Avenger

 

In the Czech black metal scene, the names of A-list bands like Master's Hammer, Root, and Maniac Butcher ring out. But just below them are bands like AVENGER. Hailing from the South Bohemian Region, they formed in 1992 as Astaroth before changing their name in 1993.

Announcing themselves to the world with demos like 1994's Minister of Madness, they began life as an old-school death metal band. Their sound was unremarkable in this regard, but the best was yet to come. 

Here is Minister of Madness in its entirety

They struggled getting off the ground because of their early line-up instability, but after some label interest, were able to put out their debut full-length album, 1997's Shadows of the Damned. Their sound was still fundamentally an old-school death metal style, but with some black metal elements mixed in (I maintain that some of the riffing in some of the songs would sound more like black metal with slightly different drumming laid underneath).

"Kořeny zla" comes from Shadows of the Damned

Their follow-up album was 1999's Fall of Devotion, Wrath and Blasphemy. The band was initially not happy with the album's sound, so they re-recorded it in 2001 at Hellsound, a studio owned and operated by band co-founder and primary song writer Honza Kapák. Whichever version you listen to, the change in sound from their first album is apparent. It's still a (mostly) death metal foundation, but with some black metal riffs and drumming. Sound-wise, it's as if old-school Swedish death and black metal collaborated. 

From their second full-length album, this is "V Okovech"

As the years passed, Avenger's sound began to incorporate more and more black metal elements. They've become known in metal circles for their blackened death metal style, but they call themselves "Bohemian dark metal" (even going so far as to release an album with that title in 2012). After the release of a sixth album in 2017, they disbanded--only to reform as a new band, Bohemyst.

From 2003's Godless, here is "Execution of the Soul"

Bohemian Dark Metal gives us "Fales a apatie"

Select Discography:

Pandemonium (demo) (1993)

Eternal Voices of Hell (demo) (1993)

Minister of Madness (demo) (1994)

The Black Zone (demo) (1995)

Shadows of the Damned (full-length)  (1997)

Fall of Devotion, Wrath and Blasphemy (full-length)  (1999/2001)

Godless (...Assuming the Throne of Immortality...) (full-length) (2003)

Feast of Anger, Joy of Despair (full-length)  (2009)

Bohemian Dark Metal (full-length) (2012)

Next time: FRANCE'S LES LÉGIONS NOIRES - VLAD TEPES

Maniac Butcher

Of all the countries that get little to no respect in the world of black metal, Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic) might be at the top of the list. Despite boasting late first wave bands like Törr, Root, and Master's Hammer; classic second wave bands like Dark Storm, Avenger, Inferno, and MANIAC BUTCHER (hailing from Žatec); and recent innovators like Cult of Fire, Kult ofenzivy, nic (Black Strip), and Gorgonea Prima, people still don't give the Czechs the credit they deserve.

Maniac Butcher is perhaps one of the most overlooked and underrated Czech black metal bands.  The band formed around 1992 after gestating as an idea in founder Barbarud's head for several years. Citing old-school black, death, and thrash metal bands like Venom, Hellhammer, Slayer, Sodom, Mayhem, and Darkthrone as inspiration, founding members Barbarud and Vlad Blasphemer wanted a musical outlet for their individualist Satanist views. Maniac Butcher was that outlet.

The title track (in Czech, of course) from Immortal Death

It wasn't long after they came into existence that they unleashed the now-classic demo Immortal Death on the world. This demo  (and its follow-up, 1994's The Incapable Carrion) featured a rawer take on black metal than was the norm for the early nineties. The black metal of Maniac Butcher was fast, violent, and evil--just like black metal should be. It also featured harsher growls on vocals--almost reminiscent of Blasphemy.

Maniac Butcher kept soldiering forward with two great split albums before releasing a proper full-length debut. The second of these splits (Black Horns of Saaz, a split with fellow Czechs Dark Storm) is one of my favorites. But it is their debut full-length album, Barbarians, that is worth discussing

The title track from Barbarians---notice the cool sample at the beginning!

1995's Barbarians continued the raw-edged black metal of the early demos and splits. With a stripped-down organic production sound, relentlessly fast guitars, and shrieking vocals designed to send shivers down your spine, Maniac Butcher was flying the flag for true black metal at a time when other bands were experimenting and following trends.

One aspect that set Maniac Butcher apart was their unique lyrical content. Yes, they wanted to proclaim their allegiance to Satan, but they managed to do so while singing of their nation's pre-Christian past. Albums like 1996's Lučan-antikrist, for example, delved deep into the mythos of the Lucans themselves, who were the pagan ancestors of modern Czechs and fought against Christians (at least, according to Maniac Butcher).

"Midnight Empire" is one of their best known songs from Lučan-antikrist

Maniac Butcher continued releasing solid black metal with that raw, aggressive edge they were known for. A series of now-classic albums took the world by storm: 1997's Krvestřeb, 1998's Černá krev, 1999's Invaze, and 2000's Epitaph. Epitaph was, in fact, just that---an epitaph for the band. They decided to quit the black metal scene entirely out of disgust with the commercialization of the genre.

"Bloodlust..." is from 1998's Black Blood

This official video was on the CD of Epitaph.

The full title of the song (in a rough English translation) is:

"What's Good for Me, That Good is---It's the Unchanging Rule that Accompanies My Actions Through My Eternal Life"

But after a decade of silence (they did put out compilations and live albums---but no new material), Maniac Butcher re-formed and unleashed new material on the world. 2010's Masakr was Maniac Butcher at their most evil, their most vile. They showed that they hadn't lost a step in their absence. Maniac Butcher is still active, but founder Vlad Blasphemer died in 2015. So the future is uncertain for this great band.

The title track from Masakr

Select Discography:

Immortal Death (demo) (1993)

The Incapable Carrion (demo) (1994)

The Black Horns of Saaz 7" (split with Dark Storm) (1995)

Barbarians (full-length album) (1995)
Lučan-antikrist (full-length album) (1996)

Kvestreb (full-length album) (1997)

Black Blood  (full-length album) (1998)
Live in Open Hell (live album) (1999)

Invaze (full-length album) (1999)
Epitaph (full-length album) (2000)
Masakr (full-length album) (2010)

Next time: ILDJARN

Master's Hammer

 You have to admit, MASTER'S HAMMER is one of the coolest names in black metal!  Not sure if the 'master' in the band name is Satan, but I have always thought it was a very creative name.  Hailing from Czechia (Czechoslovakia when they formed in 1987), Master's Hammer played a pretty raw form of old-school black metal back in the 1980s.  They released a series of important demos, beginning with 1987's The Ritual Murder.

From their 1987 demo, The Ritual Murder

Despite forming in 1987, and becoming widely known in the black metal underground, Master's Hammer didn't manage to release a full-length studio album until 1991.  But by that time, they had released demos in 1988 (Finished), 1989 (The Mass), and 1990 (The Fall of Idol) before that first studio album.

The 1990 demo, The Fall of Idol, in its entirety

The 1991 album Ritual is one of the true gems of late first-wave black metal.  Many of the bands who emerged in the late 1980s began putting out full-length studio albums in the years 1990-1992, and Ritual is one of the classics.  Master's Hammer always had a sound that managed to combine the rawness of the old school with a truly epic and atmospheric feel.  With an aura of evil mysticism that few other first wave black metal bands achieved, Master's Hammer is one of the best bands to come out of the former Soviet bloc.

"Jama Pekel" is maybe Master's Hammer's most famous song...

It was with the 1992 album The Jilemnice Occultist that Master's Hammer really shocked the metal world.  It was a fairly radical change of pace from Ritual.  Still containing elements of the old-school black metal style, they managed to incorporate keyboards, odd melodies, and guitar riffs that verge on the progressive.  It was an album that alienated many black metal purists, but it showed an inventive, adventurous side of Master's Hammer.

An example of their sound from 1992's The Jilemnice Occultist

"Hlava Modernista"--off of 1995's Slagry--shows the band's further experimentation

After that 1992 album, they put out an album in 1995 (Slagry) before breaking up.  But they reunited after the new millenium and have put out new albums in the last few years, most of which are a continuation of the experimental sound of Slagry....

Select Discography:

The Ritual Murder (demo) (1987)

Finished (demo) (1988)

The Mass (demo) (1989)
The Fall of Idol (demo) (1990)
Ritual (full-length)  (1991)
Klavierstück 7" (1991)
Jilemnický okkultista (demo) (1992)
Jilemnický okkultista (full-length) (1992)
Šlágry (full-length) (1995)

Next time: OBSCURITY (and other first-wave Swedish bands)