Sometimes, one hears a band and feels the need to spread the word about their music through their own means. Unfortunately, sometimes that can be difficult, especially when said bands aren’t exactly connected with each other. That’s why, in this brand new feature, we here at the San Antonio Heavy Metal Examiner will take a look at five bands within a given genre of metal and showcase them to inspire San Antonio metal fans to check the band out. The bands have little in common outside of falling in the same general category of black metal, so let’s dive in and hopefully inspire a few of you to look into these bands.
Immolith
Hailing (no pun intended) from New Jersey, Immolith represent a form of black metal that seems to act as a bridge between the first wave of Venom and Bathory and the earlier parts of the second wave of Norwegian black metal acts. Their 2009 release, “Hymns to the Countess” even contained a Venom cover, “Countess Bathory”, although the band’s original music is their focus. Headed by Isiamon, who provided guitar and vocals on “Hymns to the Countess” (other vocals on the EP were performed by then-drummer Warhead), Immolith provide an old-school take on black metal with an ugly sensibility (“ugly” here having an entirely positive connotation), and it serves as a surprisingly refreshing take on Venom-inspired black metal. The band is preparing to release its newest album, “Storm Dragon”, which has been getting a fair amount of buzz in the metal press, which promises good things for when the album is actually released. “Storm Dragon” has a release date of - surprisingly enough - Valentine’s Day (February 14th) 2012, so if you’ve got a significant other who’s been wanting some brand new black metal, getting them “Storm Dragon” would probably be a wise choice (you would also have a very cool significant other, by the way).
Katharsis
Although “atmospheric black metal” has acquired something of a connotation that brings endless Burzum clones (or *gasp*, “post-black metal”) to mind, when the term is applied to Germany’s Katharsis, the end result is something else entirely. Rather, the atmosphere created by Katharsis is a war torn battlefield, with the putrid stench of death and destruction all around, taking the ideas of classic (as in “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” through “Transilvanian Hunger”) Darkthrone to the next level of sonic chaos. The Darkthrone influence is especially prominent in Katharsis’ earlier work, which channeled the crude guitar playing of Nocturno Culto to an effective degree. Their last full-length album, “VVorldVVithoutEnd” (letter substitution entirely intentional) was released on the legendary Norma Evangelium Diaboli label, which has also put out releases by Antaeus, Deathspell Omega, Teitanblood, and Sorhin, so you know that the represent only the highest quality. The album itself is a mayhem-ridden journey through madness itself, with hellish music and anguished vocals that perfectly aid in the ambiance of the songs they accompany. Anyone interested in German black metal, or alternately, quality black metal released in the last decade should give Katharsis a spin, especially if violent, cathartic (had to say it) black metal is to their liking.
False
False is a five-piece act based out of Minnesota that has played San Antonio twice over the last several months - most recently at the Korova with local stalwarts Plutonian Shore, Sturmgewehr, and Crawl and before that, at a house somewhere in downtown San Antonio - and they thoroughly impressed this writer both times they were witnessed. The closest comparison one could make to their sound would be a more visceral Weakling, as both bands specialize in bleak epics that easily go into the double-digit range in terms of minutes per song. For perspective, the first time this reporter saw False, they played two songs and still roughly filled their entire set time (presumably this was true for the second time as well). False is fronted by a woman known only as Rachel, whose otherworldly shrieks and violent convulsing summoned up images of a woman possessed, while accompanying a whirlwind of riffs that draw the listener in with their thought-out compositions. False currently have one release, a self-titled EP, so acquiring their complete discography is simple enough.
Torgeist
Fact: The French make good black metal. In addition to the aforementioned Antaeus and Deathspell Omega, there’s also the Les Legions Noire, a heavily-respected group in the underground who happened to feature Torgeist (among others) in their ranks, whose “Time of Sabbath” demo stands out as a particularly notable release of mid-’90’s French black metal. The intro alone, “March of the Black Assemblies” is quite a worthy piece of music, although with the raw “Sweet Death” kicks in, the listener should grasp that they’re in for quite a shock. The demo itself is only about sixteen minutes long, so it’s not a long listen, although this enables a fan to listen to it over and over again with relative ease. Since we are dealing with black metal demo tapes, the production is quite unpolished, although this fits perfectly with the jagged hymns that Torgeist compose. Vocally, The Black Lord Beleth’rim (also of Vermeth) screams with the force of a man embracing, well, “sweet death” as trebly-buzz saw-esque guitars pierce the listener’s ears with savage force. Torgeist may only have released a few demos, but their quality is significant enough that just about any fan of underground black metal should give them a listen.
Bahimiron
Ending on a particularly excellent Texan band, Houston’s Bahimiron will actually be playing their first show in four years on Saturday, March 17th at the White Swan with Teratism, Adumus, and more. It may be a bit of a drive, but it’s well worth it to see such a monumental occasion such as a Bahimiron performance. Bahimiron play a gritty form of black metal that proclaims an anti-philosophy of “Southern Nihilizm” [sic], and the music is accordingly raw as a result. To put it simply - this ain’t pretty, although the disgusting vibe of a Bahimiron album is completely appropriate for the message they convey. The band’s most recent release is entitled “Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror”, and it sound pretty much exactly what one would think an album with that title would sound like - lo-fi production, distorted, chaotic vocals, and a grimy guitar tone that represents the more primitive side of Texas black metal (as opposed to the more technical Averse Sefira or Absu), with occasional nods to war metal titans such as Blasphemy. Ultimate, if Dimmu Borgir is your thing, you probably won’t enjoy Bahimiron, but for those who prefer their black metal to be on the more unhinged vibe, then Bahimiron comes highly recommended.
For more info: San Antonio metal fans can look for future installments of “random recs” in this column as time goes by. Next up, we take a look at death metal (what a surprise!), so get ready for some bile-ridden gore that you may not have heard of.
Comments