Tag Archives: black metal

Features, PiercingMetal Says

Venom Announces “In Nomine De Sathanas” 40th Anniversary Vinyl Boxset

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In addition to a score of tours to see this year there are also some incredible album celebrations being done. This one by Venom just arrived early in the wee hours and I am sharing it with you now.

venom logo

The Press Release:
Venom formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom’s first two albums—’Welcome to Hell’ (1981) and ‘Black Metal’ (1982)—are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Venom’s second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal subgenre of black metal. The band classic line-up trio of Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon recorded two further studio albums ‘At War With Satan’ (1984) and ‘Possessed’ (1985) and live album ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ (1986). Often cited by bands such as Metallica, Behemoth, Celtic Frost and Mayhem as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. Venom are still fronted by original singer/bassist Cronos and headline festivals all over the globe and continue to release new music.

album covers, venom

This coming May 31st sees the release of ‘In Nomine Satanas’ via BMG – a deluxe vinyl box set that celebrates Venom’s 40th anniversary and features the original Neat Records recordings from their 1981 debut ‘Welcome To Hell’ to ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik‘, the live recording of their mythical appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. All of the albums are remastered from the original tapes with embossed covers, posters and inserts like their original first editions. They’re all now on colour configured vinyl too. The set also includes a 12“ book detailing the history of the band featuring new interviews with all three members, written by respected journalist Dom Lawson.
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Reviews, Videos

“Nail Them To The Cross” (Video) by Dark Funeral

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Fans of the legendary Black Metal band Dark Funeral will be feeling the fires of the eternal abyss rising fiercely within them based on the recent news from the bands publicity arm about a new “7” single being released to accompany the video. Fans can read the release below and then watch the video as well. I will close it up with some thoughts on the new tune and clip before we go.

Logo - Dark Funeral

The Press Release:
*DARK FUNERAL to release 7″ and digital single “Nail Them To The Cross” in February* On February 23rd, Swedish masters of furious, intense and merciless black metal, DARK FUNERAL, will return with the release of their new single/7″ entitled, *Nail Them To The Cross*. Besides the title track, that has been
released as a video some weeks ago in order to present their new vocalist Heljarmadr, the single includes another brand new track called “Temple Of Ahriman”. Both songs were recorded at Dugout Studios in Uppsala/Sweden and were mixed and mastered by Daniel Bergstrand. The cover artwork was created
by Marcelo Vasco”.
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Events, Reviews

PiercingMetal Attends: “A Blaze In The Northern Sky” – The Black Metal Seminar

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"A Blaze In The Northern Sky"

Last night was the Heavy Metal concert that was held by wrestler Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy. The event was a blast in terms of the Traditional sound that it offered up but now that it was over, it was time to get a little grittier and see what was brewing down at the Scandinavia House. It was there that a seminar on Norwegian Black Metal would be held and its official title was “A Blaze In The Northern Sky: Norwegian Black Metal & The Culture That Spawned It”. The affair would be moderated and in a sense hosted by Patrizia Mazzuoccolo;  a music journalist and as I understand a sometimes radio host for this type of material.

Scandinavia House

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Events, Reviews

Immortal @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (3/30/2010)

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March Metal Madness was drawing to its inevitable close at this point and what better way to send it off in style than by having those original “Sons Of Northern Darkness” Immortal lay waste to those who bravely choose to follow them.  The gig would be at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple and find NY’s own Black Anvil as the only support and you can learn more about this gig by scrolling past the bands logo below.

Logo - Immortal

Artist: Immortal
Venue: Brooklyn Masonic Temple (Brooklyn, NY)
Opener: Black Anvil
Date: 3/30/2010
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

It seemed as though our 2010 March Metal Madness while coming in like a lion, was choosing to go out in similar fashion as the terrible rains and wind that we found hitting the Big Apple a few weeks ago had returned to haunt us once again. When you think about it, this was the fitting atmosphere for a band like Norway’s Immortal and tonight these “Sons Of Northern Darkness” had landed at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. The space has been used for a handful of Metal shows recently, but it would be the first time that I ever attended a performance here so I was looking forward to putting the stories I had heard about it to a better visual of my own. We’ll talk about the venue a little later but first to the task at hand. Immortal’s return was similar to the last time back in 2007 and while that “tour” found the band doing two shows on opposite coasts; this go round would feature four. They called the Metal bombardment the “Blashyrkh Over North America” tour and the appearance in Brooklyn, NY had our own Black Anvil opening up the show. Here is how it went down.
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Music, Reviews

“Panzer Division Marduk” by Marduk

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Artist: Marduk
Title: “Panzer Division Marduk” (remaster)
Label: Regain Records
Release Date: 4/1/2008
Genre: Black Metal
Rating: 3.5/5

Often cited as perhaps the bands most seminal work, “Panzer Division Marduk” is a throttling and relentless example of “True Swedish Black Metal” that rarely slows its pace to give the listener a chance to breath. The release was the bands sixth album and unlike its predecessors keeps a continued pace and speed which do at times make it a little difficult to discern where one tune ends and another begins. I am not saying that their earlier work was any less intense, but based on those albums which I had heard there were more changes being offered the listener whereas this one just gives the listener a continual slap in the face. With Black Metal that is not always a bad thing but for someone like myself, I enjoy the periodic tempo and groove changes much more than some of my fellow listeners might. Pure aggression and purpose are par for the course with this kind of material and while Marduk excels at the format, I love when the bands change it up just a little to keep it interesting and better showcase their musicianship. This is angrier than hell stuff and not for the weak spirited listener by any means. It begins with the albums title track that sets you up for the lightning fast ride that is about to proceed and even though they are hitting the sixth recording with this originally released in 1999 album, they had not strayed far from their malicious intent in terms of the subject matter that they are addressing. Tracks like “Christraping Black Metal” and “Fistfucking God’s Planet” would be clear examples of this point. Favorites for me came with “Beast Of Prey” and the two bonus tracks that the remastered edition offers us “Deathride” and “Todeskessel Kurland”. Singer Legion sounds as if his very black soul is at stake for a good majority of the piece and while intense as hell on the drum kit; we don’t get a lot of experimentation from Fredrik Andersson who pretty much keeps it to blistering speed blast beats.
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