Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
I don't have many albums from bands which can be considered 'traditional' black metal from Europe, but this video made me go out and get this one. Immortal is an band which you can tell had a lot of influence on the creators of Metalocalypse - everything from the corpsepaint and ridiculous videos to the obsession with being as 'grim and frostbitten' as possible. Indeed, Sons of Northern Darkness is an album which contains such over-the-top song titles as 'In My Kingdom Cold', 'Antarctica', and of course the title song.
Favorites: One by One, In My Kingdom Cold
Check it out here.
Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave
Napalm Death is a fantastic grindcore (lately more death-influenced) band from England. They're probably one of my favorite metal bands going, especially given their consistent political ideology of anti-fascism, anti-authoritarianism, and even good gender analysis! If you're political at all (and maybe if you're not) and you want to get sold on these guys, check out this interview with current lead singer Barney Greenway where he talks about not having to be a fascist to listen to metal and getting into a brawl with a Russian hate band before a show. Time Waits for No Slave is their latest album, and a very good one. They are one of the most energetic and heaviest bands in their genre in my opinion, and this album is a testament to that.
Favorites: Fallacy Dominion, Larceny of the Heart
Get it here.
Anaal Nathrakh - Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here
A recent find for me, Anaal Nathrakh is an industrial/black metal band also from England. Brutal stuff, much of their music is centered around apocalyptic themes and features screams, guns firing, explosions, and more. The vocalist himself is screaming much of the time, combined with some clean vocals interspersed throughout. They do what they do very well and I would consider them one of the more intense and dark bands of today. AN has put out a lot of music, all of it good, and is even starting to play live. I would consider Hell is Empty... to be a good example of their music, including songs like 'Until the World Stops Turning' which begins with the firing of a chain gun that is then backed by the guitar and drums. Very, very good.
Favorites: Virus Bomb, Genetic Noose
Get it here.
Agalloch - The Silence of Forgotten Landscapes
Folk/Ambient-ish black metal from the Pacific Northwest. Agalloch is one of my favorite metal bands, many of their songs dwelling on darkness within the human spirit and its reflection in the grandeur of nature. They also feature some of my favorite uses of clean vocals in the genre (check out John Haughm's voice in the album version of In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion). The Silence of Forgotten Landscapes is a live album ripped from a DVD and has a mix of songs from their very early work through Ashes Against the Grain), so you get a good mix of different music. If you're already a fan it's still worth checking out for curiosity value and hearing a little, though not too much, innovation by the band in their performances of studio songs.
Favorites: it's all pretty good!
Get it here.
Clint Mansell - The Fountain OST
A great score to a great film! The Fountain is a sci-fi/romance/fantasy directed by Darren Aronofsky which tells the story of a man's obsession to save his wife from her cancer which takes them through time and space. It's kind of hard to describe, but besides my endorsing it through this blog I think the score makes a great recommendation as well (I actually heard it before I saw the film, and once I did I knew I had to see it). Beautiful orchestral work composed by Clint Mansell (of Requiem for a Dream soundtrack fame) and performed by the Kronos Quartet (who also performed on Requiem's OST) and Mogwai. The score ranges from bombastic and fast-paced to depressed and lamenting, usually hovering somewhere around sad, fragile and contemplative.
Favorites: Holy Dread!, Death is the Road to Awe, Together We Will Live Forever
Get it here. (if it asks for a password, it's www.mediaportal.ru)
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