The Rock Blogger

As regular readers of this blog already know, I’ve spent a good deal of this winter listening to atmospheric black metal, tracking down the most celebrated works within this often misunderstood genre. What attracted me to most of this music was its natural and frigid imagery, evoking vast mental landscapes like the ones in this video: snow covered pines, isolated hilltops, frozen streams and dark passageways. As Toronto has been hit repeatedly by massive snow storms, the bleak sounds of bands like Switzerland’s Paysage d’Hiver seem more than appropriate when trudging through the cold.

Since my one hundredth post is coming up, I’d thought I would do a post dedicated to the genre that has captivated my interests and captured my mood over this blog’s first three months. Stay tuned for a comprehensive list of the best black metal albums I’ve come across as well as some winter images I’ve taken myself (if I can find my damned USB chord).
In the meantime, enjoy the video.

Intense video of footage from King Arthur set to Wolven Ancestry, a Black Metal band from Sudbury. I have to find the album this is on. Its about time we had some black metal blaring out of the Algonquin forests. Has anyone else heard of this band?

Emperor. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. 1997. 4.5 stars.

While I was searching through the stacks at Sonic Temple Music in North York, I came across Emperor, which has been cited by many critics as being one of the leading forces in the Black Metal genre, influencing many like-minded bands around the world. I was initially surprised by the brutality of this album, with its impossibly fast drumming, walls of guitar noise and guttural vocals. There are also dramatic symphonic elements accompanying the savagery as well, with complex keyboard arrangements adding to the layered density of the songs, giving them an epic and overpowering atmosphere.

The maddening complexity of Emperor’s onslaughts is what makes Anthems a landmark record, with its powerful riffs, dynamic keyboard progressions and the painstaking level of detail within the compositions. Amid the insanity of the band’s dark lyrical themes and chaotic dynamics, there is a certain beauty to it all, as Emperor’s meticulous attention to atmosphere and melody is at a level rarely seen within modern metal. For its orchestral underpinnings and unforgiving intensity, Emperor’s opus has certainly earned its fair share of acclaim, raising the bar for which atmospheric metal bands have been judged. While Emperor’s symphonic elements may deter the lo-fi purists within some critical circles, they will be missing out on the sheer artfulness of this record.

Agalloch. The White EP. 2008. 4 stars.

Hailing from the misty forests of Portland Oregon, Agalloch has earned themselves a substantial cult following with their blend of atmospheric black metal that incorporates folk and ambient elements, producing several critically acclaimed albums and EPs over the last decade. The White EP continues on with the band’s distinguished tradition with a renewed emphasis on the neo-folk aspect of their sound, mostly relying on acoustic guitars, hushed vocals and atmospheric effects to get to black heart of this dark genre.

Taking a step away from the growls and punishing instrumentals often associated with metal, Agalloch’s ambient exercises mark a significant departure from convention. The shift is dramatic without betraying the quality of their past (heavier) work, as the acoustic compositions express Agalloch’s organic approach toward crafting evocative sonic landscapes, focusing on an aesthetic that sets the group apart from their many contemporaries.

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Burzum Filosofem 1996. 3 stars.

Man, did I ever have to grapple my conscience when I approached this record. Burzum was a pioneering force in atmospheric black metal, the brainchild of Norway’s notorious Varg Vikernes who is currently serving a prison sentence there for murdering a fellow metal musician as the result of a brutal confrontation. He has also been accused of several major arsons which saw the destruction of historic Norwegian churches. While I find these acts repugnant, I couldn’t help but be curious towards the acclaim surrounding this album, celebrating its ambient and experimental overtones and dark, frosty atmosphere - it’s been hailed as one of the genre’s most beautiful works.

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Negura Bunget. OM. 2006. 4 stars.

Powerful black metal from the forests of Romania, Negura Bunget offer a tour de force of the genre, incorporating folk, thrash and progressive rock styles into a cohesive and atmospheric whole. The songs are epic and devastating, with hefty doses of aggression and intelligence, with great attention to detail and mood. The drumming is incredibly fast and fluid, providing a sonic field for the intense growling vocals (they’re in Romanian, so I don’t understand them), ethereal synth passages and wiry guitar lines.

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Ulver. Shadows of the Sun. 2007. 4.5 stars.

A dark, brooding and beautiful album, Shadows of the Sun sees Norway’s Ulver continue on with the reinvention of their sound, opting for symphonic ambiance with black metal and electronic flourishes. The songs here are subtle, tense and mystical, crafting a mournful testament to days and loves long past.

The album as a whole is incredibly cohesive, with each track progressing seamlessly into the next, building from sparse, reverb-drenched sonic landscapes to full-fledged arrangements complete with horns, saxophones and gorgeous piano lines. While Ulver prove their compositional virtuosity with their experimental passages , the album’s moody atmosphere remains consistent and immersing. The vocals are also deep and haunting without the wailing histrionics that made some of Ulver’s past work so divisive.

The only complaint I have against Shadows of the Sun is that it rarely reaches the impenetrable crescendos associated with the band, as it strives toward tranquility rather than pure apocalyptic transcendence. Still, as an ambient metal record, Shadows of the Sun is remarkable for its originality, its restrained intensity and its melancholic imagery - a masterful work of art that defies genre conventions.

Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters. 2007 4 stars.

Once again, the friendly black metal acolytes at rateyourmusic.com have recommended another stellar release, this one by Olympia, WA’s Wolves in the Throne Room (why do so many existential bands hail from there?). The second studio album from the band, Two Hunters is an extensive, doom-laden mindfuck that features dark ambient passages, demonic vocals and impenetrably fast drumming.

Wolves in the Throne Room, taking cues from Southern Lord label mates Sunn O))) and Earth, engage in misty post-metal jams that give prevalence to atmosphere while still hearkening back to traditional black metal sensibilities a la Agalloch. The inclusion of spooky choral vocals from a female guest also adds to the haunting power this disc delivers. While some of the jams run a little too long, and the metal vocals can be overwhelming at times, Two Hunters is an immersing listen overall.

Alcest Souvenirs d’un autre monde 2007. 4.5 stars.

Among the several recent discoveries of albums I overlooked in 2007, is this post-rock gem by France’s Alcest. Souvenirs is an ethereal, hypnotic and engaging listen that takes shoe-gaze dynamics to new and evocative heights. While formerly a black metal band, Alcest has moved away from that genre’s resigned aggressiveness to produce this work of surprising tranquility, dipping into the same shimmering, glacial pools as Sigur Ros and even Jesu.

The tracks here are layered with hazy and churning guitars that wash over you, while the serene (and indecipherable) vocals glide over the beautiful chaos, driving epic and fluid compositions toward a distant horizon. Like the album’s title suggests, Alcest’s work here is like a window to another world, one of blinding sunshine and swirling snow drifts, where battered souls can hide from their Earthly troubles. Truly an exercise in catharsis that plays to your imagination.

Primordial To the Nameless Dead. 2007. 3 stars.

I discovered this release after it had received such a strong showing on Rate your music’s Top 2007 list and its interesting to see how underground metal acts, in all sub-genres, are generating extensive cult followings online. Primordial’s grand atmospherics, passionate intensity and Celtic underpinnings make them standout among a cluttered field of Black Metal provocateurs. The sound here is epic and sweeping as the band indulge in lengthy, yet stunningly focused, song structures.

The thematics of this album explore the prideful and gluttonous failings of mankind, with tracks like “Empire Falls”, “As Rome Burns” and “No Nation on this Earth” hearkening back to the nomadic tribulations of warriors long lost, of barbarian invaders trekking across Northern Europe and the Nordic forests to make epic confrontations against imperial hordes.

If this all sounds over the top, its because it is. But the majesty and ferocity of this music overcomes its obvious lyrical pretensions. The vocals here are quite interesting as well, abandoning beast-like moans and growls for the more refined and emotional tenor of Alan Averill.

The exhaustive length of the album’s songs due take a toll on having a full, contemplative listening experience, as the epic dirges tend to drag on, blending into each other across its progression. But To the Nameless Dead remains an intriguing release that certainly demonstrates the band’s technical prowess and penchant for crafting mood and atmosphere.