The roots of Norwegian death metal

DeathMetal.org talks the history of Norwegian death metal with Fenriz (Darkthrone), Anders Odden (Cadaver) and Kjetil Manheim (Mayhem): http://www.deathmetal.org/death_metal/music/norwayDM.html

Engangsgrill e-card

Check out an e-card for Engangsgrill, the doom split featuring Fenriz from Darkthrone and Nattefrost from Carpathian Forest: http://www.indierec.no/ecards/engangsgrill

Terrorizer talks to Fenriz about Engangsgrill

Terrorizer interviews Fenriz (Darkthrone) about his recently unearthed doom project Engangsgrill: http://www.terrorizer.com/content/fenriz-talks-about-his-unearthed-doom-rarities

Presenting: Engangsgrill; feat. Fenriz, Nattefrost

Check out Engangsgrill, a split project featuring Fenriz from Darkthrone and Nattefrost from Carpathian Forest playing their version of stoner-rock: http://www.myspace.com/engangsgrill
The debut album is out on May 11 via Indie Recordings.

Hole in the Sky celebrates 10 years with 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky'

Norway's Hole in the Sky festival will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with a special all-star performance featuring Enslaved plus members of Darkthrone, Emperor, Mayhem and possibly more. Read on: http://www.holeinthesky.no/

MP3: October Falls - IV

I don't keep up with black metal much anymore since the scene has become so large and fragmented. Of course I still follow the old heavies (Enslaved, Darkthrone, Satyricon, etc.), but there's so much new crap to wade through, I rarely bother. Every once in a while though I'll come across something, whether in print or from a personal recommendation, that will pique my interest and I'll check it out. So I don't know if it's this more reserved approach or a much-improved bullshit detector, but I'm finding that the few new BM acts I'm checking out tend to be above-average. Hence my latest example, October Falls from Finland. Their sound is a tad on the retro side -- I hear echoes of "Nightside eclipse"-era Emperor, a bit of early Ulver -- but it's also progressive in a way that brings to mind US artists such as Weakling and Wolves in the Throne Room. The Wolves comparison is especially apt actually, especially in the way they embrace environmental themes. After all, the album this track is from is entitled "The womb of primordial nature". Now I can't say if they're involved with eco-terrorism as has been insinuated about Wolves, but does it really matter? So much of BM's appeal is in the mystery behind the artists. Anyhow, it all comes down to the music in the end and October Falls makes beauitful, epic soundscapes that takes on qualities of shoegaze and drone, but always remains undeniably metal. Perhaps not melodic enough to win over non-metal converts like, say, Alcest, but very recommended for anyone interested in hearing that old mid-90s sound made fresh.

October Falls - IV

Unrestrained interviews Darkthrone

Darkthrone has reprinted their excellent new interview from Unrestrained: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=123087153&blogID=466345918 Recommended reading!

Decibel hangs with Darkthrone

Darkthrone are the cover story for the new issue of Decibel: http://decibelmagazine.com/Content.aspx?ncid=260003

Sirius playlist week #51

Here's the playlist for this week's (all-punk/hardcore) radio show:

01. Darkthrone - Hiking metal punks
02. TALK 1
03. Ebba Grön - Staten & kapitalet
04. Massgrav - Jävla fittor
05. Disfear - Live the storm
06. Samtidigt Som - För jag tror att ingen annan kan känna såhär för dig
07. TALK 2
08. We Live In Trenches - Autonomy clinic
09. MABD - Kom kom
10. Black Sheep - Crazy world
11. C.Aarmé - Ti ca tu a
12. Sods - Television sect
13. TALK 3
14. No Hope for the Kids - Rainy day
15. Frivolvol - Take it from the beginning
16. Hanna Hirsch - Ingen kommer sakna oss
17. Silver - Drenched in comfort
18. TALK 4
19. Randy - Win or lose
20. Victims - Your division
21. Smalltown - Warning
22. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Bodybuilder
23. M:40 - Sista tiden
24. TALK 5
25. Hebosagil - Cosmic

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XM U. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers. Next week's show (December 28/29) will be all jazz.

Top 10s for 2008: Mattias Alkberg (The Bear Quartet/MABD)

What does Fenriz see?

Fenriz from Darkthrone does Rorschach tests for Legacy Document: http://legacydocument.blogspot.com/2008/12/rorschach-test-subject-6-fenriz-do-i.html

Podcast: 2008 ugliness

Listen to a sweet classic metal mix put together by Fenriz of Darkthrone: http://fairtilizer.com/track/darkthrone

Scandinavian metallers making the Pitchfork "Show No Mercy" top albums of 2008 list include Enslaved, Disfear, Darkthrone and The Haunted. Read more, including guest lists from two of the dudes in Enslaved: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/147495-column-show-no-mercy

MP3: Darkthrone - Hiking metal punks

If you can't understand my love of Darkthrone, there's a good chance that you and I just won't get along. I'm not saying you have to share my appreciation, but you need to know where I'm coming from. Modern-day Darkthrone epitomizes everything that's awesome about heavy metal and underground music. They take the best elements of NWOBHM, black metal and punk rock and distill it into something purely Darkthrone -- it's raw and filthy, yet eminently classic. "Hiking metal punks"? Ridiculous, right? Again, that's what's so great about it! These dudes love to go hiking in the mountains with their metal friends, so it's only natural that they're going to immortalize the experience in song. Remember, metal is supposed to be the soundtrack of social misfits, so this fits perfectly. If you listen to old metal, you should already know that a lot of metal is pretty damn goofy; why should Darkthrone be any different? Because they were once grim black-metal warriors? Don't forget, they also used to be a solid death-metal band once upon a time. People change. They evolve, or in this case, regress. No more false edifice or silly posing, just 100% pure heavy metal. All that's left is pure love.

Darkthrone - Hiking metal punks