Nobody has really bothered to scribble about this topic, even though it is a pretty well known and widely acknowledged phenomenon, so Happy Metal Guy takes it upon himself to re-inform the masses why we all know worshiping Satan is for losers! Please bear in mind though, that Satan itself is not to be blamed for the huge levels of loserdom that will be made fun of in a while. Instead, the honor goes to the everyday “Satanic” black metal nerd who thinks he or she is too tr00, kvlt, and kool for Nintendo. Social stigma and limited appeal aside, Satanism is a religion much like any other mainstream religions, such as Christianity; and like any other religion, Satanism could do with followers with actual faith in its philosophy rather than dyslexic geeks whom simply scroll all the way to the bottom of the software license agreement and click ‘Agree’.
After seeing their mind bending 11 in the morning slot at Bloodstock, another great live show with The Black Dahlia Murder and the release of Forever Abomination, an album which ended up on my Best Of 2011 list, I was pretty much sold on Skeletonwitch. Their take on blasphemous blackened thrash is nothing short of dizzying and over the past few months I’ve been slowly working my way through the back catalogue album by album, so this b-side from Forever Abomination is a welcome addition to my listening schedule.
‘Tragedy Of Days‘ is pretty high quality considering it was cut from the final track listing and contains all those hallmark riffs that define their ‘Venom on steroids’ template, I sure wouldn’t have minded it being included in the relatively short running time of Forever Abomination. Alongside this, the band also released a ‘live video’ for ‘The Infernal Resurrection‘ which must’ve slipped under my radar as that track is pure aural hatred and the video contains some standard but still great black and white festival footage to back it all up.
01. Téras
02. Pale Horse
03. III: Death Dimension Phantasma
04. The Monolith
05. An Extension Of His Arm And Will
06. Bring Out Your Dead
07. Come Perdition
08. Invoc(H)ate
09. The Dying Flame Of Existence
[03/26/12]
[Century Media Records]
Black metal is a curious beast. I didn’t even think to delve into this misunderstood genre of metal until I heard Mayhem’s debut record and the most recent release from Krallice, which I reviewed. It really is more of an acquired taste; something that the palate must be prepped for. When I first discovered metal, I was into Metallica and Iron Maiden, not Dimmu Borgir and Burzum. However, when your first taste black metal on a palate that is prepared for it, you will receive a healthy, hearty, and heavy treat.
01. Collapse In Eternal Worth
02. When Steel And Bone Meet
03. Parasitic Scriptures Of The Sacred Word
04. In Deathless Tradition
05. Judgement Of The Bleeding Crown
06. Embodiment Of This Bitter Chaos
07. Beyond The Spell Of Discontent\
08. Death To The Architects Of Heaven
09. An End To Nothing
10. My Name Is Frightful Among The Believers
[02/14/12]
[Metal Blade]
Goatwhore are just one of those bands that embody the spirit of heavy metal – the kind of band that goes hand in hand with drunken air guitar, bullet belts and invisible oranges. Having been pumping out blackened odes to the darker side of life since 1998 and constantly refining their sound to a sharpened point, Goatwhore’s efforts culminated in 2009′s Carving Out The Eyes Of God which garnered near-universal praise, not for reinventing the wheel, but for merely indulging in that base need all metalheads have for rocking the fuck out. Featuring members of Acid Bath, Crowbar, Nachtmystium and Soilent Green, they certainly have the pedigree and they’ve shown they can produce the goods before, but how does Blood For The Master stand up to the high expectations left by their previous outings?
01. Judgement Awaits You
02. Agony Of The Damned
03. Bitch
04. Red Winter
05. Nowhere To Run
06. I Am Disease
07. In The Depths (Of Your Mind)
08. The Liars Are Burning
09. Revelations
10. Sound The Charge
[07/19/11]
[Relapse]
If you haven’t already, head over here and read Stefan’s incredibly insightful piece on the shifting use of bright colours in the cover artwork of metal bands. When I first saw the artwork for Conjure And Command it instantly reminded me of that article and more specifically how it bucks the trend. Whilst Toxic Holocaust‘s previous record An Overdose Of Death… was a masterclass in garish radioactive shades of green and purple, Conjure And Command swings in completely the opposite direction and goes instead for a vintage monochrome cover which wouldn’t be out of place emblazoned on Fenriz’s Band Of The Week Blog. It’s an interesting switch but more important is how much the visual change represents the shift in the music.
The discovery of a new band is always exciting. Will it be something you’ve heard countless times? An experience that leaves a bad taste in your mouth? Or is it a treat from which you cannot stop consuming? I wanted to take a trip back in time to reminisce about bands/albums that not only introduced me to heavy music, but kept me coming back for more…
From The Archive: Bathory – Bathory
Since it’s formation in 1983, which includes a discography of 12 full-length albums, Bathory is a very well-known and respected band in the metal community. And rightfully so, as this band is one of the pioneers of the first wave of black metal, as well as viking metal music. Bathory was the creation of founding member, Tomas Forsberg, who went by such nicknames as Black Spade and Ace Shoot, but to fans, he is more known for his final moniker, Quorthon. Though never releasing an official demo, the first two Bathory tracks that were recorded, were featured on the Scandinavian Metal Attack compilation back in 1984 and later that same year, Quorthon released his first self-titled full-length album, Bathory.
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Hits From the Inbox column. I think I’ll bring it back for use more often! This rendition of Hits From The Inbox features a two-fer of new bands for you to sink your teeth into: New York sludge/noise rock band Komondor and UK metalcore act What The Night Brings.
First up, Komondor!
Taking a big influence from sludge, noise rock, post-punk, and stoner metal, Komondor‘s bassist/vocalist Lazlo describes their music as “sounding like Eyehategod covering Boston, but playing the songs backwards. Or maybe Daydream Nation with all the good parts taken out played (again) backwards but slower with a man yelling on top of it. Better yet, maybe we sound like Venom playing Captain Beefheart… well we hope to be sounding like that soon.” I think you’re right close there, Lazlo. This music is filthy, in the best way. I think I might need a tetanus shot.
Listen to their whole album The Giant Is Coming & The Giant Is Going To Kill You below, and click through to make a purchase if you’re feeling generous and awesome.
Next, What The Night Brings.
What The Night Brings fits right at home with the type of music that most often gets posted on HBIH. It’s very slightly progressive influenced metalcore, complete with some djenty sounding sections and gang vocals, sounding somewhere between Born of Osiris and Norma Jean, almost. WTNB have one EP out now called Tides, which you can listen to via PureVolume. You’ll have to click through for that one since PureVolume doesn’t give embeds, apparently. Check them out!
That’s it for this time! Check out the contact page (link above) to send us your music. We may or may not get back to you, as we’re pretty busy most of the time, but who knows. You might end up in this column!
Naglfar
Goatwhore
Toxic Holocaust
