Silence is Golden... or is it, Deadly?

I've been very quiet with this blog over the past several months, but the whole reason I started this blog in the first place was to compile my ever-so-fun year-end list. And I do mean it, I have a lot of fun with that. I should write more on this blog but I'm not sure how much I really have to say, beyond, "This is great.., this is crap...". Anyway, coming up sometime in December or early January, my TOP ALBUMS OF 2009 LIST! This one will be a straight up doozy, and it turned out to be a much more varied and complex year in metal than I originally expected. The tides turned halfway through the year and I followed diligently. Did I ever have a choice? No, I didn't, according to Funeral Mist's Arioch.
(sorry sir, your tea is coming right up)

Inglorious Distractions

Luckily for me, there have been a couple of outstanding albums that have come out recently, that I thought I needed to briefly mention my intense love for right here on der blog.

The first is Arckanum- "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ". As much as I loved last year's Antikosmos, this album effortlessly surpasses it by leaps and bounds. It's everything you'd hope Swedish Black Metal could be, with some deep, heavy swing (think The Pit and the Pendulum), and the trademark Shamaatae experimentalism and obstinate playfulness we've come to expect from him. It is by far, my favorite thing I've heard this year so far.

Buy the album at:

http://www.eitrin.com/



Next is Funeral Mist- "Maranatha". More dirty gold from the Swedes, I can't stop listening to this. The first time I heard Maranatha, I had switched gears from listening to another pretty well-known band's new album, and was feeling very unsatisfied until I put on Maranatha, and it blasted my brain clean of dissatisfaction, and any other mental irritants I was host to. The idea for me is that if I like some particular music, I submit to it totally and see where it takes me. This time, I had no idea where I was going, but at the end of it, I had my black gothic fucking mojo back. So if you see me walking down the street, heed your instinct to stay away from me, it is correct.

Buy the album at:

http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/

Oaken Throne #6 now available

After a long wait, Oaken Throne #6 is finally available with another amazing compilation CD included. John Mincemoyer, Ben West and all involved have outdone themselves again. I can't ever remember a time when I've held a little 'zine, so beautiful and compact, so densely portioned with information and staggering art. I'm as much of a grown-up now as I suppose I'll ever be, and I can honestly say that precious little gives me the kind of pleasure that cracking open this (or any) issue of Oaken Throne does. As I sit down to read this afternoon and abandon the computer for the rest of the day (possibly the whole week), I will not think of you. No, not you either. I am gone.

BUY at Crucial Blast webshop:
http://www.crucialblastshop.net/index.php



Features:
Akitsa, Aluk Todolo, Avsky, Dead Raven Choir, Dialing In, Gnaw Their Tongues, Immolation, IXXI, Lugubrum, Necros Christos, Necrovation, Throneum and Vargr.

Wardruna: Runaljod- Gap Var Ginnunga

Strange for something to feel so foreign yet so utterly familiar at the same time. While this music is indigenous to Norway, something in it speaks to my own Native American heritage. Perhaps the common thread is what I can only describe as a corporeal rhythm. In my mind, the best of ANY type of music evokes a visceral response in the listener, and Gap Var Ginnunga is no different.

I have only limited knowledge of the Futhark runic symbology, so in my case, each musical piece actually helps to make vital connections not only in my mind, but between the runes themselves. There is purpose behind everything Wardruna does musically and conceptually, and it is an intoxicating challenge for the uninitiated to keep up.

The vocal explorations by everyone on this album are top notch, and Kvitrafn's compositions are organically perfect. Gaahl shines here, forgoing his spooky Gorgoroth persona for something perhaps more potentially frightening. He becomes a part of nature, representing the negative and the positive, and sometimes both simultaneously. He's that crackling, shuffling sound near you in the dark as you're walking alone late at night, a whisper and a scream with equal intensity. In short, the unknown factor; that thing that makes music so thrilling.

The CD booklet is striking, containing introductions, art and photography that I appreciate in much the same way as my Peter Beste TNBM book. This is the first album of a trilogy, and I wait with bated breath for the ones to follow.

BUY HERE at Wardruna.com

Best Albums of 2008

Less is more. Brevity is the spice of life... er, I don't know. Anyway, this year, I thought I'd do my top albums of the year blog in Haiku form. Arigatou, matane! (phffft)

13. The Konsortium- Demo

Onwards we will march
holding our black flags up high
Led by the nameless.




12. Meshuggah- obZen

Polyrhythmic zen
rapid fire machine gun holes
Bloody yoga king.




11. Boris- Smile

Rain falls from the sky
bright flash pierces my brain-- wait,
could it be lightning?




10. Bloodbath- Unblessing the Purity MCD

These four little songs
surpass the full-length by miles
Send me a postcard.




9. Aura Noir- Hades Rise

Black thrashing vital
My husband is quite obsessed
Insert is silly.




8. Soilent Green- Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction

Mystery consumes
In case you were wondering
It's made of people.




7. Arckanum- Antikosmos

Swing away, lover
The universe has no chance
Ragna Rok upon us.




6. Opeth- Watershed

A faded portrait
We are uninformed voyeurs
Stockholm Syndrome-bound.




5. Nachtmystium- Assassins: Black Meddle pt. 1

Can I bum a smoke?
Queasiness is an artform
Get your fists pumping.




4. Coffins- Buried Death

The earth freshly turned
over your contorted face
There is bliss in crust.




3. Enslaved- Vertebrae

One slice of the spine
Eight flights into time and space
Leave me to it, please.




2. Leviathan- Massive Conspiracy Against All Life

Sound in the distance
The din becomes deafening
Alive in the hive.




1. Taake- Taake

The beast is released!
The past clearly left behind
Brilliance is mottled.

Three Little Docs

Three DVD documentaries have recently been released on the subject of black metal: Black Metal Satanica, Once Upon a Time in Norway, and Black Metal: The Norwegian Legacy? (yep, that question mark is supposed to be there). While I wait for Until the Light Takes Us to either have a screening in my city or be released on DVD, the pickins are actually pretty decent.

Black Metal Satanica

This one claims to be "the most haunting and evil documentary ever made". While it is certainly nowhere near that, it has one major thing going for it: Erik Danielsson. Extensive, gratuitous Erik Danielsson (Watain). The film is executed in typical interview fashion cut with photo montages with music behind them. Nothing too impressive visually or thematically even, but it's really nice to see Erik speak about his passion for what he does. His integrity is evident and well intact, he is very self-assured and well-spoken, and his calmness and quiet nature is just about the most jarring thing of all.

Nicest surprise: Kvarforth is hilarious

Once Upon a Time in Norway

This is a Norwegian import in the native language with subtitles (which is how I prefer it). The style of the film is clean, simple, attractive, and the interviews are very compelling, as is some original video footage. We've heard the story of the origins of the black metal scene in Norway a thousand times, and we've heard many variations of it depending on who is telling it, but there are a few takes on it here that are new to me. There is a cold honesty to this film that is strangely inspiring. Highly recommended. Over 80 min. of bonus material including an extended interview with Ted Skjellum and a gorgeous booklet inside.

Favorite thing said in interview: "We didn't eat rocks. Not me anyway."

Black Metal: The Norwegian Legacy?

Oh, Bill Zebub. I've got a love/hate thing with him. His films are totally crappy, yet somehow his documentaries always end up coming off sort of warm and fuzzy in the end. It must be a gift. This film is ALL over the place. Just when I thought we were going to have an hour and a half of various black/folk metal guys being goaded into making inflammatory nationalist statements about each other's native land, it takes a bit of a turn. There are generous interview clips with Enslaved's Grutle (talk about an oasis of sanity in a sea of goofballs!), and a performance by Enslaved, which is of course, excellent. Kristoffer Rigg (Ulver) offers up the carefully considered opinion of an elder statesman, as does Nergal (Behemoth) and an especially scruffy ICS Vortex (Dimmu Borgir). On the flipside, many interviewees were drunk, ridiculous in one way or another, or clearly did not want to be there. I did learn something, though: The Finns and Norwegians seem to joke about Sweden the way Americans joke about Canada. There are also several long, boring performances by bands I cannot stand, which put several black marks on an otherwise very entertaining train-wreck of a film.

Least favorite moment: Listening to the WOO-ers during the Turisas performance.