Black Metal = BM in this post to make things shorter.My best friend Jay and I one night had a small discussion on Black Metal. Especially true black metal, not Cradle of Filth, not Dimmu Borgir, but the true BM shit, like Immortal, Burzum, Mayhem, etc.
See I was going over how in essence BM is something akin to punk rock. The music takes a back seat to the message. With BM that message takes on a bit of a different meaning than with punk, but it's still anti-establishment in a sense. Punk fights the man, and the system, and encourages free thinking and freedom of speech. BM fights religion, and in some cases life itself, or rather what life has become to the modern world.
A far more grim message indeed, but not one that should be shrugged off as a depressive message of suicide. The early days of BM started with what is referred to as the "first wave" and ironically, the originators of the genre do NOT define it. When one such as myself refers to "true" black metal, I mean as in the "second wave". This wave was started around the early 1990's, and most well known for acts like Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, and Emperor.
Whereas the first wave had made a sort of style into what would later be dubbed black metal, the second wave developed said style into it's own distinct sub-genre. It's worth mentioning that a vast majority of people, even some serious metalheads know little to nothing about this sub-genre's origins. And for due cause, the mainstream often shuns it. Black Metal is based on foundries of misanthropic and anti-Christian ideology.
But going back to the origins, the name of the genre, as fitting as it is, was not simply created for it's sound or ideology. In fact one of the first wave bands, Venom had an album called "Black Metal", the title track, also called Black Metal as would imply by title track was the basis for the naming of this sub-genre. But Venom wasn't honestly what it considered black metal, more or a darker thrash metal if anything. And this furthers my point of explaining that the "first wavers" are not actually "true" black metal. Venom's "Black Metal" however did contain a very anti-Christian lyric set and Satanic theme, probably more so than any other band before had produced. That's worth mentioning.
Anyway, in the early 90's, particularly in Norway, BM had become more than a distinct sound, and turned itself into a full blown sub-genre. A few things began to become essential, and the norm to this scene. The ideology mentioned above first and foremost. Second the sound created by the first wave, which was that of a heavier, darker, and less polished thrash like sound, combined with screeching vocals. Third the use of pseudonyms as band member names. And fourth the use of corpsepaint over the face.
Some say the pseudonyms were sued in place of the band member's actual names as a way to further distance themselves from humanity, something most of these groups claimed to loathe and detest. Others admit it was simply a matter of it fitting to the subject matter, and just sounding cool.
The Corpsepaint may be the easiest and most recognizable trait of black metal. It had it's reasoning too. The misanthropic mentality was complemented visually by the use of corpsepaint, again furthering themselves from mortality and humanity. But also used during this period as a statement. A statement to distinguish BM artists from other rock and metal bands of the time.
During this early uprising of BM, much criminal activity was associate with the sub-genre. A lot of nasty rumors, some proven true, others still a mystery surrounded most of these acts. Church burnings, murders, suicides, etc. It would appear that some of these bands weren't just acting and entertaining on stage, one in particular was Mayhem. The whirlwind of well..mayhem and chaos that surrounds this band's roots and early years could take a whole page or two by itself. Suffice it to say, they were no fucking joke. This is just another stigmata that forces BM into a very obscure underground status.
That's black metal in a nutshell. I've thought about posting this for a while, after Pico and I's talk that night. In hopes of enlightening anyone else on the raw details of the genre. It's a sub-genre I find extremely fascinating as well as strangely appealing, despite being made of all the wrong stuff. It's a genre that will never hook you because you thought a song sounded good, or because it had a sweet solo, or even great vocalist. As I said before, that's not what it's about.
It's about the message, and it's one of the very few genres of music that still clings tightly to it's original message, to this day. If you find yourself liking a BM band it's most likely only for one of a few reasons. One, you agree with the message, you may detest Christianity and organized religion, or you may just think the human race is a big piece of shit. Or, like me you may find yourself fascinated by the whole thing. The cryptic, mysterious and dark world of black metal is so unlike any other genre of music in this way. No other genre of music holds as much controversy, or as much surreal unease and mysteriousness. Black metal is truly the most underground of underground music. There is literally nothing positive about the genre in terms of morals and beliefs, nothing. Black metal is so very unconventional in it's methods, there is little in the form of melody present, varied, strange structure, hardly resembling actual music at all.
Recently an American black metal act was brought to my attention called Xasthur. I use the term act, because much like Burzum (Wiki it, too lengthy to explain.), it's a one man project. More or less a drum machine, some synth, a guitar and vocals. Xasthur has been hailed as one of the darkest acts of all time, and for good reason. There is rumor of a fan killing himself while listening to Xasthur, but it's probably bullshit.
None the less, his music is extremely dark, and could come off extremely depressing to some. To me it leaves me feeling uneasy, a feeling of dread. He culminates the claustrophobic soundscapes of twisted and horrifying nightmares. With a nearly unsurpassed feeling of isolation all the while. And keep in mind, it's a one man project. Described as such...
"Through the vision of lone member Malefic, Xasthur embody the purest isolationist resistance towards modern society and vehement rejection of participation in any genre “scene”. Debut full-length Nocturnal Poisoning is solitary black art conjured through a concentrated hatred known only in the deepest of nighttime solitude, when the sick activity of meaningless functionality and wretched man-made noise pollution are lost to numb dreams in hollow sleep, leaving only the beautiful profound stillness and heavy silence of night for undisturbed contemplation and infinite inspiration."Heavy, isn't it?
Then listen to this...
This comes from a dedicated fan of Xasthur's music, and is probably the best worded description anyone could ever write of the material.
"Xasthur's music is the essence of hatred.
Xasthur is a one man bm band. lives in an apartment in CA, prefers isolation, hates the world. is Tr00 and Kvlt to his personal beliefs. he does not have a myspace, although there are several fake ones of him. with lots of friends. he does not do drugs, or drink or even smoke i collect. malefic deals with the harshness of reality. "where hope is the art of lying to yourself" it is satanic to its very core. a mirror reflecting the essence of the grave. as one reviewer called his music "the one minute of utter desperation before a tragic loss of life from a shotgun blast to the head"
even some of the classics bm bands do not even near xasthur as far as utter depression and unrest and hatred go. Most musicians do not even know how to channel a level of this hatred. It is an art to channel hatred in such a pure of a ray...the closet i could think of would be nortt, burzum is also one.
many bands like immortal and mayhem claim to be these demons...
its like LOTR immortal would be like a fucking golem...
but Xasthur would be the nazgul a spirit that lives to feed off of the destruction of others... or at leat thats what he puts off.
Malefic has said in one rare review that "Xasthur is like a drug, it takes people to a dark fictional release, but really its just a poison" His intent in his music is not to create black metal, but to create music that will destroy people mentally, and cause unrest and hatred in people, so its not really music as much as it is a weapon, he infiltrates the cd players of Americans and pollutes their minds. in a sense hes like a terrorist, this is why i give no glory or praise to Malefic at all, because all his intent is is to breakdown the mental walls of stability in the minds of his listeners."As I said, Xasthur leaves a deep feeling of unease in me when I listen to it and take it it. If anyone is curioud I could post a fucking TON of links to various sources and shit regarding BM. Anyway, thanks for reading, hope someone is enlightened by this.
Unsure of what real BM sounds like? I'll leave this link, a link to a Xasthur song. Keep in mind everything that has already been said in this article before clicking on this link.
Xasthur: Prison of MirrorsAnother great example is my personal favorite in the genre, Burzum. Vargs Vikerne's is fresh out of prison, and has promised a new Burzum album. Here's my favorite non instrumental track from him.
Burzum: Det Som En Gang VarWhile Burzum is much more well known amongst BM fans than Xasthur, as you can hear here, Xasthur keeps that promise of being some of the darkest shit you'll ever hear. Of both songs posted, Xasthur's is clearly much darker in sound.