[-H E I D E N L Ä R M-]

A text zine dedicated to black/death metal music and cultural study
February 8, 2007 / Issue 8
Web: http://www.anus.com/metal/about/zine/
Correspondence: http://www.anus.com/metal/about/zine/contact.html

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[-CONTENTS-]

-Introduction-
	The Return...
	
-Interviews-
	GOREMENT (SWE)
	SAMMATH (HOL)
	TIMEGHOUL (US)

-Music-
	Album Reviews

-Features-
	Ragnarok - The Fall of Gods and the Decline of Mankind
	Idols in the Ruins: Pt. I - A Practical Beginner's Guide to 
	Discovering Great Metal that Others Forgot

-About-
	About Heidenlarm
	Staff Contact


[-INTRODUCTION-]

Welcome to the return of Heidenlarm -- the pre-eminent zine dedicated to 
celebrating metal as significant art.  

For those keeping track, it has been just over a one year since the 
release of the previous, and "last," issue of Heidenlarm.  Why the 
resurrection?  Changes in the milieu of Heidenlarm's parent site, 
anus.com, as well as staffing changes are partly responsible for this.  
These changes have followed with some changes in the focus of 
Heidenlarm.  The emergence of the literary journal Exponentiation (now 
found at www.forestpoetry.com), as promised in Issue #7, as a source for 
neoclassical music reviews, book and film reviews, original creative 
writing, and other works of cultural import has allowed for a sharpening 
of our perspective, and has fueled for us a renewed interest in metal as 
a worldview to be celebrated on its own terms.  However, Heidenlarm 
will, as relevant, continue to feature interviews with persons of 
political or cultural interest, as well as reviews of myriad non-metal 
releases, and features that are both informative and interesting, metal 
or not; it would be a grave misstep to consider supporting "metal" 
exclusively simply for the sake of the name alone.  For further 
perspective, we urge everyone to read the great Exponentiation as a 
companion and/or alternative to Heidenlarm as suitable to their needs.

Our primary thesis is that great metal, particularly great death and 
black metal, is but one avatar of the eternal, unwavering principles and 
values by which nature and great civilization are governed.  Be it in 
apocalyptic-deconstructionist (death metal) or Romantic (black metal) in 
form, where modern man has strayed from these principles, black and 
death metal have been there to smash them into his face.  The methods 
are often brutal, but the revelations beautiful to those with ears to 
hear them.  What is life in the shadow of ever-lurking and unforgiving 
death [the "Only Death is Real" of HELLHAMMER], in the foothills of 
nature's grand and jagged peaks [the veneration of the beauty of the 
native lands of BATHORY or EMPEROR], or against the raging downstream 
current of endless extrenal or internal challenge [the steadfast (anti-
)heroism of UNLEASHED or MORBID ANGEL]?  Black and death metal have 
helped to provide the answers to these questions for many of us.  
Iconoclasm, satanism, and the glorification of the grotesque are all a 
nihilistic means to a greater end: one that realizes time and the self 
are limited, that reality trumps illusion, and what remains is a desire 
for transcendence to better align ourselves with greater being.  None of 
what we have learned thusfar shall be forgotten in our perspective as we 
write this zine in the hopes of promoting these ideas, so that we may 
continue to explore metal and metal culture with a better understanding 
of its implications in broader human history.  

Heidenlarm does not have, and will never have, any progressivist 
delusions about the inherent quality of "new" metal releases.  We 
receive very little free promotional material, have no advertisers to 
seduce, pander to no paid subscribers, and pay little to no attention to 
what is occurring in "popular" or "cult" metal circles at this moment.  
In short, Heidenlarm exists exclusively from our love for metal and our 
wish to see it thrive.  This inherently rejects the idea of social 
pretense (or "scene") as a means for judgment of worth.  In keeping with 
the metal spirit, we strive, foremost, for honesty over consequences. 
There will be no lies in our sentiments or ulterior motives in our 
musings: only straightforward assessment at all turns, whether it is in 
our album reviews, our essays, or interviews.  Things may be worse this 
way, for some, but metal has never been about the comfort or good 
feelings of all, but rather an unflinching, heroic outlook that ignores 
the concerns of petty moralism to achieve higher goals.

The current issue features the usual varied crowd of reviews, from 
forgotten classics to more interesting recent fare.  Re-issues also 
receive a lot of attention in this issue: newer, quality metal releases 
are at a premium lately, and re-issues readily take their places in our 
collective attentions as a symptom of this.  This gives us special 
oppurtunity to re-tread old and familiar ground, discovering what was 
(and wasn't) worthy of attention the "first time around."  In keeping 
with this spirit are interviews with two bands from this era, including 
one (TIMEGHOUL) who receives virtually no attention anywhere these days, 
in the form of interviews or re-issued material, but whose music is of 
greater quality than almost anything else in the present time.  A 
feature on finding worthwhile rarities was inspired by their undue 
obscurity.  Our crowning work in this issue, "Ragnarok - The Fall of 
Gods and the Decline of Mankind," details Norse eschatology as seen by 
two of metal's most prolific Scandinavian personalities: Varg Vikernes 
of BURZUM and Quorthon of BATHORY.  Ragnarok reminds us soberingly that 
even the Gods are not immune from the ravages of Time; though, just as 
importantly, we learn that if we stand fast in the face of certain 
death, there will be someone to set our hopes anew in our spirit when we 
are gone.  Through the pages of Heidenlarm, we look to achieve such a 
valiant fate for metal.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy.

Heidenlarm Staff

[-INTERVIEWS-]

Interview with Patrik Fernlund of GOREMENT (SWE)
by kontinual

1. GOREMENT, of course, left a legacy consisting of very little 
material, including only one official full-length. In contrast, many 
metal bands of your era are content to tarnish their own reputations by 
releasing uninspired material long after their initial successes.  Was 
it fortunate that GOREMENT broke up when it did to avoid these pitfalls?

No, not really. We broke up simply because we got badly ripped-off by 
the record company and that just really took the breath out of the band. 
>From how I see it, we never really had any big success or "peak of our 
career" with the band. We thought releasing the album would maybe be the 
start of something successful, but instead it was just the start of the 
deterioration of the band. And back then honestly, none really cared 
about Gorement, we where just another Swedish death metal band...

2.  TERRORIZER, for example, recently released a horrible album more 
than 15 years after they dropped off the face of the earth after a 
single legendary release.  What makes a band do such a thing?

Well, I don´t know and I don´t wanna comment on that.

3. GOREMENT existed at a time of extreme popularity for death metal, in 
Sweden and abroad.  Clearly, you were influenced by your countrymen as 
well as the general atmosphere of the time.  Indeed, you state yourself 
that you were "just another Swedish death metal band."  What, to you, 
makes GOREMENT worth hearing at this point in time outside of that fact?

Well, since I wrote almost all of the material for Gorement, and all 
those songs, melodies and riffs probably will stay in my mind forever, 
it is really hard for me to argue just why you should pick up a Gorement 
release and give it a chance. From what I have heard from other people 
though, who really dig the band, our death metal was/is timeless and 
really took the best out of all the different styles of death metal that 
was and has been around. We where heavily influenced by our favourite 
bands around that time and we really did music that we wanted to hear 
and that we digged ourself.

4. You also state that "there were never really any deep thoughts behind 
our music, and we never ever strived for originality."  Are "deep 
thought" and "striving for originality" necessary to create something of 
lasting value?

No perhaps not, as I said, we did music that we digged ourself, never 
really striving for originality. When you are around 17-18, you don´t 
have those kind of inner questions and visions of another level of 
music, those who claim that are really fake I think. Back then you 
wanted to get drunk, get laid and put out some good music. There´s 
really no "deep thoughts" about that I think, ha ha!

5. Perhaps you have been asked this too often, but: there is a clear 
shift between the earliest material (circa "Human Relic") and what ended 
up becoming "The Ending Quest."  What drove this in particular, was it 
the poor reviews of the early material as you mentioned in the "Darkness 
of the Dead" liner notes?  Do you think GOREMENT could have easily 
fallen in with the Gothenburg-metal scene/trend had it continued?

Well, of course one thing was the poor reviews that we got, mainly 
because of the crapy vocals on the first demo, but also the natural 
progresion in both the music-writing and also getting Jimmy into the 
band. We started to know how to work as a unit and also write stuff that 
worked best for the bands sound. And I would say that after the two 
first demos we also got the self-confidence to start testing new stuff 
and influences, not getting caught in the same old stuff that we had 
done previously. And that really broadened our sound up til the release 
of "The Ending Quest...".

Ha ha, no I don´t think we would have fallen into the Gothenburg-sound 
if we had continued. Simply because we where not that good musicians.

6. Are lyrics important, or are they just words trying to express what 
the music is able to show?  Could death metal exist in lyric-less and 
vocal-less form?

I think lyrics is necceccary, but not really important. Back then you 
had your English dictionary and just tried to come up with some cool, 
creeping or dark sentences that you put on paper and that was it. From 
my point of view they really didn´t mean anything. I thought so back 
then, but who am I kidding... I know though that Jimmy wrote some 
personal stuff in a more poetic way for some of our lyrics, so I can´t 
speak for him.
Well Obituary have allready done the lyric-less Death metal 
successfully, haven´t they? Vocal-less form, well an instrumental piece 
is a really good break on an album I think, but an whole album? Well, 
maybe!

7. The later GOREMENT lyrics deal much with grief, loss, sadness, and 
death as an introspective concept.  This is similar to what Swedish 
bands like GOD MACABRE put forth.  Other bands of the time, like 
DISMEMBER, presented death in realistic or fantastically violent form.  
Obviously, you were heavily influenced by bands of both types.  Is one 
approach more valid?  The first concept seemed to appeal to you 
more...can you explain why?

Well, in the beginning it was all about gore, blood, pus and all that 
shit. But after the "Obsequies..." demo we felt that we wanted a little 
more dark approach of the band. The band-name was allready widely 
spread, so it was out of the question to change that. But lyricly we 
wanted to write more about darkness, sadness etc. as you said. And I 
would like to blame the Paradise Lost "Gothic" album for that, one of 
the darkest albums ever! That album had haunted us for about a year or 
so up till then and because of the slightly change music-wise that we 
where going thru, we felt this kinda lyrics would really suit our new 
approach.

8. In addition to the common Swedish influences, you site bands such as 
PARASIDE LOST as being influential on the "The Ending Quest" material.  
What were some other similar influences?  Did anything outside of metal 
influence you substantially?

Yeah, of course Paradise Lost, especially the "Gothic" album. At that 
time we where also heavilly into the old At the Gates stuff, mainly the 
EP "Gardens of Grief". And of course the mighty Bolt Thrower have always 
been around as an influence, I think you can hear that on some of the 
tracks on "The Ending quest...".

9. Your use of the "lead" guitar on "The Ending Quest" to drive melodic 
development is relatively unique in death metal, applied similarly to 
the way AMORPHIS did.  Was there a specific effect you were trying to 
achieve?  Was AMORPHIS an influence?

Well, I just love melodies, to get that supreme feeling when you combine 
chords or harmonies with a good melody on top of it! Thats life man! I 
wanted to get that feeling into Gorements music and again I blame 
Paradise Lost "Gothic" album for that, they really opened up my eyes 
with that album!
To be honest with you, I bought the Amorphis album "The Karelian 
Isthmus" when we where down in Germany recording the "Ending Quest..." 
album, so no at that time they where not an influence. But they became 
after that I can assure you, on the track "Profound Harmony" from the 
"Promo ´95" tape you can maybe figure out some of the Amorphis 
influences that we brought in. They where and still are a damn good 
band!

10. In the liner notes for "Darkness of the Dead" you speak of ideas you 
had involving string quartets for certain passages that were later 
completed with synthesizer, which would have provided an interesting 
effect.  Do you feel black and death metal have anything in common with 
string quartets or classical music generally, or did it just seem to you 
like a fitting aesthetic touch?

Well, I think it is cool to have that symphonic thouch on say 1-2 tracks 
on an album, but only if it has a purpose and helps lifting the music to 
another level.

11. Would it bother you if GOREMENT was only remembered positively 
because of nostalgia?

No absolutley not, it does that for me so, no I wouldn´t complain!

12. Does there seem to be an increased interest in material of the sort 
GOREMENT produced now as opposed to even five years ago?  If so, do you 
think this is real, or is it just more obvious (via the internet, etc.)?

Yes, absolutley. I think it started about five years ago, I got e-mails 
from people who wondered if I was in that old swedish band Gorement and 
if we would re-issue our stuff etc. Well, Internet have probably had a 
big input in the increased interest, but internet also existed during 
the late 90-ies when the scene was dead quiet, so I think and hope that 
this newly founded interest is for real.

13. Does mp3 exchange replace tape trading, or is there something lost 
in this translation?  Do you feel that the trading of mp3s makes 
listeners lazy and less discerning, or that their widespread 
availability and ease of attainment singles out people who possess those 
qualities?  Or am I being a prick and it is not that way at all?  Does 
it matter?

I like the mp3-format as being a chance to hear some samples from a band 
and maybe that will make you interested in hearing more. Back in the old 
days you traded demos with different bands and many of them simply 
sucked. Nowadays you can have the chance to hear something from that 
band before trading our buying the stuff from them. I think that is a 
the good thing with mp3. But I don´t like that the mp3-format is about 
to replace the CD-format, I strongly think that the sound-quality is 
much worse in the mp3-format.

14. What did death metal mean to you then, and what does it mean to you 
now?

Death metal to me then, was a divine feeling of beauty and controled 
aggressions creativley and of course beeing a part of the ongoing 
movement. Today it is (sadly) most nostalgia, but I still enjoy those 
old classics and death metal will of course always be a part of me.

15. Did you feel GOREMENT to be part of a real "underground" movement?  
What defined the "underground" for you 1990-1994?

Yes, we where defenitely involved and a part of the underground movement 
back then. The underground scene back in the beginning was really a huge 
tape and zine trading movement, with people trying to put gigs together 
occasionaly. It was really a good vibe and you had really good contacts 
with some people around. But just a few years later, when Entombed, 
Dismember and At the Gates got their break-through, everything just 
changed and it became more comon that you got ripped-off etc. The old 
movement slowly died then I think.

16. Does death metal belong in/require the "underground," or does it 
matter?  What determines the "underground" in an internet age? 

Well, as I said the old "underground" movement is dead. And lets face 
it, death metal of today is defenitely mainstream.

17. What differentiates the old Swedish approach from the old American 
approach to death metal, and what do you feel are the reasons behind 
these differences?

Well, I always thought that Swedish death metal was a little bit more 
darker and gloomier than the American style. The american style where 
more about Thrash/Death, whereas the Swedish sound where more 
Doom/Death. Well, of course it has to do with the scandinavian winters, 
when darkness rules, hasn´t it? Ha ha! No, I don´t know, just different 
approaches to influences in different countries I think.

18. You are still active in music.  What maintains your interest in it?

Well, nowdays I am not really active in any metal-band, but I do still 
play music yes. Well it is hard to describe, music has always been my 
biggest interest and it will probably continuing being that.

19. What do you find musically compelling at this point?  Are the old 
bands still relevant to you?

Well it differs from day to day, but when it comes to Death metal I 
listen alot to Opeth these days, they have put out some really 
interesting stuff lately! And I also listen alot to Vader, they have 
always been fuckin brutal! Otherwise I listen alot to all sorts of metal 
and I also enjoy good old classic bands like Pink Floyd, Yes and King 
Crimson, that sort of music.

20. What is compelling to you outside of music?

Ha ha, tricky question. Besides my family I would say that I don´t have 
any bigger interest than music. So a tragic answer but nothing.

21. What makes Sweden great?

Well, you can make yourself a really good life here, that is enough for 
me. And of course the climate is still bearable here.

22. Does death metal have a future?

Yes, absolutley! But it will be exiting to see in what form and if it 
will be relevant.

23. I hope this wasn't too much like school.  Please expand upon 
anything, promote, point out my inadequacies, etc., and cheers for the 
interview.

Thank you for this interview! Hope it will bring some enlightment to you 
old school death metal-heads out there! Check out our Bio-CD "Darkness 
of the Dead" out on Necroharmonic/Morbid Wrath Rec.

Cheers and Stay Brutal!
--

GOREMENT - http://www.myspace.com/gorement
NECROHARMONIC PRODUCTIONS - http://www.necroharmonic.com

-=-

Interview with Jan Kruitwagen of SAMMATH (HOL)
by kontinual

1. What is more important: creating good music, or creating good metal?  
Can these ideas be seperated when writing a metal album?

That’s a balance which I find almost impossible to achieve. Good metal 
is mostly based on very basic primal riffs, wrapped around short 
statements as lyrics. Separating these ideas is almost impossible if you 
ask me. I think on the new album I have, in my way, grown more in ways 
of creating good music without losing the metal touch.  

2. Does the music of SAMMATH have any specific goals?  Is there a point 
where these goals could be met, and would this end the band?

My goal is still the same as back in 94. All I really want to do is 
write a metal album which I can be proud of. Most of all creating a 
sound, atmosphere which has not already been created, very hard in metal 
the last years. I would only stop with the band if the feeling of total 
hatred and disgust fails me, then I would let Sammath die. 

3. Do you feel lack of sincerity is easy to recognize?  Can insincere 
people create sincere art by accident?

Possibly, I know many absolute idiots who create very, very interesting 
metal. I really don’t think sincerity is easily heard. Sometimes you can 
hear the forced nature of recordings, knowing the musician has really 
just chosen the wrong type of music to express him. In black metal if 
you don’t posses hatred and sincere dark energy the listener, read the 
listener with knowledge of the scene, will be able to see this straight 
away. But as in any music scene, there are posers everywhere. I mostly 
hate the so called black metal kids who just use the black metal front 
to hide their weakness and rebel against mom and dad. 

4. Certain bands seem more self-aware; i.e. they recognize their 
greatness and strive to that end, while others seem to write good music 
without this self-knowledge.  Is there a difference if the end result is 
nearly the same?  Or can it be the same?

I think the second group will always be better, knowing once greatness 
is something I think ruins a lot of bands. When I see a gig or hear a 
record of a band that is only busy with building on ones ego I usually 
hit the bar and grab a beer. The best albums in metal are mostly all 
created by bands that did not know or grasp their greatness

5. Your music and image has shifted somewhat since the days of "Strijd;” 
whereas the first album was more "traditionally" black metal, the newer 
ones incorporate a variety of elements not present before.  Are there 
any particular influences that drove this change?  The bio states you 
grew up in Australia and were influenced by bands of that nature.  To 
what degree is that true?

I think it very deadly to write the same style every album. Some people 
see this as being true, or cult, or whatever. But I see this 
differently, creating the exact same album every go is a sign of 
weakness. Totally changing styles is something different, that’s even 
worse. But some changes in influence or song writing are absolutely 
necessary to keep the flame burning. Growing up in Australia left a 
certain rough mark on my being. In Europe most people are tied down by 
cultural rules. I think on the new album I tried to combine all 
influences that I build up over the last 20 years listening to metal. 
The first album was good, but I still see this album as something that 
could have been more original, however the album is these days much more 
appreciated then back in 98. The Australian bands have a great chaos in 
them, I hope I breathe the same atmosphere. 

6. Were the subtle changes in guitar tone on "Dodengang" used 
intentionally to create depth?  The effect is profound if you listen 
closely.  Do you think small details like this are often overlooked (by 
listener or writer)?

Creating depth is one of the things that I have been working on for 
years, but just did not come out the way it should in past releases. I 
just wasn’t able to create the depth in tracks due to lack of ability, I 
therefore practised like a madman. Small details are mostly overlooked. 
The guitar tone, and as you wrote, the small changes are ideas I have 
been working on for years. But with the previous album I tried and 
failed, this time it worked out almost perfectly.

Most listeners who know Sammth hear this and tell me. I read a lot of 
reviews of the last albums in which writers describe this. Problem is 
that reviews the last years have become somewhat shorter in length and 
depth, due to the huge amount of releases. The reviewer simply lacks 
time to write more in depth reviews as they used to be written, Their  
are lots of exceptions,, but some just don’t take their time. 

7. The lead guitar on "Dodengang" is used quite creatively.  On some 
tracks, it seems as if it is tying the song writing together completely, 
the effect of which is captivating when coupled with the way the tone is 
applied.  Is this the case?  Other tracks seem to rely less on this 
idea.  Are you writing songs to fit a variety of mindsets?

Yeas, explained perfectly. As the lead guitar takes a more central, 
place in some songs I try to avoid this in others. Otherwise you a get 
an album consisting of tracks that sounds almost identical in tone and 
atmosphere, In Ashes to ashes there is a total different approach to 
writing a track then the title track Dodengang, Other tracks combine 
more thrash and death riffs, combined with early black metal ideas. 
Giving it a Sammath twist. 

8. Metal by its nature generally has to ignore musical technique like 
dynamics and texture.  Do you see a way to better incorporate these 
things into metal, or would that change it too fundamentally?

If I possessed the skills I would probably do this. The problem is that 
dynamics and texture are two things that are difficult to get into 
metal. Due to the wall of noise most producers have a damn hard time 
building this into the music. Peter Neuber, producer of bands like 
Nasum, Severe Torture, who also did the last Sammath cd has been dealing 
with this problem for years.

9. Are old bands more inspiring for SAMMATH than new ones?  Do you have 
hope for a metal future?

Old bands inspire me everyday, like Coroner, Bestial Warlust, Sadistik 
Exekution. But the last two years their are some bands who have been 
very inspiring. The new bands seem to wander two paths. One being the 
Darkthrone clones, and on the other hand the bands that combine 
different types of black metal from the begin 90s to the present day. I 
have great respect for Conqueror, Axis of Advance, Revenge, Skyforger, 
Wyrd, Grenade, Graupel. 

The future will be good for metal, I just hope that labels stop signing 
every band that send a demo, a lot of crap releases the last years. 

10. A few of the earliest generations of death metal and black metal 
listeners have come and gone.  Does "growing out" of metal represent 
weakness or is it natural (or both)?  Can one still be "metal" and fit 
metal ideas into a broader worldview, including through more diverse 
musical listening habits?

I haven’t listened to anything else except extreme metal since I was 12 
years old, twenty years. I do listen to some classical music now and 
again; mussorgksy was one hell of a composer. I have this conversation 
with friends of mine pretty often. Especially some good friends I have 
known for 15 years. They aren’t involved in the metal scene but 
sometimes go along to a concert to get drunk or try to pick up woman. 
They always have a good laugh when I get excited about a release of a cd 
by a great band, calling me a child. Growing out of metal happens around 
me all the time. I think about 90 % of all people I was in contact with 
back in 93-94 are responsible adults now, read boring morons. I’m always 
glad when people look frightened or strange when they hear my music, 
then I know I won’t have to have them over at my house again. Most 
people I know who are still metal are very intelligent people who just 
do what they want to do, not what people expect. I really don’t 
understand how people, or bands, are evil black metallers one day and 
then switch to another scene the next. Getting older, kids, a wife, 
boring job, most definitely must have its influence on someone. Buts 
it’s always a choice. Most people just hop on the next trend. This also 
means they never really understood what the hell black metal is about. 
It’s more then just being evil, it’s a lifestyle. I get a lot of 
comments that I am of scene, because I don’t hang around every shit 
concert their is. I believe metal is something you don’t just listen to 
but live the life. 

11. What motivates attacks on "elitism," not just in music, but in all 
spheres of life?  Why does the word "elite" sound so negative to modern 
ears? 

Because we had world war one and two. The modern man has been made a 
pussy. Trying to keep the animal locked up inside. That’s what my lyrics 
deal with in some tracks on the new album. Just look at how Western 
Europe is handling the whole Muslim situation. In the Netherlands you 
are a racist almost directly when you speak of problems with culture 
clashes. Most Europeans are scared shitless of Muslims. Maybe my 
Australian background helps me a bit. If we don’t like something we say 
it, much more directly then Europeans. The elite is a term raped by 
modern times, also by bedroom black metal kids/ idiots. Black metal is 
certainly a way of life, I see it as just doing your own thing. I don’t 
live by most rules of modern society. The elite should be a group who 
are named elite by others. 

12. As a member of a Western European nation, how has life changed under 
the European Union?  Is the EU doomed to be a problematic experiment?

The idea is good; the problem is that every shit country is being 
allowed to profit from the EU. Their are significant differences between 
west and Eastern Europe. They are paving roads in some parts of Eastern 
Europe, and then you see photos of carts with horses using these 
streets, pathetic. The biggest problem would be the plans, this will 
probably happen, to let Turkey join the EU. This country has absolutely 
nothing to do with Europe. People really don’t understand why this needs 
to happen. I really don’t want 50 million Muslim farmers joining the EU. 
The only thing resembling the Eu in turkey are the big cities, big 
modern cities with pretty much free speech and thought. The Eu will 
probably fail because the euro is getting to expensive, our economy will 
probably lose the battle to countries in the Far East. In China you can 
get 30 people to work for the same costs you have in Europe for 5 or 7 
people. 

13. Historians of the modern era such as Oswald Spengler resurrected age-
old ideas by claiming history could be understood as a series of cycles 
in which there are periods of both advancement and decay.  This 
contradicts the more common positivist notion that history is constant 
improvement.  This seems all too easily applicable to other cultural 
phenomena such as music.  Do black and death metal show these historical 
traits?  If true, is there a way to fight decay or is it an inevitable 
process?

I think we are too early to comment on this, or maybe we are already 
seeing this. Lots of new bands just simply copy older bands, everyone 
needs a hobby. I think that in the next years we will see some kind of 
evolution, I don’t think us older metal idiots will be glad to see it. 
But if we don’t pick up new ideas we will be digging our own grave. The 
problem is that most metal people have very conservative ideas about 
what metal should be like, I do to. But this is our problem; we need to 
change to evolve.

14. Is a recognition that society is decaying a prerequisite for the 
creation of death/black metal?  Does it seem to you that most 
(historically) good bands carried forth this idea in some form?

I really don’t see society dying, changing yes, but dying? I really 
don’t see anything drastically strange about the modern man. It’s all 
pretty much logical the way we are all becoming consuming idiots without 
opinions. Society was full of idiots at any point in history. The only 
thing these days is that by watching tv with stupid talkshows and shit 
like that we can see these idiots.

15. What does black metal need to try to convey at this point in its 
history?

We need to come up with new ideas, new forms of darkness. But we also 
need to stop letting bands release crap. That’s one of the most 
important things if you ask me. The scene will slowly fall apart if the 
level of releases is kept up like this. I also must protest about 
christian black metal. There are simply to many people involved who just 
don’t understand what black metal is. In the Netherlands the scene is 
getting better, great individuals are standing up and getting their 
music heard. Bedroom black metal must also stop. Get up on the stage at 
least once with your band to prove you are anything worthwhile. 

16. Thank you for participating in this interview.  Closing thoughts?

Thanks again to anus for a interesting interview. Metal or death!!
--

SAMMATH - http://www.sammath.nl 
FOLTER RECORDS - http://www.folter666.de 

-=-
Interview with TIMEGHOUL (US)
by kontinual

1. I promised no generic questions, but since TIMEGHOUL still ranks 
among the obscure, a brief history would be helpful here.

The band was originally formed in 1987 by Jeff Hayden and Mike Stevens. 
It was originaly called Doom's Lyre, and was changed not too long after. 
They recruited Chad and Tony around 1990 and cut the demo "Tumultuous 
Travelings" in April 1992. Jeff wanted to go to a 3 guitar attack so 
that he could incorporate 3-guitar harmonies. At this time Mike had 
decided to drop out and form a Christian metal band. I grew up on the 
same street as T.J. and we had been playing and writing music on our 
guitars in his garage, but we couldn't find anybody in 1993 that wanted 
to play technical thrash/death. I saw a flyer posted at the record store 
about Timeghoul tryouts. I followed up, tried out, made the band, and 
got T.J. in the band as well. Somewhere in there Chad bowed out but we 
continued on. We then recorded "Panoramic Twilight".

2. Getting the second generic question out of the way: although 
TIMEGHOUL can be described as death metal, the eclecticism points to a 
greater array of musical influences. Can you describe what some of those 
were? What about non-musical ones?

Jeff was the main visionairy here. His favorite was Atrocity's Longing 
For Death, Suffocation, Immolation, Gorguts, Morgoth, Nocturnus, 
Malevolent Creation, stuff like that. That pretty much went for 
everybody in the band back then. Jeff also liked alot of experimental 
dark classical music from the 20th century too, as well as midieval 
music.

3. Only six tracks were officially released, but I have seen listings 
for live bootlegs showing more than six tracks being performed, though I 
have not seen the videos themselves. Is there unreleased material 
floating around, and is it recorded anywhere if so?

Nothing of good sound quality. There was an instrumental version of a 
song called "Last Laugh" that was scrapped for parts to other songs. We 
were also rehearsing "To Sing With Ghosts" and "Joust Of The Souls" 
before we disbanded, but there are only 4-track versions of the various 
riffs.

4. What comprises a "riff" in a TIMEGHOUL song? How are these presented 
cohesively within a song, i.e. is there a current of an idea defining 
each track, are the riffs composed randomly but placed in logical 
sequence, or is it totally random? Something else?

For Timeghoul a riff was more or less a sequence of smaller phrases that 
added up to a much bigger overall part of the song. Not to lose you with 
musician talk but Jeff was thinking like a classical composer and the 
riffs had the longest phrases to them-they just went on and on, and he 
didn't like to come back to parts either that much-just like in 
classical music. As far as the format of the songs goes, I think Jeff 
just wrote the riffs chronologically (w/ an exception of a riff or 2) as 
they appear in the structure.

5. Was TIMEGHOUL tuned to A? Some of the riffs completely bottom out.

Actually we were not really downtuned at all. We tuned to E flat because 
nobody else was doing it. We used active pickups and played 4th chords 
to beef up the sound. Back then 7-strings were barely around. I think 
Morbid Angel, Korn, and Dream Theater were the only ones using them. We 
used alot of heavy EQing. Jeff actually used super-thin strings because 
he said it helped him speed-pick better. And T.J. and I were on the 
other end of the spectrum playing are jazz-gauge strings.

6. I think the approach to death metal taken by TIMEGHOUL can safely be 
called "American" for the most part. Does this mean anything to you? 
What makes American music in general specifically American in your 
opinion?

Well I know we didn't sound a black metal band from Sweden. We were in 
talks w/ Holy Records from France and they wanted to see what we came up 
with next before they would sign us. When the label heard the recording 
of the 2 songs from '94 they said we sound like an American death metal 
band similar to Immolation with too much grinding. It wasn't avant-garde 
enough for their label. I guess so. It sounded pretty unique to me. As 
far as an American sound goes, I would say that maybe there's more of a 
focus on groove with catchy hooks or something, like Obituary I suppose. 
But again we weren't writing catchy hooks or grooving. We were musically 
in the world created by Jeff's lyrics.

7. TIMEGHOUL's music is quite complex, but clearly not in a contrived 
sense. Did TIMEGHOUL strive to make complex music, or did complex music 
better fit the thematic ideas behind the band?

I think Jeff developed his own style of writing melodies in a midieval 
way, and the rest in a frantic way that begged for strange and technical 
patterns. He developed the Timeghoul "Vocabulary" as we used to say.

8. I have seen the TIMEGHOUL lyrics described as "fantasy," which seems 
true. Like all good fantasy though, some seem to be truth buried under 
complex metaphor. They are also very well composed. Was there any kind 
of meta-concept, or were they written as seperate short stories that 
happened to play out well as lyrics?

Jeff wrote the lyrics after the song was written. He may have had an 
idea or working title to the songs before the vocals were done, but that 
came last. Phenomenal lyric guy. I know The Siege has a backdrop of a 
castle being overtaken by the opposing army-which is metaphorical for 
someone going insane. I think Rainwound is loosely based on Greek/Norse 
mythology, and Gutspawn was based on a creature from D & D called the 
"Gut". Occurance On Mimas was fascinating in that Mimas is an actual 
moon of Saturn, but it's missing a chunk of itself. The theory was that 
there were evil, warring tribes on that part of the moon and an asteroid 
came through and knocked that part of Mimas to Earth where it all 
crashed into what is known today as the Himalayan Mountains. The 
creatures awaken from underneath and rise to the surface where they 
destroy the planet, before going back underground. Maybe that was 
metaphorical for the "underground" scene in music rising up at some 
point.

9. The "clean" vocals provide a wonderfully ethereal effect and are 
included with good taste. Was their inclusion seen as a bold move for a 
full-on death metal band at that point in time?

Definately. I think Fear Factory was about the only band doing that back 
then.  Jeff was a composer first and foremost, and he wanted harmonies 
everywhere, especially sandwiched between the heaviest of riffs. The 
songs are really progressive if you think about it. And they're always 
shifting in different directions to keep it interesting.

10. I have an old interview where Jeff Hayden mentions medieval 
polyphonic music as an influence to these vocals. Do you know if that is 
the case? Anything in particular?

see question 2

11. In your experience, what works better for songwriting: democratic 
participation, or a more singular vision? Is there a compromise between 
the two? How did TIMEGHOUL typically operate?

In the band I play in now (Gate 7) what a shameless plug, we have found 
through trial and error that it's best to compromise. We write 
everything live in the practice room, and if somebody doesn't like it we 
don't play it. As far as getting the most artistically out of a song you 
should probably just let an individual write the whole thing based on 
his/her specific vision, and then maybe the rest of the band can add 
their thing over the top, or make a suggestion here or there. I know 
when I solely write for my projects, nine times out of ten I accomplish 
exactly what I was going for. I can see both sides of the coin on this 
one.

12. Band members, when asked about what they were aiming to achieve, 
often give an answer to the effect of "Nothing - we were just four dudes 
playing what we loved and having fun." This is a believable (and 
understandable) scenario, but not a wholly satisfying one, particularly 
for bands that showed greater insight. What answer would you give to 
this question with regard to projects with which you have been involved?

I was 18 when I joined Timeghoul in jan.94 so I was thrilled to be in a 
band that heavy and that original. I learned a ton from Jeff and Tony. 
When I write music now the songs end up being long, and I don't like to 
repeat parts too many times either. It was a great learning experience 
to go into the studio as well. My first taste of playing live was during 
this time too. I think we were proud of  the songs we played and 
envisioned sticking around alot longer than we did.

13. Is music art? Is modern music art? Is there a continuum?

What is art? I look at it like that about half the time. I listen to 
King Crimson and stuff like that, and that music makes you think the 
whole time you listen to it. Then I'll put on something on from back-in-
the-day and just start jamming out and having fun. Ultimately I would 
say I like an approach of a band like Opeth who can give you the "art" 
and the "heavy" at all times.

14. What qualities do you seek in music?

Originality and Creativity. It seems that it's harder and harder to find 
original bands anymore. Everybody sounds like "this" meets "that" and 
it's pretty uninspiring. I watch the new Headbanger's Ball and for every 
1 video that's good there are 6 that either suck, or sound like 
something that was done 10 years ago. I try my best personally to write 
things that are unique and don't sound like any one band, especially 
over the course of an album.

15. Why are some people more discerning when it comes to music (or any 
other complex choice) than others? Is there a more or less inverse 
linear relationship between quality/quantity?

It could be a left-brained or right-brained thing. I know people with 
IQs through the roof, and they seem genuinely entertained by nothing but 
the simplest pop music of the day. Maybe their enjoyment is that they 
don't have to think about it. I get my enjoyment by listening to the 
structures of songs, and seeing where they go, what effects the band is 
using, and generally how fresh the material is at the time in which it 
was written. I guess I do view music as art. Others may view it as 
entertainment, and some may listen for the message.  To each their own.

16. Why did TIMEGHOUL fail to achieve greater success? Do you think the 
band was possibly too cerebral? Too different? Or was it the just result 
of an oversaturated underground?

The problem back then was that nobody had any money, and the technology 
wasn't there to record at home on the computer, so without some support 
we could never record any songs. And the labels weren't calling us 
because we just weren't out there enough for them to know who we were. 
Plus, we could never keep a full lineup in tact. We virtually had no 
bass player for the final 3 years. Eventually Jeff and Tony had kids, 
T.J. moved to Florida, and I joined another band.

17. I have never managed to read what ended TIMEGHOUL, so please fill us 
in if you are able.

see question 16

18. Has anybody shown interest in re-issuing the TIMEGHOUL material?

I will eventually post all 6 songs on my website www.aegea-synergy.com 
on the Timeghoul page (w/ kind permission from Mr. Hayden of course). I 
still talk to Tony and Jeff here and there. You never know-Tony lives in 
a home/studio with his band, and Jeff talks about writing something more 
ferocious and complex than ever. If we can ever find the time I would 
love to record some more of Jeff's compositions. "Stay Tuned!"

19. Have you met with any success with AEGEA and SYNERGY?

I haven't really marketed the music other than posting a website. It's 
mainly just a hobby for me while I play in a band and live the married 
life. Besides,  it's hard to find a market for heavy-progressive-
instrumental music (Aegea), and the other project (Synergy)  is like 
Frank Zappa metal or something.

20. Was TIMEGHOUL highly revered locally? What was the response like in 
other parts of the US/world?

Back in the early to mid-nineties there were hardly any any thrash and 
death metal bands in St. Louis. The whole grunge thing was going on and 
everybody thought they were born-again hippies or something. Timeghoul 
was always playing gigs with the same bands, like Psychopath and 
Immortal Corpse, but that was about it. We also opened for a show that 
featured headliners Obituary w/ Agnostic Front, Cannibal Corpse, and 
Malevolent Creation.

21. Everyone from the Kansas City area pronounces it Miz-ur-AH. Is it 
called Miz-ur-EE anywhere in the state? Is one pronunciation more hick 
than the other?

In St. Louis we say Miz-ur-EE, but I did spend 4 and 1/2 years in 
Columbia, Mo. at Mizzou, which is 100 miles west, and  they say Miz-ur-
AH. But I do know that everybody in the state pronounces Budweiser the 
same way.

22. Thank you for your thoughtful answers and your time. Anything else 
you may want to add can go below.

Thanks!
--

AEGEA AND SYNERGY (including TIMEGHOUL samples) - http://www.aegea-
synergy.com

-=-

[-MUSIC-]

ABSURD (GER) - Wolfenthron (ABS, 2001)
 
The hardcore punk album as reinterpreted through metal remains a Holy 
Grail for many bands, since the raw energy of punk coupled with the epic 
sensations of metal is artistic tritonal. Impaled Nazarene returned to 
their roots with "Latex Cult," and reintroduced the heritage of black 
metal from hardcore; the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles way back in 1985 
achieved the last master fusion of metal and punk with "Dealing with 
It." Wolfenthron takes a different approach by staying entirely within 
expected punk rhythm, less deadpan cadence than Discharge but a shade 
short of the exuberant bounce of The Exploited, and less neurotically 
rigidly rapid as Minor Threat tended to be. The verse riffs of this 
album are entirely classic punk and have zero pretensions about being 
otherwise, but the transitional riffing is straight out of Black Sabbath -- 
churning, world-reducing patterns that like the numerology of sigils 
symbolize epic moments in life. Choruses thunder down with a simplified 
metal power and an anticipatory dead-falling cadence that counterpoints 
the punk and erases some of its monochromatic drive. Interludes of 
bagpipe drone and indie-rock sensible minor key instrumental ballads 
heighten rather than dilute atmosphere. Although this album is not as 
devoutly bizarre and symbolic as earlier Absurd it retains much of that 
power and channels it from a divisive compromise between genres into a 
fusion that builds consensus through what these genres have in common at 
their best: a desire to remove themselves from modern society without 
falling into maudlin duty of resistance or tedious self-pity, channeling 
the insurgent energy of the original punk hardcore toward a sense of 
self-sufficiency and potential for change in the context of metal's 
broader view than the individualistic politics that dragged down 
hardcore and later black metal. While after this album, Absurd's output 
fades to a uniform grey and ranting dogmatic obedience, this swansong 
for their classic era is an undiscovered classic amidst controversy, 
legal actions, political divisions and other fracas of the dying Western 
empires. -vijay prozak

-=-

CIANIDE (US) "Hell's Rebirth" (From Beyond, 2004)

CIANIDE are a band so firmly entrenched in their style at this point 
reviews are almost completely moot.  Aesthetic, songwriting, attitude: 
all solidified since, at least, the "Death, Doom, and Destruction" album 
of 1996, and probably long before that in spirit given their ancient 
influences.  This stasis need not necessarily be a bad thing, and 
clearly it suits them well.  Unlike other bands who attempt to make 
careers from repetition, CIANIDE are obviously not profiting from their 
consistency, which is the product of an inner love that these other acts 
simply cannot duplicate or even understand.  Everything that has defined 
CIANIDE in recent years is present on this album: the thick, raucous 
rhythm guitar tone complete with accompanying wah-heavy, simple leads, 
the steady monotonous bark of Mike Perun, the speed metal violence and 
HELLHAMMER/rock double-bass groove alternating with tepid dirge.  If 
anything can be said about this album compared to previous efforts is 
that it may be faster, but this hardly describes any real departure 
whatsoever, merely a transient feeling captured in the most recent 
songwriting.  If this band has aimed to be the MOTORHEAD of death metal, 
they have succeeded a thousand-fold; if Lemmy would be King in a metal 
society, CIANIDE have secured dukedom at minimum.  This album will 
provide almsot nothing in future listenability, especially for those who 
preferred their earliest style, but it nevertheless manages to knock the 
pretentious wind out of a million pretenders with the most effortless of 
punches.  Take that as you will.  

As a side note, the song "Death Metal Maniac" manages to be the coolest 
thing on any album in a long while.  This is the first, and will 
definitely be the last, song to mention HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST, 
SLAUGHTER, KREATOR, REPULSION, SODOM, VENOM, BATHORY, AUTOPSY, DEATH, 
MASSACRE, DEATHSTRIKE, MORBID ANGEL, SLAYER, and POSSESSED by name in 
the lyrics.  Words about CIANIDE pale humbly at this most apt summary of 
the band.  Expect nothing more from CIANIDE beyond what this might tell 
you. -kontinual

-=-

GOREMENT (SWE) - Darkness of the Dead (Necroharmonic, 2004)

"Darkness of the Dead" is a discography release (increasingly common 
these days) for Swedish death metallers GOREMENT.  It includes their 
only full-length album ("The Ending Quest", 1994), their demo ("Human 
Relic", 1991), and two seven-inch EPs ("Obsequies", 1991, and "Into 
Shadows", 1992).  The included presentation is not incredibly diverse: 
much of the demo and seven-inch material was re-used in some form for 
"The Ending Quest" full-length, which makes that the most interesting 
point study on the CD.  As with most CDs of this nature, the ability to 
immediately see the full history of a band is also quite useful, but a 
double-edged sword: bringing the music beyond its zeitgeist all at once 
can better help determine its true triumphs and failures, though at the 
expense of some of the "fun" that comes along with more gradual 
discovery of independent releases.

Ironically, it is very likely that for anyone familiar with the band at 
all that "The Ending Quest" is the least-known work, condemned to 
obscurity by a useless, unknown label and their false promises.  
Although slightly uneven due to the aforementioned inclusion of demo and 
EP tracks, the full-length also represents the peak in style for 
GOREMENT's short lifespan, as well as a noticeable departure from their 
earliest offerings.  In the vein of certain other Swedish bands of the 
era (GOD MACABRE/MACABRE END and CRYPT OF KERBEROS come to mind in 
particular), GOREMENT first wrote more grind-oriented, gore-influenced 
material and became increasingly melodic as time passed.  The demo 
material is actually downright awkward in spots: too over-the-top with 
its forceful processed vocals and violent and impatient structures.  
Significant improvement came almost immediately in the form of the 
"Obsequies" 7", where it seems a more confident identity was already 
being forged.  The more careful song building and occasional atmosphere 
flourish that seated GOREMENT squarely in the camp of the more 
introspective Scandinavian style, led by THERION and AMORPHIS and 
granted shape by a host of others, contra acts such as ENTOMBED/GRAVE 
(rock), UNLEASHED (speed metal), and DISMEMBER (violent American style 
hybridized with heavy metal melodicism) who are the most popular face of 
the movement.  Emphasis was shifted even further in that direction with 
the second EP "Into Shadows," which began using the lead instrument as 
the primary force in melodic development in the way that AMORPHIS made 
their trademark with "The Karelian Isthmus."  Like AMORPHIS, these 
simple tracks exude an earthy, organic quality, now more melodic in 
their momentum and consequently stronger in identity.  Tracks written 
specifically for "The Ending Quest" continue in this vein and complement 
the EP tracks extremely well.  Subtle changes in the presentation of 
older songs make them more fitting as part of the full-length, but these 
tracks do stand out stylistically as derived of a completely different 
attitude.  It is unclear, based on the inclusion of post-album 
promotional track from 1995, whether this band had anything left in 
them.  The song is melodic in an almost Gothenburg way, heavily 
emphasizing a more rock-oriented influence where it was better left in 
the background as on the LP.  

GOREMENT characterizes their music as that of "just another Swedish 
death metal band," which is simultaneously accurate and modest. There is 
some here that could be called "typical," but at this point in time it 
is extremely refreshing to hear something seemingly honest and 
forthright in its efforts where a lot of bands at the time were merely 
sputtering over their own successes, or cloning those who were, but 
continue to receive greater recognition regardless.  These opinions 
might be substantially different in ten years time, but for now GOREMENT 
stand up well next to UNANIMATED or DESULTORY as a minor Swedish act who 
managed to distance themselves, with class, from their often 
interchangeable peers. -kontinual

-=-

HADES (NOR)- The Dawn of the Dying Sun (Full Moon, 1997)
 
This is a solid B-level black metal band. Their songs mate plodding 
riffs of minimal melodic ambition to an oarsman's beat and then fill the 
gap with searing vocals and clean strumming; where other bands used this 
as a technique, it is almost constant with Hades. The result is 
palatable but to a limited degree as none of these patterns either 
represent something new or do more than express a general mood. Songs 
drop into their main verse-chorus riff cycle quickly and then after 
atmosphere builds with the introduction of multiple layers of guitar, 
some with the quasi-acoustic sound of electrics sans all distortion, 
will modulate or reverse pattern back into structure with a clean guitar 
break or rhythmic change. Vocals are similar to those of Burzum but with 
less variation from a standard pattern. Of the riffs per song, two or 
three are of high quality and the rest are disturbingly familiar. It 
would be hard to write a good review or bad review about this; on one 
hand, it completely crushes almost all current black metal but on the 
other, it does not do more than achieve an atmosphere of inspecific 
direction. For those accustomed to older heavy metal this might be an 
easy transition into the black metal genre. -vijay prozak

-=-

INFERNUM (POL) - The Curse (Sound Riot, 2006)

The last work we heard from Infernum barely managed to stay within the 
realm of black metal, borrowing frequently from heavy metal styles as if 
it wanted to be an alienated work-out record. "The Curse" attempts more 
categorically black metal attributes, but still leans on some of the 
older trudging, plodding patterns that cause an audience to tap its feet 
to the pace and, distracted, think they like it. Like a doom band, 
Infernum work from a single chord progression interrupted by diversions, 
expanding chorus and pre-chorus to assimilate verse material. The result 
approximates the heavy metal ballads of the 1970s which overwhelmed 
their audience in choruses of overwashing harmonic depth to obscure the 
paucity of other material. Even their faster material fits this pattern, 
using the three note melodic melodies that became de rigeur after 
Darkthrone, but unlike the old Norse bands, failing to take this melodic 
potential in any direction, favoring cyclic repetition instead. The same 
lighter-raised, head-nodding, foot-tapping somnolence that accompanies 
pop concerts in football stadiums afflicts this kvlty underground 
release, and while it's pleasant enough to hear, one wonders, as always, 
why bother? -vijay prozak

-=-

ISVIND (NOR) - Dark Waters Stir (Solistitium, 1996)

Reminiscent of so much of the later Norwegian output (1993-1996), this 
album captures the Norse spirit but drops into it melodies which are too 
symmetrical to suggest anything other than conclusions fulfilling 
preconceptions. It makes for pleasant listening, mainly because its 
thinned guitar production creates a miasma of harmonics around simple, 
pop-like melodies. Like Dimmu Borgir or Troll from this period, it is 
parts "Transylvanian Hunger" and partially "Number of the Beast," 
although there is less of the rock element in this release than others. 
Unlike most of that ilk, this band knows how to develop songs. Unlike 
black metal to follow, there is still poetry in these songs, albeit a 
simple-minded and casual one. For most purposes, this should be 
considered quality noise pop a few shades less articulate than My Bloody 
Valentine, except made in the black metal style. While it's better than 
almost anything since, we have to ask: for what 
(goal|purpose|ideal|meaning) does this exist? -vijay prozak

-=-

KVIST (NOR) - For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike (Avantgarde, 1995)

In an age where love is dead, death is feared and material possessions 
generate a social circle of numb followers, few proud individuals stand 
up against the masses to reclaim their throne above the enforced 
mediocrity.  KVIST belongs to these brave men and women of dignity, self-
respect and nobility.

All parts involved in this piece of neo-romanticism are extending their 
uttermost desire with a sensitivity rarely achieved by any black metal 
band to date. The drumming throughout this album consists of several 
different passages, where the sound range from muffled to unclear, which 
in many ways restrains the otherwise obvious presence of aristocracy in 
emotion and aim.

Where the rhythm is melodic, it is also slowed down and paused at 
certain parts, which is marked by a drumroll or an opening sequence to a 
subtle session of organ, piano or keyboard playing.  These harmonies 
that try to resurrect the era of romantic emotion, morbid art and lively 
love to the dead - as well as the undead - are surprisingly inviting as 
key leaders of each song found on this album.

The sense of nobility and unquestioned "righteousness" is affirmed by 
the singer's way of communicating with the listener - the voice is not 
through uncontrolled screams trying to make itself heard through a 
firestorm of cascading riffs and blastbeats, but instead appears tidily 
between the gaps of the decentralized parts of each song.

This technique, in more than one sense, works together with the concept 
of gothic poetry and a will to experience the world through a paradox.  
Emotion and feeling are greatly emphasized, yet these ways of 
transcending morality are constrained and in many ways reserved, as seen 
in the behavior of a creature above fools but below that which it 
through heart and soul worships.

A streamlined effect can be traced by the way riffs are used to achieve 
this melodic enchantment; while they often at middle or end reach their 
final conclusion and melt with the harmonies of prolonged emotions, 
their beginning is that of an old man's burden; riffs begin the euphony 
and only later into the pieces let the keystrokes and symphonic themes 
take full possession of the music itself.  But as this was the band's 
first and last attempt to create a full album, this minor mistake can 
easily be overlooked, or better, described as a way to introduce each 
song and build up a mood that at the end transpires into an orchestra of 
praise to the values and feelings long ago hidden in lakes from that 
which hunted it away a thousand years ago.

As such, "For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike" is a most worthy travel into the 
romantic, folkloric and night-obsessive mood, set by brilliant aesthetic 
and a will to always go beyond the present state of mind and living.  It 
is here beauty is found, and it is also here that we may search for 
inspiration - not only to understand this album, despite the suffering 
of the mediocre production - but also to realize its rarity and announce 
a somewhat clumsy but straightforward message: for art we may forever 
yield. -Alexis

-=-

LIERS IN WAIT (SWE) "Spiritually Uncontrolled Art" (Candlelight, 2004)

LIERS IN WAIT is a product of one of a few schisms in the incestuous 
history of Swedish death metal, this one the result of seminal GROTESQUE 
dissolving into this band and, slightly later, the far more prolific and 
well-renowned AT THE GATES.  Originally released on the small but 
influential Dolores Records in 1992, it was later re-issued by Black Sun 
Records 1996 and finally again in the incarnation reviewed here, 
essentially unchanged since that time.  As a solitary release by a band 
with many "well-known" members, this mini-CD commands some air of infamy 
as many releases of such nature ultimately do.  

Mostly, this work is remembered for being "ultra-technical."  Much is 
here to remind the listener that the blood of GROTESQUE runs thick in 
their veins: production-wise, the tinny Sunlight/Tomas Skogsberg 
treatment is a near perfect match to that of the most recent GROTESQUE 
recordings; musically, specific fractures of the presentation of this 
mini-CD are distinctly similar to something that might be taken directly 
from "In the Embrace of Evil."  Where it matches, the snare drum 
announces its dominance with smashing presence through start/stop pauses 
and breaks, with melodic emphasis provided within riffs by repeat 
ascension to the apex, often with furious moments of consecutive power 
chord slides which infuse the motifs with a sense of urgent momentum.  
Where repetition is sparsely commanded, it is often through permutations 
of riff texture using strummed chords interspersed with diving single-
note tremolo picked cycles over percussion commanding flow, and 
occasionally riff cycles re-appear as chorus; otherwise, rhythmic and 
conceptual continuity is non-existent to the point of near absurdity.  
Even at only 17 minutes this album gets tiresome; it may stand alone in 
its extremity, but seems to beg for its own obscurity with its 
ridiculous musical obfuscation and, honestly, the use of the same riff-
building theme throughout the entire length.  "Gardens of Grief" is a 
vastly superior alternative in this style and era. -kontinual

-=-

PAN-THY-MONIUM (SWE) - Khaoos and Konfusion III (Relapse, 1996)
 
What distinguishes artists on the surface is technique, but what makes 
their art stand alone is what it expresses, and technique is a voice for 
expression. One cannot create in jazz what Beethoven rendered and one 
cannot create in death metal what Dave Matthews does, and similarly, 
when hybridizing rock, jazz and metal one will gain and lose some 
expressions. These musicians deign to enlighten us primitive and stupid 
metalheads with their obviously educated music, but in doing so they 
make a masterpiece of distraction that expresses nothing to an 
experienced listener other than pentatonic solos and tedious death metal 
barely camouflaged in an endless procession of carnival keyboards, jazzy 
breaks on the drums, "unexpected" rhythmic twists and melodic detours. 
For historians, this is the band that most probably inspired arch-
excrement Opeth with the idea that if one served up moronic normal music 
to death metal fans while making it "progressive" to appeal to their 
egos, the morons would rush out and buy it in massive numbers. Judging 
by the popularity of this release years later, they were somewhat of a 
success; judging by the music, these musicians are classic "thin 
intelligences": can memorize musical rules, can memorize styles, can 
figure out the mechanics of songwriting but lacking souls or broader 
discernment, cannot create the poetry of art. Their music is plodding 
death metal embellished in distractions which then, at the moment when 
you wonder if the tedium will ever end, ploughs straight into the oldest 
heavy rock riffs known to humankind. Everything matches up; they're in 
key, on rhythm, and the songs are well enough put together to keep you 
distracted from beginning to end, -- but what will you remember? There 
is no content here. Nor is there any aesthetic idea other than a more 
violent, jazzier version of Opeth. When alien archaeologists explore the 
ruins of earth, if they find this CD, they will be justified in thinking 
that our extinction was fortunate. -vijay prozak

-=-

PESTILENCE (HOL) - Chronicles of the Scourge (Metal War, 2006)

As metal rolls along and simultaneously seems to get less and less 
interesting, releases of this sort seem more prominent, or at least more 
apparent to those attuned to them.  Although a blessed and official 
release, the material presented here has a familiar and comforting 
bootleg-type feel, as does the well-done and tastefully simple old-
school layout.  Obviously compiled from heavily tape-traded fodder, and 
the brainchild of a bored someone who loves PESTILENCE too much to allow 
any more dust to collect on their worn cassettes, "Chronicles of the 
Scourge" contains two "classic-era" (read: Martin van Drunen era) 
European shows from 1988 and 1989.  Most of the material is from the 
"Malleus Maleficarum" debut, that driving, speed-metal influenced work 
of European death metal on the young Roadrunner imprint.  That album can 
fairly be described as standard, though a passionate one, and an 
evolutionary step short of the follow-up "Consuming Impulse," which, 
while standard in its own right, helped PESTILENCE seperate themselves 
from their roots just enough to begin forging an identity.  

The close proximity with which the 1988 Germany show - the second on the 
disc - was recorded to the debut album shows itself everywhere: in the 
performance (tight, confident, rehearsed), the fact that the songs are 
generally in the order in which they were presented on the LP, and the 
virtually unchanged tones carried over from the studio.  Everything is 
gripping, and fast, nearly comparable to the album in presentation and 
in the even-handed nature of the recording, which is more than generous 
to the guitars considering the era.  Strangely juxtaposed with this the 
first part of the CD, a 1989 festival show from Holland.  "Malleus" 
material is heavily relied on here, of course, but enough time has 
passed to allow some "Consuming Impulse" material to creep in as well.  
The crowd's reaction and band's enthusiasm for these songs is impossible 
to discern - all between song noise and banter has been edited out - but 
the general performance is the complete antithesis of the 1988 show 
recorded not even seven whole months earlier.  The music is played 
slowly enough that one might think the tape had warped slightly if the 
pitch was not intact; the young band seems tired and broken down, maybe 
driven to boredom by incessant touring of the same 9-10 songs in 
virtually the same sequence.  Mistakes are apparent, and nothing - not 
even the new material - sounds at all fresh.  The recording itself is 
also subpar, a wash of bass and snare resonance that leave the melodic 
hooks tough to pull from the morass.  Typical crowd recording, no doubt, 
but did it need to be released here?  Especially considering the 
performance itself, probably not.  There are doubtless other tapes 
floating around which are more suitable to an official CD release, or 
better representative of the band in the pre-"Consuming" era.  One that 
immediately comes to mind is the bonus 1989 rehearsal CD included with 
direct orders, an absolutely mint recording in every respect showing the 
band belt out the new material with amazing vigor.  The best bet, by 
far, would have been to have this replace the totally inexplicable 1989 
show on the main CD: much better variety, quality, and a more fitting 
representation of classic-era PESTILENCE would have been the result. -
kontinual

-=-

REPUGNANT (SWE) - Epitome of Darkness (Soulseller, 2005)
 
Nailing the desire of most fans for the better bands like those of 
fifteen years ago, Repugnant take a modernistic approach: they codify 
the techniques, formats, and even distortion and vocals of that time and 
slash out a hybrid of old Entombed and newer Mortician. Booming, full 
sound bristling with the electric tangents of Swedish "Sunlight Studios" 
trademark distortion cuts across a battery of drumming straight out of 
old Destruction albums. Vocals use the open-throated, extended form of 
death growl which creates a background rhythm based on sustain instead 
of explicit enunciation. Song names are choruses, verses are short and 
feature successive iterations of similar concept, and solos blitzkrieg 
through the result like the bubbling of nitroglycerin from its chemical 
composite. However, this music has nothing to say. There is no focus on 
a transcendent atmosphere as even Entombed desired, but a concentration 
on method. There is not even a hint of protest, or of darkly warlike 
desire, or even musical conquest. They stop at method and as if 
underscoring this, the content of each song is a recombination of past 
death metal lyrics. It is pure nostalgia and it waxes tedious quickly 
despite fast-rising hopes. Every metalhead with heart and soul will want 
to like this release but will find that after weeks and months not years 
its hollowness becomes apparent like every other aspect of a modern time 
that concentrates machine-like on method and not the poetic violence of 
spirited metal music. -vijay prozak

-=-

ROTTREVORE (US) - Disembodied (Necroharmonic, 2005)

"Dimembodied" is another in a series of discography-type releases, this 
time for once-famed East Coast death metal band ROTTREVORE.  This 
release contains all their demo/EP/compilation material, consisting of 
everything the band recorded outside of their "Iniquitous" full-length 
for Spanish imprint Drowned Productions.  Despite what seems like a 
decent volume of material (A demo, a couple of EPs, and two compilation 
tracks) there is much less music here than expected.  Indeed, many of 
these tracks are relatively short-lived affairs; the re-recording of a 
number of the tracks only aids the impression that the total material 
ROTTREVORE produced was pretty limited.

The compact nature betrays something of a hardcore influence in the 
construction of these songs.  Among the heavy, bass-laden shifting power 
chord dirges, which are firmly rooted in the burgeoning death metal of 
their (East Coast United States) scene of the time, the music often 
gives way to simple, mid-paced pick-up rhythms with distinct downstroke 
emphasis...definitely a lighter version of what was to be seen in the 
heavily hardcore "NYDM" bands a generation away.  The reliance on the 
power chord as a rhythmic anchor is fundamental to these songs, even 
though ROTTREVORE appear to have broken away from them as sole technique 
after the demo ("The Epitome of Pantalgia," their first recording).  The 
complete domination of the rhythm guitar in the mix, even over the drums 
in this very percussive style, is telltale of the value granted to it.

Another trademark of ROTTREVORE's songwriting is a dizzying, non-linear 
style.  Despite generally simple component parts, the whole is extremely 
difficult to follow upon initial, and -- as it turns out -- subsequent 
listens.  Recursion is often eschewed in favor of competing, explosive 
sections of burst in the styles described previously, complete with 
chaos-solos that mimic MORBID ANGELs schizophrenic genius.  There are 
exceptions, such as the EP track "Conspiracized," which makes use of 
second guitar for the only melodic emphasis that stood out in all these 
recordings, sounding more like the trick of an early Finnish death metal 
act then an American one.  

Because of this frenzied (albeit mostly mid-paced) method, hearing all 
this material back-to-back for 45 consecutive minutes is probably a 
greater hindrance to its enjoyment than hearing any one recording 
(excepting the full-length) alone.  Many of these songs, internally, 
have no unity, which becomes more obvious when there is no way to 
descriptively distinguish tracks after hearing them.  The attention span 
of most of this material at any given time seems to be about 20 seconds, 
after which it succumbs to confusion, picks up the pieces, and starts 
over as though nothing was learned in the process.  Admittedly, before 
hearing these recordings in one place, my thoughts on this band were 
vastly different.  ROTTREVORE would probably be fun to see live, and 
maybe process as background music, but their lasting musical value when 
stood next to peers like INCANTATION and IMMOLATION is just not there.  
Despite their mostly positive reputation in faded memories, they 
unfortunately do not stand up well to this type of posthumous 
examination. -kontinual

-=-

SAMMATH (HOL) - Dodengang (Folter Records, 2006)

Contra the warlike image cultivated with the cover and song titles, the 
third album from Dutch black metal band SAMMATH album opens with a fade-
in of sweeping chords reminiscent of BURZUM or other more ethereal black 
metal acts, only to run headlong into a thick wall of strummed chords 
and persistent, thundering percussion.  The tone is set at this point 
for what seems to be a generic exercise in violent black/death metal a 
la MARDUK, to the point where the first listen is completely wasted on 
anybody who hears the first blast beats as the death knell for the 
chances of this album succeeding on its own merits.  Come subsequent 
plays, though, the more sympathetic listener is treated to something 
profoundly different from this initial experience.  Whereas the 
aforementioned MARDUK, or similar acts, will develop melodic and 
harmonic momentum linearly, with little regard for the context of 
individual riffs, SAMMATH at their best construct songs that are more 
fully self-aware.  Relying heavily on a fantastically rich lead guitar 
tone, this music works very well when the wide-open, surprisingly 
melodic leads are used to bind the song together architecturally, 
juxtaposing themselves with the more speed metal derived strumming and 
rumbling panzer tank bass of the low end of the riff spectrum, which 
often fills in melodic roots.  When further complexity is desired, these 
melodies are developed in a meta-relationship to themselves, being 
melodically and harmonically consistent even when discontinuously 
revisited within a song.  Very subtle changes in guitar tone in these 
leads is an extremely effective method, as well, maintaining dynamism 
over the rolling percussion and pushing the songs onward.  An fair 
comparison for "Dodengang" would be to a less frantic version of the 
Canadians AXIS OF ADVANCE, another band who uses speed, death, and black 
metal technique to create something of warring intensity with melodic 
tendencies and a fair command of variation in songwriting.  Both bands 
suffer from the same problem of the lackluster or generic moments 
typical of this type of full-on approach, but both are capable of 
excellence as well.  SAMMATH's key abilities are shown in songs such as 
the fifth track "Imminence War Death" or the closer "Merciless," where 
the lead guitar is sweeping and epic, able to bring the song through 
multiple permutations while defying expectations, creating experience 
for the listener as it moves ahead.  The moments of beautiful, multi-
dimensional ambience created by this effect is a source of anticipation 
for future output from this act, and one of enjoyment for the present. -
kontinual

-=-

SKYFORGER (LAT) - Latvian Riflemen (Mascot, 2000)

Melding any kind of rock music and folk is a difficult line to walk, as 
the two aim at almost opposite ends of the listening experience. Rock is 
about finding a catchy and hookish pattern and repeating it, then using 
key changes or other dynamic harmonic motion to convey a change in 
experience, where folk music is about descending into the details of a 
pattern until they scatter enough to reveal like a paint-splatter 
silhouette the whole. The folkish patterns here get adapted to a melding 
of heavy metal and black metal that ends up being as cheesy and 
predatory as most rock approaching traditional music; loud drums ruin 
the atmosphere of contemplation and the need for a single voice in 
percussion and strings to replace the interplay of a folk band (and by 
this I mean traditional folk, not the Hollywood equivalent of boring 
whole tone progressions and pentatonic scales popularized by Bob Dylan) 
washes out much of its depth. Where Skyforger zoom ahead of the pack is 
their ability to vary not only texture of guitar patterns but the riffs 
themselves, using different melodic lines that comment on an overall 
harmonic pattern in sequential variation, deepening its effect. Still, 
the result is goofy for black metal and distracted for traditional 
European pagan folk, letting us appreciate it... but not desire to hear 
it every day or anywhere close. Composition like most traditional folk 
is modal and based on the interaction between simple melodies to produce 
complexity in patterns that mirror the lyrics which are designed to give 
meaning to sound. Lose the black metal vocals, the constant drumming, 
and background the guitar so it is one instrument of several -- the 
pipes, strings, folk chants and other instruments being a highlight of 
this album -- and this could be great. -vijay prozak

-=-

SORCIER DES GLACES (QUE) - Snowland (self-release, 1998)

While most of the black metal today is dumbed down fodder balancing on 3-
4 chords to achieve simple melodies without coherent meaning, Sorcier 
Des Glaces crafts powerful wanderings in art intended to communicate an 
active life experience with the listener.  With an underlying altitude 
of streaming ambience, sensitive patterns are formed much like a 
classical fugue: introductory melodies begin each piece, gradually 
evolving according to careful poetry in emotional buildup until the 
melodic advancement can transfer the basic tonal presentation into a new 
partial section.  From here on this artist take use of musical technique 
in counterpoint to build on the central theme by integrating free 
harmonic passages into the musical context.  The conclusion is then 
achieved by connecting the independent motif to its leading melody, 
either by grandeur or suffering.

Herein lies much of the musical quality: a clear logic binds all partial 
sections of each piece together with romantic sensitivity and grace. The 
tearing screams that continuously collide with an echoing wall, follow 
the streaming patterns evenly and are by nature given a central role in 
communicating internally as well as externally; an inner suffering 
becomes a dominant part of the musical experience, suggesting both a 
disharmonic melodic backing as well as an unconventional meeting between 
beauty and anti-beauty.  From this we derive meaning from the thematic 
presentation of long, cold and desolate walks in a forest of winter and 
hate, escaping an empty world gone mad.  There is a clear sense of 
poetic wonder in reaching a majestic state of mind, something this 
artist achieves by experimenting with streaming synth collage and 
acoustic parts - extraneous but deterministic of musical progression.

>From this we understand the music as a spontaneous but self-aware 
experience, deriving much of its excellence from its hanging 
structuralism.  While the aesthetic advancements are brilliant, the 
internal structure guides the way, pointing to changing directions 
according to its intended expression in melodic variation.  Like much of 
the very best in metal music, Sorcier Des Glaces lay foundation to 
beauty by working with a central idea, deconstructing it into emotional 
highs and lows in order to communicate different motifs connected to a 
shared core of vision, which leaves the field open to manipulate the 
mind of the listener into dynamic experiences beyond the linear mood of 
most music created today.  Alone with the sad and beautiful feelings of 
being one with the realms of strategic natural environments, this 
baffling journey canalises both wisdom and improvisation in harmonic 
landscapes to become an independent voice for darkness in hidden 
enclosure. -Alexis

-=-

WOODTEMPLE (AUS) - Voices of Pagan Mountains (No Colours, 2006)

After a brief period of silence, this one-man-band from Austria hit the 
shelves with yet another pseudo-poetic title - "Voices of Pagan 
Mountains".  Vague voices from lost souls, simplistic rhythms of war 
drums and the sound of a blowing wind, is what introduces the listener 
to something which seems to be yet another predictable sequel.

Not far from the truth, the immediate presentation is a well-known 
concept of that which has defined the entire discography for this band.  
Firstly, there is a basic pounding programmed drum that occasionally 
switches to drum roll or a slower tempo, emphasizing its self-reflective 
parts.  The problem that still plagues Woodtemple is the tendency to let 
the drumming go out of rhythm with the rest of the suggested tempo, 
which undoubtedly will have a few experienced metal heads raising their 
eyebrows.

Although the drumming style itself is ideal for the kind of semi-ambient 
structure that it tries to present, it ultimately goes hand in hand with 
the nature of entropy, as opposed to actual innovation. The rhythm 
within each song changes from fast to slow, from tripping to hitting, 
from blasting to softening, yet when each song is put to an end, the 
listener is immediately confronted with same dilemma: the "randomness" 
found is only "random" within its own predictable framework, and 
therefore irrelevant.

On top of this rhythm, dedicated to the lifestyle of pagan war and 
heroism in fight, are both the acoustics melodies of contemplation and 
reaction, and the ambient riffs that most times function as bearer of 
both melody and musical progression.  It is therefore the mix between 
this rhythm extended method of riffing, and the sound of eased guitar 
strings on top of the otherwise raw keystrokes that remain as the 
strongest point on this album, concerning mood, feeling and soul in 
depth.

Like with most black metal bands of today, Woodtemple has taken on a 
throat-tearing voice, similar to what Paul Ledney managed to achieve 
with Havohej.  Despite this fact, the voice fails to induce the same 
power and guttural effect that otherwise would have been able to 
strengthen an album that unfortunately is guilt-ridden with mediocrity 
and a will to only achieve ideas already set-out and re-shaped.

Not only is this noticed at the musical structure itself - where an 
introduction leads to one or two long epics, followed by a small filler 
in the middle, only to conclude with a lasting hymn and then a final 
outro - but it is apparent in the way songs are built up, as this band 
constantly tries to create variation by producing a fast presentation of 
an idea, only to present a predictable counterpart and then fade into 
slower ones, which are meant to set an overall concluding mood over what 
has been.

It is not without a smile that this listener finds concepts and actual 
acoustic melodies copied directly from the previous "Hidden in Eternal 
Shadow" mini-CD, only one out of many signs that seems to suggest the 
same thought after a second listening to this album: out of new ideas, 
but competent within a set-out framework.

Like a small child, this band is too reliant on things that are known to 
work well, both in musical structure, presentation and idea.  It is here 
we find the most relevant flaw on this musical piece; we are satisfied, 
but only within the frames of a picture that mainly was formed by those 
who conquered the past and won the future. -Alexis

[-FEATURES-]

Ragnarok - The Fall of Gods and the Decline of Mankind
by Alexis

Widely discussed in different religions, but most relevant and prominent 
to the Indo-Germanic people, is the myth of Ragnarok - the fall of Gods. 
The course of events in this myth is documented both in Snorri 
Sturluson's Prose Edda and the Elder Poetic Edda. Below is an extensive 
summary of Ragnarok:

The Death of Balder 

The incident that led to Ragnarok is the death of Balder. It all started 
with Balder having nightmares, which began to worry the Gods. Frigg, 
Odin's wife and the mother to Balder, therefore asked of all things in 
the world not to hurt him.  All things promised this, except one: a 
small mistletoe that Frigg hadn't bothered to ask, thinking it too 
young.  Balder was now resistant to any harm, and the Gods in Asgard 
entertained themselves with trying to slay Balder by throwing knives, 
shooting arrows and other things at him, only to watch all their weapons 
fall harmlessly to the ground.  This amused the Gods very much; that is, 
all except Loki.  With evil deeds lurking in the shadow of his mind, he 
dressed up as an old woman and visited Frigg to ask her if surely 
nothing could harm Balder.  Frigg answered him that so it was, of 
course, except for the young mistletoe.

With this in mind, Loki went to the place where the Gods were playing 
with Balder, and spoke to Hod, Balder's blind brother.  Loki asked him 
why he not also was shooting arrows at Balder.  Hod replied that he was 
blind and therefore could not aim at all.  Loki then offered to help Hod 
with aiming the arrow, while Hod himself could shoot.  Hod agreed to 
this and Loki brought forward his arrow made out of a branch from the 
mistletoe.  Hod shot and all the Gods witnessed when the arrow hit and 
drilled through the body of Balder.  He sank down to the ground - dead - 
and the happiness in Asgard was now gone.

Frigg asked Hermod, one of Balder's brothers, to ride to Hel on Odin's 
horse Sleipnir and get Balder back to Asgard.  While Hermod was riding 
towards the underworld to seek Hel, Balder was buried on board his ship, 
called Ringhorn.  With him were his horse and his wife Nanna, whose 
heart was cracked to pieces by the death of her husband.  Odin also let 
Balder have his ring Draupnir.  A woman of the Giant race was supposed 
to lift the ship down on shore, but as she did this, she threw it with 
wild force down into the sea.  This made the god Thor furious and he 
kicked a small dwarf, called Lit, onto the ship as well.  A fire was lit 
upon the ship, and it was watched as it sailed away on the waves with 
the wind.

Hermod Rides to Hel 

Hermod rode to Hel in order to get Balder back to Asgard. On the way he 
came to a bridge, which was guarded by Modgud.  She told him that Balder 
just had passed in a caravan with dead men.  Hermod continued his ride 
until he came to the gateway of Hel's underworld, which Sleipnir, Odin's 
steed, could easily jump over.  When Hel met Hermod, she received the 
information about what had happened and what the Gods wanted from her.  
She accepted the offer on the condition that all living and dead things 
on Earth would cry over and lament Balder's death.  Hel also gave Hermod 
the golden armband Draupnir back, along with other valuable items.  
After this, Hermod rode back to Asgard to bring forward the message of 
Hel's proposal.

All things, both dead and living, now lamented over Balder's death - all 
except a Giant woman who was hiding alone inside a cave. When the Gods 
asked her why she wasn't crying, she answered:

"Living or dead Karl's son
Was to small happiness for me
Let Hel keep what she has got"

The Disappearance of Loki 

The Gods suspected that the Giant woman, named Thokk, was actually Loki 
under disguise, and that he in his selfishness had wanted Balder to stay 
with Hel. Loki felt the wrath of the Gods and thus fled to a house 
nearby a river, a house with four doors - one door facing each cardinal 
direction.  Loki then transformed himself into a salmon and stayed 
hidden in the river.  Kvasir, the slyest of all the Gods, noticed the 
ash of a fireplace.  A fishnet-like material was found burnt in the ash, 
a deed committed by Loki.  The Gods made a net with the same pattern in 
order to catch Loki, which they did after three days of hunting.

The time of the Gods' revenge was now to come.  They tied Loki to three 
rocks with intestines from his own sons.  Above him they let a serpent 
drop ether down on his face.  Loki's wife Sigynn stayed with him to 
catch the drops with a bowl.  Now and then she had to empty it, and when 
she did, ether fell down on Loki.  This caused the earth to tremble and 
shake, something we today refer to as "earthquakes."

Ragnarok - The Fall of an Old World and the Creation of a New 

The death of Balder is that which begins the era of Ragnarok - a time of 
horror and destruction of all that is good.  Three long winters on top 
of each other, the Fimbulwinters, cover the world in black darkness.  
War rules the Earth where brothers fight against brothers and incest 
arises.  The wolf swallows both sun and moon, which leads to the fall of 
stars from the sky.  The mountains crack, the earth trembles and the 
world tree Yggdrasill is gnawed away by the dragon Nidhogg.  The beasts 
are set loose and the Fenris-wolf opens his large mouth, which reaches 
from the sky down to earth.  The Midgard-serpent releases the bit from 
his tail and rolls up on the ground, where it spews out poison.  The sea 
floods the earth as a result of this while Naglfar, a ship built by dead 
men's nails with Loki and Giants on board, raises anchor and heads out 
towards sea.  The Giant Surt and his followers ride from the world of 
fire called Muspelheim, when the rainbow bridge Bifrost collapses under 
them.  The sound from Heimdall’s horn warns the Gods of the danger.  
Thus Odin rides to the well beneath Yggdrasill to consult with Mimir.  
The Giants of ice meet with the Giants of fire and the final battle now 
stands on the plain Vigrid between Gods and Giants.

With selected fighters from Valhalla by his side, Odin takes on the 
battle against the wolf.  Thor meets the Midgard-serpent, Frey fights 
Surt, Tyr attacks the wolfhound Garm that has crept up from underground, 
and Heimdall battles against Loki.  The fate is sealed, as all the Gods 
and Giants already know that they'll die in the fierce war of darkness.  
The Midgard-serpent is slayed by Thor, but the latter falls dead to the 
ground by the poison from the beast.  Odin is swallowed whole by Fenris, 
but his son Vidar manages to tear open the wolf's mouth.  Tyr kills Garm 
and Heimdall brings Loki to his death, but all the Gods afterwards pass 
away. Finally Surt consumes the world with fire, until the sea swallows 
the Earth and all Gods and Men die.

After Ragnarok the Earth once again rises from the sea; fruitful, 
beautiful and green - purified by the painful and evil.  The sons of the 
great Gods have survived Ragnarok and now sit down to talk about the 
time the old Gods ruled with might and power.  Balder returns from Hel's 
underworld and together with the sons he shall rule a cleansed Universe 
of rebirth.  Men and women shall once again populate the Earth under a 
new and even more beautiful, shining sun.

Ragnarok as Myth, Ragnarok as Truth - Black Metal and the Reality of the 
21st Century

Under the name Black Metal, there have been a number of bands since the 
late 1980s/early 1990s that have taken on Nordic mythology both as 
musical and lyrical theme. Two of the greatest such acts are BURZUM, 
consisting of Varg Vikernes; and BATHORY, frontman Quorthon.  Both have 
based albums specifically around the myth of Ragnarok.

Varg Vikernes and Blind Logic 

While in prison, Varg released a neo-classical work of symphonic ambient 
named "Daudi Baldrs" (The Death of Balder).  In this album Varg 
describes what he sees as the main cause of Balder's death and 
ultimately Ragnarok:

"The meaning of life (Balder) is in danger. The Gods try to protect it, 
but the logic in Man (Loki), finds a way to destroy the meaning of life.  
With the help of the parasitical in Mankind (mistletoe), the logic uses 
the blind in Man (Hod) and succeeds in completely destroying the meaning 
of life.  The closeness between people (Nanna) dies and humanity (Thor) 
loses trust (Lit) to the origin of creation.  In the search for meaning 
in life (Hermod's ride to Hel), and in the unknown (Helheim - Hel's 
underworld), Man finds what he has been looking for.  But due to logic 
(Loki dressed up as the Giant woman Thokk), Man does not succeed in 
getting back the meaning of life.  Logic lacks feelings, cannot feel 
sorrow or happiness, and thus Thokk does not cry over Balder's death."

In a much more historical perspective, Varg paints up a related 
description that probably has its origin in his first interpretation of 
Balder's death:

"The Nordic-Germanic folk tribe feels that the belief and the meaning of 
life is threatened.  Therefore it falls under protection against 
external dangers and threats. Enemies try to destroy the meaning/origin 
of life, but fail, since the belief is too resistant.  But logic wins at 
last over a few degenerated individuals that have taken on the Judeo-
Christian belief - and therefore, pagan belief is now lost.

"The meaning of life is destroyed and thus also the closeness between 
people - all that is good.  Time passes by and Man tries to once again 
bring meaning into life through different kinds of new faiths and 
worldviews, nevertheless, it never becomes an interest of importance 
again, as science and the blind logic demand answers to everything.  Man 
now only wants material evidence and does not dare to trust his inner 
intuition."

Consequently, the reason for the outbreak of Ragnarok can be traced back 
to the mistletoe that Frigg disregarded when she tried to protect her 
son. Varg puts the main focus on Loki and his role as selfish egoist. 
The question we must ask ourselves is: can Loki be interpreted as the 
logic in Man? For us to find an answer to this question, let us quickly 
review some classical myths and tales in pagan literature, where Loki 
plays a more or less important role.

There is a tale about how Odin gets his eight-legged horse Sleipnir. A 
man visited the Gods and promised them to build a wall around Asgard, so 
that they may be safe from the Giants. He claimed he would accomplish 
this only after three seasons, and if he did, he'd get Freya, the sun 
and the moon as payment. The Gods came to an agreement: if he would 
manage to finish the wall only after one season, he'd win the bet. The 
man wanted his horse to accompany him, but the Gods were doubtful about 
this. Loki persuaded them though, and told the man that it would be fine 
if he used his horse.

This they should never have allowed, for the man built with incredible 
speed and the Gods realized that he would be finished before summertime. 
Freya refused to marry him, and what would life be without sun and moon? 
The Gods sought Loki and told him that he had to stop the man, or else 
Loki would face a gruesome death. Loki became afraid and went to think 
things over.

When there were three days left until summer, Loki transformed himself 
into a mare and neighed so loud that the man's stallion followed the 
mare into the woods. The man became furious and realized he'd never 
finish his work, becoming so angry that he revealed to the Gods his true 
identity of a mountain troll. Thor slayed him with his hammer, while 
Loki, nowhere to be found, had been impregnated by the man's stallion. 
He gave birth to an eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, which he granted Odin 
as a gift.

Here we see Loki as someone who makes quick judgments, and often 
miscalculates the situation. When he realizes what trouble he has 
caused, he quickly makes things right again - often through slight and 
ruse, but also with humor and devotion. In comparison with logic, we see 
some common elements: logical thinking may sometimes draw failing 
judgments, most often about things that stand outside the realm of 
common knowledge. Logic relies on comparing two states with each other 
in order to calculate the third outcome. It is often the base for human 
thinking and intelligence; but just as often, logic fails to predict 
larger situations that are dependent on more factors.

Loki made the assumption that with or without horse, the work on the 
wall over the course of a winter would be impossible for any man. In 
this sense, his conclusion was perfectly logical. However, he had not 
taken into account that the horse may be gifted with magic, and that the 
man in fact was a strong troll from the mountains. This is clearly an 
example of how logic was tricked: it did not take unknown factors into 
account, and only saw the common possibilities that anyone would have 
been able to guess. In this sense, Loki obviously may be given the role 
as logic.

Let us move on to another famous tale; namely the one of how Thor gets 
his servants Thialfi and Roskva. Thor and Loki are riding the wagon, 
with Thor's goats pulling it forward in rapid speed. Both of the Gods 
come to a farmer's house by evening time and there decide to stay over 
night. Thor slaughters his goats and lets the whole family enjoy the 
meat. He tells them not to eat the bones, but only the meat, and so they 
do. Loki though, persuades the boy in the family, called Thialfi, to use 
his knife on the tasty marrow. Thialfi hesitates, but Loki claims there 
are so many bones anyway, that it can't matter if Thialfi tries only 
one. The next morning Thor goes out with the bones gathered upon the 
skin of his goats, and swings his hammer. The bones quickly transform 
into two goats, though one of the goats is lame. Thor becomes furious 
and the farmer is forced to give his two children, Thialfi and Roskva, 
to Thor as servants.

Yet again we see Loki as the master behind failing logic. We see it most 
clearly where Loki persuades the boy to eat the marrow, since "there are 
so many bones anyway". This is of course a logical conclusion - what 
could it hurt to try one bone only? Unfortunately, Thor needs all the 
bones intact in order to fully reshape the goats into living animals. 
Loki has not taken this into account, and so his logic has failed.

There are numerous other tales in which Loki gets the Gods into trouble, 
but often also gets them out of it with his sly thinking. Not always 
does Loki play the "serpent in Eden," but often he does. Varg has made a 
very interesting interpretation of the Gods, and it becomes more or less 
obvious that Loki rightfully can be seen as a symbol of Man's logic, 
both good and bad.

>From an historical perspective the events portrayed in Ragnarok coincide 
well with those that have led to, and are common in, the chaotic modern 
society of today: individualism, multiculturalism, and natural 
catastrophes. During Ragnarok brother fights brother, which may be said 
to resemble Judeo-Christian individualism, where common goals and values 
are replaced by individual goals and hopes. The people are divided and 
chaos breaks out, since all go separate ways, instead of finding 
something in common to fight for. Simultaneously, this individualism 
represents an egoism, where the origins of the ideals of heroism and 
self-sacrifice go lost - for what should an individual sacrifice his 
life when we are taught that the cultivation of the individual 
represents the highest goal?

Further, during Ragnarok the world tree Yggdrasill is eaten away by the 
dragon called Nidhogg. Yggdrasill is most commonly seen as a 
representative force of the spirit of life for the Germanic people. It 
is the source of all life. When Yggdrasill is under threat, then so are 
the Germanic people. Today, multiculturalism is nothing new. It has 
totally replaced spiritual and cultural value with consumerism. People 
of different races cannot fundamentally agree on shared cultural values, 
as they are inherently incompatible with each other in these respects. 
This is where consumerism comes into play: anyone can agree on "fun" TV 
shows, "cool" cars, "tasty" fast food, and other lowest common 
denominator ideas. Modern society has forced women to take full-time 
jobs, which means there will be less time for taking care of children. 
When foreign people are integrated into the native population, the need 
for native workers fall, and so the new people start replacing the 
natives.  Unfortunately, multiculturalism also supports the extinction 
of the biological differences among the races, which today is a major 
issue facing all European tribes. 

However, something that Varg doesn't mention is the natural catastrophes 
that are quite evident in the myth of Ragnarok. The Giant Surt puffs 
fire across the Earth, something that we already today know will occur 
if we keep on puncturing holes in the ozone layer. Scientists already 
fear an enormous and global rise in temperature, where countries like 
France could easily experience summers up to 50+ Celsius. This can 
without doubt be seen as stairs leading to a door of a house of fire. 
People will die like flies during devastating heat waves if the 
greenhouse effect lives out its hearth completely, just like the Gods in 
Ragnarok become consumed by fire in the final days.

In Ragnarok, it is also told that the Midgard serpent lets the sea 
swallow the world completely before a new and purified world rises to 
the surface. Isn't this an interesting remark when it seems likely that 
global warming will melt large areas of polar ice, raising sea level and 
inundating coastal lands as a result?

It seems like a foreteller who predicted some of the worst catastrophes 
of our time wrote our forefathers’ mythological stories: the death of 
heroism, race mixing, and destruction of nature. Varg has, in many 
interesting theories, explicated what he thinks led to the death of 
Balder and the outbreak of Ragnarok - and who can deny, with many of the 
insane things that go on today, that the action of individuals fooled by 
their own blind "logical" conclusions is a direct cause?


Quorthon and the Apprehensions of Modernism

Quorthon, who with the band BATHORY became successful in the 1980s, in 
his album "Twilight of the Gods" put forth his view on Ragnarok. He 
focused on problems with society, while at the same time integrating 
post-Nietzschean philosophical reasoning on a high level. His 
interpretation of Ragnarok and its background is thus much different to 
that of Varg's.

If we start with the song "Twilight of the Gods", we quickly find lyric 
that addresses and describes important problems, not just with society, 
but also with politics.

Quorthon speaks about how there exists a serpent in Eden, ready to fool 
you twice: something that actually could be seen as the light and dark 
sides of logic in Man. He then continues to describe problems and make 
accusations toward modern society. Countries are bought and sold, 
Mankind thinks it possesses total control even though the world is 
degenerating, and TV-priests speak about peace and mercy, while laws 
protect the destructive. It becomes obvious why Quorhton despises 
capitalist-consumer society. He writes that it does not matter how much 
evil you cause, as money is the only means of determination.

In a sentence that probably stems from a quotation from Friedrich 
Nietzsche, Quorthon then tells of how the only power that once stood for 
the good in this world, the power of the Gods, now has nothing to say 
since Man has "realised" that it doesn't exist. Varg also proposes this 
connection when he claims that modern materialistic science does not 
take intuition or spirituality into account, and therefore is forced to 
see the world in binary terms.

What Nietzsche in much shortened terms suggested, and which Quorthon has 
taken on as great inspiration, was that Judeo-Christian belief in 
reality was no belief, but a fatalistic type of nihilism. When Man 
prayed to God and Heaven, it automatically created a better and "more 
good" world that didn't have its fundamental core in this world. That 
made Earthly life comparatively dirty, disgusting and primitive, 
something unwanted that people could escape from by traveling to the 
Heaven of God. After people began to trace their origin through science 
(Nietzsche's way of describing the nihilism: to see things for what they 
are and thus not take spiritual belief in things such as Gods, Heaven or 
ghosts, into account), they found that God nor the Empire of Heaven 
"existed."

The problem that now arose was that Man had nowhere to go; Heaven 
suddenly did not exist and Earthly life was still impure and 
animalistic. The result was that Man entered a state of fatalism and 
emptiness - nothing mattered or meant anything.

This is what Quorthon describes in "Twilight of the Gods," and he means 
that we as people of the modern age already, or partly, have entered 
this nihilistic state of life. In the following songs he rises from the 
emptiness and replaces it with a heroic devotion to the Nordic Gods that 
he claims are bonded with his people by blood.

Further, in his view on Ragnarok, he first describes the state where Man 
lived before the death of Balder. He claims that they were at one with 
the animals (liberating himself from Christian belief - that equality 
with the animals is "shame" and "impurity"), and, perhaps most relevant 
of all, that they did not know life and death.

Without going into deeper terms, we here see a breakdown of Judeo-
Christian dualism: Heaven and Hell, good and evil, life and death. The 
ancient Nordic view on the world was of a naturalistic kind, where 
winter paved way for summer and summer was replaced by winter. No man's 
soul died, only its physical existence, thus all the grave findings with 
swords and other valuable items around Scandinavia that were to follow 
the dead into a higher state/world.

Quorthon continues with how the Giants challenge the power of the Gods, 
and not until Valhalla is lit on fire (which probably represents the 
place in Ragnarok, where Odin has heard Heimdall blow in the Gjallarhorn 
and thereafter ride to Mimir in order to consult onwhat to do) do the 
Gods awake to partake in the battle against the Giants. What is most 
apparent in Quorthon's interpretation of Ragnarok is how the weapons 
from the Gods and the Giants fall down from Asgard to Midgard, and there 
Man takes these weapons into possession and becomes the new god of the 
Universe.

It does not end here, for Quorthon also enlightens us how Man took power 
over blood and sword and explored space. It is obvious what he wants to 
say here, similar to what Varg wants to suggest, is instead of starting 
from the idealistic perspective of the Gods, Man now sees himself as god 
and ideal. Man now decides that multiculturalism shall be the new 
culture, that the power of Gods shall be his own power. Space is also 
explored, which symbolically may confirm Varg's opinion that the modern 
citizen of today is searching for unexplored areas within, for example 
Occultism or New Age, in order to regain a meaning from life. When 
mankind is bored of the usual, common and mundane, he seeks the unknown 
and unexplored. And he can, for he is now his own god and has the 
ability to control and demand.

Quorthon then calls to fill the nihilistic emptiness with European 
heroism, self-insight, unity by blood, and idealism. He refuses to give 
up, but continues to fight under the protection of the Runes, and even 
if he may die, it will be during a righteous battle. Furthermore, 
Quorthon claims that mankind must find a positive type of individualism, 
one where he may find inner confidence and belief in himself - a call 
for esoteric means against modern egoism. He sees through hollow 
modernism as shallow and underconfident ideas, supported only by the 
enlargement of a blind ego, rejecting the natural and higher order.

He tells of how his people have sailed on open seas, lost, but now have 
found home through the voice of blood. Thus, just like Varg, he values 
the biological conditions for a race to create a living and united 
culture according to shared values, customs and traditions. In what 
today is now Quorthon's musical legacy, the song "Hammerheart" induces 
for us a picture of total self-sacrifice, something that permeates 
Quorthons ideas and thoughts. He finds modern Man to be a self-centred 
and egoistic creature that has taken place and power he inherently does 
not deserve.


After-thoughts: Man's or God's Fault? 

A question that may arise in some peoples' minds after reading all this 
is: was the fall of Gods really man's fault? Weren't the Gods supposed 
to be stronger, more intelligent - more powerful - than the pitiable 
mankind?

It is indeed a valid and interesting question, so let us examine this 
problem. First of all, we need to address the presumptions for the idea 
in order to be clear. It is probably nothing new that the fall of the 
Germanic Gods has a close similarity with the Christian notion of "the 
fall of Man." If we start with the Christian version, the serpent in 
Eden lures Eve into eating the apple of forbidden knowledge. This she 
does, and God expels Eve and Adam from Paradise, as they have sinned. 
What makes this story very interesting is the simple fact that God from 
the beginning knew what was going to happen. This makes it tricky for 
Christians, since they basically have to agree on the fact that Mankind 
was "sinful" from the beginning - and that God did not have enough power 
to hinder his rival (Satan). We are born as sinners and therefore we 
have no choice but to be purified through the belief of Christianity.

What immediately arises here is the question: Why did not God do 
anything to stop Eve from eating the apple? Possible explanations:
-God wanted Eve to eat the apple, as she then would learn the simple 
fact that she in reality was a sinner, and therefore had to believe 
before she could enjoy the pleasures of Eden.
-God was unable to stop Eve from eating, as he actually wasn't stronger 
than the curiosity of man.
-God was unable to stop Eve from eating, as his rival Satan had much 
greater power than He.
-God simply did not care about Eve and Adam, and had more important 
things to do.
-God knew, but could not go against the fate/destiny of mankind 
(everything was supposed to happen, and this was outside God's control. 
Please bear in mind, that with an absolute God having absolute power 
over his people, God and Fate automatically become the same. If 
everything happens because God made it so, then what does it matter what 
you do, since it's your fate (or God's will) anyway? In this sense, fate 
becomes paradoxical, even if it in other senses may carry a more 
positive function - such as the fact that we are born into a larger 
scheme in which we are controlled by factors outside of our power 
(genes, history, natural powers etc)).

Whatever you may choose to accept (or if you find another reason for the 
fall of mankind in Eden), it still becomes apparent which role it plays 
in reality: you are a sinner, and in order to get rid of this guilt, you 
will have to confirm your faith to the one and only God in Heaven. So 
far this is not rocket science.

Let us move back to Germanic Paganism: what role did the Gods play in 
Ragnarok, and was the actual fall inevitable?
What we are aware of is that Odin knew what was going to happen. He 
consulted with Mimir by the well, and found out about how Ragnarok was 
to break out. According to the myth, Odin then faces the Giants with 
ease; he has already become accustomed to the thought of that which 
shall come. In other words, Ragnarok was bound by fate. It was to happen 
anyway, even if the Gods would try to prevent it by fighting with the 
monsters and the Giants. We can only assume how much worse it would have 
been if the Gods decided not to do anything about it.

It is thus clear that the Gods did not possess absolute power, like the 
one of the Judeo-Christian faith (if we assume that he could have 
prevented the fall of Man, but for some reason did not). The actual 
thing that led to Ragnarok was Frigg's ignoring of the mistletoe. If she 
had taken the time to protect Balder against it, then it seems it would 
have been impossible for Balder to die, and Ragnarok to occur. The 
Germanic myths usually try to "explain" this by claiming that Frigg did 
not see the mistletoe as harmful, or even forgot it while she made the 
demand of not hurting her son to other more dangerous things. One could 
perhaps speculate that the mistletoe differed from the other things, as 
it was a seemingly innocent and abstract thing and not something 
connected to the physical world. However, it's not news for most people 
that small things usually lead to larger ones - and that some things in 
this world just refuse to stop growing...

Summary

There is no doubting of the fact that the myth of Ragnarok possesses an 
important wisdom for people like us in the modern age. Not until we free 
ourselves from the self-destructive powers that have imprisoned our 
people in the shackles of hate for life, may we rise up from the state 
of emptiness. Art communicates important ideas, thoughts and wisdom with 
Man that may be of good use for future development. Our forefathers 
realized the problem of emptiness (remember how the world was shaped 
from a "hole" of nothingness?) and therefore filled it with heroism, 
fellowship and strong spiritual belief. But, in the haste of preserving 
the life of Balder against physical threats, they forgot the internal 
dangers that came to build the ground for the outbreak of Ragnarok. The 
logic of certain individuals drew failed conclusions and when the result 
already had reached its height, it was too late for the Gods to stop it.

When the age of Gods was over, Mankind took over and saw itself as the 
highest ruling organism on the planet. Mother Nature had to stand as 
second priority, and she was regarded as cruel, primitive and dirty. 
Logic, much like anything else in this world, may sometimes claim to be 
something other than that which it really is. We
 listen to words that beautify and twist our inner senses, until the 
point is reached where we actually start believing in them. Through 
realism we may address reality for what it is and from there take 
action.

People like Varg and Quorthon have, through esoteric enlightenment, 
interpreted our forefathers’ prophecies and materialized them into real 
threats. The world today suffers from lack of heroes and it is maybe 
here that we have the solution to the fateful misgivings that lure in 
the near future. The repositioning of heroism is a necessary factor for 
our people to once again grow strong and healthy, meanwhile Mother 
Nature may regain strength from her pain caused by us. To be able to 
sacrifice our own meaningless lives for that which is bigger and more 
important than ourselves is what makes us Nordics to what we are - and 
always have been.

What feels most important is not the judgment of whose fault Ragnarok 
and the fall of Gods was, but how we must regain a new place for them to 
rule. Theological debates will forever last, but if not carefully 
replaced and purified, an actual Ragnarok in our world may lead to 
disasters the likes of which have never before been seen. We as humans 
on this Earth have much more to be blamed for than what is excusable. 
When Man renders the natural order into disrupting chaos, only fire may 
ultimately purify and shed light on the situation. We need no more time 
to regard ourselves as God or Emperor, but to devote our time and power 
to serve the system in which we live - for without Her, we are not, we 
are nothing.

Wotan mit uns! 

BATHORY - Hammerheart

Now that the wind called my name
And my star had faded now hardly a glimpse up in the empty space
And the wise one-eyed great father in the sky stilled my flame

For the ones who stood me near
And you few who were me dear
I ask of thee to have no doubts and no fears

For when the great clouds fills the air
And the thunder roars from o, so far away up in the sky
Then for sure you will know that I have reached the joyous hall up high

With my bloodbrothers at side
All sons of father with one eye
We were all born in the land of the blood on ice

And now you all who might hear my song
Brought to you by the northern wind have no fear
Though the night may seem so everlasting and forever dark

There will come a golden dawn
At ends of nights for all ye on whom
Upon the northstar always shines

The vast gates to hall up high
Shall stand open wide and welcome you with all its within
And Odin shall hail us bearers of a pounding hammerheart

-=-
Idols in the Ruins 
Pt. I - A Practical Beginner's Guide to Discovering Great Metal that 
Others Forgot
by kontinual

For many experienced metal listeners, there comes a time when a 
subconscious realization that metal seems to be perpetually declining in 
quality sends one straight to the past in search of satisfaction.  For 
the truly hardened, finding neglected full-length material is not 
sufficient; only by reaching deep into ancient recesses by exploring 
demo and EP material does one seem to satiate these deep existential 
urges.  In the not-to-distant past, this was accomplished mostly through 
tape trading.  This oft-insular word is difficult to penetrate for those 
with limited collections, or those who are unwilling to spend the time 
to cultivate a collection of mostly unimportant but "rare" material in 
order to find a few recordings worthy of higher praise.  Although the 
internal ethics of the tape trading community work to keep out a lot of 
lazy undesirables, they also have the unfortunate side effect of 
shielding many people with better judgment from the possibility of 
discovering great, but forgotten, works.  The advent of the movement of 
"underground" metal to the Internet -- particularly through the mp3 and 
other easily accessible and transferable media -- has helped break some 
of these barriers, though it has clearly been a double-edged sword for 
the dispersion of once-forgotten black and death metal material.  As 
with everything else, the internet has empowered countless people in 
metal with an essentially equal voice in opinion, driving the signal-to-
noise ratio southward and making the task of simply processing the 
available data a daunting and time consuming task.

Thankfully, for the more discerning personality, patterns begin to 
emerge in this stream that make it possible to delineate the great from 
the disposable with relative efficiency.  Common sense dominates much of 
this advice, though the underlying principles in which the advice is 
rooted are widely applicable and generally good practice regardless of 
subject.

I. Names

Ideally, one will want to begin with a list of names of bands whose 
music will potentially be interesting to hear.  Again, as a resource, 
the internet cuts both ways: although the volume of data is 
overwhelming, the conscious organization of said data is not, resulting 
in little net effect for the person without much background.  General, 
user-edited archive databases, as an example, are swarming with data -- 
both relevant and irrelevant to a search of this kind -- but are 
inundated with the loud opinions of unimportant people or equal shares 
of information for unimportant acts, making the use of said data an 
often tedious and annoying prospect.  Thankfully, there are a number of 
alternatives that are much more steadfast in editorial voice; the Dark 
Legions Archive (www.anus.com/metal) and Scan-DM-Mania (www.scan-dm-
mania.co.uk) are but two examples sites who put importance over 
democratic pretense in their presentation of bands on their sites.  
Resources similar to these should be utilized as a starting point 
wherever possible to limit what otherwise might be an exhausting search.

Another good start is simply to ask others.  Experienced people are to 
be found in many arenas.  Old tape traders are often to be found on the 
more intelligent message boards, and will gladly answer questions for 
people who appear to have a genuine interest and are not simply looking 
to snatch free wares for their own ego-driven selfish ends.  In addition 
to the sites mentioned above, there are others dedicated to older metal 
in particular -- the editors at these sites are usually enthusiastic 
about their "hobby" and enjoy humoring questions about their favorite 
bands or genres.  

For those who are more adventurous, and who are looking for a more 
"genuine" experience in band hunting, the demo reviews found in old 
fanzines are a cheap and often neglected resource for names, written 
from the perspective of a first-time listener in the original zeitgeist.  
If "big name" or "rare" zines are not included, these are often 
available relatively cheaply in bulk from collectors unloading their old 
stashes on eBay or on web message boards.  Check the dates (1990 to 1996 
being your best bets) and the genre-orientation of the zine.  If 
possible, ask the seller in advance about the quality of reviews -- 
descriptive/lengthy/simple-minded/pointless -- to avoid the worst of the 
worst.  The major advantage to this type of search, outside of 
nostalgia, is the context that you are receiving with it.  Bands who 
were boring clones back then are often celebrated by the masses now with 
inflated importance, skewed in perspective by 10-15 years of even worse 
alternatives.  Fanzine editors are often overwhelmed with this type of 
mediocrity, and, if they are smart, become increasingly dismissive of it 
as a result.  The greater localization of zines at that time versus the 
Internet was also a plus.  One should continue to tread cautiously in 
this realm: although not to the same degree as on the Internet today, 
many fanzines were typically uninspired creations of desire for social 
status or free promotional material.  Understand the editors' 
motivations and derive all the useful information you can.  If buying 
paper zines is an unappealing concept, some of the more long-standing 
ones have since created digital archives.  One possible starting point 
is Metal Curse zine (www.metalcurse.com/archive/index.html), which has 
long specialized in a great quantity of reviews with no-nonsense style.  
There are a number of others like it for those with the mild diligence 
to find them through the simplest of means.  

II. Music 

Already being armed with a list of names is more than half the effort 
required for this kind of exploration.  The personal experience of the 
author is mostly with old-fashioned tape and CDR trading, with 
comparatively little knowledge of "online" practice.  Since it is safe 
to assume that people reading this article have at least a basic 
familiarity with how to obtain electronic media, this section will be 
brief.

a.  Peer-to-Peer Networks
These are clearly the easiest and most widely known source for obtaining 
high quantities of whatever media is desired.  In the case of rare and 
old death and black metal, these can be found in numerous places through 
hubs accessible with popular clients such as Soulseek and DC++.  Often, 
an ethos similar to that developed in the tape trading community is in 
place, but based purely on quantity, which can be a hindrance to those 
who are more discerning with their material.  This can be overcome by 
anyone with a fair collection of CDs that can be ripped to share with 
others.  As long as you meet these minimum quantitative requirements you 
are suddenly a welcome member of these faceless communities regardless 
of the quality or intent of the music in your share.  Take this for what 
it is and seek only what you came to find.  Within minimal time, at 
least some of the titles you were searching for should be yours.  Common 
courtesy dictates that you share what you download in kind; keep your 
share small but representative, keep your files in good order, and don't 
listen to the moral clamor of idiots demanding minimum bitrates or other 
parameters that are functionally unnecessary but make one sound 
important.  If you are fortunate, you may perhaps find another person in 
your position willing to share their knowledge.  Although rare, seek 
hubs that uphold standards of quality and stick with them.  

b.  Message Boards and Blogs
With the appearance of free filesharing host domains (Megaupload, 
Rapidshare, et al), the posting of full albums and demos to message 
boards or personal weblogs has become an increasingly commonplace 
practice: personal responsibility for maintaining expensive bandwidth or 
for copyright violations becomes mostly a non-issue.  Other advantages 
include the elimination of connection issues common with P2P networks 
and ease of access with no need for "minimum" share (generally, only an 
account on a message board is required at maximum).  More lenient and 
active boards will also allow space for user requests, which makes the 
entire process as simple as possible.  However, because the format is 
one-sided, the time-wasting individualist behavior of others is 
magnified in their organization of files, the use of passwords on zipped 
archives, and, particularly on public boards, the total lack of 
consensus on what is tolerated.  A well-organized board can be found at 
ANUS Metal Hall (www.anus.com/metal/hall); there are numerous other 
boards and blogs online, of course, none of which are endorsed by the 
author for lack of personal experience with them.

c.  Tape and CDR Trading
It is not very long ago that there were enough tape trading purists to 
scoff at the idea of CDR traders being lumped in with them, but, perhaps 
unfortunately, they have both been driven somewhat to the background 
when it comes to the discovery of the type of rare death and black metal 
material being sought.  No doubt some great recordings continue to 
reside exclusively on cassette, or perhaps had reluctantly been 
transferred to CDR as a matter of practicality by an old-timer who still 
refuses to make the leap to the purely digital realm.  Regardless, there 
is a hint of defeat for those who have traded tapes at one point in 
admitting that this scenario is relatively rare.  Many, many recordings 
have made it to mp3 by this time.  Unfortunately, individuals have 
transferred many of these mp3s with no regard for preservation or ear 
for recording, or perhaps with a poor source recording in the first 
place.  Part of the lure of tape trading, then, resides in finding good 
quality, early generational dubs that capture the nuance of the original 
(mostly analog) recordings better than a lossy, digital format such as 
mp3 ever could.  Much is made of the mortality of tapes and the 
degeneration of their recordings with use, but this is often negligible 
compared to the blow a recording takes from ripping it to digital by a 
careless and thoughtless person.  CDRs, despite also being a mortal 
format, present a nice compromise by allowing for perfect copies with no 
loss of data.  However, for the reasons described in the introduction, 
venturing in this realm is not recommended for the beginner seeking only 
a prime handful of old recordings.

d.  Re-releases and Bootlegs
Profit drives most, so those with some patience and cash may want to 
scrap the entire guide to this point and simply wait for bootlegs or 
official re-releases to surface.  These are convenient, easy to obtain 
and nice to own, and generally present the material in some of the best 
quality possible (in the case of re-releases; bootlegs are up in the 
air).  However, a CD consisting of demos does not a worthy purchase 
make, in which case hearing the release beforehand is advantageous -- 
back to square one.  These are best left to those rare and worthwhile 
(AND familiar) recordings for which there is no possibility of ever 
getting a better sounding version.  

III. Praise

Discovering "old" but fresh sounding metal can be massively exciting but 
logically blinding: nostalgia is a powerful force, one potent enough to 
reduce often straight-thinking individuals to praise mediocrity beyond 
its worth.  Quality is relative, and proper context is a necessary 
condition to sidestep unnecessary praise.  Clearly, one is free to 
"like" whatever one wants, but since time is limited and metal bands 
seemingly not, what reason is there to be open to weak material?  

a.  Understand Context
Primarily, when sampling the gathered music, it is important to avoid 
holding it on high simply because of its age, or because of basic 
characteristics it shares with something from an older era.  Out of 
context, this is an easy thing do, particularly if familiarity with 
older material is an issue.  If it is, the forays into old zines and 
other sources of data used to find names of old bands should help 
provide some information.  Being familiar with the cornerstones is key: 
ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER, MORBID ANGEL, DEICIDE, AUTOPSY, SUFFOCATION, 
DARKTHRONE, BURZUM; thorough knowledge of these (for starters) is of 
fundamental importance to understanding the context under which lesser 
known bands of the era were operating.  If this is lacking...go back to 
the Dark Legions Archive (www.anus.com/metal) and start from the 
beginning.  If not, nostalgia still gets to even the best of us.  
FORGOTTEN WOODS probably eclipses most black metal bands of the modern 
era, but in context were mocked as BURZUM clones...a fact so seemingly 
obvious that it is hard to understand where it was abandoned.  NIRVANA 
2002 is another example of modern over-hype more due to well-played, 
close musical proximity to a popular band (ENTOMBED) then for having an 
original voice.  These bands may sound "different" enough in that they 
are not literally the same people who produced the material that was 
copied, but the idea/drive/concept/importance of the original band is 
obliterated and replaced with a mechanically precise but soulless 
forgery.  Ignore these types of bands wherever possible and life will be 
much better.  

b.  Avoid Aesthetic Trappings and Novelty
In all things that have the potential, including black and death metal, 
there is a schism between art and commodity that should be kept fresh in 
the mind.  This harkens back to the idea of "context" above; was this a 
band who was a leader, the original vision of whom was an inspirational 
force for countless others, or is this band a follower, creating 
mechanically consistent music but spiritually deficient art?  Although 
this seems like a simple concept, the reality can be more difficult to 
detangle: the vast network of geographical cross-influences and parallel 
development instigated through international tape trading is but one of 
the complicating factors.  How does one discern the difference between 
mutually affected development (ENTOMBED and DISMEMBER), influence 
(AUTOPSY to DISMEMBER), and artistic thievery?  The line is often thin 
and blurred, particularly when examining the height of a once-burgeoning 
movement.  With time, careful listening, and a bit of history, things 
are simplified.  Clearly, not every band from Sunlight (Morrissound, 
Grieghallen) studio is as worthy as the next one; there are myriad 
forgettable pretenders as well, no matter how well they nail the 
production, nuances, or "atmosphere" of better acts.  Separating wheat 
from chaff becomes the tallest task before anybody looking through the 
mess of metal history.  Nailing a sound ("perfect Swedish death metal") 
three years or five years after the fact is not sufficient to qualify a 
band as worthwhile in the larger picture.  

Other bands often go the seemingly antithetical route of complete 
aesthetic or musical novelty in order to stand out from the swarm of 
similar sounding acts.  These bands are mostly comprised of people who 
either a) wish to break free but do not have the creative push to do so, 
or b) see a marketing possibility and exploit it.  Some such bands may 
have been overlooked for real genius, but eccentricity (especially given 
the total population) is rarely a trait that should be provided its own 
merit.

c.  Critical Listening and Enjoyment
Hopefully to the reader, the repeated stress on the necessity of 
criticism has not been missed.  The above warnings will help sort 
through 90-95% of all material very quickly; the remainder should be 
listened to, contemplated, and enjoyed.  Question intents and meanings, 
think about the techniques used and why, remember contexts, discover 
innovation, and speak with others about what you hear.  Although this 
section comprises only a small amount of the text in the article, 
hopefully actually listening to music and not simply pursuing it will be 
in better balance.  

With any luck, at this point there should be a few discoveries that have 
withstood the ear and mind's criticisms and stand apart as enjoyable and 
inspirational in their own right.  Part II of this article will consist 
of a small sampling of older, forgotten material that we have personally 
found worthy of praise over our years of searches and failures.  

-=-

[-ABOUT-]

Heidenlarm is a quarterly publication of metal and neoclassical music, 
culture and philosophy.

Editor: 
kontinual

Contributors:
Alexis
vijay prozak

Contact
Web: http://www.anus.com/metal/about/zine/
Correspondence: http://www.anus.com/metal/about/zine/contact.html

(c) 2007 Heidenlarm eZine/mock Him productions