Unholy Updates, Batman!

I feel like I've neglected this blog and thus the people who were kind enough to regularly utilize it. I feel this way because I have, which is why I dropped 7 Black Metal albums on all your heads. Take it as an apology. I'll try to update more frequently. I swear!

Wolves in the Throne Room

Band: Wolves in the Throne Room
Formed In: 2004
Genre: Black Metal
Country of Origin: USA

Album: Diadem of Twelve Stars
Year: 2006

1. Queen of the Borrowed Light
2. Face in a Night Time Mirror, Part 1
3. Face in a Night Time Mirror, Part 2
4. (A Shimmering Radiance) Diadem of 12 Stars

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=275LRPYK

Album: Two Hunters
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. Dea Artio
2. Vastness and Sorrow
3. Cleansing
4. I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PG8IVQUI


Wolves in the Throne Room are unique as far as Black Metal bands go, and not just because of their music. To quote Metal Archives: "The band’s ideology is quite different from many Black Metal bands. In interviews Wolves in the Throne Room have shown respect for left wing politics, radical environmentalism and “eco feminism”." Not only that, but some (possibly all, I can't recall, I read the review quite a while ago) of the band members live on a farm and farm their own food, making themselves almost entirely autonomous. Their rustic, focused and environmentally friendly outlook goes so far as to seep into their music: the music is incredibly organic. It feels like a product grown from nature itself. With the exception of "Dea Artio" from Two Hunters, all of the songs on their two full lengths are exceptionally long and make use of the time to explore Black Metal's capability for unorthodox song structure. The songs are as sprawling as a forest, rolling through many emotions and utilizing both harsh and beautiful riffs to create interesting and expressive walls of sound; their music forms a tapestry, so to speak. One thing I particularly like about them is the ocassional use of female vocals on both albums, which I find particularly stunning in "Cleansing" from Two Hunters. To come up for air and wrap this clogged paragraph up, I'll just say this: Wolves are a fantastic band who've created original, artistic Black Metal. So listen. Or you suck.

Enslaved - Frost

Band: Enslaved
Album: Frost
Genre: Black Metal
Country of Origin: Norway
Year: 1994

Track Listing:

1. Frost
2. Loke
3. Fenris
4. Svarte Vidder
5. Yggdrasil
6. Jotunblod
7. Gylfaginning
8. Wotan
9. Isöders dronning

Frost is a well known yet in a way oft overlooked second wave Black Metal album. When you say Norway people are more likely to mention early Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor or Darkthrone, but Enslaved are equally important and Frost is certainly a formidable album. Before mixing their Black Metal heavily with Progressive and Viking Metal, Enslaved played pure, somewhat raw Black Metal. Though Frost isn't as raw as their earlier material, it still has that thick-yet-thin Black Metal production that characterizes raw Black Metal. The riffs are fantastic and their influence on future bands can easily be seen. The music is mostly break neck, but offers nice variation and occassional, well placed synths. "Yggdrasil" is a particularly interesting song, it being slower and including acoustic guitars and some jaw harp, with chanting replacing the usual harsh growls. Frost is great as both an album and a history lesson and any fan of original Norwegian Black Metal should give it a shot.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OBBU08IY

Enochian Crescent - Black Church

Band: Enochian Crescent
Album: Black Church
Genre: Black Metal
Country of Origin: Finland
Year: 2006

Track Listing:

1. Tatan
2. Tango Absinto
3. Chalk Face
4. Thousand Shadows
5. Ghost Of Saturn
6. The Imperfect Vision
7. Hendekagrammaton
8. Tridents Clash
9. Black Church

Enochian Crescent are a very interesting band. They play melodic Black Metal that is more technical than most BM and their use of three vocalists results in some very cool and wild vocal tracks. Their music is interspersed with moments of cleaner guitar work, crafting a delicate balance between the harsh and graceful. The clean vocals on "Thousand Shadows" are another example of wonderful juxtaposition the band is capable of, switching from the harsh vocals to the more epic clean ones. Their lyrics, despite being Engrishy due to it being a second language for the band members, are more intelligent than what most bands muster and feel very arcane and esoteric in an indescribable way. One particularly impressive song lyrically is "Ghost of Saturn" (whose music video is here and worth it for the dancing nuns alone) which tackles the concept of old age. Overall, the album is fantastic and original and doesn't feature any weak spot; unless your a Black Metal "purist" who won't listen to anything that sounds better than Under a Funeral Moon, I'm sure you'll, at the very least, respect Enochian Crescent after listening to this album. I wholly recommend it.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6TPH991U

Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

Band: Blut Aus Nord
Album: Ultima Thulée
Genre: Black Metal
Country of Origin: France
Year: 1995

Track Listing:

1. The Son of Hoarfrost
2. The Plain of Ida
3. From Hlidskjalf
4. My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap
5. Till I Perceive Bifrost
6. On The Way to Vigrid
7. Rigsthula
8. The Last Journey of Ringhorn

Before Blut Aus Nord were making whacky Post-Black stuff like The Work Which Transforms God, they were a raw Black Metal band whose lyrics and music focused on Nordic mythology (hence the name, das typo and all). After changing their name from Vlad to Blut Aus Nord, they released Ultima Thulée, their first full length. "Ultima Thule" was a concept in the middle ages that denoted any land beyond the known reaches of the world and Blut Aus Nord utilize this concept, taking you far beyond into a frigid land by wrapping you up in frigid, raw riffs. The rawness really creates an atmosphere beyond what most raw Black Metal accomplishes. It's thick and encompassing while still leaving the riffs comprehensible. The ambience is further accented by echoing vocals and beautiful ambient electronics that are interspersed in all the right places without overstaying their welcome, in a way it reminds me of Varg's tactful synth use in Filosofem. The brilliance of the synths is best seen on the two ambient tracks, the haunting and reverent "My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap" and gorgeous and ethereal "Rigsthula." This is a must have for any fan of raw Black Metal and any fan of Blut Aus Nord who is interested in what they sounded like in their early years.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C3KVDK2I

Bosse-de-Nage - Demo I

Band: Bosse-de-Nage
Album: Demo I
Genre: Black Metal
Country of Origin: USA
Year: 2006

Track Listing:

1. Untitled

Technically this is a 5 song demo, but whoever ripped the tape left it as one, long track. Either way, it's excellent and worth a listen. It's incredibly raw and while it doesn't tread any new ground it manages its particular style of Black Metal very well and compellingly, making it a treat for the ears for any fan of raw Black Metal.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HVMVPY2S

December Wolves - Blasterpiece Theatre

Band: December Wolves
Album: Blasterpiece Theatre
Genre: Industrial influenced Post-Black Metal
Country of Origin: USA
Year: 2002

Track Listing:

1. Warning
2. Desperately Seeking Satan
3. April Fools Day
4. Do Not Entry
5. Kolobos
6. Porn Again Christian
7. Public Aquarian Freebase
8. Solid Gold Beating
9. Sharing Needles
10. Disclaimer
11. To Kill... Again

December Wolves play incredibly chaotic, harsh yet clearly produced Post-Black Metal with Industrial overtones. They make use of some amazing sound clips too, my personal favorite being the soliloquy by the paranoic psychopath at the beginning of "Public Aquarian Freebace." I wholly suggest to people who like music that kicks them in the ass and grates against their ears.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D0SQCJWK

Nokturnal Mortum - Lunar Poetry

Band: Nokturnal Mortum
Album: Lunar Poetry
Genre: National Socialist Symphonic Black/Folk Metal
Country of Origin: Ukraine
Year: 1996

Track Listing:

1. Tears Of Paganism
2. Lunar Poetry
3. Perun's Celestial Silver
4. Carpathian Mysteries
5. ...And Winter Becomes
6. Ancient Nation
7. The Grief Of Oriana
8. Sorrows Of The Moon (Celtic Frost cover)
9. Autodafe / Barbarian Dreams
10. Return Of The Vampire Lord

NM's third and last demo. Absolutely stunning raw Black Metal with beautiful folky synths. Absolutely stupendous. Every Black Metal fan should give this demo a listen.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L9LKMQ00

Valfunde/Amesoeurs - Split

Bands: Valfunde, Amesoeurs

Album: Valfunde/Amesoeurs Split
Genre: Black Metal (Valfunde), Black Metal/Post-Rock (Amesoeurs)
Country of Origin: France
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. Hopital (Valfunde)
2. "Serenade" De Verlaine (Valfunde)
3. Les Ruches Malades (Amesoeurs)

First post in 15 days! And just in time for Christmas, yay! This wonderful split contains two new Valfunde songs, which sound much like Peste Noire's Folkfuck Folie; not surprisingly, given that Valfunde is Famine's (solo?) project. The new Amesoeurs song is brilliant and features Audrey on vocals; the production is bit less polished but that doesn't stop the song from being gorgeous, clear and atmospheric.

http://www.mediafire.com/?em1mj2yguw2

Black Lotus - Light Subsides

Band: Black Lotus
Album: Light Subsides
Genre: Black/Folk Metal
Country of Origin: Canada
Year: 2006

Track Listing:

1. Helios Amaranthine
2. Signatura Rerum
3. Canis Lupus Luna - The Song of Boreas
4. Seal 46
5. Incandescence (instrumental)
6. Machinery Brings Mold
7. Cosmic Currents
8. Light Subsides
9. Told in Chivalry

Canadian Black/Folk Metal. I can't remember much about the band and can't be bothered to interrupt Lunar Aurora. Requested by a friend, regardless.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=890WYYUW

Gallhammer - Ill Innocence

Band: Gallhammer
Album: Ill Innocence
Genre: Black Metal/Crust Punk
Country of Origin: Japan
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. At the Onset of the Age of Despair
2. Speed of Blood
3. Blind My Eyes
4. Delirium Daydream
5. Ripper in the Gloom
6. Killed by the Queen
7. Song of Fall
8. World to be Ashes
9. SLOG
10. Long Scary Dream

Thick and bassy Black Metal from Japan, and all the band members are women! Omigosh. Anyway, excellent almost brutal album.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M9XU35GQ

Havoc Unit - h.IV+

Band: Havoc Unit
Album: h.IV+ (Horse Industrial Viremia)
Genre: Industrial Post-Black/Death Metal
Country of Origin: Finland
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. مبيد الدّيدان [Vermicide]
2. I.esus
3. When Snuff is No Longer Enough
   
4. Gen.eration Gen.ocide
5. Kyrie Eleison
6. Nihil
7. Man Vs. Flesh
8. Ignoratio Elenchi
9. Kill All Nations
10. Kristallnacht
11. Klan Korps
12. Rape Scene Act 1

Havoc Unit is the new face of ...And Oceans and they play some pretty pretty Post-Black/Death Metal. Pummeling stuff, with some cool sound clips here and there. Still doesn't top A.M.G.O.D. though.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dmlzgcgwozp

...And Oceans - A.M.G.O.D.

Band: ...And Oceans
Album: Allotropic Metamorphic Genesis of Dismorphism (A.M.G.O.D.)
Genre: Industrial Black Metal
Country of Origin: Finland
Year: 2001

Track Listing:

1. Intelligence Is Sexy
2. White Synthetic Noise
3. Tears Have No Name
4. Esprit de Corps
5. Odious & Devious
6. Of Devilish Tongues
7. Postfuturistika
8. TBA in a Silver Box
9. New Model World

Fantastic and bizarre Industrial Black Metal with great riffs and a pleasingly thick guitar tone. Very good stuff and a must have for anyone who wants some interesting Black Metal that goes against the grain.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2d4tmcckzxm

Fanisk - Noontide

Band: Fanisk
Album: Noontide
Genre: National Socialist Black Metal
Country of Origin: USA
Year: 2003

Track Listing:

1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI

Excellent NSBM from the US, the song writer is the same guy who does Eldrig so if you enjoyed Kali you'll love this. There's plenty of fantastic riffs and wonderful synths and the lyrics are pretty good for NSBM. Recommended.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z5FGK58O

Blutklinge - Call of the Blackened Woods

Band: Blutklinge
Album: Call of the Blackened Woods
Genre: Depressive Black Metal
Country of Origin: Germany
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. Adversary
2. Call of the Blackened Woods
3. Die Lichtung

Reminiscent of Drudkh, a kind of mix between that Drudkh or Wolves of the Throne Room-esque Foresty Black Metal and the Krohm and Shining-esque Depressive Black Metal atmosphere and sound.

http://www.mediafire.com/?50ezcjpw0fy

The Project Hate MCMXCIX - In Hora Mortis Nostrae

Band: The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Album: In Hora Mortis Nostrae
Genre: Industrial Melodic Death Metal
Country of Origin: Sweden
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. Annihilation of All That Is Holy
2. Crawling Through the Infinite Fields of Carnage
3. Serenades of Rotten Flesh
4. For Our Name Is Chaos Eternal
5. Tear Down the Walls of Heaven
6. And Damnation Is Forced Upon the Weak
7. The Innocence of the Three-Faced Saviour

New Project Hate; Melodic Death Metal with epic, Industrial influenced songs and female backing vocals. Not sure how I feel about it compared to their earlier work yet.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S1SOH2NG

Neun Welten - Valg

Band: Neun Welten
Album: Valg
Genre: Neofolk
Country of Origin: Germany
Year: 2004

Track Listing:

1. Valg
2. Nebelland
3. Wald Quell

EP by instrumental Neofolk group Neun Welten, fantastic stuff.

http://www.mediafire.com/?8kybym4yggx

In Gowan Ring - Hazel Steps Through a Weathered Home

Band: In Gowan Ring
Album: Hazel Steps Through a Weathered Home
Genre: Neofolk
Country of Origin: USA
Year: 2002

Track Listing:

1. Orb Weavers
2. Hazel Steps
3. The Seer And The Seen
4. Kingdom Of The Shades
5. Morning's Waking Dream
6. A Poet's Lyre
7. Wind That Cracks The Leaves
8. Two Towers

One of my favorite Neofolk records.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ej9agkhnojs

Nature and Organisation - Beauty Reaps The Blood of Solitude

Band: Nature and Organisation
Album: Beauty Reaps The Blood of Solitude
Genre: Neofolk
Country of Origin: England
Year: 1994

Track Listing:

1. Introduction
2. Wicker Man Song
3. Blood Of Solitude I
4. Bloodstreamruns
5. My Black Diary
6. Tears For An Eastern Girl
7. Beauty Destroyed
8. Skeletontonguedworld
9. Obsession Flowers As Torture
10. Blood Of Solitude II
11. Bonewhiteglory

Some of the most beautiful Neofolk I've ever heard. It's the work of Michael Cashmore of Current 93, and features David Tibet of Current 93 on vocals, as well as Douglas P. and Rose McDowall. I can only hope that everyone will be able to appreciate this gorgeous piece of art.

Note: The album is in m4a, sorry.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4WB6FWI0

Decapitated

Band: Decapitated

Formed In: 1996
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Country of Origin: Poland

In honor of Decapitated's now former drummer Vitek, who died on the 2nd, here's Decapitated's two best albums:

Album: Nihility
Year: 2002

Track Listing:

1. Perfect Dehumanisation (The Answer?)
2. Eternity Too Short
3. Mother War
4. Nihility (Anti-Human Manifesto)
5. Names
6. Spheres of Madness
7. Babylon's Pride
8. Symmetry of Zero

Decapitated's second album.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DPKZCV7O

Album: Winds of Creation
Year: 2000

Track Listing:

1. Winds of Creation
2. Blessed
3. The First Damned
4. Way to Salvation
5. The Eye of Horus
6. Human's Dust
7. Nine Steps
8. Dance Macabre
9. Mandatory Suicide (Slayer cover)

Decapitated's first album.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HR4ES7E3

R.I.P. Vitek: 1/24/84 - 11/2/07