Rites of Death

History. Philosophy. Theology. Music. Unblack Metal.

[valereth]

Here is the first track of the Glorification of the Master of Light demo by the Swedish Christian black metal band Crimson Moonlight. The song is the title track for the demo. It is an instrumental. Crimson Moonlight formed in the summer of 1997 with the idea of recording one old school black metal demo, playing one show and breaking up. The band did not break up, however, and they released their first EP in 1998. Their first studio album would wait until 2003.

Line up:

Gurra - Drums Pilgrim - Vocals

[voidantcosm]

CRIMSON MOONLIGHT: The Suffering (Offical Audio HD)

[ritesofdeath-blog]

It is time to celebrate the coming winter with crisp, cold crimson fire…yes, a brand new track from the mighty CRIMSON MOONLIGHT finally sees the light of …

[sakrogoat]

Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) - The Beheaded Saint John the Baptist

[post-impressionisms]

The Raising of Lazarus, Duccio di Buoninsegna. Early 14th century.

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             Cloth, "Afterglow" Cloth, 2014

[nocturnal-iridescence]

36 Posts Christian Black Metal, day 42: "Occult Moon" by Sorrowstorm

A song denouncing and rebuking the occult. Lyrics:

Fear, guilt, anxiety… How do you banish these dark images from the soul? Crushing angst to find a better way To live a life without pain The portal opens, and the gate cannot be shut The room is filled with shadows And skin begins to burn How do you stop this power of the occult? Devices of the age when Christians were disgraced The blasphemy must end. It must end Human beings admired the mystical Since fallen man was born Creating Voids not filled with God Creatures of the darkness roamed about Inspiring our idolatry Civilization under the soulless moon The stars guide our lives Cursed cards, crystal spheres Reading palms, spewing savage lies Satan lives to rule his realms The blindness of our godless eyes Instilling greed and fueling pride Millions killed for simple earth Kings betrayed and widows stoned to death Betrayed the Godless man Walking so in demons you will reign The room is filled with shadows And skin begins to burn How do you stop the power of the occult? Did you know that the one you adore Is hateful and wretched beyond your control I rebuke the power that binds in the name of Christ The moon awaits the spells and chants, all etched in stone Your veins crave the presence of the unholy one YOU ARE DECEIVED, YOU ARE DECEIVED, The CHRIST is your only hope YOU ARE DECEIVED, YOU ARE DECEIVED, The CHRIST is your only hope The pain, let it end Binding spells will lead your being astray The hurt swept away You reject the lies Searching for souls to tempt, Satan lives to rule his realms Satan lives to rule his realms Satan lives to rule his realms

[nocturnal-iridescence]

36 Posts Christian Black Metal, day 35: "Skapelsens Krona" by Parakletos Lyrics: I Du förlorade son, du fallne vän Hur kan du säga att du älskar mig än? Du har sargat hjärta, förmörkad själ Hur kan du säga att du menar mig väl? När du Människosonen förråder med en kyss på hans kind Genom Paradisets lustgård det drar en mörk kall vind Inga jordiska makter kan hindra vad som ske Mörkret nu faller, onskan mot mig le Skulle jag ej dricka kalken Fadern mig räckt Du ej ur syndens dödsvila kunde bliva väckt Bind mina händer, för mig fram Till mitt bittra slut på korsets stam II ”Så judarnas konung framför mig stå? Vad har du gjort för att denna väg gå?” ”Så judarnas konung framför mig stå? Vad har du gjort för att denna väg gå?” ”Mitt rike är inte av denna värld Legioner av änglar ej hindra min färd” ”Mitt rike är inte av denna värld Legioner av änglar ej hindra min färd” ”Jag kan ej finna dig skyldig till något brott Lidande och död kan ej vara din lott Jag kan ej finna honom skyldig till något brott Jesus eller Barabbas, ni ert val nu har fått!” ”Barabbas, Barabbas, låt Barabbas gå! Korsfäst Jesus, låt oss Barabbas få” ”Barabbas, Barabbas, låt Barabbas gå! Korsfäst Jesus, låt oss Barabbas få” III Världsalltets konung dödens törnekrona bär Han som ej någonsin synden kommit när En mantel röd som blod judarnas konung ha När skapelsens krona Skaparens liv ta En mantel röd som blod judarnas konung ha När skapelsens krona Skaparens liv ta Gisslad och sargad Frälsaren är Bort har de flytt som hållit honom kär Ensam han stå i den ondes stund Ensam han stå vid dödens avgrund

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Through the Thorns, "Full Moon Wonder" Woodland Horizons, 2012

Featuring the founding member of Armath Sargon, Through The Thorns brings unblack metal right to the boundaries of that airy Cascadian sound, with round, gentle synth textures saturating the stereo field as guitars and bass play the accompaniment.   Tranquil and serene, the ambience of the track smooths out its metal edge, inducing what the lyrics have as, "a pure feeling of rest in the arms of Your Grace."

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Equinox, "From Beyond the Neverending" Ceremony of the North Winds, 1998

I awaken from the chill in the land of eternal mourning Sleepy eyes will cease to see Until all the questions have lost meaning

As is typical of most unblack metal that predates the new millennium, American band Equinox infuses black metal with copious amounts of thrash and death metal, with a few hard rock-esque vocals thrown in for good measure.  This track is off their last recording, subsequently re-released under the name "Draco".  You can find a re-mastered version of this song on youtube.com [click through the link].

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                      Black Landscapes, "Infernal Damnation Forever (I.D.F.)" Shred Them For They Might Escape, 2004

Black Landscapes is band that many would probably not expect to fit the "unblack metal" descriptor.  A one-man project from Israel, they only released one demo in 2004.  Frontman Evox is not a Christian, but a Jew, and Black Landscapes' songs include a rendition of Israel's national anthem "Hatikva" as well as a hymn entitled "It Is For You To Walk, My Lord".  

In the slew of inverted crosses and pentagrams in black metal's visual culture, it might be easy to forget the extent to which black metal is rooted in explicit anti-semitism.  From it's second-wave Norwegian incarnation, to subsequent NSBM movements, and up until today's Orthodox Black Metal crusade, anti-semitism runs deep in bm psychology.  Gaahl of God Seed has even disparaged Christianity as being a "Jewish" religion worshipping a "Jewish" God, insinuating that it's the Judeo- aspect of Judeo-Christian religion that makes it shameful. 

In light of this, black metal with Jewish lyrics seems perfectly congruous with the concept of unblack metal.

[nocturnal-iridescence]

36 Posts Christian Black Metal, day 26: “War Delcaration” by Eternus

Sorry for missing yesterday, guys. And I actually feel like I’m talking to somebody. Fun fact: before I turned this into a Christian metal blog, I got 6 notifications over a period of 157 days, 3 of them being friends following me. Since I started posting Christian black metal less than a month ago (I think), I’ve gotten 9 notifications, 4 of them being new followers. Food for thought.

[ritesofdeath-blog]

Eulogium, "Odium Theologicum" In Hoc Signo Vinces, 2014

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Order of Splendour, "The Royal Priesthood" The Royal Seat, 1998

In this post, I mentioned how I have been trying to digitize the songs from this extremely rare tape.  Doing so has been a herculean task, due to the fact that when I received the tape, it was too tightly wound to play in my portable cassette-to-mp3 device.  Luckily, I happen to have an tape deck built into my car, which I thought I'd never get use out of.  That tape deck is designed to handle bumps on the road, and so played this cassette with ease.  After playing through it many times for over a month, the actual tape in the shell was stretched enough to play in my portable device, and with a little remastering I got the above result.  I think I might have one more go at digitizing, since my device produces a lot of flutter in the playback, which you can hear in this mp3.  A friend of mine also agreed to let me use his high-end tape deck.  Until then, here is my personal favorite off The Royal Seat.

Recorded within a decade of the fall of soviet style communism in Bulgaria, the synths sound almost comically outdated, like an educational video in late 60s or 70s America.  Sometimes brooding, sometimes bombastic, they largely determine the trajectory of the song, the guitars content to follow wherever they lead.  Towards the middle of the song we hear a clean guitar interlude that sounds like it could have been lifted off an Alcest album.  As the volume picks back up around the 3:45 mark, the black metal vocals return with a mixture of DSBM style howling/wailing and yelling.  The guitars come through strongly, meandering off in a kind of cold melancholy that finishes the song. 

In many ways, this track rehearses all of the symphonic black metal tropes set up by Emperor, Gehenna, and Dimmu Borgir.  In other ways, it has elements hitherto unprecedented in unblack metal, and rarely replicated since.  We would not see another band like this from the Balkans until almost a decade later with Romania's Cromleh.

[nocturnal-iridescence]

36 Posts Christian Black Metal, day 23: "Jesus Christ Glorified" by White Throne

[ritesofdeath-blog]

For your listening pleasure, here's Aryan Werewolf's "Death to Christian Black Metal".

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                          Disparity, "Manipulation" Falling on Deaf Ears: Australian Metal Compilation no. 4, 1996

Disparity played a mixture of unblack and death metal.  Their only known recordings were on this Rowe Records compilation in 1996.

[nocturnal-iridescence]

36 Posts Christian Black Metal, day 17: "Doomed to Burn" by Verdelger

Some of the angriest unblack metal out there. For fans of Beeroth and Emperador.