Varg Vikernes discussed the lyrical inspiration behind “Beholding the Daughters of the Firmanent” off Filosofem in a recent Youtube video. Was Burzum inspired by ancient biblical cosmology or something else? Let’s find out!
30 CommentsTags: burzum, Filosofem, j.r.r. tolkien, metal history, tolkien, varg vikernes, youtube
Swedish death/black metal band Sarcasm‘s first LP, Within the Sphere of Ethereal Minds, is coming out in March as announced on their Facebook page. The band’s Burial Dimensions demo compilation was extremely promising but featured too many in-congruent keyboard interludes and too much fat that needed trimming.
4 CommentsTags: Black Metal, dark descent, dark descent records, death metal, sarcasm, Sweden, upcoming release
In an interview from the already late days of black metal, Varg Vikernes assessed his musical intent as a pursuit of fantasy:
15 CommentsI see Burzum as a dream without holds in reality. It is to stimulate the fantasy of mortals, to make them dream.
Tags: burzum, fantasy, michel houellebecq, the enlightenment, varg vikernes
Article by Lance Viggiano.
After Slayer‘s foray into narrative composition on Hell Awaits, Slayer could have taken any number of directions in the then fertile metal landscape: gone in for the throat of aggression, matured their pubescent approach to long-form content, or paired down on riff quality for focused but circular songs. Reign in Blood was something of a compromise bred to appease more Floridian tastes which crave motion before coherence or purpose. The album is brief but bookended by two of the better songs in their discography which daftly elevate the questionable content residing in between. The remaining material siphons off of the paired down and quintessential “Angel of Death” by meandering in whatever assortment of good but disconnected riffs the Hanneman/King dichotomy happened upon in between Heinekens; held together in tacit alliances by a sweltering pace which exhausts itself right as the title track closes the record. The foresight required to write an album such as this is commendable but Reign in Blood is not Slayer’s watershed moment if for nothing more than the sheer amount of disposable songs – not riffs – which constitute the majority of the runtime. This uncomfortable fact goes unrecognized due to the sheer brevity of this work. Yet as I wrote this brief paragraph I must have recited the full album in my head at least a few times and I have not listened to the album is many years. May the resolve of Reign in Blood’s memetic warfare continue to withstand assailants from the ever flowing genre compost bin and grant listeners to the strength to withstand the torrents of nature herself.
46 CommentsTags: 1986, anniversary, proto-underground, Reign in Blood, slayer, Speed Metal
A three CD Summoning tribute album of covers is coming out this December from Wolfspell Records.
7 CommentsTags: Black Metal, compact disc, covers, Summoning, tribute album, upcoming release, Wolfspell Records
Metalheads love going to the post office. This is established fact; we are either sending off dubs or trades, or going there to receive a package full of music. Like most anti-social types, we do not trust centralized authorities like iTunes or major labels, so mostly our music comes in physical form. We like it that way.
27 CommentsTags: Black Metal, eremita produzioni, infamous, Kshatriya, solitudo, solitvdo, vsque ad sidera vsque ad inferos, warnungstraum
Florida death metal band Eulogy has re-issued its discography as a limited edition CD and vinyl album on Dark Symphonies Records. The recording features the 1993 EP The Essence, which is both heavily bootlegged and even more insanely overpriced than normal on eBay, and the 1992 demo “Dismal.” Both releases have been remastered from the original analog tapes.
The CD is available from the Dark Symphonies online shop.
Former Bestial Evil (USA) guitarist Kevin Rucker made waves recently when he criticized the Shadow Woods music festival for including bands with members who were possibly associated with the survivalist and allegedly white nationalist group Wolves of Vinland.
24 CommentsTags: baltimore, kevin rucker, mary a. spiro, paul waggener, shadow woods fest, sjws, wolves of vinland
In times of chaos, the primordial appeal of Slayer comes forth as the vision of clarity that it is. This metal fan chose to meet the winds head-on, whether as tribute to the power of the storm or resistance to it, or both. The result proves entertaining, including the possibility that the video cut off before Matthew hurled a six-ton SUV with irritating family stickers on the back into the fan, leaving a very Slayer-esque red spot on the pavement.
21 CommentsTags: hurricane matthew, slayer
Brett Steven’s Nihilism: A Philosophy Based In Nothingness And Eternity sold out quickly at Hells Headbangers’ metal distro so Hells Headbangers has just restocked it! You know you want it hard. Now you can get it hard fast again with DHL international shipping! Believe in nothing and take it like man! How do you expect to reach emptiness without mentally climaxing into the vortex? Are you man enough?
124 CommentsTags: book, brett stevens, hells headbangers, Nihilism, Philosophy
