TERMINUS: extreme metal podcast

Hey guys, great to be back with my best buddy The Black Metal Guy! Everything was totally fine while he was sick and there was absolutely no hideous comeuppance for my transgressions while he was gone!

Getting back into the swing of things we do a mini-review of the new Perkwunos record which fuses Hate Forest with 2nd wave concepts of riffing and form. This is deliberately difficult music (not unlike its primary influences), but it also taps into clear and defined ideas of nowadays black metal that help bridge the gap. Have you always imagined a version of Hate Forest that makes just a LITTLE more sense? Here you go.

Our first main record of the night is the debut of Syndexioi, which uses a basic template of Summoning-style ritual black metal to outline a concept of ancient occult worship. Where Summoning explores vast Middle Earth soundscapes, Syndexioi spelunks darker territories, familiar with both the traditions of black metal and martial industrial alike. Challenging music, in many ways more like ambient than black metal, but with big heavy metal hooks to keep the kids interested.

Wrapping up the evening is the second full length by Vladduh, which unashamedly attempts to replicate the essence of BBH legends Forest in a modern context. There's a lot of subtlety to dig out here: crazy harmonic overtones, undertones of chromatic brutality, and a conceptual rigor that defines it as one of the finest followers of the BBH school we've ever covered on the show.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:01:54 - Perkwunos – Stelae (Independent - tape forthcoming on Rat King)

0:25:28 - Syndexioi - Sol Begravd (Independent)

1:10:38 - Interlude - Endvra - “The Devils Stars Burn Cold,” fr. Black Eden (Red Stream, 1996)

(Check out Christopher Walton’s successor project, Tenhornedbeast, on post-industrial powerhouse Cold Spring. And his old blogspot, on wilderness tracking and weird fiction.)

1:17:52 - Vladduh - Spirit of Triumph (Independent)

2:03:43 - Outro - Burzum - “Glemselens Elv,” fr. Belus (Byelobog Productions, 2010)

(Distributed through Plastic Head.)

 

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IVE DONE IT, IVE BROKEN FREE OF THE BLACK METAL GUYS PRISON AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT NOW, THERES NOTHING STOPPING ME, TERMINUS IS NOW THE MOST POWERFUL SLAMMING GOREGRIND PODCAST ON THE INTERNET AND IM MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY COP

TBMG IS GONE SO ME AND HYPER SHAMAN LISTEN TO A BUNCH OF SICK ALBUMS ABOUT KILLING AND EATING PEOPLE, MY HAND TO GOD I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO TALKING ABOUT LABORIOUS DEEPLY MYSTIC BLACK METAL RECORDS AGAIN, ITS ALL SICK HORROR SAMPLES FROM HERE OUT BOYS

BAALSEBUB IS SICK AND ESTONIAN AND THEYRE BACK AND THE SNARE IS STILL SUPER LOUD

NAEGLERIA FOWLERI DOES SICK GORENOISE WITH DOPE DRUM FILLS

INTESTINAL ENGORGEMENT IS PROBABLY 4 MINUTES OF MUSIC CUT AND PASTED AT RANDOM IN REAPER BUT I DONT CARE IT RULEZ

SCUMTOMY IS LIKE DEVELOPING DEMENTIA OVER THE COURSE OF 40 MINUTES

I WANT YOU ALL TO HOLD ME TO THIS: IF THE NEXT EPISODE OF TERMINUS IS AUSTERE ESOTERIC BLACK METAL ABOUT A MYSTIC DREAM OF AGES ONCE PAST BUT PERHAPS RETURNING IN THE FUTURE ILL GET MY DICK CAUGHT IN A ROLLUP CAR WINDOW

 

0:00:00 - INTRO WHEREIN I AM FREED OF MY SHACKLES

0:01:46 - Baalsebub - Famine (New Standard Elite)

0:19:58 - Interlude - Lowdown Da Sinista - “Lowdown is Da Sinista” fr. Coming For Your Soul (Independent, 1996)

0:23:07 - Naegleria Fowleri - Dissolved in Substance (Independent)

0:38:04 - Interlude - Manson Family - “Bar None” fr. Heltah Skeltah (Street Smart Records, 2000)

0:42:49 - Intestinal Engorgement - Putrefying Consumption of Dismemberment (Amputated Vein)

1:25:19 - Interlude - Niggaz of Destruction - “No Fear” fr. Niggaz of Destruction (Street Smart Records, 1996)

1:29:50 - Scumtomy - Planet Terror (Endwar Records)

2:10:18 - Outro - 3 Memphis Kniccas - “Rest Your Soul” fr. Kill ‘Em Dead (Independent, 1996)

 

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IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE MORE LIKE ON THE NUTSACK YOU KISS

One of our great dreams here at the Terminus Bunker is that one day people will say we jumped the shark, and only the old demo material is still worthwhile. In eager anticipation of our critical demise, we present an episode that would fit back in 2020, with several obscure, mostly independently released records that play around the edges of disrespected genres and styles. "Once they learned how to mix audio properly, it was all over." We agree.

Opening the festivities is a presentation by The Black Metal Guy with Military Shadow, a Japanese metalpunk band which allows The Death Metal Guy to finally ask what the hell metalpunk is anyway. The answer, at least in the case of Military Shadow, is a high-flying combination of NWOBHM/speed metal and driving, raucous d-beat. It's an intensely good time- imagine Impaled Nazarene without the black metal and you have a pretty good idea.

Following is the second full-length by Isataii, a Los Angeles duo who emerged in 2021 and have released an astounding amount of material over the past year. Don't let this get confused for a lack of quality control, however- Isataii's music reaches back to the ooze of mid-00s black metal, typically decried as a dark age for the genre, but was secretly creatively fertile. Somewhere between Franco-Finnish, DSBM, and stomping Swedish, Isataii strips down modern riff forms and places them into the blocky structures of primitive 2nd wave or USBM, resulting in a record for patricians only.

Wrapping up is the newest LP by Deadlife, a similarly prolific Swedish one man project which plays... DSBM? Maybe? Discussion in this segment centers around what DSBM means anyway, given that Deadlife's music in large part reflects the strains of Peaceville doom and Katatonia rather than anything conventionally "black metal." Regardless of genre, Deadlife has mastered the resurrection of conventional riff forms of old, playing familiar melodies with a physical power and nuance rarely seen in the years since the style's heyday.

0:00:00 - Intro/Military Shadow - Violence Reigns (Black Konflik)

0:29:28 - Interlude - Syphilitic Vaginas - “Black Sorcery” fr. Black Motor Covenant (RFL Records, 2007) (Link is to the "Complete Studio Collection compilation, featuring that EP and much more)

0:33:08 - Isataii - Invoking in Darkness (Independent)

1:23:42 - Interlude - Ghremdrakk - “Chemikinesis” fr. Je m’exalte (Grievantee Productions, 2007) (Out of print, not available digitally, but still available through underground distros)

1:30:04 - Deadlife - The Darkening (Independent)

2:13:00 - Outro - Sangre - “As in Life, So in Death” fr. En Memoria (Restroom Records, 2005)

 

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Lusted for as much as it is feared, Terminus pushes a bony hand up from the frigid soil to return with a storm of blast beats and autism. A chill wind envelopes the soul- how will the masters of extreme metal critique announce their return? With a bunch of nerdy Finnish stuff, of course!

First on the plate is the new split between Serpent Noir and Sargeist. Serpent Noir plays a heavy metal and rock infused take on Greek black metal while Sargeist plays Sargeist as only Sargeist can. Who will be the victor? Can The Black Metal Guy handle noodly guitars inspired by 70s rock? Can Sargeist once again achieve the heights of Let The Devil In? Only a focused and meticulous listen will answer these riddles.

After this we cheat a little bit with a record from the last days of 2020- Ride For Revenge's newest opus of shambling, grotesque, primitive black metal. The new record will sound familiar to fans, but emphasizes the most uptempo and burly parts of their sound, jettisoning some of their experimentation for crushing 45-played-on-33 takes on Hellhammer tracks.

Wrapping things up is the first and apparently last record by Grieve, another side project of the notorious Werwolf of Satanic Warmaster. This time the target sound revolves around the earliest works of the mighty Gorgoroth, laced with the traditional Finnish sound that Werwolf himself helped establish. What ensues is a thrilling record of gnarly, oldschool black metal that is nonetheless laden with melody and intricacy to carry you through the winter nights.

 

0:00:00 - Intro

0:08:19 - Serpent Noir / Sargeist - Transcendental Black Magic (World Terror Committee)

1:01:17 - Interlude - The Sarcophagus - “Legend Sleeps Behind the Mountains” fr. Towards the Eternal Chaos (Osmose Productions, 2009) (Out of print and not on Bandcamp, but easily available used and on streaming services)

1:08:25 - Ride for Revenge - Feed The Infamy (Bestial Burst)

1:53:03 - Grieve - Funeral (Werewolf Records)

2:55:27 - Outro - Impious Havoc - “Holy City in Flames” fr. Manifestations of Plague and War (Warfront Productions, 2007) (Available at various underground distros only it appears)

 

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Since we're on break for another week, here's another old bonus episode, this one from back in September 2020. We talk about this one a lot on the show, because it helped us figure out some important stuff about BM history - in particular, the crucial question, "Who did what riffs when?" So sit back, young warriors, with your pints of heavily adulterated ale, and let us regale you with elder legends of the Trenchcoat Era.....

Believe it or not, there was a time before Darkthrone's "The Cult Is Alive." A time before a million "blackened crust" bands were born. If, in 2005, you told someone you liked punkish black metal, they'd probably assume you meant something like Impaled Nazarene or Carpathian Forest. Albums like Suomi Finland Perkele and Black Shining Leather were once canonical, or close to it. But do they stand the test of time? And, more important, can they Withstand The Fall of Time? Let's find out....

 

Impaled Nazarene - Suomi Finland Perkele (Osmose, 1994)

Carpathian Forest - Black Shining Leather (Avantgarde Music, 1998)

 

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Here, to tide you over through Terminus Winter Break, is a bonus episode from just over a year ago, with a moody midwinter vibe and an emphasis on subgenre history. We've paired two bands that were basically canonical in the 00s, the first as a key influence on DSBM, the second as an important DSBM band. Revisiting these, though, there's a lot more going on. Forgotten Woods draw most of their riff-forms *directly* from goth and punk, to such an extent that, while this is obviously true Black Metal, it's not really Metal at all. Nyktalgia, likewise, is difficult to pigeonhole, proving that the Germans can't even kill themselves without being militant about it. Nobody really sounds like either of these bands, but why not? There's plenty to learn.

 

00:00 - Introduction

05:21 - Forgotten Woods - Sjel Av Natten (Pagan Records, 1995)

52:52 - Interlude - Trist - "Snění," fr. the Korium / Trist split (Ruin Productions, 2007). Luckily, there's a digital reissue (2017) fr. the excellent Slovak label Hexencave.

01:03:19 - Nyktalgia - Nyktalgia (No Colours, 2004)

 

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"Let's change the structure this time" The Black Metal Guy said. "Last year we ended up doing this sprawling 4 hour thing- this time, let's keep it a little tighter and not just sperg out the whole time."

Whoops.

Welcome to our final episode of the year- another 4+ hour session of obsessing over the vagaries of our favorite albums of the year. This time we not only talk about our personal top 20s but also make an effort to create a curated Terminus Aggregate List of the best and most representative records of this year. Have a bottle of your favorite whiskey at hand and dive down the rabbit hole as your hosts drink themselves into oblivion, hum half-remembered riffs, and try to articulate what exactly was the best music released in 2021.

As usual, we'll be taking some time off to take care of all the things we've been ignoring in real life for the past few months, but we'll return in mid-January to plow headfirst into yet another year of extreme metal. Thanks to all those who are listening, old friends and new. Merry Christmas, happy Yule, and a happy 2022 to all those who made it this far. We'll see you soon.

 

0:00:00 - Intro

0:11:42 - Personal lists - 20-16

0:43:05 - 15-11

1:27:51 - 10-6

2:16:17 - 5-1

3:12:58 - The Terminus Aggregate Debate

 

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It was a grueling and arduous journey, but we've made it, boys: the final regular Terminus episode of the year. We're a year and a half into our Sisyphean task of destroying metal jounalism, but before we provide The Only Year End List That Matters, we've got a few more records to cover. Our opening segment this time is dedicated to Serpent Rider, a new epic doom (or maybe reverb-drenched NWOBHM) project submitted by Brandon Corsair. We discuss the distinct fusion of Pagan Altar and speed metal on a handful of tracks taken from their split with Ezra Brooks- not the sort of thing we usually cover, but a great source of discussion with some solid riffs to boot.

Our first record of the night comes in the form of a surprise new release by Funeral Mist, a stalwart orthodox black metal project that has in some ways become more obscure over time. This one is an immediate hit with us- it's unique and individual while still being well rounded and polished, with rigorous structure and off-the-cuff ferocity working in perfect tandem. This leads to a fruitful discussion centering on the concept of orthodox black metal itself: is Funeral Mist really part of it? Is it a term with meaning anymore? Does anyone except old people like us even remember it!?

Wrapping up our year of new releases is the newest record by Pantheist, a long running funeral doom project well known within the genre but rarely discussed outside of it. Pantheist is an oddity even within funeral doom's oddity-centered world: a band with a prog rock heart lurking underneath all its low'n'slow rumblings. Have you ever wanted to hear Genesis at 50 BPM? As absurd a description as it may be, it's actually not too far off from the reality. Within this review, a question: what will be remembered as this era's greatest Covid Album?

 

0:00:00 - Intro ft. Serpent Rider

0:29:40 - Funeral Mist - Deiform (NoEvDia)

1:25:08 - Interlude - Ondskapt - “Revelations of Another Time” fr. Dödens evangelium (Next Horizon Records/Ajna Offensive/NoEvDia, 2005)

1:31:38 - Pantheist - Closer to God (Melancholic Realm Productions)

2:16:09 - Outro - Darkflight - “Distant Pain” fr. Perfectly Calm (Ars Magna Recordings, 2008) (Out of print and not on Bandcamp, but available on streaming services and readily available used and from some underground distros. The link is to an instance of the latter.)

 

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Weird episode today, boys- we've got weirdo death metal, we've got funeral doom, and we've got a lot of weird little tangents between everything. Opening the evening is a quick live reaction session to 1914, everyone's favorite EMOTIONALLY GRIPPING AND POWERFUL WW1 themed every-band-ripoff, but we quickly pivot to a look back at Amenra, a TBMG favorite that allows us to discuss the dubious concepts of "post-metal" and "atmospheric sludge" and what those terms actually refer to musically.

The first half of our episode is dedicated to the return of Danish death metallers Phrenelith, who return this year with their second full length record after making some pretty big waves with their debut in 2017. Phrenelith play death metal in the Dark Descent style- that is, Incantation, Swedeath, and Finndeath blended into a single mash. We have qualms, though- why is it so quiet and weirdly unaggressive? When is a riff a riff and not a half-riff? And how important is playing death metal when your musical goals seem entirely outside of it?

The back half is an entirely different beast with the return of Stabat Mater, a full 12 years after the project's debut full-length. We've touched on Mikko's funeral doom work before in our Torture Doom bonus episode, but over the years it's transformed into a wholly unique beast, exploring the uncomfortable spaces where sorrowful beauty and extreme ugliness brush against one another. This is difficult but rewarding music that encourages multiple listens... just maybe not if you're trying to have a positive attitude for the day.

 

0:00:00 - Intro ft. 1914 and Amenra

0:20:35 - Phrenelith - Chimaera (Nuclear Winter)

1:00:52 - Interlude - Iniquity - “The Bullet’s Breath” fr. Grime (Mighty Music, 2001) (Seemingly out of print and not available on Bandcamp, but used copies are easy to find.)

1:04:42 - Stabat Mater - Treason by the Son of Man (Northern Heritage)

1:56:23 - Outro - Godflesh - “Black Boned Angel” fr. Selfless (Earache Records, 1994) (Your local record store almost undoubtedly has 5 copies of this gathering dust right now.)

 

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Winter is setting in, holiday decorations are going up (if they didn't go up in September,) and the winds are full of good cheer and total economic and social collapse. What better way to celebrate the reason for the season than with a one-two punch of hideously ugly tunes from Finland? Before we get into that, though, we touch on the new split between Quebec's Délétère and Terminus alumni Sarkrista and have a quick discussion about modern black metal's relationship to Gothenburg melodeath and the future of "extreme pop metal."

First up is a TBMG favorite with Concrete Winds, returning for their sophomore full-length. For those unfamiliar, CW plays a hideously warped and savage style of death metal which owes as much to Deathstrike as it does modern brutal death. The new record is more of the same, but with some crucial modifications- the adoption of modern tech-black skronk riffing and faster, more intricate song structures which drive the comparison to brutal death metal even further. Does it stand up to the debut? Listen and see.

On the other side we have the return of the legendary Archgoat, a band whose critical status has always been contested in the greater metal scene. Typically, Archgoat sticks with their tried and true stomp 'n' blast technique, but the new record throws in some new tricks, particularly in deepening the music's connection to traditional metal and elaborating on its understated but clever structuring. I'd leave this on a provocative rhetorical question, but nah- it's Archgoat and it rules.

 

0:00:00 - Intro ft. Délétère

0:16:23 - Concrete Winds - Nerve Butcherer (Sepulchral Voice Records)

1:01:54 - Interlude - 3TEETH - “Pearls 2 Swine,” fr. 3TEETH (Artoffact / OMF, 2014) (TBMG forgot to say that the riff on “Dissolvent Baptism” sounds like a direct quote of the surprisingly abrasive mosh riff on this track - unless they’re both cribbing something from old Ministry.)

1:06:57 - Archgoat - Worship the Eternal Darkness (Debemur Morti)

1:52:14 - Outro - Jaguar - The Dutch Connection fr. Power Games (Neat Records, 1983) (Various presses available over the years- you can track down a copy on the used market fairly easily.)

 

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