Topic: The Music Thread

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@Skarasny I'm trying Old Man's Child now, I never heard of them before. A track called 'black seeds on virgin soil', that drummer is a beast. And now I see why, it's Tjodalv from Dimmu Borgir. I've never seen Bruce live, I did have the chance to go but something came up and I regretted it years later when I understood his music better. I don't think I've seen ANathema live but I've listened to them, I think after being introduced to Katatonia. Hearing 'Soil's Song' live was brilliant. The Great Cold Distance was their first album for me, it was a promo copy too meaning each twenty seconds 'you are listening to The Great Cold Distance by Katatonia' it happened with Soilwork too for Stabbing the Drama. I kept all of those promos. They are a little piece of history.

I haven't listened to Blut aus Nord in years. So many of the Black Metal bands I found came through downloads and shady bootlegs, then once I got to England I bought them all. Black Metal gets a bad rap like a lot of Metal, people see it more as church burning and (anything MayheM) related but I think it brings people back to nature and forges a kind of landscape like no other. I say that as someone who isn't in nature. I started with regular Metal, moved onto Symphonic, Melodic and somewhere in the middle found Black Metal and Doom Metal. Green Carnation are giving off some serious Novembers Doom vibes, Shores of Null too. Novembers are I think American, Shores is Italian both I'd say would be Doomy. There are bands I listened to years ago on those bootlegs that I still haven't found, either the translations were wrong (common) or I completely forgot the name. You have great taste in Metal, Green Carnation are going to get a lot of plays today. I'm listening to 'A Dark Poem Pt1' a track called 'as silence took you'. I'll have to check out Beverast too, thanks. I think i found them under The Ruins of Beverast, ambient Black Metal. Tempelschlaf at the moment. It's giving off a little Ellende and some (I'll butcher this name) Waldegefluster. German Black Metal band who mix a lot of nature into their work.

@Ravix What do you think of Atreyu, were they big in England? I never really got into them. They always seemed a little too generic, like they were trying too hard to sound like everyone else. Then I heard Trivium and BFMV, I stopped even trying to like Atreyu after that.

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@Skarasny That sounds like the first time I heard Venom, I thought I was going to call something up just in the first thirty seconds of 'In League with Satan'. Then I met some Left Hand Path practitioners and started to research it myself. I can see how Satanic Panic took off, people didn't bother reading the material they just decided 'that's evil'. Most Satanist don't even believe in The Devil, they worship man and want to become a super-being. Wiccans don't even believe in The Devil, I not a follower of Wicca anymore but I do like my Gods and Godesses. Satan panic did create some great music though. I've read some good books about the history of Black Metal like Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult by Dayal Patterson. He's written for publications like Terrorizer, Metal Hammer (how I found his book) Decibel, Classic Rock and Crypt Magazine. He laid out the history well.

That's his book, he covers almost everyone. Even Beherit who I must have read about and never listened to.

“Beherit were one of the bands who had a real mystique. Their sound was never really popularized so they’ve remained ‘cult,’ but their atmosphere of claustrophobic and pernicious ritual had a big impact on a generation of black metal. They represent a whole era when black metal felt vital, and even dangerous, in a way that was swiftly lost.”
—V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Anaal Nathrakh) - Taken from the book.

Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan was very good too. I handles all of the above, church burnings, Satanism and the genre itself. There are a couple of others that could have been better like Myth and Magic in Heavy Metal Music by Robert McParland, it talks about the symbology and themes of bands like Black Sabbath but he doesn't understand the Occult so it came off more as tourists guide.

I don't really have any draw to visit Helvete but I understand why people might want to, more now that the movie (Lords of Chaos) put MayheM on the map for those who might not have been as close to the material. I don't really listen to much connected with them anymore or Burzum, for the same reasons as you just mentioned. I'm more interested in the cultural implications and the panic that was drummed up around it. We're seeing a little of that in Russia again so I'm monitoring it. A lot of things are extremist now but the Church of Satan is absolutely in those crosshairs, membership can get you years behind bars. Which basically means Black Metal is now almost illegal, a lot of things are but it's mainly down to the imagery and how it insults religious beliefs, which, no? it doesn't. Needless to say I didn't listen to any over Christmas, now I'm making up for it.

That Waldegefluster or Forest whispering eller skogshvisken on norwegian was quite nice. They actually have a record that was inspired by a trip to Norway by Winterherz the vocalist.

• I can see why, it's a very beautiful country and I'd say when people do visit it's almost like a pilgrimage to the place that birthed the genre. I've never felt the need to visit Sweden for Swedish Death Metal (I do like old InFlames, At the Gates and some Entombed) InFlames became too commercialized too fast.

I was in Oslo a couple of years ago and even-though it wasn't a remote location I understood enough of my surroundings to feel the difference. Maybe one day I'll get to Bergen.

Oh I know Saor, from Scotland, Amidst the Ruins has gotten a lot of plays. The same tour manager who turned me onto Eluveitie introduced me to Saor, Primordial (also Celtic) Winterfyletth, Stormkeep and I think Ensiferum. I learned a lot about Folk Metal from him, he would only work shows like that so it was probably for NuclearBlast Records. He knew a lot of the smaller bands too that I'd never have found. We once ended up in the mountains somewhere for a big bonfire, I don't remember which band it was but they went back to nature in a big way that night (non PG) I remember the next day we saw two hitchhikers walking past and I think they called the police because a patrol car came and they were very curious.

The guys looked like they'd walked off of Game of Thrones (hence so many bands I know got bits on the show, the Vikings show too, many are Metal guys) and there was meat everywhere, so much sausage. They do that at Wacken too, grill a lot of meat to soak up all of their beer. That was my first and only camping trip. They washed in the river too, real mans stuff. all of the firewood was gathered from fallen trees, it felt like going back in time. I stayed awake all night because there was no way I was sleeping in the middle of nowhere but it was really memorable. Just Metal all night and the first time I saw a bonfire, it was huge and probably dangerous. It was their idea of an after party, going into the mountains and doing naughty things, also cooking a lot of meat with raw fire. I think they were Pagans, some of those bands are, not just for show, they live that life.

I do actually know Huun-Huur-Tu their music is highly respected. They were on of those State sponsored groups that really took off even internationally. I look at groups like that as something to preserve. They've performed everywhere, definitely in London but I've never known how to explain them to anyone. The Hu is a little easier to explain, I call them ThroatSingingMetal and I know no other band who even comes close to them. Rob Zombie likes them so much he brought them on tour. I'm trying to imagine what it must be like opening with Wolf Totem and then going straight to Rob, unforgettable.

You probably don't know Chthonic? They are more Melodic Death Metal but they have some great Folk songs too. They are so unique, their lead singer was a Taiwanese Ambassador, that's how I was introduced to their music. Normally trips like that are a bore-fest and I can't always hide headphones under my hair. So when I heard 'he is also a Metal singer' I went straight to him and asked was it true, then grabbed some headphones and spent the rest of the evening listening to his band on Youtube. I couldn't buy any CDs before we left but years later I saw them live. The acoustic isn't on Spotify, only Youtube.

I'm trying Orbina now, they are definitely different. They remind me of a Rock band I heard in Czech Republic, a really similar sound to my ears at least. I don't know if you think so too.