Downloading against actually buying a CD?

I believe the advent of the net and the digital revolution has made my love of Black Metal, a minority music genre just a little more accessible and especially so because - and this is my excuse - i live in a (large and still rapidly growing) town that doesn't even have a record store, and the only opportunity i have usually to buy cd's is online - such as Falls of Rauros, The Crevices Below, Infestus and Drowning The Light - or at gigs, when i see a band i like live - Dornenreich and Gorath being recent examples, but for every physical release i do purchase, i probably download a hundred, and the price always seems to be less than any shop bought cd's. So for these reasons i always look forward to getting my music magazines (Zero Tolerance, Terrorizer, Metal Hammer and Powerplay) to read the album reviews so that i can go searching online for what might look worthy of downloading, which in turn might lead to recommendations to similar bands or artists and so on.

So if i'm perfectly honest, the majority of the lists that i post of my most recent acquisitions are downloads, i just love the convenience and quickness of downloading music in general, i am now totally sold with the concept, as with the MP3 format, it is so much easier to store and of course play all of my music. For i like also the instant access i get to my entire collection, as currently i've got just shy of  2,200 Metal albums stored on my laptop and external hard-drive - just think of how much wall space that would be needed if i had them all on CD or vinyl. And you can also buy an MP3 player thats the size of a lighter nowadays that can easily store a few hundred songs but obviously you can go for the all-singing all-dancing versions and walk around with most if not all of your music collection in your pocket. Maybe the only drawback is the sound quality compared to a cd, but as i'm only listening to the music via my laptop and a set of speakers i don't personally consider it much of an issue.

So where do i go for my downloads, well i have a few that i consider essential, indispensable almost, that i check every other day. (Mind it could be said any music you want is out there if you know where to look). Personally i have always found the iTunes store to be next to hopeless (never understood the hype) so i've been using eMusic for over seven years now it is a small but good site - http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/browse/album/metal/: - as i always find plenty to download here and then theres Soundike - http://www.soundike.com/tags/black_metal.html - which has a massive BM catalogue, unbelievably cheap downloads that it seems almost too good to be true but been using it for over a year now, and theres a couple of others i've used on occasion such as Metal Maniacs - http://www.klicktrack.com/metalmaniacs/search?c=Black+Metal - plus Metalhit.com - http://www.klicktrack.com/metalhit - and also Bandcamp - http://bandcamp.com/tag/black-metal - and god no doubt theres others. I'm sure some labels must also have websites from which you can download and buy their band's music - think i'll investigate that for a future blog, but obviously just those labels that are generally geared towards Black Metal.

Then there are sites - great sites - like the Get Metal website - http://getmetal.org/black-metal/ and Darkport - http://darkport.org/genre/black-metal - and also but to a slight lesser degree Bunalti - http://www.bunalti.com/?s=Black Metal  - which are all run by individuals who in my humble opinion provide a better service as they are primarily geared towards Heavy Metal music (and its many sub-genres) and who provide links to many many fantastic albums, almost on a daily basis, granted with a request that you should delete the album from your computer after review - which is basically a form of disclaimer. Finally of course there then is the method of downloading music using a torrent file and manager, which i should admit to have never used, but sometimes you just cannot find that elusive release and occassionaly the only means of finding it is through a torrent search. Rockbox is the only place i check and only then if i can't find it, i'll resort to ebay or Amazon, or try some mail-order sites, as there are some that are specifically Black Metal.

Also worthy of a mention at this point is the Encyclopaedia Metallum (The Metal Archives) website - http://www.metal-archives.com/ & http://www.metal-archives.com/release/upcoming - which i find is the essential reference point (the Bible in fact) for information on Metal bands of all genres and which is generally one of my first points of call when i need to check upcoming Black Metal releases or to check a band that i've never heard of before - as long as it has an entry of course, as the rules are strict - bands must "be Metal enough" and have a physical release.

Astonishing - A Masterpiece

 Hypothermia - Rakbladsvalsen (2007, Total Holocaust Records)



Tracklist

1. Del I     34:25
2. Del II    09:50
3. Del III   06:09
4. Del IV   11:00

Total Running Time: 01:01:24

This, i now firmly believe, after quite a substantial number of repeated listens, is and i can't stress this enough, one of the best (and dare i say even greatest Black Metal) albums i have ever heard, and also an essential for any fan of Black Metal music, and of the sub-genre that is sometimes labelled Depressive/Suicidal Black Metal which this record possibly belongs to. Now i will admit i've only just discovered this band, (through a release by Kyla, the singers Kim Carlsson's previous band) and it's actually an album that was released five years ago, (but since it's for me a new discovery i'll consider that it's new Black Metal, which was the original idea behind starting this blog page), but anyways i'm totally fucking amazed by its sound, melodic, depressive but yet simply beautiful, and its atmosphere, which is cold, full of darkness, claustrophobic and yet very very bleak. I can't help thinking also that this band really know what they are doing and so have achieved something unique musically (but without losing the Black Metal feeling that every such release should have). The opening thirty plus minute track is truly masterful, it might be considered long and maybe a tad repetitive but it holds on to me (as does every track) without never ever been boring, it is simply an astonishing piece of music. The album only consists of four tracks but is in all an hour of awesome, glorious and possibly unique underground Black Metal that will most certainly remain seared in the back of my brain for a long long time.

Examples of the possibilities of modernizing and evolving Black Metal



Hellsaw -"Trist": Wild's Reprisal - "Cascadia Rising": Ahnengrab - "Omen"

Hellsaw, Wild's Reprisal & Ahnengrab are most certainly my favourites from the list posted below, and as for Ahnengrab i've had it on repeat since Saturday gone and it just gets better with every listen, its definitely an original and powerful record, pagan/power metal for sure but the vocals are Black Metal in style and flavour and delivery which seem out of place at first but with each listen less so. Now i will admit that i took a chance on Wild's Reprisal, but as soon as i heard the howling wolves and the solid rolling intro of beating drums on the opening track "A Fierce Green Fire Dying In Her Eyes" i was hooked, to me this is how modern/new black metal should sound, atmospheric and slightly meanacing, even a touch venemous. This is again perfectly accomplished on the track "Tragedy Of The Commons". The sound is also not a million miles from either Wolves In The Throne Room, Chasma, or Ordo Obsidium for it certainly seems something has be said of the Black Metal scene from the United States, (especially the the northern regions) as it is definitely in a good state of affairs and this certainly is a debut of the highest order. While, finally, Hellsaw simply play proper storming Black Metal that is intense and powerful, with the vocal rasps, riffing and blasting that any fan of Black Metal music would appreciate.

Black Metal Band Logos [Part II]

Here is, as promised in my original post on Black Metal band logos, six more pictures i put together using MS Paint, with another six to follow soon, would just love to get these on a couple of T-shirts.

London gig [Part II]

Have just purchased a ticket for Agalloch, Velinas and Fen again for The Camden Underworld on Wednesday 11th of April, and i must admit i'm really excited, plus i've been told to check out a pub called The Black Heart which is located on one of the streets behind or near the venue, i usually go to The Crowbar in Soho before any gigs i attend when in London but since that stays open till 4 a.m. i'll go afterwards, long as i'm still capable of course.

Absu and Impeity also play the Underworld the following night and i am still tempted to buy a ticket for that also, I would like to hear both bands, they play a Blackened type of Death Metal which does appeal to me.

London gig [Part I]

Will also be attending the Infernal Damnation Fest IX at the Camden Underworld on Saturday 19th May 2012, was at last years and once again the line up is amazing:

ENTHRONED (Be); GORATH (Be); FROSTMOON ECLIPSE (Ita); SATURNIAN (UK);
CTULU (Ger); FUNERAL THRONE (UK); FEVER SEA (UK) & THE FURIOUS HORDE (UK).

Black Metal Logos

I've been thinking about doing a post about Black Metal logos for a while, as i'm intrigued about both the style (as for example Death Metal has a visual style with blood, gore and colorful illustrations, whereas traditional Black Metal is usually dominated by legend, fog, nature, darkness and black and white photography) and the design of Black Metal band logos, and why is it that it seems that the more illegible the logo the better. Most also seem to have a homemade feel to them, quite possibly even hand drawn (some probably at least initially) but remain effective all the same.

Others simply just use a font, none are unique, but generally look like old-fashioned script (such as Burzum and Gorgoroth) but are as equally effective. Though most are made, i'm sure, with no intention whatsoever for anyone to ever be able to tell their band name from the logo, or at the least to make it extremely difficult to read.

Indeed some of the Typography appears to be complex, as sometimes some symbols (like an inverted cross or a pentagram, the numbers 666) or images (such as the devil, goat horns, skulls, trees, branches, the moon) are incorporated into the logo and illegibility is achieved. Also for it to look authentic it must be drawn almost symmetrical, (but even that is not totally necessary), and obviously works (and looks) best if drawn (and presented) white on a black background.

Some of my favourites are the logos for Ashdautas, Dark Fortress, Exiled From Light, Drowning The Light, Faustcoven and Satanic Warmaster. Christophe Szpajdel, a Belgian but now living in England, is probably the most well known designer of logos for Black Metal bands, having created those for Emperor, Moonspell, Nachtmystium, and Enthroned amongst many.

I have put together twelve of these pictures using MS paint, will add the other six in another post.