Progarchives.com has always (since 2002) relied on banners ads to cover web hosting fees and all. Please consider supporting us by giving monthly PayPal donations and help keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Topic: Official Thread Black Metal Posted: September 19 2014 at 05:44
Here are some more interesting recent black metal groups I think deserve more exposure:
Dark Buddha Rising dwell somewhere in the grey zone between black metal, sludgy doom and progressive/psychedelic rock. It's an at-first daunting looking hodgepodge of influences, not helped by their often incredibly ambitious song lengths and lyrics drawing syncretically upon esoteric occult religions from all over the world with almost Helena Blavatsky-like eclecticism. I am as a result extremely grateful that their end results show all the talent required to make such diverse inspirations come together seamlessly. Just like Helena Blavatsky grasped at the primordial truth behind all the world's religions, so it seems like DBR have tapped into the same spirit of genius at work in all the different genres.
Named after a Roman emperor, Diocletian are from New Zealand and belong to the so-called "bestial war metal" movement: A very thrashy style of black metal defined by a militaristic and vaguely totalitarian aesthetic, often with a slight dystopian tinge in the manner of early Voivod. (many of its earliest practitioners are Canadian so I don't think that's complete coincidence) I frankly find that sub-sub-genre pretty hit-and-miss with a higher than usual percentage being rather kitschy, but Diocletian are somewhat more technically involved and generally ambitious in their songwriting. It helps that their visual aesthetic isn't quite as cartoonish as usual for the style.
Lugubrum are a very odd Flemish black metal group whose entire concept and aesthetic draws on Flemish cultural history... if in a less overtly nationalistic way than typical for the genre. For instance their lyrics, atmosphere and cover art all take quite a few cues from Renaissance-era Flemish literature and art as best known from Pieter Brueghel the Elder's paintings in their stylish yet deranged Hell-on-Earth vibe. What makes their music interesting to people here is that they're the only Captain Beefheart-influenced BM group I've ever heard, as a result of the Captain being of Dutch-Flemish extraction....
Sühnopfer, a French one-man project, won't win many awards for originality. They are however the band for those of us who righteously consider Sacramentum's Far Away from the Sun one of the finest achievements of black metal only to be disappointed by that Swedish group's subsequent output. You know what that means: Highly melodic black metal with a strong death metal influence, showing both a level of ambition in the songs' narrative structurse and breathtaking complexity in the instrumental interplay that's rarely attempted in the genre - let alone pulled off this well.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Joined: June 17 2014
Location: The Dreamlands
Status: Offline
Points: 49
Posted: September 14 2014 at 07:27
Toaster Mantis wrote:
For some genuinely progressive black metal, you might check out Darkspace. Lengthy, intricate compositions featuring creative production usually centered around a larger holistic narrative to the entire recording. Also while their music is as dark and disturbing in its outlook as to be expected from the genre, it is so in a more abstract conceptual manner and less sensationalistic.
Also by far the best black metal to listen to while reading newsletters from UFO investigation organizations.
Wow, beautiful stuff, I need to check out their albums Also, nice to know I'm not the only person in this forum who takes interest in the UFO subject
Edited by Archeus - September 14 2014 at 07:27
What about dogs? What about cats? What about chickens?
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: September 14 2014 at 06:59
For some genuinely progressive black metal, you might check out Darkspace. Lengthy, intricate compositions featuring creative production usually centered around a larger holistic narrative to the entire recording. Also while their music is as dark and disturbing in its outlook as to be expected from the genre, it is so in a more abstract conceptual manner and less sensationalistic.
Also by far the best black metal to listen to while reading newsletters from UFO investigation organizations.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: September 14 2014 at 06:07
As someone who likes black metal but doesn't really understand the appeal of most shoegaze as a result of finding it a rather uninteresting style when it comes to narrative structure of the songwriting, attempts to combine the two do nothing for me. Then again I also find most "depressive black metal" rather kitschy and not in a fun way.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Joined: June 17 2014
Location: The Dreamlands
Status: Offline
Points: 49
Posted: September 14 2014 at 05:54
I'm a sucker for atmospheric / depressive black metal, especially the more melodic "blackgaze" genre. I also enjoy the more raw and brutal stuff though. Oh, and Burzum should totally be on PA imho.
Edited by Archeus - September 14 2014 at 05:54
What about dogs? What about cats? What about chickens?
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
Posted: September 09 2014 at 03:07
I used to dig Venom back in the day (late 80's for me) - they even had an 18 minute, side-long epic, but when I found out that the lead vocalist/bassist had a blacked out room with a Pentagram to worship Satan, I thought he was a pretentious knob and turned to Magma for comfort
Joined: December 20 2010
Location: Tomorrowland
Status: Offline
Points: 10066
Posted: September 09 2014 at 01:55
Toaster Mantis wrote:
Guldbamsen wrote:
I have a hard time picturing Varg chilling to say Melrose or Tyger
I don't. Varg is a Bee Gees fan, believe it or not. Dude's a total weirdo even by Nazi Occultist standards.
The most intersting artists of any genre are usually much more open to all kinds of music than their fanbase. I love Bee Gees as well.
-Not that I'm much of a fan of his music but was in a bar recently where Fenriz (Darkthrone) was DJ'ing. It was great. He didn'play any metal, but lots of heavy prog (such sa High Tide's "Futilists Lament") and 60's Soul (I recall Shirley Ellis' soulbanger "The Name Game") some jazz stuff... really eclectic and fun.
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: September 07 2014 at 10:50
Guldbamsen wrote:
I have a hard time picturing Varg chilling to say Melrose or Tyger
I don't. Varg is a Bee Gees fan, believe it or not. Dude's a total weirdo even by Nazi Occultist standards.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Well the first couple of Tangerine Dream albums were definitely Krautrock: Electronic Meditation, Alpha Centauri and Atem. Zeit keeps the Krautrock aestethics intact although it is more of a pure electronic excursion into space and beyond. I have a hard time picturing Varg chilling to say Melrose or Tyger
Edited by Guldbamsen - September 07 2014 at 09:12
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: September 07 2014 at 07:35
That's because Varg Vikernes is a huge Krautrock fan.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Joined: May 08 2009
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 122
Posted: September 07 2014 at 07:29
Black metal, in regards to the early Norwegian
scene/ milieu in the early 1990s , shares a lot of 'intellectual'
similarities with the ethos of progressive rock music- despite the fact that
black metal might sound completely anathema to some progressive rock fans.
Firstly Varg Vikernes of Burzum stated that when he and a few bands started in
the early 1990s's - 'the music rebelled against the normal song structure'.
Also there was this emphasis on sequencing an album as if it was a 'musical
journey' for the listener- which is very similar to how progressive rock
artists did and do sequence their albums. For example one side of vinyl for a
progressive rock artist might contain one track/ or movement of music- while
the other side of the record might have a different concept. This is also
evident in Burzum's ethos Quote Varg Vikernes from wikipedia: Each album, he claims,
was designed as a kind of "spell" in itself, with each beginning song
intending to make the listener more susceptible to "magic", the
following songs to inspire a "trance-like state of mind", and the last
song to carry the listener into a "world of fantasy" (dreams, for the
listener would fall asleep—Burzum was supposed to have been evening music).
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: June 01 2014 at 04:19
Saperlipopette! wrote:
Toaster Mantis wrote:
Out of curiosity: Are you Zemial frontman Archon Vorskaath? He guested on a recent Absu album and shares that exact opinion on the Norwegian scene of the 1990s turning black metal from a loosely defined "movement" united more by artistic concept and ideological ethos into a codified style with a specific set of tropes for the worse.
Ha-ha no I'm not. It's probably not that unique an opinion to have.
I just suspected that because Vorskaath's very much into progressive rock and jazz fusion these days, which can be heard on the last album he cut out:
As you can hear, they're one of Absu's main inspirations too. But yeah a lot of longrunning black metal musicians have this "Robert Fripp syndrome" where they dislike most younger artists as missing the point. See also Cronos from Venom, the late Bathory mastermind Quorthon and Burzum's Varg Vikernes even before he went into his current "Grandpa Simpson if he constantly threw around Mussolini quotes" persona.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Joined: April 12 2008
Location: Denmark
Status: Offline
Points: 5898
Posted: May 31 2014 at 20:06
The ridiculously prolific (as in a new demo tape every month) black/noise musician Zarach "Baal" Tharagh is a top bloke... he likes my watercolour paintings! Also two of his albums, A Nightmare Testimony and Metal b*****ds are also actually quite good if you can get past the rawer-than-roadkill production.
He's also done not one but two black metal Hawkwind tribute albums which I haven't heard yet.
"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
This page was generated in 0.129 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.