The case of Rob Darken is a symptomatic one. He is undeniably the most important (and enduring!) metal musician from Poland and Eastern Europe in history. And yet, when black metal or folk is concerned, even on his own soil he is overlooked in favor of others, like Behemoth or Percival Schuttenbach respectively, solely on basis of some external attributes of their music. It seems that for some time now Darken is trying to gain at least a bit of the recognition he deserves: the exposure in Nergal’s biography, playing live with both Graveland and Lord Wind, and now the changes in the very formula of Lord Wind on The Forest Is My Kingdom.
15 CommentsMaster Master and 1985 Unreleased Album Re-issued As 2CD
Hammerheart Records opened pre-orders for the first Master album with several versions of the same songs, making this both a collector’s item and an impossible listen for the casual fan.
13 CommentsTags: abomination, death metal, deathstrike, funeral bitch, hammerheart records, master, speckmann project
Doug Cerrito and Hate Eternal – Conquering the Throne
Hate Eternal’s Conquering the Throne is a fairly mediocre album plagued by the symptoms that were spreading across the Death metal universe at the time. The need for even more brutality was visible on one side of the spectrum while the need to rival the more overground and Rock derived bands on their terms dominated the other side of the spectrum. Erik Rutan had finished his second stay with Morbid Angel who had just failed at accomplishing any of the objectives with the juvenile Gateways to Annihilation and would then form Hate Eternal who simplified everything Ripping Corpse had done into music that attempted to be memorable and punishing but ended up being predictable and flat. Though three songs stand out on this album, showing at times a level of composition far beyond anything that Rutan could ever dream of conceiving. These would become Doug Cerrito’s last contributions to Death metal.
18 CommentsTags: conquering the throne, doug cerrito, Erik Rutan, Hate Eternal, suffocation
SMR – Overestimated Failed Abortions from the Underground
Sometimes for no actual logical reason, terrible metal bands become adored despite not having a gimmick like satanic Abba songs or a mentally deranged topless DJ as a vocalist. These bands offer nothing of interest even on initial listens and should be actively mocked for their pretentious unsubstantiated claims.
7 CommentsTags: baest venenum, seigneur voland, to bathe from the throat of cowardice, vitriol
The Meaning of Desecresy
It is customary to begin a new year with the setting of goals towards accomplishment and growth in view of the experiences had during the previous period. The present writing aims at putting forth some works that may enrich the serious would-be Hessian in their struggle to embrace an ever more complete vision of reality. As Brett Stevens has pointed out, an interest in the occult is part and parcel of the Hessian outlook as he searches for logical patterns everywhere, not allowing himself to be circumscribed by any authority. Of necessity, this interest in the occult goes beyond Judeo-Christian conceptions, even if for historical reasons a poisoned landscape of Judaized misconceptions and moralistic admonitions has to be tread through or around. Mythos, its relevance to human psychology and possibility, must be embraced, and for it to be embraced, its import must be studied through pre-history and the whole of civilizations. While the scoffers will decry what they cannot allow themselves to rationally accept, they will remain in the grips of one or another mythos. Such is the curse of the atheist, the rationalist and those who belong to the democratic crowds. Allow mythos, vision, and hunger for life unite a distant past, the present and a distant future. The way is forward, paved by the billions of skulls of the meek who would inherit this planet, ascending to the heavens, beyond the stars and into far off galaxies.
10 CommentsTags: desecresy, Finnish Death Metal, friedrich nietzsche, the mortal horizon, towards nebulae
Transcendentalism And Transcending The Ego
Humans love big categories and broad statements that seem to reduce the complexity of life to a simple checklist or to-do list. Stick around awhile and you will come to distrust such things because they reflect human needs more than actual intellect, intuition, or reality.
28 CommentsTags: performance, sodomy, true ancient knowledge, zen
Gevurahel – Un Nuevo Amanecer Satánico (2019)
Coming back not with a reformulation or evolution of their sound but a deepening of their purpose, Gevurahel give us a new presentation of old and new compositions that fine tune their expression of satanic devotion. The musical style has been boiled down to essentials of unity and comprehensibility, letting the variation and exploration take place in a more controlled way. These designs are not random nor do they respond to a musical urge, but rather to an inner insistence upon necessity with respect to purpose. That is, the direct opposite of music for its own sake.
14 CommentsTags: Black Metal, gevurahel, occult, Satanism, Un nuevo amanecer satánico
Treblinka’s “Evilized” – Song Analysis
There was this short period of time, when death metal sounded really gloomy. This type of death metal was sometimes considered as black metal, which was judged back then not as much by used techniques, but rather by imagery, themes and atmosphere. When black metal proper was defined, for lack of a better name, the term dark metal, which over the years garnered various applications, was sometimes used to describe this style of death metal.
6 CommentsTags: Black Metal, death metal, evilized, song analysis, treblinka
Irillion – Fatanyu (Self-released, 2019)
Ostensibly positioning themselves somewhere between the exalted primitivism of Demoncy and the “flowing” school of Eastern European black metal, Irillion emerged as one of the more promising black metal-acts of recent years with 2016’s Egledhron. Not so much for their choice of style, but for displaying courage to move beyond established forms in intuitive pursuit of the most effective and far-reaching mode of expression. This recently released second EP entitled Fatanyu retains the sonic signature and raw, essentialist approach evident on the debut, but trumps the debut in terms of composition and stylistic refinement.
6 CommentsTags: Black Metal, fatanyu, irillion
Fester – Silence (Lethal, 1994)
Back in the day, this Norwegian band was derogatorily referred to as a “life metal”-band by scenesters. Especially their sophomore effort Silence suffered a reputation of being an exceptionally weak, pretentious and – above all – boring release. Although recent years have given rise to sporadic reevaluations of the band’s work, Fester remains largely neglected to this day (and some would say deservedly so).
11 CommentsTags: Black Metal, death metal, fester, norway, silence