by BBG

Dropdead at Europa (more by Keith Marlowe)

Chaos in Tejas have announced another round of bands for their 2012 shindig (first round here), including rare appearances from legendary post-hardcore band Moss Icon (a one-time only reunion), as well as Japan's Reality Crisis and Skizophrenia (their only US dates), and repeat offenders/favorites like Dropdead, Municipal Waste, Midnight, Ares Kingdom, Puerto Rico Flowers, Xeno & Oaklander, Thou, the Rival Mob, Boston Strangler, Crazy Spirit, Brain Killer, Power Trip, Wiccans (who just played one of the final shows at Emo's), and many many others. A full list of additions and the new flyer is below.

Since the original announcement, two previously announced bands have dropped off the original lineup: Mexican black metal band Nyogthaeblisz disappeared from the lineup after their anti-Islamic/Semitic/Abrahamic stance and involvement in known NSBM (National Socialist) label Satanic Skinhead was pointed out by a few blogs. That led to Antisect and The Mob even threatening to not play. Word then spread that Disma's Craig Pillard released nazi-glorifying records under the name Sturmfuhrer. Disma then dropped out as well due to "the drama" that ensued. Craig would not comment on the matter, but other members of Disma say he has changed.

In related news, Thou will hit the road for a string of dates with The Body this week on the West Coast. Both bands will also be at the inaugural Gilead Media festival (chaired by the Gilead Media label) in Oshkosh, Wi on 4/28 and 4/29 which will feature appearances from (in alphabetical order) Arms Aloft, Aseethe, Ash Borer, Baby Boy, Darger + Plague Mother, False, Fell Voices, Get Rad, Hell, Loss, Mutilation Rites, Northless, Protestant, A Scanner Darkly, and Sleepwalker. More details are available at the site.

All tour dates, new additions to Chaos in Tejas, and the show flyer is all below.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas adds bands & loses some due to controversy; Gilead Media launches festival"

by BBG

Kuxan Suum at Acheron (more by BBG)

Though previously listed with the same lineup as the show they just played at Acheron, this Friday's 9pm Black Twilight Circle show at The Charleston will feature an almost entirely different lineup with Raspberry Bulbs, Volahn, Arizmenda, Shataan, and The Haunting Presence. Black Twilight Circle also visit WFMU that day (10/7).

The show is also one of two upcoming shows for Raspberry Bulbs who will also join Villains, Occultation and Skull at Saint Vitus on 10/18 (tickets).

Speaking of black metal, the.... New Yorker wrote a piece:

The fertile and fractious U.S. scene in the genre known as black metal can be understood through a familiar moment in rock history. In the sixties, British bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones mined American blues, first copying their heroes and then creating something vivid and novel. In the nineties, a range of American acts began drawing from the work of Norwegian metal bands that were famous mostly for a look and for several unpleasant events. The Norwegians were largely faithful to the "corpse paint" costume, in which the face is covered in white makeup, with black circles drawn around the eye sockets. Upside-down-cross pendants and spiked bracelets were common accessories. The tabloid-worthy events centered on a musician named Varg Vikernes, of the one-man band Burzum, who encouraged and participated in the burning of churches. In 1993, while playing bass in a band called Mayhem, he murdered the guitarist, a man known as Euronymous.
Until recently, it was a legacy that the genre couldn't shake. But now American bands such as Liturgy, Krallice, Absu, Leviathan, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Inquisition have left a fair amount of the pageantry behind--not to mention the violence--and helped to create a community, as well as a musical moment that is rife with activity...

Wolves in the Throne Room, who premiered a track at NPR, have also since received 'Best New Music' from Pitchfork.

Speaking of Liturgy, The Quietus recently interviewed Aaron Weaver of Wolves in the Throne Room . They discussed, among other things, Liturgy and its place amongst the "black metal elite": Aaron Weaver says:

"Wolves in the Throne Room has absolutely received the same kind of criticism, because over the years I've said the exact same thing [as Hunter regarding black metal's ability to be positive and optimistic]. That's something that I believe very strongly. I think that maybe the difference is that I've always said that we don't play black metal. I refer to Wolves in the Throne Room as a black metal band just sort of out of convenience. But I've also been really clear over the years that I do think that true black metal, which is a worthwhile and very powerful thing, does need to be negative. It does need to be rooted in the darkest aspects of the human experience - bitterness, negativity, hatred, violence, tribal warfare, mass murder, these sort of things lurk in the human experience, and it's always been there. And true black metal channels that incredibly destructive and insane and violent energy."

Liturgy's tour with Boris hits Irving Plaza later this month.

by BBG

The number one question from last night?

"Who is this playing?"

It may be hard to believe that anyone would go to a show without knowing who was on stage, but that was the case last night at Acheron where four bands from the Black Twilight Circle collective played (Dolorvotre, Kallathon, Shataan, Kuxan Suum) in addition to local greats Mutilation Rites.

To clarify, Black Twilight Circle is West Coast collective of bands that all deal in the dark arts, namely the different faces of black metal. The crew rose to prominence with material by Volahn and Ashdautas, whose members spun off other bands in the following years. One of the most fascinating aspects is that the BTC have kept it in the family, with the number of bands in the stable topping the number of members in the collective; individual members rotate from instrument to instrument depending on the band. This was the case on Monday night. Volahn is the single constant.

The most compelling material of the night though was fronted by Volahn, the soft-spoken and omni-present center of BTC. His vocals were the focus of both the opener Kuxan Suum and the closer Dolorvotre, the latter of which yielded a two guitar attack and were the tightest and most impressive band of the crew. The remainder of the touring bill featured Volahn either on drums (Kallathon, who were plagued with technical difficulty) or on bass (as part of Shataan), with the latter kicking off their almost-garage influenced set with a flute and a demand for "utter silence for this ritual".

Sandwiched in between sets by Kuxan Suum/Shataan and Kallathon/Dolorvotre were the great Mutilation Rites, whose thrash-y black metal power was a welcome break from the overwhelmingly-primitive black metal that was the focus of the evening. Not to say that Mutilation Rites are some glossy metal machine; this Brooklyn band shows their crusty roots but makes sure to keep it tight and well-oiled. Mutilation Rites is definitely a band to watch.

Missed it? The Black Twilight Circle will descend on The Charleston on 10/7 with the awesome Raspberry Bulbs in tow. You can also catch them that day on WFMU. More pictures from Acheron last night are below...

Continue reading "The Black Twilight Circle played Acheron (pics), playing the Charleston & WFMU"

photos by Suren Karapetyan, words by BBG

Mutilation Rites @ DbA, WITTR backdrop on the wall

"The most exciting music in American black metal today is being made by a collective of musicians who call themselves the Black Twilight Circle, and who combine for a dizzying array of line-ups under names like Arizmenda, Axeman, Kuxan Suum, the Haunting Presence, and Dolorvotre. Based in Los Angeles, the collective takes its inspiration from pre-hispanic cultures and, in solidarity with the Mexica movement, they reject terms like "latino" and "native American," and instead call themselves "Nican Tlaca," a Nahuatl phrase often translated to "we the people here," meant to refer to the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere.

Black Twilight Circle's bloodthirsty music praises ritual sacrifice and the shamanistic exaltation of mind-altering drugs. The collective's vision of black metal combines traditional sounds and outré experiments, with Blue Hummingbird on the Left adding flutes and war drums to their instrumentation; others, like Arizmenda, churning out muscular, twisting 13-minute epics; and groups like Axeman hewing percussive BM anthems inflected with traces of '80s punk like GISM and Amebix. An intensely secretive group, the Circle's music appears in very limited editions, often on cassette; they favor off-the-beaten-path live performances..." [The Phoenix]

The BTC, which is primarily based on the West Coast, recently played a showcase at Chaos in Tejas. Click the link for pics and more about that.

Mutliation Rites played Death By Audio on Wednesday 9/14 as part of a pair of NYC dates for Wolves in The Throne Room & Thou. Pictures from the show are in this post (pictures from The Bell House are HERE). Thou returns in early October.

In related news, Wolves In The Throne Room spent Saturday night (9/17) at Strange Matter in Richmond, with support from Megaton Leviathan (who re-released their demo) and Richmond favorites Bastard Sapling. Richmond show-goers might have noticed that Bastard Sapling had a new item on their merch table, Dragged from our Restless Trance, a new collection of tunes on cassette. Check out "Cold Winds Howled Across The Desolation" from said cassette below, and look for copies of it at Forcefield Records.

That song stream, more pictures from Death By Audio, and the Black Twilight Circle dates are all below.

Continue reading "black metal crew Black Twilight Circle coming east (dates), WITTR & Thou & Mutilation Rites played Death By Audio (pics)"

by BBG

Vreid at the first BV-BBG CMJ in 2008 (more by Leia Jospe)

It has been almost three years now since Norway's Vreid played their third ever US show at the first BV-BBG CMJ event back in 2008 (with Trap Them, Rival Schools and Made Out of Babies) at the old Knitting Factory (Norway's Shining played the same room hours later).

Now Vreid is returning and embarking on a North American tour TONIGHT that will see them headline dates with Kampfar & Necronomicon including this Sunday (8/28) at Europa in Brooklyn. Tickets are still available for the show that will also feature an appearance from Grafvolluth. All dates are listed below.

Montreal Mirror recently caught up with Vreid and asked how the recent tragedies in their home country affected them. Bassist Hváll said:

It affected us deeply. Our drummer worked in the government office that was destroyed, but thankfully, he was on vacation and wasn't at work that day. He didn't lose any of his closest co­workers, but it hit him personally as he worked with people who lost friends. He could hear the bang of the explosion from his house when it happened--his whole department was shattered to pieces. It was one of the most brutal things we've ever seen in Norway. This was a complete madman hell-bent on destruction. We all have children and when tragedy like this happens you just think about protecting your child. The slaughtering at the youth camp was one of the most savage things I think we've seen in modern history. If this could happen in Norway, it's proof it could happen anywhere.

Continue reading "Vreid, Kampfar & Necronomicon touring North America (dates)"

by BBG

Black Witchery

As the clock ticked towards 2AM on Monday night (8/8), a five band bill of raw and dissonant black metal was entering its seventh hour. Plagued by equipment issues and over-long sets, the blackened school night in Greenpoint featured an early-Tuesday morning appearance from Spain's Proclamation, along with support from Black Witchery, a reunited Abazagorath, Deceiveron, and Villains.

Early support was a mixed bag, ranging from tongue-in-cheek and fun, to horrid, and not in an "ugly black metal" sort of way. Brooklyn's Villains match over-the-top and revolting in on-stage banter, with seriously great blackened street-punk. Deceiveron followed Villains, and were probably the low point of the evening. Besides being out of tune for the duration of their stage time, their set was long and uninteresting. Due to equipment issues, Abazagorath (who was next) took close to 45 minutes to set up and were relegated to a 13 minute set. Despite that considerable setback, the reunited New Jersey band's thrashy black metal was engaging. Make sure you catch them on an upcoming go-around.

Black Witchery had the largest crowd of the evening, possibly due to the hour that the band hit the stage (around 12:30). The trio's blackened blasts of war metal incited pits while the band kept it interesting with an animated and costumed live show. Black Witchery's theatrical and anti-melodic black metal was my favorite performance of the evening.

The audience had thinned considerably for Spain's Proclamation, and though they they delivered an excellent set of Blasphemy-style war metal, their late set-time and much-more-energetic direct support of similar-influence made it hard to stay enthralled.

More pictures and video from Europa are below.

Continue reading "a late & long night of black metal @ Europa in pics, video & review (Black Witchery, Proclamation, Abazagorath & more)"

by BBG

Falls of Rauros' set unfolded over a series of long, gorgeously-crafted atmospheric black metal compositions. Their sprawling odes to the wilderness and man's primal past recalled the power and delicacy of Drudkh and Agalloch, with a taste of Ulver's Kveldssanger and a hungry intensity all their own. Unfortunately they'd already sold out of CDs by the time they rolled through Brooklyn, but this Maine collective are working on new material for an upcoming release that will undoubtedly surpass even my high expectations. -[Kim Kelly earlier this year]

There are a zillion bands that do the epic-black-metal thing, but most mistake "sprawling" for meandering, long-winded, and ultimately predictable. Thankfully, Falls of Rauros is not one of those bands and they've created the excellent The Light that Dwells in Rotten Wood for Bindrune Recordings. Out now, the LP features the requisite melancholia, light and shade, and ripping black metal riffs and though Falls of Rauros aren't forging any new paths, The Light that Dwells in Rotten Wood is a well-crafted piece of epic darkness. Stream the LP in full below.

Continue reading "Falls of Rauros released 'The Light that Dwells in Rotten Wood' (stream it here)"

by BBG

Though their music is incredible, it's hard to think of France's Peste Noire without also calling to mind their controversial ideas on (satanism and) nationalism...

"When delving into the band's work, it needs noting that Famine, aka La Sale Famine de Valfunde, is known for his controversy-baiting interviews: Outside the albums he spits more bile than his hero Baudelaire or Varg Vikernes (who seems relatively mild-mannered in comparison). As a listener, it's up to you to see where you draw the line regarding that sort of black metal "hate" and how you interpret the "French nationalism," etc." [Brandon Stosuy]

Peste Noir released their most lauded LP to date in 2009 with Ballade cuntre lo Anemi, and now have followed up said LP with L'Ordure à l'État Pur, out now in the US via Transcendental Creations. The LP features five new tracks of genre-crossing darkness that dabbles in black metal, ambient, shoegaze, post-punk and folk along the way, as exhibited on the songs "Casse, Pêches, Fractures Et Traditions" and "La condi hu". The former saw the light of day on Stereogum and and at the Onion AV Club. Both can be listened to below...

Continue reading "Peste Noire released a new album (listen to a song)"

by BBG

The previously discussed Proclamation show just went from awesome to bonkers with the addition of Black Witchery to the lineup. The pair will team with Abazagorath (mem Funebrarum, Evoken), Deceiveron, and Villains for the August 8th show at Europa. Tickets are still available.

Black Witchery released Inferno of Sacred Destruction in 2010 on CD via Hells Headbangers, and have released it on vinyl via Nuclear War Now. Villains new LP, Road to Ruin, is also out now via Nuclear War Now. Order them both at the NWN webstore.

Show flyer and some video is below.

Continue reading "Black Witchery added to Proclamation & Villains show"

by BBG

"A lot of people don't take metal seriously as art, and a lot of people don't take art seriously as ethics. That's fine, I guess -- but as for myself, I do both."
- Hunter Hunt-Hendrix

Hunter at Mercury Lounge (more by Greg Cristman)

Hunter of Liturgy has offered a rebuttal to Chris Grigg and countless others' criticism of Liturgy. Read his entire statement below.

Liturgy are hitting the road in early July for a string of dates with the spazzy Dope Body followed by shows with Chelsea Wolfe across the US before returning to the area in early August. Full tour dates, HHH's statement, and a never-seen-before live video from their recent Knitting Factory show, is below.

Continue reading "Liturgy's Hunter Hunt-Hendrix responds to the critics"

by BBG

Mayhem at Irving Plaza (more by Paul Birman)

After cancelling their last batch of dates, Mayhem will head back out to North America for a fall tour with support from Keep Of Kalessin, Hate, and Abigail Williams. Woe will also join on thirteen dates, though no word on which ones. The tour hits NYC at Gramercy Theater on November 3rd. Tickets info is forthcoming. Full tour schedule is below.

In related news, Woe mastermind Chris Grigg recently penned an open letter to Liturgy's Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, an excerpt of which follows:

To the point, then: we get it, dude. You think you are very, very important. Everything about you oozes a sense of superiority. Looking at only the first few pages of your Transcendental Black Metal essay, we find the following:

You somehow decided that black metal is the "culmination of the history of extreme metal."

You explain that traditional black metal is ultimately unfulfilling: "Hyperborean [traditional, Scandinavian-derived] Black Metal represents the mountaineer's arrival at the peak and a supposed leap off of it... And he is left, crestfallen, frozen and alone, in the Hyperborean realm."

You authoritatively claim the blast beat as belonging to black metal, though far from unique to it, because it allows you to rationalize your I-can't-maintain-a-hyper-blast beat by plainly stating, "the technique of Hyperborean Black Metal is the blast beat."

You audaciously inform us that your work is the next stage of the art's evolution with "[Transcendental Black Metal] is a sublimination of Hyperborean Black Metal in both its spiritual aspect and its technical aspect."

Those passages, the essay on the whole, and every attempt to defend your position shows that you lack even the smallest sliver of modesty or respect for your peers or listeners. These qualities -- rather, the lack of these qualities -- are not unusual for black metal artists to possess; after all, concepts of superiority and elitism are hallmarks of traditional black metal. In your case, though, they do not apply because you have gone so far out of your way to show that you are not the typical black metal musician, you are not part of this world -- you are an outsider wearing some (just some) of black metal's skin. I appreciate you taking the effort to describe what you are attempting to do; however, when you make lengthy, authoritative statements decrying black metal as dead and outdated, when you deride everything that came before you as little more than a failed attempt at something that is unreachable, you're thumbing your nose at everyone who does not see things your way. It's obnoxious. It's rude. It's annoying.

Continue reading "Mayhem announces a new North American tour, Chris Grigg of Woe calls Liturgy rude, annoying & much more"

DOWNLOAD: Liturgy - "Generation" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Liturgy - "High Gold" (MP3)

Liturgy at Scion Rock Fest 2010 (more by Christopher Mumma & BBG)

Brooklyn black-metallers Liturgy released their sophomore effort Aesthethica on May 10 via Thrill Jockey. As previously mentioned, they play an album release party June 2 at Knitting Factory with Sightings, Matteah Baim, Swati, and Todd Pendu (DJ set). Tickets are still on sale. In July they head out on a month-long US tour. All dates are listed below.

If you want to understand the band better, or just need some light reading material for the beach, pick up a copy of the frontman's new book...

"Liturgy consciously inverts old-school black-metal nihilism, complete with theoretical undergirding--Hunt-Hendrix, a former philosophy student at Columbia, has even published a treatise on the subject, Transcendental Black Metal: A Vision of Apocalyptic Humanism.

"I think that to the degree that anyone involved in underground music has an anti-intellectual attitude, they are making a mistake," Hunt-Hendrix writes via e-mail between European tour stops. "I guess it's just difficult to a lot of people to see that music, philosophy and art share a living common root--in the 19th century everyone knew that." This high-minded rhetoric has attracted its share of critics--"[Transcendental Black Metal] belongs to a rich, collegiate tradition of taking a movement or piece of art that you enjoy and writing about it in a way that suggests you take no enjoyment from it whatsoever," Vice quipped--but anyone attempting to brand Aesthethica as passionless will rapidly dead-end. The record's most memorable tracks ("Generation," "Veins of God") come off like high-fives between Black Sabbath and Lightning Bolt: undiluted collisions of volume and intricate groove." [Time Out]

Continue reading "Liturgy released 'Aesthethica' & a black metal book too, touring (dates)"

by BBG

Marduk at Gramercy (more by Paul Birman)

Despite their failed tour with Mayhem, Marduk have almost become live staples in the US as of late with two visits to NYC in as many years (with Nachtmystium/Black Anvil/Merrimack at Gramercy, and with Withered/Tombs/Black Anvil at Gramercy). The Swedes will be back in the US to play Maryland Deathfest, but this time will hit NYC with the self-proclaimed ugliest band in the world Aura Noir (!!!), Panzerfaust, Black Anvil and HOD at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 3rd. Tickets go on sale at noon on Friday (1/21). All other known tour dates are below.

Black Anvil played two sold-out shows with Trap Them and All Pigs Must Die this past weekend, at Union Pool and at Cake Shop.

More tour dates and some videos below..

Continue reading "Marduk playing Brooklyn w/ Aura Noir, Black Anvil, Panzerfaust & HOD (and other dates)"

by BBG

Twilight 2010. That's Jef Whitehead, second from the left

"A tattoo artist raped his girlfriend using tattoo tools above a near West Side tattoo parlor, authorities allege.

Jef Whitehead, 42, allegedly choked and beat his 26-year-old girlfriend unconscious by banging her head against a wall above Taylor Street Tattoo and Piercing, 1150 W. Taylor, in t he early hours of Saturday morning.

He also attacked her with a pair of scissors, it's alleged. When she regained consciousness she discovered she had been sexually assaulted with the tattoo tools, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Tom McGuire said. Whitehead then allegedly knocked her out again, McGuire said. When the victim woke up she was in the street outside the parlor, he added. A heavily-bearded and tattooed Whitehead was dressed all in black as he appeared before Judge Israel Desierto Sunday morning.

Wearing a hooded sweater with the words "stop the madness" printed on it, he was ordered held on bail of $350,000. Whitehead is from California but he and his girlfriend had recently arrived in Chicago and were considering making it their permanent home, McGuire said." [Chicago Sun Times]

words and photos by BBG

Nazxul at Public Assembly

Aussie black metallers Nazxul are currently making the long trek back to their homeland after a reported triumphant set at Maryland Deathfest, and a pit stop in NYC for a show at Public Assembly on June 1st. I'm particular about my keyboards in black metal and Nazxul know how to tastefully integrate the instrument, adding layers of atmosphere and touches of (anti)melody to their stormcloud songwriting. Furthermore, the keyboard touches were not as prevalent as they are on their recorded output. The band played a rousing set that pulled from both their classic 90s burner Totem and their recent release on Moribund, Iconoclast. A picture of their setlist is below.

Direct support came from the killer war-metal trio Witch Tomb who, despite playing in shroud, ripped the crowd with a killer set of high-octane and even higher violence blackened fury.

Mutilation Rites opened the show and though I missed them, I'll be in attendance when the band plays Union Pool alongside The Funeral Pyre (who released their new LP on Prosthetic this week) and Early Graves (who have a certified banger on their hands with Goner).

More pics of Nazxul and Witch Tomb from Public Assembly are below...

Continue reading "Nazxul & Witch Tomb @ Public Assembly (pics & setlist)"

words and photos by Stefan Raduta, additional live photos by Steven Brown

Watain LIVE in Chicago during Black Metal Magic 2008

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sweden's mighty Watain cannot be touched. In a class of their own, they embody the quintessence spirit of what true black metal was always meant to be; I'm talking about what Darkthrone started with A Blaze In The Northern Sky and ended with Panzerfaust.

Beginning with their venomous Rabid Dead Curse exactly ten years ago, this pack of hungry wolves from Uppsala has put a fist in every mouth that took this genre lightly. Casus Luciferi stands as one of the most insanely beautiful black metal pieces of all time, and without a doubt, their Sworn To The Dark can be considered a cornerstone of black metal as magnificent as Mayhem's De Misteriis. Each more crushing and devastating than the other, their recorded output is a volcanic eruption of pure black magic, a magnetic affiliation with the dark, and a spit of contempt against all and everything. This all says nothing of the otherworldly energy they intense rituals created on stage.

On July 8th 2010 they unleash their fourth opus, Lawless Darkness, via Season Of Mist and once more aim to devour every soul standing in their way. It's everything you'd expect it to be; I personally see it as their most epic and heartfelt work so far. Whether the LP is their masterwork is for you to decide, but one thing is sure: it's an impressive and beautiful piece of work.

With Lawless Darkness on the way and Watain's MDF live conjuring this weekend, front man Erik Danielsson, wild child of today's black metal scene, answered a few questions from his Stockholm stronghold. Danielsson's thoughts on the album, satanism, black metal in 2010, and his thoughts on his own death are below...

Continue reading "an interview with Watain (who play Maryland Death Fest)"

words by Kim Kelly, photos by Keith Marlowe

Inquisition


Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult

This past Sunday (May 23, to be exact) Colombian-bred, Pacific Northwest-dwelling cult black metal horde Inquisition brought their necromantic live ritual to Europa's be-disco balled stage, and were joined by Germany's Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult on the latter's first-ever US tour. This was the duo's only East Coast date, and the last of three very special shows on the Anthems of Pestilence & Death 2010 minitour, which had kicked off in LA last week. Having caught Inquisition before at Heathen Crusade III in Minnesota and 2008's legendary performance at Remains (featuring the live debut of everyone's favorite blackened tech 'heads, Krallice), I couldn't resist making the trip up to see 'em again. After all, third time's the charm...

People-watching at New York metal shows is an endlessly entertaining pastime, especially if you've stumbled into the kind of show that rolled into Europa this past Sunday. From the Spanish Glen Danzig lookalike to the handful of leather-clad corpsepaint wearers, to the barely-legal drunk broad who kept trying to mosh it up with the pit bosses and falling flat on her face and the smattering of very worried-looking hipsters (this was Greenpoint, after all), it was one hell of a subcultural mish-mash up in there.

continued with more pics below....

Continue reading "Inquisition & Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult played & wore corpse paint @ Europa in Brooklyn - bloody pics & video "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Alcest - "Percees De Lumiere" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woe - "Alone with Our Failures"
DOWNLOAD: Have a Nice Life - "Bloodhail"
DOWNLOAD: Have a Nice Life - "I Don't Love"

Alcest at their first ever live performance in Bucharest (more by Stefan Raduta)

Wardruna at the 2010 edition of by:Larm in Norway

April is supposed to be the gateway to rejuvenation; spring is around the corner and warm sun awaits. Yet Thursday, April 29th is a dark day in NYC despite upward swinging forecasts, as the city will host a pair of black metal events.

First up, is the seminar 'A Blaze In The Northern Sky - Norwegian Metal and The Culture That Spawned It", a discussion featuring Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Gaahl (ex-Gorgoroth, Wardruna), and Harold Fossberg (Turbonegro) at Scandinavia House (58 Park Avenue):

In the last two decades, a bizarre, intense, and violent musical subculture called Black Metal has emerged in Norway, and has subsequently become a worldwide phenomenon. In a unique seminar-meets-radio show format moderated by Patrizia Mazzuoccolo (also known as Miss Pee), the lecture will explore and promote the genre and its country through audio clips of bands, interviews with musicians and special guests (see below for details), and an audience Q & A session.

Nocturno Culto recently played Roadburn 2010 as part of Sarke, part II of Kim Kelly's review is on the way.

Wardruna, Gaahl included, recently played Folketeateret at the by:Larm Music Festival in snowy Norway (on Saturday, Feb. 20th) . An unposted set of pictures from that show, which was one of the major highlights of the long weekend, is continued below.

Details on how to win those Alcest tickets, some videos, and flyers for both events are below too...

Continue reading "Alcest is almost here (win tix), a Norwegian Metal seminar in NYC (w/ Gaahl, Nocturno culto, more), Wardruna pics & more "

words and photos by Stefan Raduta, intro by BBG

Agalloch in Bucharest

Stefan Raduta is no stranger to the darkness. As a writer with Metal Maniacs, Imhotep, and many other outlets, the Romanian born scribe has profiled and reviewed some of the biggest and most influential names in the blackened depths of extreme music. In the following piece, Stefan hit the road with the great Agalloch on their recent trek to Romania, where the band intresected with Alcest on their first ever live appearance (they play NYC on 4/29 as part of their first US tour). His story from the road is below.

Continue reading "on the road with Agalloch (pics, videos, setlists & more)"

words by BBG, photos by Greg Cristman

So campy.... but oh so fun! Immortal played Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Tuesday, 3/30, as part of their brief but sweet "Blashyrkh in North America" campaign that laid waste to a select few cities on said continent (namely Toronto, Montreal, Brooklyn, and LA).

With a serious lighting rig and enough smoke machine action to make Greg Anderson proud, the band opened the what-appeared-to-be-sold-out show with the title track and "The Rise of Darkness" from their recent success All Shall Fall. Though guitars were a bit too thin in the mix for my liking, the band blasted their way through killer renditions of classics from across their catalog (setlist below) while the eager and surprisingly not too mosh-y crowd nodded and raised their fists in triumph. It was a big and bold set from the frost-bitten Norwegian legends. If you missed it and can't make it to The Avalon in LA (where the band was already spotted hanging out last night) on 4/2, then pray that the corpsepainted (or should I say warpainted?) horde make another trek to the US soon (and hopefully they don't wait 3 years again this time).

Black Anvil opened the show after Immortal hosted a fan meet & greet (it cost extra money). The band is like Kiss in more ways than one. More pictures (though not of Black Anvil yet), as well as tons of videos, below...

Continue reading "Immortal played (and met and greeted fans at) Brooklyn Masonic Temple - pics, video, setlist, more dates"

by BBG

Influential US Black Metal great Xasthur is calling it quits. Malefic has officially declared that his new album, Portal of Sorrow will be his last metal album and that the "honorable thing to do is to end the band". He cites more than one reason including not wanting to "turn into one of those bands who rely on too many guests and session musicians to make people interested in their music again". At the end of the letter he posted on his blog, he thanks Marissa Nadler (a guest who is definitely making lots of people interested in the new album) "for taking her voice to another level" on the new record. Read the full letter below...

Continue reading "Malefic says the Xasthur record will be his last (metal) album"

by BBG

Seattle by-way-of-Columbia black metal duo Inquisition will headline a show at Europa in Brooklyn on 5/23 with Germany's Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult and support from miscreants Agrath and Dimentianon. Tickets are $25, and purchase link is forthcoming. Inquisition's appearance comes a little less than two years after their now legendary FREE performance at Remains with Copremesis, SMES, and Dagon and the debut of Krallice.

Inquisition is also scheduled to play Austin on May 29th as part of the upcoming Chaos in Tejas fest with Rorschach, Bone Awl, Bastard Noise, The Ponys, Ty Segall, and many many more. Tickets are on sale for the Emo's shows.

Show flyer and some videos are below...

Continue reading "Inquisition playing NYC & Chaos in Tejas (tickets on sale) "

intro by BBG, interview by Kogaionon, English translation of that interview & the rest of the story by Stefan Raduta

Dordeduh with guest percussionist Thelemnar

Stefan Raduta is no stranger to the darkness. As a writer with Metal Maniacs, Imhotep, and many other outlets, the Romanian born scribe has profiled and reviewed some of the biggest and most influential names in the blackened depths of extreme music. In the following piece Stefan examines black metal and its current move toward transcendentalism and then focuses on his Romanian countrymen, black metal band Negura Bunget, and their fracture into Dordeduh. He concludes with an interview with Dordeduh (ex-NB) member Hupogrammos. The interview was originally conducted by another writer in his native tongue and translated for us by Stefan. Check it all out below...

Continue reading "The Current State of Black Metal, Trancendental Black Metal, Negura Bunget & an interview w/ Dordeduh's Hupogrammos"

by BBG

Immortal likes their corpse paint. Still. (photo by Peter Beste)

After triumphant shows in LA & NYC (BB Kings) in 2007, Black Metal pioneers Immortal are returning to our shores. Norwegian black metal comes to NYC just in time for... spring. And Easter. March 30th, to be exact. The Blackened Music Series hosts the show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple and tickets are now on sale in two levels, regular and VIP, which includes a meet & greet pre-show, laminate, a poster, and many other goodies. The show is part of short tour dubbed "Blashyrkh in North America" according to the foursome:

"North American hordes, we are coming your way! After the fantastic experiences we had in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, we are returning next year, and this time we will make sure we visit our Canadian hordes on the East coast as well! We will see you during Easter 2010, which will be a dark and cold one!"

The only other US show is again in LA. A few Immortal videos with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Immortal returning to North America - 2010 Tour Dates "

by BBG

Hunter on stage with Liturgy (more here)

For those of you that enjoy to sauce it up on Friday nights or enjoy a light Saturday afternoon, avert your eyes! Hideous Gnosis (named after a song by the great Caïna) is "a gathering dedicated to the mutual blackening of metal and theory", and is scheduled to take place in Brooklyn at Public Assembly on Saturday (12/12) from 1PM to 7PM. The event will examine different facets of black metal via discussion, readings, performance, and much more. The many scheduled guests include Hunter from Liturgy, Nader Sadek, and Haunting The Chapel (ex-Show No Mercy) scribe Brandon Stosuy.

More info, including the flyer and the schedule are below...

Continue reading "Black Metal Theory Symposium in Brooklyn on Saturday "