BLACK METAL: A DOCUMENTARY

Black Metal: A Documentary

90 Minutes | Bill Zebub Productions | 2007

SYNOPSIS:

Black Metal: A Documentary features interviews with a variety of musicians who helped create and define this subgenre of heavy metal typified by dark subject matter. The program includes contributions from Darkthrone, Gloomy Grim, and Dark Funeral.

Source: http://youtu.be/wZd13-dSrAc

REVIEW:

What is Black Metal? Who started Black Metal? What's with all this talk about Satan? These are the typical questions asked by outsiders to the Black Metal scene. Actually, these are questions asked even by some people in the scene. If you want answers to these and many more questions pertaining to Black Metal this DVD is just about the best resource you're going to find. These questions are discussed, as well as a whole host of other topics pertaining to the music. This is a raw, lower budget video that cuts out all the crap and gets right to the point. One interesting thing is that there is no narrator. It's the bands themselves that do all the talking. The only outsider involved is one subject who asks questions. As the producer states in his brief introduction, this guy is there to basically let the viewer know when they are changing topics. He wants the artists to tell the story of Black Metal, not an outsider.

As far as the bands go, there are some lesser known bands and some real giants of Black Metal. Cronos is interviewed quite a bit, and is very outspoken. Interviews with Abbath in full corpse paint, and Tom Warrior, actually talking about what an abomination Cold Lake was, are simply priceless. Besides Venom, Immortal and Celtic Frost, other bands included are Gorgoroth, Enslaved, Darkthrone, King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Mortiis, Primordial, and Gloomy Grim, among others. There are a few live clips that are very cool, but that's not really what this DVD is all about.

What's very interesting is how the bands perceive things differently. While obviously all are spoken to at different times in different places, they are asked the same questions and cover the same subject matter. People may be surprised at the differences of opinion on certain subjects. But that's what makes this DVD great. Real artists, talking about something they're passionate about; the creation of the art, as well as the philosophy. At 90 minutes you really get your monies worth. Anyone with any curiosity at all about Black Metal, whether a fan or not should see this DVD. For fans of Black Metal this is a must have for their collection, as a matter of fact, any fan of any genre of Metal should check out this DVD, you will definitely enjoy it and learn a thing or two. - www.seaoftranquility.org

MISTS OF POVEGLIA - "Ambient Winter" Tape 2012

Among the myriad of black metal bands currently guarding our island nation, there exists an ambient world. A world of haunting noises and calming soundscapes that threaten to lead you to an underground world that could either guide you to madness of solitude. Mists of Poveglia is one such entity that sits within that ambient kingdom. The Ambient Winter tape was released in late December 2012 via Glorious North Productions. It was meant as a precursor to a release that will be coming out later this year. The tape was a collaborative release with fellow black metal/ambient label Winter Forest Industries.

The tape itself comes in a pro case with a fully printed, thick card six-panel insert, featuring liner notes and credits. The tape is entirely plain black apart from hand placed Mists of Poveglia sticker on one side. 

Tracklist:

1. Riding Under Threatening Sky

2. Whispers In Cold Kisses

3. Final Colours of The Evening

4. Vinterlands I Walk Alone Forever

5. Tracking Back Across The Range

6. Bitter Days of White & Beauty

7- 18. 20 Minutes of Ice Drift Loops

19. The Bridge (Bonus track)

The music contained on Ambient Winter is almost beyond description. Not because it's nonsensical, but because it’s almost futile to try and describe music such as this.

Opener, Riding Under The Threatening Sky is made up of looping, droning piano and faint voices. Whispers in Cold Kisses has more of an all-encompassing sound to it. The ambience sounds like one continuous note or group of notes, as opposed to the looping opener. There are subtle whispers placed within the track, which give it a haunting atmosphere. There are tracks on this tape, like Final Colours of The Evening that are very minimal to the point that you barely know they're playing. That minimalism disappears as the horns herald in Vinterlands I Walk Alone Forever. This is more of a majestic song, one that would stir emotions in even the hardiest of souls.

The tape stays focused because the song lengths are not overly long, so the effect of the music is magnified in a positive way. Tracking Back Across the Range is a perfect example of this. The ambient keys and horns last for almost five minutes, but those five minutes allow the song to breathe. The last song on side A of the tape is Bitter Days of White & Beauty. This closes the side with a rousing horn filled ensemble, which sees the volume level rise slightly. It's more purposeful and after the quieter moments in earlier songs, it reminds you of ambient music’s alignment to black metal.

Side B consists of around twenty minutes of icy noise loops, before ending with the bonus track The Bridge. The Bridge follows on from where Side A finished. This time though it's the strings that add the stirring effect to the music. The distant piano pulses in that background, almost like an echo in a distant valley. Even though this review seems short, it was intentional. There is no need to use too many words when describing this release; it's better to let the music guide your thoughts and opinions. 

Overall, this tape is a great bedfellow for any of your stark, cold black metal and something that you will crave to listen too, to help you escape from the crazy world in which you live.

You can listen to the whole tape (minus the icy loops) via the Glorious North Productions Bandcamp page below:

The tape itself can be purchased physically by clicking on the link no the above Bandcamp page.

Mists of Poveglia - http://www.facebook.com/MistsOfPoveglia

Glorious North Productions - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glorious-North-Productions

Winter Forest Industries - http://www.facebook.com/WinterForestIndustries

Reviewed by This Noise Is Ours - http://thisnoiseisours.blogspot.co.uk/

LEVIATHAN - "A Silhouette in Splinters" CD 2005

Artist: Leviathan
Title: A Silhouette in Splinters
Year: 2005
Label: Profound Lore Records

Wrest is one of the most complex and fascinating characters in Black Metal today. Barring all the controversy about his personal life, he remains a prolific and competent artist in multiple realms. He is the force behind not only Leviathan but Lurker of Chalice (my favorite album of 2006) and a contributor to Twilight, Nachtmystium and Sunn O))).

I can't praise this album enough. Whereas Leviathan is typically a project that emulates classic washed out and lo-fi depressive black metal recordings that always sound like demo tapes, you'll find no blastbeats here. This is a purely ambient venture that rivals the likes of early Lustmord. Droning layers of electric guitar slink across our conscious mental processes, navigating dark and untouched hemispheres of repressed memories. Meditative and patient, these environments quietly shriek of malevolence, misanthropy and discontent. 

Without resolution, this album eloquently leads us down a road toward hopelessness. Listening to this record is akin to watching the apocalypse unfold before your eyes after ingesting an overdose of sedatives.

1. Travelling Over The Ocean's Skull - 8:01
2. It Comes In Whispers Part:2 - 7:56
3. Particular Dis-Ease - 6:26
4. Shimmering With Horn Of Woe - 6:58
5. A Silhouette In Splinters - 10:42
6. Blood Red And True Part:2 [A Spell To Vanquish Sea Serpents] - 7:49

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mhg5dz5xyzm

WOODS OF DESOLATION - "Torn Beyond Reason" CD 2011

Band: Woods Of Desolation

Album: Torn Beyond Reason

Year: 2011

Label: Northern Silence Production

Genre: Depressive Atmospheric Black Metal

Woods of Desolation is a Depressive Black Metal band from Australia and was formed in 2005. Torn Beyond Reason was the band's second full lenght after myriads of demos and split releases since its formation. 

The quality of the sound in this full lenght is by far one of the best that ive heard so far. The multi layered guitars were utilized to its fullest potential creating a wide landscape of melancholic sound and atmosphere with the lead notes continued to soar high on top of the main riffs while the screaming vocals enchanted each and every song with sorrowful wails, broken but still hoping for one last breath of air. Clean melodic singing made its appearrance here and there but being heavy with reverbs and echoes, made the clean singing sounded hollow and empty.

This album contains six songs with play time reaching 37 minutes and 43 seconds. My favorite track would have to be the fourth track, The Inevitable End, which happens to be the longest track among the six. The riff and anchor melody for that particluar song is extremely melancholic and depressive. It was difficult to not let myself drown in the sorrowful and melancholic mood while listening to The Inevitable End. It does suit the title of the song rather perfectly. 

The remaining 5 each have their own gloomy moments that would made you want to stare towards a thousand miles nowhere.  Well, maybe the fifth track, November, was a bit out of place eventhough it is still a good track to listen to if you are feeling less melancholic. If you are worried that this album will contain the same riffs looped one thousand times in a song or those extremely slow paced drum beats per minute, then you dont have to worry about that with Torn Beyond Reason because there were various drum patterns incorporated here from blast beats, mid tempo to those droney ultra slow drums to everybodys liking.

I have read somewhere that the main man behind Woods of Desolation, D, took his time to craft this album and to me he did a magnificent job with each and every song in this album. One word to sum the whole album? Breathtaking. Even if you are not a fan of Depressive Black Metal, this album is still worth the experiment. I recommend this.

Source: http://depressedandsuicidal.blogspot.com

HAPPY DAYS - "Cause of Death : Life" CD 2012

Band: Happy Days

Album: Cause of Death : Life

Year: 2012

Label: Funeral Industries

Genre: Depressive Black Metal

Happy Days is a Suicidal Depressive Black Metal duo from Florida, United States and remains one of the better known act from the aforementioned subgenre. Cause of Death : Life is the band's fourth full length and it was released by the German label, Funeral Industries. 

I will be honest that I am not a huge fan of Happy Days but having said that, they have managed to release pretty decent albums and demos over the past few years since 2007. I liked the 2009 album, Happiness Stops Here because there were a few songs and riffs that managed to catch my ever demanding ears eventhough I could not really tolerate the lyrics.

But at the end of the day, who am I to say? To me, this subgenre had always been about personal expression, whether the listeners can relate to it or not, that would be a subjective decision. Respect should be given where respect should be given and they earned one from me for doing what they did.

Cause of Death : Life contains 15 songs spreading 1 hour 7 minutes and 41 minutes for the first disc and another 36 minutes and 43 seconds for the second disc.The song For These Wounds Will Never Be As Deep As This Emptiness contains a very good and mesmerizing lead. The same goes to the cold sound of Broken and the dark and angry Cold Aggression. Alone And Cold was a rerecorded track from their debut demo of the same name back in 2007. 8 minute mammoth of a song, I felt the eery aura of negativity creeping in after the 2 minute mark passed.  A good black metal listen indeed but suicidal? Did not quite made it there for me.

Source: http://depressedandsuicidal.blogspot.com

ALERION - "VIII Sanctuaires" LP/CD 2012

Artist: Alerion
Title: VIII Sanctuaires
Label: Le Crépuscule du Soir Productions

Alerion, the mythical bird on the coat of arms of Lorraine. According to the Legend, Godfroy de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, became the first king of Jerusalem during the first holy Crusade. To summon the allegeance, he did a miracle by killing 3 birds in flght with only one arrow. The second hidden meaning of Alerion lays in a anagram from the old french Loreina. The themes of the band are obvioulsy about the french history, in particular the Lorraine History, but they are also flowing with the Occult and old mysticism. 

VIII SANCTVAIRES is not a concept album. Its source lays into the proverb from Horace, "Laudator Tempori Acti": glorifying the past. Acts like 843 or Un Siecle plus tard concerns history of lorraine (division of Charlemagne's Kingdom, the great battle from Verdun). Other acts like Nocturne Morte, Loreina or Les Sequelles de la nuit are purely black poetry through mysticism like the legend of Icaros. Musically, those thems could only be transfigured in a mid tempo style, traditional and atmospheric. And to bring the symbolic of the band, the celestial flight from Alerion, a progressive touch seals the sanctuaries together.

An album very dark and cold, with a good sense of melody.

http://lecrepusculedusoir.yolasite.com/

U-731 - Mannheim (Free Digital Release)

A rallying war hymn sounds. The glorious march of a dead empire. Ghosts of their conquest and hopes of victory echoing on for eternity. Trumpets, war drums and enthusiasm. After the opening ceremony the crowd applauds as a solitary voice speaks to them of triumph and victory. Things turn sour. All the hopeful promises within the speech are slowly molested by a throbbing wall of noize. War march percussion and chanting of battle or rebellion (Of which I am unsure). Feedback and increasing intensity. The speech rings on. The march goes on. The noize grows thicker. It is as if the words spoken are polluting the air. Filth and grime building. Another failed system in the process of promise and decay. Deep pounding drums. Silence. He speaks. The sounds of enslavement and labour. Clang of metal. Buzzing of machinery. He speaks on. Promising, promising, promising. Always promising. Things grow increasingly bleak by the second. We are in the belly of the beast. Midway through this monolithic tribute to failure. Almost 20 mins in length. Various speeches from forgotten history are heard amidst the restless machines and slaves. They speak of many things but any hopes of a silver lining are long since forgotten. Out of silence bombs burst. Shrapnel pierces the heavens. A choir of angels sing a song of woe to humanity backed by the percussion of broken glass. Dense electronics. Whir of chopper blades. Thunder cracks and rain falls. The angels only watch and sing. Electronic noize begins to cut through the beautiful sorrowful atmosphere and ambience presented here. It can not hide the sadness try as it might. All fades into the sound static from an old vinyl. As if a fragmented memory of a lone Veteran who survived these hellish nightmares. Billie Holidays - Strange Fruit Plays on through the emptiness. Bitter memories of regret and loss are all that remain. http://oppressiveresistancerecords.bandcamp.com

REVIEW: ABATTOIR / OBSKURE PANDEMONIUM WEBZINE

BLACK METAL SATANICA

Black Metal Satanica | 80 Minutes | Doom Films Production | 2008

Black Metal Satanica is a documentary about, well, satanic Black Metal. The focus point is Scandinavian Black Metal, mainly Swedish. It starts with a few musicians giving a brief run through on Norse mythology, the history of the vikings and their uncompromising attitude toward Christianity, which was allegedly the rooting puzzle in answering the question why Black Metal was and still are so popular in Scandinavia.

To be honest, its a little bit cheesy for my liking. Everything in the documentary are nothing new to me. Their hatred towards Christianity, Norse mythology, Satanism, you know, the whole nine yards. I was expecting something different or at least something new.

The production was a bit gloomy and dark. Certain individuals giving interviews in the dark and all, and I was like, come on. Enough with that dark imagery and go straight to the music. Nobody gives a shit about your "darkness". 

Some of the interviewees, like Bjorn Almar, gave decent interviews and some were meh. I believe this was due to the fact that some of the individuals had to answer questions in english, it was a bit difficult to really make out what they were actually saying. 

Being a Swedish produced documentary, the documentary gave emphasis on the influence of Swedish black metal personalities, for example, highlighting Dead and the importance of his recruitment into Mayhem as being the focal point of the wave turning of Black Metal. I would rather have the documentary put more emphasis on Quarthon and Bathory instead, if they really wanted to highlight influential Swedish figures.

The documentary also touched on the evil acts that have been associated with Black Metal in the instance of grave desecration, church burnings and what not. And I was like, come on. And when you thought it would not get more funnier, you will also have a Blair Witch Project like segment where the crew was interviewing this one mysterious figure (so mysterious that they had to distort his voice) about grave desecration and all that pure evil stuff, and then the lights went out, they heard a bang and the mysterious person just vanished into thin air. The crew then went into some jungle to look for him. What the fuck? The comedy just wrote itself.  

The narrators. Oh man, do not get me started with the bloody narrators. They were trying too hard to sound evil and creepy and it ended out being funny as hell. The narratives were poorly written and was clearly written to spook everybody. And Euronymous? The grandfather of Black Metal? Really? It was called the second wave of black metal for a reason, asshole. How can he be a grandfather, if he was not from the first wave of Black Metal? If it were all up to me, that title would go to Quarthon. And Troll metal? What the fuck is a Troll Metal?

Well, this is just a poor poor production. But you can try and watch this video for the Blair Witch part. Hilarious. Sometime, I often wondered why nobody even tried to elaborate the character of its music instead of just focusing on the controversies and image. Why black metal sounded the way in it sounded. Why that particular chords or that particular progression. Anybody up to the challenge?

REVIEW: BENIGN NOR HAFEEZ / THE BULLET BELT PRESS

SOLUS - "Years of Wandering" CD 2013

The Hungarian Solus has long been one of my favorite bands. When I got the opportunity to obtain the this two-CD compiled does not thinking for a long time. The Nihil Interit Records by 33 copies of material published simple, but it received an consuming form.

Since the compilation of two previously unreleased tracks also include a few words about them hunt. The first of these is the "Beyond The Gates ...". Awesome as this song starts. Immediately create an ambience that makes an impression on people, that we break down the sky. Sinister symphonies. Strong and captivating. For this reason, a song is worth it to buy it because of this material. (The other song I do not forget) I need to hear this!

The second is the "Levitation" which is a nearly 15-minute dark ambient batch. There is no exaggeration, because of its simplicity was good. But I did not have to have a cavalcade of sounds, because with the dark ambient hypnotic power would have been lost. The first 10 minutes feel free elapse after which the final four minutes, culminating in what has been hidden behind a mask of calm.

Disc I
1. Eternal Tears of Moon - Night Oblivion Demo, 2010
2. Örök Átok - Screams from the Silent Forest Ep, 2009
3. Rogus - Screams from the Silent Forest Ep, 2009
4. Forgotten Visions - Forgotten Visions Demo, 2011
5. Obsessed by Lost Memories - Forgotten Visions Demo, 2011

Disc II
1. Shadows Behind Us - Cursed Woods Demo, 2013
2. Nightspirit - Forgotten Visions Demo, 2011
3. On Overgrown Paths - International Black Scene Vol.1 Split, 2010
4. Beyond the Gates ... - still unreleased bonus track
5. Levitation - still unreleased bonus track

D - all instruments and vocals
Layout by Patrik (Sinful Eternity)
Nihil Interit Records 2013 - 33 Copies

Solus
Nihil Interit Records

UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US

Until The Light Takes Us, Audrey Ewell & Aaron Aites.

I have managed to watch this yesterday and as a huge fan of documentary flicks and black metal music in general, I was quite disappointed with how "Until The Light Takes Us" turned out to be. In fact when I first heard the rumors about the making of this documentary a couple of years before its actual production, I was quite reserved as to how they're going to pull this off. Disappointed but I think I kind of saw that was coming.

I must admit that I am not really a big fan of the earlier Norwegian black metal music due to lack of exposure and to the fact that I could not really bring myself to tolerate with the lo-fi sound production, the gritty cold sound opted and championed by most of the bands from that era, although I have to say that I have always been a snotty fan of Immortal and the earlier stuff by Emperor. I have always been fascinated with the controversies though, thus the reason why I’ve made myself endure this time consuming piece of frog crap.

The phase was too sluggish. There were quite a number of scenes which I regard as absolutely unnecessary, absolute waste of time and contributed absolutely nothing to content of the documentary. For example, the part where they filmed the mighty Fenriz in a black metal art exhibition or the part where they filmed Frost doing some silly pantomime while cutting himself open and shocked some Greek teenage emo girls.

Do not miss the part where they found a crazy hobo, dressed that poor fucker with a leather jacket, corpse paint and all, and filmed that buffon doing a tap dance routine to a gothic score, headbang, metal horns and all. What does that got to do with black metal? I have no fucking idea. 

Basically, UTLTU is a documentary about the Norwegian Black Metal music scene, its history and its world renowned notoriety. If you are fascinated with the myriads of myths behind that celebrated scene, you might want to check this out just for fun. But if you are looking for in depth researches and investigations, I would simply recommend you to go and read Lord of Chaos.

Well, for a kick, you will be able to see Abbath and Demonaz, a whole chunk of Fenriz, a whole chunk Varg Vikernes, Some chunk of Frost, Hellhammer, Garm, Faust and some other names you might recognize. Dont forget Tony the tap dancing black metal clown.

REVIEW: BENIGN NOR HAFEEZ / THE BULLET BELT PRESS

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NORWAY

Once Upon A Time In Norway | 6o Minutes | Grenzelos Production | 2007

Once Upon A Time In Norway - The History of Mayhem and the Rise of Norwegian Black Metal, is basically a documentary aiming focus on the most notorious Norwegian black metal band of all time, the self proclaimed leader of the second wave of Scandinavian Black Metal elite, the infamous, the notorious, Mayhem.

This documentary is basically the most comprehensive record on the subject of Mayhem up to the event that made them, their music and their country world famous, straight from the horse’s mouth, from the members and former members of the band. You’ll have in depth interviews with Manheim (drums), Messiah (vocals), Necrobutcher (bass) (all three were from the first line up of the band together with Destructor, later known as Euronymous) and the whole other lots related to the band.

The documentary kicked off with an audio statement made by Count Grishnack justifying his infamous  criminal act of killing Mayhem’s guitarist, Euronymous back in 1993. Basically with that, I have already managed to perceive where would the climax of this documentary be. With Mayhem being the main subject matter, I don’t really blame the producers of this video for this easy let down. It is also funny that with that, I was also able to guess that this documentary would not give length to the post murder Mayhem.

You will be able to learn about the history of the band, through the tongues of Necro, Manheim and the gang as they recounts the idealism and philosophy behind the band and its music back in their early formative years and how they plot for world domination way before they even got a song to their name. A serious marketing strategy there, if you want to learn a thing or two.

It is also revealing to note how Satanism (the idea not really the cult) and politics influenced the development of the band in their earlier years, especially left wing politics in the likes of communism (Leninism and Stalinism) and how Euronymous and Manheim were so into communism. Euro went to the extent of being a card carrying member of a local communist party.

I love the fact that they organized the film into segments. You will have segments in the likes of history, politics, underground, dead, church burnings and so forth depending on the focus of the particular part of the documentary. So the build up was bits by bit which was very good for me. And of course, the main course would be Grishnack, the murders and the existence of the notorious Inner Circle.

I read from the internet that there are a few people out there complaining that this documentary lacked depth for failing to really elaborate on the reason why the Norwegian Black Metal scene existed in the first place, comparing it to Until The Light Take Us. Now, thats too far, blasphemous even. 

Well, I have to disagree. This is a very very good documentary and light years away from UTLTU. UTLTU was a horrendous piece of crap. Information were provided everywhere by everyone. You just need to know how to piece up the puzzles. Well, if that does not convince you, at least this video does not have a tap dancing clown doing head bangs and pumping metal horns, all over the fucking floor.

In all honesty, I love this documentary. It was professionally produced and very well written and organized. If you worship Mayhem and black metal, then you should go out and get (download) this. Oh, one more thing, this documentary is in Norwegian. Unless you are proficient in the language, I would suggest you make sure that the subtitles are available. 

REVIEW: BENIGN NOR HAFEEZ / THE BULLET BELT PRESS