More thoughts on NSBM

[Ayeka]

Just some thoughts I was pondering recently...how come it's a relatively recent phenomenom? Like...the earliest bands all originate from early 90s, like pretty much all the big names knocking around now. There's no clear founding figurehead for it though, not like Venom or Black Sabbath are. I generally considered Burzum as a catalyst for it (though it's not NS) but then you remember that a lot of other scattered bands predate Burzum by a bit. I like the idea of independant groups of dissatisfied individuals simultaniously putting feelings to music and then seeing it's a universal thing all over the continent.

I guess that's a good lead to my next thought...how come there's a distinct lack of British NSBM groups? I know of an Irish one I need to track down soon, and there's some RAC (still don't know what that stands for ) knocking around but the closest we've really got here that I can think of is Forefather which definately ain't NS.

Just random musings. Any thoughts?

 

[Ayeka]

Very much a catalyst for a lot of people. I don't recall reading any interviews where anyone stated Burzum as a start-up factor (in every case as far as I know it's political rather than musical motivations) but I wouldn't be surprised if it helped spur people on.

Ohhhh, Moonblood. Have you heard their cover of Thor (The Powerhead) by ManOwaR?

 

[J.]

I must hear this Moonblood. I just hate bootlegs and CD-r's, and have no need for vinyl.

As far as NSBM, for some reason Forefather is considered kinda borderline NSBM for some reason. I guess people consider Anglo Saxon Heathen Metal as NSBM. Dunno.

I always thought Graveland was considered the NSBM band by most, even though I'd consider them a Pagan Metal band.

I bet Burzum kind of started it with some of his interviews, because to my knowledge, he never directly wrote lyrics that can be considered NSBM. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Maybe a bunch of Polish bands read his interviews and just took it to the next level. Again, dunno. But I do know both Graveland and Burzum began around the same time.

Arghoslent might have started it, even though they are death metal. Arghoslent started in 1991 just like Graveland and Burzum, or thereabouts. Just kinda throwing things out there.

 

[Dev]

I highly doubt that Arghoslent had a significant impact . It was a very unknown band until a few years ago . And as you say they're not bm so hardly NSBM . Burzum pretty much created it involontarily I think .

 

[J.]

I know of an Irish one I need to track down soon

I'm curious about this, because I've seen some threads fairly recently on the www.metalireland.com board that deal with NSBM. On that board, NSBM is not a popular subject.

What's the name of the band? I'm sure unhinged can fill us in on this one. I'm simply curious about it. Ireland is far too rich in other metal areas to bother with NSBM.

 

[J.]

Hmmm, never heard of 'em.

I know there a big issue with Primordial supposedly being involved with NSBM because they were friends with some of those bands, or something. I think it can be found on the band's forum. I think Alan pretty much explained Primordial's stance.

Yeah, here's the thread: http://smnnews.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=5207

 

[Henrik Main]

This is just a theory: I don't think there is one single founder of this particular movement, but I think there were several important factors that led to NSBM becoming big in the underground metal scene.

- Burzum's interviews may have been an important factor. Varg has always had plenty of musical credibility, and I'm sure several of his die-hard fans may have been inspired by his political and ethical stances to start black metal bands that deal with subjects that Varg has spoken about.

- Darken and the Graveland crew. Darken is underground through and through, and I think I recall an interview where he stated that he has several contacts in the metal scene in Eastern Europe. Darken may have been looked upon as a prophet, almost, in the Eastern European extreme metal circles, and has had lots of impact on the ideological progress in this scene. I think Also, most of the Polish NSBM bands share members, so there isn't a VAST number of people performing NSBM there - the most prominent bands such as Gravleland, Thor's Hammer, etc. share members.

- Varggoth and the Nokturnal Mortum crew. Varggoth is almost the Ukrainian Rob Darken, and may have been as important as him in the Ukrainian scene. Ukrainian NSBM bands also share several members.

- I could go on and ramble about dissatisfied youngsters being inspired by Darken and Varggoth and using black metal as a tool to put forward their extreme views, Eastern European youth experiencing immigrants in their countries for the first time in their lives, unemployment, and so on, but I'll leave that to people who possess more knowledge than me concerning this subject

 

[NAD]

- I could go on and ramble about dissatisfied youngsters being inspired by Darken and Varggoth and using black metal as a tool to put forward their extreme views, Eastern European youth experiencing immigrants in their countries for the first time in their lives, unemployment, and so on, but I'll leave that to people who possess more knowledge than me concerning this subject

I agree with this. Generations tend to flip flop between (using general terms here) conservative and liberal thought, after WWII the world was turned to be tolerant of other cultures and accept them regardless of if they infringed on your rights as a citizen. Along with mass immigration in many places some of the younger kids started to get pissed off. Also my theory on some of the Eastern European bands like from the Ukraine, technically they didn't even have a modern national identity until after the fall of the USSR, so they are working with fresh blood so to speak, and probably don't want to fall into the tolerance trap like the Westerners since they are basically beginning anew.

In other words, it doesn't much have to do with the actual music, and I'm just rambling anyhow.

 

[Ayeka]

I must hear this Moonblood. I just hate bootlegs and CD-r's, and have no need for vinyl.

Good luck getting hold of it then you just going for the rehearsal cassettes? THR were gonna stock them put I think the guy got pressurised by HC fans not too, which is crap...he had an email address to contact for 'em but that guy's schtum

As far as NSBM, for some reason Forefather is considered kinda borderline NSBM for some reason. I guess people consider Anglo Saxon Heathen Metal as NSBM. Dunno.

They're very outspoken about their Anglo-Saxon pride which would be where the borderline thing comes in...racial pride is part of NS ideology, not the other way around!

I bet Burzum kind of started it with some of his interviews, because to my knowledge, he never directly wrote lyrics that can be considered NSBM. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Nah, you're spot on.

Oh yeah, that band Erik dug out was the one I was thinking about, I'm pretty sure...they're flogging their demo cheap, w00t. I'll have that

That thread made interesting reading...bit long-winded though. As usual, anti-fascist texts made great scavenging grounds for new stuff to check out, read, learn etc FOOLS!

 

[J.]

Oh yeah, that band Erik dug out was the one I was thinking about, I'm pretty sure...they're flogging their demo cheap, w00t. I'll have that

Let me know how it is, music-wise.

 

[Ayeka]

No probs. I'm sending the dosh tomorrow

Fuck me, I must say...I'm only three songs into Goat Horns by Nokturnal Mortum but FUCK ME this is incredible! One of those albums I'm kicking myself for not buying a year earlier!

 

[J.]

Songs 4 and 6 are the best IMO

 

[Dev]

4th is amazing , the intro 'Black Moon Overture' is topnotch too .
Still no Goat Horns track tops The Funeral Wind Born In Orania , On The Moonlight Path or Perun's Celestial Silver for me .

 

[Ayeka]

Kuyaviya (#2) gets my vote on first listen, I think, along with #1. Great intro.

 

[Dev]

Veles Scrolls is amazing too , though it's a little too long , could have been 2-3 minutes shorter . It would have been my personal favorite especially for that awesome break

 

[MajestikMøøse]

R.A.C. - Rock Against Communism

 

[Demonspell]

Goat Horns is excellent, and the longer tracks don't bore me for a second and are among the best examples of epic black metal IMO...

 

[Ayeka]

Let me know how it is, music-wise.

Aryan Thunder demo by Keltoi arrived on Friday. Here is a review I submitted to metal-archives.com:

"Curiously, of all the demos I've heard, this one seems to be the one applying to the idea of a demo in the strictest terms - a demonstration, "this is what we're capable of now, better things are coming!". It's brevity, simplicity and sound quality seem quite indicative of this.
This has the hallmarks of a rehearsal bootleg, though I don't think it was intended to come across as that. Beginnings and ends of songs are marked by feedback and random strings seemingly caught accidentally by the guitarist's arm as he rests it across his bridge. The production is consistant of this as well - the rhythm section is practically non-existent. The bass is practically inaudible in the wall of noise, and the drum machine completely buried in the mix - a very faint snare with equally faint crashes. If you put your ear right up to the speakers on your stereo, you can here some double bass! While this is forgivable on the latter two songs, it helps ruin the first - a pointless guitar break (sounds like a child's first attempt at playing) leads into the slower half of the song, but if you weren't paying attention you wouldn't notice. The guitar tempo hardly changes and as the rhythm is inaudible, you barely notice that the drums have slowed down to a different beat. Suddenly, the toms on Unholy Black Metal by Darkthrone leap out of the mix in comparison to this.
Speaking of Darkthrone, the vocals seem to me like a more deep and gutteral version of Fenriz's, though that might just be me. The guitar sound is very reminiscent of Praise Of War by Kristallnacht, though that one song does have a step up on this demo.
I think there's potential here, as this demo 'demonstrates' - Aryan Thunder and Blood Of My Ancestors are certainly more aggressive than My Homelands Call. I personally would like to see a step up from demo level next time around: more imagination, more variation, more drums."

As it happened, the Irish band I was originally thinking about was Ketzer, not Keltoi. Oh well, at least I ended up finding me something new! They're considering a split...need to get some Ketzer to see how interesting that would be.

 

[General Zod]

henrikmain claims that NSBM is "big in the underground metal scene". If this is true, why is Ayeka listening to bootleg rehearsals? Are you guys so interested in hearing someone sing lyrics (which are typically indecipherable) that contain NSBM themes, that you’re listening to “rehearsal bootlegs”?

By the way, I’d be curious to learn how many units the more popular NSBM acts move.

Zod

 

[J.]

NSBM is not big if you're judging it based on units sold. Nokturnal Mortum may be the biggest band of NSBM, and I doubt they've quit their day jobs. Same with Graveland.

It is big if you're talking about the sheer number of NSBM bands. But like JayK says, it's becoming sort of the trend now.

As far as "rehearsal bootlegs", who says great music has to be on a pro-CD? Hell, maybe even the artist wants to keep his music on vinyl-only (like Moonblood).