Years of Decay 1994

This album is divided into 9 songs and all them together… They make the “Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age” one of the best Black Metal albums released till now. But, the band in my opinion never was really appreciated from the majority of the Black Metal lovers. It was the keys? I don’t think so. It was because they were from Austria? Even if Austria is not a “Traditional” Black Metal country, I don’t think that was because of that too. Maybe because Abigor had them own way of seeing and playing Black Metal with “strange” and different passages in the songs, a different sound production, a different approach to the Black Metal? Maybe… I will never know, I guess. One thing I know… I love this album and I advise it to all metal music lovers. 

Note: You FCKG bastard, give me back my CD. You can be in France living but the CD is mine. 

The Key Keeper

With 11 tracks in just 30 minutes of intense tempo and great melodies, “Suomi Finland Perkele” is in top 5 of my all-time favorite black metal albums and for me, it is the best Finnish BM album ever! Hammering beats and hateful grim vocals over unique riffing. The simplicity of the structures of the songs makes them so approachable and so great. I must point out “Suomi” is not the typical black metal album coming from this era, having in mind all the classic albums coming from the Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden and the by the other Finnish bands as well. (we all know the second wave). However, it is reasonable to point out as well the different vibes, which IMPALED NAZARENE have always delivered.

“Suomi Finland Perkele” definitely has much more polished sound and atmosphere in comparison than “Ugra-Karma” and “Tol Kormpt Norz Norz Norz”, and more black-and-roll/punky vibes. And melodies (I said that already).

Mandatory tracks: the “ballad”(!) “Blood is thicker than water”, the monstrous smashers “Steel Vagina” (wait, what?!), and the war tune of them all – “Total War – Winter War”, followed by the epic “Qasb/The Burning“. Then in the b-side of the record come the mandatory blackened punky “Let’s Fucking Die”, the apocalyptic “Genocide” and fiery whiplashing “Ghetoblaster”, all capable to provide power for a dozen powerplants (at least). 

25 years later this album still gives me hits, chills, it moves me, brings the fire in my heart and eyes, and makes me headbang and sing along. High energy and pure hate. Musically it is so enjoyable and impactful! An absolute klassik full of ice-cold war tunes from the North.

Count Vlad

Banging around in the California desert since the late 80s, the band finally settled on the name KYUSS and between ’92-’95 released 3 absolute classic Desert Rock/Metal albums: “Blues for the Red Sun”, “Welcome to Sky Valley”, and finally “…And the Circus Leaves Town”. My introduction to KYUSS must have come around ’99. QOTSA had already formed, but it was before ‘Rated R’ broke big and at that time they weren’t on my radar. This was a little before the age of Google and all the rest, so back in those days it was much easier to stay in the dark about how one band connected to another. For me there’s not much value in trying to pick between the 3 albums mentioned above, but this is ’94 we’re talking about today, so “Sky Valley” it is for us and oh what a monster it is from the word go.

That first diesel-driven riff that opens “Gardenia” lets you know that what lies ahead is some real meaty Hard Rock. As the guitar builds with menace the drums kick in and the band locks into a groove. Great, slick, head-banging music, ideal for spacing out in the desert sun… I suppose, but hey I was living in Scotland at the time, and we don’t have many deserts there I can tell you. Already by the second track, the instrumental “Asteroid”, the band displays their penchant for spacey, tripped-out jams, but be sure, just when they’ve lulled you into a peaceful groove they’ll come in hard and fast with more monster riffing. The racing “100 Degrees” sure sounds like it could burn your skin off at 50 paces, with guitars firing like a flamethrower and the drums delivering rapid-fire Molotov-cocktail fills.

While “Sky Valley” hits hard, it’s important to emphasise that the effortless groove the band always have right at their finger-tips is a huge part of the band’s charm. There is no denying the cool, sexiness of this music.  “Space Cadet” strips things down with a great, soothing acoustic jam, before the band roars back up through the gears with one of their signature tunes “Demon Cleaner” opening with a brilliant drum rhythm, soon to be accompanied by Scott Reeder’s slithering bass line and Homme’s irresistible riffing. Once Garcia glides in over the top it’s all over folks, there’s no escape, you’re locked in the KYUSS groove.

There’s a lot of what people call “Stoner Rock” or “Stoner Metal” out there and KYUSS definitely fit neat enough into that category, but no one should ever make the mistake of viewing this band as a bunch of macho luddites. Heavy as you like, but damned sexy with it too. Hail to the kings baby. 

Tom

Meanwhile, four badger painted lads from Norway took the entire world by storm – having previously honed their skills with the “Wrath Of The Tyrant” demo and their self-titled EP to unleash “In The Nightside Eclipse” into an unsuspecting world. I studied the black metal scene with avid interest, the lunacy involving church burnings and other high jinx serving only to pique my interest even more; the notion of something far more extreme and evil than the death metal fare I got into had a powerful allure, feeling illicit, dangerous, and notorious. These bands were often the topics of discussion amongst the metalhead friends during the college years, who I swapped mix tapes and loan records with. Granted, £14 in 1994 buying this CD was a huge gamble in a world where high-speed internet, music streaming, and half your music collection stored on a fingernail sized memory card was science fiction stuff that had yet to exist. However, it was a gamble that paid off well.

It boggles the mind how lads who were 16/17 years old released created one of the best black metal albums of all time, sounding as timeless as ever. Keyboards and synths are used to create a super dramatic soundscape with Bathory inspired riffs and blastbeats that had an otherworldly intensity that was claustrophobic to listen to, that spawned a raft of imitators or “homages”. Granted, one could rightfully argue that Burzum created the template for symphonic black metal with the track “Det Som En Gang Var”, but EMPEROR took this to the next level. Tracks such as ‘Beyond The Great Vast Forest’ are not so much mere songs, oh no. They’re sonic voyages that grab you buy the scruff of the neck and into another realm, with densely layered riffs and keyboards that haunt the soul in the best way possible. The album demonstrates musicians at the peak of their ability for such a young age that have you thinking “Sod it, I’ll just give up”, selling that Ibanez you drunkenly purchased from eBay gathering dust in your living room corner in frustration. Face it, could anyone really compose anything better than “I Am The Black Wizards”? No, you can’t – and don’t bother. In that hallowed list of albums entitled ‘Albums You Should Listen To Before You Die’, it’s as simple as that.

Goth Mark

The opening track “Defenestration” crashes out of the gates in style, pushing an insanely technical and unforgiving agenda of brutality. The second those funky bass riffs hit you know shit is about to go down, and holy hell does it ever! Every track that follows is just as devastating as the last but I seem to gravitate towards “Open Face Surgery”, “Gravaned (A Cryptopsy)”, “Memories Of Blood”, “Mutant Christ”, and ”Pathological Frolic” for a quick shot. CRYPTOPSY can crush you blast beats and riffs but they also take the time to dissect things and slow down for a heavier groove and some incredible solo work.

Blasphemy Made Flesh is a disgusting masterpiece that deserves as much attention today as it did on release day. It’s full of stand out bass guitar work and the jarring samples used on the album add to the cut throat tone throughout.  Lord Worm is iconic on vocals and Flo Mounier is one of the most consistently incredible drummers in death metal to this day. His beastly complex stamina keeps the eviscerating guitars in check with a crushing brutality. Go find your nearest politician and throw them out the goddamn window… it’s time for some CRYPTOPSY!

Metal Yeti

Nailbomb was a side project from Max Cavalera and Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel band) when they were together living in Phoenix. Max listened to an FT album and he was caught by them immediately Sepultura and FT toured together a few years before and Max and Alex become close friends and play music in a bedroom just for fun. Then, Gloria suggested to the guys to create a new band or project. So, that`s how Nailbomb came to the light and the album Point Blank was created in a bedroom haha.

This great album with some hardcore punk and groovy influences and an industrial metal blend, it captured the attention of many people, even the idea was immediately accepted by the Roadrunner Records staff who gave their approval for the configuration of the album that in the end was the only Nailbomb full-length. Lyrics are about rage, violence and political garbage, all this language that these guys want to express and expel out. Also, the cover is a brutal image of the Vietnam war.

When you listen to it you feel the heavyweight riffs and the aggressive combo of explosive TNT and fire exploding and blowing off all around. It’s like walking on an active minefield.

That was the Max and Alex idea of this record. It´s brutal and furious, fast and raw. Headbanging assured.
In the end, I want to highlight some of my favorite tracks: “24 hours bullshit” “Guerrillas” “Sum of your Achievements” Cockroaches” “Religious Cancer” and “Sick Life”.

Jammerfal

SATYRICON was formed in 1990 under the name Eczema and they used to play death metal. None of Satyr and Frost(which is the classic SATYRICON line-up we know) was part of the band then though.So after the changes in line-up and musical direction, SATYRICON let their presence known to the universe in 1994 with “Dark Medieval Times” and “Shadowthrone”. Along with the mighty “Nemesis Divina“, these two albums are surely the highest point in the catalogue of SATYRICON. They still remained true to the old SATYRICON sound in the following album “Rebel Extravaganza” too but started experimenting with the sound with the turn of the millennium,shifting towards a “black ‘n’ roll” sound at first and finally to something like “blackened progressive metal” sound with their self-titled 8th studio album and the following album. But that should not distract us from the timeless beauty each of their “unholy trilogy” was.

Though “Shadowthrone” and specially “Nemesis Divina” were better structured and compact, the debut “Dark Medieval Times” will always be my most favorite record of them. Because:

1) The unpredictable, “disjointed” nature of this record.
2) Acoustic passages were more prominent than the following 2 albums.
3) It was the first SATYRICON album I heard.

From the horror-inducing starting of “Walk the path of sorrow” to the tenebrous, sorrowful “Taakeslottet” (The Fogcastle) filled with haunting spoken words and gloomy melodies, this album is cold, bleak, mournful. This record drips atmosphere from every angle through icy tremolo riffs, mesmerizing harmonies and arpeggios and gentle yet sinister synth layers in the alley of French and British black metal scene of that time. The way they break up the tempo with sudden acoustic passages gives a sacred medieval touch which would be implemented by many Celtic black metal bands for years to come. Sometimes they merged the acoustic passages with all the distorted chaos like in “into the mighty forest” but otherwise, these passages are instantaneous and the transitions between these passages and the full-blown blast chaos create great suspense. The most memorable part of this album to me is the  flute+acoustic run they used in the middle of the title track. It’s like Summoning+Tenhi surrounded in a frosty Burzum soundscape.

So “Dark Medieval Times” should not be overlooked when it comes to the Norwegian black metal classics. This album captures all the emotions which made Black metal special. It’s tearful,it’s cold, it’s melancholic, it’ some howling cries from some dark mountains…the use of the sound of freezing winds blowing in the northern landscape throughout the record is surely testimony to that.

Apollo

BURZUMs third album could be seen as the birth of atmospheric black metal or even ambient black metal, with its lengthy tracks, ambient intros and monotone, yet very meditative riffs. While these elements are present throughout the albums entire runtime, the prime example of all the album’s strengths in my opinion being its opener “Det som engang var” (“What Once Was”).

The album, translating to “If The Light Takes Us”, could also be seen as a major influence for what was to become “Depressive Suicidal Black Metal” or DSBM for short. The vocals on this record are extremely tortured, sounding almost not human at points, even more so than on BURZUMs previous albums! The long closer of the album, “Tomhet” (“Emptiness”), is a straight up ambient track, which can also be seen as a major influence for the genre that is today known as “Dungeon Synth”.

Besides all the significance that “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” holds for the development of the genre, the album is also just really, really good and also very experimental for black metal at this point in its history! “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” remains as one of my all-time favourite black metal albums for sure, it is captivating and cohesive from start to finish while also being very unique and recognizable in sound. If you have not given this a try, maybe just because of controversy surrounding the man behind the music, you are missing out on a great album and a milestone in black metal history!

the trve Medvson

While one may look at this as an album that is simply glorified for its background history, regarding the suicide, murder, arsons and everything else that this album and the people affiliated with it are known for… But while these are a reason to get to this album, the music is what ultimately has to stick, and it does!

Featuring absolute milestone-tracks like “Funeral Fog”, “Freezing Moon” & “Life Eternal” this album is a massive influence for the genre, and while the three tracks mentioned are definitely the standouts, the rest are extremely solid too! The production of this album, for me at least, is perfect, all instruments are at appropriate places in the mix, everything comes together extremely well!

Also, while many consider Dead to be the best vocalist MAYHEM ever had, the myth in my opinion often lifts him even higher in many peoples heads. Attila Csihars performance on this album is not to be underestimated, it is a really great if not classic black metal vocal performance, but still or maybe even because of it, it remains recognizable.

It is difficult to say something about this album that has not been said already, but if why ever you have not listened to this album, I urge you to do so!

the trve Medvson

Still today the statement Non Serviam, or I will not serve, follows ROTTING CHRIST as a signature of their social media posts, live shows and announcements. The biblical reference to Satan´s unwillingness to serve God became so popular the album was re-issued in 2006 by The End Records. Good thing for Sakis Tolis too, since he has the reference tattooed on his stomach.

Nevertheless, the signature title and track are surely not the only things that deserves attention. Tracks such as “Where Mortals Have no Pride”, “Mephesis of Black Crystal” and “Saturn Unlock Avey´s Son” all served their purpose in fulfilling the hungering crowds need for extreme black metal.

To make the statement and the original album title even more eternal, “Non Serviam: A 20 Year Apocryphal Story” was released in 2009 as well as an official biography titled “Non Serviam: The Official Story of Rotting Christ” just last year.

13 full length albums. Endless splits. EPs, compilations, boxed sets, live abums, videos, demos, singles, and 9 members later, ROTTING CHRIST is still going strong as a group of four, and it is safe to say that “Non Serviam” was the single largest point in ROTTING CHRIST’s path that surely kicked off their signature statement and long lived mark they will most likely (hopefully) serve until the end of time.

Julia

“Ceremony of Opposites” is anything but your routine black metal offering. The entire album has a very groovy vibe to it that also hints at its diversity of influences. SAMAEL delivered a more mid-paced riff-heavy brand of extreme metal. Slower more brooding(almost doomy) heavy riffs delivered one on top of another with killer solo’s and this creepy infusion of unique keyboard sounds for atmosphere, which was really well received by this listener. The album is very riff-based and not reliant on intensified drumming or sinister guitar melodies but on its core riffs, delivered full of groove and personality. Vorphalak’s riffs are both heavy and extremely catchy, making the entire album an unforgettable experience. He also has a unique emotive vocal style and delivery that resonated with me from the moment the groove laden Black Trip begins. The lyrics throughout are also masterful as are the production values here all while highliting the dark and sinister feel that SAMAEL deliver with the exceptional and more non-traditional black metal vibe and sound created on “Ceremony of Opposites”. Easily “Baphomet’s Throne” is their immortal track to date, while the melodic lines from tracks like Flagellation and the title track to the groovy opener in Black Trip demonstrate that this was a special album from start to finish. Short immediate, diverse, heavy and emotional all wrapped around its cruel and poignant lyricism. Simply put it’s a great fucking record!

For my experience it was just a different type of recording from the more prominent black metal offerings of the time that I’d heard, and I can honestly say that “Ceremony of  Opposites” is not only one of my favorite overall albums, but it is one of the most influential releases for me personally with its unique delivery and concepts. Clearly a key element in my advancement into the more extreme metal sound and scene in the early to mid-nineties, and one of the more memorable albums of 1994. In fact amongst the classic releases of that era from my perspective.

Am I the son you’ve been waiting for?…

Mö

Favorite Tracks:

• Baphomet’s Throne
• Flagellation
• Crown
• Black Trip
• Ceremony Of Opposites
• Son Of Earth
• Mask Of The Red Death

Show me the way! To reach one day the Baphomet’s Throne…

Another lineup change, SABBATH staple since mid 80’s, Dio and Appice were out once more and Iommi got Tony Martin back in the band. At the time I had access to metal mags from Us and Europe so I was expecting this album eagerly. Martin was at the time my fave Sabbath vocalist so the world was smiling to me. I was just beginning to digest the masterpiece that was “Dehumanizer”, but at the time it was still a bit heavier than I could handle. So “Cross Purposes” was at the time, all that I expected.

Back to 1994, or 1995, on my mate house. We pressed play, volume at 11, and we were smiling. Tony Martin vocal delivery was rawer and Geezer’s bass lines were upfront in the mix. Iommi as usual never failed to deliver big riffs. “I Witness” is a great album opener, it got out blood boiling and we wanted more. Songs came and go, and I kept reading the lyrics on the booklet and reading every word on it. The lineup, the engineer, producer, artwork artist. I was hungry for data, as I am today whenever I got a new album. I was also comparing this new SABBATH to the Dio and Ozzy one (least fave at the time) and we felt this one was really a very big album.

As years passed and my Sabbath fever grew, the Tony Martin albums were slowly but steadily moving to the bottom of my personal ranking, although I still listen to the albums, and think they are very good heavy metal albums. My personal fave songs here are “I Witness”, “Psycophobia” and “Immaculate Deception”.

I know, many of you guys, might never have heard this album of paid attention to SABBATH during the late 80’s and 90’s, I think you should give it a chance. This is a very good classic metal album that I think suffers because it’s under the Black Sabbath (Ozzy and Dio) moniker.

Perrö