• AN EXHAUSTIVE STUDY: Here I present Part VI of a series of a comprehensive sub-genre analysis features that began back in 2015 (Technical Thrash Metal, Melodic Hardcore/Skatepunk) on another site. This second pass for Melodic Black Metal will be a more comprehensive redux of the series which began back in 2017 and generally completed in 2018 wherein seven enormous entries detailed key releases from 1991-2005. It is necessary to rewrite, ‘remaster’ and approach this subject another time due to the old columns no longer linking to their album artwork, most of them weren’t very thoughtfully written, and the type of posts used were not created for mobile readership rendering them impossible to read. This will not be a plain recreation of that list but rather a more complete, far more in-depth format which makes less of an effort to draw the line between sub-genres and instead aims to better understand the delineation between melodic black metal and the general evolutionary origin of the sub-genre next to many others.
The method for this type of feature is simple: I procure a chronological list of demos, EPs, splits and full-lengths from various sources. I then re-listen to every release in order, research each band, and report my thoughts and observations including trivia and any relevant context. This time around I will include ~6-10 items per entry and each one will (eventually) include a short video. Instead of deciding if these releases truly resemble the sub-genre suggested per available public databases (Metal Archives, Discogs, Rateyourmusic, etc.) I will further make the argument for what releases I believe are in keeping with the canonical highest standard, identifying influential or important items for the melodic black metal form. This should allow some understanding of this musical style and the need for distinction between subculture movements in underground music and the incessant waves of imitation beyond the original thought. — This entry will continue to consider the sub-genre in its formative stages and will call for at least some general narration of the various black metal scenes, styles, and trains of thought which lead to certain bands being labeled “melodic” then and in hindsight. Level headed, respectful feedback is welcomed by way of grizzlybutts@hotmail.com
If you missed Part V, which covered the first third of 1994, catch up here:
An Exhaustive Study: Melodic Black Metal Redux [Pt. V] – ‘Newborn Sorrows From the Ancient Spheres’
MCMXCIV – A Defiling Frost [II]
If you missed the first three months of Anno 1994 CE per the last part I’d more-or-less set the scene for the year in black metal in general, discussed the diversity available and pointed to a handful of albums that were essential to my own taste. Refer to the previous part, Part V, for that information. Otherwise much of what I’d covered related to Swedish black metal with only a couple of detours, this time around we take far more melodic black/death metal detours to further extrapolate the inspiration discussed throughout 1992-1993 and how it had spread throughout Europe (and the United States) by 1994. While this was a big year for black metal in many respects melodic black metal took a bit longer to really bloom into a popular phenomenon, and only briefly with any real credibility beyond the melodic black/death ideal. The balance of complexity, unique rhythmic constructs and introspective phenotypes explored within guitar work would soon die to candy-coated pop metal bullshit. We won’t necessarily go there unless it is important but for now our exploration should still feel somewhat “forever underground” at this point, with a lot of still-formative minutiae being sorted out on these demo tapes.
NOTES: There is thus far one 1994 released tape which I’ve no access to: [1] Vinterland‘s ‘A Castle So Crystal Clear‘ though I had seen copies of it floating around on old filesharing blogs back in the early 2010’s. [2] Saxorior‘s ‘The First Fight‘ demo tape, though I am pretty sure they were just a thrash/death band with keyboards at that point.
Calvary were a short-lived Sassari, Sardinia based melodic black/death metal band who’d formed in 1992 and split by 1996 leaving behind a few demo tapes (including this one) as well as a somewhat notable CD EP, ‘Across the River of Life‘. Their atmospheric use of keyboards and rasped vocals give the impression of some black metal inspiration (see: “Hopeless”) but this was only part of their focus as the ultimately goal of this band seems to have been some sort of progressive death metal, likely inspired by Nocturnus based on how they used keyboards and shredding alongside blackened death outbursts. I emphasize the inclusion of this tape for the sake of the indeterminate aesthetics, the design choices, and the unclear sub-genre notions in their work and off-kilter, yet to be fully tightened rhythms still read as complex and unsure of their goals. Atmospheric values are likewise sophisticated yet arcane and while we do get a sloppy death metal band much of the time there are a few brilliant moments worth noting here just past their starting point.
More Info:
We could simply point to the second demo cassette tape from Lord Belial as an important and impressive relic of the Swedish black metal sound as it developed but I’ve always felt ‘Into the Frozen Shadows‘ and the debut LP from the band (‘Kiss the Goat (Sic Transit Gloria Mundi)‘, 1995) were remarkably melodic, sophisticated in their layering and fit especially well in with the quality of the No Fashion stable of the time. You’ll immediately understand why they were picked up quickly when diving into this tape, which was never fully distributed to the public beyond its first short run. Slower pacing, howling vocals, folken melodies driven by keyboards, this was a different band among their peers and their first two LP would help get that point across soon enough. If you’d paid close attention to Part V of our exploration you’ll understand why ‘Into the Frozen Shadows‘ was such a hot prospect, not only does this tape sound great in every form but it felt like these folks were pretty damned ready to put an album out. Why skip over the first demo and go straight to this one? ‘The Art of Dying‘ (1993) is a mess and not interesting or formative enough to feature.
More Info:
Somewhat along the lines of Calvary (Italy) this Athens, Greece-borne quintet began as a death metal band and began incorporating melodic black/death metal and gothic doom metal ideas into their sound soon after, eventually taking some light cues from the nearby black metal scene. Here on ‘Ars Moriendi‘ most songs center around a rousing mid-paced heavy metal riff jogging through its variations as guitarist George had a unique style developed beyond his previous death metal band Behemoth (obviously, not the Polish one). The eerie keyboards and the jabbering jog of the verse riffs give us a bit of a Hellenic black metal flair but I’d always assumed this band were more interested in sounding like the Peaceville three. I would encourage folks to check out their earlier death metal group as well as the ’96 demo tape ‘The Flowers on My Grave‘ to get a better sense of why this doesn’t necessarily qualify as for our purposes but still bears some relevant traits. There are very few death metal outliers left unknown from this time period so, give this one a closer listen as a virtually unknown discography which will likely never be restored in complete form.
More Info:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGwexBYwyMk
Behemoth (Grc) tape 1993: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduVq1tHRf4
:
Old Man’s Child formed by way of Galder (then known as Grusom), a musician from a small town named Jessheim who’d been playing in a previous death metal band (Requiem) ’til folks split off into black metal groups, leaving his work tied neatly alongside that of Dimmu Borgir which he would of course infamously join as guitarist and co-songwriter in 2000. ‘In the Shades of Life‘ was a professional and substantial melodic black metal voice for its time which we could reasonably consider “atmospheric” for its tangential nature but the “symphonic black metal” tag doesn’t yet apply, we could more easily compare the jaunty movement of this record to pagan, folk, or even vikingr black metal of this era. Anyhow, this is an especially fine recording per the era with many of the notable signatures of the artist already in mind sans the outright head-clapping sense of dramatic melody their work is now known for. The best works from the artist include some strong classical guitar work, keyboard and guitar driven melodicism in folkish stance and over the top rasping vocal layers. There is a masterful hand in all of Galder‘s work, even if things get a bit cheesy later on this project has always been unique, far more interesting than many of their peers early on and I especially like the pre-1998 stuff, I’ll probably take time to discuss each of their records with emphasis up ’til ‘The Pagan Prosperity‘.
The 1995 version of this tape, a promo which then included bonus tracks, is pictured though from what I’ve gathered it was officially released around April 7th, 1994. Most folks had never heard of it ’til it was issued as a split with Dimmu Borgir a couple of years later on Shagrath‘s Hot Records. I would direct folks who want a most detailed archival version to get the more recent Soulseller Records version since it includes expanded liner notes, photos and additional context; This demo was at one time intended to be a split with Ved Buens Ende on Ancient Lore Creations as Aldrahn (Dødheimsgard) was heavily involved with the band for their debut (‘Born of the Flickering‘, 1995) as well as some of the lyrics on this tape.
As to how this fits our journey through black metal a band like Old Man’s Child is perhaps by reputation a symphonic sidekick to the melodic symphonic metal of early 2000’s Dimmu Borgir and this complicates the reality of their music which is inherently melodic and deeply layered in its composition to start. Not all black metal with keyboards is melodic black metal, but this band were uniquely stated even if the history books will always scribble them into the Norwegian black metal zeitgeist as foundational and even typical when this is not the case when all is reduced to sheet music. As we approach the next two releases from the band the value of their early take on melodic black metal will naturally differentiate and characterize itself.
More Info:
Recorded in February 1994 and released on April 25th, 1994 the ‘Det glemte riket‘ 7″ single served as the breakthrough moment for Ancient in terms of their early line-up featuring drummer/vocalist Grimm who’d left by 1995’s ‘Trolltar‘ EP. Here we find them twisting their heavy metal aspect, their focus on the riff, into melodious yet still unfocused songs which’d serve as signature pieces for the moment. “Det glemte riket” in its original state was quite literally swept away in its crumbling guitar sound and loud wind sounds whistling throughout certain portions of the song for effect but beneath the hiss of the song’s rough production values (cleaned up on the same-titled compilation from Hammerheart circa 1999) lies at least a few moments of keyboard elevated eerie. The real meat of the single was “Huldradans”, a more standard and unsure of itself atmospheric black metal piece with bad rock solos scrambling across its otherwise pristine and hypnotic tundra of a rhythm section. Early Ancient had the right balance of figuring as they went and a clear knack for themed movements, smaller details which weren’t yet outright melodic but I’d wanted to feature this 7″ simply because it was a unique chunk of their early days and a memorable 7″ for its high contrast cover art.
More Info:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1V7cDenxQ0
Compilation (tracks 4 and 5): https://sleaszyrider.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-det-glemte-riket
Recorded in April 1994 ‘666… To Awakening‘ is the debut demo tape from Sorath a group from the Pilsen region of Czechia who are broadly referred to as a melodic black/death metal band considering their history from 1993 ’til present day. Sorath formed around the same time as their related melodic death/doom metal band Mythopoeia which’d also fractured into black/doom metal band Gold of Athanor later on and no doubt you’ll feel the pressurized riffcraft and tensile attack of early 90’s death metal in their compositions as this tape fires up but it seems their intent had some black metal if you’re willing to patiently sit through this remarkably well-formed but rawly recorded 40+ minute debut demo tape. “Coming (Verdict 1)” certainly gives us a thrashing and rasping vision of raw black metal taken through its lumbering paces, I’d always assumed an early Darkthrone or Bathory influence herein but of course by the time we’ve trudged through “Calling” and “They” the punkish and simple walk of their death metal side seems to balance out into something fun to follow along with, albeit mundane at times. I suppose there is a fine line between an exciting aesthetic and set of lyrical ideas and something which is functional yet dull, that said for a demo tape this is basically a full album waiting to be produced and cinched up. The band will eventually reach their own unique melodic black/death metal sound as we step toward their 1998 hidden gem of a debut LP ‘Gnosis‘ (which I personally love) but for now I’d encourage folks to bask in the black rays of this step from primitive motions, an awakening which isn’t all that well-known or celebrated. Consider this a pre-amble in this sense, a sign of things to come for the band.
More Info:
Hønefoss, Norway-borne black metal project Kvist were initially a quartet featuring the prolific Trondr Nefas (Urgehal) in one of the guitar positions though most of their material from 1993-1997 was recorded as a trio beyond this point. I’ve lumped the various Rehearsal tapes and the ’94 demo together into one entry because there is very little verifiable information on this era of the band aside from a few vague mentions in interviews from the past. I’ve seen a few arguments made for these takes versus the much cleaner and decisive presence of ‘For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike‘ and of course this is just brain damage, the LP is the vital statement from this band and deserves to be called a classic even in hindsight. Here we find one of the more clever, subtly folken melodic hands of the Norwegian era which fans of the sentimental side of early Taake, Sorhin, and Arckanum should appreciate. That is to say that the sophistication of their guitar methods are sound even at this stage but we will get much better, fare more audible versions of these pieces soon enough.
In 2023 Peaceville Records released a kinda terrible demo song from the band per the ‘Dark Side of the Sacred Star‘ compilation alongside either a different mix or a new version of staple song “Svartedal”, which also features on this tape.
More Info:
Dark Funeral formed by way of guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman before the former began to exit the still somewhat death metal focused Necrophobic, seemingly taking cues from the first Dissection LP in terms of composition for his early contributions to this band’s style. The original line-up also featured ex-members of Scum a pre-Amon Amarth death metal band as well as drummer Joel “Draugen” Andersson who is now known best for his work in Svartsyn. In my experience there are two types of folks who’d ever noticed this early stage of the band with any reverence: Those who simply followed the genius of Blackmoon wherever he went, those who appreciate it as a “humble” beginning for the wall of blasting noise the band would later become known for. The draw here is of course the scaling dual guitar dance of the rhythms and the menace of their attack but I’d always felt Themgoroth‘s vocals were a highlight of this EP, even if overstated at times it’d created a cavernous and beastlike performance which suits the drilling accost of the guitars well enough. Another fine result from the prolific Unisound Studio with Dan Swanö, though I believe it’d be the only one with his sensibilities attached.
Is it an essential early melodic black metal release? Well, yes but, yeah kinda. I’ve never been sure what to say about this release so I will simply repost what I’d remarked back in 2017: “Well I like the first Dark Funeral album but this EP is just more necro-cool and ferocious. You could tell the main songwriters, or at least the guitarists were more focused on melodic black metal in these early days. They are second tier stuff in terms of what was coming out of No Fashion records at the time but this is a great EP. It has the true spirit of black metal, that wild attack is happening, but it is driving along a melody rather than just wild blasting and fury like Immortal. Good EP, not essential listening unless you’re interested in this band.” While the material remains classic in its touch I’ve never become fully obsessed with this EP, though I do still enjoy the LP.
Recorded and mixed in January of 1994 and released on May 4th, 1994 this CD EP would lead to Dark Funeral signing with No Fashion Records. Around this time Parland‘s final recordings with Necrophobic would ensue, but we cannot access ‘Bloodfreezing‘ (1994) today (he unofficially released it in 2009) since their S.O.D.-type parody involving Hitler in a one minute clip has ensured that it did not survive today’s quick to censor, context void internet.
More Info:
Formed in Piraeus/Athens, Greece circa 1990 as Desperation Death this death/doom metal group changed their name to Chained and Desperate in October 1991, taking their new title from the infamous album from NWOBHM group Chateaux. The band would release six demo tapes between 1991-1997 and ‘Greaving for the Lost Sun‘ was their fourth, released in May 1994. I would say this release has some Hellenic black metal movement, some romanticist and/or melodic death/doom in mind but hadn’t quite become a melodic black metal group just yet. I’d felt this was the first release worth mentioning on their path towards their melodic black/death metal debut LP in 1999 because it has a bit of that Greek black metal flair to it. The evolution of the band will prove much more interesting when we contrast the style of this patient, slowly formed release and its mystic charms with their next two demos.
More Info:
YouTube:
From 1990-1993 the duo of guitarist/vocalist Jason Smith and drummer Tino Lo Sicco were at work on various styles of grinding, brutal death metal captured in early projects Enraptured and Requiem both of which produced circa ’93 demo tapes under different configurations. The band suggest they’d officially formed in 1992 otherwise and it wasn’t until 1994 that they’d officially become Epoch of Unlight as their own vision of blackened death/thrash metal surfaced with this impressive ‘Beyond the Pale‘ tape, which was recorded in mid-June of 1994 and produced/engineered by Tennessee-based producer Jim Medlin. At this point their sound was somewhat technical in construction and entirely focused on the death metal of the time, meaning this tape might give the impression that it is going to dip into something a la A Canorous Quintet but you should be thinking of early Vital Remains just as well, but not plain melodic death. The guitar work here is especially solid, production values were sharp for a ’94 demo. We can eventually link some of their work to melodic black/death metal but this type doesn’t fully go for it in the same way as some of their other recordings. I am a huge fan of this bands development from this stage up ’til their signing to The End Records later on though I’m not sure how relevant it’ll be to our exploration overall as these folks always related more to the death metal side of things.
More Info:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNiU7jo3uj0
Requiem demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Xv2gut_74
Withered Beauty were a melodic death metal band from Gävle, Sweden who’d technically formed circa 1993 and recorded this debut demo tape in March/April 1994. Despite this it seems the songs on this ~34 minute and seven song debut demo were written between 1990 and 1994 featuring folks we know today from Isole, Ereb Altor and such. This demo would get them noticed to some degree but it was their second tape from 1995 that’d gotten them signed to Nuclear Blast for a 1998 debut LP. The style here is varied death metal with black metal vocals. This original line-up was a bit different than later on in terms of their sound, more rough and likely to jolt between slow and more ripping-fast blasted parts and for my taste this sets it in the more interesting side of Swedish death metal outliers with some clear black metal influence to their rhythms and vocals. A substantial, sophisticate tape and one which makes good use of the dual rhythm guitar stance to create polyrhythmic tangent and narration throughout. Of course the work of Daniel Bryntse has a bit of Bathory in it in most cases, too, as we find in between the strike of the most representative track, “A Divorce From Death”, herein.
More Info:
Espoo, Finland-borne “anti-Christian dark metal” project Thy Serpent arrived by way of Sami Tenetz as a solo project circa 1992 and began releasing demo tapes starting with this one, ‘Frozen Memory‘, released July 1st, 1994. Though the folkish trundle of heavy metal guitar riffs at mid-pace create an interesting enough dance through the material here, generating a largely congested slow-to-form atmosphere, the lack of experience in creating drum patternation resigns this material to a very basic rhythmic palette. Though truly settled within its demo-level state there is yet some considerable ambition here which would be realized over the next several years. The transformation from 1994-1997 is fairly natural beyond this point and taking a good long look at the bones of the project now will offer strong precedence for ‘Forests of Witchery‘ (1996) soon enough.
More Info:
Though their debut LP (‘Tusen år har gått…‘, 1995) was (in the past) passed off as a “Dissection clone” by a few boring, unimportant journalists in retrospect Stockholm, Sweden-based group Mörk Gryning have always had their own unique input into the Swedish melodic black metal sphere and the No Fashion Records story. The lead up to that album came by way of an unreleased preliminary song or two as well as this July 1994 recorded demo tape (via Bunker Studios) featuring its very “death metal” album art and some impressive work from the core duo Goth Gorgon (Mortifer) and Drakkh Kimera who share instrumental duties here across the board. Kimera aka Peter Nagy was an important part of Hypocrite and Eternal Oath as well as (later on) reformed A Canorous Quintet and not to mention his involvement along with Gorgon in power metal band Wyvern. That is to suggest that this band was something they’d approached alongside many other interests and they were not trying to take over the world with black metal. Here we find the bones of several songs found on their debut so, it makes sense to hold back for the conversation on that album when the time comes. The main note I would take is their use of keyboards to emphasize melody upon introduction and then expanding that core idea throughout each song, a simple but effective way to keep these songs memorable even in their halfway formed state.
More Info:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk3HyhyhCeg
“When Moonshine is the Only Light” demo song ’93: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqks9noBZF8
We still have about fifteen more releases to cover in the third part of our exploration of 1994 as we pick back up looking at July through December releases where we reach for a few notable LPs, some very well-known albums and even a classic or two.
Help Support Grizzly Butts’ goals with a donation:
Please consider donating directly to site costs and project funding using PayPal.
$1.00
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly
mystificationzine.com 