Many have noted the rise of the music in the intersection between martial industrial, synthwave, dark ambient and dungeon synth which has produced a number of offshoot genres. Coming to us from China, Psycho Survivors (失常幸存者) attempt to meld death metal and synthwave music into a new form that has the techniques of industrial with the compositional sensibilities of death metal.
Sandwiched between keyboard compositions which attempt to sound random while hiding a simple progression in notes that initially seem like tangential harmony, Silencioso Dolor Que Aniquila consists of moderately successful compositions using the language of Hellhammer but a sensibility more like a late speed metal band.
Moribund Records has released its tribute to Mark “Blaash” Michaelson, who died earlier this month. Included in their tribute is some information about how events transpired, namely that this was an accidental death in service of misanthropy, nihilism and world-hatred:
For those not in the “know” BLAASH was a Ritual Satanist, who utilized self-mutilation in his personal rituals. Unfortunately, BLAASH apparently cut a little too deep, severing a major artery, resulting in his death by exsanguination… leaving this turd world in True nihilistic fashion.
We continue to remember him fondly here at Death Metal Underground as a musician, writer and friend who was the subject of one of our favorite interviews which revealed the conflicting motivations of post-Nordic black metal.
Clockwise: David Herrera, Mark “Blaash” Michelson, “Jenoside”
Mark “Blaash” Michaelson, known for Where’s My Skin zine and playing drums in Bahimiron, has died. A lively spirit imbued with a fatalistic sense of self-destruction, Michaelson was nonetheless an affirming personality who enjoyed life to the fullest and never let anyone tell him what to do. Our condolences to his family, friends, bandmates and all who were touched by his life.
I met Mark back in the early 2000s when Bahimiron was just starting up and was immediately impressed by his grasp of the spirit of metal. While for him it took a suicidal black metal type of path, he nonetheless understood the more triumphant aspects of metal and affirmed them with vicious but elegant music. He was always a good person to query about the relevance of anything going on in the community.
According to The Daily Dot, 1970s heavy dark rock with metal influences band Dream Machine has been dropped by its label, Castle Face Records, for “controversial” statements regarding feminism and immigration.
We all know the score in entertainment: 90% of the people are full-tilt Left-leaning, and the remaining 10% have to hide their views until they are too big and too old to fear repercussions. A Swedish folk-rock duo named Lilou & John have launched a website, Belzebubbles, to feature Right-leaning bands who have been censored or ignored by the entertainment establishment.
The path of heavy metal is a solitary one. Most people do not like the idea of it, hate the sound of it, and look down on those who like it. It is not simplistic and mindlessly obsessive like rock, nor fancy and high-falutin’ like jazz. It seems deliberately antisocial, disruptive, violent and dark.
Underground occult metal blog Praefuscus Ferrum recently posted a piece entitled “Underground turned Funderground, and the Obscurantist Elite” proposing that what killed underground metal was widespress consumer access to new technologies such as the internet. These and the increased exposure to fans led artistically successful underground metal bands to pursue raw consumerism at the expense of writing transcendent music. D.A.R.G. points out that “the truest artists purposefully hide away from the profane eye” as the communication mediums the underground metal utilized (physical mail, tape trading, and BBSes) have been usurped by ones more accessible to laymen. He states the underground became the “funderground” in the blink of an eye as mainstream rock and pop fans who felt adventurous wanted rock and pop music with “black” and “death” “metal” production aesthetics, not actual death, black, or even heavy metal. Now the musicians actually writing novel underground metal compositions hide unbeknownst to the typical beer metaller in plain sight.