Death metal storm

Lately I've been enjoying a fair amount of death metal. It's interesting to note that there has been a handfull of new bands that stay true to real death metal and stubbornly refuse to give the genre up to the "modern" fast food "death" metal bands.
Those bands forced me to take a look back to older bands that seems to be an inspiration for them (at least to my ears).
Ignivomous - Death Transmutation
Decrepitaph - Condemned Cathedral
Blaspherian - Allegiance To The Will Of Damnation
Excommunion - Superion (This is a record from 2001 but I heard it just recently. Unfortunately they have disbanded since)
Martial Barrage - Call Of The Serapeum (Fucking great war death metal whatever)

Infester - To the Depths... In Degradation (Excellent filthy death metal. This was their only album, out in 1994)
Eternal Solstice - Horrible Within (Any of their three records would do. This is their second one, released in 1995 if I am not mistaken)
Mythic - Anthology (Great band consisted of three women that were very active in the underground in the early 90's. This is a collection of everything they ever recorded)

Guardians of moral integrity

Merrimack - In the Halls of White Death

This one reminds me of my all time favourite Satan related B-movies I loved a couple decades back. Twenty years later I'm not sure...is it a good or a bad thing?
Satan bless you.

Parasites should be extincted

When I thought of starting this little blog, the intention was (and stll is) the simplest possible. To express some thoughts of mine basically concerning my passion for music. I also thought it would be interesting to see how could such thoughts be of any interest to any other people. Of course I knew that 99% of the people browsing through black metal related blogs, are just searching for music to download. That's why I decided to explain myself by putting the explanation on the blog header. Still I am disappointed to realise that the fucking parasites just interested in downloading are even more than I thought. What the fuck is wrong with people? I have no problem whatsoever with the questionable "moral" part of downloading, but the pathetic and passive direction the vast majority of the black metal audience is taking, certainly enrages me.
One of the things that differentiated the ones that were into the underground was the unique approach towards music. They were an active part of the scene, constantly looking for new bands and sounds, being in contact with the bands and with one another etc. One of the fondest memories I have is the many hours I used to spend in small record shops searching for new and obscure LP's or demo tapes or fanzines.
What is the difference between a black metal "fan" and the casual mainstream music listener today?

Fuck you all and stay the fuck away.




Master's Hammer is a band I was happy to discover when I heard their demo Finished  from 1988. It really felt like finding a treasure. Master's Hammer should be huge had this been a just world.


Currently listening to:
Furia - Martwa Polska Jesieñ (In a just world they would be as big as Shining)
VadimVon - RiseKhaosInfernal (again and again and again)
Root - Daemon Viam Invenient
Yoga - Megafauna
Melechesh - Djinn
Wargoat - Hellstrike of Goatcommando
Potentiam - Years in the Shadows
Kari Rueslåtten -  Other People's Stories

Progenitors and heirs

Two records that moved me and I really have to write about:



VadimVon - RiseKhaosInfernal

The band was recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I value highly and whose soul is damned enough, to have developed a unique taste of the sinister and inconvenient aura that (true) death metal should carry. Until three weeks before I knew nothing of Vadimvon. When I was suggested to listen to them I heard a couple of tracks on their myspace page and was geniunely shocked.

A week ago I got hold on RiseKhaosInfernal and had the opportunity to fully appreciate the bands magnificence. This is easily the best death metal record I heard this year. Morbid Angel would be a safe reference according the way they sound, but there is much more in Vadimvon that deserves time and repeated listening in order to be fully absorbed. Far away from today's plastic gay death metal that is served by the mainstream "extreme" (ha) press, equally distanced by the clinical soulless work of  over hyped bands like Nile, this is an entirely different universe. Chaotic but structured, sickly "melodic", willing to use unusual paths  to lead to the anti-cosmic darkness. 

Paired with Nefandus' Death Holly Death, this is by far the best you will hear at this area, this year.

Thanks and respect to M.S. for introducing Vadimvon to me.

Slayer - World Painted Blood 

Generally speaking I have no interest in mainstream extreme music and I surely avoid writing about it. Of course Slayer wouldn't be a case like any other. They are the band that introduced me to thrash when I first heard Evil Has No Boundaries in a mixed tape, around 1984. The creeping feeling they created was present for many years. The raw darkness of Hell Awaits, the otherworldly violence and fury of Reign in Blood and for me, above all the opening notes of South of Heaven are records, songs, moments that marked my early musical life. As time passed, my interest in them faided somewhat, as did my interest in thrash metal.

Nevertheless, despite their mainstream exposure, they have always remained firmly rooted at the same soil they first grew in, an example for any band trying to expand their fanbase without losing their soul.

World Painted Blood is a fucking great record that comes at the right time. The wave of the neo-thrash bands with a fucked up idea of what thrash metal really is, was threatening to drown the last remnants of our memories and good taste. Somebody had to show those stupid kids that thrash metal is no party music.
Fuck yeah...Slayer are back as we knew them. Kiddies go play someplace else. The party is over.

Glory, glory Jon Nodtveidt

"... I don't necessarily "like" Jon as a human being, as he was an asshole, Satanic douche, and convicted murderer. But as a musician, the man was brilliant. he formed Dissection at the ripe old age of 14, and recorded their two finest albums between the ages of 18 and 20.Quite simply, The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane are two of the best fucking black metal albums ever made, packed with equal amounts of both demonic hatred and epic, Wagnerian bombast."

 I found the above statement posted on some blog. Who says those thinks is not important as it is a reflection of a common attitude towards music and especially black metal, that I find annoying. I believe that a person that creates anything that may be a work of art, is absolutely attached to his creation. I mean that a creation and it's creator's personality, character, beliefs, attitude or further actions are connected and cannot be separated. This applies more in a subculture like black metal. Statements like "I like black metal and I like this guys' music, but I don't like him cause he was a scumbug and a satanist" are more ridiculous than the old joke "I read the Playboy magazine just for the articles". Black metal is not mindless entertainment and most of all, it is satanic by it's very nature. It's not anywhere near music styles like rock'n'roll or anything like that. Of course anyone can listen to the music they like for the reasons they like but a profound knowledge of the basis of any kind of music, is what makes a listener into a participant.
I can see that it is hard to understand a person that has strong and real beliefs and is ready and brave enough to turn those beliefs into action. After all, we are leaving in times that talk is cheap (actually it's for free) and anyone can say whatever he wishes without having to prove how serious he is about that. In that context the person that sung "Jai Kalika! Jai Kali! Without fear I will dance with death and misery Maha Kali, come to me" and make his lyric into reality, seems like a freak in the eyes of the many that choose to talk safe.
Also it is hardly a surprise that such people fail to see the magnificence of Reinkaos. I quote from the same post "After making these two albums, Nodtveidt was convicted of the aforementioned murder, went to prison for a few years, was released in 2003, made a terrible "comeback" album (2006's Reinkaos), and then finally offed himself for Satan in the middle of a ring of a candles at the age of 31"... That's right puppy, Reinkaos is a terrible record. Also black metal is not for anyone.
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Seriously struck (again) for the last two days by Holly Terror's Mind Wars 21 or 22 years after I first heard it. And No Resurrection has to be one of the 10 best thrash metal songs I have ever heard. Also have been listening Skeptiks Apocalypse by Agent Steel. Way too much speed/power metal for my tastes but nevertheless worthy, led by a genius like John Cyriis for whom I urge everyone to investigate a little further. Of course most of the people will find him to be another freak. Let them be ignorant.

Sanctvs Nex

I was curious to listen to Aurelia, Sanctvs Nex's debut album as the samples I had listened were interesting at least. I finally had the chance to get an idea through ATMF website, were the record is streaming. After a couple of listenings I wanted to make a comment or two.
First, I think it's time for the various sites and record labels to stop using Deathspell Omega as a reference for any band that plays something more than plain raw black metal. The way I see it, these constant references are signs of ignorance and shallow view of the music, as long as attempts to cash in on the current trend and hype surrounding DsO. There is no band around that can match DsO's audial, visual, aesthetical or philosophical competence, so any attempt to compare any other band to them doesn't make justice to the other band.
And in the case of Sanctus Nex this wouldn't be fair. The band is perfectly capable of standing on their own as an independent force, as Aurelia is a very good work of occult and dark music based on black metal and expanding to many other directions, enough to keep the listener returning for more. Not that they are similar in their musical approach but their whole attitude reminded me of Subvertio Deus, the other british band I have distinguished in the last few years. This is a record that demands repeated listening and one  I will definitely buy as I want to have a complete perspective of what the band has to offer.
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I am getting tired of black metal bands that during interviews they are eager to namedrop all the deities, demons or sephiroth they had memorized the previous day in order to prove how serious they are about what they say. The fact that they openly talk about matters that are utterly of esoteric nature and are not to be discussed shows exactly how "serious" they are and how profound their knowledge on such matters is. Unfortunately this is a trap that even the worthy ones fall in. The path to enlightenment is long, uphill and full of thorns. The hypocrites and careless ones would be in danger when crossing it.


Current favorites...
Sektarism - L'Offrande
Socrates - Socrates Drank The Conium
Varathron - Stygian Forces of Scorn
El Ritual - El Ritual
The Chasm - The Spell Of Retribution
Portal - Swarth

AMSG

Maggots on the corpse of music

"This is some more melodic black metal which has some faster parts mixed in with it.... At times it sounds a little like immortal vocally but not exact..."

This is some imbecile describing Deathspell Omega's Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum on his blog. This is also a small and harmless example of how powerful tools (like the internet) shouldn't be in the hands of ignorant, retarded people... Melodic black metal? Sounds like Immortal? Damn freedom of speech and opinion.
Chimps cannot appreciate and comprehend a fine work of art. They can only try to lower it in order to be able to look it in the eye. Still a work of art seems like a banana to them. That's the only thing they know...

Go back to your tree or fucking die.

The spirit of Ages

I find it amazing that an underground and clandestine subculture like black metal (often plagued by retarded half humans), can act as a mirror reflecting the vast cultural differences between europe and america. I have previously posted (or better stolen) an article taken from deathmetal.org (read it here) about the matter. Nevertheless it is always interesting for me how easy it is to distinguish an american bm band from a european one.
I have stated my opinion on the matters concerning the things that are crucial about black metal, many times before. Spirituality, occult philosophy, the liberating feeling of utter darkness, the opening of the portals of chaos, enlightenment, the spirit of the adversary. Those are some of the basic igredients that constitute the genre's core. For tose that do not understand, the above pictured Secrets of the Moon's cover will seem irrelevant and not much black metal at all. Of course these are people that  still categorize black metal on the basis of the sound of it but this is another debate.
Still this explains the categorization of bands like Krallice or Liturgy (and a lot of other american bands) as black metal. Which is a pity because those bands' music is amazing and can do without the black metal tag. The way I see it this seems more like alternative rock musicians exercising on norwegian bm sounding music. The result is interesting and could be really enjoying if seen under the right view... Very good music but definitely not black metal. Black metal is mostly spirit and soul, it is all these I mentioned before and nothing of those is present in such music. Of course the mainstream press, otherwise eager to invent new worthless tags for music subgenres, appears to be lazy in such cases. Hardly a surprise as they are just ears and no mind and soul. Fuck them...


Opening the gates of chaos with...
Portal - Swarth      (!!!!!)
Varathron - Stygian Forces of Scorn       (always welcome)
Wrnlrd -  Myrmidon
Destroyer 666 - Terror Abraxas
Slagmaur - Von Rov Shelter
Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm
Thanasis Papakonstantinou - Vrahnos Prophitis
Drastus -  Taphos
Liturgy -  Renihilation

Die...

Killing time

The last days have been very lazy. Fortunately plenty of great music is out.
What I like most:
Slagmaur - Von Rov Shelter
Tenebrae in Perpetuum - Leterno Maligno Silenzio
Lifelover - Dekadens
The Chasm - Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm
Echo and the Bunnymen - The Fountain
Angmar - Zuruck in Die Unterwelt



Some older drugs that never expire:
Hate Forest - Battlefields
Enochian Crescent - Black Church
Monumentum -  Ad Nauseam
Evoken - Antithesis Of Light


I hate you all...
AMSG