Euronymous and Dead (Mayhem) - Slayer 'Zine # 8 - 1991

Dead (L) and Euronymous (R), 1990 or 1991, in the Kråkstad house

The interview featured here with both Mayhem's Euronymous and Dead from Metalion's Slayer 'Zine is one of the most cited and infamous interviews of black metal's entire history.  You've likely read portions of it already, as it's been directly quoted if not outright reprinted in every tome treating the genre, not to mention in more articles on the band and black metal in general than I'm even aware of.  It is absolutely mandatory reading.

Euronymous and Dead - Slayer 'Zine # 8 - 1991

The mythology of Mayhem has, at this point, entered into canonical legend, and I won't recount it here.  Perhaps at some point I'll do a full write-up of black metal's history, but that is a different (and massive) undertaking altogether.  It is, at the very least, worth pointing out that by 1991, Dead was, erm, dead, and Euronymous followed suit in 1993.  Mayhem, while having been around longer than nearly everybody else as far as "second-wave" black metal is concerned, produced surprisingly little material from 1987 to 1994 (the primary years of concern for this blog).  "Freezing Moon" and "Carnage," a pair of tracks recorded in 1990 for the Projections of a Stained Mind compilation on the Swedish Chicken Brain Records, were the only Mayhem studio recordings to feature the "classic" lineup of Euronymous (guitars), Dead (vocals), Necrobutcher (bass), and Hellhammer (drums).  While featured on the aforementioned compilation, they were also released as a standalone demo by the band, and in 1995 as a vinyl only EP.  They are utterly essential listening, and represent a glimpse at how De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas may have sounded had they recorded it prior to Dead's suicide.

Mayhem - Studio Tracks with Dead, 1990

It seems that, in some circles, revisionism abounds with respect to Mayhem and their influence, not to mention the quality of their music, but the facts remain that they were utterly seminal with respect to the Norwegian scene and black metal's entire second wave, and furthermore that their music was utterly ground-breaking and remains both draw-dropping and among the absolute best the genre has offered and will ever offer to this day.

Respect.

The classic lineup, probably ca. 1990 or early 1991.  From L to R: Hellhammer, Dead, Euronymous, Necrobutcher.

Dead, probably ca. 1990

Euronymous, probably ca. 1990

Euronymous, probably ca. 1990

Dead, probably ca. 1990

From L to R: Euronymous, Necrobutcher, Dead, probably ca. 1988 - 1990, potentially in the Kråkstad house

Æon

Up from the Tombs... (a Statement of Intent)

I'm back.

Again, a solid year has elapsed since last I was active.  Again, Blackened Relics will never die.

Metal, and above all black metal, was the first thing I ever truly believed in.  No religion ever really stuck, no philosophical system ever spoke to me.  Black metal did both and still does, some twenty years after first discovering it.  The first records I heard from the genre (all bona fide classics, to be sure) were like (un?)holy, spiritual tomes, the musicians the very Gods themselves.  Black metal possesses a mysticism unlike any other artistic medium/movement/concept I've ever experienced.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not absolutely delusional.  I'm well aware that the fellas who wrote and recorded my favorite albums are not deities.  Regardless of what they might at one point have had you to believe, they're people, just like you, and just like me, regular dudes with leather jackets like mine and guitars like mine and a fistful of treasured albums like mine who were in the right place at the right time.  My reverence for this music is not rooted in the personalities of those who played it.

No, my reverence for black metal, above all for the early-mid '90s stuff, above all for the Norwegian stuff, stems from what I see as its uniqueness in the annals of heavy metal and music in general.  It tapped into that primordial center, the core of what makes heavy metal heavy metal.  It ruthlessly yanked out the pure, elemental essence of everything that heavy metal was imagined/intended to make a person feel/think/experience and presented it, distilled, as a veritable, bottled elixir that mere mortals like me could taste, and subsequently could we commune with the divine.

To clarify, I do not pretend to be someone or something I'm not.  I was not around in the late '80s/early '90s when the Scandinavian thing really started to blow up; I was much too young and in the wrong country.  I have never been anything remotely resembling a "mover and shaker" in any black metal scene anywhere ever, nor have I ever associated with those who are.  Who I am, though, is someone who has listened to this music for just shy of two decades, and who has embraced it and watched it change into something else entirely than what it was when I first got wind of it, which no doubt was something else entirely than when it's makers made it.  I am someone who feels this music to his very bones, has come to something of an understanding of its true spirit, and who believes in preserving it.  Am I within my rights by claiming to be privy to some sort of guardianship necessary to perpetuate what I believe black metal was always about?  I don't really care.  I feel its spirit powerfully enough that I believe my work with Blackened Relics is true to the same.

I believe that truly dedicated archivists (yeah, I know, it sounds real fuckin' pretentious, but that's what I am) of heavy metal and any/all of its derivatives are a swiftly dying breed.  Tape-trading is all but extinct.  The 'zine is a sliver of a shadow of its glory days.  Even Internet fan sites have largely died out.  Meanwhile, physical music releases, I believe, will soon no longer be produced in any capacity.  Casual listening/exploration is the norm.  Blackened Relics is intended to preserve not only the spirit of black metal itself, but also the practice of dedication to it.  Blogspots themselves are fewer and further between every day, but this will remain.

Immerse yourself.  Dedicate and isolate.

AEon

Mika (Impaled Nazarene) - Sinistrari 'Zine # 1 - 1992

Impaled Nazarene: members unknown; date unknown

One of the seminal war metal bands (to my ears) along with Blasphemy and fellow countrymen Beherit (and maybe Sarcofago?), not to mention about as completely over-the-fucking-top as extreme metal gets, Finnish killsquad Impaled Nazarene drew from much the same well as the Norwegians and Swedes with respect to influence.  However, where those two factions went for atmosphere (Norway) and melody (Sweden), early Impaled Nazarene (and early Beherit, for that matter) blasted o'er the path of full-on chaos and destruction, influences from both grindcore and crust punk prevalent especially on albums like (my personal favourite) Ugra-Karma.

Here, then, is an interview from 1992 (23 years ago as of today, which is mind-blowing) conducted with vocalist Mika Luttinen in the first issue of American 'zine Sinistrari.  Something that I've noticed in reading interviews from our era of interest with the likes of Finnish cults like these fellas and Beherit, as well as even the likes of Marduk, is that they're not nearly as deadly serious/surrealistic as those given by the Norwegians.  In fact, the only other scene that comes to mind whose members espoused similar severity was the French Black Legions milieu.  Maybe sometimes the guys from the early Polish scene would spout off about impending holy wars, but the Norwegians (and the French) easily take first place in that respect.

Mika (Impaled Nazarene) - Sinistrari 'Zine # 1 - 1992

I know that I said that 1993's sophomore release Ugra-Karma is my personal favourite Impaled Nazarene record, and I meant it and it is, but the debut Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz is more extreme and of greater historical interest given the format outlined herein: the punk influences from the former are not nearly as prevalent, and it's far and away one of the more violent and chaotic black metal releases both of the era that I'm treating and also ever.  It, and the band's entire oeuvre, for that matter, is tragically underrated by my reckoning.

Impaled Nazarene - Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz - 1992

Æon

Avaëthre & Këëtrëh (Belkètre) - The Black Plague # 1 - 1995

Avaëthre (Vordb) & Këëtrëh, date unknown

Belkètre is, at this point and for those who've been paying close attention, beyond legendary.  A member group of the French Black Legions debuting around '89 or so as Chapel of Ghouls (Morbid Angel title right there), the duo gradually morphed into the snarling, tortured beast that was Belkètre by '91 or '92.  By my reckoning, they were by far the most aggressive and experimental of that circle, all ugly dissonance, furious paces/drumming, and an uncommon knack for structuring songs and even whole works (demos, splits, but no albums) such that the dynamic of the sense of dread that they cultivate ebbs and flows as naturally and convincingly as the waters on the shores of Hell for which these two are no doubt destined.  Also, did I mention that they've produced some of the most enduring and classic black metal releases in history?  Their side of the 1995 split with Vlad Tepes, March to the Black Holocaust, is nothing short of monumental; the same goes for their handful of demos/rehearsals, which none of us are ever supposed to have heard.

This interview was done with both members, mainman Avaëthre (better known as Vordb - guitars, vocals, drums) & Këëtrëh (also known as Aäkon Këëtrëh, purveyor of an eponymous ambient project - guitars, vocals, bass) in the 1995 French 'zine The Black Plague, reportedly produced by Meyhna'ch of the one and only Mütiilation, and it's easily one of my favorite black metal interviews conducted with anyone, ever.  You'll see why.

Avaëthre & Këëtrëh (Belkètre) - The Black Plague # 1 - 1995

Did I mention that March to the Black Holocaust - both fucking sides of it - is essential on the level of the Norwegian records?

Belkètre - March to the Black Holocaust - 1995

(Aäkon) Këëtrëh & Avaëthre (Vordb), date unknown

(Aäkon) Këëtrëh & Avaëthre (Vordb), date unknown

I said I wasn't done.

Æon

I get sidetracked, see...

Yeah.  It's been over a year since I posted anything new, huh?

My fault.  In the meantime, for the record, I have been updating the format for old interviews such that the original text be preserved as much as possible wherever possible while still adhering to my stylistic vision for this project.  But yeah, honestly, I haven't even touched this little blog in close to a year.  Sincere apologies for that, but I'm trying desperately to find the time to do this some more.

So what the hell am I so busy doing?  I've mentioned this before, but I'm married, have a full-time job, have a small side-business (in a loose sense of the term) that I run with my wife, and play in a metal band, whose name I'm not going to mention because I don't want to use Blackened Relics as a promotional vehicle.  That's what I've been doing.  All of those things.

Further, my tastes at any given point tend to run in cycles, and while black metal is ultimately my favorite kind of music ever in the history of music, I like tons of other stuff too, and since I last worked on this blog I've been through glam rock (early '70s English stuff), glam metal (don't tell anyone, but I'm a huge Mötley Crüe fan), EDM (especially minimal techno and microhouse), power metal and '80s European speed metal, classical, gothic rock, and most lately gore/deathgrind.  At last, though, the wheel has come full circle, and the flame of the black candle has been reignited, and I'm about to go on a 'I'm-not-doin'-a-goddamn-thing' vacation for a week, which means I can fart around with this all I damn well please.

Stay tuned...

Æon

New Format

At the outset of this project, I insisted on manually transcribing every interview I posted: this was the way it was done on the fan sites of old, and in the interest of maintaining a thematic appearance - all black background, all white text - this was how I was going to it.  I made a big stink about maintaining spacing and punctuation and grammatical errors and all that noise.  However, as I thought about the reasons behind such anal retention - accuracy, preservation, etc. - it dawned on me that it doesn't get any more accurate than a copy of the source itself. 

From now on, all interview .pdfs will include scans from the 'zines where formerly there were just text transcriptions.  However, I'm still going to make them black with white text, because that's how I want to read things and that's how I think black metal-oriented things should look.  Other than that, they'll all be exactly as they originally appeared in their respective 'zines of publication.  You'll also notice a sort of introductory cover page with band logo, publication information, and any relevant notes from me: this, as I see it, is at once a necessity and also part of the bigger picture of where I want this project to go, which will be revealed in time.

I should note that interviews with no scanned source on my end, like the Emperor (Mortiis) interview from Transylvanian Damnation or the Darkthrone (Fenriz) interview from Daemonium Aeturnus that's coming up real soon, won't be changed.  This is because they are copied from old, long-dead fan sites, and I have yet to come across them in any other format, neither physically nor electronically.  Therefore, they're going to remain exactly as they are and you'll just have to take my word that their content is as close to the original source - which will always be cited - as I can make it.

While I convert all of the old interviews that are already posted to the new format, those of you who frequent this place - I know you're out there, because I consistently rack up pageviews - may find that a link to a file temporarily doesn't work.  Don't worry: it's only because I'm in the middle of removing the old one and replacing it with the new.


Æon

Kolgrim (Unpure) - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993

 
Unpure are (Encyclopedia Metallum says they're still active) an early(ish) group from Sweden whose earlier efforts have been largely overlooked, no doubt due to their relatively late arrival on the scene.  (The fact that the most enduringly influential second-wave black metal bands all "officially" debuted by 1994 at the very latest cannot be denied, regardless of how good those that followed may have been).  They released a trio of demos during 1993 and 1994 before finally signing with the now-famed Austrian label Napalm for a pair of full-lengths in 1995 (Unpure) and 1996 (Coldland), consisting solely of core duo Kolgrim (bass, vocals) and Hräsvelg (guitars, drums, vocals) for all of the previous save the first demo and second LP.  In 2001, likely coinciding with the revival of interest in Swedish black metal thanks to new groups like Watain and Funeral Mist, the band released an album - Trinity in Black - through the then-cult French Drakkar label famous for its insanely limited Black Legions material.  A final full-length followed in 2004 via the Polish Agonia label, World Collapse, after which, as far as I can tell, the band fell off the face of the planet.

This piece, from the ever-reliable Tales of the Macabre # 1 from Germany, 1993, is almost more of a write-up interspersed with a brief interview with Kolgrim, but I've transcribed it despite the brevity of the interview proper for both posterity and because I think Unpure's early releases have never gotten the accolades they deserve.

Kolgrim - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993

The record is great.

Unpure - Unpure - 1995

Ultra-primitive, almost pre-Norwegian second wave in its sensibilities, Unpure alternates between blasting, interweaving streams of sinister tremolo melody and trudging, morphing, ever-evolving power-chord dirges with subtle, sparing use of harmonic accents to particular effect.  It brings to my mind Samael's debut with respect to the latter, the speed/death/black metal of groups like countrymen Merciless or Rotting Christ for the former.

More to come here...


Æon

AC Wild (Bulldozer) - FETU # 7 - 1989

When my laptop bit the dust back in March or April or whenever the Hell of last year, I was working on a transcription of a piece on Italian kinda-black metallers Bulldozer from issue # 7 of the famed, primarily thrash- and hardcore-oriented Japanese 'zine FETU (Fatal Execrable Transmaniacon Undertakers - I'm pretty sure they were Napalm Death fans), published in 1989.  It's easily the most nonsensical transcription I've ever done: I genuinely have no idea what AC Wild is talking about half the time.  Granted, the interviewer had his work cut out for him given that he was trying to translate responses into English via Japanese from a fellow who thinks in Italian; the results are often hilarious.  Still, it's nonetheless an enlightening read, particularly the details Wild divulges regarding his friend's suicide.  Also, the very last line reads, in reference to the momentousness of a live Bulldozer performance in Japan, "Who needs Exodus or Testament?"  Well said, well said.

AC Wild (Bulldozer) - FETU # 7 - 1989

In reading the interview, you'll no doubt notice that the album being promoted is 1989's Neurodeliri.  However, by my reckoning, the essential Bulldozer release is without contention the debut, 1985's The Day of Wrath, and it's for that album that I'm including them on Blackened Relics.  It's a motherfucker of a record, throwing the first Bathory LP, Show No Mercy and the first couple Venom albums into a blender, dousing the mess with liquor, and then incinerating the whole unholy cocktail.  I simply cannot recommend it enough; talk about raw.  To my ears, it's just as seminal in the lineage of black metal as the prior Bathory and Sodom's In the Sign of Evil.

Bulldozer - The Day of Wrath - 1985

 

 I'd also like to take this moment to assure you all that this album cover is one of the only times that pink will ever appear in this project.

Æon

The (Emperor's) Return...

A new laptop means - at last - access to all of my materials, which furthermore means giant updates.

I'm seriously itching to work on this; be on the lookout for more albums/demos added to the older sections, not to mention photos where available.  Also, I'll be posting brand new, classic transcriptions along with - you guessed it - accompanying photos and "files".

As a teaser, I'll say this: I'm pretty sure that I was in the middle of working on an old, out-of-the-way piece on Bulldozer when the laptop went to Hell (Heaven?).  Beyond that, in the last year I've been listening to a lot of old, crusty stuff like Mutilated (France), Protector (Germany), Merciless (Sweden), Poison (Germany), and Imperator (Poland); maybe not all strictly black metal, but I think they all deserve mentions because A) they were all hugely influential on many of our favorites, and; B) they're all seriously fucking awesome.  I plan to give them all the full treatment - if you know what I mean - as well as devote plenty of space to the canonical classics.

It's good to be back.

Æon

This Will Always Be Happening

I'm fully dedicated to this little blog.  However, I'm a busy man: I have multiple jobs, one of which involves running my own business with my wife.  Add to that a "career"-y day job, said wife, and a band, and I barely have time to shit.

This blog is the first baby step of the realization of a long dream of mine, and I won't put it to rest quietly.  Instead, the way it's going to work as exactly as it's been doing: I'll post a whole bunch of stuff when I have the occasional large block of free time.  Between those large blocks of free time, new material will be sporadic.

Also, my laptop which has all of my material on it is temporarily kaput, so until I can get it fixed, my hands are pretty tied as to what exactly I can do.

Still, this will continue, and I thoroughly appreciate and sincerely thank all of you who keep coming around and looking at this stuff.  I can see that kind of thing in my stats, you know.

AEon

Gorgoroth (Funeral Winds) - Holocaust # 7 - 1994

Yet another semi-forgotten gem: Funeral Winds.

They were among the first fully-fledged "second-wave" black metal bands from the Netherlands.  Also, they were fucking awesome.  Unfortunately, they never managed to release a full-length during the "glory days," and have since fallen into relative obscurity.  Still, they received a fair amount of coverage in the 'zines of the day, and from 1992 to 1995 they managed to release a handful of demos, a two-song EP, and a split with Japan's Abigail before at last delivering an "official" debut in 1998 in the form of the jaw-droppingly good Godslayer XUL.

Gorgoroth (Funeral Winds) - Holocaust # 7 - 1994

Godslayer XUL is about as old-school as you can get, even by 1998's standards: these guys clearly have Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion in their collections and listen to both frequently.  Actually, the album sounds so much like a stripped-down early Celtic Frost that it comes off as sounding not a bit unlike early 80s UK hardcore à la Discharge and Charged G.B.H. and the legions of Swedish bands that followed in their wake.  This is a good thing.  After all, there's a fine line between incredibly raw black metal and incredibly raw d-beat/crust.  Regardless, Godslayer XUL absolutely goes for the jugular throughout the duration of all eight of its tracks, three-chord, minor-scale shred and ultra minimalist, vaguely-death-metal-influenced tremolo melodies abounding.  There's certainly little subtlety to be found therein, and what subtlety exists is incredibly subtle, but isn't that what all the best black metal is about?

Funeral Winds - Godslayer XUL - 1998

Æon

Schiekron (Ungod) - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993

So Nåstrond and Ancient Rites are pretty cool, and I'll listen to either one of them any day; Germany's Ungod, on the other hand, are downright godly.  *Ahem*.  Excuse me.

But seriously: Ungod were among the first genuinely "second-wave" (I'm starting to feel like all of these "-wave" terms are silly.  I get it, I really do, but...) black metal bands to crop up in Germany along with Martyrium - who would later become Secrets of the Moon - and Dawnfall.  Their 1993 debut, Circle of the Seven Infernal Pacts, while not quite as mind-blowing as your Mayhems and Darkthrones, deserves at least to be mentioned alongisde more secondary Scandinavian classics as Dark Medieval Times and Those of the Unlight.  Bassist Schiekron was interviewed by Germany's Tales of the Macabre #1, 1993, and his responses were, for the most part, exceptionally lucid and straight-forward. 

Schiekron (Ungod) - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993

To be quite frank, and surely much to bassist Schiekron's chagrin, their debut fits in very nicely with what the Norwegians and Swedes were doing around that time: it's at once incredibly raw (no keyboards whatsoever) in the style of yep-you-guessed-it-Bathory-and-Hellhammer and insanely minimalistic in places like Transilvanian Hunger, interestingly enough a whole year before the latter was released.  Melodically, the album is exceedingly simple, yet in possession of a quality that exudes in places genuine diabolism, in others overwhelming sorrow.  I even hear pre-Nightside Emperor's most trudging inclinations - sans the keys - during some moments, and that in itself is a feat to behold.  Bottom line: this release is fucking awesome.  You can thank me later.

Ungod - Circle of the Seven Infernal Pacts - 1993

Æon

Arganas and Draugr (Nåstrond) - Kill Yourself 'Zine # 4 - 1995

Easily one of the best "forgotten" black metal bands from the early-mid 90s, Sweden's two-man-and-two-man-only Nåstrond formed in 1993 and released a few demos, an EP, and two full-lengths (on Napalm Records, no less) before disappearing for well-nigh a decade.  Currently Encyclopaedia Metallum has them listed as active on the band's page, despite having released nothing in five years.  Nevertheless, I've unearthed an interview with drummer Arganas and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Draugr (Karl Nachzehrer) from 1995 in Kill Yourself 'Zine # 4.  It's remarkably long, and if you look closely and know what you're looking for, you'll no doubt discover some unorthodox political views in the responses of Draugr/Karl Nachzehrer.

Arganas and Draugr (Nåstrond) - Kill Yourself 'Zine # 4 - 1995

The reason I'm featuring them here is their debut LP, Toteslaut, which is remarkably accomplished, although I suppose it has to be taken into account that it was released in 1995 and they may have been just a bit behind the pack.  Still, the songwriting is outstanding, careening wildly yet effortlessly between sombre, almost classically-inflected melodic numbers a la Emperor - although keyboards are kept to a minimum - and rawer thrash-fests more akin to early Gorgoroth; I even detect a hint of folk-influence in some of the more melodic pieces, although there are no acoustic guitars to be found here.  Granted, I really should be honest: this probably wasn't terribly ground-breaking when it was released, but if you're like me and simply can't get enough of golden age black metal, it's absolutely worth tracking down for the simple fact that it retains the old spirit that we're just not going to find anymore.

Nåstrond - Toteslaut - 1995

Æon

Gunther Theys (Ancient Rites) - Death Industry # 4 - 1993

    

I've been delving into some of the "forgotten" bands from the classic era, and one of the first that immediately sprung to mind for me was Belgium's Ancient Rites.  Having released their first demos in 1990 and 1992, they rode the crest of what would become the black metal explosion of the early '90s and at one point seemed to have been poised for future legendary status, but were sadly overlooked when Scandinavia erupted as the world's black metal hotbed

Gunther Theys (Ancient Rites) - Death Industry # 4 - 1993

I've found an interview with main man Gunther Theys (bass/vocals) in the Lithuanian 'zine Death Industry, conducted not long after the release of their Evil Prevails EP.  The interview is one of the more insightful I've discovered, and Gunther is remarkably down-to-earth and lucid, both of which characteristics a far cry from the typical fare I dig up.

They finally released their debut full-length, The Diabolic Serenades, in 1994, and it is a blistering maelstrom of a record, a raging cacophony of metallic violence.  It is undeniably indebted to early death metal, but is nevertheless a bona fide black metal album, possessing a maliciousness, a sense of the genuinely sinister that renders it gleamingly black.

Ancient Rites - The Diabolic Serenades - 1994

Æon

Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost) - The Book of Armageddon # 1 - 1986

Tom G. Warrior, probably ca. 1984

 So since I'm in the mood for adding much-needed pieces with bands that either pioneered black metal or were heavily influential on those who did, here's a short little number with Tom Warrior of Hellhammer/Celtic Frost from 1986 (!) in The Book of Armageddon # 1.

Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost) - The Book of Armageddon # 1 - 1986


AEon

Hellhammer - Satanic Rites (demo) - 1983

 

I said for a long time that I wasn't going to do this, but what do you know?  Here's hoping this works out, if you know what I mean.

This should need no introduction.  It's an absolute classic and had a massive influence on every single one of the Norwegian bands, as well as the Poles and the French.  It's beyond primitive, it's beyond crude, and it's stellar.  You're welcome.

Hellhammer - Satanic Rites - 1983

Æon

Quorthon (Bathory) - Brain Damage # 2 - 1985

Qurothon, ca. 1984

It dawned on me just a day or two ago that I still hadn't posted an interview conducted with Quorthon of Bathory, who probably more than any other single person has the most to answer for with regard to the Norwegian, and thus worldwide, black metal explosion.  I've got several interviews with the man, who died quite unexpectedly in 2004 from heart failure, but the one I've chosen for the time being - from 1985 - is the oldest that I could find, and here at Blackened Relics we're (I'm) all about old shit.

Quorthon, ca. 1984

Quorthon (Bathory) - Brain Damage # 2 - 1985

Meanwhile, I feel it only right that this also be made available here for those whose hearing has yet to be ruined by it.  It needs little introduction, and is quite possibly the single most seminal recording in black metal's entire history.

 Bathory - Bathory - 1984

Quorthon, ca. 1984

Quorthon, probably ca. 1984-1985

Æon

Vorphalack (Samael) - Holocaust # 5 - 1991

In case you hadn't noticed, the Polish Holocaust 'zine definitely had its finger on the pulse of the burgeoning black metal movement well before many other publications who were, in 1991, still featuring predominantly standard death metal.

Samael, meanwhile, have long since gone on to pastures anew and avant-garde, but they begin in the late 1980s in Switzerland as a seminal second wave black metal act with a series of renowned and influential demos before at last unleashing their debut Worship Him on Osmose in 1991.  The album is incredibly dark, albeit primitive even by early black metal standards, being most heavily indebted to Hellhammer and Celtic Frost's slowest dirges and bearing only moderate resemblance to the sort of Bathory-cum-Sodom-on-phencyclidine black metal that the Scandinavians were about to thrust down the maw of the underground.  Still, it is absolutely essential listening, particularly bearing in mind that it and the songs featured thereon predate even Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky.

Here, then, is featured an interview with guitarist/vocalist Vorphalack, conducted not long after the release of Worship Him in 1991 in Holocaust # 5.

Vorphalack (Samael) - Holocaust # 5 - 1991


AEon

Mutilator (Rotting Christ) - Descrator # 2 - 1992

It's probably no secret by now that I'm very, very partial to the old Norwegian bands, followed closely thereby by the French Black Legions.  However, for those of you who don't know, Greece had a pretty thriving black metal scene that happened concurrently with the Scandinavian explosion, even predating it in some cases.  The best of those bands by far was Rotting Christ, whose debut Thy Mighty Contract is an absolute classic, not to mention the preceding EP Passage to Arcturo and demo Satanas Tedeum (my personal favorite of their demos), all black as pitch yet superficially miles removed from the frigid sounds of the Norwegians and Swedes.  Thus, I've transcribed an interview with original bassist Mutilator from the 2nd issue of the Polish Desecrator 'zine from 1992; incidentally, Mutilator also played on fellow Hellenic group Varathron's debut, His Majesty at the Swamp.

Mutilator (Rotting Christ) - Desecrator # 2 - 1992


AEon

Nominal

The name has been changed to more accurately reflect what this project is about.  Besides, I'd come to find "Black Metal Documents" smacking of drabness, and Blackened Relics has a much nicer (and much more METAL) ring to it.  The URL has been changed as well to reflect this, and is now http://blackenedrelics.blogspot.com.  I'm also attempting to jazz up the place graphically, so things may look a bit silly from time to time.  Bear with me: I'm not remotely well-versed in HTML.

AEon 

Samoth (Emperor) - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993

Just to demonstrate that I'm serious about this not being dead, here's another old piece conducted with Samoth, guitarist from Emperor, in the first issue of Tales of the Macabre, which I believe was published in late 1993.  The interview was done soon before the release of the debut Emperor full-length, In the Nightside Eclipse.

Samoth (Emperor) - Tales of the Macabre # 1 - 1993


AEon

Isolate

This is still happening.  Yes, I've posted nothing in a year, but real life happens.  Ten, twelve, thirteen years ago (I'm now 27, 28 in July) this blog would have been my sole activity, but these days, whether I like it or not, I'm grown: I'm married, I have a 'career,' and I run a side-business with my wife which increasingly takes up more and more of my time.  Still, music - above all heavy metal, above all black metal - is yet my greatest passion, just as it was nearly 16 years ago when I heard Emperor for the very first time.

I won't let this project die.  The state of black metal, at least that state by which it's increasingly coming to be known, concerns me.  The other day, I ran into a gentleman in the audience of a show that my wife and I produced, and he discovered that I was partial to black/death/etc. metal.  He was young - barely college-aged - and proceeded to very excitedly tell me about all of the black metal he'd been listening to: Alcest, Amesoeurs, Wolves in the Throne Room, Liturgy, that ilk.  I asked him about Emperor, and he said, "I don't really know much about them, only that they're old."  I asked him about Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Bathory, and he said "I don't know: I've never heard of any of them."

Some months later, I ran into another gentleman at another show, again one that my wife and I had produced, who had sewn a Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss patch onto the arm of a zip-up hoodie (sp?).  I asked him about it, and he responded verbatim, "What can I say?  I have bad taste."  I raised an eyebrow and smirked, then inquired about his other patch, as I didn't recognize the logo.  "Wolves in the Throne Room," he answered, at which I hesitated before responding, "Of course: I should have known."  I abruptly excused myself.

There is a word that I hesitate to use for these two fellas, one based largely on their attitudes, but those of you who are old enough to know better and present enough to have been paying attention know what it is.  These bands (excluding Burzum, of course), their fans, and the general trend of which they seem to be a part will die out soon enough, and you'll never find any of them, or any groups resembling them, featured here.  I'll never use the terms "atmospheric," "depressive/suicidal," or "post-" to describe some mythological subset of black metal that the generation of listeners discovering this music - our music - of late have been applying in a (vain) attempt to refashion it more suitably in their own image.  Those of us who love honest-to-goodness black metal - unadulterated, untainted, unholy - won't let it die or be replaced or reappropriated.

The flame still burns.


Æon 

Meyhna'ch (Mütiilation) - The Black Plague # 1 - 1995

Meyhna'ch, suspected ca. 1995, from the inner sleeve of Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul

Taken from the infamous The Black Plague 'zine, issue # 1 from 1995, centered around the French Black Legions bands, this interview was conducted with Mütiilation instigator Meyhna'ch, with occasional input from then-bassist Mørdred.  It was probably conducted around the time of their debut LP, Vampires of Black Imperial Blood.

Meyhna'ch - The Black Plague # 1 - 1995

 

Mütiilation, probably ca. 1995.  From L to R: Mordred, Meyhna'ch

Mütiilation, probably ca. 1995; photo used for the cover of Vampires of Black Imperial Blood.  Background: Mordred; foreground: Meyhna'ch.

Meyhna'ch, date unknown

Meyhna'ch, date unknown

AEon

Unsane & Sephiroth (Bestial Summoning) - Slayer Mag # 9 - 1991

Bestial Summoning was an old Dutch black metal band that formed in 1990 and was over by 1992, only releasing one proper album, The Dark War Has Begun, and it is a genuine classic of the era, influenced by equal parts Mayhem, Beherit, and Hellhammer.  It was No Fashion Record's first production (vinyl-only), and was released just this year for the first time on CD by Supremacy Through Intolerance.  Thus, here is an interview with Unsane (vocals) and Sephiroth (drums) taken from the classic Norwegian Slayer 'Mag, issue # 9 from 1991.

*Note: Guitarist Conscicide committed suicide in August of 2008.

Unsane & Sephiroth - Slayer Mag # 9 - 1991


Aeon

Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Beherit) - Bloodshed # 4 - 1992

In recognition of the recently (and finally) released At the Devil's Studio 1990, which was intended to be the Beherit debut and is excellent, I've transcribed an interview with Beherit mastermind Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance, conducted between the releases of The Oath of Black Blood (1991) and Drawing Down the Moon (1993).  It is from issue # 4 of Bloodshed, from 1992.

Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance - Bloodshed # 4 - 1992


AEon

Janto (Hades) - Holocaust # 8 - 1995

From issue # 8 of the ever-reliable Holocaust 'zine, I present an interview with bassist/vocalist Janto Garmanslund of Hades (Norway, later Hades Almighty) shortly after the release of their debut, ...Again Shall Be.  In 1993, guitarist Jørn Inge Tunsberg was convicted of burning the Åsane stave church along with Varg Vikernes, for which he served several years of prison time.  Unfortunately nowhere near as renowned as much of their brethren, Hades were nevertheless phenomenal, sounding very much Norwegian while playing in a slower, folk-inflected style heavily indebted to Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods.  Both of their full-lengths prior to their name change - the debut mentioned above and The Dawn of the Dying Sun - come with the highest possible recommendation.

Janto - Holocaust # 8 - 1995


AEon

Hat (Gorgoroth) - Agaliarept # 1 - 1994

 

This is an interview from 1994 with original Gorgoroth (Norway) vocalist Hat, who performed on the demo, A Sorcery Written in Blood, and the debut full-length, Pentagram.  It is taken from the Norwegian 'zine Agaliarept, which I believe was run by the guys from Obtained Enslavement.

Hat - Agaliarept # 1 - 1994


AEon