Black Industrial Metal

[Goat93]

Since there are so much Shitty Drumcomputer and Disco Rythm + some Guitar Myspace Bands out, i search for some Industrial BM Bands, who have a clue about Industrial and are not some Wumpscut or Combichrist Fanboys....

[Niko]

Havohej - Kembatian Premaster.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I would think it is very rare, if not non-existent. To mix drum machine and fancy electronics with technical bm seems quite common. Perhaps little bit better bands in genre includes resurrected Abigor, Blacklodge, Diapsiquir,...  And then the hipsterized raw bm, which is pretty much like crustpunk meets harsh noise, yet carries very little if any real connection to black metal other than marketing tactics and lazy reference to Bone Awls and Ildjarn.

I've said it many times, and I do say it still, that if someone would do GOOD combination of nordic bm & deathindustrial/power electronics, I'd be glad to hear it. Like Con-Dom JESUS PENIS meets TRANSILVANIAN HUNGER. Unfortunately, I have never heard, and doubt I will. It would be hard to keep industrial side being more than intro/special effect. And metal to sound somehow interesting when buried in layers of fierce noise.

That mentioned Havohej...... well, since 1993 12" Black Perversion, band has been just about what it is now. Man & Jinn, Black Perversion... very little is different to Kembatian Premaster, in my opinion. In the end, this is prime example of idea being good, but execution being... ehm.. well, not perfect. I admire his guts to produce such a miserable stuff, so of course I have them all and appreciate. But if one would want to create something what SONICALLY works, without the legacy and content, it simply ain't Havohej. The dull drum machine beats over weak mechanical humming and the standard length screeching vocals. It isn't really that good on standards of metal, yet there's hardly anything to listen noise wise. Great band, though!

[m.]

Menace Ruine

[ARKHE]

I gave MENACE RUINE a listen at myspace, to me it sounded like any random unindustrial CMI-band, like Arcana or sth, with some metal guitars. Not bad, though.

I think HAVOHEJ, with the latest album (Kembatinan Premaster), pushed himself up a bit, quality-wise - had a more, I don't know, industrial feel to it more than the earlier stuff. Though there is little to add beyond what Mikko said.

And then the hipsterized raw bm, which is pretty much like crustpunk meets harsh noise, yet carries very little if any real connection to black metal other than marketing tactics and lazy reference to Bone Awls and Ildjarn

Yeah, what's up with that? Any specific bands you refer to?
Would be interesting to hear the melodic side of BM fused with industrial noises, but to manage that would require a musician to master not one but two very different genres, which in itself is quite rare... Anyone can punch out a three-tone Ildjarn-primitive riff, but something like Transilvanian Hunger takes compositional skills.

[m.]

I gave MENACE RUINE a listen at myspace, to me it sounded like any random unindustrial CMI-band, like Arcana or sth, with some metal guitars. Not bad, though.

yeah you're right, i've just "Cult of ruins" cd ("process of bestialization" & "dove instinct" tracks on myspace page), listening to the other tracks seems like they changed style a little bit...

[ConcreteMascara]

I thought the Menace Ruine tape on Tour De Garde was really good but the two CDs not so much. The tape is more raw and more interesting with a mix of doom metal, black metal and noise and just a hint of psych.

[MT]

Mysticum is the first band that comes into my mind. In the Streams of Inferno is amagnificent opus, industrial wibe in certain parts, and really fast guitar riffs. For example song The Rest has fantastic drum machine, love the sound. I also enjoy their demo set Lost Masters of Universe, not as industrial'ish as In the Streams... but surely raw as Hell. Drum machines pounding...

[Goat93]

Mysticum has no real "Industrial" Tones, more like Drumcomputer installed, but they were early with that stuff. Mz412 is a example i think, but they have separated the Noisy/"Industrial" Parts and the BM Parts mostly. I would say Ildjarn Nocturnal Visions is for Noise BM a good example, cause the First/Last Track sounds really noisy and it fits with the rest of the music.

[kettu]

maybe brad has some point even if there are a bunch of bm bands with modern themes: aborym, black lodge and of course the near perfect diapsiquir for example but this style  seems to be question of guys really wanting it to exist. fellows who like noise etc and bm really wanting them to merge.

im sure with time there be more and more of BiM maybe some will be even good. I have a feeling that there will be more musical indusrial aswell so I guess it would be "natural" that guys also into black metal will put their influences in those bands.

im not sure how many no gitar bm bands there are( I know some that have been in the making for some time) and there would be room for industriel and noisy stuff in the mix once the buzzing guitars are taken out.

edit: oh and some speculated on the approach as well, an intresting subject. out of the really noisy stuff ive heard theres definetly  bone awl mimmickry going on since I have failed to hear any melodies and such. ildjarn has a lot of great tunes and riffs not just banga banga banga songs. von could also be an influence but again its not just banging away even if it is simple.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Where is a fusion of the two going to take you?

Quite a few BM groups get into an "urban" theme with their tracks; Blut Aus Nord spring instantly to mind. Also, I'd say the Satanic imagery would cross over well.

[tiny_tove]

Darkspace from Switzerland. Very good in my opinion both in the metal and in the industrail/ambient department.
Live were a big disappointment but probably due to technical problems
http://www.myspace.com/darkcyberspace

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I was personally little annoyed by Darkspaces backstabbing behavior against other bm bands. Like refusing to play at same shows, since they consider some band "nazis", even if there is no such content in their songs. Simply out of wishes to semi-mainstream success, you stab other bands of your tour on their backs. Does this affect the music? Don't know, but it does make me wonder if exclusively space themed 80's synth muzak combined with some "shoegaze" (?) is black metal? Perhaps it can be, but at least when band played in Finland, I think 2 hours set was praised by some, insulted by some. Warm up bands included more kraut/psyche rock band and one suicidal bm band and kind of indicates the severe cross-over nature of project. Being my subjective impression.

And then the hipsterized raw bm, which is pretty much like crustpunk meets harsh noise, yet carries very little if any real connection to black metal other than marketing tactics and lazy reference to Bone Awls and Ildjarn

Yeah, what's up with that? Any specific bands you refer to?

Well, you take the followers of Bone Awl, the whole new scene of "black punk"/"blackened crust" type of stuff. I try to do my best to not get involved in it. I think we'd need someone... perhaps mr. Hum of The Druid who may have had displeasure to see more of that to remind some of the names?

In general, you can say that bands who aren't in any way "metal". And who may pack their demo in american tapes style spray painted cover. It's sold as raw black metal, yet there isn't black nor metal, just raw bedroom/basement punk. But if it was called that, nobody would care. Nowadays you can find anything. Unblackmetal for christian purposes. Red & Anarchist bm. Crust/punk sold as black metal, and so on. When you just apply enough distortion, you call it black metal. Which seems like utterly idiotic reference as if main characteristic of bm would be saturation & distortion.
It makes you wonder what is so cool about this term, but so wrong about itself, that every musical approach and every ideological direction has to be tagged with the brand and expect it still be "bm". If it's not metal, it's not black metal. It is that simple. If its distorted music about feminism & animal rights, there are some other names for it than "bm".

Therefore even if I expect the fusion of bm/industrial, I'm also little sceptical. You know, what is this Skullflower or his side projects doing "black metal"? Oh please. You listen the material and it's same as it always was. Fierce guitar feedback and distorted harmony of lo-fi guitars. How is that black metal?

I think nowadays it is predominantly marketing scam. Having raw guitar in your noise/drone/postpunk/... is nothing new. To use old english font and call it bm seems easy extra points what you otherwise won't get. So I rather expect blackmetal-industrial fusion to come from "BM scene" and from BM musicians, than from indie kids.

[Ashley Choke]

I have to partly agree with Mikko. This new wave of Raw Black Metal, I don't quite know what to think about. Sound wise i enjoy quite a few of the project's. Best ones would be Sump, Grinning Death's Head and aforementioned Bone Awl, which I also feel all can be qualified as black metal. But some of the bands coming out of this scene seems to be nothing but Hardcore in disguise. I mean people coming from inner cities USA should have as much right to play BM as any Norwegian/Finn. And how you present you're band with packaging and the likes should not be limited to corpse paint, forests and inverted crosses/pentagrams. But when the content has basically nothing to do to do with devil worship/occult matters but rather personal issues and the likes and the presentation/sound is closer to that of indierock and old fashioned hardcore I feel the need to label it BM is because it has stronger effect than "HC with members of Charles Bronson"

Denmark's own SexDrome has gotten quite a rep in that scene, but I know for a fact that they put much emphasis on still being a Punk band, that may just draw on some ildjarn influence, Seeing them play will BTW cancel most of the BM connection as the live situation will remind you a lot more of something like The Stooges or Eyehategod.

Then again Clandestine Blaze or Akitsa might not have strong satanic lyrical content. But IMO these units stills is 100% Black Metal as they have always presented themselves in such manner, both sound and aesthetic wise.

I am yet to hear any Black Industrial Metal band that is more than just second rate BM with gabba drums

[tiny_tove]

I was personally little annoyed by Darkspaces backstabbing behavior against other bm bands. Like refusing to play at same shows, since they consider some band "nazis", even if there is no such content in their songs. Simply out of wishes to semi-mainstream success, you stab other bands of your tour on their backs. Does this affect the music? Don't know, but it does make me wonder if exclusively space themed 80's synth muzak combined with some "shoegaze" (?) is black metal? Perhaps it can be, but at least when band played in Finland, I think 2 hours set was praised by some, insulted by some. Warm up bands included more kraut/psyche rock band and one suicidal bm band and kind of indicates the severe cross-over nature of project. Being my subjective impression.

Don't know the guys behind it, but I am close to ther avantgard guys, will ask for hints regarding this.
They come from Switzerland after all where antifas and other lobbies are a real pain in the ass attacking gigs of "ambiguous" projects even if they were vanilla.