Norwegian band TULUS is one of the hidden gems of the Norwegian scene. Many people might know them as the band that led to the formation of Khold, but they're an important band in their own right.
Formed in 1991 by Sarke and Blodstrup, Tulus are known for their unique sound. After an untitled demo in 1993, they put out the demos Samlerens kammer in '94 and Midvintermåne in '95. Even on these demos, Tulus's unique sound was evident.
Here is the complete 1994 demo, Samlerens kammer
Tulus's first full-length album, 1996's Pure Black Energy, was an album that contained mostly re-recorded versions of their demo tracks. But, as I said above, even on such early songs, Tulus's creative approach to black metal was apparent. They found ways to incorporate stringed instruments and female choir vocals in ways that set them apart even from symphonic black metal.
"Søstre av natten" is off of their first album
Another unique aspect of Tulus's black metal was that many of their songs didn't fit into the mold established by other Norwegian masters like Darkthrone or Mayhem. Instead they, by their own admission, borrowed from bands like Mötorhead. As a result, they had many guitar passages that were structured more like hard rock than traditional black metal. In this way, Tulus can be seen as the true forerunners of black'n'roll.
From their 1997 album, Mysterion, this is "Skuggeskip"
After the release of three now-classic albums in the 1990s, Sarke and Blodstrup felt like they wanted to create darker, harsher music--something that didn't fit with what Tulus was doing. They recruited a couple of new musicians, and Khold was born as, in their own words, "the reincarnation of Tulus." Tulus was put on hold while Khold was getting off the ground.
From Evil 1999, this is "Salme"
After some success as Khold, the core of the band (Sarke and Blodstrup--who had gone by 'Gard' during his time in Khold) decided they needed to express themselves musically in a more unlimited way, so they set about recording new material under the Tulus banner again. 2007's Biography Obscene was the result. And since that year, both bands have continued to churn out music. Khold is an important enough band that they will get their own post at a later date.
A classic picture of Satyricon, circa Nemesis Divina
With the Norwegian Second Wave of Black Metal under way, bands of all stripes were emerging left and right. The legendary SATYRICON emerged in the early years of the second wave, around the same time as Emperor. Initially forming in 1990 as death metal band Eczema, it wasn't long before they shifted gears entirely and became a black metal band.
It was in 1991 that they not only became a black metal band, but that they changed their name to Satyricon and acquired Satyr as band member. It wasn't long before the band put out a demo (1992's All Evil) with a full line-up: Satyr on vocals, Lemarchand on guitars, Wargod on bass, and Exhurtum on drums
This is the title track from their 1992 demo, AllEvil
While this demo was well-received, it was their second demo (1993's The Forest is My Throne) that really caught people's attention. Unlike the relatively simple black metal on the first demo, this 1993 demo sounded more like the traditional Norwegian black metal the world has come to know and love (hate?). The line-up was also notably different for this demo: Wargod quit the music scene entirely, Exhurtum was kicked out because he wasn't interested in the direction the black metal scene was taking (although he did later become a part of other important black metal bands in the Norwegian scene, like Aura Noir and Ved Buens Ende), and Frost was recruited as the new drummer.
"The Forest is My Throne" is from the 1993 demo of the same name
With this noteworthy demo under its belt, Satyricon was courted by record labels, eventually signing with No Fashion Records. They weren't financially very stable, so Norwegian label Tatra Records ended up buying the master tapes of what would become Satyricon's first album, Dark Medieval Times. A new sublabel was created under Tatra Records specifically to release extreme metal: Moonfog Productions, which was helmed by Satyr himself (and has released some amazing albums to this day!). The album was released at the end of 1993 in Norway, and in the rest of the world in 1994.
Here is "Dark Medieval Times"
Dark Medieval Times was a powerful mix of standard Norwegian-style black metal and folk elements (including folk instruments). This was a reflection of Satyr's interest in the middle ages and folk culture. Check out the title track to the album, above.
By this point, Satyricon was a two-piece: Frost and Satyr. They still recruited session players for recording purposes, including Emperor's Samoth and Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto (who went by the name Kveldulv).
The follow-up to Medieval Times was 1994's TheShadowthrone, another solid album of classic Norwegian black metal. But it was 1996's Nemesis Divina that really saw Satyricon elevate black metal to new heights. In addition to folk elements, Nemesis saw the band incorporating symphonic elements and more clean vocals. This--combined with the crisp, regal guitar sound they had borrowed from Thorns's Snorre Ruch--resulted in a truly epic black metal album that is an absolute classic of Norwegian black metal.
The opening track from Nemesis Divina--this is "Dawn of a New Age"
This powerful album was easily the peak of Satyricon's brilliance in this phase of their career. The next few years would see them transition to a different style of black metal. While EPs such as Megiddo (1997)and Intermezzo II (1999) saw them begin to incorporate non-black metal elements into their sound (including electronics and industrial), it was their approach to song-writing that shaped their sound. The music began to take on a more hard rock edge, moving away from the high-speed riffing and lo-fi production of second wave black metal, and adopting more traditonal rock'n'roll structures to their songs. Full-length albums such as 1999's Rebel Extravaganza and 2002's Volcano highlight this sound shift well.
This is the official music video for "Fuel for Hatred" (from Volcano)
With this change in style, Satyricon had helped pioneer a new approach to black metal. This particular sound--the blending of black metal sensibilities with hard rock song structures--has since come to be known as black'n'roll (a play on the title "death'n'roll," a subgenre associated with post-Wolverine Blues Entombed). Some other bands associated with this subgenre are Vreid, Khold, and post-millenial Darkthrone (more on Darkthrone's black'n'roll phase later).
Here is Satyricon performing perhaps their most famous song, "Mother North" (off of Nemesis Divina), with a full operatic chorus
