Here's some fine black metal for your Sunday morning

I discovered Dimmu Borgir a while back on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hard Attack, but I just got around to buying an album. I don't know why I waited so long because these guys kick ass. They've been around since 1993 and are from Norway. They record in english now days. I just bought their latest disc "In Sorte Diablo" and I will be buying more music by them. They say that these guys technically aren't traditional black metal because they use a symphony and keyboards in their music. I guess they've created their own sub-genre: symphonic black metal. Check the link below for a video of their latest hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAmMcBQavKE

My two favorite albums are the ones immediately preceding this one: "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia," and "Death Cult Armageddon."

On a related note: what has three words and makes no sense? A Dimmu Borgir album title. :P

They're considered a more commercial version of BM, and they're not very popular in the black metal scene itself. I'm kind of indifferent to them myself, though the singer talking about using the scene to make a buck didn't exactly warm my heart. Musically, there's not really much to complain about. It's all very proficient and bombastic, with some juicy riffs, but I can't shake the feeling that it's Black Metal by the numbers. Just like the last Slayer was Slayer by the numbers. It wasn't bad, but it felt like they were just going through a set of motions that's expected of them rather than trying to explore any new ground. Dimmu evokes the same feeling in me. It brings to mind the Jello Biafra lyric "I'll give the fans just what they want, and nothing else at all."

Here's some examples of the black metal I'm listening to lately.

This is Emperor. They pretty much put BM on the map in the 90's. There were others before (Bathory, Burzum, Darkthrone), but Emperor really brought in a lot of attention to the genre, and deservedly so. They've used a lot of keyboards and also utilize a symphonic element at times. They were also a crushing and uncompromising band. The lead singer, Ihsahn, has a new CD out that's really good. Much less aggressive than this, and with a touch of Queensryche thrown in here and there. Interesting music. I find Emperor so intense that listening to a whole Cd is physically draining. Just how I like it! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t0GRH3yoiI

Watain. These guys go over the top with the theatrics (blood, goatheads, pentagrams...the works). I'm not really a fan of that stuff (I wish none of these bands even wore the corpse paint, to be honest), but musically they deliver the goods, and that's all I care about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o34uAj6lmXw

Deathspell Omega. These guys are a challenge to get into, but the time and effort is paid off by a deep, intricate and fascinating ride. You'll see the weirdness in just this song alone. The swirling sound to the drums blows me away. My friend says this CD is not only the best of last year, but will be again this year, too. This probably goes without saying, but maximum volume is a prerequisite for your enjoyment. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAGGFaogNVs

Leviathan, a one man band (goes by the name of Wrest). This is more ambient, atmospheric BM. Leviathan is one of the biggest names is the so-called "US Black Metal scene". This song is from my favorite CD of the year so far. The deliberate lo-fi sound is a trademark of almost all black metal. His side project, Lurker Of Chalice is also very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqMZ9QwlKGs

This is Nachtmystium, a really interesting BM band, not just for their music. They really don't like the BM scene very much, and have been speaking out about it's dogma a lot lately. This CD here throws a lot of different ideas into the black metal mix (the second half of this song gets pretty spaced out). The second half of the CD uses elements of folk, jazz, and psychedelia to good effect, throwing a curveball to the BM hordes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMQKtFw-Ngw

Now the most controversial of all BM out there, Burzum. Burzum is the work of Varg Vikernes, who murdered the guitarist from the band Mayhem in 1991. Oh, and he also burnt down a couple of churches, too, the young whippersnapper. He's still in jail serving out a 30 year sentence. So basically he's a real shithead. It just so happens that his music is excellent, and he's considered to be the beginning of black metal proper. Do what I do...copy or download his music so you have it and he doesn't get money. Get the torrent of the new one, Anthology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varg_Vikernes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Pp2gpLZcc

I only have a few songs by these guys, Satyricon, but I know they have a lot of cross over appeal with Dimmu fans. I don't know much about them, but this is one of the tunes I have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQQdsKH3Qt8

This is Woe, another one man project out of Philly. He finally released his first CD last month and it's killer, face peeling BM. Great lyrics, relentless riffs, and his drumming is excellent too. One of the best CDs of the year for me, easily.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=160889458&MyToken=af711e52-bd95-4824-a9c1-e4d33ba69a02

This is Caina, a kid out of the UK. He doesn't do the corpse paint (YAY!) and his music veers off into all kinds of ambient coolness. He's a very smart guy (working on a Phd in something), and I think he's got a good future ahead of him in the music world. At 22 he's already further ahead of the game than a lot of established acts. His first CD had folk and jazz, along with shoegaze ambiance and straight out BM all mixed together into a tasty stew. The new CD comes out in a few weeks and I'm like a kid waiting for Santa. The 2nd song on this page is mellow greatness, and really isn't even black metal until near the end when a faint BM drum comes in behind the ambient fun. Almost trance like.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=16906075&MyToken=984dbd5f-72d7-48a1-821d-75479598b484

So there you go...a nice little BM primer. Hopefully you'll like something there, but if nothing else it provides some perspective on the whole Dimmu Borgir/BM spat that still rages. It all seems silly to me. Dimmu are putting out music that people are getting into, so what genre they fall into seems pointless to me. If people like it that's all that matters. It's like getting mad at someone for not liking the same food. :)

Once in a while I'll swap it out for some Prefuse 73 or Lustmord, but right now, DCA is my kick.

I've always thought that Dimmu Borgir's biggest mistake was to get rid of Nicholas Barker. He was the only non-Scandinavian member of the band, and that probably had the most to do with Shagrath's decision, but Barker's machine-gun double-bassdrum work is a real treat.