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

According to the band themselves, 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

Argentum

An obscure band on the global scale, perhaps, but Mexico's ARGENTUM--from the city of Monterrey--is a major band in that country's black metal scene. I would even go so far to say that only Xibalba Itzaes is more important when it comes to a discussion of Mexican black metal.

Originally formed in 1989 as Burial, like many extreme bands of the late 80s, they played a more death metal-oriented style than black metal. As Burial, they managed to put out a couple of now very hard-to-find demos that showcased their old school sound. But, like many extreme metal bands of this era who were in their early years of existence, Burial experienced several lineup changes that also led to changes in their sound. This, in turn, led to them changing their name to Argentum in 1991.

1993's Matter Misericordiae is the first demo under the name Argentum

Argentum's initial sound still contained elements of death metal, but there was a very mystical, occultic atmosphere to their music. Combining doom metal with this old-school black/death, Argentum had a sound that not too many other bands had at the time (perhaps Mystifier is a fair point of reference?). Their first demo (Matter Misericordiae), above, is a solid example of this sound.

Misericordiae and a live demo later that year (1993) led to Argentum's name becoming more well-known in the underground. Still struggling with finding dedicated musicians, a new demo emerged after additional line-up changes as well as further evolutions in Argentum's sound. On 1994's Exothaernium, Argentum is moving away from the old-school black/death of the Burial years and toward a doom/death style with occultic black metal influences. I would say that the evil mysticism in their sound is reminiscent of some of the slower, more dirge-like elements of classic hellenic black metal.

"Ad postumum" is from Exothaernium 

After their 1994 demo and a noteworthy EP,  Argentum released their true masterpiece: 1996's Ad Interitum Funebrarum. On this album, Argentum's style reached its peak. A doomy, mystical affair that has been compared to Mystifier or even Tiamat, we've got long, gloomy passages with creative keyboard usage. With lots of Latin and eerie vocals, the overall effect is one that calls to mind dark Satanic rituals performed in abandoned temples.

From their 1996 album, this is "Spheram de Tenebras"

After that album, things in the band kind of ground to a halt. They went on hiatus in 1997 before breaking up in 2001. They have, however, re-formed in the past few years and are as prolific as ever.

Select Discography:

Burial  (demo) (1990) (as Burial)

Demo '91 (demo) (1991) (as Burial)

Matter Misericordiae (demo) (1993)

Live in Monterrey (live demo) (1993)

Exothaernium (demo) (1994)

Insious Omnium Rerum EP (1995)

Ad Interitum Funebrarum (full-length) (1996)

Next time: BLACK FUNERAL

Schizo, Death SS, and Italy's early black metal underground

In 1980s Italy, it wasn't just Necrodeath and Bulldozer making waves with raw black/thrash.  The Sicilian band SCHIZO was also becoming known for blackened thrash in the old-school vein.  Formed in 1984 in the city of Catania, their style leaned a little more toward heavy thrash than did those other two giants of Italian black/thrash.  But make no mistake, it was still an old school black/thrash.

Off of the 1986 demo Total Schizophrenia

With demos such as 1985's Thrash the Unthrashable - Thrash to Kill!, 1986's Total Schizophrenia, and 1987's Main Frame Collapse, Schizo's black/thrash sound spread far and wide in the metal underground.  Then in 1989, they released the cult album Main Frame Collapse (not the same as the demo, obviously).

From 1989's Main Frame Collapse

Schizo continued releasing albums into the 1990s, but (inexplicably) never really became as widely known as Necrodeath.  They are still around to this day, putting out albums.  Their most recent, 2010's Hallucinating Cramps, is more straightforward thrash (think later Sodom or Destruction) than black/thrash.

Select Discography

Thrash the Unthrashable - Thrash to Kill!!! (demo) (1985)

Rehearsal (demo) (1986)

Total Schizophrenia (demo) (1987)

Main Frame Collapse (demo) (1987)

Main Frame Collapse (full-length album)  (1989)

*************************************************

Pescara's REQUIEM started out as an occult-obsessed blackened/doom metal band before gradually becoming a progressive-sounding doom metal band.  They put out some very hard to find demos--1986's Nunc et Semper and 1987's Per Aspera--before releasing studio albums such as 1988's Ex Voto EP and 1990's Via Crucis.  By the time of those albums, the shift away from black metal was very noticeable.  The band broke up in 1995, with some members going on to form the doom metal band The Black.

This is off of the 1986 demo, Nunc et Semper

*****************************************************

The Hellhammer-influenced BLACK PROPHECIES formed in 1988.  Coming from the area near Genoa, their style was really raw and primitive.  Their first demo, 1988's Azathoth, was really vile-sounding with awful production--in other words, perfect visceral old-school black metal.  After that initial demo, they only put out two other demos before breaking up.

"Mass of the Undead" is from their first demo

*******************************************************

While Italy's scene in the 1980s had other noteworthy bands--like INFERNALIA, CENOTAPH, POSTRIBULUM, and FUNERAL ORATION--there have been a few old-school black metal bands that went on to international renown.  I will make separate entries for bands like Opera IX, Winged, and Sinoath at a later date.  But as a final note on this entry on the early Italian scene, I have to mention DEATH SS.  They're one of those bands that is definitely extreme metal, but don't really fall into one genre or another.

Death SS--from the city of Pesaro--formed in 1977.  They performed a brand of music that might properly be called occult-themed horror metal.  With their early releases (1981's Horned God of the Witches demo, 1982's "Zombie/Terror" and "Night of the Witch" singles, 1983's "Profanation" single, and the 1983 Evil Metal EP), one can hear the influence of all the heavy metal and hard rock pioneers of the seventies like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Kiss, and Alice Cooper.  Their methodical, almost doom-like music featured a raw guitar sound, and vocals that were primal yet not screeched.

The demo track "Terror" from 1981

The band members adopted stage names that were drawn from horror and the occult, such as The Death, The Vampire, The Mummy, The Zombie, and The Werewolf.  Their lyrical content was--not surprisingly--heavy on evil, Satanism, the occult, and horror movies.  Some of the members were actual Crowleyans (members of OTO), and this clearly influenced their song-writing.

"Chains of Death" is from their 1983 EP, Evil Metal

To my mind, the sound of Death SS changed somewhat with their first two proper studio albums.  On 1988's In Death of Steve Sylvester and (to a greater degree) on 1989's Black Mass, their sound became less steeped in the seventies styles of the above-mentioned bands, and began to resemble the extreme metal sounds of the 1980s, like speed and thrash metal.  In this regard, one could consider these two albums (especially Black Mass) important releases in the history of old-school black metal.  In the 1990s, Death SS shifted styles away from an old-school occult/black/speed metal to something with a heavy electronic/industrial feel to it.

From the outstanding album, 1989's Black Mass

Select Discography

The Horned God of the Witches (demo) (1981)

"Zombie/Terror" (single) (1982)

"Night of the Witch" (single) (1982)

"Profanation" (single) (1983)

Evil Metal EP (1983)

The Story of Death SS Vol. 2 (demo/compilation) (1987)

In Death of Steve Sylvester (full-length album)  (1988)

Black Mass  (full-length album)  (1989)

Next time: ROOT