Mr eel
Black Metal for a Terrifying Future
I haven’t done this for a little bit and I do like talking about music, so I thought I might go over some of my more recent Metal discoveries.
Somehow I’ve found myself listening to more and more Black Metal. Like most forms of music, pretty much all of it is awful. For Black Metal it’s pretty obvious where things can go wrong; the awful production values, the temptation to just play the same riff for minutes on end, the blast-beats ticking over through every moment in the song, the at times ridiculous mythologising and ugh… the corpse-paint.
Just the same, when it’s good, it’s fucking awesome. Sometimes when it’s meant to be scary or oppressive, it really is. Sometimes it really does express the horror and sorrow of living. Sometimes it really does touch something inside your heart.
So here are some of my picks for awesome Black Metal and related releases. Admittedly some or most of these aren’t strictly BM according to your more boring fans and critics, but whatevs. At the very least BM is the axis they swing around.
Wolves in the Throne Room - Diadem of Twelve Stars
I put this release first because it’s my favourite. Much BM is weighted down by what I consider frippery — the stupid mythologies and uniforms. WITTM eschew most of that thankfully.
To be honest I find it a little difficult to articulate why I like this album, after all, there is so much that could have gone wrong with it. It has the dim screechy vocals, the operatic backing, the blast-beats thrumming away under everything. The difference here I think is that WITTR’s skill matches their intent. It is oppressive, it is sorrowful, all without being ridiculous.
Having some beautiful chord progressions and really epic breakdowns also helps. I really dig it. If you only listen to one album on this list, make it Diadem of Twelve Stars.
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Again with WITTR, they really are that good. Basically, what I said above. Seriously check these guys out.
Krallice - Krallice
This is what happens when Prog and Black Metal collide — an explosion of awesome! This album basically takes the spazz-prog-metal of bands like Behold… The Arctopus and Oct and applies them to the BM format. The similarities aren’t surprising considering that Krallice shares members with the aforementioned bands. The resulting songs are built of complex and shifting guitar-lines. They stay true to the demands of the genre by repeating to the point where you think you’ll go nuts, then moving in a direction you hadn’t expected.
I honestly didn’t expect to like this one, since on first listen seems very dense and uniform. But since listening often means patience and adjusting your frame of reference, I gradually came around to it.
At it’s core this is actually a very taut and emotional album. The final song Forgiveness in Rot really seals the deal for me. Just beautiful stuff.
Live in some guy’s backyard… or something.
Sunn O))) - Black One
Well yes, I had to get a bloody Sunn O))) release in here somehow. FYI, the name is pronounced as just ‘Sun’. They’re a polarising band. Some people really love them and most people who’ve heard their stuff hate ‘em. It’s pretty easy to see why. Sunn O))) typically operate as a drone, doom, noise outfit. No drums, lots of low end, very very slow and typically sans vocals. Basically, you either like letting bass-noise fuck you over, or you’ll hate this stuff.
Personally I’m on the fence. I may come to like it, but right now I’m more curious. This particular release however, I do like. Strictly speaking this is not BM, but it does riff on the atmospherics, vocals and general aesthetics of BM. Basically it’s BM sans-drums, terribly slow. It’s also frankly scary shit.
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