True American Black Metal.

Quality American Black Metal (USBM) is no secret, yet the DNA strain isn't always easy to trace. Bands like like Averse Sefira, Krieg, Absu, and Judas Iscariot carried the torch to many dark places on our shores, but the movement was never a crushing tide.

Black metal is now fairly accessible in one form or another and has even wormed its way into indie rock circles with bands like Wolves in the Throne Room. But things seem to have reached a new nexus point with Philly band WOE.

Woe's (Pennsylvania) brand of nihilist black metal is almost a joy to listen to but also driving and powerful with interlocking layers of melody and blast beats. But what really stands out with Woe is their dedication to black self-discovery.

"Your flaws, the ones that you are aware of , they never go away. The person who you were years ago hasn't changed, neither will your friends or family or strangers. You're stuck. try to change and you'll find yourself right back where you started, sooner or later. And it's that frustration with the fact that nothing changes and nothing matters and there is nothing we can do about it. - that's what fueled this album."

With concepts that brutal who needs to sing about Satan?


[Engage]

Bosse-De-Nage (California) is more on the raw side with an expansive depressive sound, but worth the effort of checking out. Little is known about the band and they apparently recorded this album in one session committing all the unchecked emotion to tape.



[Engage]

And though not technically full on black metal Teen Cthulhu are one of my favorite overlooked American metal bands. I wear my Book of Black Earth T-shirt Proudly. \m/

Warm January.

January got warm all the sudden. I just got use to the cold and now it's 60 degrees. Stop playing with my emotions.

The new Burzum is great, though some of the production value is a bit questionable. The vocals are much much too high and feel isolated from the overall mix. Still, the best songs he's written since he's been in prison.



Engage.

If you enjoy sweeping, almost emotional, almost oppressive style black metal (think early Gorgoroth) you should totally dig the new Sargeist. It's well played, well written, and sounds just peachy. I hear bits of Nachtmystium as well, without the progy moments.Shatraug's solo project should be his full time gig.




Engage.

Winds of Genocide are crusty metal of the best kind. So much more fun that typical hardcore and a bit more straight forward than most death metal. They should open up their sound just a bit but it's a solid first effort.




Luca Turilli is back and bringing the shred with the new Rhapsody of Fire Album. You should know who they are if you care about epic power metal, or survived Dragonforce. It's a terrible video though, so keep that in mind. No elves, or forests, or flying ships of doom. Just some middle age guys rocking out how they do to a white background. Just skip up to the solo at 2:40 and get your lube ready.



I'd really like Best Coast if the vocals weren't so stale, limited, and almost monotone. To me, indie rock really rests on how good the vocals are. I turn my head from a lot of nasally, weak, and or annoying vocals even if the jangle is pretty decent.

People seem to like them though.