Live 4 Metal - Black Metal

You can find a History of British Black Metal on another page on this site. As for the current British Black Metal scene you will find a listing below of the bands who have been part of the scene in recent years. Some have disappeared into the nether gloom of the underground from whence they came, others have grown in notoriety and some have just stayed unknown dark entities. The scene in 2003 is stronger than it has ever been considering there really has not been a cohesive scene in the UK, when compared with the likes of Germany, Poland and the Scandinavian countries. Even the vast Asian and American continents seem more congested with Black Metal acts than Britain, but that is probably more down to the size of the land mass. The UK, can boast the most prolific and best selling act in the form of Cradle of Filth, yet I would suggest their Black Metal credentials have waned somewhat over the years. Of the bands who are making headway with label deals and general popularity we can site, Akercocke, The Mead’s of Asphodel, Reign of Erebus and, Anaal Nathrakh. The fact Thus Defiled are not signed is a despairing lack of insight from the labels and an insult to their perseverance and dedication. So what else have Britain got to offer in terms of pure Black Fucking Metal… Read on and find out. Acolytes Ruin The When we were Broken 7 track demo cd is an inventive collection of raw and at times brooding Black Metal cauldron of impressive songs. The band makes a play for most of the diverse styles associated with the genre. There are fast/slow parts, atmospheric instrumental passages, odd keyboard sections, melodic moments and violent moments. Acolyte's Ruin sound original although the raw nature of their material soaks the whole atmosphere in the underground mire. I suppose all Black Metal should sound this way, set aside from the mainstream and untouched by commercial toss. Drop 'em a line at: acolytes_ruin@hotmail.com Adorior With one album Like Cutting the Sleeping released on Norway's Head Not Found in the mid-Nineties, the band are still intact and writing new material. The unique thing about Adorior is the striking female lead vocals that rip into the ears like a chainsaw. The band are currently writing new material and will no doubt release an album in the not to distant future. Lsdadorior@hotmail.com Akercoke With the debut album Rape of the Bastard Nazarene airing a full throttle Death Metal style enraptured with dark and hateful lyrics, this uncompromising act have signed to Peaceville. The reservoir dogs image of well-cut suits doesn’t detract from the ferocity this band harness within their high caliber material. The new album Goat of Mendes is a ferocious aural maelstrom of intricate arrangements and bone shuddering songs. Now relieved of their Peaceville contract the band will no doubt arise on a new level of blackened art and dissect the senses once again.

Anaal Nathrakh Hyper blast Black Metal with a relentless snare assault and a heinous vocal attack. This festering band have released a demo featuring a chaotic cover of Mayhem’s ‘Carnage’. Signed to Mordgrimm, the album The Codex Necro displays one of the most extreme Black Metal releases to emanate from these shores. Total blood boiling savagery set to hyper blasting drum programming and utterly hellish distorted vocals. Anaal Nathrakh are one of those bands spawned from a dark room where a person can collect his dark thoughts and set them to computer generated chaos. Rage of Achilles have just released ‘Total Fucking Necro’ which contains the bands demos and outtake material. The mcd out via
Mordgrimm titled ‘ When Fire rains Down From the Sky’ will no doubt ignite world war three. Andrhrimnir Taking in influences from the intensity of Marduk, the atmospherics of Emperor, Celtic Frost, Thorns and early Destruction this band vomit forth a raw and brutal sound. You can check out a track by visiting www.mp3.co./andhrimnir/ Arcane Church Formed under a Ecliptic moon by Naberiux in 1999 ,an idea of one man bringing you pure and true Black Metal. 1999 saw the release of the instrumental synth track "Call of the wild/Entrance of Lucifer" Arcane Church play "Electro Satanic Terrorism Black Metal". AC are now signed to UK Label Crimson Winds. New future, New Chaotica, New Macabre a new beginning. www.arcane-church.cjb.net/ Archaicus ; Beneath the Horizon Demo English Black Metal immersed in a cold Norwegian shadow is how I would describe this interesting demo. With titles like, Cold Winds of the Lamenting Valley, and Over the Hills and Beneath the Horizon, the scene is captured perfectly. Recorded at Necrodeath studios [home to Anaal Nathrakh] where the sound is suitably ice cold and lacerated with macabre atmospheres. As the raw and desolate sound needed to re-create such a classic atmosphere associated with the early stages of the genre do not necessitate such luxuries of a big budget, a band of this low level breeding can exist amongst the throng of likewise acts quite comfortably. The three songs on offer here are very much rooted to the classic early works of Satyricon and Mayhem. Fast echoing snares, thin buzzing guitars and lamenting vocals. It is within the writhing arrangements and complexity of the material that Archaicus come to life. They are not content with just thrashing out the tired old formulas, instead the songs are intricately woven around many ghostly moods, varied pace and chilling vocals. The fact that the songs are so unpredictable in their meandering flow, makes the inevitable lack of instantly recognizable melody seem amiss. For what many people perceive to be TRUE BLACK METAL , meaning the underground severity and untamed beauty of all those old Norse acts, the music on offer here replicates and expands those perceptions. Check out www.archaicus.cjb.net Asatru Formed in 1999 and playing dark symphonic Viking Metal. The music has elements of 80’s thrash and Black Metal combined with Viking lyrics. www.asatru.co.uk Axis of Perdition The duo forming Axis of Perdition play post-apocalyptic black metal based on a clear, strong vision of a dark future of surreal horror and vast urban desolation. Axis of Perdition has no political, religious, spiritual or otherwise life-affirming inclinations whatsoever. ‘The Ichneumon Method’ cd out on Rage of Achilles unearths every shit hole on earth and blasts the whole stench into your ears. Let Satan cling feebly to God, they shall be destroyed together. Bal Sagoth As much as the Enslaved had anything to do with the Norwegian Black Metal scene [and that was quite a lot] England’s Bal Sagoth likewise display an individual style much affixed to Black Metal and yet lyrically worlds apart. The band have already released three albums on Cacophonous Records namely A Black Moon Broods… , Starfire Burning.. and Battle Magic. The latest opus Atlantis Descendant out on Nuclear Blast continues the bands dark epic style self labelled as Barbarian Metal. Like the previous The Power Cosmic album the music continues to expand on the unique fast symphonic sound the band have made their own. www.bal-sagoth.freeserve.co.uk Code / Demo Featuring Cthonian from Reign of Erebus, Ionman from Void, and Anon from Season Code. A gathering of British Black Metal individuals who have created a 5 track promotional cd of hypnotic Black Metal. Utilising the captivating sliding guitar fuzz so predominately used by the early Norwegians, notable Enslaved and Burzum. The vocal are as you’d expect, harsh in delivery and yet there are many variations of tone illuminating the melancholic mood of the material. Three of the songs here clock in at around eleven minutes and the lengths of these winding epics reveal much of where Code are coming from. Vast, complex arrangements touching many brooding atmospheres that incorporate speed, doom and gloom and more doom and gloom. All this would fall into oblivion if there were no lethal injection of melody and some tangible foundation for the layers of intensity to be built upon. With a production worthy of many established acts that allow the contorted music to breathe without any interfering sound anomalies. There are many finely executed moments and the most startling track is the translucent ‘Ghost Song’. This is the final track and a fitting finale to the more aggressive material preceding it. The slow burning ambience of the song is poisoned by a lengthy spoken narration awash with tormented anguish. The eerie guitar drones are recycled in a perpetual downcast melody that eats into the mind and numbs the senses. Listen to this track in a dimly lit room and before you know it you’ll be infested with airy thoughts and entranced by the swirling emptiness emanating from the music. For this last track alone I was deeply impressed by the creative spark ignited by the writers that so easily consumed my attention. Contact ; onecodeone@hotmail.com Cradle of Filth More Gothic in content and yet musically perfect in their unique representation of extreme metal. From the debut album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh the band have somehow managed to retain their cult status as well as rise to a more mainstream platform. The following albums, Dusk..and Her Embrace, and Cruelty and the Beast were ruthless and unforgiving. With the release of the Midian album the band confirmed their status as masters of the genre even though their image is of a more Hammer Horror in nature. Music wise they shit on the rest of the world. The latest offering, Damnation and a Day, finds the band on a major labels and still as malevolent and disturbing as aver. Cymbel The bands ‘We Drink’ hymns and council of Anglo Saxon heathenry album is out on Angelisc Enterprise. The sound is a mixture of cult hardcore stalwarts ‘Doom’ and ‘Tempole Tudor’ with both vocal styles colliding in a primitive atmosphere drenched in fuzzy guitars and murky Black Metal mists. Dark Reign A deathly soul embraced with a melodic Black Metal sound. The Hail Satanic Majesty demo should be out now. Roger@dark-reign.co.uk Deianeira Black Gothic metal with pagan and doom influences www.anti-design.co.uk/deianeira Demonic Rising Scottish Black Metal with hints of Dimmu Borgir, Marduk and Cradle of Filth. The self titled demo is available to buy or download from: www.demonic-rising.com Desolation Intricate Black Metal with harsh/ clean vocals and varied pace. The numerous moods are influenced by Iron Maiden, Dissection, Cradle of Filth, Opeth and Arcturus. The bands The Witching Moon EP, contains four tracks of excellent Black Metal bursting at the seams with classic melodies and ideas. http://welcome.to/desolation Deviant ; Broken Father / demo Skaldic Curse are no strangers to the British Black Metal Underground scene, and issuing from their guitarist ‘Frank Allain’ is the baneful dark metal of Deviant. This 3 track demo kicks off with the title track firing on all cylinders in a thrashing rage of dirty guitars and snares. I was about to acclimatize myself for yet another duration of bleak, so-so back to basics Black Metal and yet as soon as the ferocity started it subsided into what the rest of the demo harnesses. Imagine the rousing mid-paced addictive melody of Enslaved blasted with Thrash. The first thing that grabs your attention is the detail given to the songs. They are geared to creating memorable riffs saturated in melodic atmosphere. The surprising warmth of the songs does not detract from the surrounding dark tones and brooding harmonies. Each verse./ chorus line flows seamlessly across the two main tracks. The vocals are very much unearthly shrills and grunts and the sound very desolate, as one would expect from a band at this stage of their evolution. The music however rises above the ‘heard it all before syndrome that blights so many first time demo’s. Quality music is a rare thing and not even the signed acts we are weekly bombarded with contain a fluent consistence of quality material. Deviant, are on this offering surprisingly fresh and have the perfect start. The originality of their basic metal structuring is invigorating to hear. Let us hope they can expand on this demo. There are really only two tracks as the third is a two minute instrumental that could have been lifted from Marduks ‘Those of the Unlight.’.Contact fenfiend@hotmail.com Dionysus A band who embrace Death/ Black/ Goth and Folk influences within their style. The aural disruption of ripping vocals, effect ridden bass, atmospheric keyboards and pounding drums make for some interesting music. Extinction This is a new band with a raw and desolate style derived from the chill of the northern lands. The dark and cold demo The Channelling of Inner Hatred is now available from ; 4 Heath Close, Apsley Heath, Woburn Sands, Buckinghamshire, MR17 8QR. Forefather More pagan in style and like Bal Sagoth displaying many of the traits of Black Metal yet lyrically more historic and fantasy inspired. The bands debut album Deep into Time and the following Legends Untold [a collection of unheard demo's and lost recordings] are filled with distinctive self titled Heathen Metal anthems. The second album, The Fighting Man is a cross between Skyclad and Satyricon and brings a more metal flavour into the music. The bands third album ‘Engla Tocyme’ is without doubt a masterpiece of English melodic Heathen Metal. The choir like backing vocals and killer arrangements hypnotize the ears with frightful ease. With this album alone I am astonished how this band are not more revered outside the underground. A brilliant album well worth checking out. Contact angeliscE@aol.com Frost The bands cold as ice ‘Cursed Again’ album, featuring Irrumator from Anaal Nathrakh is a furious take on Mayhems cult ‘De Mysteriss’ classic, full of dark, bleak atmosphere. Frost have harnessed the early Norse Black Metal sound and given it a new lease of life. Goat Horns The split cd contains 4 tracks each by Goat Horns and The True Endless (Italy). The cd is released through Aphelion Productions, and is available for £10 inc. postage from my address. Interested parties can also e-mail the band at GOATHORNS666@aol.com Heathen Deity The demo Whispers of the Unlight is a skull munching dose of vicious Black Metal and finds this band firmly entrenched in the underworld. The forthcoming EP Upon our Shadow Throne promises to be a classic Black Metal underground release. www.heathendeity.co.uk Hecate Enthroned Never managing to escape the shadow of Cradle of Filth in the similar way they sounded with cult albums like, The Slaughter of Innocence and Dark Requiems, the band had a far more individual style on the new opus Kings of Chaos out on Blackened. Vocalist Dean Seddon gives the sound a more Deathly feel. www.hecate-enthoned.co.uk Hornmaster I have no info on this band. Do they even exist? Meads of Asphodel After 3 demo's and numerous appearances in the media this odd Black Metal band finally released their debut album The Excommunication of Christ in 2001. Their diverse style which includes Medieval and Eastern influences is fused to blazing guitars and melodic Balck Metal. The album featured A.C.Wild vocalist from cult eighties Italian Black Metal band 'Bulldozer' and former Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton. The band released a split Pic disc titled ‘Jihad’ with Mayhem in 2002 [now on mcd] With the departure of Jaldaboath, Vocalist Metatron has gathered new members to pursue the vision of anti-Christian/ religious lunacy to greater meaning.The band are currently preparing to release the second album, Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua’. A punk cover album with members of Hawkwind is also being compiled.For more info/ downloads visit www.themeadsofasphodel.com Minethorn Apocalyptic Black Metal influenced by Morbid Angel, Emperor, Dark Throne, Mayhem and Ulver. The band have a demo titled Apocalypse Renaissance. http://clix.to/minehorn Nauseum Marduk inspired Black Death. In December 2001, Nauseum entered the studio to record their debut MCD "Quenching our thirst for Christian Blood" . The band are still at large playing hyperspeed Black Metal. Old Forest Signed to English label Mordgrimm, this London three piece exhume the cold chill of the early Norwegian scene and breath new life into what has now become a cult sound. The likes of primitive Dark Throne, Burzum and Satyricon can all be heard on the bands debut Into the Old Forest. The band have since split. Phantasia Screams of the Hideous is the debut album from this one-man band. Sounding like a warped early Emperor the songs are heavily keyboard laden that adds a sense of the epic the dark and majestic sound. The album is exclusively available from mp3.com. www.mp3.com/phantasia or vistt the site at www.symphonic-horror-metal.co.uk The bands second release ‘The Watchman’ is yet another slab of horror metal with excellent material that merges harsh atmospheres with melody. The originality of Phantasia is the bands strength. Primae Noctis ‘With the bands Antichristian Information Distribution Service’ demo album emerging from the turgid depths, Primae Noctis reveals yet another ghastly slab of putrid noise. With Anaal Natharak and Axis of Perdition vomiting out great sluices of hateful necro metal it wasn’t going to be long before like minded bands entered the arena of excrement to reveal their own take on the necro theme. Primae Noctis are another British act who have tuned into the cosmetic nightmare of lightning speed programmed drums, hugely distorted guitars and a bass sound that can crack a vase on low volume. The sound discovered here is incomprehensible within the meagre production where the bands odious vision will lay waste the ears of the faint hearted. The twisted vocals again channelled through some distortion box exist within the chaos rather than contain it. Imagine that old British hardcore band ‘Doom’ filtered through bad speakers and immersed in scathing growls and an unstable mix. This demo/ album exceeds the perception many of us hold concerning raw primeval Black Metal. The likes of Dark Throne and Graveland make for a good nights listening compared to the unbearable noise emanating from these necro acts. It is not Black Metal, get that into your heads. It is however the most extreme metallic style one can imagine that follows a similar path that dwells at the extreme end of the Death Metal scales. The whole hateful sound issuing from the distorted instruments invokes every spite imbued thought every hostile inclination and the very meaning of horror is made incarnate. www.primaenoctis.cjb.net Ragnarok UK With two albums out on Neat Records namely To Mend an Oaken Heart and Domeorn, this Pagan inspired act capture the raw barbarity of the Black Metal genre and fuse it with folk influences. The band however has a unique if hard to absorb style, which is certainly extreme and yet very melodic and immersed in the past. The bands third album was reportedly lost when Neat Records sold its wares to Sanctuary music. Reign of Erebus Signed to Blackened, the bands style has been compared to Cradle of Filth, a point which the band are no doubt trying to work way from with the new material of more aggressive and blasphemic content. The debut album Human Racist out now on Blackened is a ruthless symphonic blast furnace of classic Black Metal. www.reignoferebus.cjb.net Satanas Macabre Formed in the year 2002 AD by ideas of Bile/Tjnoir (Arcane Church) and Baalberith/Warlock (ex Dark Earth) wanting to write songs together. Also from Arcane Church AEther joined and took the position of drums. Bile also got in contact with Diabouls/Valac (ex Arcane Church) he now has joined and is playing the bass position of the band. The sound of the band now changed with influences of Dark Throne, Marduk, Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Burzum, early Bathory and Behemoth. Now writing classic Black metal anthems the band grew stronger and stronger. The band will release a short demo later in the year to show people their material and style. http://satanasmacabre.n2v.net/ Sermon of Hypocrisy Hatefull Black Metal of the most devastating kind. http://clix.to/soh Shadowlore This is the side project of Thus Defiled members and constitutes a more Norse experimental style with a keyboard dominance and orchestral arrangements. For more info contact: Dark Trinity, P.O.Box 4136, Worthing, BN11 5RE. Shadowsphere Dark Gothic metal with Egyptian elements sewn into the mystical music. The female vocals echo throughout the mix on the bands ‘Songs to Ri’ promo. The use of a drum machine takes away the natural impact of the otherwise ethereal atmosphere of brooding dark Metal. 22 Herriotts Lane, Wellingborough, Northhants, NN8 4PT. Sired in Darkness Vampyric Black Metal of which I know nothing about. http://www.necroritual.cjb.net/ Siren Fall Formed in Birmingham in 1999 the band finished recording their first demo with, Irrumator from Anaal Nathrakh on drums. Demo 2001 A two track CD that relishes the old melancholy of the Black arts. Raw, primitive and sinister. The two tracks here are moulded with melody in mind thus retaining substance and a tendency to distinguish themselves apart as opposed to succumbing to a chaotic inferno of samey black metal. The addition of a Cello adds to the macabre mood that is for the most part violent and fearfully reminiscent of the early underground 7" singles that manifested in the darkest chasms of the Black Metal awakening many full moons ago. Siren Fall are exceptional that they are British playing a style of music so confined to the Northern lands. They are neither pretentious nor cynical. They could so easily have become just that if for the fact the music is so well crafted and proficiently executed. Check this band out if you still yearn for the era of ‘True Black Metal’. www.angelfire.com/realm/sirenfall

Skaldic Curse Formed in 2001 and with a demo titled 'Funeral Eclipse' containing two very raw and Norwegian sounding tracks. The band have obviously immersed themselves into the works of Dark Throne and Burzum. There seems to be a vast trend at the moment with bands like Old Forest and Frost from the U.K and numerous other from around the globe unearthing and regurgitating the early Norse style. Whether this is a good thing is open to question and this demo can be viewed in two ways. Firstly, the music captures the evil menace of the aforementioned bands and creates a truly underground flavour with its fast and darkly anthems to Hell. That said, the band do what they do well and for fans of obscure and roughly produced Black Metal this will be a welcome reminder to how it used to be back in the old days. e-mail skaldiccurse@hotmail.com

Slaughter of Souls Old school Black Metal. The band have a demo titled Nexus Avernus, and a ripping demo ‘Cold Slab Cleansing’. Solace Denied Technically proficient this almost Death like act deliver a ruthless and solid self titled demo that captures a unique style of dark aggressive metal. The band does a perverse cover of Iron Maidens 'Flight of Icarus'. The band have now disbanded much to my dismay. The Belonging Now this west Yorkshire four piece have a noticeable talent for honing quality Black Metal in the vein of Dissection and Satyricon. Add a huge slab of individual flair and what you get is some very well written and arranged songs that really do put many of the British contingent to shame. There are no Cradle comparisons or blatant tired formulas being revamped. Of the three tracks on air here I am hard pressed to pluck a favourite as they are all arse kicking ball blasters that duck and dive between intricate guitar riffs and varied drum-work. There are clever slower sections and the band make good use of harsh and cleaner vocals to induce atmosphere when needed. It should be noted that in the over all picture this band may have trouble getting noticed but from a British perspective labels should take note. The time for a cohesive British Black Metal scene is dawning just like I predicted many moons ago. Check out www.mp3.com/belonging Or to www.thebelonging.co.uk Thus Defiled Criminally overlooked by the home grown labels, the legendary Sussex band are still alive and that just shows the passion they have for the genre. The bands previous albums, Through the Impure Veils of Dawn and Wings of the Night Storm have are ruthless primitive Black Metal in every sense of the word. A self financed mcd in the form of ‘Fire Serpent Dawn’ is a vast improvement to the bands raw yet melodic Black Metal style. The old macabre coldness associated with the band is as strong as ever. The latest album ‘Weeping Holocaust Tears’ contains the bands strongest material to date. www.thusdefiled.co.uk Twisted Autumn Darkness The band have a cd ‘Darkness Rising’ out now and interested parties should contact Autumndarkness666@hotmail.com for info on how to get it. Venom Not as prolific or all consuming as they once were, the fact is they are still around and make the occasional album to satisfy the die hards out there. The most recent of which is Resurrection. The Satanic edge is all but lost and yet to hear the time worn vocals of Cronos in full flight is still a joy to behold. For those of you who have been living in a tent eating pork pies for the last 20 years here's the bands finest albums. Welcome to Hell ['81] Black Metal ['82] and At War with Satan ['84]. Zeus This band have been going for ages and play a distinct melancholic style of dark metal. They have had two tracks featured on separate Godreah compilations and have a demo containing fast individual songs that are at times atmospheric but for the most part bile spitting aural devastation. Contact ; 192 Lyons Lane, Chorley, Lancs, PR6 0PP. Any band wishing to be featured on this page feel free to send in biogs/ Demo’s to : Godreah, 33 Lilac Rd, Hoddesdon, Herts, EN11 OPH. Email godreah@ntlworld.com