Feature: Brutal Unblack Metal – The Essentials
So, what’s brutal black metal you ask? Am I just arbitrarily splitting genre-hairs? Perhaps. But hear me out. Brutal black metal is a style I have often associated with Swedish black metal more than Norwegian, at least when it comes to early recordings. It’s often heavier in tone than many black metal bands, but it’s not blackened death metal. It’s obsessed with blastbeats and speed, often at all costs, but it lacks the death and grind overtones of bestial/war metal. In short, it’s usually fairly traditional, straightforward black metal that focuses on speed and aggression over atmosphere and experimentation. In the secular scene, bands such as Marduk, early Immortal, Dark Funeral, 1349, Tsjuder, earlier Enthroned and Gorgoroth are, in my opinion, fairly emblematic of the style.
If you like your black metal straight-up with little subtlety, but want some more meat on the bones than what you’d get with the ultra-raw, primitive bands, you’ve come to the right place. Don the spiked gauntlets and slap on the corpse-paint – it’s time to check out the Essentials of Brutal Unblack.
Skald in Veum – Stridslysten
A modern classic in every sense of the word by a band that I ardently wish would emerge from the shadows once again to release another album. 1260 Days, their first EP, was merely a warning shot for the full-throttle blastfest that is Stridslysten. Combining the sounds of classic Euronymous-era Mayhem, Tsjuder and Marduk with a Watain-like ethos and approach, Skald in Veum find themselves in good sonic company with Christian acts like Crimson Moonlight and Shadows of Paragon. Apocalyptic, convicting, and brazen, Stridslysten remains one of the finest unblack metal records ever released. Members of the band: if you’re reading this, please, PLEASE come back and release another record!!
Wintersoul – Frozen Storm Apocalypse
Formed from the ashes of Brazilian death metal band Clemency (a severely underrated band if there ever was one), Wintersoul released one of the finest black metal assaults of its day in the form of Frozen Storm Apocalypse. Featuring female vocals by Melanie Sarah of Ashen Mortality, an odd element if there ever was one in this style of black metal, Wintersoul went full-tilt nuts with this one, combining hyper-speed blasting and death metal-ish guitar riffs into a sonic blitzkrieg that easily stood toe-to-toe against anything post-Legion Marduk was doing.
Crimson Moonlight – Veil of Remembrance
Crimson Moonlight, on their full-length albums at least, always seemed to follow the straight-ahead speed and aggression approach of their classic Swedish counterparts, whether it be Dark Funeral on The Covenant Progress, or Mortuus-era Marduk like with Divine Darkness. But Veil of Remembrance treads its own path, opting for a hyper-technical, ridiculously fast assault of freezing cold black metal that is blinding in its fervent pace. If you’re looking for Crimson Moonlight at their most unrelenting, here you have it.
Sorrowstorm – Onward
Panama’s Sorrowstorm, helmed by multi-instrumentalist Felipe Diez III, released a classic of the genre with Onward, a compilation record of sorts (though Diez apparently regards it as an album proper), Onward makes up for a couple of inconsistencies in production by virtue of its raw power. Violent, dynamic and chaotic, Onward blended acoustic guitars and atmospheric synth into the mix but kept the frantic pace to the fore. The remastered 2021 version of the album only made it all even better.
Shadows of Paragon – Through the Valley Within
Somewhat lost amongst the shuffle when it came to Swedish black metal, Shadows of Paragon exemplified the classic Swedish focus on speed, heaviness and aggression. Though it would be Crimson Moonlight who would later hog the spotlight when it came to classic Swedish unblack, Shadows of Paragon here show that they were masters of their craft.
Fire Throne – Day of Darkness…and Blackness
Still one of my all-time favourite unblack metal bands ever, Fire Throne’s only album took the raw sounds that main member Fire was up to in Elgibbor, but added a massive amount of speed, thanks to one of the fastest drummers I’ve ever heard who goes by the pseudonym Unblasphemer (who is also in Abdijah). Nine tracks of frostbitten carnage await the listener that combine the repetitive simplicity of bands like Darkthrone with the blast-beat obsessed sounds of early Immortal and Marduk. Though some seemed to decry the album for its straightforward approach, I fell in love with it for that very reason. It was cold, relentless and went absolutely hard, but never slipped into any death metal overtones. If you were lucky enough to get the re-issue from Nokternal Hemizphear, you would have also been treated to lost demo tracks that had all the subtlety of having someone take a blowtorch to your ears. Completely and totally mandatory listening.
Imperial Dusk – Black Priest of Satanic Blood Rituals
Former fans (or current fans) of Belgium’s Enthroned will love practically everything about this record. Brazil’s most prolific unblack metal horde’s debut album is packed to the brim with militant blasting drums and boasts a pared-down approach that keeps the frills to a minimum.
Warfrozen – Vials of Wrath/Warfrozen split
Warfrozen isn’t a name you’ll come across too often in the unblack metal world, probably because only four tracks were ever recorded by the artist, on a split with Vials of Wrath, back when that band was more involved in a black/death style of music. Sole member Christhammer (now known as Dösborn in his new black metal band, Majesty) brings a raw element to an already aggressive sound that echoes bands like Tsjuder and Darkened Nocturne Slaughtercult. Sad that this band didn’t continue!
Dawnbreaker – Total Depravity
Dawnbreaker’s Total Depravity saw the solo act break somewhat from the war/bestial sounds of Deus Vult and embrace a more Swedish-style brutal approach. If you’re wondering what the subtle difference is between war/bestial unblack metal and brutal unblack metal is, a finely-tuned ear can hear it here.
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