Blackgaze
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Blackgaze
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| Development phase: | Mid-2000s |
| Place of origin: | France · USA |
| Stylistic precursors | |
| Post-Rock · Black Metal · Shoegazing | |
| Pioneers | |
| Agalloch · Alcest · Amesoeurs · Wolves in the Throne Room | |
| Instruments typical of the genre | |
| Electric guitar · Electric bass · Drums · Keyboard | |
Blackgaze is a sub-genre of metal with clear influences from post-rock , shoegazing and black metal .
Stylistic classification
The music is characterized by a mixture of post-rock or shoegazing and black metal elements, which is ascribed an intensity close to post-metal through the use of volume and tempo changes . Often elements from ambient and neofolk are also integrated into the music. Melodic and polyphonic guitar walls as well as electronic effects devices and synthesizers are just as close to shoegazing and post-rock as long, quiet passages in which reverb and flanger effects are used. The performers refer to Scandinavian Black Metal, especially Burzum , in the frequent riff repetition and the atmosphere described as hypnotic, mystical and spiritual . The singing also uses the well-known features of screaming and screaming in the Scandinavian scene, but alternates this variant more often with clear singing . The pieces of music mostly dispense with the classic pop and rock structure of verse-chorus-verse change and often extend over a period that is unusual for rock music.
“The fact that the pieces sometimes level off beyond the ten minute limit supports the almost physical experience of the music. It is these excursions into the psychedelic , into post-rock, to the shoegazer that raise the albums to a new level of evolution. "
Markus "Autumn" victory Hort, a founding member of the temporary blackgaze bands Liam and Lantlôs , describes the style, however, critical as "boring" and "stagnant" genre with a simple structure: "There are always 12-minute tracks, the five-minute intro have and then there's a bit of post rock with blast beats and screams underneath. "
Hunter Hunt Hendrix from Liturgy invented the expression burst beat for this dynamic variant of drumming made up of long, quiet passages with eruptive blast beats . Liturgy, which became known in particular for this often softer mixed dynamic drumming, based the idea on the song No More Sorry by My Bloody Valentine . As in post-rock and shoegazing, guitar playing is often based on open chords, in which empty, not fingered strings are struck simultaneously with fingered strings. Herbst also names the use of dissonant drone sounds, as an essential musical element close to post-rock, which can be found among others in Lantlôs. "There are always two tones that are not consonant, for example with a seventh or ninth gap, and then other basses underneath - and the open strings."
Relationship to post black metal
The representatives of Blackgaze, together with performers such as Nachtmystium or Twilight, are also subordinated to the term Post-Black-Metal . In this interpretation, however, the term post-black metal functions as a collective term for modern developments that stylistically refer to black metal. Brad Sanders describes Post-Black-Metal as an ideal that breaks away from the ideology and the lasting meaning of Scandinavian Black Metal and makes Black Metal usable as a style element without nihilistic, misanthropic and satanic references. Herbst von Lantlôs also follows this interpretation of the term and explicitly distances itself from the synonymous use of the expression post-black-metal for the blackgaze.
"I'm totally okay with post-black metal, because it means black metal and beyond. But I hate the shoegaze / post-rock black metal being used as a synonym for post-black metal, because it isn't the same thing. "
“Post black metal is totally okay with me because it means black metal and beyond. But I hate that post black metal is used synonymously for this shoegazing / post rock black metal thing because it's not the same thing. "
ideology
The music is partly based on the style of the bands popular as the Second Wave of Black Metal , but due to the lack of satanic content, it is not received as a sub-genre of Black Metal. This distinction is often omitted in reports on the genre. The genre that emerged in the mid-2000s is occasionally assigned to the third wave of Black Metal without referring to the associated ideological roots.
The initiators of Blackgaze see themselves primarily musically in the tradition of Black Metal. The satanic and nihilistic ideology as well as many aesthetic style elements of Black Metal, such as corpsepaint , Petrus cross , rivet and cartridge belts , are largely dispensed with.
In contrast, many of the Blackgaze representatives see themselves in a metaphysical and esoteric tradition and postulate a criticism of the system directed against the urbanized society without showing a specific political direction.
"To me it is so obvious that Black Metal is a way out of the alienation and hopelessness that you feel when you are cut off from the source of life, from our planet itself."
“I think we all long for simpler times, free from the stifling constraints of modern existence. We would all like to be able to live unrestrictedly from the gifts of nature. "
With this life-affirming attitude, according to Robert Iwanetz, the Blackgaze interpreters represent “the complete reversal of the European Black Metal attitude. Sustainability instead of destruction. Live instead of dying. "
history
precursor
In their romantic , aesthetic and esoteric view of Black Metal, performers such as Wolves in the Throne Room , Alcest and Amesoeurs refer in particular to the first four releases of the Norwegian project Burzum , which is sometimes referred to as a musical forerunner.
"Burzum was undoubtedly one of the first bands to imply melancholy in their riffs , and also one of the first groups to have the listener walk through long pieces and melodies that pointed to different images."
As a seminal album for blackgaze applies also appeared in 2002 The Mantle of Agalloch that "in so unheard formal elements of black metal, neo-folk , progressive - and post-rock and ambient " combined.
Forgotten Woods , Weakling , Fleurety , Ved Buens Ende , Arcturus , Nocte Obducta and In the Woods ... are considered as further interpreters, who anticipated the idea of combining black metal and post-rock elements , their basic approach however, it was mostly avant-garde and less romantically metaphysical . Annatar from Sombres Forêts also calls these bands a “first wave” of post black metal.
In the spectrum of post-metal , a few performers such as Callisto 2004 on True Nature Unfolds or Year of No Light 2006 on Nord also used musical elements of black metal and thus anticipated post-black metal. Callisto is meanwhile an important inspiration for musicians like Fursy Teyssier from Amesoeurs and Les Discrets , and other representatives of post-metal like Isis are also called an influence by Blackgaze musicians.
Origin of the genre
The band Alcest is assigned a special meaning for the “creeping symbiosis of Shoegaze, post-rock à la Explosions In The Sky and Norwegian Black Metal”. Her EP Les Secrets , released in 2005, limited to 1000 copies “characterizes the Shoegaze sound with spacey guitar effects, vocals and moods and rhythms lingering in the background, which are normally reserved for alternative / indie rock scenes”.
From 2006 onwards, a large number of projects established the mixture of shoegazing, post-rock and black metal. That year Wolves debuted in the Throne Room with Diadem of 12 Stars and Amesoeurs with the EP Ruines Humanies . Some of the subsequent performers such as Altar of Plagues, Lantlôs or Líam referred directly to Wolves in the Throne Room or Amesoeurs. Stéphane "Neige" Paut has been involved in Lantlôs since 2010, Neige also reanimated Alcest as a solo project. Other projects such as Fen, Liturgy or Heretoir followed a similar direction within a short period of time.
The Amesoeurs guitarist Fursy Teyssier not only founded the Les Discrets project, but also stood out for the cover or booklet design for albums and EPs by Amesoeurs, Alcest, Lantlôs, Agalloch, Les Discrets, Sombres Forêts and Arctic Plateau . His work contributed to the perception of the various projects and bands as a cohesive genre.
reception
After the beginnings of the genre, interpreters of Blackgaze and Post-Black-Metal were able to establish themselves in alternative magazines such as Spin , Spex and Visions and thus opened up an audience that had previously had little contact with Black Metal. The band Deafheaven achieved, among other things, the Visions -Oppositions of the albums- (3rd place, critic) and cover ratings (1st place, critic) in 2013. In a similar period of time, parts of the German feature pages dealt with the genre and its performers. In 2007 the band Liturgy in particular was discussed in various newspapers and magazines that are not primarily musically oriented and are usually even less interested in Black Metal. Here, Sunbather by Deafheaven was named album of the year 2013 by the Süddeutsche Zeitung's website . While bands like Liturgy, Deafheaven and Wolves in the Throne Room carried the Blackgaze into the feature pages and the alternative music press, the French project Alcest is ascribed particular importance with regard to the success and spread of the genre.
"They toured half the world in 2011 and played their way into the top league of spherically dreamy gourmets who like to call the combination of Black Metal and Shoegaze 'Blackgaze' and pay homage to Alcest as if they were prophets of a new era."
In the traditional black metal scene, however, these bands are rejected, among other things, because of their orientation and their approach to a non-black metal audience:
“To be honest, I haven't seen anything anywhere that can compete with our scene in Sweden. Especially not in the USA! I spit scornfully at their feeble attempts of being 'innovative' and taking Black Metal into the living rooms of normal citizens. Fuck you!"
“To be honest, I haven't seen anything anywhere that compares to our scene in Sweden. Especially not in the USA! I spit contemptuously on their feeble attempts to be 'innovative' and bring black metal into ordinary citizens' living rooms. Fuck you all!"
Representative
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Oliver Uschmann: Alcest - Souvenir d un autre monde. Visions, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c Jan Wigger: bugged. Spiegel Online, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Cosmo Lee: amesoeurs - amesoeurs. Pitchfork.com, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Björn Springorum: Alcest . Les Voyages De L'Âme. In: Metal Hammer . Axel Springer Mediahouse Berlin GmbH, February 2012, ISSN 1614-2292 , p. 73 .
- ↑ a b Ingo Spörl: Agalloch. (No longer available online.) Legacy.de, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; Retrieved May 5, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Heiko Behr: The avant-garde is screaming. The time, accessed May 1, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Meredith Schmiedeskamp: Everything Boring? (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 21, 2014 ; Retrieved May 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Julian Brimmers: Hunter Hunt Hendrix interview. Red Bull Music Academy, accessed May 19, 2014 .
- ^ Hank Shteamer: Q&A Hunter Hunt Hendrix of Liturgy. Timeout, accessed May 19, 2014 .
- ^ Lantlôs - Lantlôs. (No longer available online.) Metal.de, formerly in the original ; accessed on May 14, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Robin Meyer: Nachtmystium - Black Meddle II. Metal Mirror, accessed on May 19, 2014 .
- ^ Andreas Krause: Twilight III Beneath tiredents Tomb. Bloodchamber, accessed May 19, 2014 .
- ↑ Brad Sanders: Untrue And International: Living In A Post Black Metal World. The Quietus, accessed May 19, 2014 .
- ↑ Chris D: Herbst Lantlôs Interview. (No longer available online.) Decibel Magazine , archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; accessed on May 14, 2014 .
- ↑ Werner Schrötter: Black Metal 3.0. the Gap, accessed May 11, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c Joachim Hiller: Black Metal from the organic farm. Ox fanzine, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ^ A b c Jonathan Jancsary: Annatar from Sombres Fortês. (No longer available online.) Metal News, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; accessed on May 1, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Dorian Gorr: Interview Lantlôs. Metal Mirror, accessed May 2, 2014 .
- ↑ Interview with Neige and Fursy about the concept of the band, their approach and about the future. (No longer available online.) Metal.de, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; accessed on May 2, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Alcest Interview. Metal1, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Meredith Schmiedeskamp: FEN - Epochal Sound. (No longer available online.) Rock Hard, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; accessed on May 1, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Robert Iwanetz: Strip off the dead skin of the cliché. Taz, accessed May 1, 2014 .
- ^ Wolves in the Throne Room. (No longer available online.) ANUS, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; Retrieved May 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Stefan Popp: Nocte Obducta - Nektar 2. Metal1, accessed on May 4, 2014 .
- ^ Mathias Frank: Callisto - True Nature Unfolds. Guest list, accessed May 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Daniel Thalheim: In death the lovers are united. Leipziger Internet Zeitung, archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; Retrieved May 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Alcest - The Blackgaze Pioneers , Noisey .
- ↑ Alcest - Les Secrets CD Review
- ↑ Linernotes Altar of Plagues: White Tomb
- ^ Deafheaven - Sunbather. Metacritic, accessed May 4, 2014 .
- ↑ 2013 album cover. Visions, accessed May 5, 2014 .
- ↑ Bernd Graff: Record Cabinet. SZ, accessed on May 4, 2014 .
- ^ Watain . Black Metal Militia. In: Slayer . No. 20 , 2010, p. 9 .
