You wake up from a coma that started back in 2004. What music artist/band/group are you most surprised (good or bad,) by the direction they took musically over the last twenty years?
You wake up from a coma that started back in 2004. What music artist/band/group are you most surprised (good or bad,) by the direction they took musically over the last twenty years?
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I'd say collectively the genre of black metal. In 2004 most black metal acts were still doing the same kind of lo-fi DIY "buzzsaw in a garbage can" style that had been popular throughout the 90s. You could find artists who were starting to get more creative with it, but you really had to look hard sometimes.
Don't get me wrong, I still love old school black metal, but when that's all there is it starts to all sound alike after awhile.
Now it seems like every time I hear a new black metal release people have really started pushing the genre WAY past a bunch of white guys in corpse paint singing about how depressed they are lol! Now there's tons of interesting electronic bands, lots of crossover bands, lots of avant garde artistic stuff, lots of stuff from different countries all over the world all adding their own unique sounds... It's just really refreshing to hear a genre that was notoriously strict become something so much bigger and better
What bands do you recommend that are of the newer style?
The last Ihsahn album was really good! It sounded like it was half Emperor half John Williams score lol! I just recently started listening to
Botanist which is a one man project where he makes atmospheric black metal using hammered dulcimers!
Just yesterday I was listening to this band Kaatayra from Brazil who use a lot of traditional folk instruments and it had kind of a zen vibe to it in parts.
I recently found a post black metal band from Japan called Asunojokei whose music sounds kind of like a black metal band playing anime theme songs lol
Dødheimsgard have been around forever but their last album Black Medium Current was VERY eclectic to the point of being almost psychedelic at times!
There are a ton more if you look around honestly
Cool thanks!
I still enjoy the second-wave stuff from time to time, but you're absolutely spot-on with what's been coming out in recent years. I'm really into groups that have kept the original BM music style but embraced modern production. A few that come to mind are Faidra, Spectral Wound, Asarhaddon, and Funeral Winds; fantastic bands that play "true" BM but have good recording quality.
Like you mentioned, the big change is just how many "crossover" bands there are, and I'm all for it. You didn't ask for suggestions, but I'm going to offer some of my favorites anyway:
- Harakiri for the Sky - One of the best post-black bands.
- Anomalie (shares members with Harakiri for the Sky) - BM plus what I can only call "tribal" elements.
- Psyclon 9 (at least their older albums) - BM plus industrial/aggrotech.
- Dawn of Ashes - See above.
- Anaal Nathrakh - BM + grind + industrial + ?
- Darkthrone (yes, THAT Darkthrone) - Blackened hard rock? I don't know what to call their new stuff, but it's not bad.
- Gaerea - Radio-friendly BM
- Kanonenfieber - Blackened melodic death metal? Maybe?
- Afsky - Folk-inspired BM. Seems like this is a really popular combination.
- None - DSBM, but with the exception of their filler tracks, more on the BM, less on the DS.
- Ernte - Fairly traditional BM, but with female vocals.
I've heard a few of these but I'm saving the rest to listen to later! What Darkthrone was doing a few albums ago is now called "Black N' Roll" and it's its own awesome genre now!