Stormlord

I noted earlier that there is no such thing as one, single Italian black metal style. And I stand by that statement. Mortuary Drape, Sinoath, Schizo, Winged, Opera IX...they sound nothing alike. Even bands that are part of the same subgenre (Necrodeath and Bulldozer are both black/thrash by modern standards) have unique styles. Rome's STORMLORD is further evidence of this. 

Formed in 1991, Stormlord initially began as a death metal project. Their first demo in 1992 bears this out. After recruiting a second guitarist, they released a second demo in 1993, Black Knight. Due to the use of well- placed synths, this demo had a more epic, grand feel to it. This epic aura would continue on future releases. 

This is the Black Knight demo in its entirety

After these two demos, the band began to get tired of the direction death metal was going in. Additionally, they weren't happy with the sound of their death metal growls. They then began crafting epic songs that leaned more in the direction of black metal. Around this time, record labels began expressing an interest in the band, too. After crafting a promo of material for record labels and then an MCD of new material in 1997, the band released their first full-length studio album in 1999.

This is "War (The Supreme Art)"

Titled The Supreme Art of War, this album saw a mix of symphonic black metal, epic power metal, and some folk elements as well. By the band's own admission, the sound on Art of War was a result of a more democratic approach to song writing and their new keyboard player being classically trained. The epic synth passages gave the entire album an almost medieval, folk vibe.

"...And Winter Was" is off of their 2001 album, At the Gates of Utopia

Exploding out of the underground and into the black metal mainstream at a time when symphonic black metal was peaking, Stormlord resisted that label themselves.  Noting that they thought of bands like Immortal and Darkthrone as black metal, while bands that incorporated synths the way they and Dimmu Borgir did were something different, they labeled themselves "epic extreme metal."

"Dance with Hecate" comes from their 2004 album, The Gorgon Cult

I would argue that the label they came up with for themselves makes sense the more you listen to their later albums. Beyond the elements of symphonic black metal, you have a wide variety of clean vocals, operatic vocals, riffing that is reminiscent of power and death metal, and exotic folk elements. Fans of viking metal, folk black metal, and  symphonic black metal would enjoy what Stormlord has to offer, but they're really so much more than that.

From 2008's Mare Nostrum, this is "And the Wind Shall Scream My Name"

Select Discography:

Demo 1992 (demo) (1992)

Black Knight (demo) (1993)

Cataclysm (demo) (1995)

Promo 1997 (demo) (1997)

Under the Sign of the Sword EP (1997)

Supreme Art of War (full-length) (1999)

At the Gates of Utopia (full-length) (2001)

The Gorgon Cult (full-length) (2004)

Mare Nostrum (full-length) (2008)

Next time: TULUS

Gravewürm

 

Like Crucifier, GRAVEWÜRM is one of those American bands that toiled away in the underground with demo after demo before releasing actual studio albums. Hailing from near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before relocating to Northern Virginia (where I live!) and then Ohio, Gravewürm plays a raw, angry black metal not for the faint of heart.

Originally formed as Dominion in 1990, they started off as more of a doom-death band. But as the main force behind the band,  Funeral Grave (born one Kevin Fye), became more interested in bands like Goatlord, Beherit, Burzum, and Emperor, it became necessary to change the face of Dominion completely. And so by 1992, Gravewürm had emerged.

1993's Possessed by Darkness is an early demo

By their own admission, their sound draws on first-wave black metal bands and classic heavy metal. There are no blastbeats, and the song structures are very straightforward. The influence of old-school bands like Venom, Sodom, and Hellhammer is apparent as well.

This is the title track to their '96 demo

By the band's own admission, it was a challenge to get record labels interested in putting out a full-length studio album. Their sound didn't match any of the black metal trends of the day (clones of the Norwegian styles of Darkthrone or Mayhem, or symphonic black metal), so label after label passed on them in the late 1990s. That didn't stop them from releasing vicious underground demos!

This is a live performance of "Ancient Storms of War", the title track from their first official studio album

Once labels expressed interest, Gravewürm simply has not stopped releasing album after album of nasty, vile old-school black metal. 2000's Ancient Storms of War was their first official studio album (see above for the title track), and since that time, they've released over twenty albums.

"Under the Banner of War" comes from the 2005 album of the same name

Gravewürm has also admitted that they're not afraid to mix it up a little bit. Sometimes an album will draw heavily on old-school black/thrash,  sometimes it will draw on doom metal, and so on. At the end of the day, you know you're getting raw, brutal black metal that is true to the old-school ethos!

Off of 2010's Blood of the Pentagram, this is "Goat Command"

"Lair of the Gravewurm" is from 2015's Doomed to Eternity

Select Discography:

Bestial Wrath (demo) (1992)

The Morbid Decomposure of Mankind (demo) (1993)

Possessed by Darkness (demo) (1993)

Sinister Curse EP (1994)

Massacre in Heaven (demo) (1994)

At the Gates of Armageddon (demo) (1995)

Ancient Storms of War (demo) (1995)

Nocturnal Spells (demo) (1996)

Command of Satan's Blade (demo) (1998)

Ancient Storms of War (full-length album) (2000)

Dark Souls of Hell (full-length album) (2002)

Into Battle (full-length) (2003)

Under the Banner of War (full-length) (2005)

Funeral Empire (full-length) (2009)

Next time: STORMLORD

Kampfar

 

One of the great things about exploring any genre of metal is discovering new bands. The big names of black metal--Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, Emperor, Burzum--are known by everyone. But those mid-tier bands that slave away just beneath the surface?  It's exciting to watch when people discover them. KAMPFAR is a Norwegian band that the casual black metal fan knows little about. But the true black metal aficionados know them as a tried-and-true pagan black metal band.

Originating from the ashes of MOCK, who existed from 1991-1994, Kampfar was for years the brainchild of Thomas and Dolk. Dolk cut his teeth in the aforementioned Mock. Mock's sound was a classic Norwegian black metal that bears all the hallmarks of the early second wave. Check out their 1994 demo, Cold Winter, below:

After Mock dissolved in 1994, Dolk still had the yearning to create black metal.  The story goes that he had a bassline written for a black metal song, but it wasn't until he met Thomas that he had a music-writing partner who was able to write the perfect guitar part to go with it.  This became the song "Kampfar." Shortly thereafter, they wrote "Hymne". And this material became their first demo, and eventually,  the self-titled EP.

The Kampfar EP contains both the songs "Hymne" and "Kampfar"

In these early years of Kampfar's existence, Thomas and Dolk were the only two members of the band. Dolk brought a black metal sensibility to the table that was balanced out by Thomas's more classical and folk-oriented approach to music. This is what allowed Kampfar to create their now-classic pagan/folk black metal. The incorporation of clean, chanting vocals and folk/non-traditional instruments helped make Kampfar's music a crucial stage in the development of pagan and viking black metal. An album like 1997's Mellom skoggkledde aaser easily holds its own when put next to albums like Vikingligr Veldi or Hammerheart.

From their 1997 album, this is "Valgalderkvad"

In these early years of the band, they weren't the most prolific. Dolk attributes this to his and Thomas's writing process. They were more painstaking about their approach to writing their music. As a result, in this stage--when only Thomas and Dolk were the members of the band--they only churned out two full-length albums, the above-mentioned 1997 album and 1999's Fra underverdenen.

From their 1999 album, this is "Norse"

Things changed pretty radically in the early 2000s. Ask and Jon were recruited as new members, on drums and bass respectively. Their writing process shifted in a major way, and the band became more prolific. In the 2000s, Kampfar churned out a slew of fantastic pagan black metal albums that still stand the test of time: 2006's Kvass, 2008's Heimgang, and 2011's Mare.

From 2006's Kvass, this is "Ravenheart"

"Inferno" comes from their 2008 album

"Blitzwitch" is a great track from their 2011 album

In 2010, Thomas left the band, leaving Dolk as the only original member. Kampfar has soldiered on to this day, still releasing quality albums of folk-influenced and pagan black metal. They may not be a household name like Mayhem, but they're a band that has had an impact on black metal the world over.

Select Discography:

Mock:

Cold Winter (demo) (1994)

Vinterlandet EP (1995)

Kampfar:

Kampfar EP (1996)

Mellom skoggkledde aaser (full-length) (1997)

Norse EP (1998)

Fra underverdenen (full-length) (1999)

Kvass (full-length) (2006)

Heimgang (full-length) (2008)

Mare (full-length) (2011)

Next time: GRAVEWÜRM

Necrophobic, and the line between death metal and black metal

Stockholm, Sweden's NECROPHOBIC represents an interesting conundrum in extreme metal. Having formed in 1989, they set as their goal the creation of a darker, more sinister style of death metal than existed at the time. Yet, they cited old-school black metal like Bathory as their primary influences. Furthermore, I see them on black metal playlists all the time, but they sound more death metal to me. Their guitar tone is more Sunlight Studios than Grieghallen to my ears.

This raises one of the most interesting aspects of heavy metal: the separation of bands into different genres. While some metalheads lament the drawing of lines that determine which band is or is not one particular genre or other, others go the opposite direction. I find myself in the latter category: genre distinctions are important to me. To those on the other side of this discussion,  I ask you this: you're gonna tell me that Mütiilation sounds like Iron Maiden? Or that a fan of Deeds of Flesh would love The Gathering? Distinctions are important.

So what happens when the distinctions literally collapse? When you don't know where to put the line? This post is going to explore that question.

Celtic Frost: death metal? Black metal? 

The line between death and black metal was originally fairly arbitrary. This is why some bands from the early days belong to both traditions: think Hellhammer/Celtic Frost. But why is Possessed associated with death metal more than black metal when they sound like a lot bands that are labeled "black metal" from the same era (Necrodeath, Sarcofago)? 

Now, the lines are clearer.  No one would point to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger and call it death metal. Similarly, no one would call the latest Dying Fetus record black metal. But there have been bands that are hard to classify, and they weren't even trying to blur any lines.  They were just making the music they wanted to make.

Returning to Necrophobic, what are we to make of them? Where do they fall? Their current label,  Century Media, even calls them blackened death metal. Have a listen to a few songs, below: 

"Before the Dawn" is from Necrophobic's 1993 debut album

"Spawned by Evil" is off of 1997's Darkside

2002's Bloodhymns is the source of "Cult of Blood"

We see why it's so tough to figure out. A few adjustments one way and you've got a Dissection b-side. A few adjustments the other way and it resembles a classic Unleashed or Dismember song.

Two other Swedish bands--GROTESQUE and UNANIMATED--also merit being part of this discussion. Where do they fall? Grotesque eventually evolved into At the Gates, the most famous melodic death metal band of all time. But there are those that call them black metal. Unanimated suffers from the same fate.  Take a listen:

Grotesque's "Angels Blood" is from 1989/90

"Blackness of a Fallen Star" comes from Unanimated's 1993 album

We've got songs with blazing fast tremolo-picked riffs, but with a death metal guitar tone. We've got blasphemous lyrics. The overall song structures wouldn't be out of place on a melodic death metal or melodic black metal. What do we call songs by bands such as these? Of course, an acknowledgement of this issue recognizes that some of the bands I've already explored could be questioned as well: is Dissection really black metal? Sacramentum?

From the opposite direction, the American band ACHERON enters the debate. Emerging as part of the Tampa, Florida, scene in the late 1980s, they are typically thought of as a death metal band. Yet, their blasphemous themes and dark aura feel almost blackened. Listen below, to "To Thee We Confess," off of their first full-length album:

Again, why stop there? What about Crucifier? Order from Chaos? At the end of the day, it's about drawing a line and sticking with it. On this side, we might find Dissection, but on the other side, we might see Necrophobic. Or perhaps not?

Select Discography:

Necrophobic:

Realm of Terror (demo) (1989)

Slow Asphyxiation (demo) (1990)

Unholy Prophecies (demo) (1991)

The Call EP (1992)

The Nocturnal Silence (full-length) (1993)

Spawned by Evil EP (1996)

Darkside (full-length) (1997)

The Third Antichrist (full-length) (1999)

Bloodhymns (full-length) (2002)

Grotesque: 

Ripped from the Cross (demo) (1988)

The Black Gate is Closed (demo) (1989)

In the Embrace of Evil (demo) (1989)

Rehearsal (demo) (1989)

Incantation EP (1990)

In the Embrace of Evil (compilation) (1996)

Unanimated:

Rehearsal (demo) (1990)

Fire Storm (demo) (1991)

In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead (full-length) (1993)

Ancient God of Evil (full-length) (1995)

Acheron:

Messe Noir (demo) (1988)

Live Rehearsal (demo) (1989)

Rites of the Black Mass (demo) (1991)

Rites of the Black Mass (full-length) (1992)

Lex Talionis (full-length) (1994)

Hail Victory (full-length) (1995)

Anti-God, Anti-Christ (full-length) (1996)

Next time: KAMPFAR

Burzum

 

The story of BURZUM is well-documented, so I'm not sure how much detail to go into.  I'll try to limit my discussion to the music and not focus on non-music shenanigans. Varg Vikernes (the mastermind behind Burzum) began a solo project called Kalashnikov around 1988, after he had only been playing the guitar for a couple years. Within a year or so, he changed the name to Uruk-Hai. There is debate about whether or not there are any known recordings from that time period.  In later years (sometime in the later 1990s), some recordings emerged of Uruk-Hai material, but there is doubt about whether it's from 1988-89 or the early 90s.

After the early Uruk-Hai years, Vikernes joined the Norwegian death/black metal band Old Funeral.  As I noted on my entry for early Norwegian black metal, this band also had (at various times) Abbath (of Immortal fame) and Jørn (of Hades fame). Varg has said his time in Old Funeral was highly educational, as he learned about the more technical aspects of music. 

A classic promotional pic of Varg

After the demise of this band, Vikernes revived the project Uruk-Hai before soon changing its name to Burzum, which is the word for "darkness" in the Black Speech of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  He also started going by the stage name Count Grishnackh to further distance himself from his old ways. Burzum was more or less an old-school black metal project, but with the touch of that occultic edge that 1980s Mayhem had.

From the first untitled Burzum demo, this is "Lost Wisdom"

Vikernes put out two untitled demos in 1991 under the Burzum name.  They included many songs which went on to become classics, such as "Lost Wisdom," "Spell of Destruction," "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit," and "Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown."  Many of these songs were instrumental, with no vocals.  Nonetheless, they highlighted the emerging Norwegian sound.  Bearing resemblance to what Mayhem had done up to this point, while maintaining some uniqueness, these Burzum tracks helped lay the template for many black metal bands to come.

This is from the 1992 self-titled album...

As is known,  Burzum recorded all of what would become his classic nineties material in the span of about a year. Recorded in January of 1992, Burzum first released a self-titled album.  This was put out on Euronymous's label Deathlike Silence Productions.  In terms of black metal sound, the self-titled album was a continuation of the the sound pioneered on the demos, but at the same time an improvement.  I think that Vikernes' vocals were more tortured, more insane-sounding than pretty much any other black metal vocalist up to that point in history.  That first album is one of black metal's all-time greats. It's simple, yet raw and merciless in its effect.

Recorded as part of two different sessions in 1992, Burzum put out an EP entitled Aske (which is the Norwegian word for 'ashes') in early 1993. Also released through Deathlike Silence Productions, this is one of the few Burzum releases with another musician on it. Samoth (of Emperor) played bass on Aske because for a brief while, Varg entertained the idea of playing live. He did not hold on to that notion for long. 

"Key to the Gates" is from Det Som Engang Var

Burzum's second full-length album was Det Som Engang Var. Recorded in April 1992, this album feels conceptually linked to the self- titled one. With music that still feels raw and primitive, DSEV is as good an introduction to Burzum as any. This album was released in 1993 through Varg's new label, Cymophane Records (which was a sublabel of white power label Resistance Records). It was pressed in a limited run (950 copies), so this resulted in many bootleg editions in circulation. 

From Burzum's 1994 album, this is "Inn I Slottet Fra Droemmen"

Burzum's third album was recorded in the fall of 1992. It took a while for this album to get released because Varg's legal troubles began mounting. He signed the rights to his last two albums over to a third party who then founded Misanthropy Records.  Once this dust settled, this album--titled Hvis lyset tar oss--was released by Misanthropy in April 1994. It felt like a departure from the previous two. Yes, the primitivism was still present, but we see a real transcendence being achieved on some of these tracks. In this way, it foreshadowed what was to come on Burzum's fourth full-length album. 

My favorite Burzum song,  "Darkness (Dunkelheit)"

Burzum's fourth full-length studio album--titled Filosofem--was recorded in early 1993. By his own admission, he was rebelling against the new developments in the black metal scene and this made its way into the recording sessions. He once called this album an "anti-black metal" album. But by rebelling against some of the emerging trends in the black metal scene, he merely set a new bar for black metal!  The raw production, the hypnotic riffs, the droning ambient...all of these things took Burzum's black metal to another level entirely. Many say that Hviss lyset tar oss is in the running for greatest black metal album of all time, but I place Filosofem higher. It was released through Misanthropy Records in 1996, after Varg had begun serving his jail sentence for his crimes (church burning, Euronymous's murder).

And this is as good a place as any to pause the story of Burzum. As is widely known, he was able to put out two fully ambient albums while in prison (while in prison, he claimed to have sworn off guitar-based music forever), but that doesn't interest me. Perhaps I'll resume his story where it picks up when he was released from prison....? We'll see.

This song was recorded during the Hvis lyset tar oss sessions but never made it to album

Select Discography:

Demo I (1991)

Demo II (1991)

Burzum (demo) (1991)

Burzum (full-length) (1992)

Aske EP (1993)

Det som engang var (full-length) (1993)

Hvis lyset tar oss (full-length) (1994)

Filosofem (full-length) (1996)

Next time: NECROPHOBIC

Unlord

 

The Netherlands may not churn out black metal bands like Norway or Sweden, but when a Dutch band makes an impact, you better believe it's truly awe-inspiring. Of all of the Dutch bands covered so far and all of the Dutch bands to be covered, North Holland's UNLORD is my favorite.

Unlord are another example of a band that formed pretty early but didn't make an impact until later. In fact, there is debate about Unlord's existence and demo output in the early 1990s. While it is confirmed that members of several Dutch death metal bands (such as Nembrionic and Consolation) set those projects to the side to form Unlord, questions remain: did Unlord only produce some early 1990s demos that never saw the light of day because they were only intended to help band members learn songs? Or, as some claim, was the Dutch band BLACK METAL an early incarnation of Unlord, and their 1991 demo Pentagram an example of the early evolution of Unlord's sound? 

Here is Black Metal's Pentagram demo from 1991

Black Metal's sound is clearly rooted in black/thrash and grindcore, and Unlord is known for their raw, scorching fast sound, and both bands share at least one member in common that we know of--so the rumor of the connection is not as outlandish as it seems. Regardless, the only material we have to this day with the name 'Unlord' on it is their three albums released in the late nineties and beyond.

Unlord first revealed themselves to the world under their own name with 1997's Schwarzwald. A blazing fast album of no-holds-barred black metal, it is truly an unsung masterpiece of the late 1990s. Band members have said that in addition to old-school bands like Venom and Bathory, more recent bands like Emperor, Marduk, and Immortal helped influence their sound. I think the speed and technicality of Schwarzwald bear that out.

"Uprising Hordes" is from Unlord's first album

From 1999's Gladiator, this is "Hell's Gates Are Opened"

With the follow-up album (1999's Gladiator), there was (even by the band's own admission) a step up in terms of technicality and sophistication. The focus was no longer just on speed-for-speed's-sake, but on speed in conjunction with new rhythms and structures. That said, the song I have chosen from Gladiator ("Hell's Gates Are Opened," above) is not the best illustration of that! By the time of the recording of Gladiator, Unlord had shrunk from a sextet to a trio. This streamlined version of the band continued on to the recording of what would be their final album, 2002's Lord of Beneath.

"Angel of Fire" is from their last album

In 2003, the band called it a day. The band members acknowledged that their differing musical interests had proved insurmountable. Interest in the band never waned, however, and their albums have been reissued several times, including notably by Hell's Headbanger Records. This continued interest led to the band to decide to re-form in the 2020s. We'll see what the future holds!

Select Discography:

as Black Metal (???):

Pentagram (demo) (1991)

as Unlord:

Schwarzwald (full-length) (1997)

Gladiator (full-length) (2000)

Lord of Beneath (full-length) (2002)

Next time: BURZUM

Immortal

 

The legendary Norwegian scene of the early 1990s continues to astound us, even to this day. It is hard to imagine black metal of any shape or size without the groundbreaking work done by IMMORTAL, for example. After his stints in both Old Funeral and Amputation, Abbath went on to form Immortal with Demonaz in 1990.  They were initially more death metal than black metal, as is evident on the 1991 self titled demo.  It wasn't until the Immortal 7" EP (also released in 1991) that they changed their style to something more recognizably black metal.

"The Cold Winds of Funeral Frost" is off of the self-titled 7-inch

Immortal's sound clearly owed a debt to the sound of late 1980s and early 1990s Mayhem, but at the same time, it was a unique style.  Elements of Bathory (think Under the Sign of the Black Mark) also being present, Immortal went on to release a full-length album in 1992.  Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is one of the best 1990s Norwegian black metal debut albums.  Immortal set themselves apart from the hordes of other black metal bands because they incorporated winter-themed lyrics.  Winter, cold, frost, and other climatic elements made perfect sense given Norway's harsh and unforgiving weather.

"Call of the Wintermoon" is one of Immortal's best known early songs

The big shift for Immortal in these earlier years was with the release of 1993's Pure Holocaust.  This album continued some of the stylistic elements of the material from Diabolical and the self-titled 7-inch, but at the same time, Immortal began to push the black metal style forward.  Blastbeats were featured prominently, and the overall speed was ratcheted up a notch unlike almost any other black metal band before this time.

This is "Storming Through Red Clouds and Holocaustwinds"

When Immortal released this album on the world, it truly changed the black metal landscape forever.  There had been fast black metal before (think Sarcofago, for example), but no one had put blastbeats into black metal to such a degree before.  Pure Holocaust stands, in my mind, as one of the technical highlights of all Norwegian black metal--indeed, of all black metal PERIOD.

While Pure Holocaust is one of their most influential albums, I hold that Battles in the North (Immortal's 1995 follow-up) is the superior release. On Holocaust, you can hear Immortal still figuring out what to do with and where to put their blastbeats. There are numerous places where the speed and blastbeats feel like an afterthought. Battles, on the other hand, had songs that were meticulously crafted, and the speed felt necessary and intentional. With each release, the black metal world was forced to sit up and take notice as Immortal changed the game again and again. Battles in the North, to my ears, ranks as a pure masterpiece of the highest order

Here is the title track from '95's Battles in the North

With their next release (1997's Blizzard Beasts), Immortal sought to push the boundaries of the sound they had innovated. Gone were the well-structured songs of Battles. Instead, the blastbeats were used to achieve a chaotic, almost tech-death approach. This album proved divisive among fans. Some loved how over-the-top it was, but some saw it as a step backwards from Battles.

"Winter of the Ages" showcases the insanity of Blizzard Beasts

This was a transitional time for Immortal, as Demonaz had to step down from his guitar-playing duties due to severe tendonitis in his arms. He was unable to play the extremely fast black metal riffing that Immortal's music required and was now relegated to the role of writer. This was also the time frame when drummer Horgh joined the band, and remained their long-time drummer  (they had had a rotating cast of drummers prior to him). But more change was on the horizon.

That change took the form of their 1999 album, At the Heart of Winter. A radical shift in their sound, this album managed to be too radical in sound for some of the old-school fans. But at the same time, many saw this as Immortal's peak. The album managed to incorporate all of the elements from previous albums, but the song structures clearly drew on Viking-era Bathory and classic heavy metal. Listen to the gorgeous soundscape that is "Withstand the Fall of Time":

This is off of 1999's At the Heart of Winter

2002's Sons of Northern Darkness gave us the masterful "Antarctica"

Immortal fully embraced this new sound on their next two albums, 2000's Damned in Black and 2002's Sons of Northern Darkness. Epic, sprawling black metal that meandered across multiple motifs, all while bringing to mind the inevitable evil of a true fimbulwinter is how I think of Immortal in this phase. Sons of Northern Darkness showed the world what black metal was capable of, in terms of artistry.

That said, this began a time of uncertainty for Immortal. They broke up not long after the release of Sons. In the following years, they would re-unite and break up several more times. This culminated in a legal battle for the rights to the name of the band, as Demonaz and Abbath had competing ideas about the future direction of Immortal. Demonaz did eventually win the legal battle, and he and Horgh are now the current core of Immortal. 

Select Discography:

Immortal (demo) (1991)

Immortal 7" (1991)

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (full-length) (1992)

Pure Holocaust (full-length) (1993)

Battles in the North (full-length) (1995)

Blizzard Beasts (full-length) (1997)

At the Heart of Winter (full-length) (1999)

Damned in Black (full-length) (2000)

Sons of Northern Darkness (full-length) (2002)

All Shall Fall (full-length) (2009)

The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh (live video) (2010)

Next time: UNLORD

In the Woods...

 

Norwegian band IN THE WOODS... represents a unique chapter in the history of black metal. Their style in the late nineties was like almost no one else in the Norwegian scene, and they have unique connections to other crucial black metal bands at the same time. 

ITW formed from the ashes of death metal band Green Carnation in 1991 when band member Tchort went to join Emperor on bass. Green Carnation dissolved and remaining members Anders, Christian, and Christopher formed ITW--recruiting Oddvar and Jan along the way--as an outlet for their nascent black metal sound. Their first demo in 1993 was a raw piece of black metal that didn't do too much to stand out from the pack.

Here is the '93 demo in full

Shortly after the release of that demo, ITW entered the studio with the goal of releasing a second demo. This demo--1994's Isle of Men--was essentially the first demo re-recorded. The sound quality was improved, but this was still the same music: a somewhat raw, midpaced black metal.

This is the 1994 version of "Tell de døde", from the Isle of Men demo

The Isle of Men demo in 1994 proved to be a pretty well-received demo in the black metal underground. It has been reissued by several different record labels as a CD, most recently by Soulseller Records. It is pretty easy to find these days, if you're interested in acquiring a copy.

That said, ITW began pushing the boundaries of their music after the release of Isle of Men. The midpaced black metal sound on their demos eventually gave way to a melodic and progressive folk-influenced style on their first full-length album, 1995's Heart of the Ages. With a sound that reminds the listener of Isengard and older Arcturus, all wrapped up in an atmospheric package, there really was nothing like it in the Norwegian scene at the time of its release.

"...in the woods" is probably the most traditionally black metal song off of Heart of the Ages

Now calling their music 'pagan metal'--despite not having all of the hallmarks of that genre--ITW had really made their mark on the Norwegian scene, and by extension, global black metal. If they had called it a day after releasing this album, they'd still be a noteworthy chapter in the history of black metal. But in this first phase of their existence (they broke up in 2000), they put out two more albums that revolutionized extreme metal.

On 1997's Omnio, they moved away from black metal, but kept a dark, moody aura to their music. With epic, progressive passages painted over a doom-y riffing style, Omnio is a hard album to characterize. Not really like any kind of traditional black metal, fans of modern-day atmospheric and epic black metal like Saor, Aquilus, or Agalloch might find themselves at home on this album.

From 1997's Omnio, this is "Weeping Willow"

On 1999's Strange in Stereo, they moved even further away from traditional black metal. Still possessing the dark, moody atmosphere from Omnio, their music reminds the listener of old-school gothic rock bands like Bauhaus at times. Strange in Stereo is an odd album--one whose name is very apt. This is an album that further alienated hardcore black metal fans, but brought in a whole new audience of open-minded listeners.

"Closing In" is the opening track from Strange in Stereo

But all was not well in the world of ITW. The band members could not agree on the direction to take the band, and these musical differences would prove fatal to the band. In the Woods... broke up in the year 2000 (In the Woods...did get back together in the 2010s, but their music was more in the doom-death vein than it was black metal). But as fortune would have it, some of the band members had recently reconciled with Tchort, and Green Carnation was re-formed as a result. If you listen to the Green Carnation albums from the early 2000s, you can hear some similarities with what ITW was doing on Omnio and Strange. Check out "Light of Day, Day of Darkness," below, to see what I mean.

Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1993)

Isle of Men (demo) (1994)

Heart of the Ages (full-length album) (1995)

Omnio (full-length album) (1997)

Strange in Stereo (full-length album) (1999)

Next time: IMMORTAL

Marduk

 

After giving it much thought, I realized it didn't make much sense to break up MARDUK's story into multiple posts. Hailing from Norrköping, Sweden, they formed in 1990, with guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Hakansson being the main driving force behind the band.  At the time of the band's formation, Jocke Gothberg (aka Joakim af Grave) was on drums, Richard Kalm was on bass, Andreas Axelson was on vocals, and the aforementioned Morgan was on guitars.  Their initial style was an old-school black metal style that relied heavily on early Bathory with a death metal influence.  They released the infamous Fuck Me Jesus demo in 1991.

"Departure from the Mortals" is off of Fuck Me Jesus

Also in 1991, Marduk recorded a second demo, but it didn't see the light of day until 1997 as the Here's No Peace EP.  It was a continuation of the sound on the first demo, but with slightly different (some might say better) production.

"Within the Abyss" is from the Here's No Peace album/demo

1992 saw the release of Marduk's legendary first studio album, Dark Endless.  This is one of the true landmarks of early 1990s black metal, and a milestone in Swedish black metal.  Produced by Swedish genius Dan Swano, Dark Endless offers up a slab of black metal which contains elements of the old school but also hints toward the newer emerging sound of the 1990s at the same time.

"The Black" comes from their first full-length album

One thing that Marduk wrestled with in their early years was lineup stability. After Dark Endless, Andreas Axelson left, with Joakim af Grave now pulling double duty on drums and vocals. Also, Richard Kalm left the band and B. War was recruited on bass. After these lineup changes, Marduk put out their second album, 1993's Those of the Unlight. On this release, we see Marduk moving away from the old-school, death metal-influenced sound of their early years to something more recognizably second wave. 1994's Opus Nocturne was even more recognizably second wave, with a sound that bore a slight resemblance to some of the Norwegian offerings of the same era.

One of their most famous songs off of Those of the Unlight, this is "Burn my Coffin"

"Sulphur Souls" is off of their 1994 album

The years after Opus Nocturne saw some major changes with Marduk. First off, Joakim af Grave left the band, and newcomer Legion took over on vocals. Many Marduk fans consider this their 'classic' line-up, much in the same way that Mayhem's Dead-era lineup is considered their classic lineup. Also, they decided that they wanted an entirely new sound and began using Peter Tägtgren's Abyss Studios for production.

From their 1996 album, here is the classic "Beyond the Grace of God"

The result was 1996's Heaven Shall Burn When We Are Gathered. A landmark release, this album showed that it was possible to have clean, crisp production without sacrificing the evil, Satanic aura of a black metal album. It was a truly seismic shift in black metal music making.

From this point forward, Marduk churned out some fantastically evil, yet well-produced albums. With 1998's Nightwing, 1999's Panzer Divison Marduk, and 2001's La Grande Danse Macabre, Marduk completed their 'Blood-Fire-Death' trilogy, modeled after the Bathory album of the same name.

From 1998's Nightwing, here is "Of Hell's Fire"

This is the title track from 1999's Panzer Division Marduk

After these albums, 2003's World Funeral underwhelmed fans. The production sounded lazy, and Legion's vocals felt sloppily executed. This resulted in yet another major shift for Marduk. They changed vocalists to Mortuus (known as Arioch for his work with Funeral Mist). Mortuus's vocal performances and contributions to lyric writing helped usher in a new phase for Marduk. Albums such as Plague Angel, Rom. 5:12, and the brilliant Serpent Sermon showcased this fantastic new era of Marduk.

"Serpent Sermon" is from the 2012 album of the same name

Select Discography:

Fuck Me Jesus (demo) (1991)

Here's No Peace (demo) (recorded 1991, released 1997)

Dark Endless (full-length album (1992)

Those of the Unlight (full-length album) (1993)

Opus Nocturne (full-length album) (1994)

Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered (full-length album) (1996)

Live in Germania (live album) (1997)

Nightwing (full-length album) (1998)

Panzer Division Marduk (full-length album) (1999)

Obedience EP (2000)

Infernal Eternal (live album)  (2000)

La Grande Danse Macabre (full-length album) (2001)

World Funeral (full-length album) (2003)

Plague Angel (full-length album) (2004)

Warschau (live album) (2005)

Rom. 5:12 (full-length album) (2007)

Wormwood (full-length album) (2009)

Iron Dawn EP (2011)

Serpent Sermon (full-length album) (2012)

Next time: IN THE WOODS...

Morbosidad

 

MORBOSIDAD, who formed in Oakland, California, despite the band members being from Mexico, is a raw and brutal band known for a style that blends elements of war metal and black/thrash. There has been some debate about when they formed, with the band insisting they didn't form until 1993, but Tomas Stench (the mastermind behind the band and the one constant in the band) realizing they had actually formed in 1991 after finding an old interview in a 'zine from that year!

Regardless, it wasn't until '93 that their first demo was released. Their follow up, 1994's Santísima Muerte, was what made the extreme metal underground sit up and take notice. Featuring a sound that was heavy on the death metal side, Morbosidad's lyrics were also noteworthy for being highly blasphemous, in the vein of Profanatica.

Here is the complete 1994 demo

Just as things were starting to take off, tragedy struck. Their drummer died in a freak explosion in 1995. The band was devastated, and put things on hold. They didn't return to making music until 1999.

When they returned on the scene with new material in 2000--including their self-titled full-length album--their sound was still primitive and raw and evil.  However, they were less death metal and more like what we now know as war metal. 

From their self-titled album, this is "Bestial y Morboso"

Morbosidad is nothing else if not consistent. They wear their influences--Sarcofago, Beherit, Blasphemy, Archgoat--on their sleeve.  Each release features that insane war metal style, with ultra-blasphemous lyrics in Spanish (because, according to Tomas Stench, "it gives our music a more primitive, evil, and blasphemous sound"). Even among American war metallers, very few bands sound like Morbosidad.

From their 2004 album, this is "Sangriento Sacrificio Cristiano"

Since their re-emergence in 1999, Morbosidad has consistently released brutal black/death brilliance on album after album. Even when drummer Goat Destroyer fell out of a window and died in 2009, the band soldiered on. In fact, they actually put out albums in his honor, including a split with Manticore.

"Poseido por el Diablo" comes from 2008's Profana la cruz del Nazareno

Select Discography:

Demo '93 (demo) (1993)

Santísima Muerte (demo) (1994)

Morbosidad (full-length album) (2000)

Bajo el egendro del crucificado EP (2002)

Cójete a Dios por el culo (full-length album) (2004)

Legiones bestiales EP (2006)

Profana la cruz del nazareno (full-length album) (2008)

Next time: MARDUK

Darkthrone's classic years

 

Members of Mayhem and Darkthrone in an early '90s photo

DARKTHRONE'S release of A Blaze in the Northern Sky in 1992 was an earth-shattering event in the history of black metal. The Norwegian scene hadn't put out many full-length studio albums yet, and Darkthrone's first album was basically death metal, not black metal. Darkthrone now consisted of three members since Dag Nilsen had left: Zephyrous, Nocturno Culto, and Fenriz. However, they had a renewed focus now that they were committed to black metal.

The follow-up to Blaze is the 1993 classic Under a Funeral Moon. On this album, Darkthrone (by their own admission) moved even further away from their death metal roots. They acknowledged that they had still used a death metal template for some of their songs on Blaze, but had now jettisoned that foundation. Even Fenriz himself admitted that Blaze was "a lot of death metal with some black metal parts." 1993's Under a Funeral Moon, however, was "pure black metal."

Here's "Unholy Black Metal," from Under a Funeral Moon

With Under a Funeral Moon (even more than Blaze), the classic second wave black metal template began to solidify. The primitive, blasting drums; the raw, screeched vocals; the tremolo picking riffs....all of it was present in a way that felt new and fresh. It has even been called the "blackest black metal" album that Darkthrone has ever made.

Soon after its release, Darkthrone entered the studio to record its follow-up. At the time, however, things had changed in the Norwegian scene. In 1991 and 1992, things in the Norwegian black metal scene had been relatively organic and tightly knit. There were few actual black metal bands and the focus was on the music. But by 1993, the church burnings and murders associated with the Inner Circle had begun to distract people from the music. It also attracted media attention and resulted in the scene being flooded with black metal posers. This state of affairs greatly influenced Darkthrone's mindset as they recorded their next album.

"Slottet I Det Fjerne" is one of their most famous tracks from Transilvanian Hunger

Now a duo (Zephyrous left the band after a car accident), Darkthrone released album number four in early 1994. This album--Transilvanian Hunger--was another masterpiece that changed the face of black metal. Even more raw, with an aura of misanthropic darkness (which resulted from a dark, ultra lo-fi production), Hunger had blazingly fast songs that influenced a generation of black metallers. Within the span of three years, Darkthrone had revolutionized black metal.

One source of controversy was the band's messaging on the album itself. On the back cover of the album, the band labeled their music as "Norwegian Aryan Black Metal," and in the liner notes they noted that anyone who criticized their music was behaving in a "Jewish" fashion. Years later, Fenriz himself noted that this kind of language was unacceptable and even called it "disgusting."

Off of Panzerfaust, this is "Hans siste vinter"

While Darkthrone's first three black metal albums (Blaze, Funeral, Hunger) are sometimes called their 'unholy trinity' because of how influential and revolutionary they were, I like to lump in their 1995 release, Panzerfaust, as well. The structure laid down on Hunger and Funeral were present, to some degree, but the production values were notably different. The vocals had a more vile, trebly feel to them than in previous albums, giving the entire album an angry rawness that was less present on the earlier releases. All told, Panzerfaust is just as essential as Under a Funeral Moon or Transilvanian Hunger.

Select Discography:

A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)

Under a Funeral Moon (1993)

Transilvanian Hunger (1994)

Panzerfaust (1995)

Next time: MORBOSIDAD