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    • Interview: Brian N. Russ (BNR Metal Pages)

    When the Internet first became commercially available, there was no information on metal available save a handful of ASCII files and Megadeth, Arizona. A few brave souls challenged that by writing about metal and thus creating an information stream focused on the art, and not the marketing of the art as was all other information on the topic, having a corporate origin (this condition continues today, with the added complexity that most metal sites simply repeat said corporate information and slap the label "underground" on it). One of these brave souls was Brian N. Russ, who created BNR Metal Pages with a simple mission: to reflect his opinions about the better metal bands out there. Over the years, millions have read and loved this site for its simplicity and candor. Brian was kind of enough to come by the ANUS command bunker and chat a bit about his motivations, methods and metallic ambitions...
    Q: What inspired you to start the site, and what made you think, "I'll do a database, instead of a reviews or pictures site"?
    metal thawFirst, I've always had a mind for statistics and trivia, in both music and other areas (for example, sports statistics and fantasy football), so coming up with a database and learning all sorts of useless facts about bands fascinated me. As it turns out, when I was in graduate school in the mid-eighties, one of my programming projects was implementing a database, and in fact I used some of my metal knowledge back then as testing data. Long after that was done, I continued accumulating data, without really knowing what to do with it until the WWW sprouted up in the mid-nineties. Finally, I noticed at the time (as well as now) there are many more well-done reviews sites than database sites (though some other good database sites have come online in recent years), so I thought I could develop my own little niche in the metal world.
    What was the hardest part of getting it going? Did you face any technical hurdles back then?
    Once I learned simple HTML, the process of generating the pages from my database was pretty straightforward. And back in the early days before everyone had a .com place to host their stuff, I had an affiliation with my university, and they allowed me to host the pages there, which was very easy to do. So, there weren't a lot of technical hurdles there. My struggles have usually been trying to find ways to keep the site looking good -- not too plain, not too flashy. I don't have an artistic background, so it's hard to make the site look just the way I might like it.
    What's your own favorite era and genre of metal? Has this changed over the years?
    The 80's will probably always be my favorite era of metal. Of course, I'm not talking about the popular view of 80's metal (glam/hair stuff), but the 80's was when metal was still new to me -- there were so many new bands with new sounds to listen to. So, from a nostalgia point of view, that era will always be my favorite.

    As for favorite genre, right now my favorite bands are often the ones that don't neatly fit into any one genre. When some talks about a metal band and uses phrases like "eclectic" or "avant-garde", I am interested. This might be partially because I've heard everything else for so long, and/or because that's what my tastes have evolved to, for whatever reason. In general, I'm not sure any one genre really stands above the others to me, though some (doom and thrash, perhaps) might be slightly above others.

    You have been accepting of Christian metal bands while most other metal sites are not. Can you tell us a bit more about your philosophy of defining Christian metal as a separate genre? (Note: this is not an adversarial question - I think something "objectively" vital will emerge from it)
    To me, it's really the music itself that defines a musical genre more than lyrics. Therefore, bands with Christian lyrics are really no more or no less "metal" than bands with non-Christian lyrics. I'm not a Christian in the church-going sense, but I see no reason to disregard Christian bands just based on their image. Along those same lines, I find it slightly disturbing that certain Christian bands/fans isolate themselves from the secular world. I've found some Christian bands to have good things to say lyrically (which is great), and others that seem to be using their music solely as a marketing/recruiting tool (which isn't great), but even those bands in the latter group still should be considered metal if they sound like metal.

    To be more specific about your question, I don't really consider Christian metal its own genre. I list it as such on my site, but only for convenience for readers, who read about a particular band and may wish to find others in the same vein. But really, it shouldn't be a separate genre. I'd rather refer to Stryper as a pop metal band and Tourniquet as a thrash/death band rather than just calling them Christian bands.

    What, in your mind, defines metal, and differentiates it from other popular music genres?
    First, as I alluded to above, it's not the lyrics. To me, it's the "image", but not image in the lyric or visual sense. There is a certain mood that is conveyed with most metal bands, a dark (I'd almost use the word "evil" here, but that's a bit too simplistic) mood that resonates from metal. I'm anything but dark, evil, or angry, but yet it's those moods that fascinate me about metal music. Certainly, though, there are bands that are on the fringes of what is commonly accepted as metal, and so it's difficult to impossible to define metal just by listing bands that play it.
    How often do you update the site, and what tools do you use (ex: Notepad)?
    I now update the site roughly once a week. As it now stands, the information itself resides in several text files (representing, in a sense, crude database files, derived from the programs I wrote ages ago that I talked about above), and I edit those using vi, the UNIX programming editor that I learned so many years ago and still use in my profession (as a software developer) now. I've written programs/scripts that have evolved over the years, but whose function is the same -- read the text files and output HTML. After that, it's just a matter of packaging up the files (winzip) and uploading them to the site. Thankfully, this part of the process is far less time-consuming than writing the band descriptions and so forth.
    Do you have any idea how many people visit on an average day? Do hits pick up over the weekend?
    Unfortunately, no. This is partially due to my dissatisfaction with my current web provider, as I have had difficulties with them in regards to bandwidth/disk space issues and providing me with useful administrative tools. Though, to be fair, I just haven't had the time to go back to them and sort the whole thing out, so as long as the site is up, I'm happy. I need to rectify this someday.
    You tend to write summaries of a band's sound, ideas and history all wrapped into one, then list albums with data only. Why did you decide to use this highly-efficient format, instead of writing about each CD individually?
    It wasn't really by design, it just sort of ended up that way. When the site first went online (1995), the reviews were a bit more personal and less information/history based, and over time I've adjusted it to be more objective. If I had more time, I'd probably broaden the descriptions to discuss individual CDs more in depth.
    Looking at your top ten lists, it seems your tastes vary widely within the genre. What else do you listen to besides metal? What do you look for in a metal band that makes it a winner for you?
    Actually, I rarely listen to anything other than metal, at least as far as buying non-metal albums goes. There are a couple of exceptions, and I'll throw out two bands that I've enjoyed before -- Crystal Method and Portishead. To me, though, the range of metal styles is so great that I can listen to bands from across the board and not feel like I'm "just" listening to metal all the time.

    As I mentioned above, bands that are off the beaten path are often winners for me. That's not an absolute -- there are some bands that (though original and unique) don't appeal to me, and there are a few completely unoriginal bands that somehow click. But after listening to metal for so long, it's the bands that are pushing boundaries that I usually like best. A great example is the band you're just about to ask about...

    I'm bummed as hell to hear that Kong disbanded. Do you think there's a value in listing such obscure bands alongside mainstream ones, and do you know of any people who've gotten into them from your review and listing?
    I think there is such a value, and yes, I have received emails from people who read about Kong on my site, checked them out, and thanked me for the recommendation. That's a great feeling. It is too bad they broke up, though their direction on the later releases led me to believe they probably wouldn't last forever. The best bands never do...
    You seem to like hardcore, but not metalcore. Is there a reason?
    I'm not really a fan of either. It's mostly just that I don't like that vocal style. I used to dislike most extreme vocal styles, but over time I've come to accept death growls and even like black metal singing, but monotonous shouting just doesn't do it for me. This gets back to the mood that one hears/feels when listening to metal -- two words that at least begin to describe metal moods are "evil" and "angry", and for me personally, I greatly prefer the former mood in the music I listen to.
    Do you feel it is possible for bands to "sell out"? If so, "how"?
    I think it is possible, but I don't think it happens nearly as often as many seem to believe. Every time a band comes out with an album that changes their style even slightly from their previous work, accusations of sellouts are everywhere. I just don't think that's usually the case. To my mind, if you're a musician who likes and plays a particular form of music (you might even attain some level of success with that music), and then you radically change your music with the sole purpose of making money, then you're selling out. If a band explicitly and obviously jumps on the current bandwagon to follow whatever trend is in vogue that day, that can be selling out. But it's difficult to prove one's motivations. Let's say I play in a traditional thrash band, and my new album comes out, and it's a metalcore album, which just so happens to be the thing to do right now. Am I selling out? Maybe, maybe not. It's certainly possible and reasonable that I enjoy this new metalcore music, and my own new music reflects that. If that's the case, that's not really a sellout. So I'm sure it happens, but it's probably not as prevalent as the accusers would have you think.
    BNR Metal pages album review Where do you think metal will go, once black metal finishes fading away and metalcore is no longer trendy?
    For some time I had guessed that electronica and programming and industrial influences would become more prevalent. It still might happen. I can't say I predicted the past trends (nu-metal, grunge, metalcore), so it's hard for me to say what the future will hold.
    Do you think you'll listen to metal your whole life? Even in the retirement home/old age?
    For awhile I thought I would, and then there was a period where I figured it'd only be a matter of time before I'd move on to something else. But I think I will always listen to some form of metal, though probably not the most popular or basic forms of it.
    You don't seem to be very fond of black metal. Any reasons you'd like to give here? (Although, notably, you did pick out Enslaved to like, which suggests a sharp eye for musicality)
    Actually I don't think that's really true. Certainly, when it first became a legitimate genre, I wasn't on board. I'd heard a few of the early bands and thought they were sloppy. The vocals turned me off. The corpsepaint really turned me off. I pretty much ignored the bands and listened to other forms of metal. Over the last several years, I've changed my stance. I'm still not a fan of the real old-school raw stuff, but if you look at my recent top ten lists, you'd see several bands that at least have some basis in black metal, though perhaps not in the traditional sense. I can tell you this -- I'd much rather listen to an average black metal band than an average metalcore band, or an average power metal band, or an average death metal band. Hey, just the other night I was quite enjoying newer albums by Gehenna and Carpathian Forest, so I don't think it's accurate to say I don't like black metal now.
    In what ways do you wish metal fans/the metal community would change? Have you been able to do anything to effect that change?
    There is some close-mindedness in the metal community, and some immaturity. That's one reason I don't have a discussion forum on my site -- every time I go read someone else's, there are immature flame postings and the like polluting everything. I'm not sure there's anything I can do about that...
    When's the Assuck page coming? ;)
    Here's the thing. As much as I try to be organized about how I manage the site, bands fall through the cracks. I'll listen to a band for awhile, get the basic info researched, and for whatever reason, forget to follow through, due to the sheer number of bands I'm researching at any given time. That's what's happened here, as well as too many other bands for me to admit to. I'll see if I can get it done finally!
    I don't know if this is rampantly unprofessional of me or not, but can you talk about some of the metal websites that were around during "the early days," and what you thought of each in terms of its method of organizing information about metal?
    I don't think it's unprofessional, but I'm honestly having a hard time remembering what sites were around in 1995. Most of the sites I look at now aren't that old. I do remember thinking that there really wasn't a site that really did a great job with discographies and lineups and the like. Nowadays there are other sites, bigger than mine, that do that, though I hope that my site is still relevant in that area. I probably had some complaints about cheesy graphics that some sites used (and still use), such as rotating skulls or the famous dripping-blood horizontal bar (hope I'm not stepping on toes there!).
    Is your site designed to help research, or fans? Who do you envision as the average user of your site?
    The best emails I've gotten are from nostalgic fans, who remember listening to metal long ago, somehow stumbled across my site, and went back to listen to their old albums. That's great, though that's probably not the typical reader. Many use my site as a reference, or as a first option toward getting an opinion on a new band. By no means do I think my opinion is best, always right, or the only opinion out there, but I'd like to believe that, given my experience and love of metal, that my opinion is worth hearing. Of course people disagree with me on certain things (most often, what bands/sub-genres do or do not belong on my site), but it wouldn't be right if there was no disagreement.
    The one most relevant [cultural factor] here is language. In general, scientific discourse adopts as its ideal univocality -- one word, one meaning. Closely related to this goal is the belief that a language exists, or can be forged, that is purely instrumental. Clearly and unambiguously, it will communicate to the world what the speaker or writer intends to say. Roland Barthes (Rustle) has ironically called this the belief that science can own a slave language, docile and obedient to its demands. Anyone who has seriously studied how language works is aware, however, that it shapes even as it articulates thought. There is now an impressive body of work exploring how metaphors, narrative patterns, rhetorical structures, syntax, and semantic fields affect scientific discourse and thought...language is not a passive instrument but an active engagement with a vital medium that has its own currents, resistances, subversions, enablings, pathways, blockages. As soon as discovery is communicated through language, it is also constituted by language.
    - N. Katherine Hayles, "Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science," p. 5 (1991)

    BNR Metal Pages

    The Former Home of BNR Metal Pages

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    Death Metal and Black Metal Search Engine

    The Metal Basement

    30 07 12 - 14:32

    New radio program DJ'd in part by one of our users:

    The Metal Basement with Maniacal Michael & the Basement Bunch.

    It airs every Tuesday night from 10-12 PM PST.

     

    przk | | underground metal |

    Metal Rising Worldwide

    30 06 12 - 08:34

     

    przk | | underground metal | 359 comments

    Beherit - "Celebrate the Dead"

    18 06 12 - 19:34

    Black metal + dubstep



    Numen - intention = essence
     

    przk | | underground metal | 134 comments

    Why this blog has been silent

    31 03 12 - 05:58

    We've moved it.

     

    przk | | underground metal | 573 comments

    Impiety - Ravage and Conquer

    03 03 12 - 06:07

    Impiety - Ravage and Conquer



    This album is thoroughly enjoyable energetic and simple death metal which incorporates enough hints of melody and harmony to give the songs memorability. However, on the whole it belongs to that category of bands which are guilty pleasure bands by design. They do not aim for profundity, but rather intensity. We might list Vader and Angelcorpse as well, or maybe early Grave, because they have a similar low-tech approach. There is not much that is musical about this release. It is pure rhythm, with the aforementioned musical elements tacked on to keep your interest. But as rhythm, it has the intensity of later Angelcorpse and the raging power of broad basic statements that propelled early Grave. Its songs are not as memorably constructed as those on Exterminate or Into the Grave, have more the intensity of mid-period Vader, but in a time of feeble self-pitying rock bands trying to be hipster "metal," it's gratifying to find something with heart. You will tap your feet to these energetic, propulsive tunes and appreciate the sheer violence out of which they are created. Unlike many recent albums which drag you along for the ride, Ravage and Conquer drops you into the middle of it and makes you fight your way out.

     

    przk | | underground metal | 262 comments

    Imprecation - Angel of Salvation's Doom (2012)

    29 02 12 - 19:08



    From their new blasphemous album. Sounds good, with a few nods to 1980s mainstream technical metal, pissing all over 2010s technical metal.
     

    przk | | underground metal | 21 comments

    DEAD CAN DANCE tour dates announced

    29 02 12 - 05:21

    SEPTEMBER

    19th - HCTAT, Istanbul, Turkey
    21st - Earth Theatre, Thessaloniki, Greece
    23rd - Lycabetus Theatre, Athens, Greece
    25th - MCV, Utrecht, Holland
    27th - Grand Rex, Paris, France
    29th - Cirque Royal, Brussels, Belgium

    OCTOBER

    1st - Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
    3rd - Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
    5th - CCH, Hamburg, Germany
    7th - Philharmonie, Munich, Germany
    8th - Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany
    10th - KCP, Prague, Czech Republic
    12th - Bkz Oktyabrsky, St. Petersburg, Russia
    13th - Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia
    15th - Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw, Poland
    17th - Papp Laszlo Arena, Budapest, Hungary
    19th - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, Milan, Italy
    20th - Batiment Des Forces Motrices, Geneva, Switzerland
    22nd - Auditori, Barcelona, Spain
    24th - Casa Da Musica, Porto, Portugal
    26th - Royal Albert Hall, London, England
    28th - Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin, Ireland

    Dates for the North American, South American and Asian legs of the tour will be announced shortly, along with ticket sales information

    www.deadcandance.com
     

    przk | | underground metal | Five comments

    IMPRECATION update

    22 02 12 - 17:48

    New Imprecation tracks will be unleashed next week, the release should be ready by the end of March. The songs to come are entitled "Hosanna Ex Inferis" and "Angel of Salvation's Doom". - David Herrera
     

    przk | | underground metal | 22 comments

    SUMMONING working on new materail

    19 02 12 - 19:00


    19.02.2012
    After a longer winter-sleep summoning is back again and ow works constantly for a new release. We promise that in the near future we will regularly update the homepage again, so it will we worth the costs to check the page in regular intervals.

    The present situation of Summoning:

    In the past years we have worked on new material just very rarely because of different reasons (partly personal, partly being not motivated enough) but since the last months ,we intensified the work for new material and realised, that the old spirit is back again and we are very motivated for a cool new release and we are very committed in every terms of composing.

    Meanwhile there are two songs which are fix starters for the album. 4 or 5 songs are in a more advance state and we composed riffs for at least 10 or 15 songs in a very early state. Btw. we still have one finished song from the last oath bound session which also will be in one or another way. so probably this time we are in the luck situation that we have more songs left, so maybe there will be some special limited fan releases beside the normal release, but this is of course just a wish right now.

    We hope that until the end of this year most of the material for the new album can be finished. In the moment we have no concrete conception about the lyrical concept. All we can say right now is, that Summoning is still alive and middle earth will awake again. - SUMMONING official web presence


    This is encouraging.

    It does not sound like it will be soon, but so long as quality is high, it will be massively anticipated.
     

    przk | | underground metal | Eleven comments

    THRASH is not SPEED METAL

    18 02 12 - 16:52



    Mix together the early CIRCLE JERKS, early BLACK FLAG, MDC, MINOR THREAT, SSD, TERVEET K�DET, and GANG GREEN, and you have something approximating these DIRTY ROTTEN IMBECILES (so-called by their parents). What can I say--this is manic, intense, tight thrash with great lyrics, and I can't wait till these Houston boys unleash themselves upon the rest of us deprived people. 22 songs.
    -Tim Yohannan (from Maximum Rocknroll #5, March/April 1983)

     

    przk | | underground metal | 31 comments

    PROFANATICA - Sickened By Holy Host / The Grand Masters Session

    18 02 12 - 16:51



    This oddity features an all new 39 minute mini-album plus the "The Grand Masters Session" Box Set on CD for the very first time. Nearly 80 minutes of true blasphemy & perversion.

    PART #1 features 5 new songs plus 2 old classics written and recorded by Ledney with a session member. The performance on this work is much like their primitive NECROVORE-ous atrocities committed in the early '90s and allows for safe assumption of what could have been heard on their long-lost album, "The Raping of the Virgin Mary."

    Meanwhile, PART #2 features the same titles but written and recorded by Gelso alongside the same drums & vocals performed on part #1. The execution of this session continues in the more musical direction showcased on their first 2 albums and incorporates soundscapes sonically compiled by the late Aragon Amori. The end result is nothing short of devastating, and the vast contrast between these two sessions takes on the form of an album in itself that is sure to appeal to both old & new devotees of the black cult.

    Finally, "The Grand Masters Session" previously available as a vinyl-only 8" Box Set, is a raging 2008 "live in the studio" recording showcasing many of the classics, a few newer hits and an exclusive medley (a conglomerate of 5 songs).

     

    przk | | underground metal | Ten comments

    SUPURATION retrospective CD release

    17 02 12 - 10:10



    Yes, the mighty french legend SUPURATION (aka SUP) are back from the crematory in form of a retrospective collection CD which includes all the earliest and most brutal stuff of the band from '89 /'90 when they were in their most Death Metal shape right before they started to experiment with clean vocals and more varied sounds.

    "Back from the Crematory" is the generic title of this cult release which is planned for an imminent release on September 16th. The CD includes the awesome band's debut self-financed mini CD "Sultry Obsession" ('90), their only demo "Official Rehearsal" ('90) as well as the impossible-to-find demo of the band's very 1st studio recording "Haunted" under their previous monicker ETSICROXE as well as a 9-song live show, both from '89.

    This masterpiece comes with remastered sound and packed in a total old-fashioned layout in contrat to their latter weird & sophisticated designs. Includes killer 12-pages booklet featuring an exclusive retro-interview, liner notes, cover and tons of old photos & flyers. This definitely a must-have release not only for every SUPURATION fan, but for every lover of the good old Death Metal from late 80's and early 90's!!

    http://www.xtreemmusic.com/
     

    przk | | underground metal | Six comments

    Lord Wind - Ales Stenar

    12 02 12 - 07:36

    New Lord Wind: not metal per se, but metal in spirit, and it will be hard to beat this impressive CD that I'm already calling as "album of the year."



    Note new URL.
     

    przk | | underground metal | Sixteen comments

    New SAMMATH

    11 02 12 - 12:07

     

    przk | | underground metal | Two comments

    YADENU (Yet Another DEMONCY "Enthroned is the Night" Update)

    11 02 12 - 12:06

    Demoncy (CD) jackets are in production and on their way to completion. No release date has been given yet but we are expecting them roughly around the 22nd of February. - Forever Plagued Records

    Can't fucking wait!
     

    przk | | underground metal | No comments

    BLASPHERIAN update

    09 02 12 - 17:24

    BLASPHERIAN UPDATE:
    NEW SONG FOR SPLIT 7" WITH IMPRECATION......FINISHED
    2 NEW SONGS,REWORKED VERSION OF 'TO WALK THE PATH...'.... FINISHED
    AND NOW WE BEGIN WRITING FOR THE UPCOMING SPLIT WITH CRUCIFIER 'THE POISONERS OF YAHWASTE'...
    AND THEN WE RECORD THIS UNHOLY MADNESS....HOPEFULLY SOMETIME IN MARCH/APRIL 2012 ANNO SATANAS...
     

    przk | | underground metal | Ten comments

    New footage of Quorthon

    09 02 12 - 16:42

    Part 1:



    Part 2:



    Part 3:


    See also our interview with Quorthon, one of the smartest men in metal.
     

    przk | | underground metal | Two comments

    VARG VIKERNES converting to Christianity?

    06 02 12 - 20:09

    A textual comparison:

    A Burzum Story: Part VIII - On Overgrown Paths

    'Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.

    Bible

    How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!' Matthew 7: 13-14

    All I can say is... oy gevalt. Ripped shamelessly from Faceplant
     

    przk | | underground metal | Four comments

    Another DEMONCY update

    06 02 12 - 19:55

    Okay FPR confirmed the updated jacket design. I'm waiting to hear back that everything is accepted and in production. Remember everything is done but the jacket so once the jacket is done everything gets packaged and sent to us. I'll confirm once the jacket is in production and then I'll confirm once they give us an exact shipping date. I'll feel so much better once these are in the hands of all who preordered as I know we are at fault for accepting these pre's so damn early, considering the time its taking to get this finished.- FPR
     

    przk | | underground metal | No comments

    Typical Gojira Fan

    03 02 12 - 01:34



    This from fans of the band who penned this lyrical turd:


    I hold my inner child within
    And tell him not to cry
    "don't fear the living"
    One day you will stand as a king
    And no fear can erase
    This light below us
    Each one of us is now engaged
    This secret we all have
    This truth is growing
    And as a warrior I have to fight
    I can already feel
    The love I'll discover


    Is it fair to point out that anyone who thinks this is "poetry" or "profound" is of the level of stupidity found mainly in Twilight fans?
     

    przk | | underground metal | Seven comments

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