Might as well keep on posting more videos, especially since I'm stumbling across a lot of good ones. This is Watain performing a tribute to Swedish metal legends Bathory from Sweden Rock Fest this past weekend. Quorthon's father Börje "Boss" Forsberg gives the intro speech. As the poster of the clip says, "the picture is a bit shitty in the beginning and starts working after the song starts for some unknown reason. Sound is ok." Wish I could've been there!
Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdTHFe6-qg8
01. Lasse Stefanz - Texas
02. Erik Grönwall - Somewhere between a rock and a hard place
03. Eric Saade - Masquerade
04. Kalle Mmoraeus - Underbart
05. Sabaton - Coat of arms
06. Imperial State Electric - Imperial State Electric
07. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
08. Timoteij - Längtan
09. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
10. Anna Bergendahl - Yours sincerely
11. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
12. Titanix - Drömmar får liv
13. Johnossi - Mavericks
14. Scotts - Vi gör det igen
15. The Ark - In full regalia
16. Watain - Lawless darkness
17. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
18. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
19. Cookies n Beans - Beg, borrow and steal
20. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland - International version
"Have you heard the new Watain?"
"Yeah, it's weird... it's got hooks"
"True, but they've always kind of had that. I dunno, it just doesn't do much for me"
"Me neither"
I paraphrase, but that's more or less the discussion I had with a friend on the subject of "Lawless darkness", Watain's latest album. As I was saying earlier in the first part of my examination of black metal in 2010, I often wonder if my disinterest has more to do with me than it has to do with the actual music. I've been actively listening to the album for a couple weeks now and while I'm still not that into it, there's nothing definitely wrong with it either, at least not that I can pinpoint. But it does also play into the subject I brought up before: modern BM's lack of mystery. They still sport some of the best corpse paint around, looking more like the rotting undead than evil clowns, but then again, I'm looking at their spread in Terrorizer and thinking, god, this is all so corny. Not that everyone should emulate Portal all of a sudden, but that band is pretty much the only BM act I can think of whose image is as creepy/fearsome as their music. Like I've been saying: the element of mystery is crucial! Also, though Watain frontman Erik Danielsson no longer goes by the letter E, I kinda wish they would just shed the artifice entirely at this point. It's not necessary, it's distracting and arguably, seeing as how they are currently the most popular black metal band in the world right now who still managed to retain their cred, they could easily get away with it. Still, I suppose it could be me. I'll keep listening and hoping that it eventually clicks.
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?
Drummer Håkan Jonsson has left Swedish metal act Die Hard to concentrate full-time on his work with Watain. The band will continue on in the meantime with session drummer E. Forcas until a replacement can be found and will be going into the studio May 7-10 to record a new EP for release this coming Halloween via .
Apparently Watain will be performing a 45-minute Bathory tribute set at next year's Sweden Rock festival to commemorate the anniversary of Quorthon's death. Whether that alone makes Sweden Rock worth attending remains to be seen.
Swedish doom act Saturnalia Temple has signed with US label The Anja Offensive (Watain, Deathspell Omega) for the release of their self-titled debut full-length. The band aims to record over the winter for a summer/autumn 2010 release.
The nominees for this year's Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy, have been announced:
Rhythm: Kapten röd - Stjärnorna finns här (SwingKids/Border) Million stylez - From a far (Bonnier Music/Bonnier Amigo) Governor Andy – Underhållningsmaskinen (KBC Music/Border) Livelihood - Sagans Sånger (SwingKids/Border)
Pop/Electronica: Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Service/Border) The Honeydrips - Here Comes The Future (Sincerely Yours/Playground Music) Erik de Vahl - Oh! My Spine The Mary Onettes - The Mary Onettes (Labrador/Border)
Rock/Rockabilly/Blues/Garage: Murder by Guitar - On Parade (Human audio recordings/Sounds of Subterrania) Maharajas - In Pure Spite (Low Impact Recordings/Sound Pollution) Alex Face - Smell Like A Woman (Alleycat/Sound Pollution) High Hats - Too Much Is Never Enough (Alleycat/Sound Pollution)
Hardrock/Metal: Arch Enemy - Rise of the tyrant (Century Media/EMI) Dark Tranquillity - Fiction (Century Media/EMI) Hardcore Superstar - Dreamin' in a casket (Gain/Sony BMG) Watain - Sworn to the dark (Season Of Mist/Sound Pollution)
Hiphop/R&B/Soul: Timbuktu - Oberoendeframkallande (Juju Records/Playground Music) Adam Tensta - It's A Tensta Thing (K-Werks/Border) Ken - Äntligen hemma (Pope/Playground Music) Basutbudet - Startpaketet/Pluspaketet (Devrim/V2/Bonnier Amigo)
Experimental: Jean-Louis Huhta - Halfway Between the World and Death (Slottet Records/Dotshop.se) Mårten Falk - Eclectric Guitar Experience (dB Productions/CDA) Rolf Enström - Quarks (Caprice Records/CDA) Tape & Minamo - Birds of a Feather (Headz/Dotshop.se)
Dance: Mikael Stavöstrand - Various productions 2007 The Field - From here we go sublime (Kompakt) Minilogue – Orglar (Minilogue Rec) Hug - Heroes (Kompakt)
Folk/Ballad: Ale Möller Band - Djef Djel (Amigo/Bonnier Amigo) Various Artists - Poem, ballader och lite blues - Återbesöket (Amigo/Bonnier Amigo) Lisa Rydberg och Gunnar Idenstam - Bach på svenska (Gazell Records AB/Bonnier Amigo) Sofia Karlsson - Visor från vinden (Amigo/Bonnier Amigo)
Jazz: Ludvig Berghe Trio - An unplayed venue (Moserobie Music Production/Bonnier Amigo) e.s.t. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - e.s.t Live in Hamburg (ACT/Bonnier Amigo) Adåker, Milder, Stenson, Danielsson, Öström - Miles by Five (Touché Music AB/CDA) Lennart Åberg & Norrbotten Big Band - Up north (Caprice Records/CDA)
Synth: Emmon - The art and the evil (Wonderland records) Endless Shame - Price of Devotion (KTOWN Records/Misty Music) Mr Jones Machine – Återvändsgränd (Progress Productions/Border Music) Terror Punk Syndicate - Extended Playtime (Progress Productions/Border Music)
Punk/Hardcore: Wolfbrigade - Prey to the world (Agipunk/Unrest/MCR/Sound Pollution) The Accidents - Summer dreams (Burning Heart/Epitaph/Bonnier Amigo) Auktion - Spader ess (Cage Match Federation/Border) The Mockingbirds - Always late and not even close (HepTown Records/Sound Pollution)
Singer/Songwriter: Christian Kjellvander - I Saw Her From Here/I Saw Here From Her (Startracks/V2/Bonnier Amigo) Kristofer Åström - Rainaway Town (Startracks/V2/Bonnier Amigo) José González - In Our Nature (Imperial/Playground Music) Mattias Bärjed - Originalmusiken till Upp till kamp! (Razzia/Bonnier Amigo)
Best Live Artist: Familjen Säkert! Maia Hirashawa Laakso
Pitchfork's 'Show No Mercy' metal column rounds up some of the year's best albums and gets a few lists from contributors such as Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) and Svein Egil Hatlevik (Zweizz): http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47248-column-show-no-mercy
Scandinavian highlights on said list include Watain, Bergraven, Ulver and DHG.