(No, not this time either.)
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So, two years and a few days ago I did a piece titled Hail to Sweden where I cleverly inserted a few visual gags, mentioned Marduk’s “Autumnal Reaper” and also wrote about being sick. Guess what? All of these things are true again because time is a flat circle or whatever line from True Detective fits, except that girl telling Woody Harrelson she wants him to fuck her in the ass, I don’t think that necessarily fits.
Well, except the Marduk part but I used that one in September and if I post it again I think I have to pay them royalties. Or do they pay me? We probably both have to pay somebody. God, the music industry sucks.
Anyway, en lieu of all the things I could write about the election, American exceptionalism as a farce, the death of critical thinking and how the DNC continually fucks these things up, which I figured I couldleave that to the sociologists and political scientists that are apparently deep on my timeline, I felt that focusing outside of the States might not hurt. So I’ve returned to the land of the crimson moon to write about a few more albums.
I don’t think anyone refers to it like that but it flows into my first record with the perfect use of foreshadowing.
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When I first heard Ancient Wisdom it was probably sometime in 1996 after I had gone to New England with my then-girlfriend to visit the Dark Symphonies compound. I was mildly obsessive over Katatonia so the owner, Ted, guided me to as many projects that had a similar feel to them as he knew, with Ancient Wisdom being a pretty obvious choice considering the two bands had (at the time) strong links. For Snow Covered the Northland is thick with a frozen atmosphere, less metal, more wintry black. I’m sure the subdued production helped that maybe more than the songs themselves, especially if you listen to how they took shape on the demos.
This is one of those bands who I only really enjoy one record from, due entirely to how distinct it feels. Their other records are solid, doomy Swedish black metal, but none of them scratch this kind of itch for me. Your mileage may vary.
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I hate using the “hey kids, back in my day” sort of bullshit language but in the case of Thornium’s Dominions of the Eclipse it’s the only way I can adequately describe my experience with the record. This being that in the years before the internet was available on every fucking possible device within reach I used to determine if I was going to buy something based on the cover if I hadn’t heard it. This album personified that experience, especially since I saw it but was unable to buy it at the time and then spent what felt like a fucking eternity trying to track it down. In terms of the second wave aesthetic, this cover was perfection. I have no idea why they changed it for reissues, though I’m happy that it’s back in it’s corpse-painted glory on the Soulseller vinyl press.
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Great, but what about the music? Did it live up to the preconception I had after seeing the cover? Yes, yes it did. Dominions of the Eclipse is a raw, somewhat atmospheric, thinly produced relic of Swedish black metal, especially of the time it was created, well before every band wanted to sound (and structure their songs) like Watain.
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I’m sure at one point I’ve written about various compilations that helped guide me through underground metal as I was coming up and invariably the first Blackened comp comes up in that batch. A two CD collection of various mid 90s recordings, this brought a lot of new bands to my attention, one of them being Throne of Ahaz through their classic earworm track “Nifelheim”. A mid-paced, doomy hammer of black metal perfection, it enticed me to pick up their Nifelheim full length, which is now considered a classic.
Throne of Ahaz managed to be both raw and heavy, blending raucous riffs with ice cold vocals, a very “meat and potatoes” sort of thing, which may not sound that exciting on your first glance but it’s a very satisfying, excellent record. They would follow it up a year or so later with On Twilight Enthroned.
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Opinions on this one seem to vary, that it sort of suffers the sophomore slump. I remember when it came out that I wasn’t as into it as their first one, I don’t necessarily remember why, just that it didn’t make it on any of the mixtapes that I was obsessively creating in the mid 90s on top of doing a radio show. It wasn’t until two or three years ago that I revisited it and found it to be a lot better than I remembered, especially the album opener “Fenris”, which is a savage burst out the gate and might be my favorite song of the band. Sadly, this would be the last record they would do.
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I’d talked a little about Fredrik Söderlund in my first “Hail to Sweden” piece but I don’t know if I really brought home the concept of just how unique a voice in underground music he truly has been, especially in the 1990s. The records he was a part of truly showed his touch, from his own Octinomos project to Algaion’s Oimai Algeiou, there’s just an undefinable feeling he creates. Parnassus was my first exposure to it.
Back in 1995/6 I was working on a zine and put an ad in the free classifieds in Metal Maniacs looking for submissions to review. I’d gotten a lot of demos and smaller labels sending things in but I’d somehow caught the notice of whoever was doing PR for Cold Meat Industries at the time and received a package with a few of their new releases as well as the first release of a new black metal sublabel, Secula Delunda, being Parnassus’ In Doloriam Gloria. It’s instantly easy to see why this would be something released by an offshoot of Cold Meat Industry: it’s almost as ambient as it is black metal. The soaring synth takes center stage but not in the traditional “symphonic” sense, but something (at the time) wholly unique unto itself. I’ve since only heard a few other projects try this method and be successful, most just end up sounding like a Dimmu Borgir B-side from 2004.
He would repeat this again two years later.
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There’s just something about his guitar tone and his choice in synth sounds that give Parnassus an otherworldly, somewhat terrifying yet divine gleam. Both of these records are fucking fantastic, underappreciated, and sorely in need of a vinyl release much like most of the Octinomos catalog. I’d also love to mention Worshipper, who did a two song promo in 1996 that made it sound like a full length was imminent, but never materialized, leaving these two brilliant songs as the only trace of another excellent Söderlund project.
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I’d like to end this on a more contemporary sort of note while continuing the idea of musicians whose voices are unique by focusing on just one (of several) records the obscenely prolific Swartadauþuz has produced this year.
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Tower of Famine is the first Balwezo Westijiz in 13 years and the first non-ambient recording of the project, at least that I’m aware of-I’m going off Discogs here. Everything surrounding this gentleman and his Ancient Records releases stayed pretty off my radar during the 2010s-20s, mostly because of my previously discussed disdain for black metal at the time, but I’ve been catching up as much as I can the last five years and so far I haven’t found anything that isn’t quality. Tower of Famine is a weird, dark and fairly melodic trip through twisted black metal. I’m surprised it wasn’t spoken about more, but again it’s a heady and somewhat challenging listen and we all know that doesn’t resonate well with the current listening population. For me, this is one of my top ten records of 2024, which I’m working on as we speak.
And so, after a long week of perpetually stupid people who are being held high by even stupider people on your timeline, this ends my contribution to the swirling discourse that is the toilet of the world. See you in two, it’ll be Thanksgiving and I have no idea what the fuck I’m going to write about.
