Black metal

Guides and Primers

Hell Symphony: The Czech Black Metal Sound (Ft. Interviews with Master’s Hammer, Root, and Blackosh)

As black metal began to arise as a global movement in the early 1990s, regional scenes began taking hold. Beyond the infamous Norweigan one, many small regional scenes emerged in Sweden, Finland, Greece, Brazil and perhaps most curiously, the Czech Republic. The scene in this country had its origins in the 1980s as underground tape trading managed to expose a handful to the occult sounds of Venom, Bathory, and Mercyful Fate among others in spite of the restrictions under the iron curtain.

By Rhandgar, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven: Sartegos – O Sangue Da Noite Review

Northern Spain is home to a wide variety of legends and folklore tales. One of them is “La Santa Compaña”, a myth that revolves around a procession. The procession is leaded at midnight by a living person carrying a cross and holy water. This is not the bizarre part. The person is then followed by a flock of grieving souls in white robes with candles. While very few people are capable of seeing the dead, they leave behind the scent of wax in the air. Those who claim to have seen or felt their presence say they hear prayers or funerary songs. While no one knows precisely the meaning of their march, many suspect it is a way of announcing an impending death – another soul to join the ghastly congregation.

By dzorr, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven: Malokarpatan – “Krupinské ohne” Album Premiere

Opening the album with paying due respect to Hammerheart-era Bathory, Malokarpatan take their time to tell you their stories – and such dark and grimy stories, they are. The longer-form songs build up to smooth, galloping leads or choruses; they keep taking twists and turns as the story unfolds with the use of interludes varying from synths to acoustic passages. But at the heart of it all lies the signature “dark heavy metal” riffage of the band.

By Rhandgar, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven: Necromantia – Scarlet Evil Witching Black Review

Necromantia are one of the more curious and immediately striking bands in black metal. The Hellenic BM scene was, outside of a couple outliers in the Scandinavian countries (eg Dissection, Immortal etc), the most traditional heavy metal of the bunch – after all, it is why RiG has a big ‘ol primer on the scene. Of the big bands, Necromantia is perhaps the most musically “traditional metal” of the bunch, while also being musically one of the more radical bands of their brood.

By blondiemacfilthy, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven Album Premiere: Hellehond – Verslonden

From time to time we see a new band emerging from the dark, ancient corridors of the past, through the cobwebs and mildew, carrying a torch enkindled by the flames of bygone times. Disregarding the evolution of trends and habits over time, these bands go all the way back to the origins for inspiration. Interested more in the roots of the black metal tree than young branches, Hellehond, a new band from the Netherlands, are here to pay their tribute to the spirit of old school.

By Rhandgar, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven Album Premiere: Flamekeeper – “We Who Light the Fire” with an Interview

Flamekeeper is the natural result of the journey from Italy to Sweden for Marco S., the main person behind occult black/death metal band Demonomancy and also The Devil’s Mark Studio. Carrying Mediterranean influences like Necromantia with him, he arrived at the epic metal masterpiece, Hammerheart by Bathory. The debut effort of Flamekeeper is an approach to that Hammerheart sound that is rooted more in black metal in spirit, yet with plenty of clean heavy metal sounding sections.

By Rhandgar, ago
Into the Coven

Album Premiere: Front Beast – “Shadows” with an Interview

There is virtue in simplicity. While some modern extreme metal acts try to push the boundaries of the sub-genres (which mostly results in unimpressive ways for me); Avenger, the sole member of Front Beast, pursues the simplicity of the old. Active in many different projects ranging from traditional occult doom to black/thrash to grind or death metal, Avenger focuses his efforts for Front Beast on paying tributes to the forefathers of black metal like Bathory, Venom, or Hellhammer. Shadows is the latest output of this black/thrash/heavy metal act and it stays on the path Front Beast has always consistently been walking on for the past 20 years.

By Rhandgar, ago
Into the Coven

Into the Coven: Diabolic Night – Beyond The Realm Review

Germany. The country where young people into heavy metal, beer, and Satan in 80s took heavy and thrash metal they listened into its logical extreme and laid foundation to what came after: speedy black/thrash metal attack. To this day the country is still a hotbed for similar hybrid sounds with plenty young bands still playing traditional speed or heavy metal touched by more extreme kinds of metal. Diabolic Night have been one of the most promising of these young bands with their pre-debut material and here they have their first full-length effort to build upon the demos.

By Rhandgar, ago