Varg Vikernes To Be Released From Prison?

HOLY SHIT

I really can't believe this. Two different friends within the last couple days had written me asking if I had heard that Varg Vikernes, the one man wrecking crew behind the infamous and ground breaking Norwegian black metal band Burzum, was going to be released from prison soon. For those who don't know, he was convicted for the murder of Euronymous, guitarist of the equally notorious band Mayhem in 1993, along with alleged arson of several churches around Norway. This guy Varg is a full fledged nutcase. While being a National Socialist and a Neo Nazi, he also just happened to make some of the most inspired and strangely beautiful music out of the third wave of Norwegian black metal.

Since Vikernes was imprisoned, he has made more than one attempt to escape, one time getting rolled in a stolen car loaded to the gills with automatic weaponry and body armor. In short, this motherfucker is no joke. Needless to say, I was in a state of shock when I read this entry yesterday on burzum.org-

11.03.2009

After 16 years of imprisonment Varg Vikernes will soon be released from the prison.


What??? I cannot believe they are releasing him on parole. He was imprisoned in 1996 and began serving Norway's version of a life sentence, which is equal to the amount of time you have been alive. Vikernes was 21 when he was convicted, therefor he was to serve a 21 year sentence, with additional time tacked on later in his term for his failed escape attempts.

I wonder what he's going to do now that he's getting out? He continued making records in prison for a time, but they were super crappy Legend of Zelda sounding synthscapes and shit. What if he starts up where Filosofem left off? Holy shit, that would be amazing!

I suppose I should post some Burzum music for those of you who don't know it. So, here is the Burzum anthology, released last year. Sort of a beginners guide to the band.

BURZUM - ANTHOLOGY

Negative Plane - California Tour dates.

One of my favorite contemporary black metal bands is coming to California for two shows- San Francisco @ Thee (which brings up an issue I will address later) Parkside on April 10, and Los Angeles @ The Black Castle (misspelled on the flier) on April 11. If you like this kind of thing, then I suggest you go! it is not often that a real band like this tours. I have uploaded their album, Et In Saecula Saeculorum, for your listening pleasure. Follow the link, homes.

NEGATIVE PLANE - ET IN SAECULA SAECULORUM

Oh, and I just wanted to bring up one point... a matter of free floating hatred and an English lesson... Why do people insist on using the ancient THEE spelling to provoke the hard pronunciation of the E at the end of the word THE? It's so stupid! Thee is a totally different word, a form of THOU which means YOU, not THE. Please tell your friends to stop this idiotic madness.

Diplo rips me off again.

Man, this really stinks. I have been noticing some people ripping my artwork off lately.... well, at least my black metal style collage stuff.... and it's really ticking me off.

The first one I noticed was the label for Hollertronix #8. They took the cover of Welcome To Hell and changed the Venom logo to say 'Holler'. Who cares, really? Well...



...I talked to my friend Omar from San Francisco about this very topic. He told me that he had recently DJed with Diplo. Diplo handed Omar a sticker of the Hollertronix #8 label. Omar asked him, "Hey, have you ever heard of Booty Bassment or the Basstanic Group? Have you seen their artwork?" Diplo responded with a terse, "Yeah. It's cool," but came off like, "Why the fuck are you asking me that?"

The next offense was offered by San Diego's own Transport, hosted by Gabe Vega and Saul Q. (who is really super cool, and in no way indicted in this trial).



Not long after that, I saw this record by Bobmo.... I don't know.... some electro bullshit. But they used a fake Darkthrone logo on it. WTF, bro...



Then, I saw some pictures of Diplo wearing some death metal shirts and like hanging out in cool places. In one he's wearing a Sepultura shirt and standing in front of The Kremlin. Again, I say meh.... close but no cigar, chump.

(I couldn't find the Kremlin pic, so here's another one... in front of a cool wall).



Today, I logged on to www.myspace.com and I saw this goddamned piece of shit flier on the Mad decent page:



In my humble opinion, the boy is stealing my shit. Am I tripping? He used the fucking Mayhem logo, and pentagrams, and all that. I'm not having it. So, I wrote our friend Dipshit, I mean Diplo a letter:


Let me start this by saying that I respect you as an artist and I like your music and I even play it sometimes at my events. I am writing you this email though, because I have a problem with your recent Mad Decent promotional materials.

I saw the Venom rip-off, I saw the Bathory t-shirt, and etc.... but this Mayhem/Death flier has just gotten me to the tipping point. Granted, I don't do the changing-up-the-logo thing, but really.... I have been doing black metal influenced artwork for my club events for 5 years now, and no one cared until that stupid True Norwegian Black Metal book came out on Vice. Now everywhere I look people are chomping and biting.

I have spent an inconceivable amount of hours at the xerox machine and the computer making this artwork for my clubs. I do not, and have never hired anyone to make a single piece of art for me, and I am proud to say that. The only reason I even feel comfortable using these images of black metal dudes is because I really love the music. If it was something I wasn't totally into, I would have forgotten about it a long time ago. I do an exclusively black metal radio show called WAR GOAT RADIO on a pirate station in San Francisco and I have a black metal band with my brother out of San Diego. I am not telling you this to brag; I merely wish to point out to you that I am a true fan, and although my images are always rendered with my tongue firmly in cheek, I still have utmost love and respect for the genre and it practitioners.

Do you love black metal? I guess it doesn't really matter in the scope of things, but this flier makes me wonder if creativity and originality are words that mean anything to you. These images that I have created for Booty Bassment are it's identity, and you are blatantly stealing it. I do not appreciate this at all.

The problem for me is that you are in the public eye much more than I am, and therefor according to those who do not know who I am, it is now your identity. If it were just a random flier or something, I would not care. But being that I am seeing more and more of these images from you, I felt this letter was necessary. The fliers I make mean a lot to me, and I think if you look at them you will see that.

Sincerely,

Dimitri Dickinson

P.S. I left a bit of a rude comment on the Mayhem flier before I wrote this email. I was shocked and angry, so please excuse my insult, if any was taken.


I will let you all know if I get a response, but I'm not expecting one.

CUTE ATTACK

I dunno, you guys.... I kinda feel like I forgot to grow a pair today. I'm talking about huevos here. Well, here's the thing: I saw WALL-E last night, and the shit was damn good. I mean, it was just about as cute as a goddamn fuzzy bunny, fer chrissakes. I won't ruin the plot or anything, but let's just say that it wasn't your average cartoon. It was clever, funny, well animated, and even had a good message. Let's not forget that "C-word". And, how is it possible that I can have sentimental feelings for a robot and his pet cockroach? I ask you this.

Also, they had a short before the main feature... it was called like... Presto, or some such shit. That shit was funny as HELL. I am just saying, go watch this dang movie. It's worth it. Just prepare to be bowled over by a tidal wave of cuteness.

In other news, I finally received my Furze - Necromanzee Cogent l.p. in the mail today. I now own all the Furze l.p.'s., two seven inches, and the ten inch. I am so proud of my self. Now I only have to track down the Necromanzee demo (1998), the Zaredoo demo (1998), the Trident Black Metal Feast demo (1999), the Leizla demo (2000), the Necrosaint Black Metal Progressor demo (2001), and The Wild Black Henbane demo (2005). Jeez-Lou-fucking-Weez. I need to take up bird watching or something.

Black Metal has been officially B.F.ed (that means butt fucked)

I don't know.... I mean, I use corpsepainted black metal dudes in my stupid Booty Bassment fliers... for some reason I feel like it's different than this bullshit I'm about to show you.

Some fashion designer named Alexandre Herchcovitch used fully corpsepainted runway models for his Spring/Summer 2008 men's line. This sucks so many sweaty-hot-wieners. A video of this cocker spaniel shit can be seen here.

It's just obvious this fruity fucking shitbird got ahold of the True Norwegian Black Metal book (which has just been released through Vice Books... bad news) and just took a big old bite. Oh, you are so on the edge, you fuckhead. I know you don't listen to Nargaroth!

Please tell me if I am tripping on some double standard shit. I am feeling like I need to change my design style or something. Ugh...

Furzey-poo

I just couldn't wait. Actually, now that I think about it, why has it taken me so long to post this album? It was my number 1 for 2007, hands down. This shit just about melted my face off the first 50 times I listened to it, and still gets me so hype every time I hear the first blistered notes of A Life About My Sabbath. I know I am kind of beating the crap out of a dead horse with this Furze thing, but I really can't say enough about this demented shitbag called Woe J. Reaper. GENIUS. There. I wrote a review on this record a while back that you can read here.

Furze - UTD

"Boiled down to its very essence, metal is nothing more than a mixture of molasses and alienation."

These words, so aptly penned, belong to a young lady known only as "Megan" who writes one of the coolest blogs I have come across recently (thanks to Wase for the heads up). It is called The Black Oven, and it is a blog about baking sweets... from a black metal perspective. I don't want to ruin all the great surprises found on this blog, so just go there and look for yourself.

I am feeling so generous after reading this blog, that I have decided to share a couple rips from my personal collection with you. These are two rare and out of print records I bought off of Ebay (for entirely too much) by one of my favorite black metal bands (actually, a one man band) called Furze.

These are two super raw and weird pieces of black metal psychosis. Dude is straight fucking crazy. Read the liner notes on the 10" for proof.

I will be posting a couple Furze LPs soon, too, which are more produced and probably a little easier on the casual listener. Maybe. But what do I know.


Furze - Furze 10"




Furze - First Feast For Freedom 7"

WAR GOAT RADIO

I do a radio show on a pirate station in San Francisco called WAR GOAT RADIO every second and fourth Wednesday at 4 pm. It is all black metal for two hours. Here is the playlist from the last show and a link for a free download:

1. Celtic Frost - Human (Intro)
2. Celtic Frost - Into the Crypts of Rays
3. Sauron - Know My Word Is His
4. Kay Pacha - Kay Pacha
5. Blood Red Fog - Frozen
6. Dead Raven Choir - From the Stars
7. Nocratai - NV-S
8. Celestia - Frigidiis Apotheosia (Dormant Rests of Raped Necrosia)
9. Behexen - Black Metal Baptism
10.Tyrant - The Rebirth
11.Heresi - Proairesis
12.Ancestors - Untitled
13.Graveland - The Dark Dusk Abyss
14.Pest Noire - Spleen
15.Gospel of Horns - Vengeance Is Mine
16.Nocternity - Secreta Arya (The Key)
17.Paysage D'Hiver - Die Zeit Des Torremond
18.Berdysz - Pamiêæ w Ba³tyku Wodach Zatopiona
19.Xasthur - Middle Ages Return
20.Mayhem - (Weird) Manheim


WAR GOAT RADIO 2/13/08

And there are tons of other non metal radio shows on the West Add Radio website for you to stream or podcast here: West Add Radio.

Why is Satan such a funny guy?

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous intros ever uttered from a stage. The culprit: Akhenaten of the band Judas Iscariot. I recommend that you read the transcribed version below while you listen to the video.


"This next song... goes to the descrution (?- ed.)... of the capitalist scum... who try... to destroy... BLACK METAAALLL! Black Metal... is about... hatred... and intolerance; no... fucking... compromises! This is our art! This is the soundtrack... to the fucking... Apocalypse! (no applause- ed.) Capitalist scum labels... packages art... for fourteen year old GIRLS! These people should fucking DIIIIIIEuh! We, as the underground, shall forever... stand against themeh! This song is for you: The Black... Clouds... Roll... Under the Parapet... of the Skyuh!"

Do you know what else black metal is about? Satan. Yeah. But I bet you didn't know that Satan is really into cute shit, and not black metal. Observe:

My brain.

These two videos basically sum up my state of mind.

NARGAROTH IST KRIEG

I know I've been a bit on the fanatic side with the black metal blogs lately, but I'm beyond help. This video encompasses everything that is pure about the genre. A low-fi, black and white amateur video will always be a hundred times better than some highly produced pile of shit. This is Nargaroth performing Spell of Destruction which was written by Burzum. Classic song. And Kanwulf gives a killer performance with a complete freak out toward the end of the song. PERFECT.

Song of the Day #11

I just found these two video interviews of Fenriz from the legendary black metal pioneers Darkthrone, and it just confirms in my mind how fucking rad he is. As grim and evil as Darkthrone's sound was in the early days, Fenriz still has a sense of humor and you can just tell that this dude is just a regular old dude when it comes down to it, and a music lover to boot. The first one starts off in Norsk, but they speak mostly English for the remainder of the 10 minute interview.



This one is completely in Norsk, but it has English subtitles and it is super funny. Fenriz is interviewed for some weird mainstream Norwegian TV magazine about his favorite record.



Dude. We just watched Fenriz play air guitar to Uriah Heep in his bedroom.

Gabe Serbian told me that the last time The Locust toured Norway, he met Fenriz and went to his house to hang out. Aparently, Fenriz had a Wham! 7" sitting in his room. When Gabe asked him about it, he got all embarassed and told him he just liked the cover. Hmmm....

So here is a download of that Adrenaline O.D. song Fenriz was rocking out to in the first video. So good.


Rock-N-Roll Gas Station


I just ordered a copy of the new Striborg DVD from Aquarius Records in San Francisco and I can't wait to see it! Here is a video of some of the outtakes from the DBD I found.



And if you aren't familiar with Striborg, you can check it out by following the link below. Not for everyone. Not for 99%, more like it. This is some EXTREMELY raw, primitive, fucked black metal from the rainforests of Tasmania.


Psychedelic Nightmare

Song of the Day #10

Today is stormy and cold in sunny Southern California. Brandon and I just hung out in my living room drinking Earl Grey and listening to the newest Nortt album called Galgenfrist. It was perfect. So, I thought I would share one of the tracks with you. Definitely not for the faint of heart, this is funeral doom... like listening to a black metal record on 16. Super dark and sludgy, but with that evil edge that makes black metal exciting. I'm not a big fan of doom in general. Nortt transcends the constraints doom metal has somehow. This is Havet Hinsides Havet. Danish Funeral Doom!



Havet Hinsides Havet

Song of the Day #9

The song of the day is Paralyzed by Holbein, which is the black metal side project I have with my brother, Pascal. We recorded this song last summer, and due to other projects requiring more of our time, our E.P. has never reached completion. This was the first song we recorded together for this project, and it actually isn't in final form. We recorded all the songs with a drum machine and planned on laying drum tracks when all the songs had been written, so this song still has quantized drums on it. Whatever.

If you are into Burzum, Xasthur, Leviathan, Make a Change... Kill Yourself, or any other slow, depressive type of black metal, then you may dig this. I hope to have the E.P. done this year.


Paralyzed

Song of the Day #2

The band is Nuit Noire from France. This is a two man band which in years past, had played strictly weirdo black metal. They are definitely branching out with this new album entitled Fantomatic Plentitude. The instrumentation remains pretty grim and lightning fast a lot of the time, but it also ventures into weird angular no-wave riffage and punk attitude with vocals from their singer Tenebras that are a close match for Olga of the Toy Dolls. Think that sounds weird? How about the song titles. I Love You? I am a Fairy? Yeah. These dudes are wonderfully odd. Please enjoy. There are actually two songs for you to download here. Lucky you.



I Love You



Fairies of Paper (Live)

This may be my pick for album of the year for 2007.

FURZE
U.T.D.
UTD is the latest release from the demented mind of Woe J. Reaper. This album is so unique and twisted and fresh sounding that I can't stop playing it. It's actually two albums released as one. The full title is UTD: Beneath the Odd-Edge Sounds of the Twilight Contract of the Black Fascist / The Wealth of the Penetration in the Abstract Paradigms of Satan. Fucking weird. The lyrical content and liner notes read like the diary of a madman, explaining his ideology, symbolism, thoughts on music and beyond. The artwork, the rants, the mystery, yes... but it's the music that really sets Furze apart from the rest.


These songs are completely manic and unsettling, with the esoteric mixing and production techniques of early Darkthrone (although the sound quality is definitely not low-fi on a whole) and just plain maniacal energy throughout, with meandering clean bass accompaniment, overly loud and reverberant toms, shredding fuzzed out guitar riffs, and vocal range that strays from a muffled cookie-monster whisper to the shriek of a burning witch to a throaty growl to a strangely eq'ed raspy melody, now in your face, now in the dungeon below, now in a schizophrenic conversation with himself panning ear to ear. The vocals are occasionally effected (we'll use the Reaper's own words) with a very odd-edge, including a voice pitch shifted..... up? Soooo weird sounding.


One of the cool things about this record though is that Furze is not beyond giving you a catchy head-nodding riff to keep you engaged, weird as the recording may be. These songs are decidedly catchy, with veritably infectious guitar riffs, but still possessing a spirit of geniune creative freedom. I think this is where the dichotomy of Furze comes to light. This album is absolutely mean sounding, but so much fun. As an added bonus, the legendary Frost (from Satyricon and 1349) is featured on drums on two songs.


And as if that wasn't enough to sell you, the vinyl edition comes with a large poster with a positively juvenile illustration depicting Jesus fucking Mohammed (who's face has been blacked out, hips impaled with two grappling hooks, and genitalia pierced) with an inhumanly long penis. The whole thing is just so fucked up and great. Go buy this record now. I have also included a brief overview of the U.T.D. album below that I found on the Furze website (www.furze.net) for your enjoyment.

D.



Here's a quick run down of FURZE's 3rd full length LP/CD:

PS: Only The Reaper Knows What "U.T.D." stands for.........


UTD – BENEATH THE ODD-EDGE SOUNDS TO THE TWILIGHT CONTRACT OF THE BLACK FASCIST


1. A LIFE ABOUT MY SABBATH
The Reaper himself speaks… Scythe trademark made music. FURZE prove as the Universal name, and with a dogmatic edge, reveals the only personification of The Death.

Aggressive riffing, you quickly understand that Furze luckily have rehearsed some guitar since 2001(last FURZE album recording). Here and track 3, you have the mighty Frost who stepped in on magic-Drums…No words needed really ! Total FURZE approach was reached (Frost is luckily an older Furze fan), of course, or no recording would take place with any "outsider" ! When this opener kicks off you see why we called this album "the true follow-up album to "Trident Autocrat""! Back in BRUTALITY, more so !

2. DEMONIC ORDER IN THE ETERNAL FASCIST'S HALL
How The Reaper's shadow arrogantly penetrates human order – turning it to chaos without mercy. Creeping all history – all screams… Beyond all(power…life) killing technology there is, was and will ever be.

But, the map is dark…and the demons do inspire too...A chill psychedelic horror sucking you into - pens write in the airtouch...

3. BENEATH THE WINGS OF THE BLACK VOMIT ABOVE

No 1 = microcosm. No 2 = "half-eternity" systems (which means ALL ideas of ANY (divine,cyber,alien,spiritual etc etc, known and unknown) life. No 3 = The Reaper (Absolute Eternity in time and space) . Now you got this data – now read the lyric. Possibly the most intense song ever to be recorded by FURZE. Not easy on these words.

4. THE DEEDS THAT GRASP TO THE CANDLE'S SHADE
The Reaper is not in woe when witching deeds of murder is on the roll… It deals with the propaganda The Reaper reveals to the "black witch" ,but also the unconscious teamwork between Reaper(active role) and Mankind(passive) as a whole. An atmosphere for F.O.T.U. ,and (our) dark desires. "A flame casts a shadow…"


UTD – THE WEALTH OF THE PENETRATION IN THE ABSTRACT PARADIGMAS OF SATAN

5 . MANDRAGORA OFFICINARUM

MANDRAKE – as a symbol of the hidden old dark roots of Mankind.

The map must be summoned. Organic Furzement is at hand. The perfect opening for "The Wealth of….". Instrumental.
Majestic and primitive at one and the same time...

6. GOATBREATH
Old lyric by now. This one takes a look at the moment and makes sure to narrow the mind where it is needed. The goat generates, must breath in the dark ,whilst walking it's own way.
Will inspire for the future guitar-sounds for Furze for sure.

7. DEEP IN THE POT OF FRESH ANTIPODAL WEAVE
This has excerpts, and is mainly based on a personal experiment/occult project which started early 2004. Originally entitled "The Pentagram" back then. Where "M.Officinarum" is the start, "Goat…" is it's natural result, to us in our life-mode ("1") that is. Not supposed to be printed at first ,however, "Djerve Djevel" is added good spice with this one as it's proceeder. The only purely slow, atmospheric track this time around…

8. DJERVE DJEVEL
Deals with the inner voice of strength – as opposed to "the endless jehova".
The circle is ended on "The Wealth...." with this track. Love to hatred is back – gives an "intellectual" aggression of realization to hatred in vivid action - it seems in this song.
"Djerve Djevel" means "Brave Devil" so to say...