#Doom/Death Metal (early); Gothic/Doom Metal

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

ℭ𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔉𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔱 - 𝔍𝔲𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔏𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔫𝔢

[mayamidnightmelody]

The 1990s was a pivotal decade for geek culture, solidifying many of the trends and franchises that continue to influence pop culture today. Here's an exploration of the various facets of geekdom in the 90s:

Video Games

The 1990s were a golden era for video games, seeing the rise of iconic franchises and gaming consoles.

Consoles and Games:

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Sega Genesis were at the forefront of the early 90s gaming scene. Classics like "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," "Super Mario World," and "Sonic the Hedgehog" became household names.

The mid-90s introduced the Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64. Games like "Final Fantasy VII," "Metal Gear Solid," "Super Mario 64," and "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" revolutionized the industry with their storytelling and 3D graphics.

PC Gaming:

The rise of PC gaming brought titles like "Doom," "Quake," "Warcraft," and "Starcraft," which laid the groundwork for modern first-person shooters and real-time strategy games.

The introduction of the CD-ROM allowed for more complex and graphically intense games, expanding the possibilities of game design.

Comic Books and Graphic Novels

The 90s was a transformative period for comics, marked by a combination of innovation and market upheavals.

Marvel and DC Comics:

Marvel experienced a surge in popularity with the introduction of new characters like Deadpool and the significant events like the "X-Men's Age of Apocalypse" and "Spider-Man's Clone Saga."

DC Comics shook the world with storylines such as "The Death of Superman" and "Batman: Knightfall."

Independent Publishers:

The formation of Image Comics by former Marvel artists brought a wave of creator-owned series like "Spawn," "The Savage Dragon," and "WildC.A.T.s."

Vertigo, an imprint of DC, produced critically acclaimed titles such as "Sandman" by Neil Gaiman and "Preacher" by Garth Ennis, pushing the boundaries of mature storytelling in comics.

Science Fiction and Fantasy

The 90s were a golden age for science fiction and fantasy, both in literature and on screen.

Television:

"Star Trek" had a strong presence with "The Next Generation" continuing its success, followed by "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager."

"The X-Files" became a cultural phenomenon, blending science fiction with horror and conspiracy theories.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" redefined the fantasy genre on television, combining teenage drama with supernatural elements.

Movies:

Blockbuster franchises like "Jurassic Park," "The Matrix," and "Men in Black" showcased cutting-edge special effects and imaginative storytelling.

The re-release of the original "Star Wars" trilogy in special editions prepared the groundwork for the much-anticipated prequel trilogy.

Anime and Manga

The 90s saw the global explosion of anime and manga, making Japanese pop culture a mainstream phenomenon.

Anime:

Series like "Dragon Ball Z," "Sailor Moon," and "Pokémon" became immensely popular worldwide, introducing many to the world of anime.

Films by Studio Ghibli, such as "Princess Mononoke" and "My Neighbor Totoro," received critical acclaim and international recognition.

Manga:

Manga series like "Naruto," "One Piece," and "Berserk" began their runs, setting the stage for long-lasting popularity.

The publication of "Shonen Jump" in English brought many of these series to Western audiences.

Role-Playing Games (RPGs)

The 90s were a significant decade for tabletop RPGs, with many classic games being developed and popularized.

Dungeons & Dragons:

The release of the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) in 1989 carried through the 90s, with campaigns like "Planescape" and "Dark Sun" becoming fan favorites.

Other RPGs:

"Vampire: The Masquerade" by White Wolf Publishing introduced the World of Darkness, a setting that offered a dark, gothic-punk alternative to traditional fantasy RPGs.

The cyberpunk genre was well represented by games like "Shadowrun" and "Cyberpunk 2020," capturing the gritty, high-tech, low-life aesthetic.

Collectibles and Trading Card Games

The 90s witnessed the birth and explosion of collectible card games (CCGs), with "Magic: The Gathering" leading the charge.

Magic: The Gathering:

Created by Richard Garfield and released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993, "Magic: The Gathering" became a groundbreaking and immensely popular game, sparking a new industry of collectible card games.

Pokémon:

The Pokémon Trading Card Game, released in 1996, quickly became a massive hit alongside the video games and TV series, contributing to the global Pokémon craze.

Internet and Technology

The rise of the internet in the 90s played a crucial role in shaping geek culture.

Early Internet Communities:

Bulletin board systems (BBS), forums, and newsgroups like Usenet allowed geeks to connect and share their interests in ways that were never before possible.

The creation of fan sites and the use of IRC (Internet Relay Chat) facilitated the growth of online communities dedicated to various fandoms.

Technology:

The proliferation of personal computers and the advent of the World Wide Web democratized access to information and entertainment, allowing geek culture to flourish and expand globally.

In conclusion, the 1990s were a transformative decade for geek culture, characterized by the rise of influential media, the advent of groundbreaking technology, and the growth of vibrant communities. The era laid the foundation for many of the trends and franchises that continue to shape geekdom today.

[hunter-sylvester]

Hi, you recommended me some music a while back. I finally got through it all (finding time to just listen to music was a bitch) but I loved most of it (by most I mean I only disliked one song. *Alestorm by Alestorm*) but I absolutely loved the rest. Especially Skraeckoedlan and Spaceslug, and was curious if you had any more possible recommendations? Anyway, I hope you have a good day. Thanks again for those recommendations, I really liked listening to them!

Hey ^-^

I'm really glad you liked most of it! I tried to drop a bit of variety so only one miss is honestly a better outcome than I expected. Big on Alestorm personally but I understand that pirate metal is not going to be for everyone lmaooo

And I can absolutely drop some more recs 🤘

Sidenote that I love that you listed Spaceslug as one of the bands you particularly enjoyed. The first type of metal I truly fell in love with was psychedelic doom (Spaceslug being one of the bands) and it really got me through the tail-end of my teens.

Music below the cut 🎵🎶

Honestly, if you haven't already, my first rec would be to check out Spaceslug's entire discography. While Time Travel Dilemma is my favorite album from them, everything they've put out is phenomenal imo.

(The above lowkey goes for most bands I listed before, except Candlemass. Candlemass has a bit of vocalist fuckery and I've not enjoyed their newer albums at all. While you might, I can't say I recommend them. )

I listed some full albums again below but I also took the liberty of just making a fucking playlist. I tried to get it to have a cohesive flow at first but that proved a bit impossible to achieve after a while 💀 so it's just a clusterfuck of stuff. I threw in some songs by bands mentioned before, some I hadn't mentioned but that fit the profile and a few "wildcards"

Full Albums:

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats: Psychedelic Rock/Doom Metal Seen these guys live. They just straight up fuck. They're so good.

Celtic Frost: Thrash/Death/Black Metal (early); Gothic/Doom Metal (later) Personally, I love the almost goth sound in Celtic Frosts' Monotheist as well as their album To Mega Therion

Katatonia: [Doom/Death Metal (early); Gothic/Alternative/Progressive Rock/Metal (later)] Softer, sad boy music, but still metal (fun fact: Movie!Hunter approves)

Purple Hill Witch: Doom Metal Just some good heavy doom.

Honorable non-metal mentions (shock horror ik, but they're good) All Them Witches - Lightning At The Door (desert rock) Witchcraft - Witchcraft (desert rock, early) Somali Yacht Club - The Sun (stoner rock)

[rottingwaysofmisery]

Non-Goth Music that Goths might enjoy

Along with what the title says, I will be elaborating on each. It’s mostly going to be metal because that’s my current interest but there will be non-metal recommendations, such as industrial rock or electronic music.

Epicus Doomicus Metallus - Candlemass

Not my personal favorite Candlemass album, that would be Nightfall, but it’s what I think would be most interesting to a Goth looking into other genres. To elaborate on why I think that, it’s the use of the vocals, subject matter, guitarwork, and keyboards. The vocals do an incredible job at communicating both storytelling and extreme emotions like anguish. The subject matter covers things like witchcraft, sorcerers, and wanting to die alone. The guitarwork and tone doesn’t sound anything like post-punk but it’s the way it complements the feelings of doom and anguish that might make it interesting to someone looking into other kinds of dark music.

TL;DR They’re slow, heavy, and dramatic.

I would like to highlight “Solitude” as my best recommendation to a Goth Rock fan, and “Under the Oak” as my personal favorite track.

Ministry

Not recommending any specific album, but specific songs from them. Hell, you might even consider some of Ministry’s work borderline Goth, but the overall genre is Industrial Rock/Metal, at least since they stopped making synthpop.

The tracks I’m recommending are as follows: “Every Day is Halloween” (single), “Golden Dawn” (from their album Land of Rape and Honey, which despite the name is actually referring to a plant and not the reprehensible act), “Cannibal Song” and “Dream Song” (both from The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste).

The first song is already kind of a goth music staple but I thought to include it anyways because I love that song.

DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft)

This one might be a little hard to justify just because of how all over the place they are, but personally I think they really have that post-punk attitude when it comes to their music. They’re basically this really experimental electronic band, hell their early stuff even has noise rock elements. If you’re into the more industrial experimental stuff and don’t need conciseness or melody then this might be an interesting band to look at.

I would like to highlight the tracks “Kebab Träume”, “Ein Bisschen Krieg”, and “Muskel”

King Diamond

I’m going to be blunt, you’re not gonna like this one if you don’t like traditional heavy metal. Along with that, you might not like King Diamond’s vocals. Yes, the band is named after the singer. Anyways, if you like Gothic Rock for the “spooky” Halloween-esque aesthetic, you might just fall in love with King Diamond. He’s an acquired taste for most, due to the unusual falsetto he displays all across his career. 

Personally, I fucking love King Diamond. I think instead of recommending any specific song I’d rather recommend whole albums due to the storytelling aspect that King Diamond weaves into most of his discography. To paint you a picture, most of King Diamond’s discography is concept albums that tell horror stories, cleverly using vocals to switch characters, and using keyboards to really give that cheesy but lovable Halloween Horror feel, along with some of the coolest guitarwork in metal, done by the likes of heavy metal legend Andy LaRocque.

Onto highlights, I would like to highlight Fatal Portrait, notably one of the few albums not to be a fully concept album, particularly the tracks “The Candle” and “Haunted”, and Them, a concept album with my personal favorite story, and Conspiracy, the sequel to Them story-wise, which is my personal favorite album.

Celtic Frost

This one might be an odd recommendation if you’re only familiar with their popular stuff, but I’d like to highlight a few tracks that may be of interest.

“Mesmerized” (from their album Into the Pandemonium)

Recommending this one mainly because the vocals are very reminiscent of Rozz Williams from Christian Death, at least in my opinion.

“Os Abysmi Vel Daath” (from their album Monotheist)

This is kind of a risky recommendation, since this song and the album in general is just experimental extreme metal. It’s mainly the vocal performance here makes me want to recommend it, though it might be a bit of a stretch. I love this song but I know it might not be for everyone, though if it gives at least one person a new song to listen to then I’ll be happy.

Zoon - The Nefilim

Industrial Extreme Metal, by the same people behind Fields of the Nephilim. This one is a bit of an oddball in the discography of the people who made it, but personally it’s the only album I like by them anyways. Unfortunately, this was the only album they did in this style and under this name. They do, however, still occasionally perform songs from this album as Fields of the Nephilim. My personal favorite track being “Shine”, which is honestly a bit of a power ballad.

The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails

C’mon. You knew this one was coming. It’s an industrial rock album, and if you haven’t listen to them already you’re most likely going to LOVE “Closer”.

Sacrificed - Edge of Sanity (from The Spectral Sorrows)

It’s a straight up Sisters of Mercy-esque Goth Rock track that’s towards the end of a Death Metal album. The vocalist would go on to start a Goth Rock band, Nightingale.

I’m Going Slightly Mad - Queen (from Innuendo)

You may be confused. That Queen? Yes, same one that made “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. This song is called Gothic Rock on wikipedia, but I’m including it anyways because Queen is not a Goth band.

Surprise - The Garden (Single)

This one might confuse you if you’re familiar with this band. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the subject matter, it just screamed to me “put me next to Goth music”. Listen to it for yourself and tell me if you get it. For some strange reason it was taken off streaming platforms unfortunately.

Deinonychus

This one is a black metal band with doom metal influences. Another riskier recommendation, what gives me the impression that a Goth might love this is a mix of the use of keyboards, the anguished harsh vocals, and the deep clean vocals. The best example I want to give is “The Weeping of a Thousand Years”, it’s like a bearded vampire speaks the clean vocals and someone tortured in the dungeon of a castle screams the harsh vocals.

Call from the Grave - Bathory (from Under the Sign of the Black Mark)

Another Black Metal band, this one even harder to justify. Bear with me, listen to the song and pretend that a zombie is the one singing. The song starts with this spooky ambience and then goes into this evil groove and later on has a solo that sounds like a funeral dirge, it’s awesome. I have no idea if anyone’s going to get why I’m putting this here along with the others, but if someone does that’ll be awesome.

Give Me Your Soul - Countess (from The Book of the Heretic)

Another Black Metal one, yes, but hear me out. This song is literally goofy spooky Halloween music, and it’s literally from the perspective of a demon who kidnapped someone. I fucking love this song, I just think if you kept an open mind you might love it as much as I do.

Floods - Pantera (from The Great Southern Trendkill)

Okay okay, hear me out again. This is literally borderline Southern Gothic, at least thematically, and topic aside it’s one of the best power ballads out of all of metal with one of the coolest solos literally ever.

Buried Alive - Venom (from Black Metal)

This song is hard to describe, it’s not quite a power ballad, but it’s definitely some sort of ballad. It’s catchy, it’s got a dramatic build up and it’s got groove (it has one of my personal favorite solos ever). Tell me what you think!

Black Sabbath

I find it a little funny that Black Sabbath had a literal “Living in a Box” moment by naming their first song on their first album after themselves. Anyways, this song, “Black Sabbath”, is dramatic and evil. It’s basically the first heavy metal song, and yet it has more doom in it than a lot of modern doom metal bands. Side note, Type O Negative has a fantastic rendition of this song, I could not more HIGHLY recommend giving it a listen.

I also recommend “After All (The Dead)” off of their album Dehumanizer. It’s got the doom and gloom but with that heavy metal oomph to it, so I hope you appreciate this song as much as I do.

Black Mummy - Death SS (from In Death of Steve Sylvester)

I must clarify again, the “SS” part of the name has nothing to do with the Nazis and is short for the singer Steve Sylvester. Anyways, this song has a more traditional heavy metal sound but in a bit of a spooky horror approach. You might ask if it’s anything like King Diamond, I can assure you it’s not.

Scream of the Butterfly - Acid Bath (from When the Kite String Pops)

This one is a bit of a ballad in an otherwise Sludge/Doom Metal album. Unrelated, but if you’re into metal with interesting textures I would definitely recommend this album.

Ghosts - Japan (from Tin Drum)

It feels like cheating to put a New Wave artist on here, but they’re still technically not Goth so I’m putting them anyways.

Filth - Swans

Noise Rock, it’s extreme music that isn’t metal. I’m including this one for a similar reason with DAF, because despite its genre it definitely has a bit of a post-punk attitude to things.

L’Eau Rouge/Red Water - The Young Gods

Industrial Rock with Dark Cabaret elements, oh my god this album is my baby I fucking love it so much. The fact more people don’t know about it feels like a crime. 

Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday

This is technically not her original song but I enjoy her version a lot. Thematically it’s very dark, so if you are into darker music I would definitely recommend this.

The Devil is an Englishman - Thomas Dolby (Single)

Again it feels like cheating to include a New Wave artist but there’s no way in hell anyone considers Thomas Dolby “Goth”. Though I will say this song was composed for a movie called “Gothic”. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this, it’s dark synthpop.

Auburn and Ivory - Beach House (from Beach House)

Feels like cheating to include dreampop, but why not. I have this song on a playlist with music that makes me feel like a French mime, if that helps give you an idea of the kind of song it is.

Kate Bush

That’s all.

Anna - K.U.K.L. (from The Eye)

This is from one of the bands Björk was in before. Very experimental rock, I would personally recommend the music video version that’s up on youtube instead of the Spotify version.

Einzelhaft - Falco

This album is mostly known for “Der Kommissar”, but I find that there’s other good songs on this album, particularly “Ganz Wien” and “Auf der Flucht”.

An Angel of Great and Terrible Light - Uboa (from The Origin of My Depression)

I’m gonna warn you, this song along with the album this is from may be a very emotionally heavy album for some. However, I’m built different. Anyways I fucking love this particular song from the album.

End of Recommendations

That’s all I have for now, if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them! I hope this helps someone find new music to love!

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Ascalaphus (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- My boy by Acheron

Darling by Orphne

Age- 17 (immortal)

Location- The Underworld

Personality- He's a broody yet eccentric young god who loves intellectual pursuits, gothic aesthetics, & a deep appreciation for classic literature and art. He's currently single.

He has the standard abilities of a god. His other powers/abilities include limited chlorokinesis (as it pertains to plants & flowers native to the Underworld), limited necromancy, being able to communicate with/shapeshift into a screech owl, limited umbrakinesis (shadow manipulation), and limited hydrokinesis (as it pertains to the waters of his father's river).

Ascalaphus is the only child of his parents- Acheron (Titan god of pain) & Orphne, a lampade.

He lives with his parents at their mansion in the Underworld. Ascalaphus' room is on the third floor. The bedroom door is built out of blackwood & there's also a terrace where he can overlook his father's river. The flooring is black marble while the walls are brimstone- covered in posters of his favorite bands, singers, movies, and deities. Instead of a laptop, there's an antique typewriter. In his room there's a simple trundle bed covered in dark blue satin pillows & black quilts, white onyx shelves for his book collection, as well as his blue-black iCHOR Tech wireless speaker that's automatically connected to Musify.

Ascalaphus is his father's twin with their olive skin, brown-black eyes, and facial features with the only difference being their frames. Acheron has a lean muscular build while his son has a bit more muscle. He feels like his mother feels left out because she doesn't look like them with her brilliant dark blue eyes, dark obsidian skin, and thick curly hair.

He's fluent in Latin.

He keeps his ink black hair short & shaggy.

Ascalaphus has a few tattoos- large owl wings on his back, a pair of dark blue eyes (dedicated to his mom) on the inside of his left wrist, a skull surrounded by black dahlias on his right arm, and the quote "What nourishes me destroys me" written in latin on his left pec. His good friend Achlys (goddess of the death mist, poison, misery, & sadness) did the tattoos.

A go-to drink for him is beer. He also likes red wine, pomegranate brandy, his dad's jallab, his mom's homemade blackberry iced tea, ginger ale, hot chocolate, black tea, mineral water, and cola.

Ascalaphus primarily writes in cursive.

For breakfast he'll typically go to a corner store to get a sausage, egg, & cheese on a hero on toasted rye bread. If he's gonna be on time for school, he'll have a bowl of steel cut oats topped with dark chocolate chips and maple syrup, a bowl of Earhtly Harvest raisin crunch cereal, or his mom's omelette- added with black olives, mushrooms, & ghost peppers.

Ascalaphus loves listening to classical, synth pop, folk, rock, heavy metal, rap, and death metal music. His favorite musical artists to listen to are Moros (god of doom), O, & the death metal rap band Death Theater- comprising of Hades, Charon (Ferryman of the Underworld), his friend Hypnos (god of sleep), and Thanatos (god of death). He also thinks that Pale Blu isn't too bad either.

He's currently a freshman at Polydegmon University, the most prestigious college in the Underworld. Ascalaphus has a full ride- a four year scholarship, thanks in part to his father as well as the king. He doesn't live on campus, an agreed compromise with his parents. Even though it's too early to declare a major, Ascalaphus is thinking about majoring in botany or art history.

Thus far his favorite class has been his gothic literature class taught by his professor- a lampade named Ms. Whiteveil. The sound of her velvet smooth voice while she reads poems and short passages automatically calms him.

He loves snacking on ash plum flavored gummy spiders. He also likes spicy mushroom flavored kettle cooked potato chips & black anise licorice twists.

Ascalaphus has a job of sorts. He tends to to the garden of the king of the Underworld, Hades (god of the dead). The orchard is primarily filled with black dahlias, frost orchids, black thorned roses, and shadow blossoms. He actually likes working in the garden. It's one of the few moments where Ascalaphus is alone with his thoughts for self-reflection. He also doesn't mind the company of the king. Hades will bring him a small cup of dark roast coffee or will lend Ascalaphus a book from his extensive library.

He also earns extra money by picking up groceries for Geras (god of old age) & by dog-sitting Cerberus sometimes.

There's a small restaurant downtown in Plouton Square that makes the best jjajangmyeon (noodles & diced pork in black bean sauce). It's a frequent takeout order for him.

All though Ascalaphus loves his parents, he feels like they're keeping him on a tight leash, especially his father. They didn't even want him to live on campus in a dorm and they especially don't want him to leave or travel out of the Underworld to any of the other realms- Olympius in particular. The Realm of Darkness is all he ever knows and Ascalaphus just wants the chance to experience something new, something different.

At school his social circle consists of cyclopes named Osric, Sybil, & Quintessa (Tessa for short), a harpy named Xerxes, a lampade named Azura (a botany major), as well as mortals named Caspian (a art history major), Rosalind, and Venetia.

Ascalaphus in undecided about whether or not to join the University's fraternity. Osric is a member.

Outside of school he's real good friends with Theodon (god of reality, uncertainty, & fate). They hang out together all the time. They smoke weed sometimes (through use of a Stygian Iron bong) & Ascalaphus will invite Theo to play basketball with him, Osric, Xerxes, and Caspian every weekend at Shadowstone Park. Theodon even tagged along to Ascalaphus' first college party!

He really likes going to the film premier of Blooddancer with Theodon. Ascalaphus even got to briefly meet the director of the film Keres (goddess of violent death). The photo of them meeting is framed & on his dresser. He also saved the ticket stubs!

In the pantheon he's also friends with Despoina (goddess of the arcadian mysteries, frost, winter, & shadows).

Also in the pantheon Ascalaphus respects and admires Nyx (goddess of the night) Erebus (god of darkness), as well as his "honorary" aunts & uncles, the other Underworld river deities- Phlegethon (Titan god of fire), Lethe (Titaness of forgetfulness, oblivion, & concealment), Styx (Titaness of hatred), and his godfather Cocytus (Titan god of wailing & lamentation).

He also admires Favian (god of philosophy) & is a fan of his steampunk historical fantasy book series The Machinery of Alchemists.

The iCHOR Tech soundproof headphones are great when Ascalaphus is working on an assignment or blocking out the sounds of his parents' lovemaking.

Sometimes (without his parents knowing), Ascalaphus will travel out-of-realm to Olympius to pick up Theodon from school. He pretends not to care as Theo drones on and on about a fellow schoolmate Heimarmene (Marnie) (goddess of shared fate). One day while Ascalaphus was waiting for Theo where he noticed him walking down the school's steps with Marnie and another girl. He thought she looked like winter's light with her flawless pale skin and shimmery silver eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her smile was just as bright as she tucked away strands of her short bouncy golden light brown hair behind her hair. When Ascalaphus asked Theo about her when he got in the car, he said that she was Marnie's best friend Eiresione (Ren) (goddess of offerings).

His favorite frozen treat is dark chocolate ice cream topped with pomegranate syrup, dark chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

His favorite dessert is his mom's black rum cake. She makes it every year for his birthday and on the Winter Solstice.

Ascalaphus is not ashamed about the fact that he's still a virgin. He wants to wait until he's emotionally connected with someone to have sex. He did make out with an empousa named Elidi at the college party.

His all time favorite meal is his dad's hearty lamb stew with saffron rice and his mom's scorched chicken.

In his free time Ascalaphus enjoys playing video games, reading, skateboarding, writing, snowboarding, gardening, skiing, ice hockey, cooking (with his parents), ink painting, going to museums, chess, listening to music, and going to the cinema. He's also been getting into photography.

"Owls inspire us to see beyond the darkness and find our own light."

[spiritusleach]

A close representation of me changing and evolving in musical choices.

Enter The Era Of Spiritus Nocturnus

Musical Journey

Breaking guitars or casting them aside in favor of Synthesizers and Electronic Music. -Spiritus Nocturnus

My roots were always of a darker nature although I've switched somewhere in the late 2010's to a new futuristic vison. I was always into Gothic Rock/Post-Punk Music but then the Metal phase crept in and I see it as just that a phase because I always was attracted to the more obscure and classical anyways, not to what the average alternative person was into passing me by on the street asking me what is my favorite band in hopes that I could relate their favorite mainstream band. Not to say that I did like a few of them I must say but however my vibe was just different from the rest that seem to come in droves and I mostly steered away from what most people like and pave and follow my own road.

You see, I was always of a different breed even within the Alternative community. In the alternative side of things I started off more on the Punk/Trad Goth side of things with and somewhere around that part I started to learn about the difference between that form of music and Metal. As Metal seemed more polished, lively and for commercial radio and mostly none of the music I listened to sounded like it was for airplay, lively, or polished. The music I listened to sounds dark brooding, mysterious, tribal etc.

I checked out different types all the way to the fan radio friendly Alternative Metal that I used to listen to being played on Senton Hall New Jersey radio , To the Black Metal where it sound like Cats are being cooked alive screaming for dear life, to the Death Metal where it's brutal and others in between like Thrash Metal Venom, Pentagram etc. I mostly enjoyed the soothing side of Gothic Metal and I enjoyed the Slow Funeral Doom type and early Prog Occult Metal. However I was still with more of a Punk and Goth- type of mentality , Not really a Metalhead and never really was. Though no longer did guitars and certain genres like Metal was of an interest to me. The loud abrasive yelling and screaming in most Metal music became almost unbearable and was not the the right feel for me.

Truly I believe at this point I seen myself in a dark gloomy club or room psychedelia setting and it worked perfectly because my room at the time was fitting just right for that formation to occur. That was one thing then something that deeply impacted me around this time changed me altogether in my life I soon I started getting more into Darkwave and other forms of Electronic -Synth music and that sealed the deal from there. No longer were guitars, Metal etc..... were appealing to me as an Artist but I still love Post-Punk and the gloomy feel that usually brings.

Overall in my mind, I felt that Metal Is Dead so it started to get to me when people would see me on the street or if I bump into another alternative or Goth person, and yes "supposedly Goth not Metalhead" asking me about what bands am I into. Almost expecting me to say Ozzy or some other famous band etc, Didn't happen before and in this new era definitely not because half of the people I listen to is far ,far in the underground or either in the hereafter. Though anyways Synthwave in particular matched my vibe and futurist vision especially in 2017-2018 leading up to the Apocalypse of 2020 when I created my full first feature length album entitled Spiritus Nocturnus . This is around the time I started to evolve , not only as n Artist but spiritually and this the road that was meant for me when the transition from the classical Goth Spiritus Leach into the new cyberpunk/cybergoth Spiritus Nocturnus. Overnight it seems as that I was no longer known to Alternative community who may have seemed Goth to a degree but was more of dark Metalheads in musical tastes truly. Most could not relate because it lacked having a guitar and other bare essentials that seemed like the Baby Bats dream of being Goth.

Yes in general it's ok and is possible to like both and all types (as I still do at times and I also love Smooth Jazz and Baroque/Dark Classical) and still prefer to be assimilated within a certain subculture, as that may be more of your preference and to me my preference is now Electronic music nowadays in a particular that of 80's vibe and in this new Cyberpunk and Spiritus Nocturnus Era I find myself more among those who are into Cyberpunk, Cybergoth, Rivetheads

- Spiritus Nocturnus

[anotherghoul666]

Under Our Black Cult tour primer

@battiestbelfry as promised my dear! Now, I don’t have info on Gaerea yet because I don’t know them yet, Imma deep dive in the next few days. But the other 3 bands on the bill I know well, so here we go!

Under the read more: primers and my personal opinions on the bands Uada, Carach Angren and Rotting Christ. Song and album recommendations to start off. And the mask kink thing, with pics. 3/4 of the bands on this bill are or can be confidered masked bands, you know I gotta touch on the mask kink in there!

UADA

Uada, which means “haunted”, are a melodic black metal band from the United States. They are based in Portland, Oregon and have been active since 2014. They are currently signed to Eisenwald records, an independent music label from Germany. In this house we love and support independent labels! They are specialized in black metal and have a very fun roster.

Uada have 3 releases out so far, all full length albums. They don’t do singles, they don’t do demos, they don’t do splits, they don’t do EPs. They make full albums and drop them on a roughly 2 years cycle, though with the pandemic we are at 3 years since the last record, so these mysterious hooded figures are ripe for new material! Their debut album Devoid of Light in 2016 was well received by the metal world as a promising debut, albeit very classic black metal that didn’t surprise much. 2018’s Cult of a Dying Sun seems to be their album with the most acclaim. The sound quality difference between these two is astounding. The tracks tend to be longer, which helps some songs and doesn’t help others. 2020’s Djinn is their latest release and the reception’s been this: Djinn is way more niche, as in, you have to be down for 14 minutes atmospheric black metal songs to like it, but if that’s your vibe? It’s fucking good. Quality up, marketability down. They still don’t do anything super different, but it’s good black metal. It feels like European black metal despite being American, which is what I love, because I’m intensely biased towards the EU scene. US bands have to be either 1)extremely fucking special or 2) European-sounding to get in my good graces XD

The guys are “masked”, in the sense that they play with hoods over their faces with the aim of not being seen, for atmospheric purposes:

They also do “the hand thing” when taking pictures.

But they’re ok being approached in public by fans, as long as you don't pressure them to take a pic with their faces showing. They are not anonymous, their names are out there if you wanna know.

As far as recs go, I would rec all of the albums honestly cause it’s less than 3 hours of music and there’s nothing truly bad in there. My favorite album personally is Djinn but that’s because I fucking love atmospheric albums that make me lose track of time. I’m aware that’s not everyone’s cup of tea xD So, to my previous recs of Devoid of Light, Black Autumn White Spring and Cult of a Dying Sun, I’d add all of Djinn, but specifically the title track and In The Absence of Matter as a first contact.

CARACH ANGREN

Carach Angren are a symphonic black metal band from the Limburg province of the Netherlands. They’ve been active since 2003 and they’re currently signed to French label Seasons of Mist, one of the few major metal labels I feel positively about! The Seasons of Mist roster is INSANE. They specialize in the darker genres of metal, black, death, gothic, doom and some prog. Many of my favorite bands have been on them through the years.

So. Listen. Carach are one of my absolute darlings in the black metal world. When I began my exploration into black metal in the early 2010s, their first three records have been instrumental in making this genre my favorite. I would not be where I am today without them. I will forever have a very special in my heart for these guys. I hung out with them several times, I’m attached, ok? But. And there’s a huge But. Dear fucking god did these guys fall off. I’m still reeling from how perfect their music used to be, and how fucking atrocious the output has been since 2015. In my opinion. These primers are only my personal opinions and ramblings ok XD They’re doing fine, their latest albums did get decent reviews which I? Don’t understand? But you do you, boo? XD They’re one of the big names in black metal right now, they’re headlining tours, they’re doing good on the new material ok. But I can’t fucking stand it hahaha.

The main problem for me was the vibe shift. Carach Angren’s themes are horror stories. They recount fantastic tales of horror, fright and gore, psychological horror, body horror, historical horror, the like. The storytelling in their first three albums is stunning. There was always a sense of realism there, of horror being grounded in reality. It’s classy, it’s tasteful, it’s striking and horrifying but it’s never cheap and nothing is played for shock. 2008’s Lammendam is about “true stories” in a 1700s an 1800s backdrop, a historical version of our “I heard from a friend of a friend that…”, tales from the crypt and all that. Ghost stories that we’ve heard before, la Dame Blanche for example, but set to music. 2010’s Death Came Through a Phantom Ship is about nautical horror. Historical stories of phantom ships, captain-less ships, mutinies and their disastrous bloody consequences. It’s so grounded. Their masterpiece, 2012’s Where the Corpses Sink Forever, is about the horrors of war. We follow soldiers in trenches, feel their desperation, their fear of death yet longing for it. The heart-wrenching beauty to be found on battlefields because they are so human, yet the absolute bone-chilling reality of it. It’s so fucking real. This album, no joke, is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life. It’s a 10/10 record for me, and I do not give out 10/10 easily. I’m rather critical. I have less than 20 albums that I’ve ever rated as perfect in my life, and this album is unanimously recognized as the pillar of this band, and one of the pillars of symphonic black metal altogether. This is one of the albums that made black metal click for me. It changed everything.

And then, there was a tonal shift. I suspect, coming off from such a resounding success, the band didn’t know how the fuck they could live up to it, and they crumbled under the pressure. 2015’s This is no Fairytale is, as the title suggests, bases in the Grimm fairytales. It’s a weird modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel and like. Yeah. It started to get cheap. The language used in the lyrics shifted. There’s a ton of unnecessary cursing all over this album, graphic depictions of SA, p*dophilia, incest, drugs abuse and overdose, and like, yes, Hansel and Gretel is a tale about child abuse, of course, but there’s a way to approach those topics you know? With feeling, with emotion, with realness, and here it just feels cheap. Ghastly “twists” are constantly played out for shock value, it’s surface, it’s plastic-y. The stage show changed from refined hustorical costumes and atmospheres to, like, female-bodied mannequins being dragged around and getting their throats cut on stage with copious amounts of fake blood, and for what? It’s just, tasteless now. The band lost its delicacy. That’s where it started to feel cheap, and it only went downhill from there. 2017’s Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten is a joke. Legit, this album sounds like a joke. The songs are boring, uninspired, structure-less. The lyrics are so cheap. It’s like we went from a museum quality horror painting that moves and inspires, to a cheap clown trying to be scary at a kid’s birthday party. 2020’s Franckensteina Strataemontanus was very “meh” to me. Less offensive than the previous two, and the story is inspired by classic horror literature like Mary Shelley and the strange scientists that inspired her Frankenstein. There’s potential, but the magic is dead for me. Bad taste in my mouth. I can’t do it anymore, but maybe a fresh pair of ear that doesn’t have the baggage I have with this band will like it? You let me know.

In this context, you’ll understand why my recommendations will only be from the first three albums. If you want to go for it, just listen to all three. There are no duds in any of them. But for specific songs, from Lammendam: Haunting Echoes from the Seventeenth Century, The Carriage Wheel Murder, Heretic Poltergeist Phenomena and my absolute favorite La Malédiction de la Dame Blanche. From Phantom Ship: The Sighting Is a Portent of Doom and Bloodstains on the Captain's Log. From Corpses? Listen to the whole thing man. For real. It’s a concept album, so grab the whole thing, sit down, close the lights, get the lyrics out, and follow along. Prepare to be sobbing by the end. I could recommend every single song, but they hit so much more powerfully within the context of the story.

In terms of aesthetic, there guys are “masked” in the way that they have a very unique look of corpse paint (the face paint typical to black metal).

They coined this look, not corpse paint as a whole, but their style of it. It’s been copied a million times since (like by Cradle of Filth notably, though they'll argue to the ends of the world it wasn't copied. It looks the exact same, it's a bit ridiculous), but it was Carach who did it like this first. The band members have character names, though they are not anonymous. Their real names are out there, but on stage, they’re not themselves, they are Seregor and Ardek (Namtar used to be their drummer. He quit in 2020. I have no clue how the band will record anything else in the future without him because he was the CORE of the band for me. Absolute drummer crush. I digress.) Seregor is a hobbyist mask maker and he makes masks for his different characters from his stories, like these:

Imo they still hit on the mask kink somewhat. The guys on and off stage feel like they are radically different people, and to have met them masked at the end of a show and unmasked at more proper events, there’s a world of difference in the vibe. I love it.

Oh also they have spawn a good few big metal memes like this one XD :

Which they found funny enough they turned it into a shirt XD :

(and yes of course I have one hahaha)

ROTTING CHRIST

Rotting Christ are a seminal band in black metal’s history. They have been at it for 36 years under the Rotting Christ banner, 39 years if we count the first iteration of the band under a different name. Dare I say it? I’ll say it. They’re the black metal daddies. I’m so sorry, I said it, it’s out there now XD They are daddy and I don’t make the rules. Anyway! They’ve been active since 1987, as I said, and they are signed to, yep, Seasons of Mist. I wasn’t kidding when I said this label’s roster is nuts. They are from Athens, Greece and they’re more towards the melodic / gothic side of black metal. They influen ced black meal heavily because this early in the 80s (black metal as a genre really kicked off in the 90s), there were no other bands who did what they did, and especially not in Greek. Rotting Christ have a lot of songs in Greek, in Latin, later in their career they made songs based on Hindu mysticism, their lack of fear when it comes to singing in everything but English at the time was genre defining. They made many songs in English since, but man the ones in Greek just hit different you know? They changed the game before the black metal game was even a thing.

Currently there are only two original members left in the band, brothers Sakis and Themis Tolis, vocals/guitar and drums respectively. Everyone else right now are tour musicians or session studio musicians. As their band name suggests, their themes are of anti-christianity, satanism, occultism of many different cultures, mysticism, it’s all good shit. One more band we traumatized christian kids can heal our religious trauma through, weeeee!! They have 13 full length records out, their latest one being The Heretics from 2019 (we are starving from new material, please feed us) though they haven’t paused during the pandemic, re-recording older material and releasing compilations instead. There was a new single in 2022 called Holy Mountain, and I hope and pray that means new album soon. Sakis Tolis also released a solo project in 2022, Amongst the Fires of Hell, which was fucking DELICIOUS my dude. More laid back, but so fucking crunchy. Highly recommend if you feel their sound.

In terms of recommendations, you’re in luck because they released a massive best of for their 30th anniversary called Their Greatest Spells: 30 Years of Rotting Christ. That’s the must-listen. If you want into this band, start here. You’ll get a taste of the sound of every single full lenght that came befoee. It’s 2 albums, 33 songs: find your favorites, check which album they're from, and go from there! Non Serviam, Grandis Spiritus Diavolos, In Yumen-Xibalba, Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy, everything’s on here, besides my personal favorite song of theirs, Apage Satanas. It’s a weird chanty, trance-y song but it’s the one that made me fall in love with the band. It scratches at something deep inside my brain idk.

Rotting Christ are not masked, nor is there an aesthetic to latch onto, really. They’re just cool dude doing cool things and doing their part spreading the message. They’re honest and raw. No frills. What you see is what you get. They’re the OG.

And that's the bill! Lemme know if you listen to anything and if the bands catch your interest :D

[bestangelofall]

I've seen some "Jason wouldn't listen to death metal" posts around, and if we're talking about the more traditional death metal or stuff that's more on the side of techdeath, I agree. I can't see Jason putting on, idk, Beyond Creation or Chthe'ilist or even Death to listen to.

Now, if we're talking about melodeath, death-adjacent or death metal mixed with prog (bands like Persefone or Black Crown Initiate (or Opeth, obviously)), that I think he'd listen to. Those are all subgenres that are very bombastic, emotional and dramatic. Like, look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't also be into the concept of albums like Still Life and My Arms, Your Hearse.

That's not to mention death/doom (Paradise Lost!!!!!!) and the entire 00's gothic* metal era which also had lots of death metal influence.

*since "gothic" metal is a controversial term, what I mean by it is bands like (early) Tristania, (early) Sirenia, Trail of Tears, Theatre of Tragedy, (very early) Within Temptation, etc.

[cuntess-carmilla]

New TikTok on the difference between goth music and Gothic Metal! Snippets of songs as examples included. Link to the video on TikTok.

[Image description: Screen with the text "What you favorite goth music says about you" in gothic font, followed by a collage of Bauhaus, the Banshees, The Cure and Sisters of Mercy with the text "Big 4" over it.

After there's text that reads:

"ESP: En respuesta a quienes preguntaron porqué el Metal Gótico no estaba en el video original.

ENG: In response to people asking why Gothic Metal wasn't featured in the original video."

The rest of the video is TikTok user @venus.macabre speaking to the camera. / End IG]

Transcription (in English):

I know this is against my better judgement. You know, bat to a hornets nest… Gothic Metal is not goth music. I say that as someone who's a fan of both goth music and Gothic Metal, and who actually first listened to Gothic Metal before getting into goth.

I also completely understand why so many people get confused about this, you know, with the name, plus the fact that people who're not very knowledgeable on the subculture associate Metal, in general, with goths. So, Gothic Metal is like, EXTRA goth in their minds. I get it. It's an easy mistake to make.

Both the metal subculture and the goth subculture are music-based subcultures, meaning; the only way you can be a metalhead, is by being into Metal music and being passionate about it. And the only way you can be a goth is by listening to goth music and being passionate about it.

Although there are people who participate in both scenes, as I do, they're not the same music scenes. The music is vastly different.

Goth has evolved over time. I'm not saying that the only valid form of goth music is the one that sounds EXACTLY like The Cure, the Banshees, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Specimen… You name it.

I myself predominantly listen to 90s goth music, so, trust me, I get it. Goth has changed over time, but not until it becomes something that has nothing to do with how it started.

And Metal, well, it's easy. It's very heavy music, it's guitar driven… (While goth is mostly bass-driven.) You hear it and you usually can tell it's Metal.

While goth music comes from the Post-Punk scene, taking influences from everything from Punk Rock, to Glam, to even Reggae in the case of bands like Bauhaus; Gothic Metal [instead] is a subgenre of Metal that came out of combining elements from Death Metal and Doom Metal. So, it's actually a lot heavier than most people assume.

And don't get me started on how every single Metal band with a clean female vocalist gets called Gothic Metal even if they're absolutely not.

Nightwish is not Gothic Metal, has never been Gothic Metal. Within Temptation has only been Gothic Metal for like, a microscopic portion of their discography. They instantly went into full Symphonic Metal after that. I'm getting derailed.

The "gothic" in Gothic Metal is really just an adjective. Although there were some early bands that had influence from the goth scene — not to a point that the music became goth, it was just influenced by it, the same way that goth was influenced by Reggae, tangentially, but it's not Reggae — mostly it comes from gothic literature. That's why one of the pioneer bands is called Paradise Lost, like the book.

Like I said, Gothic Metal is a lot heavier than most people give it credit for, it usually features a clean soprano or mezzo-soprano vocalist, usually but not always operatic, singing in duet with a growling vocalist.

The lyrics are poetic, melodramatic, dark, romantic… It has all the broodingness of Doom Metal, with some of the aggression of Death Metal, and a lot of gothic sensibilities. "Gothic", again, used as an adjective, not in strict relation to the goth subculture.

Theatre of Tragedy is not like, the first pioneer band, but, in my opinion, their Gothic Metal stuff epitomizes what Gothic Metal was meant to sound like.

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "Fair and 'Guiling Copesmate Death" by Theatre of Tragedy.]

There's also old Tristania.

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "My Lost Lenore" by Tristania.]

Nowadays Gothic Metal is a little softer than it used to be, it's a little repetitive… I have tried to listen to newer Gothic Metal, I cannot get into it. You listen to one, you listened to them all.

Yeah, it's very different from goth, which can sound anywhere from this…

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "Twilight" by Corpus Delicti.]

To this...

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "Rhythm of Our Dead Hearts" by La Scaltra.]

To this...

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "Release the Bats" by The Birthday Party.]

To this.

[Video cuts to a 24 second snippet of the song "Deathless" by Hamsas XIII.]

They're very different music. scenes. It's not rare for people to enjoy both, as I do, because, again, while they're very different musically, they have similar sensibilities through the influence of gothic literature, gothic film, and other dark and romantic art, but they're very different.

So, Gothic Metal is not a goth subgenre, it's a Metal subgenre, and just like you need to listen to Metal music in order to be a metalhead, you need to listen to goth music to be a goth, that's all. Please don't kill me, I swear to God.

[eilooxara]

Calliophis are over here like "hey why did everyone stop playing death-doom?"

Their style is like. What would have happened if death-doom had kept going in a different direction since 2000 instead of merging into gothic metal.

And I fucking love it! They have this really airy and soaring guitar style that I haven't heard in a band this doomy. Except maybe Paradise Lost in their early days, but Calliophis is basically what would happen if Paradise Lost had kept playing death-doom and gotten better over the ensuing years.

It's like... It's like if you took Mourning Beloveth from 20 years ago and told them to make me feel how Pelican does.

Like. It doesn't have the "remember everyone, we may be somber and sorrowful but we're still Tough Guys" thing that plagued 90s death-doom

And it doesn't have the "my heart! Is filled with highly marketable WOE! Here is a spoken word section" thing that 2000s death-doom sometimes had (which was SOMETIMES GOOD but not usually)

They're just. Fucking good doom metal.

[spiritusnocturnus]

A close representation of me changing and evolving in musical choices.

Enter The Era Of Spiritus Nocturnus

Musical Journey

Breaking guitars or casting them aside in favor of Synthesizers and Electronic Music. -Spiritus Nocturnus

My roots were always of a darker nature although I've switched somewhere in the late 2010's to a new futuristic vison. I was always into Gothic Rock/Post-Punk Music but then the Metal phase crept in and I see it as just that a phase because I always was attracted to the more obscure and classical anyways, not to what the average alternative person was into passing me by on the street asking me what is my favorite band in hopes that I could relate their favorite mainstream band. Not to say that I did like a few of them I must say but however my vibe was just different from the rest that seem to come in droves and I mostly steered away from what most people like and pave and follow my own road.

You see, I was always of a different breed even within the Alternative community. In the alternative side of things I started off more on the Punk/Trad Goth side of things with and somewhere around that part I started to learn about the difference between that form of music and Metal. As Metal seemed more polished, lively and for commercial radio and mostly none of the music I listened to sounded like it was for airplay, lively, or polished. The music I listened to sounds dark brooding, mysterious, tribal etc.

I checked out different types all the way to the fan radio friendly Alternative Metal that I used to listen to being played on Senton Hall New Jersey radio , To the Black Metal where it sound like Cats are being cooked alive screaming for dear life, to the Death Metal where it's brutal and others in between like Thrash Metal Venom, Pentagram etc. I mostly enjoyed the soothing side of Gothic Metal and I enjoyed the Slow Funeral Doom type and early Prog Occult Metal. However I was still with more of a Punk and Goth- type of mentality , Not really a Metalhead and never really was. Though no longer did guitars and certain genres like Metal was of an interest to me. The loud abrasive yelling and screaming in most Metal music became almost unbearable and was not the the right feel for me.

Truly I believe at this point I seen myself in a dark gloomy club or room psychedelia setting and it worked perfectly because my room at the time was fitting just right for that formation to occur. That was one thing then something that deeply impacted me around this time changed me altogether in my life I soon I started getting more into Darkwave and other forms of Electronic -Synth music and that sealed the deal from there. No longer were guitars, Metal etc..... were appealing to me as an Artist but I still love Post-Punk and the gloomy feel that usually brings.

Overall in my mind, I felt that Metal Is Dead so it started to get to me when people would see me on the street or if I bump into another alternative or Goth person, and yes "supposedly Goth not Metalhead" asking me about what bands am I into. Almost expecting me to say Ozzy or some other famous band etc, Didn't happen before and in this new era definitely not because half of the people I listen to is far ,far in the underground or either in the hereafter. Though anyways Synthwave in particular matched my vibe and futurist vision especially in 2017-2018 leading up to the Apocalypse of 2020 when I created my full first feature length album entitled Spiritus Nocturnus . This is around the time I started to evolve , not only as an Artist but spiritually and this the road that was meant for me when the transition from the classical Goth Spiritus Leach into the new cyberpunk/cybergoth Spiritus Nocturnus.

Yes in general it's ok and is possible to like both and all types (as I still do at times and I also love Smooth Jazz and Baroque/Dark Classical) and still prefer to be assimilated within a certain subculture, as that may be more of your preference and to me my preference is now Electronic music nowadays in a particular that of 80's vibe and in this new Cyberpunk and Spiritus Nocturnus Era I find myself more among those who are into Cyberpunk, Cybergoth, Rivetheads

- Spiritus Nocturnus

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

ℭ𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔉𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔱 - 𝔖𝔢𝔡𝔲𝔠𝔢 𝔐𝔢 𝔗𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱

[gargarismo-blog1]

ORPHANAGE - Oblivious To Time 3-CD Boxset

Limited to 500 copies Worldwide, the digi-CD's are not available seperately, features the albums "Oblivion"and "By Time Alone" and both demos on a seperate digi-CD entitled "Morph / Druid".

3 beautiful digi-CD's in a boxed set, fully restored and remastered, with poster,

Innovative Gregorian Doom Death Metal classic remastered and re-packaged for an ultimate listening experience!

After a year of hard work Hammerheart Records will finally release the Orphanage re-issue project!

This fine release will feature the first two Orphanage albums “Oblivion” and “By Time Alone” and the demo-compilation “Morph/Druid” in a 3-CD boxset, both albums on vinyl and a very limited edition vinyl bundle including both albums and exclusive the demos on vinyl as extra!

Orphanage was a band that exploded on the Dutch scene by 1994 and became a big household name in the years 1995 to 2004.

They played all big stages in Europe and were praised for their unique, innovative style of Death Metal (with melody and gothic influences being added).

Orphanage made their songs heavy, with emphasis on bombasm and atmosphere.

The mix of Gothic and Doom Metal would not totally miss the point with Orphanage, but then you got the brutal/heavy elements as well.

The feel of the music has it’s connection to the atmosphere of gloomy castles, and perhaps even some fantasy-elements.

Everything has been painstakingly re-mastered by Toneshedo and artwork rebuild from almost scratch with full back up of the band themselves.

• Orphanage was a unique band from the unique early 90’s Dutch Death Metal scene

• ”Oblivion” and “By Time Alone” were originally released on the legendary Dutch label DSFA Records

• Mastered from the original DAT tapes by Erwin Hermsen at Toneshed Recording Studio (Dead Head, Legion of the Damned, Siege of Power, Trouble)

• Artwork rebuild from scratch by Wouter Wagemans

• Featuring (ex)members of bands as Within Temptation, Delain, The Gathering

• Partly recorded, produced and engineered by Oscar Holleman (RS29)

[loquaciousnesssesquipedalian]

On music that will be mentioned

In terms of my taste in music, I’m mostly into black and/or doom/death metal. I am not into -core (except a select few goregrind acts), punk, most thrash (so no “crossover”), harsh noise (except if I can withstand the noisy elements, which is very rarely), most brutal death metal, and most raw BM. I’m also not into “traditional” black metal and in truth most black metal in general, and out of the closest-to-mainstream acts thereof, Celtic Frost (not always BM) and early Dimmu Borgir (began as gothic BM) are my favorites, and all that combined is just scratching the surface or me.

As for that which I tend to like, it weighs towards industrial metal, dark ambient (when still metal), funeral doom, non-European folk metal, gothic metal, and outright surreal music. I have also looked around the internet to such an extent that, if one was to recommend something to me, chances are that I would at least know what it sounds like to some extent.

I’m well aware of the whole “NSBM” controversy (and some moral equivalents thereof, like an alarming amount of “unblack” metal acts), and I avoid those acts like plague and otherwise separate the art from the artist. It’s worth noting that people like that, despite their claims to the contrary and active attempts at co-opting and claim-jumping BM (and also runes, Asatru, and the like), are only a vocal minority and are best ignored, because what they want most is to not be ignored and they would absolutely hate that.

My point of making this post is so that readers will know what to expect from here and why I do some things. My reviews here will explain the naming choices and also the lyrics to some extent, and there will be MONKE.

[derangedrhythms]

Sun compilation for @themoonandthewanderer

"The sun hardly touches me. / Sometimes I see it in early spring, rising very far away. / Then leaves grow over it, completely hiding it. I feel it / glinting through the leaves, erratic, / like someone hitting the side of a glass with a metal spoon. / Living things don’t all require / light in the same degree. Some of us / make our own light: a silver leaf / like a path no one can use, a shallow / lake of silver in the darkness under the great maples."

— Louise Glück, The Wild Iris; ‘Lamium’

"But this night of mine can’t be killed by any sun."

— Alejandra Pizarnik, The Shadow Texts; from ‘The Green Table’, tr: Yvette Siegert

"…threaten the Sun, in the Moon’s name, with being engulfed by perpetual night."

— Robert Graves, The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition

"We'll celebrate the dead sun's dying light."

— Charles Baudelaire, Complete Poems; 'Spleen et Idéal' from 'Black Bile (Millenium of memories...)', tr. Walter Martin

"Then the sun again / Waking like a torn-out eye."

— Ted Hughes, Moortown Diary; from 'Coming down through Somerset'

"…that old villain the Sun"

— Aristophanes, quoted by Robert Graves in 'The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition'

"Close out the sun, for I would have it dark / That I may feel how black the grave will be."

— Sara Teasdale, Helen of Troy and Other Poems; from ‘Beatrice’

"furious anger in spring sunshine,"

— Margaret Atwood, Selected Poems II: Poems Selected & New: 1976-1986; from ‘Not the Moon’

"Black, but still a sun, / Like the Sun's negative."

— Ted Hughes, Collected Poems: Uncollected (1983-86); from 'Sacrificed Head'

"...the sky where the sun was already rising like a hot white bitch."

— Toni Morrison, from 'Sula'

"The sun is dressed in black."

— Charles Baudelaire, Complete Poems; 'Spleen et Idéal' from 'Possessed', tr. Walter Martin

"The sun doesn't forgive, / it looks and keeps going."

— Margaret Atwood, from ‘Power Politics’

"Who would not blot out the sun sometimes?"

— Susanna Clarke, from 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'

"And so for days Magdalena obsessively barricaded the windows of her room against the gusty sunshine and tumult of spring."

— Joyce Carol Oates, Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror; from ‘Shadows of the Evening’

"I'm reminded of the sun of my childhood. Infused with death,"

— Alejandra Pizarnik, The Shadow Texts; from ‘The Green Table’, tr: Yvette Siegert

"I feel more vulnerable in the spring than in the fall. That’s why I’m so damp. This isn’t sweat. It’s something the sun has wrung from my heart."

— Izumi Kyoka, Japanese Gothic Tales; ‘One Day in Spring’, tr. Charles Shiro Inouye

"Drowned in a pool of blood the sun lies slain."

— Charles Baudelaire, Complete Poems; 'Spleen et Idéal' from 'Evening Harmony', tr. Walter Martin

"Outside the sun shines. / I dress up in ashes."

— Alejandra Pizarnik, from ‘The Lost Adventures’; untitled, tr: Cecilia Rossi

"If I were God, I'd call on the angels one night / to release the round sun into the darkness's furnace,"

— Forugh Farrokhzad, Osyan (Rebellion); from ‘Rebellious God’, tr. Sholeh Wolpé

"I hope for no good of this letter because today the sun opposes a conjunction of Saturn and the moon, and Mars opposes Jupiter which is back on my sun. Defy these stars."

— Ted Hughes, Letters of Ted Hughes; from a letter to Olwyn Hughes, 22nd May 1956

"Don’t speak to me of the sun or I’ll die."

— Alejandra Pizarnik, from ‘Extracting the Stone of Madness’, tr. Yvette Siegert

"She hated the sun too because it was treacherous."

— Sylvia Plath, Johnny Panic and The Bible of Dreams; from ‘Tongues of Stone’

"Doom on the sun!"

— Dylan Thomas, The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: The New Centenary Edition; from ‘Find meat on bones’

"What’s deadlier than the sun?"

— Jean-Paul Sartre, from 'The Flies', tr. Stuart Gilbert

"The sun will never rise again on anyone. / Never. Never more. At last."

— Marguerite Duras, from 'Hiroshima Mon Amour', tr. Richard Seaver

"…the dark glasses interfere with my ability to recognize obstacles. I can’t take them off, the sunny weather ruins my mood, and they help mask all this sunniness. With them I can even pretend that the sky is overcast instead of bright blue, so I have been wearing them continuously for the last week, eager to deceive myself, and getting into accidents, but better a couple of accidents than the depression that will inevitably follow if I’m forced to live under the cloudless sky."

— Mariam Petrosyan, from 'The Gray House', tr. Yuri Machkasov

"Or the funeral of the sun;"

— Dylan Thomas, The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: The New Centenary Edition; from ‘Here in this spring’

"My painful moon-eyes wait and brood / To view the sun's demise."

— Gertrud Kolmar, Dark Soliloquy: The Selected Poems of Gertrud Kolmar; from 'The Toad', tr. Henry A. Smith

"The sun was like a feverish eye."

— Sadeq Hedayat, The Blind Owl and Other Stories; from 'The Blind Owl', tr. D. P. Costello

"You might think a total solar eclipse would have no colour. The word “eclipse” comes from ancient Greek ekleipsis, “a forsaking, quitting, abandonment.” The sun quits us, we are forsaken by light. Yet people who experience total eclipse are moved to such strong descriptions of its vacancy and void that this itself begins to take on colour. What after all is a colour? Something not no colour. Can you make a double negative of light? Would that be like waking from a dream in the wrong direction and finding yourself on the back side of your own mind? There is a moment of reversal within totality."

— Anne Carson, Decreation: Poetry, Essays, Opera; from ‘Totality: The Colour of Eclipse’

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

20 WOMEN VOCALISTS IN METAL WHO ARE A DRIVING FORCE FOR THE GENRE

Lzzy Hale

If you haven’t heard of the colossal Halestorm and their show-stealing frontlady Lzzy Hale by now, how’s it been living under that rock? Out here in the real world, both rock and metal have been battling to claim Halestorm and Hale’s presence since the band’s first EP, (Don’t Mess With The) Time Man, in 1999. From the vitriolic masochism of “I Miss The Misery” to the heart-wrenching “Here’s To Us,” Hale’s vocal range reaches each extreme of moving emotion and devastating attitude. We couldn’t pay tribute to Hale without also recognizing her guitar talents. Check the sassy leading line from “Love Bites (So Do I)” as an example of this phenomenal lady’s ability to step beyond musical expression and into aural artistry.

SKYND

True crime has never been more compelling than at the hands of Australian electronic-metal sensation SKYND and their mystifying frontwoman of the same name. Tackling a new real-life mystery with each track, covering the disappearance and mysterious death of “Elisa Lam” and the doomed cult following of “Jim Jones,” SKYND’s haunting vocals tell each tale as if they were acting out in front of you. SKYND’s dedication to her theatrical persona (plus the ability to keep her real identity a secret), her iconic look and the creation of lore around her exposition of real-life crimes is a mystery the metal world may never solve, but perhaps it never should.

Taylor Momsen

Gossip Girl? We don’t know her—we know Taylor Momsen as the sultry tones commanding metal’s sassiest frontrunners the Pretty Reckless. With her gravelly vocals offset by her signature blacked-out eyes and suspenders, Momsen is an all-around powerhouse frontlady who bends all of your stereotypical expectations of a female vocalist. Take the hissing attitude of “Make Me Wanna Die,” the iconic summer anthem through “Messed Up World (F’d Up World),” the doomed “Going To Hell” and the gloriously filthy “My Medicine”—she’s not here for your entertainment, simply to make music in her own inimitable devil-may-care way.

Sharon den Adel

Where symphonic-metal outfits go through vocalists like water, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel has held on to her throne at the very beating heart of the genre since 1996. The band that introduced you to the dark side in high school has come a long way from “Angels” and “Our Farewell” to their most recent sensation “The Purge,” but the enduring talents of the angelic den Adel at the helm remain as moving as ever. Whether your heart breaks or races along with the captivating stories told through her cherubic vocals, den Adel’s talents have kept this legendary band alive and relevant for 25 years. We’re hanging on the edge of our seats for a new album.

Amy Lee

Most millennials were introduced to the world of metal through Evanescence’s invasion of radio airtime in the early 2000s, making vocalist Amy Lee an initial encounter in female presence in a heavily male realm. With an unforgettably haunting vocal range that can reach into your chest and pull out your heart with a single note, Lee’s trademark sound has lived in our minds since 2003’s Fallen and has no intention of letting go. From the iconic “Bring Me To Life” to her solo career’s “Speak To Me” and most notably the captivating “My Immortal,” Lee’s inimitable voice of an angel showed metal how to truly capture the mainstream.

Melissa Bonny

You’ve never seen symphonic metal quite like Switzerland’s Ad Infinitum and, consequently, you’ve never seen a frontwoman quite like Melissa Bonny. With her compelling vocals at the helm, each track tells a story steeped in historic struggles and triumphs as the band members each adopt a story of survival during the time of the Black Death in Europe. Every member appears in a plague doctor’s mask except Bonny, commanding the narrative as her show-stopping range transitions from heavenly cleans to venomous screams with ease. Ad Infinitum and Bonny’s towering talents begin an epic quest through the ranks of metal, and nothing will stand in their way.

Simone Simons

Symphonic-metal outfits face a constant challenge to stay relevant and move forward with the scene around them, more so than any other subgenre. However, the dreamy contributions of Simone Simons have kept Epica at the forefront of their genre since 2002. The band that once created “Storm The Sorrow” have matured to the lofty heights of “The Skeleton Key” with Simons’ operatic tones at the helm, bringing her angelic range to the band’s cinematic instrumentals and occasional death-metal infusions.

Maria Brink

Since their inception in 2005, In This Moment have redefined performance art and metal all at the same time, thanks to the command of iconic vocalist Maria Brink. Challenging religious imagery alongside feminine stereotypes, Brink’s presence both on and offstage has decimated the white male dominance of the metal genre. It takes a certain conviction and attitude to pull off the likes of “Whore” and “Blood” without trivializing their core moral messages, but Brink has rewritten the book on expectations of women in the heavy music industry. Long may she reign.

Larissa Stupar

Vicious, teeth-baring uncleans are the domain of Venom Prison’s Larissa Stupar, death metal’s brightest rising star. Whoever said women had to be the saccharine, angelic feminine contribution to metal clearly never met Stupar, who belts savage growls as if delivered from the gates of hell itself. The likes of “Uterine Industrialisation” and “Slayer Of Holofernes” prove devastating both live and in the studio when this unrelenting powerhouse gets her chops around them.

Alissa White-Gluz

Arch Enemy’s screamer-in-chief makes belting superhuman notes look easy. Alissa White-Gluz’s cord-shredding talents are the result of a career that started when she formed the Agonist at the age of 19. Joining Arch Enemy in 2014 gave White-Gluz a platform to showcase her range and also gave us her contagious live presence on a bigger stage. Providing her distinctive tones to regular collaborations with Kamelot and Delain, the voice behind Arch Enemy’s “War Eternal” and “You Will Know My Name” is no stranger to framing racing riffs with her guttural chops and showing off her heavenly cleans when the instrumentals allow.

Cristina Scabbia

The dual vocal onslaught we know and love from Lacuna Coil compels and fascinates, thanks to the storming presence of Cristina Scabbia. Dominating the metal scene since the ’90s, the enduring Italian crew pour richly gothic melodies over devastating riffs. Scabbia’s heavenly clean vocal is the cherry on top. From unforgettable classics such as “Our Truth” to their latest show-stopping “Save Me,” her dream-like range has been an invaluable gift to metal for over two decades and hopefully many, many more.

Tarja Turunen

The thought of losing founding Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen to the abyss of former symphonic singers when she left the outfit in 2005 was too much to bear. Luckily for us, Turunen kick-started her solo career the following year, and she’s been a mainstay of the metal scene ever since. The heavenly operatics that once heralded classics such as “Wish I Had An Angel” and “Nemo” now belts “Innocence” and “Tears In Rain” with the most celestial, earthbound vocals the genre has seen to date.

Suzuka Nakamoto

Easily the youngest member of our ranking, Suzuka Nakamoto, known as Su-metal, is the founding member of Japanese sensations BABYMETAL. With all the maturity of an artist twice her age, this 23-year-old puts us all to shame with her consistent energetic vocals and seemingly endless energy supplies while performing impeccable dance routines onstage. Between the iconic “Gimme Chocolate!!” and BABYMETAL’s latest “Kingslayer” collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon, there’s no denying she has a long and prolific career ahead of her.

Amalie Bruun

Myrkur has become a relentless hot topic in metal since its inception in 2014, and we have only recently discovered the identity of the haunting vocals at its heart. Now we can credit multi-instrumental composer Amalie Bruun with the rise of this mysterious Danish project, led into the wilderness by her raw screams bursting through cherubic cleans just when you least expect it. Often singing in Norwegian as an authentic twist on her own style of black metal, the theatrical “Ulvinde” and “Juniper”’s lingering atmospherics merely scratch the surface of Bruun’s compelling storytelling talents.

Elize Ryd

Amaranthe’s triple-threat vocals fetch their lighter tones from Elize Ryd, the Swedish outfit’s not-so-secret weapon who brings cherubic notes to their modern take on organized metallic chaos. Also known for her additions to Kamelot, both live and in the studio, Ryd’s heavenly cords and quirky songwriting add a bucketload of atmosphere and depth to the likes of “Amaranthine” and “Maximize,” making Amaranthe’s unique versatility one that continually sets trends for years to come.

Cammie Gilbert

Houston doom-metal upstarts Oceans Of Slumber have found themselves on a near-vertical trajectory over the last few years, a movement fronted by the tireless energy and boundless talents of their powerhouse vocalist Cammie Gilbert. Upon joining the band in 2014, Gilbert’s towering range came to the surface as her vocals neatly expand the lulling melancholy of “Winter” and the desperate cries of “A Return To The Earth Below,” as if her vocals project both fragility and strength at the same moment.

Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey

We couldn’t separate the two ladies commanding Butcher Babies, so this slot goes out to both Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey as the double-trouble onslaught who have brought us “Monsters Ball” and “Magnolia Blvd.” If you’re looking for a nonstop, indulgent party with the possibility of a snapped neck or two, look no further than L.A.’s dirtiest metal export that have become a staple on everybody’s festival bucket list. This versatile pair have made thrash their own ever since their 2013 debut, Goliath, showed the metal scene what it had been so desperately lacking—two relentless ladies who know exactly how to have a good time.

Chelsea Wolfe

Surprisingly the only strictly solo appearance on this list, Chelsea Wolfe has made metal her very own since her arrival in 2010, draping a veil of folk-y atmosphere and gothic depth over seductive doom-metal undertones. Combining her boundary-smashing approach with a sadistically dark visual style, Chelsea Wolfe somewhat ironically injects life into doom by refusing to conform to the genre’s ’90s stereotypes. She wraps her smooth vocal swathes around the compelling melancholy of “Feral Love” and “16 Psyche,” as if redressing the world around her in her own image.

Tatiana Shmayluk

You’d be forgiven for thinking Ukrainian outfit Jinjer tell their lyrical tales through the voice of three separate individuals covering melodic cleans, ear-splitting screams and guttural snarls and somewhat effortlessly slipping between them. The single towering voice behind this band’s meteoric rise belongs to Tatiana Shmayluk, flexing her multi-talented chops on “Perennial” and “Sit Stay Roll Over” just to increase your vocal envy. We’re still not sure how she pulls off such smooth transitions between the polar opposite personas onstage, but we can’t seem to look away.

Floor Jansen

Taking on the mammoth task of fronting the pioneering outfit Nightwish in 2013, Floor Jansen donned her new role as if she was born for it. Jansen’s inimitable honeyed tones ushered in a new age for the symphonic-metal icons, weaving her slick melodic range through the band’s trademark cinematic instrumentals. The theatrical atmospheres tracked on “Élan” and “Noise” give Jansen the room to flex her operatic range while she narrates the vibrant, tall tales we know and love from Nightwish.