpses Sink Forever, the band expands on their existing concepts and deals with the horrors … Continue reading »
Dark Funeral- Interview(2002): Out take from Episode #277 from 2002.One of the best interviews we’ve ever had!Sweden’s reigning kings of Black Metal go off with very strong views against C…
Skagos: Anarchic: The anarchist black metal movement forms a small but fascinating pocket in the extreme metal scene. The Vancouver duo Skagos’ Anarchic is a sprawling, four-part composition that fills a double LP with a blend of graceful, shoegazey post-rock and blasts of raw-throated, left-leaning black metal.
If It Ain’t Got No Blastbeat, It’s Not My Revolution: Panopticon: Black metal is vicious and confrontational. But it has its bad side, too. Yet, there’s a black metal act out there that provides all the necessary brutality, with none of the bigotry. It’s revolutionary in both spirit and substance.
Skagos: Anarchic: The anarchist black metal movement forms a small but fascinating pocket in the extreme metal scene. The Vancouver duo Skagos’ Anarchic is a sprawling, four-part composition that fills a double LP with a blend of graceful, shoegazey post-rock and blasts of raw-throated, left-leaning black metal.
From what people tell me, Christians and black metal simply dont belong…
Jayson Sherlock: For the life of me, I will never understand why Christians think they can play Black Metal. I really don’t think they understand what true Black Metal is.
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