Grey Metal

“Creative work in any established system of thought takes place at the boundaries of the system, where its powers of explanation are least developed and its vulnerability to outside attack is most marked.”

- Janet Malcolm, from In The Freud Archives

Maybe black metal doesn't count as a "system of thought," but for many listeners the tenets of the genre are not meant to be fudged with. Again, we turn to the hate-fest surrounding Liturgy as an encapsulation of what happens when you tamper with what you (and more importantly, with what other people) deeply love.



Getting less attention but with just as odd a thrust is what some folks are calling everything from "post-black metal" to basically "shoegaze." Two years ago a six-band split called The World Comes To An End In The End Of A Journey was released by Pest. Featuring a world-spanning group of contributors (Dopamine is from China, Dernier Martyr from Russia, Ethereal Beauty from the States, Heretoir and Soliness from Germany, Shyy from Brazil), the twelve songs on the album are in some ways softer, more expansive in approach, and aim for the melancholic instead of the blasphemous or the more traditionally 'metal.' But it's worth wondering if the music isn't just as self-contained, expressive, and dark as some of more traditional but still fringe acts like - for example - the one-person Mütiilation from France. The language and tools and influences are different, but it's what is similar that might surprise you.

Guns They're Meant To Be Stuck By

I inadvertently caused a fracas with my last post about the band Nyogthaeblisz, who were initially asked to play Chaos in Tejas but now will not be.

After talking with the organizer of the festival and some other thoughtful folks, I pulled the post because of the amount of speculation that I had stirred up. It turns the post I had written was being circulated to some of the other bands on the festival docket (The Mob, etc.) who began to reconsider their appearance based on what they had read – by me – about Nyogthaeblisz.

So what did I say, exactly? I raised questions about the band's appearance on the Satanic Skinhead Propaganda label, and specifically their inclusion on a compilation called Declaration Of Anti-Semetic Terror.



All the pictures of the band are grimm and dark, bro, so when word leaked out that (some of the) guys in the band are hispanic, everyone chuckled and moved on, right*? Wrong – shit just got messier.

*People kept asking questions like "why would Mexicans be Nazis...lol!" A better question: why would anyone - Hispanic or not - be on a label that puts out/deals records that look like this?

FULL BLOWN A.I.D.S. - Viral Load



MARTIAL - Execution




Shit is moronic. Speaking of which, the head genius from SSP explained the band's standpoint thusly:

"NYOGTHAEBLISZ are not “NS” and they are not even white. 

They are Satanic, and openly anti-semitic. 

This is extreme Black Metal and this is EXACTLY why fests like this should not exist in the first place. Keep Black Metal dangerous and away from these liberal scum. This is a smear campaign with ad hominem attacks simply because the band is openly ANTI-JEW."

OH IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW, THANKS FOR CLARIFYING.

I will not apologize for pointing out some basic facts about the company this band keeps, but I would have put more effort into talking with the folks involved first if I had known anyone was going to read my blog, let alone react to it. As of this writing, I think the all-time readership of Black Metal Austin hovered somewhere around 100, as in amount of hits, ever.



Moving on, I'd rather focus on something positive – WHITEHORSE is coming to town for CIT. They stayed with my roommate and myself during SXSW, and they're nice and their band owned a showcase at Barbarella that we were lucky enough to catch. We went with them to see The Roller at some afterhours warehouse thing previous to that, and I was informed that in Australia, no one drinks Foster's, they never say “shrimp on the barbie,” but they did try The Outback Steakhouse and said it was good. The more you know!

Their new album Progression is out now.

Chaos In Tejas, Now With 100% More National Socialist Black Metal?

Chaos In Tejas 2012 announced today the dates for their festival - May 31st through June 3rd. The shows will undoubtably be held at multiple venues, which this past year included Red 7, Beauty Bar, Emo's, more. Though people pitched a fit about Loss not making it in for Rites of Darkness, they're on this bill, along with quite a few other heavy acts that verge from black to crust to doom to hardcore.



Of note to the ADL, the roster includes Nyogthaeblisz, a local (as in Texas) band that have contributed to the compilation Satanic Skinhead: Declaration of Anti-Semetic Terror from Santatnic Skinhead records, a label that has also released albums that look like this:





Religion is routinely spit upon in black metal, but NSBM tows another line entirely. Interesting choice, Timmy.

A quote from that label: “Satanic Skinhead Propaganda has no affiliation with zionist run, information collecting, “social network” sites and never will." To Facebook!

Rites Of Darkness Drama

Someone uploaded the above photo on the Rites of Darkness facebook page which pretty much encapsulates the entire ridiculousness of the cancellations and lack of information and just bitter, weird confusion that seems to be oozing out of the whole experience. The promoter blames Paypal for financial issues, and most of the fans and attendees seem to blame the promoter. Oh well. Going to try and make it down tonight or tomorrow (at least) if I can.