Once again, we return to Greece to explore the incredible hellenic black metal scene. Ranking up there with excellent mid-tier Greek bands like Zemial and Deviser is AGATUS, hailing from Athens.
Where Zemial was the brainchild of Archon Vorskaath with Eskarth the Dark One as a supporting musician, Agatus was the reverse. Formed in 1991, Agatus burst onto the scene with a folk-inspired demo in 1993, A Night of the Dark Ages.
Here is the entire A Night of the Dark Ages demo
With carefully placed synths, this demo had a sound that wasn't entirely hellenic, yet still bore some resemblance to what other Greek bands were doing (some similarities to Deviser, perhaps?). Some of Varathron's mid-paced songs are sometimes cited as a point of reference.
Like any good demo, Dark Ages opened doors for the band. They were pursued by record labels and soon entered the studio in 1994 to record their first full-length album. The immediate result was a two song promo entitled Black Moon.
"Black Moon's Blood" comes from their 1996 debut album
1994 was also the year the two brothers relocated to Australia. This relocation was one of the factors that delayed the release of their first full-length studio album. Although it was recorded in 1994 (and gave birth to the above-mentioned promotional demo), it was 1996 that finally saw the album's release.
Dawn of Martyrdom continued the medieval-influenced black metal of the first demo. Like some other great Greek black metal albums of this era (think Wizard of Nerath or Unspeakable Cults), Dawn showcased creative use of synths and thrash-like riffing. It is an album that should be in the rotation of any true black metal fan.
Here is 1997's Rite of Metamorphosis
Almost immediately after the release of Dawn, the band recorded the 7-inch EP Rite of Metamorphosis. A strong continuation of the band's style from the full-length debut, this EP was released in limited number and is hard to find even to this day.
The band's second full-length album (2002's The Weaving Fates) featured a more nuanced sound: riffing derived from melodic death metal and clean vocals abounded. Yet, it was still more in the black metal vein, and clearly resembled Agatus's earlier work.
The Weaving Fates gives us "Era of Tiamat"
Since the release of Fates, the band has been less active. They "remained dormant" (Eskarth the Dark One's words) for several years until some unique touring opportunities arose. Following this, they became active again in the 2010s.
All in all, their early work is classic second-wave black metal that is crucial for the development of the hellenic sound. Any fan of Deviser, Zemial, or Nergal needs to know this band.
Returning to England--the land that gave the genre its name--we encounter THUS DEFILED. Hailing from Worthing, in West Sussex, Thus Defiled is one of the key British black metal bands of the second wave, but sometimes it seems only the hardcore black metal fans know of them.
Having formed in 1992 from the ashes of extreme metal band Unholy Deification, Thus Defiled had the stated goal of creating "bestial blackened metal." Their first salvo of vile blackened metal was unleashed in the form of a 1993 demo, Blasphemous Coven.
This is Blasphemous Coven in its entirety
In this first phase of the band's existence, their sound was more of a death metal with black metal influences (think Crucifier or Acheron). It was evil, angry, satanic--perfect for old-school black metal fans. This demo also caught the ears of record labels and metalheads the world over. Thus Defiled was soon in high demand, and even opened for extreme metal bands like Gorguts and Blasphemy! Their second demo--Enchanted by the Dark One--was yet more brutal old-school black/death. It was also released in 1993. Thus Defiled were off to a strong start.
Their sound continued to evolve, and after some compilation appearances in 1994, they put out their first full-length studio album in 1995 (Through the Impure Veil of Dawn). It was a more recognizable black metal sound. The guitar tone was still close to old-school death metal, as were the vocals, but the song structures were more in the vein of what we call black metal. Check out "Under Blackening Horizons," below:
With the release of 1997's Wings of the Nightstorm, Thus Defiled really had established themselves as one of British black metal's elite. On their second album, their style evolved to an even stronger black metal sound. They still had a guitar tone that drew on old-school death metal, but the riffing and song structures were aggressive black metal.
The late '90s and early 2000s were good times for Thus Defiled, but the band had their struggles as well. While their success led to touring opportunities with such bands as Cradle of Filth, Dissection, and Moonspell, they (like so many extreme metal bands) had trouble maintaining a stable roster. With the recruiting of second guitarist Paul F. in 1998, things stabilized a bit.
"Rapture of Twilight Burning" comes from their 1997 album
With a more stable line-up, the band continued to evolve their black metal sound. In the 2000s, Thus Defiled's output has been a consistent series of good, quality black metal. They have shown the world that the UK can compete when it comes to extreme metal.
From the A Darker Beauty EP, this is "Ebony Thorns Embrace"
Select Discography:
Blasphemous Coven (demo) (1993)
Enchanted by the Dark One (demo) (1993)
Through the Impure Veil of Dawn (full-length) (1995)
While Italy's black metal scene during the years of the first wave was filled with some classic bands like Necrodeath and Bulldozer, and early second wave bands like Opera IX are important, very few bands really blew up to a level of worldwide fame. ABORYM, originally from Apulia, might be an exception.
Formed in 1992 by Malfeitor Fabban, the band's name comes from an ancient grimoire. The band struggled in their first few years. According to Fabban, there weren't a lot of places to rehearse in the city where he lived. Once Fabban recruited other band members and found some rehearsal space, the band got to work. In these early years, the band was primarily an old-school black/thrash that performed covers of other extreme bands (they specifically mention Rotting Christ and Sepultura).
"Black Deicide" comes from one of their early demos
This incarnation of the band put out two demos in the early nineties. In 1993, they released a rehearsal (Live in Studio), with a proper demo (Worshipping Damned Souls) to follow the next year. Their sound was not particularly noteworthy for early second wave black metal. See "Black Deicide", above.
Fabban soon branched out into other musical projects, putting Aborym on hold. He also moved to Rome in the hopes of being able to recruit musicians more in line with his vision. When Fabban started the band up again in 1997, he had recruited new musicians (including future black metal superstar Set Teitan). The band quickly got to work and put out the demo Antichristian Nuclear Sabbath.
From their debut studio album, this is "Wehrmacht Kali Ma"
Shortly after their third demo, Aborym entered the studio and recorded their first proper full-length album. The result was 1999's Kali Yuga Bizarre. By this point in their evolution, the band had begun to incorporate synths into their black metal. On this first album, the result was a black metal that veered between the symphonic and the industrial. Fabban cited industrial and electronic music as an influence, which was now beginning to seep into Aborym's style. Take note of how synths are used in "Wehrmacht Kali Ma," above.
The follow-up album--2001's Fire Walk With Us--ventured even more into industrial territory. By this point, industrial black metal was a well-established genre (genre stalwarts like Mysticum will be explored at a later date) and experimental incorporation of synths was something Norwegian bands like Thorns and Arcturus had made palatable to the black metal-loving masses.
The next few albums after Fire continued in this vein: the harsh electronics of industrial mixed with the rhythms and structure of black metal. And despite this experimental approach to black metal, there was never any question about Aborym's bonafides. Their roster--at various points--included such luminaries as Attila (of Mayhem and Tormentor fame), Faust (of Emperor fame), and Occultus (of Perdition Hearse and Mayhem fame).
"Love the Death as the Life" is off of Fire Walk With Us
This aggressive track is the title track from 2003's With No Human Intervention
This is my favorite track from 2006's Generator
These days, Aborym's sound isn't exactly industrial black metal. Like other bands that have evolved (in addition to the previously mentioned ones, think Samael and Dødhemsgard), Aborym is more electronic extreme metal. That said, their peak in the early 2000s is must-listen for fans of industrial black metal.
The years following Dead's suicide in 1991 were tumultuous ones for MAYHEM. By this time, black metal was beginning to emerge from the underground and establish itself as a legitimate genre. However, Mayhem had some issues they needed to work through.
The first issue in these times was whether or not the band even still existed. Did Dead's suicide mean the end of Mayhem? Euronymous had begun exploiting Dead's suicide for publicity's sake, including crafting the narrative that it was the posers and trendwhores in the metal underground that drove him to take his own life. Between this and Euronymous's stated intention to use a photo of Dead's corpse as the cover to a future Mayhem release, Necrobutcher had had enough. He quit the band out of frustration.
Dead without corpsepaint
The second issue Mayhem faced was that Mayhem still had no full-length studio albums to their name. 1987's Deathcrush was technically an EP, and Live in Leipzig had not been released yet. Numerous bootlegs were circulating in the underground, and some of those eventually saw the light of day as officially sanctioned releases. What was to become of Mayhem, and would their music ever see the light of day in a proper release?
Euronymous took this time as an opportunity to champion the burgeoning Norwegian black metal scene. In a series of interviews in various zines, he (and to a lesser degree, Burzum's Varg Vikernes) laid down what he thought black metal should be and what it could be. He also decided to move forward with Mayhem.
Euronymous in corpsepaint
With no bassist and no vocalist, Mayhem first recruited Occultus (of Perdition Hearse) to fill both roles. While Occultus did contribute, he soon left the band because of personality clashes with Euronymous. Then, Varg was recruited to fill the role of bassist. Some recordings of rehearsals from this time period eventually saw the light of day as the From the Darkest Past bootleg.
This was also around the time that Snorre Ruch and Attila Csihar were recruited. Snorre came on board as a second guitarist and helped write lyrics for a few songs. Attila was recruited as vocalist. At this point, Mayhem's first full-length studio album was almost complete.
This rough mix of "Funeral Fog" comes from the Life Eternal EP
The resulting album was to be titled "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", and this was a title that had been up Mayhem's sleeve since before Dead's suicide. Unfortunately, Euronymous would never see the album's release. As is widely known, he was murdered by Varg Vikernes shortly after the completion of the album's recording.
The album was released in 1994. It was hailed as a milestone in black metal, and the album itself has (for better or worse) influenced scores of young musicians to try their hand at this diabolical genre of music. I think that this album is a true masterpiece, and it marvelously captures the essence of early second-wave black metal.
The title track of the album in question
Alas, with Euronymous dead and Snorre and Varg in jail for their criminal activity, Mayhem's roster was once again decimated. Was the band gone for good? Only time would tell.....
Select discography of this era:
From the Darkest Past (1992 bootleg rehearsal of DMDS)
As influential black metal took the world by storm, bands began to emerge in the unlikeliest of places. Additionally, world events helped the process along. When the Soviet Union and Eastern European communism collapsed, black metal sprang up soon thereafter. The Baltic states illustrate my point.
Within a few years of the collapse of the USSR, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia all developed thriving scenes. Of those three nations, Lithuania's scene proved the most fruitful. The band at the head of the pack is the old-school black/thrash band NEMESIS, from the city of Kaunas. Nemesis formed in 1991.
While they never produced any official releases (only rehearsals, with only one of them ever seeing the light of day as a demo), this band is where various metal musicians cut their teeth (much like Old Funeral and Thou Shalt Suffer in the Norwegian scene). As a result, when the band broke up in early 1993, the members went on to form such bands as POCCOLUS and NAHASH.
Poccolus started as a more traditional old-school black metal band, releasing a demo in 1993. This was followed by the Kingdom of Poccolus demo in '94. By this time, the world metal scene was turning their attention to Lithuania and recognizing that brilliant black metal could come from anywhere.
"Rudens Miško Šnabždesiai" is from Poccolus's self-titled
Poccolus's only full-length studio album was their self-titled album, released in 1996. By the time of the recording and release of their self-titled, pagan and folk influences had begun to show up in their black metal The music and rhythms of Lithuanian culture had shaped their black metal.
Poccolus didn't last much beyond their one full-length album. A live split album was released in 1997, but when Poccolus began to write and record songs for a planned second album, musical differences led to a break-up.
This is "Wellone Aeternitas II" from Nahash's album of the same name
Nahash--the other band to emerge from the ashes of Nemesis--was a band that began under the influence of black metal (like Bathory and Darkthrone). While they never morphed into pagan metal, they created a black metal style that helped put Lithuania on the map.
After an appearance on the legendary compilation Dark Fire Dancing with other Lithuanian bands in '94, they put out the demo Nocticula Hecate. On this demo, you can hear that the typical stylistic elements of Scandinavian black metal are present, but with a unique twist.
Nahash performing live
After that demo, Nahash released their magnum opus: the 1996 studio album Wellone Aeternitas. A more refined black metal than the demo, the influence of the Norwegians was present. At the same time, the band was not afraid to make it their own with a somewhat progressive approach to the music. Since that album, Nahash hasn't been very prolific.
Another band that peaked around the same time as Nahash was ANUBI. Formed in 1992 by Skro and Renofer, it was with Lord Ominous's recruitment in 1993 that things really began to take shape. Lord Ominous brought an artistic and philosophical temperament to the creative process. This shaped Anubi's music in new and different ways.
Here is Anubi's demo Mirties Metafora
Drawing on Egyptian mythology but with a focus on death and mortality, Anubi had an almost experimental edge to their black metal. Lord Ominous's artistic background and philosophical training were clearly evident in their nonconformist approach. Simply listen to 1995's Mirties Metafora, above.
Their full-length album--1997's Kai pilnaties akis užmerks mirtis--was even more out there. Odd time signatures, dissonant sounds, unique rhythms were all present on this overlooked masterpiece of an album. It may very well be the rarest gem of Lithuanian black metal.
"Mirtis" comes from that 1997 album
Anubi was an important chapter in Lithuanian black metal, and was poised to keep pushing the boundaries of the genre, but Lord Ominous unfortunately died in a boating accident in 2002. The band didn't last long after that.
One final band from the era of classic Lithuanian black metal is OBTEST. Forming in 1992, the band cites genres ranging from traditional heavy metal to thrash to folk to black metal as their influences. On their early demos, the sound owes a lot to the harsh iciness of Norwegian black metal. Listen below:
This is the title track from the demo "Oldness Coming"
After those early demos, Obtest's sound continued evolving. By their first full-length album (1997's Tūkstantmetis), the song structures were less true black metal and more on the pagan side of the genre. Over time they moved further and further away from black metal into a pagan metal sound that resembled traditional heavy metal.
"Vilkalokiai" is from Obtest's debut studio album
By the late 90s, black metal had taken root in Lithuania in a big way. The above-mentioned bands laid the foundation for what extreme metal is today in that part of the world.
Selected discography of classic Lithuanian black metal:
Nemesis:
Black Spirituality (rehearsal demo) (1992)
Poccolus:
Demo 93 (demo) (1993)
Kingdom of Poccolus (demo) (1994)
Dark Fire Dancing (split album with Nahash, Anubi, Akys, Wejdas) (1994)
Poccolus (full-length album) (1996)
Live at Black Friday (live split album with Ha Lela and Skyforger) (1997)
Nahash:
Dark Fire Dancing (split album with Poccolus, Anubi, Akys, Wejdas) (1994)
Nocticula Hecate (demo) (1994)
Wellone Aeternitas (full-length) (1996)
Anubi:
God's Pantheon (demo) (1993)
Mastabos dvelksmas (demo) (1994)
Dark Fire Dancing (split album with Poccolus, Nahash, Akys, Wejdas) (1994)
Mirties metafora (demo) (1995)
Sutemus skambės 7" (1996)
Kai pilnaties akis užmerks mirtis (full-length) (1997)
Mexico is not widely known internationally for producing influential black metal bands. The only band you could really make a case for is XIBALBA, from the capital city. Now going by the name Xibalba Itzaes, it was in the early and mid-1990s that this band helped put Mexico on the map when it came to extreme metal.
Brothers Jorge Ah Ektenel and Marco Ek Balam formed Xibalba some time in early 1992 after playing together in deathgrind band Dread. It wasn't long before they recruited their other brother Victor Ehxibchac on bass. While the brothers acknowledge metal influences ranging from Judas Priest and Black Sabbath to Venom and Metallica, Xibalba was about extreme metal that drew on ancient Mayan myths and legends--a far cry from the Satanism of typical death and black metal!
Here is In Lucescitae Tristis Hiei in its entirety
After only a few months of existence, Xibalba put out the demo In Lucescitae Tristis Hiei in June of '92. A mix of old school extreme metal and Mayan folk instruments, it was clear that they were trying to do something new. Given that they were named after the underworld of Mayan mythology, this should have come as no surprise.
This demo helped spread their name far and wide in the metal underground. Before long, they were performing shows all over Mexico. Some of these shows were sponsored by label Guttural Records. The band signed with them in order to record their first studio album proper. After struggling to get into the studio (they couldn't find a date that worked for them), they finally recorded their debut album.
"Sign of Eastern War" comes from Xibalba's debut
A true second wave black metal masterpiece, Ah Dzam Poop Ek hit the shelves in 1994. Diving even further into the ancient Mayan worldview with an even heavier folk sound, nothing like this album existed at the time. Where the viking metal bands of Scandinavia drew on pagan beliefs to challenge and upend Christianity's dominance, Xibalba's goal was the same with their focus on Mayan cosmology.
In the wake of this album, they didn't do a lot of touring. They found themselves performing in the same places in and around Mexico City, and they began to notice that the extreme metal scene was filling up with posers and wannabes. This led to the band going on hiatus in the late '90s.
From the Ah Tza EP, this is "Katun"
Shortly after the dawn of the new millenium, the band re-formed with the new name Xibalba Itzaes. This new name was to ensure that they didn't get mixed up with other bands who had the name "Xibalba" (I believe there was a hardcore band with that name who were rising in popularity). That said, they were still a Mayan-inspired, folk-influenced black metal band.
After Guttural Records put out a compilation of Xibalba's old material (2007's Ancients), the band signed with the label Nuclear War Now. Since then, they have remained active and continued to release quality black metal.
When it comes to quality French black metal, there is so much more than just Les Légions Noires. While underground bands like Ixion and Skullface predate LLM by several years, NEHËMAH, from Savoy, emerged around the time that the Légions were just getting their start.
With a name based on the Sumerian word for the demon Lilith, the band was founded in 1992 by Corven. While there were several other musicians in the band in these early years, the essence of the band really consisted of Corven and Eligor. From the outset, Nehëmah has drawn inspiration from Bathory and other old-school bands. And while there isn't much music from the early years of the band, a 1992 rehearsal did eventually see the light of day as part of a boxed set.
"Black Winds Over the Walls of Csejthe" comes from their 1995 demo
In 1995, Nehëmah put out a now-classic demo, Light of a Dead Star. This demo showcased the raw, stripped-down, minimalist stylings Nehëmah is now known for. The sound clearly bears the stamp of early Bathory as well as Dead-era Mayhem and old Burzum. It's the kind of demo black metal fans live for. Following this demo, Corven chose to put the band on hold so he could focus on other projects (mainly the viking metal band Himinbjorg).
This is the title track from the 2002 album Light of a Dead Star
Upon re-forming at the dawn of the new millenium, Eligor had departed and Corven had recruited new musicians to round out the band. Corven, Sorghal, and Dargon then became the core of the band. They continued putting out music in the raw, minimalist vein of their '90s demo material (many of the songs from this era were simply re-recorded songs from the early years). In addition to the aforementioned bands, the influence of Darkthrone's early work can also be heard. Simply listen to "Light of a Dead Star" (above).
With 2003's Shadows from the Past..., Nehëmah's vicious black metal was given a smoother production style, for a different effect. Still nasty and evil, the production was more Swedish than Norwegian. That said, there really was no one in the French scene that sounded like them.
"The Thousand Tongues of Medusa" comes from their 2003 album
2004's Requiem Tenebrae gives us "The Great Old Ones"
