is black metal to rock ‘n’ roll what “cold rationalism” is to philosophy?
I’ll answer that when I get back from setting fire to the University of East Anglia 😉
Just what is the difference between black metal and death metal anyway?
isn’t it a Satanism/just generally nihilist, dark, depressive bloody and violent images schism?
to be very reductive.
e.g., classic-era Slayer (Reign in blood LP) are death (‘Angel of Death’ lyrics about Mengele wasn’t it?), Norwegian Church-burners black?
i think.
Black Metal is different philosophically (dont laugh) and musically from Death Metal. DM is characterised by: gutteral grunting, gutteral down-tuned fast-picked guitars, and (generally)an obsession with death, physical decay and torture, the evil-fantastic, and sometimes war/destruction. Currently the best deathmetal bands in the world IMHO are Poland’s crushing/clinical Decapitation, the rather more Gothic Nile (who are obsessed with olde-Egyptian mythology and..er..death) and Meshuggah who are so weird, experimental and plain mad they probably arent DM anymore (new EP called 1 out soon lasts 20 minutes, last album Nothing absolutely astonishing assault of eerily lovely psych-death-spasmatism).
BM sounds, at its best, like an aural evocation of a creeping wake-screaming nightmare, shivering in an icy forest surrounded by disembodied screaming (Mayhem, some Immortal, Abruptum, Transylvanian Hunger era Darkthrone). Or, a gloriously OTT pagan pageantry, struck through with bathetic nods to classicism – Emperor, esp. circa In The Nightshade Eclipse. Theres a divide now between the hard core BM-ers who think all BM should sound raw, icy, screamy, and recorded in a rusting bucket in Narvik (Gorgoroth, modern Darkthrone et al) and those of a more progressive nature who use – shock – keyboards a la Emperor such as Children of Bodom, and the appalling Cradle of Filth. There is also tech-Black Metal which incorporates terrifyingly cold and estranging industrial sounds – Anaal Nathrakh, the nauseating Aborym. Its almost too intense to listen too and probably crosses over into Wirey-noisewank, and indeed would if they didnt wear make up and bang on about how EVIL they were all the time.
Theres also pop-Black Metal such as Satryicon’s latest which rocks hard but isnt a whisper away from the mainstream.
Some believe Black Metal – whose roots go right back to Sabbath, via Venom and Bathory to Mayhem – began and really ended with Mayhem (MK1 – theres another, lame, version knocking about now) and Euronymus (who was killed by his mad Nazi bandmate).
Probably as a work of art Mayhem’s Mysteriis Dom Satanus is the peak of that kind of corpse-painted cold-fury (and depressing) mentalism but for me the divine-ludicrous monumentalism of prime Emperor is hard to beat for pure black metal grandeur.
Death Metal IMHO is a dying genre, endlessly repeating the same grammar perfected by its 1980s innovators and can not be listened to wihtout thinking of acne, tight white jeans, and posters covered in lurid depictions of guts and viscera.
Whereas BM is Sabbath’s alienating cold grind (ie Master of Reality, best bits of Vol4) taken to its nth degree and soaked in ill-informed starey-eyed misanthropy, amateur Satanism, coldly grinding guitars, ludicrous burbling/yelping vocals, toxic-levels of nihilism and sometimes astonishing moments of mentalist beauty (see Tongue of Fire by Emperor, Freezing Moon by Mayhem, Kaatharian Lifecode by Darkthrone, Cursed Again by Frost)
well, that’s a shame. I really like their name.
more amazing names: http://www.deathmetal.com/doband.html
Gorgasm! Dying Fetus! Ingurgitating Oblivion! Viral Load!
some of the atmospheres and textures in black black metal are amazing – incredibly cold and oddly classic sometimes / some of them are crossing over a bit – like the original lead singer of mayhem performing with sunno)))who take metals atmospheres and sonics as well as some of the clothes to the nth degree , just a slow cold miasma of bass and snarling.
there seems to also be quite a lot of experimentalism going on there from labels like hydrahead, southern lord and ipecac crossing things over into electronics and other genres.
hydrahead and ipecac are excellent labels, home to Isis, Old Man Gloom and Pelican: stunning post-metal bands. Oceanic by Isis is essential i reckon.
I forgot to mention a one-man BM band called Xasthur whose Nocturnal Poisoning debut is like having a graveyard injected into your head.
I agree MMS the textures and atmospherics are sometimes stunning. Apparently that ‘cold’ brrrrrrrggrrrrrrrrr guitar sound so beloved of BM bands is meant to replicate the sound of snowstorm/ice blizzard (that or a really crappy cheap guitar with trebles on 11 and a slashed up amp)
….actually on a pedantic note the *original* original lead singer of Mayhem was the aptly named Dead who…shot himself. Theres rumours at least one of the other band members ate part of his brain.
The second singer was Attila Csihar who is now doing stuff with Sunno)). He was brought in as a session ‘singer’. He also recorded an amazingly brutal EP with Anaal Nathrakh and is lead singer for Aborym.
baal,
got any uk websites etc where this stuff is avaliable ?
top ten or something tracks out of interest?
my own knowledge is pretty limited, although i like alot of what i heard .
Im not sure about websites…i tried to find some good ones but didn’t.
I get Terrorizer magazine which is like Wire but for metal…its the outer limits. Much of it is badly written but I’ve discovered a heap of really quality bands through it. It often comes with sampler CDs
Hm I’ll work on top ten tracks…..although my collection is by no means complete or authorative.
bwuhahahahaha haha haaa!!!!!! oh man…wipes a tear from his eye
There’s a big difference here between laughing at and laughing with, though, surely? 🙂
Or to put it another way – is black metal to rock ‘n’ roll what “cold rationalism” is to philosophy? 😉
is black metal to rock ‘n’ roll what “cold rationalism” is to philosophy?
I’ll answer that when I get back from setting fire to the University of East Anglia 😉
Just what is the difference between black metal and death metal anyway?
Glampires!
isn’t it a Satanism/just generally nihilist, dark, depressive bloody and violent images schism?
to be very reductive.
e.g., classic-era Slayer (Reign in blood LP) are death (‘Angel of Death’ lyrics about Mengele wasn’t it?), Norwegian Church-burners black?
i think.
Black Metal is different philosophically (dont laugh) and musically from Death Metal. DM is characterised by: gutteral grunting, gutteral down-tuned fast-picked guitars, and (generally)an obsession with death, physical decay and torture, the evil-fantastic, and sometimes war/destruction. Currently the best deathmetal bands in the world IMHO are Poland’s crushing/clinical Decapitation, the rather more Gothic Nile (who are obsessed with olde-Egyptian mythology and..er..death) and Meshuggah who are so weird, experimental and plain mad they probably arent DM anymore (new EP called 1 out soon lasts 20 minutes, last album Nothing absolutely astonishing assault of eerily lovely psych-death-spasmatism).
BM sounds, at its best, like an aural evocation of a creeping wake-screaming nightmare, shivering in an icy forest surrounded by disembodied screaming (Mayhem, some Immortal, Abruptum, Transylvanian Hunger era Darkthrone). Or, a gloriously OTT pagan pageantry, struck through with bathetic nods to classicism – Emperor, esp. circa In The Nightshade Eclipse. Theres a divide now between the hard core BM-ers who think all BM should sound raw, icy, screamy, and recorded in a rusting bucket in Narvik (Gorgoroth, modern Darkthrone et al) and those of a more progressive nature who use – shock – keyboards a la Emperor such as Children of Bodom, and the appalling Cradle of Filth. There is also tech-Black Metal which incorporates terrifyingly cold and estranging industrial sounds – Anaal Nathrakh, the nauseating Aborym. Its almost too intense to listen too and probably crosses over into Wirey-noisewank, and indeed would if they didnt wear make up and bang on about how EVIL they were all the time.
Theres also pop-Black Metal such as Satryicon’s latest which rocks hard but isnt a whisper away from the mainstream.
Some believe Black Metal – whose roots go right back to Sabbath, via Venom and Bathory to Mayhem – began and really ended with Mayhem (MK1 – theres another, lame, version knocking about now) and Euronymus (who was killed by his mad Nazi bandmate).
Probably as a work of art Mayhem’s Mysteriis Dom Satanus is the peak of that kind of corpse-painted cold-fury (and depressing) mentalism but for me the divine-ludicrous monumentalism of prime Emperor is hard to beat for pure black metal grandeur.
Death Metal IMHO is a dying genre, endlessly repeating the same grammar perfected by its 1980s innovators and can not be listened to wihtout thinking of acne, tight white jeans, and posters covered in lurid depictions of guts and viscera.
Whereas BM is Sabbath’s alienating cold grind (ie Master of Reality, best bits of Vol4) taken to its nth degree and soaked in ill-informed starey-eyed misanthropy, amateur Satanism, coldly grinding guitars, ludicrous burbling/yelping vocals, toxic-levels of nihilism and sometimes astonishing moments of mentalist beauty (see Tongue of Fire by Emperor, Freezing Moon by Mayhem, Kaatharian Lifecode by Darkthrone, Cursed Again by Frost)
Yeah!!!
has anyone heard (of) a band called Corpsevomit?
i haven’t heard of the band Oliver mentions but would like to humbly second the brilliant Baal and give a shout to Meshuggah.
they are GRATE.
well, that’s a shame. I really like their name.
more amazing names: http://www.deathmetal.com/doband.html
Gorgasm! Dying Fetus! Ingurgitating Oblivion! Viral Load!
I don’t think I mentioned Carnal Grief.
This is a whole new world for me! (excitement!)
some of the atmospheres and textures in black black metal are amazing – incredibly cold and oddly classic sometimes / some of them are crossing over a bit – like the original lead singer of mayhem performing with sunno)))who take metals atmospheres and sonics as well as some of the clothes to the nth degree , just a slow cold miasma of bass and snarling.
there seems to also be quite a lot of experimentalism going on there from labels like hydrahead, southern lord and ipecac crossing things over into electronics and other genres.
hydrahead and ipecac are excellent labels, home to Isis, Old Man Gloom and Pelican: stunning post-metal bands. Oceanic by Isis is essential i reckon.
I forgot to mention a one-man BM band called Xasthur whose Nocturnal Poisoning debut is like having a graveyard injected into your head.
I agree MMS the textures and atmospherics are sometimes stunning. Apparently that ‘cold’ brrrrrrrggrrrrrrrrr guitar sound so beloved of BM bands is meant to replicate the sound of snowstorm/ice blizzard (that or a really crappy cheap guitar with trebles on 11 and a slashed up amp)
….actually on a pedantic note the *original* original lead singer of Mayhem was the aptly named Dead who…shot himself. Theres rumours at least one of the other band members ate part of his brain.
The second singer was Attila Csihar who is now doing stuff with Sunno)). He was brought in as a session ‘singer’. He also recorded an amazingly brutal EP with Anaal Nathrakh and is lead singer for Aborym.
baal,
got any uk websites etc where this stuff is avaliable ?
top ten or something tracks out of interest?
my own knowledge is pretty limited, although i like alot of what i heard .
Im not sure about websites…i tried to find some good ones but didn’t.
I get Terrorizer magazine which is like Wire but for metal…its the outer limits. Much of it is badly written but I’ve discovered a heap of really quality bands through it. It often comes with sampler CDs
Hm I’ll work on top ten tracks…..although my collection is by no means complete or authorative.
yeah i get that sometimes, it’s another world for me that i occasionally visit.
how non commital
for they of the truest pagan culture:
http://www.download.com/byzantum
Spectacular.