Arcane Archivist Zine

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Arcane Archivist Zine

Black Metal Magazine dedicated to Mystical Dark Art and Vitriolic Text. Issue 6 available now…
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11/07/2024

• 𝕹𝖊𝖇𝖎𝖗𝖔𝖘 (COL) •
As many record collectors are well aware, the prices for rare original print black metal LPs don’t seem to be going down any time soon. Records like Bathory’s “Yellow Goat” and Weakling’s “Dead as Dreams” can fetch thousands of dollars, and that’s if you can even find a copy for sale in the first place. The first time I heard about the Colombian black metal band Nebiros, it was through a sale of their debut album “Guerreros de Lucifer” (1996). I couldn’t believe that a 90s black metal band I had never heard of before had an LP worth $600. This led to finding a s**tty CD-R version on eBay and finally digging into the recording, which I would end up loving. “Guerreros de Lucifer” was recorded in 1994 and finally self released in 1996. There were only 300 pressed, but very shortly after the release of the record, Vocalist/ Guitarist Feretrum would leave the band to eventually become a Christian Minister. The rumor has always been that he destroyed many of the 300 copies. To add to the legend/rumors of the band, all of the lyrics on this album were written by the original vocalist Sacrilegus, who was sadly shot in 1992. On slide 8 I’ve included the insert for their 1994 self released 7” single, which was dedicated to the memory of Sacrilegus, along with Dead and Euronymous. Interestingly, Sacrilegus drew the cover for the 7” as well.
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The good news is that this early Nebiros material is no longer unobtainable (or only available in s**tty CD-R Digipacks), thanks to the new Vinyl reissues through . They also did a reprint of the cult logo tee that the band is wearing on the cover of the album. A must own for fans of ugly and evil South American black metal.
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28/06/2024

• 𝕲𝖔𝖗𝖌𝖔𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖍 (1995) •
Here is a collection of photos from an interesting Gorgoroth promo shoot, circa mid 1995. These photos would be used to promote the band’s second album “Antichrist”, though the lineup shown here isn’t the lineup on the album. Pictured above (blonde hair on the right) is Storm aka
Børge Boge (what a name), who was a short lived member of the band in 1995 and was previously in Trelldom. He also had a solo project called Daudur that is worth searching out. The other members shown in these photos are Hat, Infernus and of course Frost of Satyricon (and later 1349). These photos would be the last sighting of Hat, as he would leave the band before the release of “Antichrist”. Pest was brought in from Obtained Enslavement to perform vocals on one track that Hat had written lyrics for, but not recorded. Antichrist is, much like the debut, a must own album. Not just a great black metal CD, but one of the absolute best.
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26/06/2024

• ᴠʀᴇɪᴅ (2005) •
After the death of Windir frontman (and main songwriter)
Terje “Valfar” Bakken in January of 2004, the remaining members of the band would start a new musical chapter under the name Vreid. This wouldn’t be the first time these guys had played together outside of the Windir name though, as before they Joined Valfar, they were in a band called Ulcus / Ulcus Molle, which was active from ‘94 - ‘01. Only a few months after Valfar’s death, Vreid recorded their debut album Kraft. This album was a departure from the Windir material, yet still contained the DNA that the band was known for. Vreid has gone on to produce a large handful of albums throughout the years, remaining active and even performing Windir songs at many live performances, but in my opinion, they were never able to beat the debut album.
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There are a lot of underrated black metal albums from the 2000s, but very few are less talked about or appreciated as Vreid’s “Kraft”. One of the best from that time period. In this post I’ve included some live photos from their 2005 European tour with Enslaved, as well as the flyer for that gig and a newspaper clipping that spoke of the tour.
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24/06/2024

• 𝕿𝖗𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖉𝖔𝖒 •
Pictured above is a collection of rare Trelldom promo photos taken by the band’s former manager Espen Dyngen, circa 1995 - 1997. These shots show a few of the most important members from the band’s history, including Gaahl, Sir, Tyrant and Valgard. The outdoor photos were taken around the time of the debut album “Til evighet...”, while the studio photos were taken in Grieghallen during the recording for “Til et annet...”. The three Trelldom full length albums are very important to me personally and heavily shaped my musical pallet upon their discovery. As many of you may already know, Sir and Gaahl have composed a new Trelldom LP, which is coming very soon. There has only been one single so far, which was promising, if not a shocking departure from the seething rage of the earlier material. Since their older material is not available on streaming services currently, I have included a snippet of the single, titled “Between the World”, which happens to have a cover from one of my favorite artists Alex Rose. Huge thank you to Nethor for sending these photos. Be sure to check out my interview with him in AA Zine issue 5.
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16/06/2024

• 𝕬𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖊𝖉𝖉𝖆 •
Pictured above is a collection of promo and live photos from the Swedish black metal band Armagedda, circa 2001 - 2004. As the 90s came to a close and black metal exploded into every creative direction imaginable, from industrial and symphonic to depressive, there was a new generation of musicians coming of age that were not interested in reinventing the wheel and instead dedicated themselves to the old ways. In my opinion, Armagedda is a perfect example of this staunch atavistic ethos. Their 3 albums from the initial run (along with the 2020 return album) are all incredible works, with 2003’s “Only True Believers” being their magnum opus. Very rarely does that level of songwriting meet an equal level of true darkness.
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The live photos in the post above were taken on the “Marching Towards Christian Extermination” tour in 2002 alongside American’s Black Witchery & Manticore and the Czech horde Avenger.
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14/06/2024

• 𝕰𝖒𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖔𝖗 (1993) •
Here are two perfect Emperor promo photos featuring Samoth and Ihsahn, circa 1993. These photos were sent to Thorns of Full Moon Productions for his now legendary Petrified ‘Zine. On the last 3 slides I’ve included the full interview, which is well worth a read. It seems to have taken place right after the string of climatic events in ‘93, as Euronymous is dead and V.V., Faust and Tchort are all in jail. It also includes some grade A s**t talking (manditory for the era). I’ve always wondered what the second Emperor album would have sounded like if things happened differently and it was written and released in 1995 or so, instead of 1997. We will never know.
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12/06/2024

• 𝕸𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖎𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 (2001) •
In the past I have posted some video footage from Mutiilation’s performance at Under the Black Sun festival in 2001, but at the time that was the only material I could find pertaining to that show. Thankfully, these incredible photos of the gig were recently sent to me. Thought to be Mutiilation’s second show ever (after an initial performance in Marseille on June 23rd, 2001), the lineup consisted of Meyhna’ch on vocals with Celestia as a backing band. It seems that the LLN hype peaked a couple years ago (for better or worse), but I still think that Mutiilation was an incredibly dark & powerful band, even in this middle era.
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11/06/2024

• 666 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑 •
I have been a more selective lately about honoring album anniversaries, but there are a few select albums that I simply cannot skip over. 25 years ago today Dodheimsgard released their amphetamine riddled masterwork: 666 International. The year was 1999, and in retrospect there is no other time this album could have been birthed. The perfect crescendo of y2k pandemonium, the artistic stagnation/commercial explosion of black metal, newfound spiritual directions and of course drugs. As my friend Hunter Ginn of once pointed out, the album’s cold, mechanical and sterile feeling cover photo is the perfect companion for the music on the disk.
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Very few bands can claim to have taken the risks DHG took on this album and even fewer can say they did it successfully. I’ll never forgot a night of intoxication a few years back when I was thumbing through the CD booklet and realized that 666 I(nternational) is 1999 upside down. Genius. If you don’t own this album, fix that immediately.
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13/05/2024

• 𝕺𝖑𝖉 𝕸𝖆𝖓’𝖘 𝕮𝖍𝖎𝖑𝖉 (NOR) •
Starting all the way back in 1990 under the name Requium, Old Man’s Child didn’t fully blossom until the later half of the 90s. Their demo “In the Shades of Life” (1994) and debut album “Born of the Flickering” (1996) are great examples of the stellar black metal that was still being produced in Norway post 1995. For this reason, I’ve always thought of OMC as being spiritually connected with bands like Dimmu Borgir (they also shared members), Aeternus, Helheim and even Obtained Enslavement. The bands that didn’t have an album pre 1994, though they were all around during that time. I have found that OMC’s debut album has actually held up better than a lot of its contemporaries, not only due to the production, but also the killer songwriting and instrumental performances. Songs like “My Last Chapter”, though some might think of the lyrics as a bit on the nose, is an incredible cut, probably my favorite from the entire album. If you love early Dimmu Borgir and Dark Funeral, then be sure to dig into the back catalog of Old Man’s Child.
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22/04/2024

• 𝕬𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖙 (NOR) •
If you’re in any type of black metal space online I’m sure you’ve run into somebody asking the question: Can bad people make good music? Well, today I propose to you a different, yet equally important, moral conundrum: Can people with bad wigs make good music? Thankfully, I’ve already solved this philosophical query and the answer is: Yes, but only for one demo, a 7”, an album and an EP. Jokes aside, the early ancient material is better than it has any right to be, especially the debut full length “Svartalvheim” from 1994. I personally attribute the artistic success of this early material to the band’s drummer / vocalist Grimm, who would depart in ‘95. It’s no surprise that after his departure the band would change drastically. It was good for thee band that photos were so xeroxed and obscured in print publications through the 90s, as some of the photos in this post are a bit hard to stomach in higher definition. Even though some of the photos are laughable and the band itself turned into a laughing stock, I highly recommend the early material. Just listen to the included sample, if that doesn’t sell it to you then nothing will.
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13/04/2024

• 𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖆 𝕽𝖔𝖆𝖉 •
Taking a quick break from black metal to talk a little bit about what could possibly be my all time favorite band (right next to Thin Lizzy) - Wichita, KS very own Manilla Road. Truly the epitome of American heavy metal, Manilla Road bootstrapped their career for longer than most would have had the heart to. Self releasing records, getting dropped from labels and even getting banned from European distributors after their overseas label went belly up; All the while creating some of the best metal music of the 1980s. At the center of the band was guitarist/vocalist Mark Shelton, a figure that should be held in same regard as James Hetfield, Kerry King or Dave Mustain in the pantheon of American metal guitarists, at least in my opinion. Not only was he an incredible songwriter and shredder, but he was the glue that held Manilla Road together together all those years and gave us 15+ albums (not to mention his work outside of the band) without ever losing his creative spark. Huge props to the band’s 2 original drummers Rick Fisher and Randy Foxe and longtime bassist Scott Park. All amazing musicians who made the band what it was.
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Manilla Road is an underground staple at this point, loved by thousands around the world. If for some reason you haven’t given the band a listen and would like to hear some of the best metal ever recorded, I’d recommend stating with their album “Crystal Logic” from 1983.
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RIP Mark “The Shark” Shelton!
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12/04/2024

• ᴋᴇʏ ᴏꜰ ᴀʟᴏᴄᴇʀ ‘ᴢɪɴᴇ (NZ) •
Today’s post begins with this great photo of Irish pagan/black metal legends Primordial playing live in London, circa 1994. The photo is something I’ve posted before in the past, but upon a recent closer inspection I noticed that their guitar player Ciáran MacUiliam is wearing an incredibly obscure shirt showcasing the New Zealand based black metal zine Key of Alocer.
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Key of Alocer was an underground black metal zine that slowly morphed into an esoteric / occult zine through the course of the 90s. The first issue was published in 1992 and it ran for 7 or 8 issues before disappearing towards the end of the decade. The writer was an artist who went by the name Abaaner Incendium at the time. I have reached out to them over the years in hopes of publishing a compilation book, but it seems they have no interest in the zine (and possibly underground metal at all) these days. In the post above I’ve included a small collection of scans from Key of Alocer issues and adverts. Many issues are available as PDFs online, so check those out if you’re interested in learning more. While it’s not Slayer Mag or Descent Zine, KoA was still a very interesting passion project that perfectly represents the time and place in which it was birthed.
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It’s also worth noting that the Primordial guys had their own fanzines as well, with my favorite being the vocalist Nemtheanga‘s “Dlúth Cheangal Fúll” zine. Ireland actually had a few superb fanzines in the early 90s… maybe more great zines than great bands even.
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09/04/2024

• 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 (LVA) •
Today we head back to one of my favorite regions for black metal, the Baltic’s, in particular the country of Latvia. The Baltic’s spawned a small handful of killer bands in the 90s, such as Poccolus, Anubi, Loits and the subject of this post - Skyforger. Skyforger was formed in 1991 as a death metal group called Grindmaster Dead. After a couple promising demo tapes, they would change their name and style in 1995 and begin crafting an interesting strain of distinctly Eastern European black metal. As is the case with many other Eastern European black metal bands of that era (see Graveland and Noktutnal Mortum), Skyforger’s debut demo “Semigalls’ Warchant” could easily be considered a full length album, due to the recording / song quality and overall length. This demo is highly regarded within their catalog, especially by those who heard it upon its release. It has obvious Immortal and Celtic Frost influence, perfectly balanced by folk instrumentation and the groove of their death metal past. A demo I highly recommend. Their debut album “Kauja pie Saules” (1998) and 2nd CD “Latviešu strēlnieki” are also Baltic black metal classics and essential listening for anyone wanting to explore more Eastern European black metal.
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All of the photos above are from 1993 - 2000. The photo on slide 2 may be one of my favorite photos I’ve had the opportunity to post here. It shows Skyforger’s former drummer Imants Vovers sitting upon a dinner table chair playing a ragtag drum kit featuring a single rototom and an upside down tea kettle fashioned into a “cowbell” of sorts. Pure ingenuity and passion. What’s your excuse?
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08/04/2024

One moral issue I’ve face time and time again with this page is the perpetuation of hyper focus on the aesthetic and extramusical aspects of black metal. Of course, black metal music cannot be fully separated from its visual history at this point, nor am I remotely interested in doing that. That being said, the hyper focus on these visuals has long been a thorn in the side of black metal, often taking away from the music and grabbing the attention of people with little to no interest in the music and true spirit of the genre. You don’t have to look any further than this page to see the truths of this. Over the past 6 years we’ve gained 40,000+ followers (no sponsored posts or ads of any kind), yet each post gets no more than 20 or 30 comments and around 3,000 likes. I would being doing this even if I had 10 followers, so the numbers are not a problem for me whatsoever, but it does bring to mind the thought that a majority of our followers are more interested in looking at pictures of black metal, rather than listening to, supporting or truly understanding black metal. That of course, is just how the social media / modern society works and I expect no better from it. All that to say, as much as I value the opportunities that social media has brought through that page, I can’t help but feel that I, in some small way, perpetuate this ever constant cancer upon black metal. In the future I plan to implement new ways to focus a bit more towards the music itself. Be the change you want to see, as they say.
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To got along with (and facetiously invert) what I’ve written above, I thought it would be fitting to go though some previous posts and pick out the photos that represent, for me personally, the true spirit of black metal. Black metal does not exist solely in photos, but photography is a powerful medium that can capture a range of emotions, much like music itself. Here are the bands featured: 1. Ulver 2. Emperor 3. Ildjarn 4. Nåstrond 5. Trelldom 6. Dødheimsgard 7. Gorgoroth 8. Ulver 9. Incitatus
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02/04/2024

• 𝕾𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 (2002 •
In the past I’ve alluded to the fact that I’m generally not a fan of bands in the self proclaimed “DSBM” category. There are two main reasons for this. First, it’s proven to be a breeding ground for some of the most insufferable and weak minded individuals to ever claim part of black metal. Second, the attitude and goal of music is often antithetical to everything I personally value, such as willpower and mental fortitude. Obviously, every rule has its exception and that’s definitely true in this case, as I highly value some choice releases from bands like Bethlehem, Strid and the subject of this post - Sweden’s Shining.
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The three photos in the post above were taken from two zine interviews that Shining’s frontman Niklas Kvarforth gave in 2002. This era of the band saw Hellhammer of Mayhem/Arcturus joining on drums and the release of the their 3rd studio album “III: Angst - Självdestruktivitetens emissarie”. Even though the lyrics may not be for everyone, you cannot deny their sincerity, especially on an album like this one.
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Thank you to for the scans.

27/03/2024

• 𝕷𝖚𝖓𝖆𝖗 𝕬𝖚𝖗𝖔𝖗𝖆 (1999) •
I have been guilty of not giving German black metal its due respect in the past, I won’t deny that. The truth is that when I first got into black metal the people around me proclaimed that there was nothing to be discovered other than bands like Ancient Ceremony and Mystic Circle. Needless to say, I wasn’t too interested in that rabbit hole. A bit later I found Katharsis and realized the web I had been previously spun was facetious at best. The band that truly sealed the deal for me was Lunar Aurora, the subject of today’s post.
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While flipping through CDs at a media outlet on the second floor of a half abandoned mall in a s**tty suburb of Missouri, I found a beat up copy of Lunar Aurora’s third album “Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres” from 1999. This album is just one of their many incredible works, featuring pompous yet majestic keyboards and mind numbing blasting throughout. The atmosphere is somehow equally haunting and comforting. Totally unique and unmistakably Lunar Aurora. The slower sections, if you can call them that, are just as impactful and give much needed breathing room to the listener. Though the two bands are nothing alike, I find that Lunar Aurora are much like Taake in their ability to write annoyingly memorable melodies. One spin and they’re stuck with you.
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In this post I have included a collection of photos taken for “Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres”. Scanned from the CD, Vinyl and promo packet.
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26/03/2024

• 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖉 (1985) •
To quote Paul Ledney of Profanatica - “the first death metal was black metal” and in almost no case is that more true than with Possessed’s “Seven Churches”. Call it thrash, death, black… it really doesn’t matter, the music speaks for itself and it directly inspired an entire generation of metal heads. No need to speak on what the album sounds like. To put it simply, if you don’t know Seven Churches, you don’t know s**t!
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I have included a collection of promo photos taken for the release of “Seven Churches”, circa 1985. On the last slide is an old Combat records flyers featuring Possessed, Bathory, Running Wild, and Iron Angel. One of these bands isn’t quite on the same level as the other three, at least for my taste.
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22/03/2024

• 𝕮𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖎𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝕻𝖆𝖙𝖍 (1993) •
In a case of coincidental parallel thinking, the cover art for the debut Necromantia album “Crossing the Fiery Path” is a redrawn image from a Dungeons and Dragons book, much like the B**zum debut (as well as his second album). In Necromantia’s case, their album cover was drawn by the Greek artist Panos Sounas, who also did paintings for Tatir, Diaboli and more recently Cult Of Eibon. He also painted the cover for Necromantia’s second album “Scarlet Evil Witching Black”. The original image that inspired the album cover (seen on slide one) was painted by Denis Beauvais in 1989 and was subsequently used for a multitude of Dungeons and Dragons products including the legendary Ravenloft game book, a video game and a novel. I’ve included photo examples of all these in this post.
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One interesting note about “Crossing the Fiery Path” is that in earlier interviews with the band they stated that the album would come out on Sweden’s No Fashion Records and be titled “Dominion of Fire”. For one reason or another, neither of these things came to be.
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21/03/2024

• 𝕴𝖒𝖕𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝕹𝖆𝖟𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖊 (FIN) •
I’ve been working on a new project this past few weeks (more info to come), so my listening has been a bit regionally focused, but yesterday I switched things up and pulled out one of my favorite black metal demo tapes - Impaled Nazarene’s “Taog eht fo Htao Eht” from 1991. For anyone confused by the demos title, it’s just “The Oath of the Goat” spelled backwards. This demo / era of the band was incredible. Totally blasphemic and wild. Blood, speed and anger. Of course their albums are great too, but I always go back to this demo for its thicker lo-fi production.
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In the post above I’ve included some promo and live photos from 1991 - 1993. The zine on the second slide is issue 5 of In My Veins Zine from 1992.
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29/02/2024

• 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖊𝖓 (1993) •
Back to Norway today for some early black / death metal from the forgotten band Energumen. Hailing from Hønefoss, outside of Oslo, Energumen were a demo level band that formed right before the satanic panic of Norwegian black metal reached its peak. As you can see, the cross they are holding in slides 1 & 3 were found by journalists and even featured in local newspapers (slides 2 & 4).
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Here is a quote from band member (later of Beastcraft & Vulture Lord) Sorath Northgrove about the incident: “This was behind our rehearsal place, and the journalist also found our large black crosses which we used live, and it was all linked to satanic rituals. I had a ‘zine (Obscure Epitaph Zine) released at the time with a V.V.* interview where we talked about the newly burnt Fantoft church. They linked me into knowing more about it, and everything was blown out of propotions in the local newspaper, which again led to interregation and raid at my place by the police.”
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The following slides show some rare photos of Energumen from that time period (‘91 - ‘93). Check out their “Sathanas Oratorium” demo on YouTube if you’re into raw and obscure primitive Black Death Metal.
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*As always I have censored the counts band name with V.V. to fly under Instagram’s radar.
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21/02/2024

• Negurǎ Bunget - 𝕸𝖆̆𝖎𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖚 𝖘𝖋𝖊𝖙𝖓𝖎𝖈 (2000) •
“Negura Bunget is the way a black fog comes from a deep, dark, dense transilvanian forest - and I think this pictures both the musical and spiritual atmosphere we’d like to create through our Black Metal involvement.” - Hupogrammos (2000)
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Negurǎ Bunget were a Romanian black metal band formed in the mid 90s under the name Wiccan Rede. The photos featured in this post were taken around the time of their EP “Sala Molksa” and brilliant 2nd full length album “Măiastru sfetnic”. For me, this era of Negurǎ Bunget is close to perfection - with every part of the music and presentation being fully thought out and executed with precision and grace. Musically they would come into their own on “Măiastru sfetnic”, finding a balance between the cacophonous walls of guitar and the auspicious lunar melodies. While I generally find the genre - “atmospheric black metal” - to be an unnecessary adage, I must acknowledge that Negurǎ Bunget would be one of the few bands I would consider to properly fit that title.
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If you’re unfamiliar with the early work of Negurǎ Bunget, I would recommend picking up the fantastic reissues put out by a few years ago.
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17/02/2024

• Ancient Rites, Enthroned, Avatar & Xastur - 𝕷𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖞 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗 •
Recently I posted a flyer on our IG story of a Belgian black metal show from October 28th, 1994. I was contacted by a musician named Frederic, from the 90s band Rhymes of Destruction, who told me he had some unpublished photos he took at that gig.
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The photos above are what he sent me. Gritty, scuffed and water damaged to perfection. Mementos of a great time in black metal. The order of bands shown is Ancient Rites, Enthroned, Avatar & Xastur. Lastly is the aforementioned flyer which can also be seen in the background of the live photos.
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If you’re interested in 90s Belgian black metal, I recommend watching the 1998 documentary “Black Metal”, available in full on YouTube.
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15/01/2024

MZ.412 - 𝕭𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖊𝖒𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝕲𝖔𝖉 (1996)
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In the past I’ve talked at length about the importance and influence of Swedish record label Cold Meat Industry. They were the home for a huge array of metal adjacent artists, such as Mortiis, Aghast, Arcana and today’s subject Mz.412.
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Mz.412 was formed all the way back in 1988 in Sweden, but today I want to focus on their 1996 album “Burning The Temple of God”. Musically, they were the progenitors of the black industrial subgenre, expertly implementing aspects of black metal, dark ambient, noise and early industrial to create soundscapes that are truly ungodly. If you’re a fan of black metal and have never ventured into the world of dark ambient and Industrial (or vice versa), I would highly recommend this album.
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Included above is a small collection of photos taken for the booklet of the album. Over the years I have never come across any flyers, zine interviews or early articles on Mz.412, so if you’re holding, let me know.
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Lord Kaos reissue now available

Lord Kaos - “Thorns of Impurity” reissues (2x LP, CD & CS) available now through Nuclear War Now Productions. Click the link below to purchase (vinyl is almost sold out). https://shop.nwnprod.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Lord%20kaos

Here are some clips of Ukrainian black metal band Lucifugum playing live, circa 1996. Alongside Nokturnal Mortum, Lucifugum were one of the most important Ukrainian black metal bands of the 1990s. Their 1996 demo “Path of Wolf” (fixed on later versions as “Path of the Wolf”) is an absolute classic of the Ukrainian scene. Dark, raw and honest - though Lucifugum were never bound to a signature sound, as exemplified by their 1999 debut album “Нахристихрящях (On the Sortilage of Christianity)”, an incredibly vitriolic and hateful slab of symphonic black metal. The aforementioned demo and debut album are my two recommended recordings from the band and some of my personal favorite Ukrainian black metal releases of all time. —————————————————— We are currently working on brainstorming some ideas to help raise money for the people of Ukraine. More information will be available soon. —————————————————— Slava Ukraini!🇺🇦🏆

Here is a clip of Katatonia playing the song “Brave” at the Dracma Club in Turin, Italy, circa 1996. This show was part of the tour for their second full length album “Brave Murder Day” and featured Blackheim on vocals instead of Mikael Åkerfeldt of opeth, who filled in on the recording. Blackheim was also busy with his black metal project Diabolical Masquerade at the time, having released their debut “Ravendusk in My Heart” that same year. Hearing this song from “Brave Murder Day” with a Blackheim on vocals makes wish he was on the final recording, as I prefer his more black metal vocal approach in comparison to Åkerfeldt’s growls on the album. This tour would have been great to see, not only for the aforementioned reason, but also because the opener was Norway’s In The Woods. Hail old Katatonia!🏆

Here is a clip from a recently surfaced promo video for Norwegian black / gothic metal band Shadow Dancers, circa 1995. Shadow Dancers was a band formed by Occultus of Helvete / Perdition Hearse / Ex-Mayhem along with Ragnarok members Jontho and Rym. While Ved Buens Ende are rightfully praised as the forefathers of avant-garde Norwegian black metal, Shadow Dancers should be right behind them on the timeline. While not as potent as VBE, Shadow Dancers were drawing from some of the same influences, namely Christian Death. As you can hear towards the end of this video, there was still black metal sections to juxtapose the more atmosphere driven sections. If you want to hear more, check out their 1997 album “Dying for Love”.

Here is a short interview clip with Garm of Norwegian black metal bands Ulver, Borknagar and Arcturus. Truly one of the great mind to come out of the Norwegian black metal scene, Garm’s musical output from ‘94 - ‘97 is almost unmatched in quality. Fronting 3 notable & artistically fruitful bands to multiple legendary albums, all while in his early 20s. Here is the English translation of this clip: “Garm: The church is Norway's authority number one, and to burn a church shows the Norwegian people some kind of protest. It shocks people. Interviewer: What is wrong with the church and christianity? Garm: Christianity is a weak, inconsistent, pathetic religion made for weak people. Christianity doesn't have a meaning as a word at all compared to what it once was and represented. We have to remember that christianity was a religion forced on the people of Norway and as the sons of Odin we see it as our duty to take back that which once was ours. We have chosen to adjust ourselves after the martial, proud, strong god idols our pagan ancestors had.” Wether or not he still believes this today is of no concern, as the sentiment still rings true for those able to hear it.

Here is some live footage of forgotten Nebraska black/death metal band Blackened Wisdom, circa 1993. If the guitarist/vocalist looks familiar to you, that’s because it’s Bill Taylor, who would later play in Angelcorpse, Immolation and Perdition Hearse. Blackened Wisdom would be a short lived band and only record 3 songs, which thankfully were later reissued/pressed as a 7” on Hells Headbangers. This live footage from July 8th 1993 in Omaha, Nebraska may be some of the best documentary of this band, as the recorded songs are just demo tracks and there are almost no promo photos of the band. I’d Recommend this band to any fans of Angelcorpse or Order from Chaos.

Here is a clip from a rare 1992 TV documentary about satanism in Stavanger, Norway. The full documentary is about 15 minutes and will be uploaded to the Arcane Archivist YouTube channel shortly. The bulk of the documentary is an interview with 2 minors who were supposedly responsible for the burning of the Revheim Church. I will not say who these people are, as i don’t know where they currently stand on the matter. The clip I have chosen shows them enter a cave in the hills of Stavanger, followed by an interview clip. This cave may be familiar with those knowledgeable of old Stavanger black metal promo photos. The upside down cross scratched out and painted over with a right side up cross is definitely a highlight and just generally funny. *Once the video is uploaded to our YouTube channel, I’m offering a free A.A. Zine shirt and zines to the first person to properly add English subtitles using YouTube’s subtitles program. I’ll even cover shipping* Thank you to the honorable Håvard for sending me this great clip.

Here is some very rare footage that I recently found, featuring US black metal band Nephilim (from Hutchinson, KS) practicing at their rehearsal studio circa 1997. While the video quality is poor due to low lighting, this footage shows how killer the band truly was. Thankfully @nwnproductions pulled their demos from obscurity last year and released a compilation LP along with songs from fellow Hutchinson black metal act Enkil. Their demos are hard to find at this point, so if you’re interested in hearing more from Nephilim I’d pick up that LP. Unlike the 90s European black metal scene, the US scene was very sparsely documented (though it’s understandable If you compare the general quality and quantity of releases), making this footage all the more rare and interesting in my opinion.

Here is some great footage of Norwegian black metal band Old Man’s Child performing live at Elm Street on August 23rd, 1996. The song in this video, “My Last Chapter”, comes from their debut album “Born of the Flickering” and is my favorite cut on the release. Old Man’s Child are sometimes spoken about as just a side project / supplementary band to Dimmu Borgir, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Galder, the main composer and current sole member of OMC, is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter. The first two Old Man’s Child CDs are essential Norwegian black metal in my opinion, with “Born of the Flickering” being in my top 10. This footage has existed on YouTube for years now, but the audio is about 15 seconds out of sync, so I fixed that for this post.

Anyone who’s into old black metal knows that: Obscure does not equal good. Don’t get me wrong, obscure bands can be good, but it’s definitely not a given. That being said, I still find many obscure bands to be endlessly interesting, regardless of talent level. This footage may be some of the most obscure Norwegian black metal footage. The clip features the band Astaroth performing live in Bergen, circa 1995. Astaroth were seemingly teenagers and only released one demo titled “An Epic Told to Infinity”, which has never been uploaded to the internet. The only other band they can be connected to is Mortify, another obscure mid 90s Norwegian black metal band that featured Einar Selvik of Wardruna and Gorgoroth. Obviously the vocalist was taking some influence from Varg, but musically, it’s hard pick out influences, especially from this 25 year old recording. I’ve heard promising things about their demo tape, so hopefully at some point I can get my hands on that recording and upload it to YouTube.

Here is some live footage of Darkthrone playing live in Oslo on September 28th, 1990. This show took place the very same month that the band would record their debut album “Soulside Journey” for Peaceville Records. A little less than one year after this video was taken, they would record their magnum opus “A Blaze in the Northern Sky”, which was a total departure from their earlier sound. “Soulside Journey”, although an odd fit when compared to their rest of their discography, is an interesting piece of Norwegian metal history and a solid death metal album from start to finish. Highly recommend for fans of old Autopsy tinged death metal.

Here is some footage of Ancient Rites playing “Blood of Christ” live in Belgium, circa ‘96 or ‘97. This footage comes from the documentary “Black Metal” (1998), which was shot in Belgium from ‘96 - ‘97. While there are many live black metal videos, interviews and music videos from 90s available online, none serve as such a perfect time capsule as this documentary. I’ve been fortunate enough to speak with many people who where in this documentary over the years and they all attested that the scene was killer at the time. Ancient Rites are legendary and the perfect band to be in a documentary about Belgian black metal.

Here is some live footage of US black metal forefathers Profanatica playing live in Providence, RI, circa 1992. Everyone knows Profanatica at this point; the 3 guys from Incantation that broke away to play black metal. One strange part of Profanatica’s history is that their bass player Aragon Amori (on the right in this video) also played in the New York hardcore band Sealed With A Fist, which was similar to early Biohazard, 25 Ta Life and Sick of it All. I urge those interested in hearing that band to seek out this live set on Crucial Chaos radio from 1995. Aragon would sadly pass away in 1996, though he left Profanatica in 1992. Profanatica would of course go onto become a huge and divisive name in the US black metal pantheon.

Here is a video of Setherial (SWE) performing “Diabolus enim” live at the Knaak in Berlin, circa 1997. I’m mainly posting this clip to showcase the inhuman drumming of Lord Moloch aka Lars-Otto Viklund, who I’ve talked before in regards to his other band In Battle. Setherial were absolutely killer during this era, on CD and apparently live too. Above all, they had the perfect mix of unbridled hate/aggression and classic Swedish melodicism.

Here is some killer live footage from an early Cradle of Filth show in London, circa 1992. This particular show was the final date of a monthlong tour headlined by Cannibal Corpse, although COF did not play the full tour. This footage of the band would have been around the time of the their unreleased/destroyed album “Goetia”, which was supposed to be released on Tombstone Records in 1993. Though that album never came to fruition, 1993 was still a great year for the band, they toured with Emperor and record their debut album “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh”. The rest is history, as they say. It’s interesting to hear the band at this premature stage; Before they truly found their sound.

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