USBM

[!!!CPAOI!!!]

Yeah I wanted to have a discussion thread about USBM, this be it.

I am listening to an album by Wolves in the Throne Room called Diadem of 12 Stars and it is easily one of my favorite BM albums ever, has any one else heard them?

[timehat]

I've been listening to some USBM lately and found it enjoyable. I haven't heard Wolves in the Throne Room, though; care to make a more elaborate description of their sound?

[!!!CPAOI!!!]

They definitely fall into the "we grew up listening to Emperor and Ulver" camp.  I'd say that it sounds a good deal like Ulver's Nattens Madrigal with (slightly) cleaner production and more atmosphere than straight aggression.  There are folk passages but they aren't prominent.  They're actually a group of people who live on a collective farm in Olympia, Washington and their connection to the earth is definitely audible in their compositions.  There are four distinct tracks on Diadem but they are so long and undergo so many transitions that it's more an album of straight atmospheric BM.  Basically it's gorgeous but heavy and it kicks ass.

PS-  I've been wanting to get more into Xasthur but I didn't really like Subliminal Genocide.  I thought it sounded great and I liked a lot of the musical ideas but said ideas were dragged out for entirely too long without variation. Is that an issue in all of Malefic's work or just on Subliminal Genocide?

[Scytale]

I've never really been a fan of USBM, so bare in mind most of the bands I rec will probably be fairly untypical of the "scene"

I have a few Krieg stuff (mainly splits), Not that impressed with them really.

Judas Iscariot is far and  away the best BM band America ever produced (even if he did relocate to germany for he's last couple of Albums). All he's albums are good, start with "Thy Dying Light"  and "Heaven in Flames", that will give you an idea of he's older vs newer style albums.

I always thought Xasthur were pretty overated, I've only heard "Nocturnal Poisoning" but was really not that impressed. If you want some good suicidal bm, check out Leviathan instead, I've been getting into them pretty recently.

Vrolok is another really good USBM band, I have both their "Resurgence" albums though I'd say Resurgence: II, is my favorite, their sound is kind of hard to describe, on their first album it's pretty fast and all out agressive, whilst on part II it's more droning and drawn out, something I prefer, the albums are part of a trillogy (kind of like what Kanwulf did with Rasluka) so it'll be interesting to see what Resurgence III sounds like (due out later this year I think)... Anyway here's a link to one of their songs http://download.yousendit.com/1095E4571B55432D check it out if you want.

Also because it's almost obligatory, Velvet Cacoon, everyones favorite inside joke...

[McTaggart]

United States Black Metal right? At least it's not as wanky as NWOBHM.

[!!!CPAOI!!!]

Yeah it is.  I know it's not "accurate" but when I say USBM I usually include Canada in there.

I've listened to a bit of Leviathan and I liked what I heard, I wasn't so much a fan of the Vrolok tune though.  The vocals were mixed in way too loud and completely obscured everything else going on.  That said, having the vocals mixed that high is pretty atypical for BM.  I've been told that I need to check out Judas Iscariot but I haven't gotten around to it.

Nachtmystium is a USBM band that gets a lot of press here, but I haven't heard anything by them that really blew me away.  Anybody have recommendations/opinions on them?

Edit: Once I became accustomed to the way it was mixed that Vrolok tune actually had some pretty cool ideas in it.

[timehat]

I enjoy Xasthur well enough, but I have to agree about Leviathan being better, from what I've heard.

[Scytale]

I forgot all about them in the original post, but Tearstained are worth a look as well, their album "Monumental in its Sorrow" is pretty decent. stuff, very 1st wave sounding, kind of like a cross between Bathory and Mercyful Fate.

Their labels website has a few mp3's up...
http://www.thebasar.org/MP3/Bat_Horde.mp3

warning: extremely awesome Bathroy worship...

[timehat]

Has anyone here heard Krohm? I recently got ahold of the album World Through Dead Eyes and I must say that it is a pretty magnificent piece of ultra-somber USBM.

[Caspian]

My knowledge of USBM (or should I say, the USBM i've got) is limited to Xasthur and Leviathan. I really dig them, though, and I've heard quite a few other random tracks by othe dudes, and a lot of it sounds really good. Do I think Scandinavia does better BM? well, my favourite BM bands are Scandinavian, but the ratio of good-bad USBM bands is the same with Scandinavia bands. It's good stuff.

I would definitely agree with the dude that said most USBM rips Ulver though. Either people rip Bergtatt or NM.. Is that a bad thing though? If I was in a BM band, I would rip those two albums of all the time..

[Scytale]

one of my friends album's got reviewed liek that http://www.blackmetal.net.au/articles.php?featureid=4

I asked him, aren't you pissed off they've basically called your album completely unoriginal, he's response was fuck that if we even sound ha;f as good as Burzum and Emperor we're doing something right.

[Caspian]

one of my friends album's got reviewed liek that http://www.blackmetal.net.au/articles.php?featureid=4

I asked him, aren't you pissed off they've basically called your album completely unoriginal, he's response was fuck that if we even sound ha;f as good as Burzum and Emperor we're doing something right.

The review is fairly positive though. But it's badly written. The guy uses a heap of short sentences. Like this. For the whole review. It gets annoying. After reading it for a bit. Doesn't it?

[timehat]

Well, I think that what's interesting about a lot of USBM is that it does kind of forge ahead with more traditional ideas, whereas a lot of the Norgwegian veterans have gone way out into left field. This is fine, but it's cool to see a more "forward" development occuring that has roots in tradition in comparison to the more "off-track" post-black metal type of stuff.

[!!!CPAOI!!!]

I think that an interesting pattern in USBM is the relative prevalence of solo artists with a very electronic sound.  Xasthur, Leviathan and Celestiial all fall into this category.

On a side note, I'm getting really into a Bay Area BM act called Ludicra.  Anybody heard of them?