. . .
Yeah, you heard me. Cascadian black metal is bullshit.
Okay, so maybe that’s a little over-the-top. I’m not saying the music itself is bullshit – that’s more of a personal taste thing – but I think the sub-genre as a concept is bullshit. Ever since Wolves in the Throne Room garnered a more significant share of the music spotlight (chiefly by playing a corporate-sponsored festival, I’ve seen the term “Cascadian black metal” tossed around in more articles recently. Some of these have been from outside the metal world (the New Yorker, The Guardian), while others are more in tune with the underground. But I’m skeptical by default of any attempt by music media to create new pigeonholes for the music they cover. In some cases, it’s merely lazy journalism; in other cases (I’m looking at you, New Yorker dude), it’s just a way to make it seem like you know more than you really do about your topic.
Still, it’s normal for humans to want to categorize – some of us just take it further than others. My music library sticks to general tags like “rock” and “metal”, while some people I know have separate tags for every possible sub-sub-sub-genre known, for example. The metal world is rife with factional strife regarding sub-genre definitions to begin with, making this sort of thing all the harder.
So, let’s pick this thing apart, shall we?
In my mind, there are two general approaches to defining a genre. One is lyrical/philosophical (protest folk or pornogrind), the other is sonic (thrash metal or house). These can obviously be combined, and whether a genre is defined one way or the other is often hotly debated – just look at black metal, where there’s a constant war of words over whether you can even really be “black metal” if you’re not Satanist.
Let’s start with the latter way of defining a genre, because I think it’s the easier to dismiss. When the term “Cascadian black metal” shows up in an article, it’s almost always referring to WITTR, or to bands that sound like them. Which is to say, essentially post-metal/metalgaze. Certainly, both obvious reference points – Wolves and Agalloch – fall into that general paradigm, but to suggest that the terms are interchangeable is patently false. Many (indeed most) bands that fall into the post-metal niche hail from nowhere near Cascadia, nor is there any consistent philosophical leaning among them.
The aforementioned exemplars of the supposed genre (WITTR and Agalloch) do share quite a bit philosophically. Both arose in relatively low-density urban environments (Olympia and Portland, respectively), venerate the natural landscape of Cascadia, and have a distinct anti-modernist bent. Of course, that’s hardly unique in the black metal world; as WITTR co-founder Aaron Weaver states in Terrorizer #214 (September 2011), many early Scandinavian black metal bands shared similar philosophical themes. Such bands also owe a considerable debt to various neo-folk bands over the past two decades; see the comments of Don Anderson (of Agalloch) in the neo-folk feature in Decibel #84 (October 2011). So, philosophically the supposed Cascadian black metal bands aren’t unique.
Is there anything that separates these bands from everyone else? Perhaps some combination of sound and philosophy? Possibly. You could argue that their music combines the sound of black-metal-based post-metal (that’s a lot of hyphens) with nature worship and hatred for mankind’s current value systems. Many post-metal bands draw heavily upon anti-modernism and nature fetishism, however, so perhaps limiting it to Cascadia is disingenuous. Some (particularly those actually in the metal world, rather than on the outside looking in) have started using the term “ecological black metal” instead, which fits a bit better. Of course, that brings up arguments about what exactly is meant by “ecological”, but I’m not going into that here. Such a conception also excludes the likes of Krallice, who are similar in sound, if more urban/modern in their philosophical bent. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up for – you guessed it – debate.
Through all the hours spent listening to Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, Fen, Ulver, Windir, Bathory et al over the years (not to mention some aural over-saturation this past month), I’ve noticed some patterns but remain unconvinced that there even is such a thing as Cascadian black metal (or even ecological black metal, for that matter).
Personally, I don’t care much, as it all gets filed under “metal” in my library. But I think there’s potential for such a movement to coalesce. In my mind, it’s usually left for Second Wave bands to really cause a musical movement to gel – those retroactively regarded as founders are usually seen initially as genre outliers. Black metal itself began as an outlier of thrash metal, which was itself an outlier of the NWOBHM scene, and so on. Time will tell if Cascadian black metal gets off the ground as a genuine movement, but at the moment, it remains the non-existent product of over-eager music journalists.
. . .
The majority of aural and ideological trademarks of Cascadian black metal are seen aaaaaall the time in bands outside of what people call Cascadian black metal and they existed prior to when people started using the term Cascadian black metal. What makes these things ‘trademarks’ of the sub-genre (if you genuinely want to call it that…) is that within the Cascadian region they were conceptualised and made consistent, less sporadic and more formulaic. It became a ’sound’ and an ‘idea’, not just sounds and ideas. An aesthetic developed. This is largely about Wolves in the Throne Room, though, I think, and not the obviously innovative Weakling and certainly not Krallice who despite sounding similar don’t really share all that much in common with the thing. If you take a look at Last.fm there are shittons of bands people are calling Cascadian black metal and they all share a similar ‘image’, an image that is largely consistent with Wolves in the Throne Room. At the end of the day, Cascadian black metal is just one trend in the larger umbrella of USBM and I’ve never actually heard the term used outside of the internet. Whatever, anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I generally don’t care for what people call things and I quite enjoy the stuff anyway.
Seems like a long-winded way of saying that genre labels suck.
I don’t disagree, but I can see a bit of a difference between something like Wolves and Agalloch versus Krallice and other american BM bands. I wouldn’t call it specifically Cascadian, but I can see the geographical attribution since many bands travel between San Francisco and Seattle. Weakling (see also Dispirit) is probably a better example of a root influence than simply the broader Norwegian example (1st and 2nd waves).
Geography definitely plays a part in influencing a band’s sound, though. To me it seems most apparent in southern sludge and doom.
I figure it’s not so much to distinguish a specific sub-genre, per se, as it is a way to describe USBM bands without the US part. The word Cascadian perhaps seems a little more.. I dunno, Europeanized? Like there may be an intended connotation, with the reference to a mountain range, perhaps an implied mental association with Carpathian, something like that? I always figured that was the purpose of using a phrase like that, instead of the more generic USBM.
the term “cascadia” did not originate with black metal bands.
post-metal/metalgaze? I take it you do not mean bands like Leech, Alda, Mania, Skagos, Harrow or Addaura? These are bands that actually play black metal, are from the Cascadian region, and identify as being Cascadian. There certainly is a similarity in sound and a shared philosophy within these bands. If you want Cascadian black metal, don’t listen to Fen, Ulver, Windir, Bathory or even Agalloch. Listen to the bands I mentioned, and WITTR.
Then you also take term with the label Norwegian Black Metal, right?
And Marduk and Mayhem are fundamentally the same then, right?
I don’t see how “Cascadian” ever meant anything other than “From the Cascadian Mountains.”
I think Cascadian black metal is an attempt to label a regional sound that doesn’t actually exist. With the Internet giving us access to everything 24-7, I don’t think it’s possible for new regional sounds to develop anymore. Artists are no longer able to gestate in the type of isolation that’s necessary to create distinctive regional sounds.
agreed, it’s a distinction without a difference.
and like jxk said above, the only notable regional sound since the turn of the millenium has been the Southern thing (and that still predates widespread use of the internet, so may not even truly count in this regard, as it’s just been the most consistent).
it’s also funny to think about Weakling having a “regional” effect on contemporary Northwestern bands considering they put out one album nearly 12 years ago and never toured. most folks (at least as far as I’m aware) know about Weakling because of the internet or because of the champs connection.
I’ll drink to that: there doesn’t seem to really be any sort of coherence in any sort of Cascadian BM “scene” to really label it as a subgenre. A lot of bands do have a distinctive “Cascadian” sound based on their region (i.e. WITTR, Blood of the Black Owl, Gyibaaw, Skagos, etc.), but none of those bands are uniformly “black metal”
I like this post-Cosmo IO
I like it- good music. I don’t like it- bad music. Labeling done. Music needs no context or merit but it’s own, not time period or genre. I don’t touch the genre tags in my iTunes at all.
genre has its uses and purposes, but regional labels (which were arguably the most important driver of a given genre sound pre-internet) that don’t actually belong to the region seem like a non-starter.
i think you have a better case for “ecological” black metal, though i’d call it “romanticism”, which has both history and accuracy behind it.
“ecological” doesn’t really work, because that word doesn’t mean just “nature”, it implies the workings of complex systems. there is such a thing as “urban ecology” and one could argue that a large portion of metal deals with urban ecological themes instead of “back to the land” or “deep ecology” (which is an established mode of environmentally-centered anarchist praxis and one from which Earth First! takes a lot of its inspiration).
Agalloch is the worst music I’ve ever heard in my entire life. It drips with pretension, and the fact that critics and hipsters have attached themselves STRONGLY to that band is all the validation I need that it does, indeed, suck.
Aesop may run a cool MP3 blog, but his bands are atrocious.
haha, I wouldn’t say it’s the worst, but it’s definitely the musical equivalent of a flaccid penis.
I, too, let others’ opinions decide how I feel about music.
ha!
Aesop was a late addition to the lineup, if I remember correctly. If by “his bands” you’re including Ludicra, I’m going to have to sharply disagree with you! I can’t stand Agalloch, though. I find them to be quite boring. I prefer my airy atmospheric blackish metal to still have more punch than that.
Damn, you are so wrong.
You are fucking retarded, Tim.
Are you happy you got that off your chest?
You cannot seem to even name any more bands from the Cascades region other than WITTR and Agalloch. Do some more research before awkwardly revealing yourself to be no different than those you deride in your article.
Now go try and be profound on MetalSucks or something.
This is probably the stupidest post I’ve ever seen on this site. This is like a Metal Sucks post. To the extent anyone even cares, which no one does, the term Cascadian Black Metal is perfectly sensible and reasonable. Why even write about this? Mike Owens… Is Agalloch seriously the worst music you’ve ever heard in your life? That’s just weird. Guess you’ve led a pretty sheltered life.
So now in addition to sloppy content appropriation and self-congratulatory, parroted Literary Criticism 101 notes, Invisible Oranges provides empty, witless polemic cynically deployed to generate controversy. Fucking great dudes, you’re now metal Pitchfork with a fraction of the readers. Well done.
http://pitchfork.com/search/?query=Cosmo+Lee&min_year=1999&max_year=2011
internet journalist just found out about some genre that’s been around in some form or another for at least a decade, misses the point, writes an article about how he doesn’t get it while trying to sound as knowledgeable as someone who does. You ever listen to Threnos?
Also, how do people not get that Cascadian Black Metal is black metal FROM CASCADIA? That article in The Guardian refers to Krallice as such, when they’re from the opposite end of the continent, and someone in the comments refers to Wodensthrone, from Britain as Cascadian Black Metal. Dummkopfen.
Hey, question to those who remember IO as a blogspot – know any other blog sites that are as good as this one used to be?
This just in: Metal nerds are angry about minutiae on the Internet.
Next up: You wouldn’t have heard of them, they’re pretty underground.
So your issue is that bands outside of the pacific northwest are being tagged as Cascadian?
Also, what does Bathory have to do with any of this?
Also, you forgot Skagos, bro.
The last few times we wrote about this (my Wolves in the Throne Room review and E.’s Echtra review) we got shit on forEVER. People trash talked us on forums and stuff. I’m glad so many people feel our sentiments.
…and inform me, who the fuck are you?
I am sick of this discreet self-promoting bullshit.
Please sir, inform me…who the fuck are you to make such a comment?
no, you tell me who you are you self-promoting scum????
The quality of the comments has fallen much more dramatically than the quality of the writing since Cosmo’s departure.
Yep.
Semantics. The inflammatory headline is pretty boneheaded, though. If any one thing matters most for a blog, it’s having a dependable sense of taste. Calling bullshit is the equivalent of trolling a forum.
In other news, about 1000 awesome records came out in the last month or two, all worthy of discussion.
I think the main problem here is that that perhaps the writer did not dig deep enough into the bands that are getting tagged as Cascadian black metal to provide a thorough analysis. WITTR are obvious standard bearers of this supposed sound, but what Ash Borer, Fell Voices and some of the others mentioned in the comments? There is a good a good concept here that just needed some more fleshing out.
I thought this was going to be a scathing attack on the most boring, pretentious, overrated and shitty trend in metal in the last 10 years. You have a goldmine of content – wanker fans, stupid ideals, lifeless, 18 minute long songs, and acceptance by highbrow mainstream media. Instead it was some wiener making some toothless remarks about genre labeling. Why did you even bother?
I came to this site expecting some cutting edge commentary (read about it on the Profound Lore website). What I find is more trivial bullshit that has nothing to do with the music therein. WITTR and Agalloch are excellent in terms of metal. Lets just call it metal, okay? Fucking tools. Fucking little whiny ‘black metal’ tools. Give me a break. Grow the fuck up. Take what you like and leave the rest. Stop being a cliche. Grow a set of balls. Open your eyes. Stop living like a little ostrich with your head in the sand. People stick to labels and denounce others because they have nothing else to grab hold of.
@Arandy, your comment is kinda cliche.
How so? Explain. Back that up.
Actually, scratch that. Doesn’t matter. I can appreciate that we all have our opinions about whatever. More importantly, people are passionate,and that’s cool.
@Arandy, that’s cool. Your comment seemed overly agressive considering context. My response was aimed mostly at your it’s all ‘just metal’ statement, which is a fair enough statement in it’s own right, but such an opposition to genre labeling has become something of a cliche, I think. I only pointed this out due to your describing people as a cliche. In any case, both sides of the argument, in favour of and in opposition to categorisation have their worth. Sub-genres should serve the purpose of description rather than pidgeon-holing restriction, in my opinion.
stuff like this makes me embarrassed to be a “metalhead”.
cosmo seemed old school enough, but he was mature enough to not shove it down anyones throats.
i think the whole genre defining is necessary.
if i hear that a band is old school swedish death, ill immediately know what they sound like.
maybe i dont get the point youre trying to make. but you sound like a typical metal elitist.
exactly the group of metalhead i hope not to be pigeonholed into.
Invisible Oranges was a site that celebrated metal, not bash it for something as silly as a description..
by the way, Tim, are you in NYDM by any chance?
you’d probably fit in perfectly
Talk about lazy journalism: saying that you have a limited set of admittedly-personal criteria X needs to meet to be Y, and then saying X isn’t based on those criteria.
I live in “Cascadia”.
Only douchebags call it “Cascadia”. Well, douchebags and hippies, to the extent there’s a difference.
(No offense meant to Tim, as I assume he doesn’t live in the Northwest, and thus had no way of knowing that.)
(Which answers Patanic’s question – many/most people wouldn’t even understand that “Cascadian” was meant as a locational appellation rather than some weird philosophical or content denominator.
I’d be with dhex on “romanticism” except that’s even more misleading in modern usage.
And I likewise don’t understand why Bathory is in that list of bands. One of these things, it is not like its compatriots.)
I too, live in “Cascadia” (Portland). And I’ve NEVER heard the term used once, and I have been to many a show. In fact, the only time I’ve even heard the term used is in re: 1. Those who want to secede from the union and form some sort of Cascadian Province (generally in ref. to white supremacists, like the myth of the Great White North.) 2. The chain of mountains where we live, geographically cutting off eastern OR/WA from the west and 3. simpleminded writers/labels who persist on using the term as a catch all phrase for something uniquely musical in the PacNW, much like “stoner rock” or “desert rock” seems to be for certain music/bands from SoCal. So in a weird sense it’s an agreement with the writer, but at the same time he keeps afloat a pejorative term that really lacks any meaning whatsoever. In fact, I had a “cascadian” coffee this morning, a “cascadian” hamburger today for lunch, and washed it down with a “cascadian” beer while talking to my “cascadian” friends. And then I’ll go to my “cascadian” home and listen to some…”metal.”
This really makes me miss Cosmo.
There are good bands that identify as Cascadian that have nothing to do with Wolves or Agalloch. Bands such as Fell Voices, Skagos and Ash Borer have all been associated with Cascadian Black Metal (though I’m not sure how they self identify). These are interesting bands with their own respective dedicated followings. Profound Lore just announced the next Ash Borer record. They are good band. Look into them if you have the chance, they sound nothing like Agalloch. If you are going to talk smack do some homework
I don’t think the author was talking smack about any of the bands or even where they come from (although, I will admit, he probably could have done a better job explaining himself); rather, he was just mentioning that the idea of “Cascadian” black metal is pointless because only a handful of bands actually try to link their music to the Cascadian cultural/bioregion and the majority identified as such are from other areas (like Fell Voices, who I believe are from the Sierras in CA).
“This is probably the stupidest post I’ve ever seen on this site. This is like a Metal Sucks post.” [2]
Funny thing about the term “Cascadian”, I’m mostly familiar with its usage in the brewing community (as in BEER), but even there the classification hasn’t exactly stuck.
Couple years ago, Deschutes put out a hybrid style ale under the name “Hop in the Dark”. The decided to call the new style “Cascadian Dark Ale”, since there wasn’t an existing term for beer as dark as a stout but as hoppy as an IPA. A couple other “Cascadian” area brewers hopped (rimshot!) onboard and brewed similar offerings, but as the style gained popularity and brewers around the country and eventually the world started experimenting, the style as whole solidified under broader name “American Black Ale”. It kept the regional tag of “American”, which generally implies the American penchant for big, aggressive flavors which come from liberal use of pungent American hops; but they dropped the Cascadian tag, which was probably too specific of a reference to an obscure name for a relatively small region. It’s a little bit of a shame, as the term “Californian-style” has been readily adopted by IPA brewers all over the world. Nowadays, the general term for something this hoppy and simultaneously dark would be either a Black IPA or an India Black Ale. Cascadian Dark Ale does have a certain ring, but it hasn’t really been embraced past those first few offerings.
And for anyone wondering: this shit is delicious.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/58695
A couple people have mentioned that no one really refers to this stuff as “Cascadian black metal” aside from journalists, etc. However the label Eternal Warfare (www.eternalwarfare.org) identifies itself as “Cascadian metal and distro from around the globe.” They put out the Alda tape, and will be putting out the Skagos record on vinyl pretty soon. Also its owner plays in Velnias.
As far as the article goes, it’s pretty poor. Just the fact that he defines WITTR’s sound (and the Cascadian sound, if there is one) as “post-metal/metalgaze” illustrates that he doesn’t know much about Cascadian metal (Threnos, WITTR, Fauna, Fell Voices, Velnias, Ash Borer, etc. [and yeah they aren't all from Cascadia]) or post metal (Neurosis, Isis, Cult of Luna, etc.). That is disturbing.
I happen to agree that the term is somewhat silly, especially since it denotes a sound that doesn’t have much to do with geography other than by some coincidence or mutual influence. But the fact is that when someone describes a band as “Cascadian black metal,” I have a pretty good idea of what they might sound like. Which is what genre tags are for. The whole phobia of genre-tagging, to me, is stupid. If someone describes a band as “metal” my next question is “what kind of metal?” Who the fuck cares?
it’s astonishing how many butthurt dwellers this article has offended. the entire premise is that the term itself is conceptually debatable (ill-defined, poorly applied, not particularly useful, etc.), yet half of you act like Tim just shit on your pillow. chill the fuck out for two seconds.
while I’d say this could be edited for clarity a bit, it’s not a hack-job. I sincerely question the reading comprehension abilities of many here.
I don’t know about this fucking article, but the comments are fucking awesome.
Wow… This used to be one of the best, if not the best, metal blogs on the net. While I don’t always agree with cosmo, his writing was always thoughtful and interesting. Now it’s pointless crap like this and that street jammer guy?? You guys have gone wayy downhill. Get back to good recommendations, live photos, mixtapes, etc. I really don’t give a shit what you don’t like.. How about what you DO like?
I agree with you. However, I don’t think there’s any need to disparage Street-Jammer. His style has it’s place and he doesn’t do it badly as far as I can tell. It’s just jarring to see it on IO. If they want to keep Cosmo’s audience, or at least my small slice of that demo, they should, for the time being, focus on sincerity & thoughtfulness over originality/distinctiveness of style.
I have listened to and dismissed WITTR and Agalloch and Liturgy from my musical universe, their music will not last. It’s 100% poser black metal, it might be worse than the glam/goth Cradle of Filth trend in the genre some 12 years ago.
Yikes, this is an extremely foolish opinion. Agalloch and WITTR have been major forces in metal for, what, at least 5 years now… probably longer in the case of Agalloch. Just nonsense to say these bands won’t last. They already have.
By the way, since Gary Suarez has now published a very intelligent post at Metal Sucks demolishing this nonsensical IO item, I am compelled to retract my disparaging comment about this article being reminiscent of a Metal Sucks post. While 90% of what is posted on Metal Sucks is pure douchebaggery, Gary has been known to provide some interesting thoughts from time to time.
Let’s not forget about Corey Mitchell’s excellent ‘Bleeders’ posts as well.
Sigh. After a few weeks of being disappointed again and again by newer IO articles, I’m finally removing this site from my bookmarks. Good luck, dudes. This was a good site, but Cosmo should have just put it to bed.
I live in Cascadia. I play in a metal band. I own the Weakling LP on double blood red vinyl. And I have never once referred to my band as Cascadian Metal. I have poked fun about self-described Cascadian bands in the weekly, though.
I think it’s all to be taken with a grain of salt. The grandfathers of the scene don’t want to be included in this. The new bands are just looking for some sort of sense of unity. Whether it’s a collective derived regionally or sonically, I say let them have it. I’ve got better things to worry about than how people want to label a subjective grouping of bands. Move along.
Calling this sub-genera circadian is ridiculous. Many of the bands don’t come from any where near cascadia. But I think you shouldn’t ignore the fact that they do share a sonic quality that, isn’t necessarily uniform, but sets them apart from the more “evil” black metal acts. Bands like Krallice and deafheaven share a sonic quality with WITTR and Agolloch, that say emperor dose not have.
Hella necroposting, but I came across this and had to comment. “Cascadian black metal” is much more a description of a movement or “scene” rather than a specific sound. Kind of like how you would describe Eyehategod as a New Orleans sludge band. Like New Orleans, the Pacific Northwest is host to an almost nationalistic devotion. “Cascadian” denotes a fierce love for the Pacific Northwest landscape, and a desire to protect it from corporate intrusions- violently if necessary. I was born and raised in Portland, and have been around the scene since the birth of Cascadian black metal. Cascadian black metal started among crusties and Earth Firsters who wanted to make music to mirror local landscape and the whole Cascadia movement. The sound isn’t really anything new, as plenty of bands have played slow, ambient black metal before. Cascadian black metal is ambient black metal with a strictly CASCADIAN philosophy. That does include anti civilization, primitivism, and other ecological themes yes, but it is just as much about the Pacific Northwest region. Hope that sheds some light on the issue.
Also, I really don’t know how Agalloch became included in the Cascadian black scene, but I have heard that a lot lately. Agalloch is a folk metal band from Portland, but really have nothing to do with the “Cascadian” scene. As I said before, Cascadian black metal is mainly played by crusty kids who go to Earth First rallies, and Agalloch has never been apart of that.
Your critique is based completely off of issues created by sloppy internet commentary/journalism, such as your article. I can’t decide if that is ironic or completely fitting.
Though I doubt that anyone from outside this bioregion could ever really understand the ins and outs of this “genre’s” happening (and I mean that to be empathetical, not condescending) here is, hopefully, some small node of clarification:
http://www.cascadianow.org/our-newsletter/2012-newsletter-index/october2012/echtra-cascadia-black-metal-and-the-mythopoesis-of-earth-bioregionalism-as-spiritual-embodiment/
Before caring so much about a thing you don’t care about. Consider the following: Finnish style hardcore (many not from Finland): Crude SS, Young Wasteners, Asocial, etc. Scandinavian Black Metal: the obvious Mayhem, Burzum and second wavers like Gorgorath and Urfaust (not from Scandinavia). Many Cascadian Black Metal bands are from Cascadia and are proud of it and support each other and sound similar. What’s not to get about this? A sound developed from a region and it became tradition. Therefore it deserves a label as it is not the same tradition as previous. Easy Peasy. Why fuck with it? Nothing will make any of you “right” on this subject anyway. I don’t think I am. I can’t believe I even read this shit. I’m just bored in art class.
I’m from cascadia, the genre always made sense but I spend 90% of my time in the woods and all of these bands have artwork that actually looks like the woods around here. sorry that’s not very metal but that’s how I always understood the whole ecological side of the thing, but I’m not angry enough to try to win an argument with some keyboard nazi. I’m too old, but the genre name did make sense like the new orleans sludge thing, but that was in like 2008, so…you really were ahead of the curve on this one weren’t you
I always called it environmentalist black metal, but everyone I know jokes about joining the republic of cascadia while we drink the secession ale, and none of them listen to metal, or are white supremacists. mostly just beer enthusiasts that hang out everyday. oh and the cascadian flag is everywhere at sounders games(drew carey’s soccer team in seattle), so yeah. really pinned this one down perfectly.