Taake

Influences: Norway, Autumn, Winter, Hell, Pain, Death, The Devil
Sounds Like: True Norwegian Black Metal



The Taake Paris gig was great. Ulvhedin Høst was completely in transe, to the point that he repeatedly hit his forehead very hard with his mike, spurting a lot of energy and blood.

The whole set is here

Without Pride Mourned The Loss Of Freedom

Steingrim Torson was the talented vocalist of the Norwegian Black Metal band Celestial Bloodshed. He was shot to death in the stomach by his best friend, who happens not to remember why he did that...

Revelations of the Black Flame

An update about the upcoming 1349 album: It is still not available on amazon, but it seems it has been already released on iTunes. However, you can already listen to samples of the album titles and buy them (or the whole album). I will still wait for the CD ;)

This is a long time...

...without any post. Considering the excellent gigs where I have been the last months.

Shining was playing at Glaz'art in Paris (a space increasingly used for extreme metal shows) on March 2, with support from Sarkom and Koldbrann. Shining was as good as ever. And if you really want to know, this time Kvarforth did not cut himself but burned himself with cigarette butts.
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However, I was impressed by Koldbrann, a raw Norwegian Black Metal band, faithful to the beginnings of the genre. You should check their 2006 album Moribund for example, after seeing them I bought it from amazon of course !!!



And in the middle of April I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Inferno Festival in Oslo. This is a great festival, this is (very well) organized indoors in a building in the center of Oslo with two venues. Obviously, this is a Norwegian festival, so you have to expect a lot of Black Metal. Such as Carpathian Forest as headliners, ending the festival on the big stage !!! A sick performance !!


Or Pantheon I, their performance on the small stage was excellent !!

By the way, Koldbrann were there too, and on the big stage!! Their performance was really really good, with a support from Kvarforth himself.

It was their big day, they ended destroying on stage a part of their gear. But I can assure you that their whole set was not only showoff, this band is really very good.

There were a lot of other Black Metal bands there, such as Krypt, Code, Root, Kampfar, Troll. I was even able to see King Ov Hell without corpse paint on stage, performing with Sahg. A great festival, the only downside being the fact that all is expensive here in Norway ;)

Revelations of the Black Flame

Judging by the first who were lucky enough to be able to hear the new 1349 album, it seems that it will be another extreme achievement of extreme Black Metal !!

All indications are that 1349's forthcoming CD, "Revelations of the Black Flame" (Candlelight), will still sound like Satan hammering on a ax borrowed from Dimebag Darrell, as vocalist Ravn screeches all manner of abomination and apocalypse.

Warrior

Seen on the blog of Tom Gabriel Fisher, aka Tom Gabriel Warrior, leader of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost (see previous post): The leader of an obscure and ridiculous American Rock Band threat to sue him for using the name "warrior", which was previously trademarked worldwide by this band !!!

This joke of a band should also trademark ridicule. They call themselves WARRIOR, America’s Rock Band, and their hit (hmm all is relative) seems to be called I Want a Walmart Girl. Judging by the small amount of friends they could gather on their (rather disgusting) myspace page, they only have this way to be known, even if it is only to be laughed at.

Triptykon

This is the last post in date from Tom Gabriel Fischer, leader of defunct Black / Doom bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and now of the new Triptykon, which music seems to grow really really dark and morbid. Really interesting. Can't wait to see them on stage !!!

Of course my own opinion is biased, and of course I am not really entitled to rate the results of our own work. But it is difficult not to emerge from our sessions at Triptykon's rehearsal bunker deeply intoxicated by the heaviness of the dark, overwhelming, and morbid miasma that is the riffs of "The Prolonging". Although the path towards completion is still significant, be it for this new song, its title and lyrics, or the album proper it will appear on, it all transpires as it should. It is as it has to be.

Gorgoroth is Infernus

You already know this: Infernus has won his trial against King and Gaahl for Gorgoroth name trademark. This is everywhere, but if you want the original, go there (sorry only in Norwegian, it is apparently the official result for this case given by the Oslo District Court.

I have no problem about Infernus gaining this fairly mundane trademark case, I am OK that he gain back the Gorgoroth name, but:

• It does not erase the past, and the fact that the only performing band during all these troubled years was also named Gorgoroth (Gaahl and King after they fired Infernus), and in fact WAS Gorgoroth. During the same period Infernus band was in the process of constructing itself with new musicians - some coming from the first incarnation of the band, but it did not toured, did not perform in front of a public, and did not released any new material (Live in Grieghallen is a not so good hack on sessions that did not mean to be released, with Kings parts erased and replaced by Infernus)

So:

• Infernus (I know you don't give a fuck about me, and you may be right), if you want to gain my approval, lets release Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt this year, and please start touring sometime this year too; I swear I will go to see and hear you and your forces. But if you don't... for what's worth all of this?


• Gaahl and King (and whatever infernal new name you will give to your band now): You were right to refuse to indulge further into court action, which can be endless. And people who saw you on stage during these years reckoned that you were a force to see on stage.

And one last thing: I really don't understand why the court wrote (English translation): In addition, the Court found that Infernus, as founder of the band, in this case could not be excluded; Thus Gaahl and King must be regarded as excluded of the band. What's this judiciary bullshit? Again I have no problem with the trademark thing, but the history is full of band founders that have been expelled by members who came after them, so I think that maybe this court seem not to understand music, rather than Black Metal only, very much.

And contrary to what I seem, I am NOT against Infernus !!

Vorkreist Sublimation XXIX A

Vorkreist is an excellent Death / Black Metal band from Paris. Their last (very good) album, Sublimation XXIX A, is from 2006, and they are preparing a new one which should appear in the following months I think.

I was pleased to see a short review of this album on the Black Metal Owns You blog. It reviews only Black Metal albums and gives the link to buy them, and often also the links to sharing sites which allow to download them.

You may think that giving links to these sharing sites is bad (though the maintainers of the blog never upload the files themselves, and they will remove links in case bands ask them to do it), but considering that it's sometimes impossible to get Black Metal albums, they are also giving access to some music that would otherwise stay unheard.

That said, here is what they write about Sublimation XXIXA:
In the continuity of "Sabbathical Flesh Possession", it delivers 9 works of brutal Death-Black Metal inspired by revulsion and deviance, in criminal, demonic dedication to the destruction of obsolete and pernicious humane values. Structures have been developed and aggressiveness improved along these distinct but definitely coherent tracks, the whole serving Vorkreist's vision of Hell and reality, opposed and entangled in each other.

If you can, buy it, I swear you will not regret, and if not... well you know what you are doing ;)

Mnemonic Possession

Shining live tomorrow night ;) Beginning with two promising raw Norwegian Black Metal bands: and Koldbrann (the latter I'm listening in a loop for the moment).

But first let's say that I'm very happy with the live event on Friday. That was in the same venue as the one for Monday, the Glaz'art. There's only very few Metal shows there, but it's really OK, the sound is good, it's small but not too small, and the staff is friendly enough. One of my friends is a fan of the French Brutal Death band Kronos. I came there trusting his judgment and basically thinking "Why not ?". It was really a great set !! (apart from the bands coming before them, who were not bad, but neither were enthralling).




And now, what about some Black Metal news? I just stumbled today on the Averse Sefira "official" blog (I think it's mainly written by Wrath, but I'm not sure). The last December posts are about his/their trip to Scandinavia, meeting with such interesting people and bands as Gorgoroth, Pantheon I, Deströyer 666, and a memorable moment at Watain bunker in Stockholm.
. Watain prepared for their 10th year anniversary show, and as a true raw Black Metal band, this preparation did involve very special treats (and not sweets): Friday, 12.5.08, Watain bunker, Stockholm – It smells bad down here. Really bad. Watain is gearing up for their 10th anniversary show tomorrow and they are stepping up the offal to match the occasion. They removed most of the actual offending pieces, but there's still a lot of grue-covered skulls everywhere, and there is no real ventilation at all..


And later: I smell. I smell like zombie vomit. I smell like I shit my pants and then died. I smell like Watain. The creeping red odor of the bunker has attached itself to my hair, skin, clothes, and everything else I own. (...). I have become an unwitting harbinger of Watain in my journey to Uppsala; (...). I think this is the true nature of death – alternately absurd and terrifying in equal measures. People on this train car are starting to freak out.


Maybe this is part of what motivates Watain; they come from a place where everyone is shiny, groomed, and good-looking, and they factor that into their rejection of the world at large. To be an odious freak in America is commonplace, but here it is a statement. All I know is that they are the antithesis of what I see in the people of Sweden.

Toward Complete Fucking Desolation

Preparing for next Monday of course.

BTW, I'm coming back from one week in Florida for work: OK, weather is fine ;)

A Black Metal Night: Celestial Bloodshed

I just came to the Sargeist and Baptism gig last Saturday, with support from Celestial Bloodshed (Norway) and Aosoth (France). Very good Black Metal night !!

I was very happy to be able to see Aosoth for the first time.I failed to see them the previous time for the last Black Metal is Rising fest, because they were playing way too early, and I came after the end of their set.

Also very impressed by Celestial Bloodshed, which I never saw before. They have a very strong impact on stage. The singer is kind of scary ;)




I bought their album Cursed, Scarred And Forever Possessed after that (it's not a new band), and I like it. It's really Black, but it's not at all generic Black Metal like some said.

Not Everyone Likes Metal....

FUCK THEM !!!!!!!




That said, if you want to declare your love to the girl of your life, try this powerful method guys:



But beware I will decline all responsibility on the result

Black, violent and depressing

This is Shining. Their last album Halmstad begins with a song called Ytterligare ett steg närmare total jävla utfrysning (Yet Another Step Towards Complete Fucking Desolation) !! And here are the first words, a little poem before the screaming:

As I was going up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away.

This is the beginning of Antigonish, a 1899 poem by William Hughes Mearns. That, with the arrangement of the Beethoven Moonlight sonata, is only an example on how well they are able to mix classical influences with raw black metal.

Last gigs of the year

I was able to go to some of the gigs planned for the last months of the year

• The Paris date of Heidenfest on November 9th, with Eluveitie and Primordial . Both were great (Alan of Primordial has an incredible impact on stage). I was less impressed by Finntroll, but maybe it is because it is too far the kind of music I like the most



• Enslaved on November 18th, very powerful as always, I really would have missed something great if I did not attend to their date in Paris. Plus they really master light effects in their shows... but the music would have been really excellent by itself, even without these light effects.



• The Satyricon show on November 23th. I must say that I needed several listenings of their new album to really appreciate it, but after that.. I must say it is really a great album, less accessible to their previous one maybe, but superior IMHO. However, the ultra-clean quality of the CD casing do not make it justice, the album is much much better than that. For the record, they began by Commando and ended by Mother North, of course.



• Morbid Angel + Keep of Kalessin + Marduk on November 28th: Marduk as powerful as ever; really I know a lot of people that were coming only for them. However Morbid were the main act of the night and they were very good too. Of course they ended by The God of Emptiness


• Cradle of Filth + Gorgoroth on December 2nd: It was the second time I saw Gorgoroth on stage, and they were as good and evil as the first. This time they put wooden crosses and crucified models on stage. It is a band that has no problem fulfilling what you light expect from their music after seeing this kind of props on stage. They are far, far from being ridiculous, trust me. Hmm it was not the case with Cradle of Filth (however I was not there for them but for Gorgoroth). Apart from the songs from their last album which I found very good on stage (as I felt also good on album), the rest was really ridiculous.

I was not able to see Asphyx and Hail of Bullets on 11th and 12th December near Amsterdam, too much work in Paris to be able to take some days of to Amsterdam. That's bad, because these are really two f*** great bands !! I hope to be able to see them next year !!!

And for next year ? There's Deicide / Samael / Vader on the 11th January. There's also a Shining tour around May (but not coming to Paris), and there's next Hellfest in June. And maybe a lot more ? Gorgoroth's Infernus side just anounced that Pest will return as vocalist, 1349 is recording a new album, Pantheon I will release a new album mid 2009, and maybe Carpathian Forest will tour before the release of their next album, in December 2009...

Shazam

I just tried the free Shazam application on the iPhone (available through the AppStore), and it's really really great (even if I don't know if it could be really useful). In case you don't already know what it does, here it is:
You point your iPhone microphone in the direction of any music playing, wait for approx. 10 seconds, and it gives the title of the track, album, and even the cover... Some people commented that it could only recognize mainstream, but it's not true: although it failed on Neurosis, Asphyx, and 1349, it had absolutely no problems with random songs of Emperor, Zyklon, Gorgoroth, Carpathian Forest, Marduk, Celtic Frost, or Arkhon Infaustus.

I don't think this list can count for only mainstream ;-)

1942

No I'm not blogging about WWII history. You just should check out Dead to this World, a really excellent Black / Death Metal band from Bergen, Norway (of course, what would you expect ?). And 1942, from their album First Strike For Spiritual Renewance is really a masterpiece (and it's available on streaming on their myspace page). Iscariah, the leader of the band, is a former member of Immortal.

And on WW II-related subjects, you should also check out the first album from Hail Of Bullets, a Dutch Death Metal band which shares a lot of members with Asphyx. They will tour in Europe and USA beginning on October, and I may go see them in London ;-)

As for my Scandinavian trip, it was very very very rainy but cool (and not only with the not-so-hot heat). I met the ultra-cool members from Blood Tsunami and saw them performing on the small but well-known Oslo venue Elm Street Bar. And talked with them, and shared a few beers - hmm more than a few, a Friday night in Oslo, just think about it !!!.


Also I was able to see the famous graffiti made by Euronymous, in the basement of the late Helvete record shop, which was in the 90s' one of the meeting places for the Black Metal scene in Norway (the so-called "Inner circle"). It has nothing to do with Black Metal anymore now, as it has become a bakery, amusingly called Var Daglige Brod (our daily bread). The owner was cool to allow me to see it, because of course normally you do NOT visit this place.


I also went to the Neseblöd records shop, which holds loads of extraordinary local or historic Black / Death Scandinavian metal stuff (which I'm sure you can only buy there), but unfortunately it did not accept credit card, and I did not have enough cash on me when I went there :-( I must go there another time (maybe for Inferno Festival, next April he he).

Of course as the average tourist I also visited some less-metal places like Fjords of course

BTW, you may be interested to know that the Bergen-Oslo railway line is a feast for the eyes for approx. 7 hours, so don't be afraid to take this by daylight if you are in Norway, and also it is not a tourist-specific line, you will not encounter a lot of tourists there).

But also random cool people, be it in Norway or Sweden.

Off to Norway and Sweden

Yes, I'm going for vacations for two weeks in these countries of Northern Darkness, I name Sweden and Norway (hmm maybe more Norway than Sweden, but who knows ?).

I will land in Bergen, will most likely visit Oslo, and will take the plane back to Paris from Stockholm. And if I'm lucky I will maybe able to attend to the next Blood Tsunami show, he he.

Think that a lot of Norwegian Black Metal bands are heading from Bergen or Oslo, for example Gorgoroth (Gaahl lives in a small village in the north of Bergen), Immortal, 1349, Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir or Mayhem

Doomed to Walk the Earth as Slaves of the Living Dead

Last Saturday I came back home by foot, on a dark night, after having seen Night of the Living Dead, the matrix from where all horror films came out. There's funny stories about this movie. For example, their distributor forgot to put a copyright indication on the movie, and it soon fell in the public domain. You can download hordes of disgusting zombies for free, and more, you can do it legally !!! Or almost all the parts are played by pals of Romero. The little girl who (which ?) eat her father and stabs her mother to death was really their daughter in real-life. Some actors also were the producers of the movie, and they also performed the "special effects" (mortician wax for the zombies, etc...) themselves. etc...



Still... When returning home, I was listening to Carpathian Forest's Morbid Fascination of Death album. You already know the title of the song, and I swear it really was a coincidence.

Stop being so humble
Stop showing remorse
Cut it off
The hands that feed the blind
Can you move?
With those holy chains

Hellfest 2008

Yes this Mayhem had to come to an end. This was a great festival this year too !! My highlights (and biggest deceptions) are:

• The weather, no rain this time !!! And cold at night, so it was perfect to rest after one exhausting day !!


• The organization was flawless this year. Obviously the festival team did learn from their mistakes of last year

First day:

• Alchemist. This band build on atmosphere, and I don't always like that, because it sometime means weak, but not this time. Check them out !!


• Septic Flesh, excellent Greek black metal


• Job For a Cowboy. I like their albums, but I did not know how they were on stage. And I can tell you: They are not only buzz, their show was a killer !!!


• Rotting Christ. It was the second time I saw them, and I can't say they made a strong impression on me...


• Marduk did not disappoint me, and the duo with Mortuus and Alan (Primordial) was an excellent surprise !!!


• Testament were alive and kicking, hailz Trash metal !!!


• Carcass showed that they did not reformed only for money


• Venom were a big deception for me. How about kitsch ?

Second day:

• Legion of the Damned. Once more a Trash metal band, but I liked them !!


• Benighted, an excellent French Brutal Death band


• I really like Satyricon, and I liked very much this show, with insanely heavy drumming by Frost of course !!!


• Haemorrhage, funny but excellent Spanish grindcore !!! Are you a pathology ?


• Shining, this Swedish Black metal band really look dangerous on stage. The singer cut himself on stage, arms bleeding, he threw a cigarette in the middle of the public, he broke a bottle (of Jack Daniels ?) and cut himself with the remains... But they also have a very depressive but heavy sound. A discovery for me !!!


• The Watain show was just after Shining, but they really offered Black metal to remember (sorry no dead rats on stage this time)


• Ministry, the show (one the lasts) was excellent, with almost no blanks between the titles

Third day:

• Origin, insanely fast, insanely good Brutal Death. At one time, someone in the public shouted "faster !!", and the singer answered "faster ?". It was impossible.


• Primordial, I really like the Celtic / Folk Black metal of this band, and their singer really have an amazing presence on stage !!!


• Obituary, of course...


• Dying Fetus. speedy, heavy, full of integrity. And Sean Beasley had a Origin T-shirt ;-)


• Motörhead, they are always heavy, heavy, HEAVIER


• Morbid Angel show was faultless


• And finally, the Slayer show was a bit disappointing, probably because of Tom Araya's voice which seemed to never be really there (ill, maybe ?)

Pictures to come soon...