Black metal and politics have become (and, perhaps, have always been) inseparable. If you scroll through any social media comment section regarding black metal for more than ten seconds, it would be practically impossible to have avoided some line of argument regarding whether or not Drudkh is racist, Taake is…
Welcome once more to Kvlt Kolvmn. It’s that time again. The year has shed its final layer, curling itself into a corner and awaiting its imminent demise. Though, thankfully, not without plenty of bite left. It’s been a doozy of a year for all things metallic, with black metal being…
Last week, I had the extreme privilege of receiving Hoth’s new record, Astral Necromancy. It is a wondrous album that takes up a unique niche in metal: blackened melodic death metal. It’s a unique blend of death metal stylings and black metal themes all set within an established space opera…
Black metal has a history of problematic behavior. From the onset of the Second Wave, the subgenre has come under attack for its outward manifestations of physical violence, arson, and abject anti-normative behavior. Needless to say, in the few decades that this type of music has existed, things have changed.…
This week Eden’s gone so I got Simon instead. We talk extensively about his editorial regarding the Taake incident, trangressions and more. We talk about how black metal’s problematic web of influences is way too wide, and how frustrating that is. Then we cleanse our palates with some new music by Alkaloid, Rivers of Nihil (my review here) and Augury. Finally, we talk about the new Between the Buried and Me album (Jimmy’s review here). Then we do cool people time. Simon talks about the new game from FTL creators, Into the Breach (I bought it right after and have been playing it for hours instead of editing this podcast) and I talk about Derren Brown’s new Netflix special The Push, where he tries to manipulate a person into committing murder. Enjoy!
It’s important to have this context of metal as inherently transgressive so that we can talk about the current issue with “True Norwegian” black metal band Taake. Metal is no stranger as a genre to controversies involving Nazism and white supremacy, but as our society moves towards a place where people feel more comfortable voicing their objections to bigotry and hateful ideologies, the reactions are starting to become a little different. With the resurfacing of a performance in 2007 where Taake used a swastika in order to shock and provoke concertgoers and the rest of the world, outcry from many has essentially forced the cancellation of their upcoming United States tour with King Dude. Anti-fascist groups around the country (contrary to what seems to be a fairly common misconception, antifa groups are not a unified organization and there is no singular “Antifa”), have, naturally, taken issue with the use of fascist imagery and threatened to protest or shut down shows if the venue doesn’t cancel them first.
For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.netthrough your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.
March 5th, 2016, it seemed to be very cold and bleak inside Brooklyn’s own Saint Vitus Bar for the majority of the day. Opening the show was Vattnet Viskar, who have just been touring nonstop since the release of their second album, Settler. This isn’t the first time they seemed…
Quite frankly, an abundance of commentary is not necessary for Stridens Hus, the sixth full-length from Norwegian black metal veterans Taake. This one-man project (maintained by Hoest) presents its M.O. very clearly from the opening tremolos of ‘Gamle Norig’ – derive tactics from a familiar blueprint but produce quality material…
I’m dying to go to Maryland Deathfest again. My experience in 2012 was unforgettable. There was much moshing to bands I never thought I’d get to see (Negura Bunget and Ulcerate, to name a few) and spent a ridiculous amount of money on merch and music. I even sang karaoke…
