A Very Metal Halloween Special, Part 1: The Scary
I bid you all a good evening, fellow Steemians. As we rapidly approach the end of October, I'm sure you, just like me, are all anticipating yet another Halloween.... whether it be sitting on your front steps handing out sugar to complete strangers' children donned in less-than-impressive costumes pushed out by all the major corporations of America, or you and a bunch of friends are headed to the nearest club hosting some kind of costume party, basically the adult-version alcohol-fueled equivalent to trick-or-treating, it is no mystery to me that most of the country plan to seize the occasion and try to enjoy it. This is not me frowning upon this behavior, make no mistake of that. I for one am quite the ambassador of all things Halloween, especially of the spooky and gory variety! Hence this new addition to my long list of metal music posts. Just like the holidays of the year, metal music is as vast as the year is long, and there are many metal subgenres ("holidays", if you will) that offer a "bigger picture" point of view to those who only view metal as "noise".
Which brings me to the center of discussion for this little miniseries. I will be breaking it into two forms of spooky metal, "The Scary" and "The Bloody". This post will focus on "The Scary". What I define as "The Scary", when discussing metal at least, revolves mainly around the black metal genre.... you know the type: every band member dressed all in black rags and spikes (and sometimes even blood splatters!), donning a white, corpsey face as if to theatrically imitate the undead, playing loud and extreme yet melodic and symphonic metal music which I feel is more than fitting for the spirit of All Hallows' Eve. In this post I will be featuring 3 black metal bands, at least one of which I'm sure you've heard of if you were a teen metal head in the 80's. Let us get started, shall we?
So without further ado, it is my pleasure to present to you the man, the myth, the legend, the arguable "Godfather of Black Metal" himself.... KING DIAMOND.
(In Photo: King Diamond and long time guitarist Andy LaRocque)
In the 80's, there wasn't much in the way of a fusion between metal bands using spooky imagery with the heavy and equally spooky music to back it. I mean sure, Ozzy Osbourne was kinda tackling spooky imagery, but no way in hell was his sound even close to that of a band such as, say, Slayer or Testament. At the same time, bands like Slayer and Testament were strictly thrash rather than "spooky metal". So you had "spooky-looking" bands, or "spooky-sounding" bands. What about a band that's BOTH? That was when King Diamond stepped on the scene with his first band, Mercyful Fate. Their music was revolutionizing the beautifully evil marriage of scary looks and scary sounds. But again, the transformation was not quite complete, because I'm sure that as metal heads we can all agree that King Diamond's music was far more intense, as well as progressive, than that of Mercyful Fate's. Finally, when King Diamond went on his own, a metamorphosis would take place that would almost single-handedly introduce a new form of metal. For your listening pleasure, I have provided four King Diamond songs to give you an idea as to why his music was so monumental in the evolution of black metal. Enjoy!
Halloween, from the debut album "Fatal Portrait" (1986)
Abigail, from the album "Abigail" (1987)
From the Other Side, from the album "The Spider's Lullaby" (1995)
Emerencia, from the album "The Puppet Master" (2003)
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your dive into King Diamond.... alas, we must be moving on....
Well, by this time, black metal sprouted up into a plethora of interesting, horrific, symphonic and sinister tunes that all could enjoy together. Many bands from Norway, England, Iceland, hell, even Taiwan and China, were all offering something to the black metal table.
Let us take a journey to England first, and have a look-see at one of the earliest known black metal bands that are still active to this very day....
CRADLE OF FILTH.
Formed in 1991 in Suffolk, England, Cradle of Filth were arguably one of the first modern black metal bands with the sound as we know it today. King Diamond paved the way, but it was Cradle of Filth who really cemented a specific sound in place for the genre. Sure, there may have been some black metal bands of relevance before and/or since them, but they REALLY stood out in the public eye as one of the more prominent and well-known (or at least "heard-of") in black metal. Vocalist Dani Filth's revolutionizing screeches backed by the band's famous symphony-backed extreme metal instrumental compositions took them to soaring heights quite early on in their career.
They really gained notoriety when they released their 2000 album "Midian". With instant singles like "Cthulu Dawn", "Saffron's Curse" and "Her Ghost in the Fog", it became all too clear that they were indeed onto something. They had a masterful approach at combining speedy hooks and riffs with symphonic melodies, courtesy of state of the art keyboards, and throwing them into a mix that would fall at the mercy of Dani Filth and his voice. He has a unique sound. One minute he can be doing borderline-baritone growls, then the next minute he's doing high-pitched screeches that even some women can't top in volume and pitch. With all these instruments and tools for success, they climbed the ladder, thereby reaching the pinnacle of sound found in modern-day black metal. They paved the way for that, just like King Diamond and Mercyful Fate paved the way for the birth of black metal. And now, a few songs from the Kings of Black Metal.... enjoy.
A Gothic Romance (Red Roses For the Devil's Whore), from the album "Dusk... and Her Embrace" (1996)
Saffron's Curse, from the album "Midian" (2000)
The Promise of Fever, from the album "Damnation and a Day" (2003)
Nymphetamine (Fix) [feat. Liv Kristine of Leaves' Eyes], from the album "Nymphetamine" (2004)
In continuation with the black metal movement, there was another band that broke through the mold and took their place among some of the most prominent and relevant names in metal as we know it, especially in the black metal realm. Aside from Cradle of Filth, there was another, born from what was arguably the birthplace of black metal itself.... Ghosts and ghouls, witches and goblins, I give to you....
DIMMU BORGIR.
Formed in 1993 in Oslo, Norway, Dimmu Borgir have made quite the impact in the black metal world. Having played countless large festivals all over the world, including right here in the United States (Ozzfest, Ozzy Osbourne's former yearly all heavy music summer festival, to be exact), they established a very solid fanbase in metal music. Their approach to the instrumental side of their music is very similar to Cradle of Filth's, but a bit heavier and while Cradle of Filth typically recruit female vocalists to duet the more melodic parts alongside Dani Filth's screeching, Dimmu Borgir need not search or recruit outside of their very own bandmates. Having gone through many lineup changes, only two original members remain, and one longstanding member who has been there since 2000.
While the main vocalist, Shagrath, carries the weight of all the intense vocals as expected of this form of music, Dimmu Borgir has solely relied on the clean vocals to be covered by the bassist of the band, whomever it may have been. The most well-known and well-remembered bassist for them was ICS Vortex, who played bass AND sang the clean and melodic vocals full-time with them from 1998 right up until he departed in 2009. He would then be replaced by Snowy Shaw for the year of 2010, but Shaw was very short-lived in the band, as the very same year he was then replaced by current live/touring member Cyrus. Needless to say, Dimmu Borgir have seen their fair share of ups and downs, pretty much from the very beginning, even since before their debut full-length release "For All Tid" in 1994.
And now, the perfect ending to Part 1 of this miniseries, may I present to you a few songs from the Black Metal Behemoths themselves. Enjoy, you metal minions!
Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny, from their album "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (2001)
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse, from the album "Death Cult Armageddon" (2003)
Sorgens Kammer - Del II (translation: The Chamber of Sorrow - Part II), from the album "Stormblast MMV" (2005)
I find this whole album to be particularly interesting, because it was originally recorded and released in 1996. For some reason, almost ten years afterward, they made the decision to go back into the studio and re-record the entire album from scratch, and release it as an "updated" album for a release year of 2005, hence the "MMV" numerals added to the album title.
The Serpentine Offering, from the album "In Sorte Diaboli" (2007)
Well, there you have it. A good level of coverage, at least enough for you all to go forth and rediscover forms of metal you may not have even known existed. Who knows? Maybe this is the type of metal for you if other subgenres have not worked for you. You never know until you try it, especially that which frightens you. It is Halloween, after all! Until next time....
Stay Metal. \m/
I dig Dimmu Borgir and always loved their crazy ass videos. It is usually some very scary stuff and I never thought of attributing it to Halloween as you have done here. Great post for that reason! Tis the season for super scary heavy metal! I also have numerous Cradle of Filth albums, so many it is hard to count as their catalog is very deep and extended. I will enjoy checking out more from these other bands too. Thanks for sharing!
No problem man, and thank YOU for the encouraging words! :) Yeah, to be honest, this little 2-part series was just kinda something that popped into my head in one moment so I thought, "What the hell, let's go for it". I've always been a fan of black metal, not necessarily in the Satanic lyrics (as I am a non-traditional practicing Christian), but the instrumental compositions and the intensity of their voices are VERY captivating. I believe that all forms of music don't necessarily have to be pigeon-holed into something simply because of their lyrics. That just proves to really limit one's self from a whole bunch of genuinely beautiful music.