Still can't say that I'm all that interested in new/contemporary black metal, but give me some mid-tempo Bathory-style pummel infused with the coldness of Satyricon and I'll take it. Pretty sure the first vinyl run of the new Craft album "Void" is long-gone at this point, but maybe there's an obscuro distro out there with a copy or two left. Who knows? Not that I'm one to play the speculation game, but I bet it's worth grabbing if only just to flip at some point down the road.
Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult, the new band with the terrible name featuring Hank von Helvete (ex-Turbonegro) plus Tim Skold (ex-Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, Shotgun Messiah), Anders Odden (ex-Celtic Frost, Satyricon, Apoptygma Berzerk), Audun Stengel (ex-Apoptygma Berzerk, The Kovenant) and David Husvik (ex-Extol), have officially signed with and will be releasing their debut album on June 6. Hear some short, not-too-promising preview clips at the band's website: http://www.dmtmc.net/
Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby (nee Hank von Helvete) has found time between promoting Scientology and his Cornelis Vreeswijk biopic to form a new band called Dr. Midnight & the Mercy Cult featuring members from Extol, Marilyn Manson, Satyricon and Apotygma Berzerk. They are currently booked to play Slottsfjell-festivalen, but are expected to announce more dates soon.
Black metal in 2010, part I. Did the genre desert me or did I simply lose interest? I've been listening to this new Withershin EP ("The hungering void") and pondering these questions because, while I can tell the music is good, I still can't force myself to care. Well-executed melodic Swedish black death ala Dissection...? There's certainly room for more besides Watain. And yet, I feel nothing. I don't mean that in an ironic kvlt way either -- I'm really surprised by my lack of enthusiasm. So where did things go wrong I wonder? The genre did go through a certain amount of growing pains around the turn of the century and now things seem pretty evenly split among two major strains. First, we have the upper-tier established acts who have been going at it for years, some more progressive than others (Enslaved, Mayhem), others more content to drift towards the mainstream (Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir and seriously, WTF is up with this nonsense?). Some just keep on keeping on (Dark Funeral, Marduk), a few decided to abandon the genre completely (Darkthrone sorta, yes Ulver). Then, on the other hand, we have the new BM underground which, from my point of view, seems all too willing to embrace and accept sketchy politics and increasingly shitty, poorly recorded music. A race to the bottom, as I've mentioned here before I believe. The fact that I hear the new Burzum is getting a third vinyl repress bums me out. That means that competent bands like Withershin don't have a place anymore and boring, jaded dudes like me will shrug it off. I think my major hangup must be the lack of mystery in today's BM -- 15 years ago these bands were legitimately terrifying and sounded barely human. They burned down churches and killed each other and lived way off in some distant land that seemed far beyond reach. I distinctly remember hearing Emperor for the first time and how it sounded like absolutely nothing I had ever experienced. Then, a few years later, I remember seeing Emperor's first video and how amazingly disappointed it made me. No longer the aural expression of pure evil, here were a bunch of average metal dudes making an average metal video and playing dress-up in the woods. To say nothing about how boring they were live when I eventually saw them on tour, but the magic was forever lost and bands like Withershin have no hope to reclaim that. I don't know what's to be done though. Has the grim masquerade run its course? Can we start smiling at each other and simply enjoy the music for what it is, not what it used to represent?
Norwegian metal act Kvelertak has signed with Indie Recordings (Satyricon, Enslaved) and will be recordig their debut album in Boston with Kurt Ballou of Converge. Expect a June release in Norway, September everywhere else.
Deathmetal.org does a review round-up on a number of recent Norwegian metal releases: http://www.deathmetal.org/?p=395
Artists covered include Mord, Satyricon, Aura Noir, Keep of Kalessin, 1349 and more.
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.