Could someone please recommend me some black metal that is non-racist, non-sexist, and that doesn't go too far past the line of good taste?

deathspell omega is all about philosophy and shit (i think)

it is also very good

Would Alcest fit the bill? I might like to check that out.

Do check it out, but no, it's not satanic or black metal at all - it's My Bloody Valentine + acoustic guitars + post rock. Neige (mr. Alcest) may have other black metal bands, but this isn't anything like any kind of metal I know of.

I'm more intrigued by this sexist BM the title proposes

oh, and i really hate generalizing about the genre or it's fans here. really, i don't want to offend anyone. i'm really just curious about this sound and all, and i'd like to check out a few albums to see if it could be my thing or not.

so...

satanic: cool
sexist: not cool

How about Sexy Satanists?

I want black metal that doesn't go too far past the line of good taste. I also want some punk that doesn't question authority and some Klezmer that doesn't at all relate to Jewish culture.

I'm pretty much a metal neophyte, and there are many people on this board who could answer this question far better than I could, but as far as I know, many of the newer American black metal bands, e.g. Xasthur, Leviathan, Nachtmystium, are more concerned with death, suicide, despair, and general misanthropy, etc. over the themes you listed.

I'm also not really sure about some of the French black metal bands, such as Blut Aus Nord or Spektr. I've liked what I've heard from them but I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell you their lyrical content or ideological positions.

Also, most of the bands I just listed might not entirely be "pure black metal" and often have some elements of dark ambient or industrial.

Also, if the racist stuff bothers you a lot, you don't have to buy it of course. Burzum and early Darkthrone are a little too good to pass up if you're looking to get into black metal, so there's always the downloading option.

There aren't that many black metal bands that are outwardly racist. Even Burzum tends to keep his opinions to his interviews.

ha Metal Archives lists "density of immateriatility" as Spektr's lyrical themes. Not too offensive, is it?

xpost that's very true.

doesn't go too far past the line of good taste?

Gee, I don't know, Dorothy, maybe Winger is more your speed?

Aw, come on. Everybody's a teensy little bit racist and sexist.

this thread needs siegbran to lay down some justice

Not really black metal, but maybe Opeth would be your speed?

seriously. gottpunch/hawkind/nullframe too. there are plenty of metal experts on this board.

Opeth are really good, but they're not even close to black metal, they're prog-folk-metal with goth overtones.

Yeah, hence the "not really black metal" part of my post.

"not really" wasn't strong enough, dan! call the wrong group black metal and you'll have an angry scandinavian hunting you down and burning sheep in your front drive before you've even realised what's going on!

i would say that MOST modern black metal is pretty free of sexism and racism and doesn't go too far past the line of good taste. it's mostly about bleakness, suicide, misanthropy, and despair. so, have at it, andi! there is a lot to listen to. get the new Xasthur album. or some nachtmystium, lurker of chalice, leviathan, or nortt. to name some of the new wave superstars of sadness.

I also don't understand the 'not being able to get down with Christian metal' thing either. Some of the best black metal of recent years has been so-called 'white metal,' like Agothothodion and stuff on the EEE label. Melodic, creepy vocals, psychedelic as hell...

^^^ Yeah -- it's pretty much impossible to determine the ideological content of most of this subgenre just by listening to the music.

i'm digging the new Krohm album on Moribund/Debemur Morti.

http://www.debemur-morti.com/img/dmp0023-05_4.jpg

^^^I don't think I'm ever going to tire of album covers like that.^^^

I don't even know how you can tell that a given grumblecore vocalist is saying sexist/racist/whathaveyou stuff anyway. Wouldn't that mean they defy the laws of the style by employing good diction?

Ukrainian Drudkh sort of sit on the fence of political correctness. They won't do anything explicitly racist, but they are on Supernal Music, declare themselves as revolutionary conservatives and have songtitles like "Sunwheel". If you can bear that, prepare to hear some of the best black metal of the millennium.

Other (these 100% safe) suggestions:

Negura Bunget - Om
Darkspace - II
Alcest - Le Secret (the new one is awesome, but not really BM)

I'd pass the whole bedroom suicidal-BM scene.

"I'd pass the whole bedroom suicidal-BM scene."

i wouldn't. andi loves goth. some more names to throw out there:

sapthuran, dead raven choir, sapfhier, vorkuta, uvall, forgotten woods, apostolum, fear of eternity, i shalt become, merrimack.

just go to last fm and type some of this stuff in. you can listen for free and there are like 5 zillion bands on there. and info about them. i always find new stuff i like by doing that.

Well, Forgotten Woods are not a bedroom band, they have been around forever. Their 3xCD compilation on No Colours is an essential buy, btw.

Also Trist (Cze) is a great "depressive" band. Mentioned them on the rolling metal thread, I'm impressed by their stuff. It's hypnotic.

did i say forgotten woods were a "bedroom" band? although the new album is pretty diy.

i forgot to mention velvet cacoon. perfect for the goth on the go. as are caina, procer veneficus, and even agalloch. velvet cacoon being the most bm out of those. the others using bm at times for their own artful ends.

What about Tristwood?

i really liked the last tristwood album! they've got the industrial thing going on. and a blackened death thing. not straight-up bm by any means.

The splash page of Tristwood's website has a banner link to a site for Metalheads Against Racism, which lists affiliated bands and artists.

"Scandinavian metal, viking metal, even symphonic black metal, or whatever."

i'd be here all day with this though. check the rolling metal threads, andi!

scott otm on i shalt become and velvet cacoon. i love that stuff.

(Scott, thank you for turning me on to Tristwood, via your thread last year about them and Aborym.)

aborym are another good one. same with blut aus nord. deathspell omega freak me the fuck out. which is a good thing i think. they may actually be evil ghosts. evil french ghosts even.

i just posted my top 20 list of 2007 that i gave to Decibel for their year-end issue. if anyone cares. lots of good stuff this year!!

1 – Caina – Mourner (Profound Lore)

2 – Grave In The Sky – Cutlery Hits China: English For The Hearing Impaired (Heart & Crossbone)

3 – Dodheimsgard – Supervillain Outcast (The End)

4 – Moonsorrow – Viides Luku: Havitetty (Unruly Sounds/The End)

5 – Necrodemon – Ice Fields of Hyperion (Open Grave)

6 – Sun Of Nothing - …in the weak and the wounded (Venerate Industries)

7 – Ulver – Shadows Of The Sun (The End)

8 – Procer Veneficus – A Summerhaze Array For August Nights (God Is Myth/Ars Magna)

9 – Amok – Necrospiritual Deathcore (Planet Satan Revolution)

10 – Novembers Doom – The Novella Reservoir (The End)

11 – Blood of the Black Owl – S/T (Bindrune)

12 – Virgin Black – Requiem – Mezzo Forte (The End)

13 – Alcest – souvenirs d’un autre monde (Profound Lore)

14 – Portal – Outre (Profound Lore)

15 – Deathspell Omega – Fas-Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)

16 – Tharaphita – Iidsetel Sunkjatel Radadel (Nailboard)

17 – Metsatoll – Terast Mis Hangund Me Hinge 10218 (Nailboard)

18 – Earthless – Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky (Tee Pee)

19 – Baroness – The Red Album (Relapse)

20 – Ensiferum – Victory Songs (Spinefarm)

virgin black, by the way, are gothier than the gothiest goth in all of gothdom.

all of that should be myspaceable. probably.

Andi, Metalheads Against Racism

By joining Metalheads Against Racism, we declare:

1. We believe that all human beings are born equal.

2. We believe that multiculturalism is neither unnatural nor dangerous.

3. The Metal scene is not open to those propagating the idea that some people are inferior to others because of their race or culture. We will not allow Heavy Metal to become a forum for their racist views.

[A long list of signatories follows; looks like most of the entries for bands are links to their sites. You'd have to winnow out the non-BM / Christian / excessively bad-taste-oriented / lame ones yourself, I guess, but at least you know that they're opposed to racist metal.]

I thought that all black metal lyrics were essentially growled Nordic gibberish. I didn't realize that anyone actually paid attention to them.

(What I'd like to find is more black metal bands with great rhythm sections and vocals mixed way down…)

Does Living Colour count as black metal?

They were black at least, but maybe more heavy rock than metal....

;)

Seward otm re: rolling thread, and also, why don't you just listen to some things and then decide if they offend you or not! Not trying to be rude, just saying.

Does Living Colour count as black metal?

They were black at least, but maybe more heavy rock than metal....

;)

-- Geir Hongro, Thursday, 27 September 2007 20:49 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

RACIST

My impression is that there are actually very really few racist/fascist BM Bands and they tend to be pretty much upfront about it.

Sorry, transposed really/very.

That Mortis thread is pretty much complete guilt-by-association bullshit from start to finish.

As long as the music's good, I don't care if they're nazis.

I don't.

The Moonsorrow album (# 4 on Scott's list) is a great gateway album to BM, btw. It's not really "black" as it's full of uplifting theatric viking battle music, but on the surface the style is similar. I have a friend who had no interest in black metal until he heard that. It's one of my favorite albums of the year, too.

thank you all for the help here, especially you scott! thanks too, for taking this seriously.

i just needed a few good starting points. i'm sure i have enough recommendations now to keep me busy for a long while.

i was under the impression (maybe i still am?) that i'd find most black metal offensive. maybe i was pretty wrong. i just know that some of the most praised bands of the genre are racist, sexist, etc. . .

i'm still just curious about the sound. i've heard clips of things here and there over the years, and, it's all sounded interesting. . . i've just been busy exploring other genres i've been more curious about, though.
i'm really looking forward to get sifting through this all, when i have the time to, and hopefully finding some pretty great stuff.

xpost, soukesian,
yeah, totally. i really don't believe that that mortiis guy is racist or anything.
but, bands like emperor, with those kind of people, are what i'm trying to avoid here. mortiis seems like a good guy, though.

emperor?

Because of Faust's crime, probably.

Not that I'm saying it's a reason to not like Emperor.

oh. he hasn't been in the band since 94 or thereabouts!

I'm honestly not trying to bust your balls here, but if you are just curious about the sound, then I don't see how the personal politics matter anyway?

xpost, true, or shall i say trve

i would say that MOST modern black metal is pretty free of sexism and racism and doesn't go too far past the line of good taste. it's mostly about bleakness, suicide, misanthropy, and despair. so, have at it, andi! there is a lot to listen to. get the new Xasthur album. or some nachtmystium, lurker of chalice, leviathan, or nortt. to name some of the new wave superstars of sadness.

-- scott seward, Thursday, September 27, 2007 4:07 PM (Yesterday)

otm. a lot of black metal is best understood as mood music.

Nactmysticum seconded.

Overtly racist stuff is fairly rare (Polish scene mainly), but if you're easily offended you're looking in the wrong place.

Darkspace - Darkspace II
Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites
Summoning - Oath Bound
Gehenna - First Spell
Manes - Under Ein Blodraud Maane
Ulver - Bergtatt
Forgotten Woods - The Curse Of Mankind (aka Burzum-for-people-who-object-to-Burzum)

(What I'd like to find is more black metal bands with great rhythm sections and vocals mixed way down…)

You need Setherial "Nord".

i know, roxy. i guess it's just a personal hang-up of mine. i really just wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the stuff that i knew was made by the kinds of terrible people that this thread is about avoiding. i'm sure there are lots of people around that feel the same way. if i ever really did start getting deeply into this stuff though, i'm sure curiosity would eventually get to me and i'd check out burzum and mayhem or whatever. i really just can't start out with that stuff right now, though. plus, i'm completely new to this anyway, and this stuff is so far away from most other things i'm pretty into, that i think all this bm stuff will probably all sound the same to me at first for a while anyway. so, i just figure i'd may as well hear bands whose members i can take seriously as people first, you know? maybe not. this all makes sense to me, anyway. . .

LOL trying to get into black metal and ignoring Burzum is like trying to get into jazz and ignoring Miles Davis

You could do worse than obtaining Ulver's entire discography.

Agreed as a general rule, but some of it certainly doesn't qualify as BM.

I really don't know that much about which black metal bands hold what views, apart from Burzum & Mayhem, but I'm currently listening to Emperor's half of Hordanes Land and it's awesome.

xpost: Indeed, and I meant it in a general sense. Andi ought to get hold of 'Blood Inside' (and the new one which I am going to buy within the next couple of days) purely for the fact they're awesome pieces of music.

You can't "take a person seriously" who has fucked up politics? That's...well...fucked up.

Do check it out, but no, it's not satanic or black metal at all - it's My Bloody Valentine + acoustic guitars + post rock. Neige (mr. Alcest) may have other black metal bands, but this isn't anything like any kind of metal I know of.

Actually the demo then the Le Secret ep is BM. Bloody good too.
Peste Noire is another of his bands and I forget the other band he's in but I've not actually heard them yet.

I haven't read the whole thread yet and I assume someone will have mentioned Agalloch by now. Check my Agalloch C/D ? thread.

Do check out Weakling and Wolves In The Throne Room Since that's what got me listening to BM in the last 2 years(and I've repeatedly said over the years on ILM that I didn't like it, a lot for the same reasons as you give) and it's also what BM fans say is "BM for people not into BM" haha.

I would love to know why my taste in metal has got heavier in my 30s than it was in my 20s. Then I would only listen to Grunge/Doom/Stoner/Industrial and as i got nearer 30 I did that even less.

I'm also not really sure about some of the French black metal bands, such as Blut Aus Nord
Oh yeah they're great.

Drudkh have allegedly dodgy politics so I wouldn't buy anything by them, despite the fact that their lyrics don't mention it, but the music is so damn good it's worth downloading as not to miss out. Some really amazing stuff there.

The 2 bands friends of mine are really into these days are Negurã Bunget and Deathspell Omega

Another of the bands that turned me onto this stuff was Dead Raven Choir. I found that a great starting point actually.

Amesoeurs That's Neige's other band.

HEY DUDES are Woodtemple nazis? or just graveland imitators?

I don't really have a right to reply to this, but I really like Wolves in the Throne Room's first album and it's totally tasteful.

New one is really good too.

Check out this http://www.ratemycorpsepaint.com/

WAHT.

bring on the most racist, sexist, satanic, evil fucking thing imaginable. like it's a contest.

i don't know anything, besides standard mayhem, emperor, mercyful fate and shit.

fuck this thread. MAKE ME APPALLED.

i've really been enjoying christicide's s/t, which i was tipped to by roxymuzak.

probably because the bass is super punchy compared to yr typical black metal production, without the sound still basically being a constant stream of comforting noise.

(this is not in response to boy_slayer - on the basis of their lyrics they seem to be awfully blasphemous and offensive, you know, if you cared about it, but not as far as i recall anything racist etc. - of course the lyrics are incomprehensible anyway.)

Blut Aus Nord fucking rules

I had thought that either this or your other black metal revive or the rolling metal thread would have covered the Oakland Marduk cancellation.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/marduk-concert-in-oakland-canceled-due-to-security-concerns/

Neanderthal OTM

Listening to new Blut aus Nord (Lovecraftian Echoes), and it’s nasty, diseased, and just plain gross. I’ve never been more unhappy to be alive. 10/10

Didn't know a new one was coming already, though it isn't really "new":

Due to their unearthly quality and thematic coherence the tracks are now available to non-Order members in digital format. It must be emphasised that this is NOT the new BLUT AUS NORD album but instead a compilation of custom-made pieces continuing the musical exploration started in 2003 with "The Work Which Transforms God".

Right! Seems like a general release of 2020-2022 fan club tracks. Being a metal dabbler, the shorter runtime works really well for me.

Oh yeah, still cool for sure, just thought I'd missed more news.