Noise Pollution #37: Neseblod and Norwegian Obscurity
I had this week’s column basically wrapped up, and then I heard the news that Neseblod Records had a devastating fire, and that sort of changed my outlook. For the six of you living under a rock, Neseblod is a record store in Oslo that is operated out of the location that used to be Helvete, the store owned by Euronymous and the launchpad of the activities that got most of us interested in black metal in the first place. To say there’s a cosmic irony that a fire occurred there would be in poor taste, but it’s not like I’m known for being a decent human being.
In recent times, Neseblod has become more of a museum than a shop, though there were plenty of records to dig through and buy. The basement of the building, with its infamous wall with the graffiti “black metal” sprayed across it, appears in thousands of photographs from people passing through. Even the more “serious” black metal fans succumbed to it. Hell, if I ever made it to Norway, I would have done the same. Sadly, no one in Norway would have us, so my opportunity is lost.
Just because I’ve never been there doesn’t mean that I haven’t read about it fanatically since I first was introduced to black metal 30 years ago. It seems to be the blueprint which almost any metal-themed record store tries to follow. In the intersection where my love of black metal and of record shopping collide, plus with the continual decline of physical media into intangible and unownable (If that’s a word … there’s no red line under it, so I guess it is.) bits of data, I can’t help but feel a deep sadness when something like this occurs, doubly so because of the amount of artifacts (that’s the word I’m sticking with, fuck you if you don’t like it) that are completely lost, leaving much of the historical items that are left in the hands of private collectors.
But all is not lost. Darren Toms, whom I think is who signed me to Candelight but I could be fucking mistaken there, and who has long been entrenched in black metal culture, has started a GoFundMe to assist in the owners' financial issues as well as, hopefully, an eventual return to business as usual. I’ve got it linked at the bottom of the next few messy paragraphs.
My contribution to the whole thing is a list of a few Norwegian black metal records that, while not necessarily “obscure” as my title would lead you to believe, don’t really get the attention (I feel) they deserve. Plus it seemed more interesting than writing another piece about Mayhem/Emperor/Burzum/etc. I’m sure there are those of you who will disagree with both of those points, and guess what? You can write a fucking article on Medium or do a Youtube video about what an asshole I am. I’m pretty sure other people have done those better, though.
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In Times Before the Light landed around the time I was starting to write my first record, and I was immediately struck by how great the drums were, how much of an earworm the hook in the first song was, and how I thought I could somehow do that as well. History has obviously proved me wrong there, but 27 years (Jesus Christ) later I still get that same feeling from listening to this record. This was right before a lot of the atmospheric black metal bands either went overly symphonic (boo) or, as journalists love to say, “went weird.” In Times Before the Light preceded Covenant doing both and stands as one of the greatest black metal records of the 1990s.
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While I have no idea what prompted Shagrath to call his label “Hot Records,” I do fondly remember it not only for some of the best records out of Norway in that era but also The Rape of the Holy Trinity compilation, which is where I first heard the title track from Ode to the Nightsky. Excellent atmospheric black metal of the time and one of the most promising demos/EPs that came out that year.
Then they signed to Nuclear Blast and released a prog metal record with Hammerfall vocals which absolutely shit the bed for me and I didn’t give them any thought until I was writing this piece. Revisiting the EP, though, is a totally worthwhile use of your listening time. Also of note, on the Discogs page for them in the history section it talks about how they formed in 1994 but “finally broke up” in 1998, meaning whoever wrote that was also sick of their shit by then.
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Looking back on things I listened to in the mid 90s, you’d think I would have either created an atmospheric black metal band or, at the very fucking least, tried to learn how to play my instruments. Dismal Euphony are a band whom, after their debut, I lost track of, outside of hearing stories about the fucked up lives of some of their members or that they were the benchmark for what Napalm Records would eventually be known for releasing nonstop. But their early material? Gloomy, synth drenched black metal with clean vocals. Think the first Gehenna EP but with operatic (I guess?) vocals, one of the earliest examples in the (sub)genre that I can remember.
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Sure, In the Woods are very well known, but it seems mostly for their prog records after Heart of the Ages. LIke I said, “obscure” might have been clickbait, but it sounded nice. Isle of Men was the first black metal demo I ever bought, probably from the Relapse catalog, The whole thing just dirges along (that’s an adjective now) with a lumbering guitar tone that almost sounds out of tune but captures an atmosphere that no other recording had before or since for me. Soulseller Records reissued this on vinyl a while back and still has copies in stock. One of my favorite demos of all time, both for quality and for the sentimental significance.
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Second entry featuring Nagash on here, Drep de Kristne was highly anticipated for me after the excellent Trollstorm over Nidingjuv saw a CD release via the excellent Head Not Found a year or so earlier. And it did not disappoint at all. Theatrical in nature and extremely Norwegian (yeah, no shit) this record embodied everything I wanted out of the (sub)genre at the time. I still revisit this one frequently.
As a side note, when I had a radio show I interviewed Nagash when the first The Kovenant record was making the rounds and, outside of him being interesting during a radio interview, the thing I remember most was talking about “The Phantom Menace” with him and how we’d both seen it multiple times in the theater. I’m sure this is interesting to you, dear reader, and you’re welcome for it.
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When I think about wasted potential I first think about how badly I’ve fucked my life (and the lives of others) up. I also think about Frostmoon. Coming about during a time when the term “Norwegian black metal” was pretty used up, and the global scene was becoming more connected and looking in different places, Frostmoon got kind of lost. While they’re obviously viking-themed, what truly sticks out is the clean vocals, which make me think of -and this is probably only me- “Eye in the Sky” by Alan Parsons Project or maybe some of the more soaring backing vocals on mid period Bad Religion records. Sound cool? Fuck you, don’t lie to me. But trust me, this band are special, horribly overlooked, and incredibly overdue for a vinyl release. I would place Tordenkrig in the top 100 black metal records of all time, if that was something I was working on.
I could have written about a slew of bands for this. I considered Forgotten Woods, Strid, Malignant Eternal, Tulus, etc. etc. It took me years after the backlash in American black metal towards anything Norse to realize just how important this scene has been and continues to be to me. And now, with one of the monuments to the genre smoldering, is a perfect time to reflect on these bands, these times and maybe even lend a hand to help.
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Number 37 was originally going to be about second chances, and I plan on delivering that one in two weeks. See you then.
