music - TL:DR (That's Long, DID Read)

LIVE DEAD: Mayhem 1990

Suicide and murder will get a band noticed, but more than enough has been written about all that elsewhere (best short version; Ian Christe’s Sound of the Beast, best longer version; Michael Moynihan & Didrik Søderlind’s classic Lords of Chaos), so…

Looking at the history of the notorious/famous/classic/tragic 1988-91 lineup of Norway’s black metal legends Mayhem (Dead [vocals] – Euronymous [guitar] – Necrobutcher [bass] – Hellhammer [drums]), the surprising thing about the band isn’t that that they did not manage to finish recording the album they were working on (De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, eventually released in 1994 after the deaths of both Dead and Euronymous) but that they managed to achieve anything at all.

Famously broke, hungry and with little audience existing at that date for the kind of music they were making, the band nevertheless made a huge impact that lasts to this day. They professionally recorded only a few songs (notably Freezing Moon and Carnage, recorded in 1989, but not released as a single until years later when, again, literally half of the lineup on the record were dead) but their influence on their contemporaries was huge and they even managed the impressive feat of touring outside of Norway, albeit in a severely haphazard and underfunded way.

L-R Euronymous, Dead, Hellhammer, Necrobutcher

The band only played a handful of concerts, mostly around 1989-90, and luckily (and surprisingly) most of those were captured on tape for posterity, with varying degrees of technical skill.
The surviving concert recordings appropriately take place mostly in the cold of winter, (February and November, 1990) and give a picture of the band’s evolution from the rudimentary (if extreme) gore-obsessed black metal of their 80s demos, to the intense and atmospheric black metal that was to kick-start the musical style of the whole genre as it is now known.

The setlist for Mayhem’s shows throughout 1990 seems to have stayed more or less the same, although early favourite (and title track of their 1986 demo debut) Pure Fucking Armageddon was superceded by the vastly superior and more thoughtful new song Pagan Fears in the later shows. It is well-documented that Dead self-harmed during several, perhaps all of these shows, but (maybe luckily) the results are never audible, although there is at times a palpably intense and uncomfortable atmosphere.

The Great War: Live in Jessheim, February 3rd 1990

The first surviving concert recording (I think; I haven’t researched this as thoroughly as I intended to) seems to be a show in Jessheim, Norway from February of 1990, just over a year before this version of the band imploded with the suicide of Dead in April 1991. The recording is, to be charitable about it, not great; harsh, tinny and noisy. It does capture the enthusiasm the band still had at this point, although they were to become noticeably tighter by the end of the year.

1. Deathcrush
Despite a fair amount of surface hiss this is a very strong, gritty and listenable version of the old classic from the 1987 mini album of the same name. Dead roars a few times, but seemingly the only part of the lyric he knew this night was “Deathcrush!!” Pretty good nonetheless.

2. Necrolust
Lots of crowd noise and hiss make this a less satisfying listen as the music is a bit muffled and distant. Still, a pretty good version, as far as the bass and guitar (the most audible parts) are concerned and Euronymous’ solo is less tuneless than sometimes. Again, it seems like Dead only sings some of the lyric, but possibly it’s just that his vocals are lost in the surface noise. One of the more enthusiastic crowd reactions of this period though.

3. Funeral Fog
The crowd (or at least a couple of people) actually chants ‘Mayhem! Mayhem!’ before Hellhammer plays the blastbeat intro to Funeral Fog. A noisy, bad recording can’t hide the fact that the band are playing an excellent version of the song; Dead’s vocal is noticeably more engaged than on the earlier songs, and his delivery, deeper than usual, comes across surprisingly clearly. Euronymous’ guitar playing is excellent, intense and precise and the atmosphere of the classic ‘True Norwegian Black Metal’ comes across perfectly. The song ends in an eruption of feedback but the crowd reacts with enthusiasm.

4. Freezing Moon
Dead gives his usual intro (“When it’s cold and when it’s dark the freezing moon can obsess you” over whines of feedback before the band launches into a messy (at least poorly-recorded and hissy) but still powerful version of one of the all-time classic anthems of black metal. The band (especially Euronymous) plays a little less certainly than in later recordings and Dead’s vocals in the slower part are swamped by the guitars, but the atmosphere of the song still comes across effectively and the crowd reacts vocally.

5. Carnage
The crowd continues to chant and the band launches into an abortive version of Carnage that collapses just after Dead has shouted the opening line. There seems to be an issue with the guitar and Euronymous plays a few random chords before the band launches back into the song, playing an intense but messy version, made challenging to the listener by the poor quality of the recording.

6. Buried by Time and Dust
Dead’s usual semi-comprehensible intro leads into a false start where the band plays a bar or so before the song cuts off, then starts again. The recording makes it all a bit buzzing and monotonous but it’s still an undoubted advance on Carnage.

7. Chainsaw Gutsfuck
Dead barks the title and the band lurches into life, playing that simple yet ominous riff hard and heavy. As with the rest of this show, the volume of the guitars and level of hiss makes it a less than pleasant listening experience, but it was never supposed to be nice.

8. Pure Fucking Armageddon
More feedback and some tuning sounds take up the first few minutes of this highly chaotic version of the title track from the band’s first demo. The small audience chants and cheers, Dead finally announces the song and, after another false start and more chanting the band finally plays, extremely fast and loud but also tunelessly. Unless you like pure noise, this is pretty unpleasant, and the end is cut off, making it an unsatisfying version of one of their less impressive songs.

Dawn of the Black Hearts: Live in Sarpsborg, February 28th, 1990

Probably the most famous of Mayhem bootlegs, Dawn of the Black Hearts has always enjoyed a kind of semi-official quality, since it features a photograph of the scene of Dead’s suicide taken by Euronymous and intended by him (you would think, somewhat unrealistically) as an album cover.
The photograph was presumably sent to Colombia by Euronymous himself, and in 1995, following the murder of the guitarist, the also late Mauricio “Bull Metal” Montoya used it as the cover of the original edition of the album on his Warmaster label, which also features some live tracks recorded by the previous Mayhem lineup in Ski in 1986. Incidentally, the title comes from lyrics written by Darkthrone’s Fenriz which includes an excellent reference to Satan’s “hooven clooves”.

1. Deathcrush
The slightly tinny quality makes this particularly feral version of the perennial Deathcrush a bit hard on the ears, but Dead’s shriek manages to equal Maniac’s unhinged performance on the original 1986 mini-album, no mean feat.

2. Necrolust
After a very short pause for whooping from the crowd, the band launches into a churning version of another venerable classic. The slow, stomping intro riff is more effective than the blasting passages, and Dead’s voice is a little lost in the noise (although he delivers his lines with an occasional hint of Celtic Frost-ish swagger). Star of the show is Hellhammer, who basically pummels the song to oblivion. The crowd sounds a little taken aback but approving, chattering and shouting good-humouredly through Euronymous’ guitar tuning before Hellhammer’s curt intro leads into…

3. Funeral Fog
The first song of the set to be penned by the lineup actually playing is noticeably superior to its predecessors, the blasting passages being both fast and relatively complex/melodic. Dead is audibly more enthusiastic and Eurnonymous’ guitar playing loses its sloppiness, playing the song’s intense interlocking riffs with speed and precision. The tremolo-picked riff following the verses is aggressive, atmospheric and completely definitive of the ‘second wave’ of black metal that the band was bringing into being. The reaction of the (presumably quite small) crowd is suitably enthusiastic.

4. Freezing Moon
After Dead’s usual introduction the band is led into a slightly clumsy version of their signature tune by three cymbal crashes. Once the song gets going everything falls into place, but there seem to be some minor timing issues during the intro. Dead’s especially hoarse vocal is extremely effective during the slower passage, although the performance is derailed a little by Euronymous’ solo, which is basically the same as usual but seems to be in the wrong key.

5. Carnage
Back to the earliest years of the band for this messy, noisy blastfest. The band is fast and powerful but also more ordinary than in the preceding songs; Dead rasps, Euronymous plays a speedy would-be technical solo but it’s only in the thrash-toned lull before the last section that the song has much character.

6. Buried By Time and Dust
Another Dead-era classic, and the man himself delivers a highly theatrical monologue leading into the song, possibly his best delivered intro, although the band unfortunately doesn’t quite start when they should. When they do though, they play this, one of Mayhem’s most dramatic tunes, with intensity and precision. Only the trebly quality of the recording mars what is still an excellent performance, especially if the bass is boosted. The relatively poor sound quality does highlight how great Euronymous’ skeletal riffs are though. It also gets one of the more vocal responses from the crowd.

7. Chainsaw Gutsfuck
The monolithic intro to this sounds as good as always, but Dead’s vocals are buried in the noise, making the whole somewhat monotonous.

8. Pure Fucking Armageddon
Dead intones ‘Only death is real!’ a few times before the band storms into one of their earliest, but not best songs. Still, a rousing end to an intense show.

The album ends with the aforementioned live tracks from Ski (or Lillehammer, depending which sources are correct) from 1986, but the recording has comical speed issues typical of old concert tapes; – think Donald Duck on vocals.

Live in Gleisdorf (?) (date??) 1990

There is little information available (at least I haven’t been able to find much) concerning this concert, credited as taking place in Gleisdorf, Austria, but just as likely to be somewhere nearer to the band’s home. That said, the fact that the band seemingly ends the set with Pagan Fears suggests that it could have been part of the ‘mini-tour’ that visited various locations in the former East Germany in the later part of 1990.

A bootleg with the tracklisting below seems to be available, but I don’t have it, so I have only written about the bit I could find online. The nice thing is that it doesn’t seem to be one of the other recordings re-packaged in the usual bootleg manner, so whether or not it’s really from Gleisdorf, it does seem to be a different concert from the usual 2 or 3 that turn up.

1. Deathcrush
The recording is very poor indeed but reveals that the band plays the opening at a more relaxed pace than usual. It is played are noticeably more tightly than on the earlier recordings and Dead’s vocals sound more coherent, so despite the very poor quality of the recording it’s a surprisingly enjoyable version of this venerable tune.
2. Necrolust
3. Funeral Fog
4. Freezing Moon
5. Carnage
6. Buried by Time and Dust
7. Chainsaw Gutsfuck
8. Pagan Fears

War and Sodomy: Live in Zeitz, November 24th, 1990

Also known simply as ‘Live in Zeitz -1990’, War and Sodomy is a better quality recording than the more famous Dawn of the Black Hearts, with the band tighter and more muscular sounding than before and with a more gritty substantial sound, although the vocals are occasionally lost in the (lack of) mix.
The recording was made during the band’s troubled mini-tour mentioned above, which took them to the former East Germany, although concerts further afield were also planned. The setlist had now become equally split between older material and the newly-written songs, giving it more of the ‘true Norwegian black metal’ sound.

1. Deathcrush
The murky sound of this concert begins with some semi-incoherent growling from Dead, but once the music starts the sound is reasonably clear and less harsh than sometimes. The band sounds powerful and better-rehearsed than on earlier concert recordings but unfortunately Dead’s vocals are a little quiet and echoey.

2. Necrolust
The deeper sound gives the intro a particularly ominous quality but once the blastbeats begin it’s all a bit of a blur. Not the worst version, but Dead’s vocals are mainly an incomprehensible croaking noise.

3. Funeral Fog
One of the highlights of the show, even with the dulled top end the atmosphere and power of the song comes across brilliantly, Euronymous’ haunting melody cutting through the swimming-pool acoustics. Dead is still (appropriately) a little lost in the wall of sound, but his despairing croak surfaces from time to time.

4. Freezing Moon
A very slightly different intro from the usual (Dead rasps ‘when it’s cold & when it’s dark’ rather than the other way round) leads into a towering version of the classic Freezing Moon, second only to that on Live in Leipzig. Euronymous’ solo is almost the same as there but not quite as good. Otherwise this is pretty much perfect, Dead’s voice is harsher and deeper than usual but clear and comprehensible.

5. Carnage
A good version of the song, but like much of the earlier material, Carnage was starting to sound a little tired compared with the newer material. Euronymous livens it up with some rather screechy soloing but although full of energy and aggression it isn’t a highlight.

6. Buried by Time and Dust
Dead’s somewhat garbled introductory statement seems shorter than usual but the band plays the song with authority and intensity. Again, the vocals are a little lost in the sound (especially towards the end when there is some very squealing feedback) but overall a strong version.

7. Chainsaw Gutsfuck
Again sounding a little pedestrian compared to their more recent material, this is a pretty good version of the Deathcrush classic, with the vocals clearer than on most of the songs here and some nice playing by Euronymous.

8. Pagan Fears
At the beginning of the year the band had still been ending their shows with the venerable Pure Fucking Armageddon, but it was replaced in later shows by the mighty Pagan Fears, one of the best tracks written by this lineup of the band. The band is tight and focussed and Euronymous plays the intense riffs perfectly. The recording is somewhat detached from the rest of the album, the intro and applause are cut off, robbing the show of some of its atmosphere, but it’s worth remembering that these recordings were never intended for the CD format so it’s possibly just to do with the mundane reality of turning the tape over to continue recording.

Live in Leipzig: November 26th, 1990 (Eiskeller Club)

The only official live album featuring Dead and the best of these by far, Live In Leipzig, despite many rough edges, captures the band at its best, delivering definitive versions of many of their songs. Interestingly, the setlist here combines all of the songs they had been playing throughout the year (it may just be that this is the only complete show), making it the perfect live document of the era.

1. Deathcrush
As on the ‘Gleisdorf’ version, the band leads into this version of Deathcrush slower than usual before reaching the usual blasting tempo. After all the previous bootlegs it is extremely refreshing to hear Dead loud and in the foreground and with all instruments audible behind him and little surface noise.

2. Necrolust
A solid, brutal version of Necrolust gets a slightly muted response from the crowd, to Necrobutcher’s audible exasperation. His shouted ‘Come on Leipzig! is a rare occurrence for a band who – at this period – tended to stick to minimal, scripted* interaction with the audience.

* possibly not actually scripted, but Dead does seem to have worked out three or four standard monologues for live performances

3. Funeral Fog
As if to shake the audience out of it’s torpor, the band launches into perhaps the best ever version of Funeral Fog. The band’s (and especially Euronymous’) playing is precise and aggressive and Dead delivers his peculiar but seemingly heartfelt lyric about a deadly mist in the Carpathian mountains with throat-ripping intensity. Euronymous’ tremolo-picked melody is one of the highlights of early 90s black metal. The crowd finally reacts with some excitement and Dead delivers his introductory monologue to…

4. The Freezing Moon
The band plays the classic intro at a deliberate, powerful pace before leading into perhaps the definitive version of their most famous tune. Euronymous’ solo is as peculiar as ever, but more inspired and less off-key. Arguably superior to the drum-heavy studio version this lineup also recorded (see above), this is one of the milestones of the band’s career. The audience sounds relatively enthusiastic, but not enough for Dead, who chides them before the band leads into a pummelling version of…

5. Carnage
A fast, precise version of this older song (presumably one the band were still particularly fond of, it is one of only two songs that Dead recorded in the studio.) It’s a strong performance but not their best song, despite Euronymous adding some more modern black metal touches to his guitar parts.

6. Buried by Time and Dust
Feedback somewhat spoils Dead’s introductory speech and the band launches into a good, extremely fast version of this classic with very precise guitar playing but a slightly rattling drum sound compared to most of the album.

7. Pagan Fears
Without doubt one of the best black metal songs of the era, this version of Pagan Fears falters slightly after the intro as Euronymous seems to get slightly lost in the timing of the brief slow section. As soon as the song launches into the first verse though, it picks up, becoming one of the highlights of the set. Dead’s rasping delivery makes the most of one of his best, most enigmatic lyrics.

8. Chainsaw Gutsfuck
Anticlimactic after Pagan Fears, the intro to Chainsaw Gutsfuck is nevertheless as powerful as ever, but the song just sounds a little too primitive compared to its predecessor. A good version though, prowling and sinister, but although Dead delivers the lyrics as well as anyone could, their crudely ‘shocking’ quality seems hopelessly ineffective after the mysterious atmospheric allusiveness of Pagan Fears. After much subdued but good-humoured crowd noise, during which Dead (or Necrobutcher?) exhorts the crowd to join them, the band finally plays…

9. Pure Fucking Armageddon
Probably the best, most intense version of the song, this is heavier and more riff-oriented than usual, although Euronymous does play a seemingly improvised and very messy solo. Disappointingly, the song fades out just as it ends, with no real sense of the crowd’s reaction, a slightly bathetic end to an iconic release.

As far as Mayhem’s recorded legacy in concerned, Live at Leipzig marks the end of an era. Within six months of the concert, Dead had committed suicide, after which Necrobutcher quit the band and this version of Mayhem came to an end. Although it almost certainly didn’t feel like it at the time, they had actually achieved quite a lot for a bunch of weird kids from what was then not a country known for its heavy music.

Within a couple of years, Euronymous too was dead, and the classic Mayhem was no more. Subsequent lineups have made important contributions to the black metal genre and the band endures to this day, but the mystique that draws people to the band still belongs to those early years which, it shouldn’t be forgotten were about music as much as anything else.

Dead (Pelle Ohlin) & Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) RIP

Petty Obsession: Hair Metal you never hear in the movies

With the resurgence of all things 80s in the last decade, it was inevitable that hair metal would have some kind of renewed popularity, but even so, its respectability is surprising. Mötley Crüe for instance, seem to have far more credibility now than they did (in the UK at least) back in the 80s. Which is nice and all, but it’s a bit disappointing that posterity has largely selected the same tired selection of Guns ‘n’ Roses, Def Leppard & Bon Jovi songs as definitive of the era. Especially sad when there were so many great albums released that failed to have much impact, even the first time round. Such as…

Easy Action – Easy Action (Tandon, 1983)

This Swedish glam band was influenced by 70s glam rock and especially by Hanoi Rocks (look at the album cover) and featured singer Zinny Zan (later of Shotgun Messiah) and Kee Marcello, who would resurface a few years later in Europe. Pretty much every track is a perfect bubblegum glam masterpiece; so much so that Poison pinched the melody of ‘We Go Rocking’ for their own classic, ‘I Want Action’. There are two versions of this album; the original is the best as they re-recorded standout track ‘The End of the Line’ in a less good, slow version for the rerelease.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: All of them! (except maybe the somehow not-so-great opening track ‘Rocket Ride’)

D’Molls – Warped (Atlantic, 1990)

D’Molls were from Chicago and their self-titled debut of 1988 featured a couple of truly great hair metal anthems (notably ‘D’Stroll’ and ‘777’) alongside a lot of forgettable dross. Not so follow-up Warped, which despite being released at the tail end of the glam era is as sleazy and catchy as ever, but with a lot more heart.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: several, including the great ‘My Life’ and über-ballad ‘This Time It’s Love’

Faster Pussycat – Faster Pussycat (Elektra, 1987)

If there was any justice in the world this album would be as well known as Appetite For Destruction – in many ways Faster Pussycat are similar to early G’n’R, but they have far more character and a kind of New York Dolls-ish soulful atmosphere which is admittedly less MTV-friendly than Axl and co. Taime Downe is, to my ears a far more likeable vocalist than Axl, and whereas G’n’R always seemed destined for stadiums, Faster Pussycat are more suited to the sleazy dive; and they sound all the better for it.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: take your pick – ‘Bathroom Wall’ or ‘Ship Rolls In’ would be as good as any.

Fastway – Treat or Treat OST (CBS,1986)

Fastway weren’t really a hair metal band; but (partly thanks to the movie it was written for) Trick or Treat is totally a hair metal album.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: They already were, but ‘After Midnight’ is a towering AC/DC style classic.

Glorious Bankrobbers – Dynamite Sex Doze (Planet, 1989)

It’s surprising that Swedish glamsters Glorious Bankrobbers aren’t better known; their version of hair metal is tougher and more rock ‘n’ roll than many of their contemporaries; far more in tune with modern taste in fact, being somewhat similar to bands like Duff McKagan’s Loaded (albeit with catchier tunes).

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Hair Down’, despite some fairly laughable lyrics.

Hanoi Rocks – Two Steps From the Move (CBS, 1984)

Hanoi Rocks were arguably the architects of hair metal; but they mostly weren’t actually metal at all, as this classic pop/rock album proves. 1983’s Back To Mystery City is even less hard-edged but just as good.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’ – the perfect hair ballad, or on a more classic hair metal note, ‘High School’

Dogs D’Amour – In the Dynamite Jet Saloon (China, 1988)

On the whole, UK glam bands tended to imitate the style and sound of their US counterparts, but the micro-scene that included Dogs D’Amour and The Quireboys had an altogether rougher, more shambolic (not to say drunken) atmosphere. The music was scruffier too; less metal, more romantic, but on this classic sophomore release Dogs D’Amour managed to keep it all together and produce a set of classic and predictably whisky-sodden rock anthems.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘How Come It Never Rains’ – simply a great, melancholy-yet-uplifting rock song.

Helter Skelter – Welcome to the World Of Helter Skelter (Noise, 1988)

SILLY but great, this album has more than its fair share of ultra-catchy, not at all heavy songs and one misleadingly hard rock opening song. The cover art is almost like a kids TV version of the Pretty Boy Floyd album. The band did in fact have a silly furry mascot.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: so many to choose from but today I’m saying towering feelgood anthem ‘Innocent Girls’

Kingpin – Welcome to Bop City (CMM, 1988)

The best glam metal album ever? 100% glam and tacky and 100% metal, Kingpin was Zinny Zan’s follow-up to Easy Action. After the album bombed they relocated to the US, changed their name to Shotgun Messiah and re-recorded this same album in a slightly inferior form. They still weren’t massively successful though.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Don’t Care ‘Bout Nothin’ – but they are all appropriate

Anthem – Gyspy Ways (King, 1988)

Japanese glam, less well known than Loudness or E-Z-O but probably a bit better than both.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Midnight Sun’

Lion – Dangerous Attraction (Scotti Bros, 1987)

Strangely unknown album, full of great, classy hair metal, a tiny bit like Ratt, only marginally heavier.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘In the Name Of Love’

Madam X – We Reserve The Right (Jet, 1984)

Most famous as being the band where the Petrucci sisters (of Vixen) and Sebastian Bach (of Skid Row) started out, this album is essentially a hair metal cheese festival: great. Sadly, Sebastian was not in the lineup that recorded the album.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘We Want Rock’

Nasty Idols – Gigolos on Parole (HSM, 1989)

This slightly weak Swedish glam album is strong on attitude but sadly not songs; there are a couple of great ones though.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: Undoubtedly ‘Gimme What I Want’ – classic.

Phantom Blue – Phantom Blue (Shrapnel, 1989)

Quite heavy for a glam-ish album, this is simply excellent 80s metal made by glamorous ladies.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Why Call It Love’

Pretty Boy Floyd – Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz (MCA, 1989)

One of the all-time great hair metal albums; look at the cover! Plus, every song is a sleazy, feelgood anthem. They were just too late to be huge, but they should have been.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ALL OF THEM

Shout – In Your Face (Music For Nations, 1989)

If the idea of Christian hair metal seems anything other than genius to you then I pity you. Like all hair metal, Shout are inherently ridiculous, but take it to another level. At the same time, it’s just good; kind of Whitesnake-ish bluesy hair metal, with lots of heartfelt, nearly-but-not-quite-preachy lyrics.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Waiting’

Show & Tell – Overnight Sensation (Medusa, 1988)

Quite bad indie hair-metal but they WANT to be famous so badly that they can’t help being likeable. Plus they do have a couple of songs that survive the threadbare production values.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Hairspray Blues’

Sleeze Beez – Screwed, Blued and Tattooed (Atlantic, 1990)

Very Americanised Dutch glam; and good stuff too, a bit like White Lion.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Stranger Than Paradise’

Tigertailz – Young & Crazy (Music For Nations, 1987)

The ultimate UK hair metal band. Despite their very MTV image there is a British tinge to their hair metal sound, kind of Duran Duran-meets-Motley Crue.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘She’z Too Hot’

Alien – Cosmic Fantasy (Ultranoise, 1984)

I don’t know much about Alien, but this is a very peculiar mini-album, a mix of classic hair metal and some spacey psychedelic bits – not great, but SOME of it is great.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’

Wrathchild (UK) – Stakk Attakk (Heavy metal records, 1985)

Complete trash with a 70s glam rock feel and some classic, basic anthems.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Trash Queen’

Coney Hatch – Friction (Vertigo, 1985)

Maybe more ‘melodic hard rock’ than true hair metal, but utterly 80s and very good, this album has a plethora of catchy, atmospheric tunes.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘The Girl From Last Night’s Dream’

Celtic Frost – Cold Lake (Noise, 1988)

Famously disastrous for Swiss black/death metal legends Celtic Frost, this is a uniquely dark & sleazy glam classic that sounds like no other.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Petty Obsession’

Nitro – O.F.R. (Rampage, 1989)

Hair metal taken to its farthest extreme, this is a horrendously overbearing album made by a group of over-talented music teachers. A headache waiting to happen, but it does have its moments.

The song that should be used on the soundtrack to some lame movie: ‘Freight Train’

The Story of an Artist; Daniel Johnston covered

Due to his highly idiosyncratic, sometimes unnerving style and often rough and sometimes non-existent production values, many people prefer to hear the songs of the great Daniel Johnston performed by others; they are wrong – but there are many great covers of his work. The following selection is not comprehensive but all of these are definitely worth hearing…

1. M Ward: To Go Home (from Post War, 2006)

Guitarist/Singer M. Ward (of She & Him, Monsters of Folk etc) recorded a superb version of Daniel Johnston’s ‘Story of An Artist‘ for The Late Great Daniel Johnston, but this is even better; one of the best songs from arguably Johnston’s best album, The What of Whom, this version rocks without losing any of the complicated but intense feeling of the original.

2. Beck: True Love Will Find You In The End (Discovered Covered – the Late Great Daniel Johnston)

Perhaps DJ’s most covered song, nobody quite captures the hopeful desolation of the original recording, but Beck’s version gives the song a mournful Neil Young-esque acoustic guitar & harmonica treatment (slightly reminiscent of the great ‘Out on the Weekend’) and makes up in authority what it lacks in fragility.

3. Camilo Kraxberger: I’m Gonna Buy Me A Car (Hola che, como andas- Homenaje Argentino a Daniel Jonhston)

The Argentinian (I presume) anthology Hola che, como andas- Homenaje Argentino a Daniel Jonhston contains many versions of songs that are even more ramshackle than the home-recorded originals, but there are some gems here too. Singer/songwriter Camilo Kraxberger sounds almost as fragile as Johnston himself on this great, non-amateurish recording. Less melancholy than the original, but much creepier and with excellent use of sampled car salesmen.

4. Lumberob – Honey I Sure Miss You (I Killed The Monster; 21 Artists Performing the Songs of Daniel Johnston)

This wonderful version seems to be exactly Daniel Johnston was aiming for on his own extremely affecting but slightly scratchy and wobbly original recording. Sometimes a smooth professional approach tends to bland out some of the original feeling, but here it is sophisticated without being too mainstream and works perfectly.

5. Drowning Your Mother: Mask (listen here)

This slightly basic cover takes the obsessive, morbid aspect of the song and makes it the whole point: it’s droning, deeply unhappy and great.

6. BMX Bandits: Do You Really Love Me? (from Star Wars)

As a songwriter and performer Duglas Stewart has the same kind of vulnerability (if less desperate on the whole) as Daniel Johnston, and the BMX Bandits are the perfect band to cover this very Beatles-eque song, retaining the feeling completely while giving the sound of a real band (although in fact the version on DJ’s Artistic Vice (1990) is also pretty much professional and polished.

7. Eels: Living Life (Discovered Covered – the Late Great Daniel Johnston)

This quietly powerful version of a somewhat manic original is based to some degree on Kathy McCarty’s also-great version of the song. Mark E gives a suitably world-weary quality to the optimistically dissatisfied lyric and the whole thing is beautiful and over far too quickly.

8. Kathy McCarty – Like A Monkey in A Zoo (Dead Dog’s Eyeball)

There are lots of good covers of this (Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair’s would be the best if Jad could sing in tune), probably one of Daniel Johnston’s most accomplished early songs as well as one of his saddest. Kathy McCarty gives it a seemingly inappropriate jauntiness but somehow it works.

9. Virginia Verstraeten – Lousy Weekend (Hola che, como andas- Homenaje Argentino a Daniel Johnston ) – also a nice video)

Another (again, I think) Argentinian singer and a lovely weary version of this satisfyingly bitter song.

10. Karen O & the Kids – Worried Shoes (Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack)

The delicate, mournful piano and xylophone(?) makes this one of the prettiest DJ covers. Karen O is always a great singer and she makes the most of one of Johnston’s saddest lyrics on this perfect version of an always-great song.

11. Guster : The Sun Shines Down On Me (Discovered Covered – the Late Great Daniel Johnston)

This song has one of DJ’s most Beatles-esque melodies and matter-of-fact but poetic lyrics and Boston band Guster do it justice with a great, wistful performance.

12. Eddie Vedder: Walking The Cow (various live versions, here’s a nice one)

It would be nice if Eddie Vedder would record a studio version of this (he may have, I am pretty ignorant about Mr Vedder and his works). Whereas most covers of this classic song (Kathy McCarty’s is a very good example) more or less follow the tempo of the original (the same pounding rhythm as a lot of DJ’s chord organ-era songs), this version is slowed down without losing the atmosphere, fragility or meaning of the song. Plus he sings it very nicely.

13. The Pastels: Speeding Motorcycle (single, 1990)

Speeding Motorcycle is, though undoubtedly one of the great Daniel Johnston songs, a difficult one to cover; so much of its effect comes from the original, deeply unhappy performance. Somewhat oddly, The Pastels make it into a very 1990 dance-pop song. It works though, although Yo La Tengo’s version is kind of better on reflection.

14. AKA Lurholm: Fish (Apskaft tribute to Daniel Johnston, 2011)

One of my favourite DJ covers, AKA Lurholm unexpectedly turns DJ’s rueful, extremely self-aware semi-love song into a convincing up-tempo ska tune, adding a cheery quality while while not losing the feel or atmosphere of the original: who’d have thought?

15. Uni and her Ukelele – Silly Love (2010)

This perfect, assured cover has all of the emotional power of Johnston’s various versions, but is a little less wobbly. As beautiful as Uni’s ukulele is pink.

16. Indigo Morgan – Like a Monkey in a Zoo (2010)

This is remarkable not just for being a superb version of this wonderful song, but also because Indigo Morgan manages to be kinds country without automatically being unbearable. Nice guitar playing too.

17. Thistle – Love Not Dead (from The Late Great Daniel Johnston – Discovered Covered)

Very similar to the original but with a girl singer: i.e. great.

18. Young Statues – Silly Love

Another very nice version of one of Daniel Johnston’s most affecting songs, this time by New Jersey-based indie band Young Statues. Although there are several great versions of this by Johnston himself (the Live at SXSW and Fun versions especially) I’m not sure that he has ever recorded the definitive one yet.

19. Aaron Robinson – Peek a Boo (2009)

One of the real hidden gems on this list. Peek a Boo is probably one of Daniel Johnston’s most accomplished early songs and Aaron Robinson gives it the kind of professional, but still emotional, recording that it deserves. It seems strange that a song so specific to one individual (“I painted a bar and I never got paid…”) could be so successfully covered by another singer, but that’s always been one of the great things about music, hasn’t it?

20. Joy Zipper – Held the Hand (I Killed The Monster; 21 Artists Performing the Songs of Daniel Johnston)

Baleful but calm and strangely ‘nice’ (but still very creepy) version of this supremely creepy song.

21. Pear Shape – Walking the Cow (2013)

Another nice version of the oft-covered classic, this time by Australian indie band Pear Shape, this one is wistfully happy and summery and has a nice, cheap video too.

(Don’t) Lower Your Expectations; the evolution of Oblivionized

We’re not quite at the ‘albums of the year’ stage yet, but when we are, Oblivionized’s Life is a Struggle, Give Up will be featured prominently. From their earliest demos onwards, the band has epitomised the vital UK underground extreme music scene, with a series of always high-quality releases varying from dirty, chaotic grindcore to extremely technical death metal and I have been lucky enough to be writing about the band since those early days, mostly for Zero Tolerance magazine. Back in April I caught up with one third of the band for Pun-Based Name Pending and below is (a slightly revised version of) what came of it:

It’s always* nice to watch a band grow and evolve and although Oblivionized have just released their first album Life is a Struggle, Give Up, it’s the culmination/distillation of five years or so of progress and transformation that has seen the band go from the powerful, technical death metal-infused grindcore of their earlier work to something looser, less metal, more intuitive and distinctive, far harder to define, but no less intense.

*disclaimer; if they are any good it’s nice. Otherwise it’s annoying.

The band’s history is short enough that it’s fairly easy to track down all of their work to date; it’s totally worth doing that. discography

The style the band has arrived at since shrinking to a trio in 2012 isn’t very much like any other band I can think of. Drums/guitar/vocals sounds like a pretty skeletal basis for an album, but the concentration on these components gives the music a sparse, elemental feel and an emotional impact that matches the harsh minimalism of the lyrics. On earlier releases the technical skill of Sammy Urwin (also of death metal band Regurgitated Life etc) was often used in a powerful but fairly conventional (riffs/solos) way and the songs seemed to be carefully composed for maximum dynamic impact – which was very effective. On Life Is A Struggle though, the technical aspect (though no less impressive) seems less to do with killer riffs and heaviness than with an almost jazz-like telepathic intensity, comparable in a way to Painkiller circa Guts of a Virgin, but with a more personal/introspective focus. The album perfectly captures the live sound the band showcased on last year’s This is S.O.A.N. split with Razoreater, losing none of the immediacy of the live tape, but giving everything more precision and a sharper impact.

Well, that’s what I think anyway; here are some thoughts from vocalist/lyricist Zac Broughton:

It’s been quite a long wait for a full-length Oblivionized album, but it definitely feels like now is the right time for it, do you feel like this is the Oblivionized lineup for the foreseeable future? Was this the first time you ever wanted to record an album?

I’d say this is the third album me and Sammy have written for Oblivionized. Before Abhorrent Evolution (2011) Geoff (Bradley, guitarist), Sammy and myself over the course of nine months or so, demoed a twelve track album in my room. We turned the best from those demos into four songs when Jon and Phil joined and recorded them and released as Abhorrent Evolution. With that five piece line up we wrote nine, maybe ten songs for an album, we demoed two of them and released that as Nullify The Cycle… That album obviously never happened and I’m happy it didn’t. I realised recently that I haven’t been doing music just for fun, I enjoyed hanging out with my mates putting demos on myspace and going to gigs and that, but I’ve turned expressing myself through music it into my life. Being able to express myself honestly, not just screaming negative fantasies, or telling people how fucked the world is… which it is, lets be honest, we’ll likely all be dead in twenty years if that. But actually making something that I can be proud of and feel is an honest representation of what this is. So basically, if all the music we wrote, people’s lives we’d been part of, positive and negative experiences we have had as a band and individuals during our time together hadn’t happened, neither would Life Is A Struggle, Give Up… I don’t know what I’m trying to say anymore but I think I said it.

The title is great because it can be read as super-negative or actually positive, listening to the album it kind of feels like both; very bleak and angry but at the same time full of passion and energy, what would you say is the overall feel or theme?

I spent a lot of time trying to make sure I wasn’t telling anyone what to do or how to think, I’m not interested in that, so you can take them how you like. For me the album expresses exactly how I felt while writing it; simply put, life is really hard and I’ve wanted give up, just become what other people expect or want me to be. I chose not to and decided I’d live for myself, nothing matters anyway, so why give a fuck about other people and their opinions if the end result is your unhappiness.

One of the things that is really noticeable about the album is the way each element of the music has the same importance/focus, is that easier to do that as a three-piece band than it was in the past?

That is something Will bought to the band, in the past we’d had bass that was kind of an accompaniment, with guitars that played separate parts, make things more dissident but we’d made the drums all blasting and double kick. When Will joined and we became a three piece, Oblivionized became three different personalities working towards something.

You tour and play live a lot, was it important to produce an album that captures the sound you have live?

We don’t want to create much on record that we can’t recreate live as just a three piece. We recorded drums with just Sammy and Will playing together, no click track, no triggers or drum replacement, just take for take. Sammy then recorded his guitar parts and I did my vocals last, Tom (Corrupt Moral Altar, Vagrant Recordings) added some singing bells to I Pity You and Justine (Employed To Serve) did some extra vocals on Your Mouth Is A Wound, besides that it’s just us three in a playing music in a room.

Secret Law records seem to be doing a really good job of promoting the album, how did you come to sign to the label?

Will was just hanging out with his mate Tom and Tom was most likely saying “bro I might start a metal label” and Will probably said something like “yeah that’d be rad dude, my band has an album no other labels want to release!” and it just snowballed from there, Ed and Tom are fucking on it, they’ve picked up Desert Storm and they just picked up a new band called Funeral Pact who are rad.

Do you have as much control and involvement in all the aspects of making and promoting the album as you did when you were putting things out yourselves?

We still do all the same stuff, we just have some mates working with us now. It’s good to be part of something like Secret Law Records where we are working together to get something heard.

I’m sure the music is carefully worked out etc, but compared to your older work it has a kind of explosive, spontaneous quality, almost like free jazz, is there any element of improvisation in the way you write songs together?

Some songs were written with all three of us in a room bouncing ideas off each other, basically pushing a song in different directions until it met a conclusion, others were Sammy bringing ideas to me and Will, or Sammy and Will bringing ideas to me. After I’d improve vocals until I knew what the song was about. More simply put, It’s all just ideas and things that happened, musically and lyrically.

A related question; I’m not sure which are the newer and older songs on the album, but it seems like the band has gotten a bit looser and less rigid over the past couple of years, would you agree?

Before Geoff (Bradley, now of Atonement) left the band, he said something along the lines of “it’s time Oblivionized stopped writing shredding guitar exercises and started writing songs.” So that’s what we did, weird avant-garde jazz grind songs, or something.

One of the things I really like about the sound Oblivionized has now is that it’s impossible to label in a meaningful way; there’s something really special about the contrast of the technical guitar playing with the kind of intuitive, non-robotic drumming and super-emotive vocals but it isn’t typical ‘tech-grind’ or any of the usual labels you are given. How do you describe your music as it is on the album?

I honestly can’t, when we started out the idea of a genre was a huge joke to us. We started in 2008 it was weird man, you remember all the bands calling themselves “Ultra Guttural Brutality” and “Brutal Technical Slammin Death Metal” yeah? We all thought it was funny, some reviews called us Technical Death Metal, others said Deathgrind so we called ourselves “Misanthropic Technical Deathgrind” and it was hilarious. So we don’t really mind; Trve Kvlt Heavy Core.

the Life Is a Struggle artwork by Mark W. Richards (Heavy Hand Illustration)

You seem to push yourselves further with each release, is that something you do consciously? Do you have a ‘comfort zone’ as a band and if so is it something you avoid staying in?

I feel like we are aiming for something musically and we haven’t reached it yet, I love music and really enjoy being involved with underground bands and new bands. Lots of people come and go, make new bands and there are some brilliant bands out there if you want to find them. There are also a lot of bands that sound just like Converge, Napalm Death, or someone else and that’s rad, go for it, I enjoy seeing those bands play… but I’d like express myself, not someone else’s self.

Since the early days of the band it seems like the lyrics have become more and more focussed and specific and possibly more personal, is writing and performing an emotional or cathartic experience?

The lyrics are all developing an idea; it’s fully developed, yet I’ve been exploring the same idea for a long time. Making this music and performing is a very cathartic and important experience though, I feel sorry for any musician or listener that doesn’t have that connection to music.

LINKS:

Secret Law Records homepage

Heavy Hand Illustration

NSBM (and possibly NSFW)

It’s not National, to my knowledge it’s rarely socialist, but it mostly is black metal; National Socialist Black Metal (hereafter, NSBM) annoys people by being ‘too evil’, or at least evil in the wrong way. As the snuff movie is to the horror movie, it seems, NSBM is to BM. There are a couple of flaws in this analogy; firstly, it suggests that black metal in general is, like horror movies, some kind of fantasy (which it certainly often is, but isn’t necessarily) and secondly, that NSBM isn’t some kind of fantasy (see previous parentheses). The Nazis of World War 2 probably represent the ‘ultimate evil’ to people of the post-war generations, because whereas even the worst serial killers of the 20th century ‘worked’ on an individual, localised scale, the Nazis made murder into an ideology and ultimately an industry; that is, they functioned in ways that are relevant and relate-able to the daily lives and experiences of most people; the mundane quality of extermination, of ‘death factories’ is ultimately more frightening than a lone maniac. So is Nazi black metal the embodiment of that evil and therefore the ultimate in musical terrorism? Let’s see…

Defining NSBM

Let me be clear; I am not discussing heathen/pagan/folk BM that may or may not be perceived to have a Nazi angle to it; interesting though that scene is (and Graveland is the classic example of a sometimes great band whose career has been blighted by the media’s – and indeed the band’s own – inability to differentiate between history and ideology) the term ‘Nazi’ is too specific and anachronistic to be very useful when discussing paganism, heritage etc. Here, I am more concerned with bands whose work fully intends to glorify that specific NS ideology, and whose output can be represented by artwork like this:

The first question is, is NSBM any good? Just like any black metal, the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. On occasion, the mixture of the classic sound of orthodox BM with the particular (and let’s not beat around the bush, racist and especially, anti-Semitic) kind of extreme bile that a Nazi band projects can be extremely effective. Even a modestly-talented middle-of-the-road orthodox BM band like Poland’s Ohtar were able to make something nightmarishly gripping out of tunes that, had they been devoted to Satan, would have just been too familiar. In that (but not only that) respect, NSBM is comparable to Christian Black Metal – it may sometimes be okay as sound, but that doesn’t make it right.

Given the existence of such subgenres as ambient BM and folk BM, perhaps the only essential ingredient of black metal is Satanism, in one form or another; and the good thing about Satanism is that it can mean many things to many people. Therefore you have the kind of religious goats ‘n’ horns Satanism that is the polar opposite of Christian metal, exemplified I guess by Watain. Related, but not necessarily requiring any religious belief, there is Lucifer, the fallen angel, analogous to humankind; the cosmic light-bringer with the key to forbidden knowledge. As the philosophical figure of the adversary, Satan can simply be seen as the ultimate rebel; the perfect icon for black metal.

Misanthropy: a group activity?

In fact, some of the best black metal, even by those with Nazi links (Burzum being the best and most obvious example) is metaphysical and above all personal. Like any music that people put their souls into, BM isn’t ‘just music’ – and no-one could deny that in the early 90s, people like Dead and Varg Vikernes lived the music they made. Whatever his political views were or are, Varg Vikernes has the sense to realise that, while his views may be shared by many, his thoughts and feelings are his alone and at its best, Burzum’s music is an expression of those feelings. Filosofem, probably his finest work, expresses a kind of solitary desolation through lyrics that are almost abstract in their elemental bareness, making it endlessly appealing to those metal fans (and not just metal fans) who feel alienated from modern urban society and the mainstream music scene.

As an alternative (or even an accompaniment) to this kind of individualistic Satanic philosophy, National Socialism is highly inadequate; it’s too specific, too political, too ephemeral, too small. Anyone reading Mein Kampf can have no doubt that, to Adolf Hitler, National Socialism was a deeply felt personal philosophy. But anyone following it now should be aware that that’s exactly what they are doing – following someone else’s ideology, living someone else’s dream. Not to be too dictatorial about it, but surely although BM isn’t all that some of its proponents make it out to be, following a failed idea from the recent past is fundamentally not what the genre is supposed to be about.

Another key band who helped to ignite the idea of NSBM while definitely not belonging to it were Darkthrone, but as is obvious from looking at their work, their brief flirtation with the language of NS, even evaluated from a politically neutral point of view, actually undermined the impact of their music. The album which caused the controversy is also the one which cemented the band’s reputation as scene leaders, despite the fact that it is significantly weaker than the two which preceded it; 1993’s Transilvanian Hunger. The title track is one of the band’s best ever songs, but it also helps to illustrate where they went wrong. The (not surprisingly) vampiric lyrics are classic black metal, an almost romantic view of misanthropy, forever making cold one of the keywords of the genre. The narrator is utterly divorced not only from society but from humanity. And yet, at the same time as putting forward this image of inhumanity/antihumanity, the band chose, famously, to include the statement Norsk Arisk Black Metal (‘Norwegian Aryan Black Metal’) on the album’s sleeve. What the Aryan or Iranian (or Indo-European or however you choose to interpret ‘Aryan’) people have to do with Norway is anyone’s guess, and if we are to presume that the vampire of Transilvanian Hunger believes in some kind of racialist ideology it can only undermine the song with baggage it most definitely doesn’t need. Which raises another problem with National Socialist ideology in relation to BM; it’s too nice.

Nazism is too nice

This statement clearly needs elaboration. Misanthropy, whether or not it is a viable design for life, is all-encompassing. Nazism is definitively unpleasant, but – examining even the term ‘National Socialism’ – it most definitely cannot be said to be anti-social, let alone misanthropic. Therefore NSBM, although at first it may seem like the ne plus ultra of darkness, actually has a reductive effect compared to the stance of the classic ‘second wave’ of BM. As a misanthrope, you can’t ‘belong’, to be a member of some kind of elite society, you must ‘belong’. Sweet.

The Inclusiveness of true evil?

Standing for ‘all the darkness of humanity’ (variations of this dedication have appeared on album sleeves since the dawn of the 90s and are still going strong; a recent one in my own experience being Malaysians Nefkarata’s (very good) Morts, dedicated to “All Evil In Man”) would by necessity include Hitler & Co alongside Jewish serial killer David Berkowitz and Caligula, Idi Amin, Margaret Thatcher etc, etc, but the most strident NS bands are so dedicated to that vague and misunderstood thing, ‘Aryanism’ that basically it’s all about one short, albeit turbulent, period of the 20th century. And for all the true NSBM band’s xenophobic, elitist rhetoric, it should be remembered that historically, Nazis were not only mainly Germanic (whereas NSBM bands are as or more likely to spring from North or South America as anywhere else) but also – and for a totalitarian ‘might-is-right’ philosophy this is extremely important – the losers.

The glamour of atrocity

Like it or not, it’s undeniable that Nazism and especially the holocaust, have a certain frisson; hence the existence of Nazi exploitation movies like Salon Kitty, Ilsa, She-wolf of the SS and (slightly more ambitiously) The Night Porter.

Awareness of this frisson is at the heart of one of Stephen King’s better pieces of writing; the opening chapters of Apt Pupil, and a disapproving awareness of it was behind the predictable moral panic which greeted Martin Amis’ deeply non-exploitative Time’s Arrow. This special atmosphere is definitely part of the allure of certain kinds of NSBM; mostly the sillier kind made by bands with ‘Aryan’ in their name – and an album cover that features a photograph of Nazi atrocities with a black metal logo has a kind of spurious impressiveness that makes it stand out amidst the hordes of unreadable scrawls, inverted crosses, enthroned goats etc.

“Nazi Moods”

Perhaps the most artistically successful Nazi-themed or related BM is the ambient kind, partly because, however unappetising it may sound from a pop-music perspective, the mix of sombre, wintry and minimalist electronica with martial themes and archive recordings of WWII-era radio broadcasts, speeches and music is incredibly evocative and paradoxically, strangely emotionally involving.

Similarly, the kind of artwork that accompanies these releases tends to be evocative rather than visceral; black and white photographs of landmarks like Zakupy Chateau, Schlöss Wewelsburg, the Wolf’s Lair; crumbling monuments, statues or ruins. This kind of aesthetic has a deep appeal which matches the music, boring if you don’t like it, but strangely moving if you do, even for those who completely reject the ideology behind it. Compared to standard NSBM, this is a very grey area; whereas a record with a cover image of a mountain of emaciated corpses and a name like ‘Aryan Sturm’ can be reasonably presumed to be an NSBM album, a masterpiece like Tronus Abyss’ Kampf – which has many of the hallmarks of an NS ambient project as listed above cannot (and shouldn’t) be easily labelled NSBM. The band do explore avenues of mysticism associated with the Third Reich, they do use martial themes and evoke the ruins of postwar Europe, but it would be difficult (and futile) to try to demonstrate that Kampf is a ‘Nazi album’, any more than Oliver Hirschbiegel’s superb and similarly evocative Der Untergang is a ‘Nazi film’.

Banning Nazism; the ultimate irony

In recent times, the escalating paranoia about right-wing extremity (alongside, ironically or maybe obviously, a tolerance among people for actual right-wing extremity) has led to some high-profile cases of BM bands being prevented from playing live, especially in Germany. Most of these bands have of course not been Nazis at all – and it is intolerable that these bands have had their livelihood threatened over what is basically the same kind of metal-phobic ignorance that led to US burnings of Number of the Beast in the early 80s.

Banning any kind of art is a ridiculous, futile gesture which has (to my knowledge) never had any positive results except to energise those opposing the regime in charge. On the other hand, actual NS bands should be quite pleased; banning is a classic Nazi trait, which should give them hope for the future of the reich.