Black Metal, eh???

Since Marci posted about black metal last, I figured i'd run with it, and make it black metal week, for black metal geeks, here at the shrine of blast beat. I am not gonna post any of this new wave of black "metal" or black noise, or call it what the fuck you want. I am not such a big fan of it. I think it is well done musically, but in the end, its kind of just a joke. Black metal was, after all, metal. So I am gonna post what I think is good, and recent, or just needs mention.

First up is Proclamation from Spain, the least black metal place I can think of besides, like, Portugal, or Costa Rica. They play war metal, sounds like Blasphemy but with better riffs, and even sloppier. This is atrociously played, make no mistake, but the riffage is awesome, the sound and atmosphere are nailed right fuckin on. I have two of their CDs, and they just released a third one which looks exactly like the first two. Logo, black background, and a demonic skull with horns of some sort. Clearly these guys know and understand the importance of keeping it real. This second CD, pictured above, shows somewhat improved musical skills, although not really, and is more bestial, more war metal like than the first. The sound is somewhat crisper, but its still mysterious sounding, though.

GRAB IT HERE.

This is their first one, Advent Of The Black Omen. It is sloppier than their second, and the sound is super mysterious, cool ritualistic intros, non-stop mid-tempo blasts, every riff is blasting, its kinda funny, actually, but I really am fond of this record. It is played terribly, and is terribly primitive, but in a good sense. Its refreshing, and fucking down right evil, hateful, malignant and belligerent in a number of ways. The sound is just so fucking good.

RIGHT HERE, BUDDY.

Next up is Holland's answer to the Svarte Sirkel crap, this is Bestial Summoning, and if you dont know them, and you like classic black metal, you are missing out big time. Contemporary to all of those church burning alcoholics in the North, these boys had the same idea, mimcked it off of the black metal scene, but did it better than 99% of them viking folk. This shit fucking rules, the vocals are absolutely tortured. In fact, when a friend of mine lent this to me, the first I heard was 'The Dark War Has Begun', I swore the vocals had effects on them. So he sent me their 'Live In Vernay' stuff as well, and I must say I was wrong. I included both of them in the same zip, so you should not have trouble ith that. A good way to judge a band is to look at their logo......

Holy shit, a demonic goat, a half moon, and 666, all in the same logo???? Also an inverted pentagram? Shit all they are lacking is an up turned crucifix, and we would be in business. Also, take a look at this frontman. When was the last time YOU had sais as part fo your stage performance, huh, asshole?

That is classic black metal stuff, skinny, geeky white kid with face paint and sais. This is what its fucking about, not this avantgarde black noise stuff. Although I actually do like that stuff too. Its just taking yourself seriosuly, I never liked that about black metal. Anyway, aweosme music for you, RIGHT HERE, BUDDY.

This next one is actually sick, it is very difficult to listen to, and disturbing on a level that very few things in general tend to be. This is one of those albums where, after listening to it, I felt ridiculously depressed and totally disassociated from everything. It had a very profound effect on me, it made me feel useless, miserable, a waste of time, and that nothing matters, and everything sucks. I believe that is the purpose of black metal, and this stuff achieves it, even if it is not quiet straight up black metal. It has elements of doom/sludge, black metal, grindcore, death metal, dark ambient, power electronics/noise, and is the sort of music you could not play outside of a studio, ever. This was also posted on Cephalochromoscope, but this is my rip of the CD, which was generously lent ot me by Alex of Krupskaya, who likes this kind of crap.
THANK ALEX.

This last one I am sure is suppossed to be taken very seriously and is supposed to be very insightful and revelatory, I think it is just the funniest shit ever. Called black drone by followers of this pathetic genre, it is just noise, of the intellectual variety, not harsh, just bowed chellos and double basses, and low frequencies with a guy mumbling half intelligible stuff over it. Wolfmangler are quiet fun to listen to, and they have this werid wolf concept going on with their band. Its fairly awesome. Absolutely no drums at all on this one, nipping the possibility of blast beats in the bud. LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF.