Terminus Episode 62 - Graveland, Níðstöng, Reverorum ib Malacht

Ladies and gentlemen (but really just gentlemen,) Terminus has finally arrived, at least for The Black Metal Guy. A new Graveland record has landed and TBMG has dressed himself in his finest furs just for the occasion despite the summer heat. This episode is an odd one- pagan mysticism, hermetic grumbling, and a double shot of the Holy Spirit makes for one of our strangest productions yet. This probably isn't a great episode to start with- this is all deep cut stuff from the bowels of Terminus. Wimps and posers leave the hall, etc.

The aforementioned Graveland record starts off the evening with a band. After a long semi-silence punctuated by re-recordings of older records, Rob Darken returns from an extended woodland photoshoot with a new crew of musicians pushing the traditional sound forward to new levels of intensity. Graveland's typical mode is galvanized here with more energy, more speed, and all the textural and harmonic depth you've come to expect from the band. And, of course, The Black Metal Guy's ultimate dream is finally fulfilled- he may retreat to the mountains now, his final goal accomplished.

But before he can trot off to parts unknown, he brings us the inaugural record by Níðstöng, an Icelandic project which unabashedly brands itself as Folkloric Necro Metal in the Ildjarn tradition. This is a short, punchy review for similar music- Níðstöng wastes no time with subtlety or delicacy, instead preferring to bludgeon the listener with all the ferocity of an ornery forest spirit. But how close is it to the source, really, and how can this ordinarily rigorous style be honed and expanded upon? We discuss and come up with a few possibilities.

Concluding the night is a sprawling excursion back into the gloomy yet ecstatic realm of Reverorum ib Malacht. Coming off last year's outstanding double record, the band now presents two full-length records released simultaneously, each exploring different sides of the band's core sound- black metal and electronic/industrial music. What follows is a wandering discussion of both the music and its greater themes: black metal as liturgical music, art as interior or exterior to the artist, and what exactly it means to be "black metal" in a world that seems to have forgotten the term's meaning. Like the music discussed, it's sprawling, challenging, and deliberately inaccessible, but hopefully you find it rewarding.

 

0:00 - Intro

0:06:00 - Graveland - Hour of Ragnarok (Inferna Profundus Records)

0:54:31 - Níðstöng - Essence of Eternity (Independent)

1:21:27 - Interlude - Bedřich Smetana - “No. 2, Vltava (Moldau),” fr. Má vlast (My Country); Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Naxos, 1994)

1:34:41 - Reverorum ib Malacht - Svag i Döden (Ajna Offensive)

2:23:18 - Reverorum ib Malacht - Not Here (Rubeus Obex)

3:08:43 - Outro - John Tavener - “III. The Incarnation,” fr. The Protecting Veil / Wake Up… and Die; Yo-Yo Ma w/ the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Sony Classical, 1998)

 

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