Mortum have by now focused, or rather reduced their approach to black metal to very specific kind of musical statements, manifesting in more prominent melodies and an overall stability. The first thing the listener may notice in contrast with The Rites of Depopulation (2011) is that texture is now kept constant, rather than having it change for the sake of variety of expression. (more…)
2 CommentsTags: 2017, Black Metal, eheieh chaos, mortum
Judas Iscariot is an old and rather “popular” name in the U.S. black metal milieu, however for reasons of ideological reputation rather than for any convincing musical quality. (more…)
4 CommentsTags: 2018, an ancient starry sky, Black Metal, judas iscariot
It is not without good reason that the early 1990s are heralded as the golden era of metal music around these parts. In less than 5 years, not only did death metal reach its hitherto most mature stage, but in its immediate wake came the pinnacles of the by-then emerging black metal movement which remains unsurpassed to this day. (more…)
4 CommentsTags: 1991, death metal, power metal, septic flesh, temple of the lost race
The deadline for submissions for DMU’s new zine, Chymia Niger, and DMU’s original raw music compilation, Litigium is fast approaching. With the publishing date for a first edition projected for next Monday, we set our deadline on Saturday July 28 before midnight, U.S. Central Time. Our first post concerning these two projects provides more details, while our article on active imagination techniques applied to metal music listening, and our article proposing an extremely basic systematic training, provide ways in which individuals can discover how much they can bring forth.
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Tags: chymia niger, dmu compilation, dmu zine, litigium
A notion has sprung out of Andreas Languetus’ mind for a project titled Gradus ad Phlegethon the sole purpose of which is not simply to study or theorize, but rather construct a viable method of transmitting the compositional techniques of ‘death and black‘ metal. Where this accumulation of illustrative techniques will take us, we cannot yet tell. But we know that it shall bring together concrete musical practices, basic contrapuntal and motif-writing techniques, as well as techniques aimed at directing the mind to appropriate states. Each of these are instrumental to the formation of a true and complete methodology that encompasses a true evolution of metal into and beyond death and black metal. Said endeavor lies in parallel, though perhaps meeting at intersections, with the search for and use of pure sound as notions for metal and dark ambient composition.
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Tags: al responder de los muertos, Black Metal, dark abstraction, De Mysteriis Dom Christi, death metal, ectovoid, espiritismo, gradus ad phlegethon, Reverorum Ib Malacht
Given that newer metal musicians are quickly realizing that current trends within the genre are artistically bankrupt, many new bands are reaching backwards into previous sounds forged during the splintering of the death metal genre in the mid-90s. Superficially these bands may succeed in gaining metal cred through filtering their outsider millennial approach through the lens of those who had created the sounds they are aping, but we at DMU know better. Onward to the gallows!
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Tags: 2018, Archaic War, death metal, Manor of Infinite Forms, sadistic metal reviews, smr, Solar Demise, The Mark of Sacrifice, tomb mold, Triguna
Afflicted were a Swedish metal band from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s releasing only two albums and a handful of demos. They began as Afflicted Convulsion playing primitive yet erratic death metal/grindcore. Although the riffs on their earliest (listenable) demo, Beyond Redemption, do little to set themselves apart from their contemporaries, we are presented with nuanced compositions that keep the listener enticed through each track, presenting satisfying wholes rather than myopic moments of inspiration. As Afflicted, the band would take their compositional skills and apply them to unique riffs on their demos and first album, Prodigal Sun. (more…)
17 CommentsTags: afflicted, beyond redemption, death metal, Grindcore, Hardcore, power metal, prodigal sun, Speed Metal, Sweden
Bethlehem are a German band that was formed with the intention of adding sorrow, melancholy and madness into extreme metal. Their first opus “Dark Metal” used a mixture of black metal, slower primitive death metal and the melancholic rock inspired British sound that bands like My Dying Bride were developing. (more…)
12 CommentsTags: 1996, bethlehem, Black Metal, dark metal, dictius te necare
As the successive death- and black metal craze of the 1990s lost its grip over Scandinavia, many musicians started a journey back towards their earliest of musical infatuations. Often this meant a return to classic 1980s heavy metal, although filtered through contemporary developments in the metal craft and coupled, at least in the more auspicious of cases, with a melodic flair distinctive of the region. One of few interesting products of this slightly schizoid period is the one-man and seemingly one-off project Defender, brain-child of a certain Phillip von Segebaden. (more…)
6 CommentsTags: 1999, defender, power metal, Sweden, they came over the high pass
Upon listening to this album, the listener familiar with the classic Norwegian black metal albums from the first half of the ninetiess will undoubtedly be reminded of Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse (1994). But apart from the way in which the keyboards are used for effect, the first Blood Stained Dusk is quite distinct in songwriting approach and in the crafting of individual sections. And while less clear and profficient in expression than Emperor, relegating the present release to a lower tier, Dirge of Death’s Silence is still a highly suggestive and imaginative work of black metal.
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Tags: 2001, Black Metal, blood stained dusk, dirge of death's silence, emperor, immortal
