Black Forest Magazine

Art in its Blackest form

Gaerea – Limbo

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Heard about Gaerea? If the answer is no it’s about time you do. These masked Portugese has just released their new album ‘Limbo’ on Season of Mist, and it’s seriously a masterpiece.

Gaerea band.

According to themselves Gaerea «… challenges the archetype of black metal, coloring outside of the genre’s lines with melancholy texture and deep emotion». In my opinion Gaerea sounds like a mixture of black metal and post-metal, topped with some Behemoth-like epicness.

I’m pretty sure this band will be on most black metal fans’ lips during 2020, so be sure to check them out. You can listen to the full album below, in one of the coolest looking and most eerie YouTube listening session ever:

More information:
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Gothic rockers Idle Hands releasing ‘Don’t Waste Your Time II’

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Portland based Idle Hands released their debut album ‘Mana’ a year ago. One year earlier they released the 5 track EP ‘Don’t Waste Your Time’.

This EP was according to the band actually going to be a 7 track EP, but they had to skip the last two songs because they ran out of time and money. Now they are ready to release them.

Idle Hands sound reminds me of Swedish bands like Tribulation and especially In Solitude, which unfortunately entered the grave some years ago.

The sound consists of traditional heavy metal with a melancholic and dark atmosphere to it. The songs are catchy and are inviting for singing along. If you are quick you can order the limited edition LP at their label Eisenwald, or listen to it at Bandcamp or other streaming services. Keep looking out for Idle Hands!

Alfahanne – The Heavy Burden

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The Swedes of the post-punk ensemble Alfahanne just released their first song with english lyrics. And it might be their best song to date. It’s darker and more atmospheric than ever before! Look out for their upcoming album Atomvinter, which will be released October 4th on CD and vinyl!

Tracklist:
01 Atomvinter – Feat. Hoest
02 Lovers Against The World
03 Alla Mot Alla – Feat. Nag
04 A Place To Call Home (Ärla Boggie)
05 Sluten Cirkel
06 Sakna Mig Som Om Jag Var Död
07 The Heavy Burden
08 Himlen Kan Vänta
09 En Tight Knut

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Japanese Charcoal Skulls for Metal BBQs

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Skull charcoal

Japanese artist Sekisadamu has specialized in making pieces of charcoal shaped as skulls. He made some of these for the Wonder Festival, which is festival for sculptors and modelers held in Chiba, Japan. According to the artist the skulls are made of 100% plant based materials.

When he posted a picture of them on Twitter they started to go viral. Eventually he even put up a webshop to sell them, and is currently working on a full size charcoal skull. Unfortunately according to the website he won’t do international orders yet.

Lords of Chaos Trailer Breakdown

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A week ago the trailer for the Lords of Chaos film was released, and it has been heavily discussed online. The book with the same name by Didrik Søderlind and Michael Moynihan which the film is based upon also had its controversies after its release in 1997.

I’m not going to discuss the reliability of the story in the plot, but the byline of the movies says it’s “based on truth and lies”. Something which I find fitting since a lot of the narrative back then was just that; based on truth and lies. What struck me though was the authenticity of some of the scenes in the trailer. I quickly recognized some well-known motives throughout the trailer.

Let’s start with this famous promo shot of Euronymous and Necrobutcher. First the original, then from Lords of Chaos.

Euronymous and Necrobutcher. Photo: Private.
Photo: Lords of Chaos

And this picture of Dead, Hellhammer, Euronymous, and Necrobutcher from backstage at one of their early shows. First the original, then from Lords of Chaos.

Dead, Hellhammer, Euronymous and Necrobutcher. Photo: Private.
Photo: Lords of Chaos.

The next picture of the early Mayhem lineup clearly inspired a scene in the trailer.

Early Mayhem lineup
Manheim, Necrobutcher and Euronymous. Photo: Private.
Photo: Lords of Chaos.

The next picture is a screenshot from an old low quality rehearsal video of Mayhem which clearly was used as a reference for the rehearsal room that is shown in the trailer.

Hellhammer and Euronymous. Photo: Private.
Photo: Lords of Chaos.

These are just some of the references I found in the trailer. Just from watching the trailer I think they did a good job in reproducing the visuals from the time some of these events happened.

As several scenes from the movie was recorded in Norway, they even used a real Norwegian Stave Church. As a bonus fact from the trailer, this screenshot shows Gol Stave Church on Bygdøy in Oslo. It is most likely being used for depicting Fantoft Stave Church.

The movie will be released February 8, 2019. Let us know what you think about the trailer in the comment section.

With the End in Mind – Unraveling; Arising

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Beautifully intense desperation.

That’s the words that comes to mind while listening to this record. With the End in Mind combines soothing instrumental parts with intense atmospheric post-black. And they do it really well.

With the End in Mind were originally formed back in 2010 as a solo project, but “…though initially a solitary, introverted endeavor, musical allies were recruited in 2013”, according to the band’s press letter.  Since 2010 they’ve released two EPs and performed several gigs. Now they are ready to release their first album consisting of 5 songs (songs up to 14 minutes long). ‘Unraveling; Arising’ was actually already self-released back in 2016, but will now have an international vinyl release.

If you’re a fan of post-metal and black metal you should check out With the End in Mind. This album surely combines the best from both worlds, accompanied by desperate vocals. Album is out July 6th, 2018 through Sweden’s Temple of Torturous.

Tracklist:
1. Sings The Sky
2. Anguish Symmetry
3. Unraveling; Arising
4. From The True Source
5. Wheeling, Endlessly Wheeling

More:
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Shrieking black metal fan visited by the police

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The tweet doesn't say anything about which black metal song was being sung

The tweet doesn’t say anything about which black metal song was being sung

The Norwegian police tweeted that they got a report about horrible shouts and screams from an apartment in Oslo. They headed out to the scene and got in contact with a guy that had been singing black metal. He was given order to stop the singing until 8 am. The tweet doesn’t say anything about which songs was being sung.

Harakiri for the Sky – III: Trauma

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Harakiri for the Sky has been around since 2011, and for those into post-black and depressive black metal, this Austrian duo is probably not unknown.

Already from their first album, I’ve admired their visual and lyrical expression. Their artworks are simply beautiful, and their depressive lyrics has a really poetic touch to them. And for each album they have crafted their style more and more, and their upcoming album ‘III: Trauma’ stands out as a unique performance of grandiose hoplessness. Listen to their full album below.

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Mesarthim – Isolate

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The Australian black metal scene has been on a rise the last ten years or so with high ranked bands such as Austere, Woods of Desolation, and Nazxul amongst others. Mesarthim is a worthy addition with their debut album ‘Isolate’.

Mesarthim - Isolate

Mesarthim sounds somewhat like a sci-fi version of Summoning, with slow hypnotic atmosphere that creates an impression of being completely alone in the desolate space. If you have seen the movie Gravity, you know what I’m talking about. That hopeless claustrophobic feeling of being lost in an endless void. So as you already may have thought, this release delivers an atmosphere that is pretty close to the depressive black metal sound that you may know from the mentioned Australian acts. The sound is so close to Nazxul, that you may even suspect they share some members, as the two members of Mesarthim go by the cryptic names . and ..

If you’re a fan of sci-fi and black metal, this is definitely a band to look out for. Start with checking their debut album in the Bandcamp link below, and get lost in space.

‘Isolate’ tracklisting:

1. Osteopenia
2. Declaration
3. Interstellar
4. Abyss
5. Floating
6. Isolate

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Black Forest Magazine is a Norwegian, digital magazine dedicated to dark arts and artisans.