Terminus Episode 9 - Grundhyrde, Klagesturm, Violes Par Les Cygnes, Bell Witch, The Funeral Orchestra

This episode divides into two pretty distinct chunks -- noisy black metal and funeral doom that doesn't sound like "normal" funeral doom.

First, we've got selections from two new labels in the vanguard of the American raw BM scene -- Nithstang and Nihilistic Noise Propaganda (N.N.P.). Grundhyrde and Klagesturm both bring a distinctly American -- nasty, necro, vaguely hardcore-ish -- take on the classic French sound, and give us an excuse to talk over the massively influential French guitar style. Violes Par Les Cygnes take up the difficult but necessary task of fusing black metal with power electronics, without compromising on either side of the equation. How successful is it? And how does it fit in to the history of industrial / noise music?

Second, we compare two diametrically opposed versions of funeral doom -- Bell Witch's accessible, rockish laments, and The Funeral Orchestra's implacable, black-metalized rumblings. Bell Witch take some serious compositional risks -- will they pay off? The Funeral Orchestra use focused, ritual repetition to deadly effect. This segment leads us back to USBM forefathers, funeral doom foundations, and the dreaded legendary subgenre, "torture doom."

LINK: Check out Greg Biehl's Youtube channel for Nithstang and N.N.P. releases, and lots of other well-chosen underground shit.

CORRECTION: NNP is *not* from Pennsylvania, just works with some PA bands (Silvanthrone, Swarming, etc.).

00:00 - Introductory bullshitting / rundown of bands and labels (more rambling than usual)

09:08 - Grundhyrde / Klagesturm - Split EP (Nithstang)

42:07 - Violes Par Les Cygnes - I (Nihilistic Noise Propaganda)

01:14:17 - Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough Volume I (Profound Lore)

01:51:15 - The Funeral Orchestra - Negative Evocation Rites (Nuclear War Now)