Black Metal History Month Reviews

Album Review: DARKTHRONE The Underground Resistance

Darkthrone-The-Underground-Resistance

Not that I would want to subject myself to the hair-splitting involved, but if I had to give you an example of "true metal", it would be Darkthrone's The Underground Resistance. Raw, unpretentious, and dark as the coldest Norwegian Fjord, The Underground Resistance combines all the elements that gave heavy metal its original glory. Yet at the same time, the many elements of Darkthrone are present here as well. From the fist-pumping grimness of their recent Crust-Punk phase, to the legendary and genre-defining glory of their Black Metal years, and perhaps even a few very faint echoes of their early Death Metal beginnings. Taken as a whole piece of heavy metal artwork, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto paint a picture that shows the pair making only the music they want to make and have a hell of a great time doing it. (more…)

Darkthrone – Too Old Too Cold

Darkthrone – Too Old Too Cold Play this video

The cult is alive.

Upcoming Releases

New DARKTHRONE Is Coming In 2013!

Darkthrone The Underground Resistance

We've missed you, Fenriz.

Darkthrone have announced that they will be releasing their new album The Underground Resistance via Peaceville Records on February 26th. (more…)

A/V

Watch The Black Metal Documentary Until The Light Takes Us

untilthelighttakesus

Yay for Youtube. Some kind soul took the 2008 black metal documentary, Until The Light Takes Us, which we've previously reviewed here, and uploaded the full thing for your viewing pleasure. Learn about black metal legends like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Emperor and others important to the scene.

Before you feel too guilty watching this, the official site of the documentary also has the whole thing up, but cut into a bunch of pieces, so if you don't feel like clicking too much, and love black metal, this is the video for you. Take a peek: (more…)

Sick Art

The 39 Best Worst Metal Tattoos In History

king-d-tattoo

There is no doubt that band tattoos are the ultimate sign of appreciation and loyalty for your favorite artists, it's like a band T-shirt you can't get off. I also have no doubt that metal heads are some of the most passionate group of music enthusiasts out there, so it came as no surprise that I could find thousands of band tats out there ranging from a tiny mark to a full sleeve. The only problem with this awesome combination is tattoo artists in the world are much like the bands themselves, some are good, some are simply amazing, and others… well here is a list of some of the others guys. (more…)

Black Metal History Month Lists

Top 10 Most Lethal Weapons In Black Metal

Black Metal Weapon Dressing Guide

As some of us intelligent people might know, there have got to be a few reasons why black metal weapons look so primitive and are being used as part of many a band's fashionable poses in black metal photo shoots. To cut a long and analytical lecture short, these reasons can be basically broken down into three parts: (1) Culture & Politics (2) Artistic Expression and possibly (3) The Mojo Factor. Without weapons, black metal would be un-black black metal (reminding one of bands like Abigail Williams, Wolves In The Throne Room etc.), because it just wouldn't be the same! It's like taking a dump in the toilet without bringing in the newspaper. (more…)

A/V

DJ Fenriz On The Ones and Twos

DJ Ferniz Darkthrone

Darkthrone main man Fenriz has an affinity for making mixtapes for Vice, and I have an affinity for listening to it. This mixtape was made by Fenriz to celebrate his 40th birthday (which actually happened three months ago). You might be wondering: "is it any good?" to which you deserve to be slapped in the face. Would Ferniz listen to bad music? NO! He would not. Head over to Vice to grab his slow black-death mix Only Headphones Is Real.

Upcoming Releases

Early DARKTHRONE Demos To Be Released As New Album

sempiternalpast

Early demos of Darkthrone material has been remastered and fully restored from the tapes that the tracks appeared on originally. Those 17 songs, two of which are audio from 1989 Olso TV appearances, will be released as Sempiternal Past. While this isn't new material, it is, at least, awesome black metal. Which is a change a pace, since the band changed musical styles yet again in 2006. Here is the tracklisting: (more…)

Bummer Alert

SLAVIA Vocalist Loses Battle With Cancer, Dead at 31

jonas_christiansen

Sad news coming out of Norway, as Slavia vocalist Jonas Christiansen was found dead in his apartment this past Thursday. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this year, and was currently being treated at a top notch hospital in Norway. Christiansen died a day before a benefit concert was to be held for him to help raise funds to treat his cancer. (more…)

Black Metal History Month Reviews

Essential Black Metal Listening: DARKTHRONE – A Blaze in the Northern Sky

blaze

by James Zalucky

Faded am I, behind a wall of consciousness
Still feeling a different world
Surrounding me
Chilling voices fill my head-
I open my eyes

-Darkthrone, from Paragon Belial

Through the years of Heavy Metal's existence, there have been a few records which, through their innovative sound and striking character, have defined the nature of particular movement. In the dark, cold world of Black Metal, one could easily point to the early Bathory records, along with those of Mayhem and other members of the Norwegian "inner-circle". However, one record stands out in my judgment for shaping Black Metal's crude, haunting, and atmospheric sound: A Blaze in the Northern Sky. While most fans would agree on Darkthrone's essential contributions to the genre, some may quibble with me over my choice of this record, "How could you not pick [insert other early Darkthrone release here], its so much more KVLT!!!". After all, Blaze was one of the first Black Metal records I ever owned (I bought it when I was 17), so I understand how this may make me biased in its favor. However, after years of being a fan, I still maintain that A Blaze in the Northern Sky is Darkthrone's most essential release, at least from their Black Metal-era. (more…)

Best of 2010

Atanamar's Top 10 Albums of 2010


As the year is comes to a close, we will be taking you through the Best of 2010. Over the next couple of days, expect top 10 album lists from most of our writers, as well as the top stories & videos of the year. Don't forget, you can still submit your Top 10 album list to be included in the overall Top Albums As Decided by the Metal Injection Junkies list.

By Atanamar Sunyata

10. Deathspell Omega – Paracletus

Although I find Deathspell Omega's music to be fascinating and cerebral, the question for me has always been how much I actually enjoy it. Paracletus affirmatively answers that question for my ears, combining absurd riffs, astral arpeggiations and corkscrew rhythms to create an aesthetically entertaining experience. This is an album to sit and marvel at while your mind tries to untangle its intricacies. Deathspell Omega have risen above their own obfuscation to craft an album of memorable songs.

(more…)

Reviews

Movie review: Until the Light Takes Us

By Ben Apatoff

YouTube Preview Image

Until the Light Takes Us, a new documentary chronicling black metal-related crimes in Norway in the early '90s, tells a fascinating story. It's a story that deserves to be told better, and it has been, most notably in authors Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind's must-read Lords of Chaos. Unlike The Story of Anvil or Some Kind of Monster, Until the Light Takes Us won't appeal to anyone who isn't already invested in the music, and even fans might find it chore to get through. (more…)

Revelations of Doom

High on the Stench of Burning Death: COFFINWORM

Hey kids! Grim Kim has returned to darken your shores once again (i.e. I probably would've gotten kicked out if I'd stayed in the UK any longer – who knew the Border Patrol could be such sticklers about a silly little thing like visas?).  To celebrate my inglorious return, I've brought you all a treat: THE BEST BAND (from Indiana) EVER!

As always, Revelations of Doom strives to bring you the best of the worst and shed light on the darkest, nastiest, most subterranean corners of the extreme metal underground. If you like your riffs ugly, your church defiled, and your tempos crawling, welcome home. Tune in, drop out, doom on.

Do you believe in love at first sight? No? Three cheers for pragmatism, then. Personally, I never put much stock in the 'instant adoration' idea either. That is, until I met Coffinworm… (more…)

Revelations of Doom

Bloody Roots and Blackened Veins: BASTARD SAPLING

It's that time again. Revelations of Doom, Grim Kim's ongoing homage to the raw, the mean, and the devilishly dirty corners of the extreme metal underground, is back to drop some grim-ass knowledge on you fools. This edition sees us delving deep into the heart of winter. No, this ain’t no Immortal cover band: this is Bastard Sapling, Richmond, VA’s deadliest export.

Bastard Sapling

Bastard Sapling was created by ex-Cannabis Corpse guitarist Drew, and was borne of the pathos and frustration that comes from quitting a band and living in squalor. Though they only formed in early 2007, the band quickly took shape, as founder Drew enlisted scene veteran Elway on drums and Mike (Inter Arma) on vocals, with Pete (Battlemaster) holding down the low end, and Shredder Steve (also of Inter Arma) on…well, guess. The band recorded a 'raw rehearsal demo' that was released in limited copies during the Heart Of Winter Festival '08 in Richmond, VA, a copy of which found its way into my greedy little paws when these guys played alongside my boys in Black Anvil, Tombs, and Woe at ABC No Rio last year. Their live performance blew me away – Bastard Sapling are, in all seriousness, one of the best black metal bands I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen far more than my fair share of those. Once I got home and had a chance to pop their charmingly crude CD-R demo on, my long-suffering laptop speakers were powerless to contain the absolute suffocating blackness these five scruffy dudes have managed to conjure up. Reminiscent of Immortal at their best, Destroyer 666 at their most biting, and Ulver at their blackest, those four demo tracks are nothing short of epic, and are also startlingly melodic. Subtle influences ranging from Drudkh to Darkthrone slyly make their presence known beneath a flurry of blastbeats and Mike’s bloodcurdling rasps, leaving an indelible impression of cold, feral misanthropy stamped all over your sorry soul. (more…)

Revelations of Doom

Southern Discomfort: BAHIMIRON

Welcome once again to Revelations of Doom, Grim Kim's guide to all things ugly, obscure, and awesome in the good ol' extreme metal underground. This time around, the spotlight comes to rest upon a genre quite near and dear to my heart – nasty, blasphemous, and raw-as-fuck black metal. Welcome to hell.

If the existence of our current Commander in Chief isn’t enough proof that the Lonestar State is a veritable breeding ground for pure evil, take an ear to some of its more sinister musical exports and you’ll find proof enough. After all, the likes of AVERSE SEFIRA, BROWN JENKINS, RIGOR MORTIS, and the mighty ABSU all hail from this conservative stronghold. For those of you that like your black metal as raw and diseased as the bloody meat that WATAIN tends to chuck at their crowds, allow me to introduce you to BAHIMIRON, Christraping progenitors of the next great Texas chainsaw (gutsfucking) massacre.

BAHIMIRON have been spreading their own particular brand of aural terrorism throughout the underground for years, releasing a string of cult demos and coming together with like-minded hellraisers SARGEIST on a 2006 split release. Their sound is brutal, ugly, and mean; positively nasty basslines (lain down by Jenoside, who also injects a rare shot of estrogen into this very male-dominated genre), appropriately rough-edged riffs straight outta circa-1994-Norway, a vocalist who sounds like he’s gargling a cathedral’s worth of broken stained glass, and a drummer who perpetually sounds as if he’s seconds away from losing all control and descending into outright chaos all lend a hand in making up the sonic maelstrom that is BAHIMIRON. This shit is fucking bestial.

The fine folks at Moribund just released Southern Nihilizm, Bahimiron’s first album of all-original material, this past August. Fans of BEHERIT, HORNA, BEHEXEN, and DARKTHRONE take note – if you haven’t already been worshipping at BAHIMIRON's blackened altar, it’s well past time for you to start.

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