Abruptum

ABRUPTUM is one weird band.  In their prime (early to mid-1990s), they were a mixture of black metal, dark ambient, and doom-death.  They were a Swedish band that pre-dates the black metal explosion of the 1990s, but doesn't have a typical Swedish black metal sound by any means.  They were formed in Stockholm in 1989 by the mysterious gentlemen known as ALL, IT, and EXT.  Their initial sound bears the influence of doom and death metal as well as old-school black metal.

From the 1990 demo The Satanist Tunes

With the release of demos like 1990's Abruptum and The Satanist Tunes, Abruptum unleashed their unholy sound upon the world.  The demonic growls over top of the slow dirge-like metal were unlike most of what was going on in the black metal world.  It really did resemble a more experimental doom/death at times.  With the 1991 7-inch Evil, Abruptum's sound began to morph into something blacker.  The vocals varied between the low-end rumbling growls and the a more tortured screech, and the guitar playing--while still a slower pace--began to resemble black metal.  Also, through the use of distortion and sound effects, the music as a whole took on a more experimental feel.

The weirdness that is Abruptum, from the Evil 7"

By this time, they had kicked out band members Ext and All, and replaced them with EVIL (aka Morgan from Marduk).  The resulting shift in sound was apparent on the 1993 full-length Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me.  This album contained the sound for which Abruptum is famous:  slow, doom-y, noisy, blackened dark ambient.  The weird sound effects and distortion that were present on the Evil 7-inch were even more prominent now.

Just fucking weird....

Abruptum released several more albums in this style, such as 1994's In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumph Tenebrarum.  For the most part, they continued in this style for years before eventually shifting to an almost entirely dark ambient sound, with no hint of black metal.  By the turn of the millenium, Evil was continuing Abruptum as a solo project.  He has put out albums mostly on Marduk's solo label (Blooddawn Productions), including the recently released Potestates Apocalypsis (2011).

Select Discography:

Abruptum (demo) (1990)
The Satanist Tunes  (demo) (1990)
Evil 7" (1991)
Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me (1993)
In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumph Tenebrarum (1994)
Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes (1996)

Next time:  THORNS

Exmortes

 

EXMORTES is kind of an odd selection, this is true.  This Dutch one-man band (Jan List being the one man in question) is somewhat notorious in the underground for being raw to the point of being bad.  But one man's treasure is another man's trash.  Exmortes put out two demos, 1988's Hear the Saw...Coming Near and 1989's Fuckin' Nightmare.  Most of the songs that appeared on those demos later appeared on Exmortes' few EPs.

From the EP--not the demo--Fuckin' Nightmare

One listen to Exmortes' material and you can hear why some people think their rawness is so terrible.  The drums overpower the mix to the point where the guitar is hardly audible.  Some have gone so far as to label this style "raw black noise," and if you listen to more recent black noise bands (Stalaggh, TOMB, Gnaw Their Tongues, etc.) you can hear resemblances.

From 1990's "Lord of Temptation"single

After those two demos (which I have not heard), Exmortes put out the Fuckin' Nightmare EP in 1989.  This had four of the six songs from the demo of the same name.  In the following year, Exmortes put out a single, "Lord of Temptation" which contained the title track and "Forced to Be Silent".

Someone managed to upload the entire 1991 EP, Hear the Saw...Coming Near

In 1991, the EP Hear the Saw...Coming Near was released.  Followed by only one more release (the Total Hate split with Apator, also released in 1991), Exmortes was on the scene only briefly.  I think that any fan of raw black noise can hear the influence Exmortes left on the scene.  The rawness of these early releases has seldom been equalled, in my opinion.

Select Discography:

Hear the Saw...Coming Near (demo) (1988)

Fucking Nightmare (demo) (1989)

Fuckin' Nightmare 7" (1989)

"Lord of Temptation" (single) (1990)

Hear the Saw...Coming Near EP (1991)

Total Hate 7" (split with Apator) (1991)

Next time:  SADISTIK EXEKUTION