To identify the truly distinguishing features of black metal one must ask where it situates the listener. Specifically, the fact that they are expected to temporarily divorce themselves from their immediate surroundings – both physical and social/cultural – and embrace a larger, more impersonal conception of reality. This severance from individualism is a step even death... Continue Reading →

Sacrilegious Crown: Forbidden Vestiges of VenerationOut 3rd June on Xenoglossy Productions Somewhere between the ritualistic and ambient strains of black metal, funeral doom, and DSBM – although don’t let that last tag put you off – sits the latest EP from Italy’s Sacrilegious Crown. Whilst comparisons to Elysian Blaze are somewhat inevitable, Sacrilegious Crown offer... Continue Reading →

Sadistic Drive: Perpetual TortureOut 27th May on Headsplit Records Finland’s Sadistic Drive march into the difficult second album with newfound confidence and bombast, but this does not hide the fact that something has been lost along the way. The Autopsy-on-meth mind-fuckery of their debut EP ‘Street Cannibal Gluttony’ made them one of the more promising... Continue Reading →

#48 - Bruckner Discussion, Part II: The time is now to speak more about Anton Bruckner! More specifically, the Bruckner Red Book by William Carragan. In addition to covering the Red Book, we delve into some other subjects such as Wagner's influence on Bruckner, which composers Bruckner influenced, tempo approaches to the symphonies, etc. Joining... Continue Reading →

Towards a definition of listener responsibility in an era of mass participation In a recent essay entitled ‘Making Burzum a Contested Space’, I attempted to plot a possible route out of the current political impasse within black metal, specifically in regards to our relationship to dangerous art. The argument was predicated on the not so... Continue Reading →

#47 - Metal Revelation: An easy-going episode after a hiatus. The topics of today are how we discovered and got into metal, what metal means to us, and some personal thoughts on metal. Cohost Shelley (www.hatemeditations.com and Metalegion Magazine) returns with liver intact with guests Brett Clarin (Journey into Darkness, Sorrow), Daniel Valdez (Gored and... Continue Reading →

Cauchemar: Rosa MysticaOut 16th May on Temple of Mystery Records Supplementing the hedonistic bounce of Witchfinder General with a much needed sobriety, add a dash of folk pageantry, and some raw creativity as far as riffing is concerned, and you have an approximation of the 'Rosa Mystica' formula. This is one of those albums that... Continue Reading →

Thrash is a fascinating intersection for studying various ideologies within metal. Aesthetically and thematically it was still closely wedded to heavy metal. The emphasis on speed, energy, living life with consistent intensity, the lyrical and musical fixation on maintaining a constant state of emergency, all had clear antecedents within NWOBHM and German speed metal. Thrash... Continue Reading →

Katharos: Of Lineages Long ForgottenOut 13th May on Willowtip Records I suppose one could love ‘Anthems to Welkin at Dusk’ to the point where creating a carbon copy of the album seems like the only logical response to life. To be fair to Katharos though, context is not a myth, and the Emperor classic is... Continue Reading →

The further listening series It’s 2001, and my dad asks me if I have heard of a rock band called Killing Joke. "No, why?" I say. "Their singer was just being interviewed on Radio Four", he responds, "apparently he is a classically trained conductor, and a couple of years ago he produced a series of... Continue Reading →