Concert Review: Mayhem (f/Black Anvil & Immolation) at The Ready Room 11/10/17

This concert started about thirty years ago in Oslo, Norway.

In those days, Black Metal wasn't a common term. In fact, it hadn't yet reached the mainstream vocabulary on these shores.

At that time, this guy here, was just getting his feet wet with Metallica and that would lead to Morbid Angel and Deicide... 

As said before, folks have been calling me Satanic since the age of eight and based on the pentagrams on my clothing...looking back I see why they said that.

Black Metal now...is a term in the American vernacular. Though, not unlike the vast majority who throw up the devil horns, most people really don't know what it is. 

Full Art Concert Review : Mayhem at Metro Chicago January 23, 2017 Art: Matt Bryan Words: Danny Nichols

Concert Review: Black Anvil, Inquisition and Mayhem at Metro in Chicago, January 23, 2017- photos and words by Danny Nichols

It was an epic night of black metal at Metro Chicago in the city's north side.

Black Anvil's Jeremy Sosville, Paul Delaney and Raeph Glicken

The bill started with New York's Black Anvil.  They stormed the stage like a biker gang from hell with their menacing presence, militaristic leather and ubiquitous tattoos.  Their sound reminded me of Children of Bodom, with vocals being mostly of the harsh traditional black metal variety with occasional interludes of clean vocals and discernible lyrics.

Album Review: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive by Mayhem

Perhaps more so than any other album in any other sub-genre of music, Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is the quintessential album of black metal. You cannot be a fan of black metal and not own this album.  

I would even recommend any fan of metal in general obtain it, since it is entirely definitive of the notorious and still relevant black metal scene.  It is the bible of the genre, often imitated, never duplicated.  It may or may not be the best black metal album, but it is almost inarguably of great significance.  

It included most elements of the sounds which came before it and inexorably influenced all which came after.

It is an album famous almost as much for its creation as its content. Although work on the album began as early as 1987, the release was delayed until 1994 due to several headline grabbing events.  

To Hell and Back: A Trip to the World's Most Diabolical Record Store -by Danny Nichols

The Gates of Hell- Neseblod Record Store

There may not be a location in the world which is as singularly important to a genre of music as Helvete Records in Oslo, Norway was to black metal.  Maybe not so much to the sound itself, but definitely to the establishment of the cult following it achieved in the early 90s, and which persists until this day.  Black metal is the most extreme form of music, with guitar riffs so fast they morph into an ambient noise, blast beats on drums so intense they sound like a Gatling gun and vocals comprised of demonic grows, screams and yelps.  The black metal aesthetic, at least in the early days, included musicians in corpse paint, stages decorated with  pentagrams and an overt fascination with the occult.

Heavy Metal Everywhere 

If you are reading this, you probably already know what black metal is and how it became an musical phenomena based out of Norway in the early 90s.  Although black metal did not originate in Norway, its creed, sound and direction were largely codified there, with much credit due to a man named Euronymous and his band Mayhem.  The movement garnered worldwide attention when members of Mayhem and their followers began the nefarious practice of burning down churches throughout Norway.  Partially to create a headquarters for the proliferation of this cult,  Euronymous opened a record store on Schweigaards Gate in east Oslo.  He named this store “Helvete”, the Norwegian word for “Hell”.