Podcast: Nekromantik Norway

MP3: Waklevören - Oslo spy

Not that it needs to be reiterated, but Norway's been ruling the scene when it comes to filthy metal/punk. Darkthrone, Obliteration, Okkultokrati, Haust... all top-notch acts. See also: Waklevören. I'm making a mix, it'll be posted this weekend and it'll include this track.

Waklevören - Oslo spy

MP3: Withershin - Wherein I exalt

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?

Withershin - Wherein I exalt

Sirius playlist week #21

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Elephant9 - Fugl fønix
02. TALK 1
03. Håkan Lidbo - X-Bot-DXC vs MC-Monstrux - EuroAsian Warzone Cronicle
04. Disco Ensemble - Protector
05. Kausal - Evac
06. TALK 2
07. Smoke Mohawk - Murder attempt
08. Masshysteri - Dom kan inte höre musiken
09. MF/MB/ - The big machine
10. Chicagojazzen - VI
11. TALK 3
12. Monty - Seglaren
13. Sweatmaster - Turnover
14. The Aches - Count slowly to ten
15. Dismember - Misanthropic
16. TALK 4
17. Camouflage - Syster sol
18. EL-SD - SÖSJÖ
19. Darkthrone - Those treasures will never befall you
20. TALK 5
21. Deathbed - Black sky

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Trapped Under Vice IV

Fenriz of Darkthrone has put together yet another mix for Vice, 'cept this time he's got some help from Sindre Solem of mighty Norwegian death metal act Obliteration: http://afistinthefaceofgod.blogspot.com/2010/05/trapped-under-vice-vol.html
Not a lot of Scandinavian selections this time (actually, just one), but don't sweat it -- every mix that's been posted so far has been a winner.

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Gitarkameratene - Kanon! Gitarkameratenes aller beste
02. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
03. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
04. Jenny & Arne - From Our Hearts
05. Chand Torsvik - Kongeriket Norge
06. Aleksander With - Still Awake
07. Finn Kalvik & Hans Erik Fosnes - Neste Stasjon Grorud
08. Raga Rockers - Shit Happens
09. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix 2010
10. Ingrid Olava - The Guest
11. Torbjørn Egner - Samlede CD-er
12. Navigators - The Straight And Narrow
13. Thom Hell - All Good Things
14. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
15. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
16. Ketil Bjørnstad - Remembrance
17. Sigrid Moldestad - Sandkorn
18. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons
19. Staut - Staut
20. Diverse artister - Mgp Jr 2008

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
02. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
03. Chand Torsvik - Kongeriket Norge
04. Jenny & Arne - From Our Hearts
05. Aleksander With - Still Awake
06. Raga Rockers - Shit Happens
07. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix 2010
08. Ingrid Olava - The Guest
09. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons
10. Batteri - Batteri
11. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
12. Torbjørn Egner - Samlede CD-er
13. Navigators - The Straight And Narrow
14. Staut - Staut
15. Serena Maneesh - S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor
16. Thom Hell - All Good Things
17. Hanne Boel & Carsten Dahl - I Think It Is Going To Rain
18. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
19. Audrey Horne - Audrey Horne
20. Hilde Louise Asbjørnsen - Never Ever Going Back

Dagsavisen vs. Fenriz

Dagsavisen interviews Fenriz of Darkthrone: http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/musikk/article480086.ece (in Norwegian)

Sirius playlist week #15

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
02. TALK 1
03. Per Egland - Merkurius brinner (Martin Senter remix)
04. Gösta Berlings Saga - Bergslagen
05. TALK 2
06. Moses - Warning
07. Repoman - Flock of jackdaws
08. Darkthrone - I am the graves of the 80s
09. TALK 3
10. Pallers - The kiss
11. Ikons - Slow light (Pistol Disco remix)
12. TALK 4
13. Herätys - Pelkkää pahoinvointia
14. Love Is All - Bigger bolder
15. Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
16. TALK 5

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Sirius playlist week #13

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Brothers of End - Beats for you (Rasmus Hägg remix)
02. TALK 1
03. Haust - A final effort
04. Rasmus Kellerman - Five years from now
05. Echo Is Your Love - Playlist song
06. EL-SD - Walking sideways
07. TALK 2
08. Axe - Harm
09. Khoma - From the hands of sinners
10. Zeigeist - Bunny
11. C.Aarmé - Assuan
12. TALK 3
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - This is the day
14. Sonic Ritual - Early graves
15. Death By Kite - Pills
16. Susanne Sundfør - O master
17. TALK 4
18. Simian Ghost - Star receiver
19. Moloken - Untitled III
20. Darkthrone - I am the graves of the 80s
21. TALK 5

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

MP3: Sonic Ritual - Early graves

Gonna continue with another mp3 post of dirtball metal-punk because, well, just because. Metal was my first musical obsession so it's never far from my heart, but we do fall out of favor from time to time. As any fan will tell you, the stereotypes are true too often and they make for a major stumbling block to the uninitiated; factor in a serious predilection towards the worst, most over-compressed, trigger-happy recordings ever and there's plenty not too like. Still though, I stick it out because metal has and always will be very important to me and also, despite all the machismo and misogyny, classic Heavy Metal (in caps, always) is the one kind of music my wife and I see eye-to-eye on. Can't get her into most modern torch-bearers though, but I try and Sonic Ritual are probably one of the better candidates -- unlike Darkthrone (see yesterday), the vocals are always clean, they've got strong choruses and they have a female guitarist. I wish the latter wasn't important, but in a male-dominated world/genre, it most certainly is. Anyhow, whether or not you know that shouldn't affect your appreciation of the music because these dudes rip. "Early graves" is the first taste of what will be their debut LP I believe and, as always, I'm eager to hear more.

Sonic Ritual - Early graves

MP3: Darkthrone - Those treasures will never befall you

Darkthrone doing vocal harmonies? Holy shit! They regressed to the most primal form of black metal a few years back and now they're slowly evolving forward again with "Circle the wagons". And really, aside from the overall rawness of their sound and a few extra-blackened riffs, the Darkthrone of 2010 is not far from the glorious sound of prime-era 80s Heavy Metal, a sound I'm learning to appreciate more and more with each passing day. All the fools who continue their race to the bottom, chasing down the harshest, most inept and racist/nationalist/totalitarian black metal possible to fulfill whatever pissing contest obsessions they have can fuck right off; I've got no use for that garbage and neither should you.

Darkthrone - Those treasures will never befall you

The Out Door: Darkthrone

Pitchfork talks to Fenriz of Darkthrone in their new column "The Out Door": http://pitchfork.com/features/columns/7777-the-out-door-1/4/

He is the working class

Darkthrone, black metal and class war as discussed by 138 aka Christoffer Jonsson in Aftonbladet: http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article6704030.ab (in Swedish)

Metal Punk Bliss

Another mostly OT post, but again, totally worth checking out: Fenriz of Darkthrone has made another mix for Vice, this time featuring tracks from his vinyl collection for a mix he called "Metal Punk Bliss": http://www.viceland.com/music/2010/03/a-fist-in-the-face-of-god-fenriz-presents%E2%80%A6-trapped-under-vice-vol-iii/
Featured Scandinavian artists include Puke and Darkthrone ('natch!).