A History Of Norwegian Black Metal

Burzum ‘A Tribute to Count Grishnack’ [pro bootleg]
	Bootlegs are a fickle affair, no less abhorrent that the readily available free downloads, although maybe less severe in destroying a bands revenue [the labels eat that up anyway] as they tend to be of recordings outside the studio output of the bands official catalogues. This tribute cd, like all the other tributes out there offers nothing remotely new, just personal reflections of original compositions. The cd/cover and overall presentation is totally professional. Differing from the official corporate Unholy Records release, Visions, A Tribute to Burzum, and in my opinion having more respected acts on it and this assumption
can be felt from the passion issuing from the old nature of the recordings. This was never meant for mass mainstream, the bands being as pure in musical integrity as Burzum was in its conception and beyond. Most tribute albums reek of bands appearing only to get there name more known. This ego wankery does not apply here. The covers here are all rancid Black Metal workouts and you can smell the sincerity in each track. Bands featured are cult underground titans, Nocturnal Mortem, Sunwheel, Wigrid and Agares. Also vomiting their fiery Black Metal renditions are, Erishkigal, Earthcorpse, Sun of the Sleepless, Pagan Warrior, Aegishjalmar, Armagedda, and Luror.

Cor Scorpii ‘Monument’ Descent Productions
	Cited as a Black Folk act and featuring some members of Windir. A piano plays out of a wireless, crackling alone, and from this lacklustre repose barks the classically constructed music of Coir Scorpii. There is a spark of originality lurking amongst the rumbling vocal spite and snapping snares. The track is a hybrid of vicious Blackened intent and imploding prog rock. The immediacy of the proceedings is second to the intricacy of the arrangements, meaning there is a vastness to the apparent simplicity, a deeper meaning to the very astutely crafted songs. Foremost in this musical myriad of sounds is the raging guitars and vocal chill, both of which are tempered by a symphonic edge that is stitched to,
rather than melted into the songs. This creates the uneven soundscape from where this band construct their intricate arrangements. The vocals very similar to Windir’s charismatic Valfar, with both snarling angst and cleanly sung parts. This debut could easily be viewed as the fifth Windir album [and if viewed as such would fall short of its predecessor in quality] as the rousing blackened music flows in much the same upbeat way. There are the atmospheric keyboards and balanced fusion of aggression and tranquillity. It’s the guitar style that holds the compositions together, creating that unmistakable Windir sound. I have no doubt the band wish to be looked upon as Cor Scorpii, and not an extension of Windir, but that is exactly what they are, like it or not.

Den Saakaldte ‘Øl, Mørke og Depresjon’ Eerie Art Records
	Featuring lesser known members who have participated in a vast array of established Norwegian acts, Gorgoroth, Aeternus, Forlorn, Dodheimsgard, Slavia...Here’s a band wallowing in a Blackened experimental atmosphere where the air is consumed with stark realism. This is not the experimental eccentricity of Arcturus or In the Woods. Here is a far darker, disturbed musical beast. The four minute calming industrial kissed synth intro leads you into the first track, Drikke ens Skol, awash with a saxophone presence. When the guitars kick in and the vocal snarl bites hard, the music becomes more tangible in its mid-tempo post Black Metal style. The production is clean and the sound thick and audible. The following, Vandringen, is faster and reminiscent of some of Windir’s later works. There is a
refined guitar style here that lifts the aggressive nature of the music from becoming mere Blackened Death in tone. With the track slipping into a more acoustic section and highlighting a cleaner Viking metal vocal chant. The instrumental fourth track is both experimental in its peculiar sounds and soothing with its piano parts. The saxophone returns with the brooding, Jag ar Den Fallna, guitar riffs pounding the air with aggravating intent. The depraved vocal utterances here sets an uncomfortable mood where insanity seems to ooze from the frantic guitar leads and robust drum attack. With riff after riff building up to the climatic end, the track eventually lumbers to its agonizing conclusion after eleven head pounding minutes. The album ends with another aural sound fuck, violins and odd voices bringing down the curtain on a quite unique sounding album.

Hordagaard ‘Djeveldyrkar’ Azermedoth Records
	Garage style demo recording, low fi icy sound, grisly distorted guitars and vocals. Here is one nasty piece of work. Featuring a varied array of intensity and pace, Hordagaard pursue the many faces of orthodox Black Metal and spit them out in a ramshackle, stuttering under produced rage. The first track is an atmospheric keyboard flavoured piece that fragments into a more familiar fast dreary Black Metal style, to return to the tranquil keyboards thereafter. This is the albums most solid performance and reveals much of what main man Fauk is capable of. The following eleven compositions follow in various forms from blasting bleak snare bashing and vigorous guitar strumming to more symphonic moments that lift the
musical chill into a more refined climate. There are many invigorating guitar melodies that litter the choppy array of tracks here. This will not appeal to the more thinking mans Metal, but for purists there is none more ghastly in sound and musical agony.

Mayhem ‘The Dawn of the Black Hearts’ pro bootleg
	Another bootleg all the way from Mexico and again a very pro package and cd. This is already a very familiar release with that infamous cover of vocalist Dead pictured with his brains hanging out of his head. The first format was on a limited Vinyl way back in 1995 on Warmaster records. The original track-listing contained a live recording from Sarpsborg 1990. This release is one of the most bootlegged albums of our times. This cd version has the Sarpsborg gig, plus 4 tracks recorded live in Lillehammer 1986, the pure fucking Armageddon demo, and 4 unmixed tracks. The Sarpsborg gig has a muggy sound, but so did the Leipzig release. This recording blasts off with Deathcrush, and
continues to vomit forth the likes of Necrolust, Funeral Fog, Freeing Moon, Carnage, and others. It is a timely reminder to the dark credentials of this band, even if the musicianship is dire and the sound equally muggy and lacklustre. The four tracks from Lillehammer are even more dire in sound and offer a cover of Venoms Black Metal, and Welcome to Hell, and Celtic Frosts, Procreation of the Wicked. The sound is critically agonizing and if you’re a glutton for aural punishment then you may just cum in your pants here. The Pure Fucking Armageddon Demo is as raw as a demo can get and serves as a historical moment in Black Metal lore. Whether you will actually enjoy such a bad sounding demo is a matter of opinion. The final four tracks reveal a surprisingly good demo sound and feature instrumental versions of Mayhem, Ghoul, Pure Fucking Armageddon and Carnage. For Mayhem fans only.

Mayhem / Morbid ‘A tribute to Dead’ cd [pro boot]

This is one of those pro boot cd’s that seem to appear and disappear like the moon. For those of you who have been living in a coffin for the past twenty years, Dead was the self destructive Mayhem vocalist who blew his head off in 1991.The quite astonishingly good Mayhem live in Leipzig album is most definitely the finest audio recording of Dead's grizzled vocals. It was rumoured he buried his clothes and dug them up to wear on stage. This release starts with raw but listenable versions of Freezing Moon [this track just stands the hairs up on my back every time I hear it] and Carnage, originally aired on the CDR promotions of a Stained Mind compilation. The following Deathcrush, Funeral Fog, and Carnage, are from the momentous, Live in Leipzig album, magnificently live and old as a grave in winter. There are three tracks from the Dawn of the Black Hearts live release, and then follows the Morbid material. First up are four tracks from the 1987 December Moon demo ‘This really reveals what a fine vocalist Dead was. Morbid were from Sweden, as was Dead [real name Per Yngve Ohlin] and the band has gained cult status due to Mayhems infamy. The tracks are demo quality but very energetic. This is under produced Swedish Death metal in its basic form. The vocals are convincing and reek of utter despair and hateful intent. The release ends with four tracks taken from a rehearsal 07/08/97. Here we again discover a decent sounding set of tracks [still raw and fuzzy] that represent a time when thrash was evolving into a more grinding format. You can hear a Sepultura style of guitar riffing set amongst the general deathly swirl. Dead was a mighty fine vocalist and there are few who can muster the aural angst and dreary vociferous groans as he could. The probability that Mayhem would have gained its notoriety if he had lived is doubtful, as events may have not occurred in the sequence they would have been require to create the scenes ignition into life.

Nephilim / Klandestyn split cd. Hexenhammer Records
	Bleak split cd featuring Norway’s Nephilim, and Klandestyn from Russia. The cd starts with two lengthy tracks from Nephilim [the bands demo was reviewed a while back on these pages], both rabid raw Black Metal swerving between fast and slow sections. It's hard to absorb any firm song formation from such long tracks, eight to ten minutes respectively. The sound is pretty muggy and would be classed as a good demo sound or a lacklustre studio release. The flavour of such rough and alarmingly caustic musical endeavours is very much resigned to the underground, as beyond its limitations the audiences generally become confused or abhorred by the very one dimensional nature of the raw sound. The meandering compositions and general serrated tone to the music is reminiscent of fellow countrymen Throne of Katarsis, although not so endearing. Klandestyn are another band who will no doubt disappear without trace as the music is similar in tone to the previous aural carnage of Nephilim, although far more refined and focused. The tracks here are from the Black Mantra 2006 demo. Raw, plodding and typical of hundreds of underground acts today. Scowling vocals bleat over a muggy guitar strum and thin snare beat. The sound is good considering its from a demo. Imagine Ildjarn colliding with the Emperor's Wrath of the Tyrant demo and that’s the general style here.
The song craft is not as immediate but the tracks do have a flowing theme and are injected with melodic moments that make the demo a worthy proposition.

Skitliv ‘Amfetamin’ Cold Spring EP
	Professed as a Doom/ Noise project from Mayhems Maniac alongside Kvarforth [Shinning] with special guest vocals by Attila [Sunn O]. The cd starts with two tracks of agonizing aural sounds underpinning the spoken snarls and croaking vocals swooshing within the guitar picking. Your head will be spinning within a minute of the first track, Amfetamin. If you needed a soundtrack for a slow death, then this is it. Seven minutes later you will either be induced to throw up through dizziness or be cast into the contorted sonic nightmare of the following track, Slow Pain Coming. Again, the guitars evoke a deformed Black Sabbath imploding in a mushroom cloud. The drums plod forward alongside the
deathly pale vocal scowl. This is a very unpleasant trip through every uncomfortable musical scenario you could possibly think of. The following live tracks [added as a bonus to either kill you off or enthral the more depressives out there] are renditions of darkly hyperborean songs to make you languish in corpse liquor and decompose. Your brain will be invaded by images of cold scalpels running across pulsating wrists. Skitliv certainly have the sounds from Hell, excruciatingly penetrating. Doom in its purest form would probably sound like this.