Part VI – Hammerheart
The crown-jewel of this album is titled after the previous record, Hammerheart and uses epitaphial lyrics by Quorthon over the music of British composer Gustav Holst. It summarizes the affinity between Bathory and classical music by being a tribute on metal’s compositional heritage and romantic roots, but also going beyond that; it summarizes the beauty of self-sacrifice, a Viking funeral on the eschaton of human existence. Our analysis ends here.
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Part V – Nostos
In Nomine Satanas. One of the greatest black metal songs that have ever been or will ever be, a few parallel vocal movements of fifths is transformed into a hymn to love, sojourn and homecoming: Bond of Blood. This is a beautiful song. It celebrates two things:
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Many of you have enjoyed Eikona’s musically advanced take on Dungeon Synth and perhaps find yourselves wanting to know more about this enigmatic act. Thankfully, the musician behind Eikona made time available to answer a few questions.
5 CommentsTags: Alexios Kakoulidis, dungeon synth, eikona, interview
Part IV: The Spiritual Significance of Struggle and the Mountain
“The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction: in the labyrinth, in hardness against themselves and others, in experiments. Their joy is self-conquest: asceticism becomes in them nature, need, and instinct. Difficult tasks are a privilege to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. Knowledge-a form of asceticism. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest.”
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(review can be found here)
Is it delusional to believe in a revitalization of our much beloved music? Judging by the everflowing stream of nonsense bombarding our ears for the last 20 years or so, it is all too easy to answer the question affirmatively. What ultimately makes it worth hanging around just a little longer are the precious few and often unexpected discoveries that somehow manage to make it to your stereo. Like Zarathustrian Impressions by the debuting epic death/black metal ensemble Polemicist. With a combined assault of evocative melodies, erudite songwriting and conceptual rigeur, these Philadelphians have not only helped restore faith in underground music, but also cleared the path for further exploration in the crossection between black, death and heavy metal.
3 CommentsTags: friedrich nietzsche, interview, polemicist, zathrustrian impressions
Part III: Man and his place in the Cosmos
Perhaps the most anthropocentric song by Bathory. And this is a good thing, since this is not the humanism of egalitarianism and mediocrity, it is rather a vision of mankind’s destiny and potential that should find a good use to our technology and knowledge. This destiny shall propel us towards the stars!
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Part II: The Gods
Through Blood By Thunder was considered to become the title of the album. A song with an intro that picks elements hinted at by Twilight of the Gods, herein the godless period of darkness is succeeded by a dithyramb of religious fervor, the lyric ‘there is no thrones up in the sky’ is supplanted by ‘my father’s gods, I’ll die for you’ and blood becomes a crucial element in this loose epic poem, namely the ‘bond of blood’.
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With the exception of borderline subgenres such as grindcore and thrash, metal bands generally compose songs that exceed the standard pop-template in terms of longevity – a feat largely inherited from progressive rock, where compositions often reach for the conceptual and/or epic. Therefore, the full-length album comes off as an ideal format for metal. In the case of punk music, things tend to work differently. Punk – especially hardcore punk – thrives on raw energy, purity of expression and a to-the-point manner. This code of conduct produces some of the most intense music around, but also places certain restrictions on its modes of expression.
10 CommentsTags: amebix, anti-cimex, chaotic end, Hardcore Punk, hellbastard, skitslickers, Χαοτικό Τέλος
Article by Belisario
Among the latest newcomers of note to the realms of underground metal we find Vargrav, a Finnish one-man-band with a debut album released in 2018 and a sophomore effort published just a few months ago. Under the title Reign in Supreme Darkness, this latest album has stirred some attention not only on account of the material itself but also owing to its recent live debut as part of the notorious SteelFest festival which takes place in Hyvinkää, the very city Vargrav hails from.
12 CommentsTags: 2019, emperor, symphonic black metal
Bands that possess both unique style and substance, since these are usually related, face difficulty in maintaining consistency because over time the content builds on previous ideas, and therefore the style slowly mutates. The best bands do so while maintaining continuity to the past and toward the idea they seek to explore.
11 CommentsTags: ambient metal, death metal, desecresy
