Abigail

 

Heading back to the far east, let us talk about the Japanese black metal scene. In the tradition of great black/thrash like Sabbat, we have the ever-irreverent ABIGAIL. Taking their name from a King Diamond album and song, Tokyo's Abigail is primarily the brainchild of metal maniac Yasuyuki (who also goes by the name Barbatos).

Formed around 1991-92, Abigail originally played covers of bands like Venom, Mötorhead, and Slayer. Other than those bands, they cite as their influences older bands like Bathory, Sodom, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, NME, and Bulldozer. Even on their early demos (a 1992 untitled demo and 1993's Blasphemy Night), their raw black/thrash bore the mark of those influences. Heck, two of the tracks on Blasphemy Night are covers (Sodom and Bathory).

Here is 1993's Blasphemy Night

In 1993 Abigail entered the studio to record their first official release. The result was 1994's Descending From a Blackend Sky, on Heretic Supremacist Records. A 7-inch, this EP showcases that raw, in-your-face black/thrash of their early years. Stylistically, it's got thrash metal structure, but with lo-fi second-wave black metal intensity. Check it out, below: 

And here's where things began to get interesting. In 1996, Abigail churned out their first full-length album, Intercourse & Lust, on Modern Invasion records. This began Abigail's obsession with sex. To them, part of the appeal of black metal was its transgression of so many social norms: its Satanism, its evil, its non-conformity, its lustiness. In fact, Yasuyuki has said in multiple interviews that he sometimes uses porn as inspiration. One interviewer has gone so far as to call them "the sluttiest band in black metal".

"Confound Eternal" comes from that first album

Since that first album, Abigail has been very prolific. EPs, 7-inches, live albums....Abigail has released it all. One reason for so many smaller releases and live albums is that, even by Yasuyuki's own admission, the band says yes to pretty much every offer from record labels.

2003's Forever Street Metal Bitch gives us this track, "Black Metal Thunder"

To this day, they are known for their raw, vicious black/thrash (even though they call their own music "street metal"). Fast, intense, and unapologetic, fans of well-executed black/thrash owe it to themselves to check out Abigail.

"Satanik Metal Fucking Hell" is off of 2005's Ultimate Unholy Death

2016's The Final Damnation gives us "Open the Gates of Hell"

(Very) Select Discography:

Demo (1992)

Blasphemy Night (demo) (1993)

Descending from a Blackend Sky EP (1994)

Abigail (split EP with Funeral Winds) (1995)

Intercourse & Lust (full-length)  (1996)

Confound Eternal 7" (1996)

Welcome All Hell Fuckers EP (2001)

Sexual Metal Holocaust 12" (split with Barbatos) (2002)

Forever Street Metal Bitch (full-length)  (2003)

Fucking Louder Than Hell (full-length)  (2004)

Ultimate Unholy Death (full-length) (2005)

Next time: GORGOROTH

Inquisition

Forming in Cali, Colombia in 1988 as extreme thrash band Guillotina, INQUISITION has since come to be associated with the American scene. Spearheaded by the dark mastermind known as Dagon, Inquisition is known throughout the world as a truly cult black metal band.

Before changing their name to Inquisition in 1989, Guillotina's Sodom-influenced brand of thrash was already beginning to make waves in the South American underground. Within a year of forming, for example, they had opened for legendary fellow Colombians Reencarnación.

Title track from 1990's Anxious Death

In 1990, they put out the Anxious Death EP, which showcased their early thrash sound. The influence of the German scene can clearly be heard on this release. Inquisition would labor a few more years in the underground in this vein, putting out a 1993 demo, Forever Under.

The years 1994-1996 were a time of immense transition for Inquisition. This was the time where Dagon admits he began to grow weary of the thrash scene, and he answered the call of black metal. He has said in interviews that the sound of extreme metal was what appealed to him, and that he sought more and more extremity in terms of types of sounds. This lead him to eventually arrive at the conclusion that black metal was where his creative energy belonged. By 1996, Inquisition's new black metal sound could be heard on the Incense of Rest EP and on a split with Brazilian band Profane Creation. This was also the time when Inquisition chose to re-locate to the Pacific Northwest of the United States (the land of Dagon's birth). Dagon also met and recruited musician Incubus, who has been his co-collaborator in Inquisition as well as the drummer for that band ever since.

Newly invigorated with fresh blood, Inquisition took the world by storm with their first full-length studio album, 1998's Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult. This album--along with Inquisition's sound in general--is the very definition of cult. Relying on brutally heavy riffing that clearly draws on Dagon's thrash background, demonic growled vocals that call to mind Attila's best performances with Mayhem, and occultic/Satanic lyrical themes that feel more authentic than most almost any other black metal band out there, Inquisition stands alone in a genre that spawns clones and imitators galore. Inquisition has continued to consistently release brilliant, brutal black metal in the ensuing years. You know what to expect with an Inquisition album--and you get it every time!

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"Empire of Luciferian Race" is off of Inquisition's debut album

From their 2002 album Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan, this is "Enshrouded by the Cryptic Temples of the Cult"

"Master of the Cosmological Black Cauldron" is a more recent offering (from 2013's Obscure Verse for the Multiverse)

Despite being one of underground black metal's most consistent bands, recent years have brought problems to Inquisition. It came to light in 2018 that Dagon faced charges of possession of child pornography back in 2009. Although Dagon did plead down to lesser charges, Inquisition has faced enormous backlash since then. Record labels, fans, and concert promoters have turned their back on this band. Will there be redemption? Or is Inquisition's time in the sun over? Only time will tell.

Select Discography:

Anxious Death EP (1990)

Forever Under (demo) (1993)

Incense of Rest EP (1996)

Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult (full-length) (1998)

Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan (full-length) (2002)

Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer (full-length) (2004)

Nefarious Dismal Orations (full-length) (2007)

Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm (full-length) (2010)

Obscure Verses for the Multiverse (full-length) (2013)

Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith (full-length) (2016)

Next time: DEVISER

Bathym and other late 1980s American black metal bands...

The American black metal scene has always played second fiddle to the scenes of other countries (especially the Scandinavian nations). And while the truly legendary bands from the US were few and far between, there were still a lot of noteworthy bands toiling in the underground who had an impact on the direction of the genre. One such band was Pennsylvania's BATHYM. Formed in 1989 by members of underground band SATHANAS, Bathym had a black/death sound that not too many in the American underground were creating at the time.

Sathanas gave rise to Bathym. This is their 1988 demo Ripping Evil

After releasing rehearsal demos in 1989 and 1990, Bathym released the Into Darkness demo in 1990 and the Demonic Force single in 1991. For a few years there, Bathym was becoming known in the underground as purveyors of American black/death.  But due to some of the band members losing interest, Bathym called it a day in 1991. Main man Paul Tucker then devoted his energy to Sathanas again.

This is the title track off of the Demonic Force single

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California's NEKROHOLOCAUST originally started out as Necrophagia in 1984. Stylistically, Necrophagia was a fast, raw speed/thrash that--while extreme--wasn't exactly black metal in the strict sense of the word. They released a crucial demo--1987's It Began With a Twisted Dream.

The story as to the name change is a little murky, depending on who you ask. One version is that the band didn't actually change its name. They recorded material in 1988 and 1989 as Necrophagia, but it never saw the light of day until years later as part of a compilation (2005's In Memories of Fire). Allegedly, the record label (Mercenary Musik) demanded the name change. Another version is that the death metal band from Ohio (fronted by horror movie aficionado Killjoy) was rising in popularity, so the name change became necessary.  Either way, Nekroholocaust is how we now know this band.

Their sound was definitely more blackened and evil than the earlier Necrophagia material. Raw, vicious, loud, and fast, it even holds its own compared to later material. And it belongs in any discussion of American underground extreme metal of the 1980s.

Here is the In Memories of Fire compilation in its totality

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Hailing from Michigan, LUCIFER'S HAMMER were a fairly prolific black/death band that formed in 1986. They initialy started in a straight-forward thrash metal style before transitioning to an intense and raw black/death style. The only recording from their thrash metal days was a 1988 demo entitled Tales of the Midnight Hour, and it was destroyed in a house fire.

Lucifer's Hammer put out several key demos as a black/death quartet, beginning with the 1989 demo Descent Into Beyond. This was followed up by 1992's The Burning Church.

This is The Burning Church in its entirety

In 1995, they released the Hymns to the Moon demo. On this demo, they began to veer away from black metal, and offered up a more death metal-influence style. This demo was eventually followed by the 1997 full-length, The Mists of Time. With this album, they completed the transition to death metal.

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There were many other noteworthy (some for their sound, others for sheer historical curiosity) bands to emerge out of the US in the late 1980s, and I could devote an entire blog just to those. However, I chose to just highlight a couple of key bands above. That being said, a few other old-school black/death/thrash bands that helped shape American black metal include INFERNAL DEATH, OCCULT, SAVAGE DEATH, and EXORCIST.

Texas' Infernal Death formed in 1988 and was active for about a decade, with a handful of obscure demos under their belt. Their sound can best be described as an extremely fast black/thrash that owed a debt to Sodom and Venom.

"Satan's Metal" is off of their 1989 demo, Incantations at the Gates

Occult, from New York, only ever released one demo: a very raw and intense slice of noisy black metal. 1985's Bloodthirsty demo has been labeled noisecore by some, and there is some merit to that label. But underneath all of the chaos, there is a black metal template.

This is the entire Bloodthirsty demo

Also from the New York/New Jersey area, Savage Death was a band with stronger death metal credentials than black metal credentials. Formed in 1985, their sound was one that blurred the lines between genres (in a time when this was still standard practice). Resembling a lot of the black/thrash bands of the day, many members of Savage Death later went on to bands like Incantation, Morpheus Descends, and Ripping Corpse.

From 1985's Mass Genocide, this is "Evil Dead"

Exorcist is a bit of an odd band, but their sound was somewhat important in the underground. They were actually a "fake" band with members from other bands that simply recorded under the Exorcist moniker (members included musicians from power/heavy metal band Virgin Steele). However, their sound clearly belongs in any discussion of 1980s black metal. Occult-obsessed speed/thrash might be a better description than black metal, but for 1986 it merits mention in the same breath as, say, Necrodeath or Sabbat. 

Off of the 1986 full-length Nightmare Theatre, this is "Lucifer's Lament"

American black metal didn't really come into its own until the 1990s, and with the exception of NME, Goatlord, Von, and Profanatica, none of the bands mentioned thus far can really be considered truly essential black metal. But that doesn't mean the above-mentioned bands are entirely unimportant--they all made an impact on the scene in one way or another.

Next time: ALASTIS

Obscurity and the 1980s Swedish scene

Bathory is arguably the first or second-most important black metal band in the history of the genre (depending on your opinion of Venom), without a doubt.  But their home country (Sweden) has always played second fiddle to their neighbors to the west, Norway.  Yet, despite this, Sweden had a pretty thriving extreme metal scene in the 1980s.  In fact, I would say that until the Norwegian explosion in the years 1990-1993, the Swedish scene was much stronger.

Obscurity

A slew of important old-school black/death/thrash bands came out of Sweden in the mid- to late-1980s, led by such groups as OBSCURITY.  Hailing from the city of Mälmo, Obscurity played a style that crossed genre lines, mixing old-school death metal with black metal.  They released several important demos, including 1986's Ovations to Death and 1987's Damnation's Pride.

Title track from the 1987 demo Damnation's Pride

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Stockholm's MEFISTO played a more blackened speed metal style than did Obscurity.  Originally forming as Torment in 1984, they only released two crucial demos (1986's Megalomania and 1987's The Puzzle) before more or less folding.  Like many extreme metal bands of the era, it seems the world was just not ready for what they had to unleash upon the listening public.  I think their sound can be best described as an old Sodom meets Venom kind of style.

"Betrayed Truth" is off of the 1986 demo Megalomania

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Rarely has a band gained notoriety for what a band member did with another band, but Stockholm's MORBID is one such band.  Vocalist Dead (real name Per Yngve Olin) became famous for his contributions to Norwegian legends Mayhem, but he got his start with this underground Swedish black/death/thrash group.  Releasing very few demos (1987's December Moon and 1988's Last Supper being most prominent), Morbid nonetheless made a huge impact.  Their style is another example of the blurring of genres back in the 1980s, but they do seem to veer more toward the occultic, black metal side of metal.  While the guitarwork is especially raw, the vocals (no surprise) have that atmospheric aura to it associated with black metal.

"Disgusting Semla" is from the infamous demo December Moon

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Of all the old-school black/death bands from the 1980s Swedish scene, the one that actually achieved a degree of success was MERCILESS.  From the small town of Strängnäs, they managed to become famous for being the first band to release a studio album on Euronymous' Deathlike Silence label (1990's The Awakening).  That being said, they made a rather large impact with the demos they released prior to that album (1987's Behind the Back Door, 1989's Realm of the Dark).  While they broke up in 1994 after releasing three studio albums, they reunited a few years ago and have continued to put out albums.

"Bestial Death" is off of the 1987 demo Behind the Black Door

 

Official video for "Pure Hate", off of 1990's The Awakening album. The

sound is much more death metal than black metal on this album.

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Hailing from the city of Linköping, SATANIC SLAUGHTER (the band famous for giving the world members of Witchery and Seance) formed in 1987, but only put out one demo in 1988, One Night in Hell, before going on hiatus for over half a decade.  It is an incredibly hard to find demo.  In fact, I couldn't find any YouTube clips of the songs from that demo.  So here is a later, re-recorded version of one of their demo songs ("One Night in Hell") from their 2002 album, Banished to the Underworld.

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There are some other lesser-known death/black/thrash bands (such as Morbidity, Orchriste, and others) from the 1980s Swedish scene, but I'm just not sure if they're influential enough to merit inclusion.  That being said, it's important to note how influential some of these Swedish bands became in the underground before the Norwegian scene fully bloomed in the early 1990s.

Select Discography of 1980s Swedish Black Metal Scene:

(in alphabetical order by artist)

Mefisto, Megalomania (demo) (1986)

Mefisto, The Puzzle (demo) (1986)

Merciless, Behind the Black Door (demo) (1987)

Merciless, Realm of the Dark (demo) (1988)

Merciless, The Awakening (full-length album)  (1990)

Morbid, Rehearsal (demo) (1987)

Morbid, December Moon (demo) (1987)

Morbid, Last Supper (demo) (1988)

Morbidity, The Curse (demo) (1989)

Obscurity, Ovations to Death (demo) (1986)

Obscurity, Damnation's Pride (demo) (1987)

Orchriste, Necronomicon (demo) (1989)

Satanic Slaughter, One Night in Hell (demo) (1988)

Next time:  GOATLORD

Necrodeath

Genoa, Italy's NECRODEATH is an old-school black/thrash band that has proved highly influential.  Their initial releases in the 1980s (before breaking up and then re-forming in 1999) contain that extreme black/thrash sound that clearly draws on Venom, but is more reminiscent of Sabbat, early Sodom, and fellow countrymen Bulldozer.

They formed in 1984 under the moniker Ghostrider, and released a demo under that name before changing their name to Necrodeath the following year.  That same year, they put out their first demo as Necrodeath, entitled The Shining Pentagram.  It is a raw slab of primitive old-school black/thrash.

This is "Necro-Thrashing Death" off of their demo

In 1987, they put out what is now a classic, the album Into the Macabre.  It continues in the same vein as the demo, with strong black/thrash.  The production is obviously improved over the demo, but still maintains that raw edge that black metal needs.  Looking back on earlier posts, I'm seeing that 1987 was an amazing year for 1980s black metal: Bathory, Sarcofago, Mayhem, Poison, Holocausto, and now Necrodeath all put out important releases that year.

From that first album, here is "Necrosadist"

Their next album, 1989's Fragments of Insanity, cleaned up the production a little bit, thus giving it more of an extreme thrash feel to it than an old-school black metal sound.  That being said, it is still clearly in the black/thrash camp and holds up well next to modern bands like Aura Noir and Bewitched.  Not too long after the release of Insanity, Necrodeath broke up.

The title track from 1989's Fragments of Insanity

Luckily for metal fans everywhere, Necrodeath got back together in 1999.  They have been releasing albums ever since the re-formation, but the newer albums seem to lack some of that rawness of the early material.  It's still better than the majority of crap out there passing itself off as 'metal,' but it's got stronger and cleaner production, and black metal's edges are supposed to be dirty and unpolished.  To be honest, their style since reforming reminds me of a slightly more aggressive Sodom.

From the 1999 reunion album, Mater of All Evil

Select Discography:

as Ghostrider

The Exorcist (demo) (1984)

Mayhemic Destruction (demo) (1985)

as Necrodeath
The Shining Pentagram (demo) (1985)
Into the Macabre (full-length) (1987)
Fragments of Insanity (full-length) (1989)

Next time: MASTER'S HAMMER

Flames

FLAMES is to Greece what Kat was to Poland:  both extreme metal bands with a kind of old-school black/death/thrash style who paved the way for their current scenes (and both Greece and Poland have truly thriving black metal scenes).  Their style, like Kat's, is really strong thrash with black/death overtones.  Similarly, their lyrical content is obsessed with death, murder, and Satan.

This is "Made in Hell" off of the album of the same name

Flames formed in Athens in 1984, and released their first album in 1985--Made in Hell.  This is an album that has that great old-school thrash feel to it, with evil atmosphere slightly reminiscent of early Slayer and even Venom.  After Made in Hell, Flames put out Merciless Slaughter in 1986, an album which was more aggressive and had much better vocals.

"Beloved Dead" is from 1986's Merciless Slaughter

Flames seems to have gotten a little more aggressive, a little more evil-sounding with each release in those early years.  I honestly think 1988's Summon the Dead is more blackened sounding than the previously two albums.  Fans of modern black/thrash would probably enjoy it very much.

Title track from 1988's Summon the Dead

The primitive vocals of Flames is one of the things that really makes their songs so effectively evil-sounding.  On Summon the Dead (and 1989's follow-up, Last Prophecy) Flames makes such an effort to have really evil, vile-sounding vocals that it makes their efforts stand out.  They continued to release albums into the 1990s, and I think they're still together.

Select Discography:

Made in Hell (full-length) (1985)

Merciless Slaughter (full-length) (1986)

Summon the Dead (full-length) (1988)
Last Prophecy (full-length) (1989)

Next time: NECRODEATH

Satan's Host

A classic 1980s picture of Satan's Host

American band SATAN'S HOST took almost the opposite trajectory that Kat did.  Whereas Kat went from a more black metal sound to a thrash metal sound, Satan's Host started with a melodic thrash/power metal sound and eventually became a black/death metal band.  Their initial style was a combination of speed metal, traditional heavy metal, and thrash.  They were very overtly Satanic in their lyrical content, and much like Mercyful Fate, they made up in atmosphere what they lacked in black and death metal style.

The title track off of their first album

Satan's Host released Metal From Hell in 1986.  Notorious for its inconsistent production, this is by no means a straightforward black metal album.  The riffing bears some resemblance (but not much) to 1980s black metal, and the vocals are old-school clean singing.  But again, it's the atmosphere which gives this a vaguely black metal feel to it.  For comparison, here is more recent Satan's Host having re-recorded the song "Metal From Hell":

Much more modern, yes?

After 1986's Metal From Hell, Satan's Host recorded an album that was supposed to be released in 1987, entitled Midnight Wind.  This album was never officially released and is pretty much only available in bootleg form.  It even included a cover of The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun," interestingly enough.

"Witches Return", off of the unreleased Midnight Wind album

After the recording of Midnight Wind, the band broke up.  They reformed in 1999 with a much more aggressive, black/death style.  They are currently signed to Moribund Records and churn out some very good stuff.  Again, for comparison, here is a recent re-recorded version of "Witches Return":

I will definitely do an entry on Satan's Host since their 1999 reformation at a later date, because their newer music is really quite good.  But this entry was just to draw attention to their Satanic/occultic power/thrash metal from the mid-1980s.

Select Discography: 

Metal from Hell (full-length album) (1986)

Midnight Wind EP (recorded 1987)

Next time: POISON

Vulcano

The oldest extreme metal band in South America, or so the story goes....VULCANO formed in 1981.  They hail from Sao Paolo, Brazil.  They pre-date Sarcofago, Sepultura, Overdose and all the other old-school Brazilian metal bands from that era.  They have a sort of an extreme thrash/proto-black metal sound.  They released a single, "Om Pushne Namah," in 1983 (which is not as extreme as later material), and a demo in 1984--Devil On My Roof.

"Witches Sabbath" is off of their 1984 demo

In 1986, they released the full-length album Bloody Vengeance which continued the extreme old-school black/thrash style of their demo.  The lyrics contained the requisite amount of evil and Satanic-oriented content to fit into the old-school black metal mold.  After Vengeance, the 1987 album Anthropophagy seemed to be a change in the wrong direction for many fans.

"Death Metal"--from their first full-length album

Despite the complaints from some of the fans of Bloody Vengeance, 1987's Anthropophagy is still a pretty decent album.  It's definitely got an evil, old-school atmosphere to it, and it stands strong next to the extreme thrash of the day (think Sodom or Destruction or early Sepultura).

An example of their sound off of Anthropophagy

Vulcano is one of the few old-school black/thrash bands that has continued to release albums down to this day.  While their sound has been overshadowed by the full-fledged development of modern black metal, they still possess a rather potent sound for a band that is three decades old.

Select Discography:

Om Pushne Namah 7" (1983)

Devil on My Roof (demo) (1984)

Bloody Vengeance (full-length) (1986)
Anthropophagy (full-length) (1987)

Tomorrow:  MAYHEM - the early years

Bulldozer

 Italy's Bulldozer

The Italian black/thrash/speed metal band BULLDOZER had a very un-black metal name, but they definitely had an old-school black/thrash sound.  Their sound fit into the early and mid-1980s scene very well.  In the era of old Sodom, early Slayer, Sabbat, Voor, and other blackened thrash bands, Bulldozer stood out with their lyrical content.  Not only evil, Satanism, and darkness, but party-oriented lyrics were not uncommon (like "Whiskey Time").

From the 1985 album, Day of Wrath

Formed in 1980, these Milanese metallers put out the Fallen Angel demo in 1984 before releasing Day of Wrath on Roadrunner Records the following year.  This unleashed their sound upon a wider audience and they gained some international renown with this album and its immediate follow-ups, 1986's Final Separation and 1987's IX.

The epic "Death of Gods", from 1986's Final Separation

After 1988's Neurodelieri, Bulldozer went on hiatus (I think it was because of the death of founding member Dario Carria).  They weren't very active for much of the nineties, but recently put out an album, 2009's Unexpected Fate.  While I haven't heard it, it's gotten some pretty solid reviews.

The very atmospheric "Heaven's Jail," from the 1987 album IX

Select Discography: 

"Fallen Angel" (single) (1984)

Demo '84 (demo) (1984)

Day of Wrath (full-length album) (1985)

The Final Separation (full-length album) (1986)

IX (full-length album) (1987)

Neurodelieri (full-length album) (1988)

Alive...in Poland! (live album) (1990)

Next time:  VULCANO

Sabbat

We now venture from Europe and America to east Asia and the Land of the Rising Sun.  Japan is home to a few well-known black metal bands, earliest among them the black/thrash group SABBAT.  They formed in 1983 as Evil before changing their name to Sabbat in 1984.

"Black Fire" is originally off of their 1985 self-titled EP

Sabbat has been an extraordinarily prolific band since their inception.  In their early years, they didn't exactly release alot of full-length studio albums, but instead opted for a slew of EP's.  Their first EP was the self-titled one released in 1985, followed by 1987's Born By Evil Blood, 1988's Desecration, 1989's The Devil's Sperm is Cold, and 1990's The Seven Deadly Sins.  It wasn't until 1991 when they put out a full-length studio album (Envenom).

"Curdle the Blood," off of 1987's Born by Evil Blood

Their sound is a pretty consistent black thrash.   If you've heard old Sodom, or the old-school extreme thrash of the era, or even Necrodeath (more on them at another time), you get a general idea of their style.  But I think the best description might be the immediate successors to the throne more or less vacated by Venom after 1984's At War With Satan.  I think that you can hear the debt owed to bands like Sabbat in the sound of groups like Aura Noir, Bewitched, Witchmaster, and even that other famous Japanese black/thrash band, Abigail.

"Hellfire" is from the 1989 EP The Devil's Sperm is Cold

Sabbat is still around to this day, and not only are they extraordinarily prolific, but they perform a shitload of live shows (many of which go on to get released as live albums).  While they aren't as raw or primitive as many other black metal bands out there, they need credit for pretty much kick-starting the entire Japanese black metal scene.

Select Discography:

Sabbat 7" (1985)

Born by Evil Blood 7" (1987)

Desecration 7" (1988)
The Devil's Sperm is Cold 7" (1989)
Sabbatical Demon (demo) (1990)
Seven Deadly Sins 7" (1990)
Bloody Countess (demo) (1991)
Envenom (full-length)  (1991)
Evoke (full-length) (1992)
Disembody (full-length) (1993)
Fetishism (full-length) (1994)

Next: BULLDOZER

NME

NME, from Tacoma, Washington, formed in 1984, and unlike alot of other extreme bands of the era, their sound owed less to Venom than it did to the punk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Their sound, then, was a black/thrash with clear punk elements to it.  They released the demo Machine of War in 1985.

In its entirety, here is 1985's Machine of War demo

NME made waves with this demo, and the next year released the full-length studio album Unholy Death.  This is an album that has been cited by many in the black metal underground as being important and influential.  Unholy Death continues with the raw black/thrash sound found on the demo.

Off of the 1986 full-length Unholy Death, this is "Louder Than Hell"

After Unholy Death, one of the band members was arrested for murder and the band went on hiatus.  When they returned in the 1990s, their sound was pretty much thrash/crossover and the black metal elements were gone (or rather, with modern black metal in full swing, NME's sound didn't fit the mold).  I know one of the band members died in 2005, but I do not know the overall status of the band.

Select Discography: 

Machine of War (demo) (1985)

Unholy Death (full-length album) (1986)

Tomorrow: SABBAT

Possessed

Okay, before everyone gets all bent out of shape, yes, I know POSSESSED are considered the founders of death metal.  And yes, their early sound is more of death/thrash than anything really black metal.  But they still belong in the history of black metal because of their influence, and the fluid nature of the early 1980s extreme metal scene.

Possessed hailed from San Francisco, and formed in 1983.  In 1984, they released the now-legendary demo Death Metal.  This is the first acknowledged use of the word.  In this regard, Possessed are credited as the inventors of death metal.  Their sound is very much an old-school death/thrash sound.

After a bootleg rehearsal (the famous "Fallen Angel Rehearsal") in 1984--which was not released until 2003--and a second demo in 1985, Possessed released the seminal album Seven Churches.  This album has all the hallmarks of the day's death/thrash metal that can be heard in bands like Sepultura, Sodom, and Slayer. Like Mercyful Fate, Possessed's occult and Satanic-themed lyrics place them squarely in the black metal tradition.

From their first studio album, this is "Burning in Hell"

After 1985's Seven Churches, Possessed released 1986's Beyond the Gates and 1987's The Eyes of Horror.  These albums more or less continued in the same vein as their earlier stuff, but by this time, the genres of death and black metal had begun to more strongly differentiate themselves from each other.  Either way, Possessed is still hailed as an important band in the history of both death and black metal.

A stronger death/thrash sound is evident...

A Possessed interview--notice the comments on "thrash metal" v. "black metal"

Select Discography:

Death Metal (demo) (1984)

Fallen Angel (rehearsal) (1984)

Demo '85 (demo) (1985)
Seven Churches (full-length) (1985)
Beyond the Gates (full-length) (1986)
The Eyes of Horror EP (1987)

Tomorrow: CELTIC FROST

Sodom (and other extreme thrash bands)

An early pic of Sodom

Forming in 1981, SODOM was making waves in the metal underground around the time Venom invented black metal.  Despite now being known as a thrash band, this German band was initially an important part of early black metal.  With the raw production, the screeched vocals, the evil lyrical themes, Sodom's aesthetic definitely fit the description "black metal".  Their sound mellowed a bit over the years (but they're still more aggressive and raw than your average thrash band) into a more traditional thrash sound, but in the early years, the affinity with black metal can be heard.  With demos like 1982's Witching Metal and 1984's Victims of Death, as well as early albums like 1984's In the Sign of Evil and 1986's Obsessed by Cruelty, Sodom's back catalog definitely belongs on the must-listen list of any fan of old-school black metal.

"Witching Metal", from the 1982 demo of the same name

Select Discography
Witching Metal (demo) (1982)
Victims of Death (demo) (1984)
In the Sign of Evil EP (1984)
Obsessed by Cruelty (full-length) (1986)
Persecution Mania (full-length) (1987)

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American thrash legends SLAYER may not seem to fit most people's definition of black metal, but it is unmistakeable that their very early stuff (1983's Show No Mercy, 1984's Haunting the Chapel, 1985's Hell Awaits) had a more occultic, sinister vibe to it than the stuff from the mid- to late-1980s.  The themes were more obviously Satanic and evil, the production values very similar in sound to bands like Hellhammer and Bathory, and even the imagery utilized by the band itself seems to fit in with the whole black metal aesthetic.  Slayer has even been cited as an influence by various bands in the black metal scene today.

Off of their first album, this is "Black Magic"

Select Discography

Show No Mercy (full-length) (1983)
Haunting the Chapel EP (1984)
Live Undead (live album) (1985)
Hell Awaits (full-length) 1985)

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Like Sodom, the German band DESTRUCTION made an impact on the early 1980s extreme metal scene.  Their sound was less black metal than Sodom's, but all of the elements were still there.  You could call their 1984 EP Sentence of Death and their 1985 album Eternal Devastation old-school black thrash, but like Slayer their sound eventually became more of a mainstream thrash sound.

Destruction's legendary song, "Total Desaster"

Select Discography
Bestial Invasion of Hell (demo) (1984)
Sentence of Death EP (1984)
Infernal Overkill (full-length) (1985)
Eternal Devastation (full-length) (1986)

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The Brazilian legends SEPULTURA might be a bit of a stretch, but I contend that if you listen to the 1985 EP Bestial Devastation and the 1986 album Morbid Visions, there is a very strong old-school black/death feel to them.  At this early point in their career, Wagner "Antichrist" Lamounier was briefly their vocalist before he went on to form Sarcofago, so I'd say their black metal credentials are pretty solid.  Just go back and listen to these two early releases, and you'll see how it connects to old-school black metal.

From 1985's Bestial Devastation, this is "Antichrist"

Select Discography
Bestial Devastation EP (1985)
Morbid Visions (full-length) (1986)

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There are a slew of other extreme thrash bands that had a hand in influencing the development of black metal back in the days before thrash and black and death metal had all formed into distinct camps.  I would say that Quebec's VOOR, Iceland's FLAMES OF HELL, England's DELIVERANCE, and the Czech band TÖRR all had an extreme thrash sound that is part of the story of old school black metal.

Voor's "Evil Metal," from the 1985 demo of the same name

From Flames of Hell's only album, 1987's Fire and Steel

Deliverance's "Tongues of Lies," from 1989's Evil Friendship

Off of their 1987 demo, Witchhammer

One could probably make the case that other extreme thrash and speed metal bands influenced the development of black metal---like Post Mortem and Impaler---but for the sake of space, I won't go into them all.

Select Discography of additional extreme Thrash Bands:

Deliverance, Devil's Meat (full-length) (1987)
Deliverance, Evil Friendship (full-length) (1989)
Flames of Hell, Fire and Steel (full-length) (1987)
Törr, Demo 1984 (demo) (1984)
Törr, Witchhammer (demo) (1987)
Törr, Gang live (demo) (1989)
Törr, "Kult ohně" (single) (1989)
Voor, Evil Metal (demo) (1985)
Voor, Demo #2 (demo) (1985)



Tomorrow: POSSESSED