“Violence is as American as cherry pie, or so the great MLK Jr. once said. The genesis of this hunger for bloodshed has many roots, but an obvious one is the Wild West. A perfect storm of technological force, an insatiable desire for expansion, a fondness for guns, and laws that were… flexible. It was a violent time, and black metal is violent music, so it seems curious that these have never really been combined before.” of gunsmoke and corpsepaint.
“Any old fool can say, “The sea is beautiful.” Using music to evoke the feelings inspired by that beauty is far, far harder. To some extent, that’s something all instrumental bands have to do: since there are no lyrics to tell you what to feel or think, the music has to inspire emotion and sensation all on its own. Instrumental music is both brave and dangerous In this respect – there is simply nowhere to hide. Berlin’s Neànder aims to achieve this lofty goal by combining the density of doom, the introspective melancholy of post-rock, and the fury of black metal, all with the focus solely on their instruments.” eremit the fog.
“One of the countless awful consequences of COVID-19 has been music from artists having their releases delayed. Icelanders Dynfari were one of many victims of this. Their fifth album, Myrkurs er þörf (Darkness is Needed), originally slated for an April release, is only seeing the light of day now. For the uninitiated, Dynfari plays an organic blend of black metal and post-metal in the vein of Sólstafir and Agalloch. Their last LP, The Four Doors of the Mind, was a concept album chronicling the various human responses to profound mental trauma.” Therapy delayed.
“Iceland. What on earth do they put in the water over there? With a population of a small city, the country is consistently at the cutting edge of black metal. More importantly, there’s a certain aesthetic that is unique to the country; you just know when you’re listening to an Icelandic band. Now we have Hræ, the project of scene-veteran, I, who has appeared in other groups like Endalok, Naught and Guðveiki.” Iceland ascendant.
“Dödsriket is Begrafven’s debut LP following a demo in 2013. Consisting of Ursus (guitars and vocals) and Maturz (bass and drums), Begrafven plays a fairly traditional blend of old-school Scandinavian second-wave black metal and melodic, less intense black ‘n roll. While the approach is by no means original, there has been a lot of demanding, atypical black metal recently, and if you’re like me, you sometimes just want some good ole fashioned, meat and ‘taters fare.” Black n’ tater.
“The All Seeing Eye is a dense, heavy slab of bluesy, stoner doom, mixed with some sludge, which pays clear homage to its influences (Black Sabbath, Kyuss), without being an obvious rip-off. Where it differs from its EP predecessor is the delightfully nasty edge that Bulsara’s vocals provide.” Angry stoners.
“Smoking Mountain bills itself as a heady mix of doom, sludge and psychedelica. It’s named after a mountain just south of Seattle, which sounds suitably ominous. It also gives the listener a good idea of the density they’re about to encounter. In reality, it’s a fascinating spectacle of a band in a constant tug-of-war between glorious movement and the densest inertia. Will this turn out to be like a rugby scrum – full of effort but going nowhere (unless it’s England being pushed over by the mighty South African pack in the World Cup final)? Or do these competing forces light a serious fire?” Smoke and stone.
“Ambient music and metal, on the surface, appear to have little in common: ambient’s gentle, relaxing melodies are, superficially, a far cry from the furious pummeling and screeches that defines most metal. And yet, the two go frequently hand in hand, possibly because, when you adjust to it, metal, like ambient, can be hypnotic and soothing. It would explain why bands such as Wolves in the Throne Room and Violet Cold have both released ambient records, in the form of Celestite and the Sommermorgen trilogy, respectively. Now we have Gruppe Planet, a German supergroup of sorts.” Travel restrictions.
“Despite its roots as lo-fi “anti-music,” black metal is an extremely versatile genre, which is why it gets blended a lot these days. An ingredient is often lost amongst all the tinkering and combinations, however: naked anger. If black metal’s many hybrids have left you a bit cold this year, Italy’s Fides Inversa is here to furiously spit in your face and remind you why this genre exists in the first place.” Anger mismanagement.
“Collaborations in music (and metal) have been around since you were a tyke on your grandpappy’s arthritic knee. When they work, differing artists can bring out the best in each other, highlighting each other’s strengths, and masking their weaknesses. Blood Stronghold follows in this grand tradition: an international amalgamation of Australia’s Nightwolf (from Runespell) and veteran Polish drummer Krew (from numerous projects I honestly haven’t of).” Blood is thicker than…forts.
