So surely I'm not the first to notice that black metal seems to be undergoing some sort of revitalization, and 1349 doesn't count. For the past two or three years there have been lesser-known bands, some subscribing completely to all of the cliches and trappings of the genre, some not, ripping enormous holes in the very fabric of black metal as it has been known since Norway. Refreshingly, and although most of these bands come from the underground, "kvlt" ranks, Darkthrone imitation has been kept to a(n obligatory) minimum. I distinctly remember some five or so years ago when the bm releases over which everybody was masturbating that weren't A): all-out norsecore (the only band that's allowed to do this is Marduk); B): uninspired trad/death hybrids dressed up like black metal (Dimmu Borgir, Old Man's Child); or C): moonfog assembly line products were all 1991-1995 era Darkthrone clones, and while some of those records were certainly exceptional (Clandestine Blaze, Satanic Warmaster, Deathspell Omega, Horna, etc.), I, and I'm sure most of you, had heard it all too many times before. This, to me, was most distressing, as I had always looked at black metal as the future and savior of extreme metal: I saw few releases by death metal bands really accomplishing anything new and worthwhile, and the whole trad/power metal revival should have never happened anyway. Because of all of this, I until recently had completely forsaken any new releases, and mostly kept to my personal classics of the previous decade (and some from the first years of this one.)
Then all of a sudden did bands begin crawling up from the lower, less-visible divisions from countries that had seldom produced much such product in the past, i.e. France (excepting the black legions, who, as an aside, varied between brilliance and complete crap), the Ukraine and eastern Europe, and the States, to name a few. I think it was upon hearing France's Blut Aus Nord's massive The Work Which Transforms God that my faith in this music was restored. Think what you may about this band, but that record was incredible, and completely unprecedented in metal or in music in general. I was completely blown away, to say the least. Then there was Deathspell Omega's Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, which was pretty fucking innovative as well and it stuck, to an extent, to the tried and true format that the elitists love so much. One minor release that I found particularly strong was Alcest's EP Le Secret, from 2005 I think: mellow black metal somewhat reminiscent of Bergtatt, yet even more seamless and flowing (literally and figuratively.) Then there's Drudkh, who are easily one of the greatest black metal band's fucking ever. Every release is phenomenal, each better than the next, and as far as I'm concerned they cannot be touched; one can only hope that they can outdo themselves yet again after Blood in Our Wells. Somewhat along the same lines, Negura Bunget is crafting some truly well-written, transcendental black metal the likes of which I haven't heard in a very, very long time. And I can't forget Nortt, who are hardly even black metal these days, but Gudsforladt was essentially doom-paced Burzum.
There are still some bands making worthwhile, traditional black metal, and who are worth mentioning because, despite the orthodoxy, the songwriting is so amazingly fucking strong, and unsurprisingly, they're from Scandinavia. Here, of course, I'm referring to Sweden's Watain and Casus Luciferi, who made even the mainstream metal press sit up and shit, and Norway's Tsjuder. A personal favorite of mine has always been Craft, also from Sweden, despite a lot of press taking a hot, steaming shit all over "Fuck the Universe. Oh, and stubborn Finnish fucks Sargeist too, who destroyed my soul with Satanic Black Devotion.
But fuck me, if alot of these bands who are breathing new life into this much-beloved genre of mine aren't from my back doorstep. While some accuse his work of being too derivative from everything else he's ever done, Malefic's Xasthur is, for me, America's answer to Drudkh in terms of quality, atmosphere, and song-writing, especially his more recent output. I also was completely blown away by Velvet Cacoon's Genevieve, and despite all of the complete bullshit that comes from that camp, that release was what I always wanted Ildjarn to sound like in regards to hypnotic potential. However, in terms of terms of sheer off-the-fucking-charts innovation, Leviathan takes home the (black) medal. Either The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide or Tentacles of Whorror are must-haves, though I tend to prefer the former, it having become something of a personal classic.
I'm sure I left out some bands, but I think that those listed above are evidence enough that something good is going on with black metal again, finally. I'd really like to see what the rest of you think about this. Am I onto something, or just completely full of shit? I apologize for being so long-winded and writing an article as opposed to a thread.
Oh, and I'm new by the way. Howdy.
I just see it differently.
