Oh God, the whole Exercises In Futility album deserves it's own video - masterful musicianship, exquisite drum work, incredible journey from start to finish
Happy Black Metal Friday 🔥I actually did 7 tracks but got blocked on Emperor and Circle of Filth so I had to re-edit and we only have 5 bands. AWWWRIGHT!!🤙
Awww that's too bad! Loved the video but I definitely was missing Emperor. I've been heavily into black metal for almost 30 years and you seemed to get it really well. Waiting for part 2!
Definitely think you should do one dedicated to norwegian second wave black metal bands exclusively (examples: DImmu Borgir, Enslaved, Darkthrone, Satyricon, Burzum, Mayhem), but this is a great concept.
Simply amazing... one of my favorite drummers, behind Blake Richardson from BTBAM. The album is a masterpiece but the crazy part is Age of Excuses is even better
More BM and more MGLA!. Not sure if your thing or not but Futility V Drumcam really displays the talent of the drummer, especially the cymbal/bell work.
Bathory’s Blood Fire Death album is a masterpiece. Check that one out. Mgla’s Exercise in Futility is also perfect and you should check the full album out.
Thanks so much for doing Mgła (pronounced Mmm Gwa) That whole album is phenomenal and a modern black metal masterpiece! Don't worry, you didn't do anything out of order, they don't have song names; just the name of the album I, II, III, IV etc... Poland seems to be the black metal kings these days; another band you should check out if doing more black metal is fellow Poles Odraza. Their most recent album Rzeczom is incredible!
Hey Geebz, to contextualize these tracks for you a bit, venom and bathory are considered some of the pioneer black metal acts (alongside hellhammer, celtic frost, influences from other bands like mercyful fate), taking heavy metal and thrash metal and trying to expand upon it, go faster, heavier, darker Mayhem on the other hand was part of the next wave of bands that helped solidify the core sound, its mostly credited to early norwegian acts of the time like burzum, darkthrone, immortal, emperor Behemoth started as a kind of run of the mill black metal act but they evolved into what's now called blackened death metal, they could be considered one of premier examples of that subgenre, the demigod album you sampled here is where they kind of truly made the shift from black metal on the forefront to blackened death metal i feel, and continued to refine the formula with subsequent albums When it comes to Mgła, they represent modern black metal with a more melodic bent, while there are a lot of cool modern black metal projects that do interesting stuff within the genre (like imperial triumphant, akhlys, esoctrilihum), mgła keeps it closer to the core style while still sounding fresh
Great rundown man, I agree with this summary for sure. I think the most notable element of Mgła is the drumming, especially on this album he runs insane blasts and adds cymbal melodies within it. Next level
@@marsvoltian darkside is a beast on those cymbals, that exercises in futility V drum cam that was making rounds through all the reaction channels at one point is a master class of starting simple and evolving the beat as the song goes on
That was a great breakdown, seriously. Thanks for taking the time to do that. If I hadn't have read that I might have done a more ham fisted attempt but could have taken a lot longer. Anyways, props. Edit; after reading everyone's responses I'm pretty sure this must be where all the cool kids hang out.
Unrelated to the video, but I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work! Your videos feel like a really safe place to come to when life is overwhelming. Mahalo, my friend!
I'll put these bands in perspective for you, in chronological order. Venom was really just primitive thrash with lyrics and sloppy production that inspired black metal. Then Bathory came along and really started cementing the trademark sound of 2nd wave black metal with the buzz saw tremelo picked guitars and higher pitched shrieking vocals. Then Mayhem spearheaded the Norwegian scene, further taking what Bathory did and really focusing on poor production on purpose. There were murders and church burnings involved with Mayhem and this scene in the early 90s. They lived what they sang about. Behemoth is a more modern Polish band that mixes black and death metal, and does it masterfully, and MGLA, another Polish band really takes the 2nd wave style and modernizes it with much better production and makes black metal beautiful in my opinion.
Actually the first band to put everything into use was Sarcofago which is where Mayhem got there sound from the Birth of Death metal and black metal were just Thrash metal bands. you can also here it in Valcano which you can hear both Death metal and black metal. When you think of face paint, leather, bullets belts, and sound that was Sacrofago
Some things to note about the Mayhem track, and the whole of the Deathcrush record. Is that this was the first time the band was in a studio, the studio technician had no frame of reference for the genre, the band was playing. So the resulting sound is a mix of inexperience, a certain idea of what they wanted the sound to be and what limited funds they had for time in the studio.
Actually this is something that goes for a lot of the early recordings of most bands from Norway around this time. As it took a while before studios started to come around to genre, and dedicated producers got a feel for it all. "Pytten" at Grieghallen studios in Bergen, being the first producer to really work alot with Norwegian black metal bands in the early 90's.
mgła is Polish and is actually pronounced "mgwa" it means fog. I've been listening to them a lot lately cool to see you check them out. Definitely gets stuck in your head it's awesome lol.
Hats off Mr. Geebz, black metal is a tough one to crack, but once you do it is grealy rewarding. As for MGLA, I also suggest the drum cam (it is this song everyone is referring to ruclips.net/video/wcsTJ1n2jkE/видео.html), perhaps you could do studio recording first, then drum cam, but I am not sure how would that fit your format. Anyhow, very happy you decided to take this plunge and give this usually very misunderstood subgenre a chance .
So glad to see you finally diving into black metal. From a composition standpoint, I feel that you'd really dig Emperor. Especially their later works, like The Prophet from the album Prometheus, or Elegy of Icaros from IX Equilibrium. I'd also love to see you react to Wolves in the Throne Room, Blut Aus Nord, Enslaved, or Deathspell Omega.
btw. Geeb, I recommend that you listen and rate Death "The Philosopher", the band that created the music genre. And if you love bass guitar that way :) btw. RIP Chuck Schuldiner, the vocalist & guitarist, the legend. Actually Venom was playing Thrash / Black and listen to it, Bathory is one man, Quorthon (RIP in Devil) thx for 2 Polish bands 😈😈
BURZUM has amazing atmosphere and tbh the dude who wrote music for Burzum is a genius, one man band to write so much unique stuff. And Bathory... Bathory is justsomething different, another one man band. RIP Quorthon, his music sounds so 80s and 90s in the terms of mixing and sound quality. whenver i listen to his Nordic Folk Metal albums like Nordland, it takes me back to the times when i used to watch all the van damme movies, Highlander etc
The correct spelling would be Mgła (pronounced mgwa, which is Polish for fog). Their drummer is probably my favourite drummer out there. If you want to see this drumming in action you should check out the live drum cam of Exercises in Futility V at Brutal Assault 2019
You should check out emperor, one of the key bands in the Norwegian scene but with some of the bets musicianship in all of metal let alone just black metal. Amazing atmosphere with a symphonic/neoclassical touch
@@KeyOfGeebz damn, I wanted to see it :( if you ever get round to more, I suggest the song 'With Strength I Burn' or 'The Euption' the latter opens with a baroque style fugue which is cool!
Black Metal is one of my favorite genres. On a fundamental level it’s extremely simplistic but this simplicity has allowed the genre to evolve in very complicated ways. Do a review of Krallice’s second track “IIIIIIII” off of “Years Past Matter” for a Progressive and more Technical take on the genre, or Panopticon’s “Where Mountains Pierce the Sky” of off “Roads to the North” for their fusion of Folk and Bluegrass into Black Metal.
Really interesting to hear early Mayhem, Bathory, followed up by Mgla. This is basically the evolution of the black metal sound in a nutshell, from the greatest old school bands to the greatest modern bands :D I think Deathcrush was released around 87-90ish and Exercises in Futility 2015 so around 25 years apart 😀 Speaking of Mgla, if you wanna get into black metal i think they are a great example of modern black metal with good production and "catchy" riffs that still feels like 100% black metal that hasnt been commercialized or changed to be easier to listen to. I dont know the best english translation but i usually label these bands as "untamed" or even "no mercy" 😆 I saw some people recommend listening through the entire Exercises in Futility album, and even though i consider it one of the best albums ever created it can be a bit exhausting to listen to it the entire way through if you dont listen to black metal often, because of the dark heavy atmosphere. So just listen to it at your own pace and you will probably enjoy it more 😀 Other great modern bands/albums i would recommend that are dark/heavy but also has great melodic riffs, Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Shylmagoghnar - Transience, Kampfar - Urkraft (Havn't listened to alot from these guys but this song is a great example) Anyways thanks for the great video and keep being you 😃
MGLA Sounds like MMM G'WA This album is a masterpiece front to back....really need to listen to it front to back. Ironically it was a side project. Also try Bolzer - Hero As mentioned by KingTwall there are a bunch of additional bands that you may want to delve into. Satyricon - Tied in Bronze Chains is a lesser known gem from them.
MGLA is my favorite band of the last three years. I ordered "Age of Excuse" (phenomenal record) on vinyl and a shirt and it was shipped from Poland by Darkside, the drummer himself. How cool is that! Since I got into Black Metal late I gotta mention my next favorite heavy Poles, Batushka. Please give "Litourgiya" a listen friends.
Geebz! That was awesome!! I appreciate your approach in this journey of music. Your mention of authenticity is great is why i love this genre. I’ve been an engineer and producer for many years and too bad we didn’t get the full list!
Seemed like you really enjoyed Mgla. I'd definitely recommend Excersises in Futility I, which is my personal favorite. Also, like others have commented, the live drum cam video of Excersises in Futility V is absolutely crazy!
Love the songs selection. As you noticed, the one from Behemoth was actually a bit different from the others. This is because they sometimes lean more towards death metal, so they have more deep growling instead of high shrieking and their riff are more rythmic and "percussive" than the melodic tremolo-picking riffs of most black metal. I say this because I think this highlights a key difference between most black metal and the rest of metal's subgenres: death metal is (usually) harsh and brutal, doom metal is slow and heavy, black metal is dense often athmospheric and manage to insert melodies in songs while staying harsh as hell. Black metal has gone through a lot of evolution in the decades (First wave, second wave, third wave etc.) but I think those elements (raw production, dense athmospheric elements and tremolo-picked melodies) are what makes you listen at it and say "That's black metal"
Black Metal is not easy and man you went with some hard songs and I commend that. Deathcrush is definitely a cacophony of sound and that comes from the genre's hardcore punk roots. There are definitely some melodic songs in Black Metal though. Behemoth's "At the Left Hand Ov God" has a kickass drumbeat that gets my blood rushing every time and I'm sure you'll feel it too when you give it a listen.
Ye cacophony of sound is a great way to describe it lol, between the brutal recordings, the crazy vocals and overall rough punk feel. I think a good way to get into the first wave if you own a guitar is just find some tabs, crank the distortion on your amp and play some. I still remember how my opinion on early bathory and venom totally changed after i played bathory - reaper and venom - angeldust. I was like wait...wtf these riffs are so catchy and fun to play
I was a little bit disappointed to hear death crush. For me Freezing Moon is the ultimate Black Metal song, should have picked that one. Mother North (Satyricon) is also worth a mention
Nothing like starting at the beginning. Venom are formative not just to black metal, but also thrash and death metal, seeing as they predate even Metallica and Slayer, who credit them as their influences. They're also largely responsible for bringing a punk influence into the mix, which can be heard especially on these earlier Mayhem and Bathory tracks. What makes black metal such a fascinating walking contradiction though is that as much as segments of its fanbase loves to harp on about purism, it was actually quite possibly the most ecclectic and willing to experiment musical movement to come out of metal. Bands like Emperor were definetly bringing someting very unique to the table at that time and they predated and even paved the way for bands like Nightwish. ANd they did that while being about 18 on their debut album. Don't know which track you heard from them, but am definitely curious to know which period Emperor did you listen to and what did you think of it.
I like how ever other reactors have stated that they should of listened to MGLA last and you also mentioned how its good that you listened it to it last. Its almost as if every track in the album feels like an ending track.
There's so many styles of black metal out there. Bands like Schammasch, Ved Buens Ende...., Decline Of The I, ColdCell, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Drastus, Mephorash, Temple Koludra, White Ward, Panzerfaust, Iperyt, Akhlys, Khôra, Sinistral King, Thron, Solacide etc etc........
Fantastic! When you feel like trying some more new type of black, look into black gaze (mix og black metal and shoe gaze). Bit more cerebral but equally as brutal 😎
I love that you picked up a lot of the whole "ethos" of the genre just from these tracks. Production-wise you might have a harder time since barebones (sometimes downright bad) production is usually part of the theme, but emotion-wise seems you got it right away. It might be one of the most controversial fringes of the whole metal scene, and it's sometimes an ideological and political minefield, but it has birthed some really interesting artists along the way. Mgla is a great modern example, if you like a list of artists of the same recent generations to dip your toes in, I wholeheartedly recommend Alcest, Panopticon, Nechochwen, Obsequiae, Mare Cognitum, The Great Old Ones, Oranssi Pazuzu, Altar of Plagues, Woe, Wildernessking, Sun Worship, Ludicra and a lot more that I'm sadly leaving out just out of fear of actually overwhelm you. Great episode!
Yeah I think the production generally makes it harder for me to get into most black metal as well as a lot of hardcore. Honestly, the Venom track almost sounded like hardcore. Barely into the video though.
Mgła deserves deeper dive, amazing musicianship! About drummer, check Mgła - Exercises in futility V drumcam amazing video, you will see some greatness there!
Given that you were into that Behemoth track, you should check out Nile. Like that, but even faster and more aggressive. Those Whom The Good Detest or something like that...
Awesome selections. It’s always interesting to listen to older stuff and hear how thrashy it is! Great selections. As someone who loves BM, I’m in support of more of these. Maybe moving through different waves or subgenres could allow a fuller picture of BM and it’s evolution up till now!
If you want to be flabbergasted, look at a drum cam video of mgla.. They are sooo tight live! I've seen them a couple of times and it's like a wall. A fog. Mgla, (mmgwa) means fog in polish.
I highly recommend you check out Cradle of Filth. All of their stuff is great but you might be interested in any tracks from Dusk and Her Embrace, Midian, Damnation and a Day (which was recorded with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra), Hammer of the Witch’s and their last album Existence is Futile. They’re considered Extreme metal, I think because that’s the easiest way to explain them aside from symphonic gothic metal, which still doesn’t tell you everything about their style. They started as a Death Metal band, transitioned to Black Metal and then added a lot more theatrical gothic elements to it. Check them out. I think you’d be pleasantly surprised/impressed.
Hey man, I recommend you song Residual Blight by Kriegsmaschine, its Mgła's second project (to be precise those guys original project), it's very much complicated and has many layers, so it could be interesting listen
Would love to see you react to the more mellow side of black metal too, Geebz. Agalloch, Ulver, Alcest, Summoning, etc. Would be cool to see you react to the zanier side of the genre too once you get the general sound of it down, with bands such as Sigh, Jute Gyte, Krallice, Oranssi Pazuzu, etc.
You should check out some emperor too. Probably one of the best 2nd wave black metal bands. They're fantastic and really have the BLACK METAL feeling I love ❤️
Age of excuse is an awesome album. It's one of those black metal albums that I find very soothing in spite of the velocity and inherently harsh elements. The drummers(Darkside) performance is stellar as fuck. He's in another band called Kreigsmachine and very worth your time. Mgla is the polish word for "fog" and I might not be hearing it correctly the word sounds like moog-wah. Nevertheless, check out Schammasch or Deathspell Omega if you dig this more sophisticated kind of black metal. One album that kinda caught me off guard is from the states and I don't know about all the musicians but they are a Native, first nation native American band called Blackbraid. The lyrics are quite uplifting really and center around a love of nature and the music is really good. It drives forward hard when it needs to and soars along real easy at other times. I don't know how long they've been making music but this debut Lp is going to be a difficult one to beat.
You should definetely do a slow burn to Mgla, they are amazing :) Exercises 5 is their masterpiece and most popular, at least check it out. Cymbal work in that track is outer worldly.
Hey geebz! Nice job! Would be awesome if you checked out Exercises in Futility V as a stand-alone. I believe that is one of my absolute favourite tracks and probably the best of Mgła! Cheers!
I would love for you to do an analysis of something by Dark Moor. It's a Spanish neoclassical metal band. My suggestions anything from Gates of Oblivion album. By the Strange Paths of Destiny is a great one.
I can't believe I've missed this!! I was literally typing a comment on the newest video regarding Black Metal and Doom Metal I was dropping some suggestions there I hope you check them out ( I might tack them below this comment as well, or others I think of) 🤘🏼🤙🏼
My dear you should react to Bathory more, albums from blood fire death to nordland (I am addicted to black metal but finest releases are from Blood Fire Death)
Oh God, the whole Exercises In Futility album deserves it's own video - masterful musicianship, exquisite drum work, incredible journey from start to finish
That album is incredible. M writes brilliantly and Darkside crushes.
YES!!!!!!
Darkside is probably my favorite. Kriegsmaschine shows off his drumming more imo.
Happy Black Metal Friday 🔥I actually did 7 tracks but got blocked on Emperor and Circle of Filth so I had to re-edit and we only have 5 bands. AWWWRIGHT!!🤙
Right on man 🤙
Awww that's too bad! Loved the video but I definitely was missing Emperor. I've been heavily into black metal for almost 30 years and you seemed to get it really well. Waiting for part 2!
ah thats a shame about the ones you had to leave out. was a great time hanging out anyway!
😭😭😭
Pretty sure this is about CRADLE of Filth, but apart from that - shame on youtube. This should be a free ride, it's an educational program.
Definitely think you should do one dedicated to norwegian second wave black metal bands exclusively (examples: DImmu Borgir, Enslaved, Darkthrone, Satyricon, Burzum, Mayhem), but this is a great concept.
And also include Immortal and Gorgoroth
Would be great for Halloween but that would take to long now 😅
That would be awesome. Do a session for each “wave”. I suggested a few more modern bands to compare the style and production to older bands.
I agree
Emperor!
Ahh that cymbal work on mgla makes me so happy. The live drum cam of him going to town is so awesome.
Simply amazing... one of my favorite drummers, behind Blake Richardson from BTBAM.
The album is a masterpiece but the crazy part is Age of Excuses is even better
More BM and more MGLA!. Not sure if your thing or not but Futility V Drumcam really displays the talent of the drummer, especially the cymbal/bell work.
Bathory’s Blood Fire Death album is a masterpiece. Check that one out.
Mgla’s Exercise in Futility is also perfect and you should check the full album out.
Thanks so much for doing Mgła (pronounced Mmm Gwa) That whole album is phenomenal and a modern black metal masterpiece! Don't worry, you didn't do anything out of order, they don't have song names; just the name of the album I, II, III, IV etc...
Poland seems to be the black metal kings these days; another band you should check out if doing more black metal is fellow Poles Odraza. Their most recent album Rzeczom is incredible!
True. Check out Valinor from Debica. Especially an album "This is night".
Saul, I love you on your show but I think Ukraine, Russia and France are making some of the best BM out there right now... Mgla is a good intro band.
Listen to Lux Occulta from Poland: Dionysos (1997), My Guardian Anger (1999), The Mother and the Enemy (2001) - musical masterpieces.
Polish Black metal is amazing in general. Vader is fantastic. Also Kriegsmaschine (same drummer as Mgla)
If you do another black metal slow burn session you’ll have to include something from Darkthrone, Celtic Frost or Enslaved.
Darkthrone, Celtic Frost AND Enslaved. :)
Hey Geebz, to contextualize these tracks for you a bit, venom and bathory are considered some of the pioneer black metal acts (alongside hellhammer, celtic frost, influences from other bands like mercyful fate), taking heavy metal and thrash metal and trying to expand upon it, go faster, heavier, darker
Mayhem on the other hand was part of the next wave of bands that helped solidify the core sound, its mostly credited to early norwegian acts of the time like burzum, darkthrone, immortal, emperor
Behemoth started as a kind of run of the mill black metal act but they evolved into what's now called blackened death metal, they could be considered one of premier examples of that subgenre, the demigod album you sampled here is where they kind of truly made the shift from black metal on the forefront to blackened death metal i feel, and continued to refine the formula with subsequent albums
When it comes to Mgła, they represent modern black metal with a more melodic bent, while there are a lot of cool modern black metal projects that do interesting stuff within the genre (like imperial triumphant, akhlys, esoctrilihum), mgła keeps it closer to the core style while still sounding fresh
Great rundown man, I agree with this summary for sure. I think the most notable element of Mgła is the drumming, especially on this album he runs insane blasts and adds cymbal melodies within it. Next level
@@marsvoltian darkside is a beast on those cymbals, that exercises in futility V drum cam that was making rounds through all the reaction channels at one point is a master class of starting simple and evolving the beat as the song goes on
That was a great breakdown, seriously. Thanks for taking the time to do that. If I hadn't have read that I might have done a more ham fisted attempt but could have taken a lot longer. Anyways, props. Edit; after reading everyone's responses I'm pretty sure this must be where all the cool kids hang out.
Approaching my mid 40s black metal is my favorite genre by far because there is so much internal variety.
Unrelated to the video, but I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work! Your videos feel like a really safe place to come to when life is overwhelming. Mahalo, my friend!
You chose such a great song from Mgla. I would love to see more BM on your channel! Thanks!
I'll put these bands in perspective for you, in chronological order. Venom was really just primitive thrash with lyrics and sloppy production that inspired black metal. Then Bathory came along and really started cementing the trademark sound of 2nd wave black metal with the buzz saw tremelo picked guitars and higher pitched shrieking vocals. Then Mayhem spearheaded the Norwegian scene, further taking what Bathory did and really focusing on poor production on purpose. There were murders and church burnings involved with Mayhem and this scene in the early 90s. They lived what they sang about. Behemoth is a more modern Polish band that mixes black and death metal, and does it masterfully, and MGLA, another Polish band really takes the 2nd wave style and modernizes it with much better production and makes black metal beautiful in my opinion.
Agreed 👍
"they lived what they sang about" they were just edgy cringey teenagers lol.
Actually the first band to put everything into use was Sarcofago which is where Mayhem got there sound from the Birth of Death metal and black metal were just Thrash metal bands. you can also here it in Valcano which you can hear both Death metal and black metal. When you think of face paint, leather, bullets belts, and sound that was Sacrofago
@@992ras yes Sarcofago, from Brazil, was a big influence on the Norwegian sound and aesthetic.
@Dragon Ball fans can't read this dork is actually simping for a bunch of nerdy teenagers lmao.
Some things to note about the Mayhem track, and the whole of the Deathcrush record. Is that this was the first time the band was in a studio, the studio technician had no frame of reference for the genre, the band was playing. So the resulting sound is a mix of inexperience, a certain idea of what they wanted the sound to be and what limited funds they had for time in the studio.
Actually this is something that goes for a lot of the early recordings of most bands from Norway around this time. As it took a while before studios started to come around to genre, and dedicated producers got a feel for it all. "Pytten" at Grieghallen studios in Bergen, being the first producer to really work alot with Norwegian black metal bands in the early 90's.
yoooooo this is sick
mgła is Polish and is actually pronounced "mgwa" it means fog. I've been listening to them a lot lately cool to see you check them out. Definitely gets stuck in your head it's awesome lol.
Hats off Mr. Geebz, black metal is a tough one to crack, but once you do it is grealy rewarding. As for MGLA, I also suggest the drum cam (it is this song everyone is referring to ruclips.net/video/wcsTJ1n2jkE/видео.html), perhaps you could do studio recording first, then drum cam, but I am not sure how would that fit your format. Anyhow, very happy you decided to take this plunge and give this usually very misunderstood subgenre a chance .
So glad to see you finally diving into black metal. From a composition standpoint, I feel that you'd really dig Emperor. Especially their later works, like The Prophet from the album Prometheus, or Elegy of Icaros from IX Equilibrium. I'd also love to see you react to Wolves in the Throne Room, Blut Aus Nord, Enslaved, or Deathspell Omega.
btw. Geeb, I recommend that you listen and rate Death "The Philosopher", the band that created the music genre. And if you love bass guitar that way :)
btw. RIP Chuck Schuldiner, the vocalist & guitarist, the legend.
Actually Venom was playing Thrash / Black and listen to it, Bathory is one man, Quorthon (RIP in Devil)
thx for 2 Polish bands 😈😈
Thank you for doing a Black Metal one!
This ruled!
I'm still here. What a brilliant slow burn. You take care good sir
Great idea & that was a blast, well done, Geebz !
Glad you enjoyed it!
BURZUM has amazing atmosphere and tbh the dude who wrote music for Burzum is a genius, one man band to write so much unique stuff. And Bathory... Bathory is justsomething different, another one man band. RIP Quorthon, his music sounds so 80s and 90s in the terms of mixing and sound quality. whenver i listen to his Nordic Folk Metal albums like Nordland, it takes me back to the times when i used to watch all the van damme movies, Highlander etc
Still here!!
Happy BLACK METAL Friday!!
Awwwright!!🤙
Hope you do more of this, there are many more flavours of black metal I think you'd enjoy, with bands like Zeal & Ardour, Alcest, MOL, Dissection
You've barely touched the surface of black metal. I love for you to continue this!
I think you would really appreciate Ulver.
The correct spelling would be Mgła (pronounced mgwa, which is Polish for fog). Their drummer is probably my favourite drummer out there. If you want to see this drumming in action you should check out the live drum cam of Exercises in Futility V at Brutal Assault 2019
You should check out emperor, one of the key bands in the Norwegian scene but with some of the bets musicianship in all of metal let alone just black metal. Amazing atmosphere with a symphonic/neoclassical touch
I actually did an Emperor track on this show and it got blocked :(
@@KeyOfGeebz damn, I wanted to see it :( if you ever get round to more, I suggest the song 'With Strength I Burn' or 'The Euption' the latter opens with a baroque style fugue which is cool!
When i'm watching your videos i feel like i'm not alone in this world :)
Black Metal is one of my favorite genres. On a fundamental level it’s extremely simplistic but this simplicity has allowed the genre to evolve in very complicated ways.
Do a review of Krallice’s second track “IIIIIIII” off of “Years Past Matter” for a Progressive and more Technical take on the genre, or Panopticon’s “Where Mountains Pierce the Sky” of off “Roads to the North” for their fusion of Folk and Bluegrass into Black Metal.
Please do a black metal friday once a month at least! More MGLA!!! Awesome reactions thanks
So glad you did Mgla! Imo the pinnacle of black metal. Hope you will do more songs.
Try out some Dissection - Where dead angels lie or Thorns of crimson death
I'm going to have snacks ready for this tonight
7:30 he’s probably thinking, man what the hell did I get myself into 😂
Really interesting to hear early Mayhem, Bathory, followed up by Mgla. This is basically the evolution of the black metal sound in a nutshell, from the greatest old school bands to the greatest modern bands :D I think Deathcrush was released around 87-90ish and Exercises in Futility 2015 so around 25 years apart 😀
Speaking of Mgla, if you wanna get into black metal i think they are a great example of modern black metal with good production and "catchy" riffs that still feels like 100% black metal that hasnt been commercialized or changed to be easier to listen to. I dont know the best english translation but i usually label these bands as "untamed" or even "no mercy" 😆
I saw some people recommend listening through the entire Exercises in Futility album, and even though i consider it one of the best albums ever created it can be a bit exhausting to listen to it the entire way through if you dont listen to black metal often, because of the dark heavy atmosphere.
So just listen to it at your own pace and you will probably enjoy it more 😀
Other great modern bands/albums i would recommend that are dark/heavy but also has great melodic riffs, Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane, Der Weg Einer Freiheit,
Shylmagoghnar - Transience, Kampfar - Urkraft (Havn't listened to alot from these guys but this song is a great example)
Anyways thanks for the great video and keep being you 😃
MGLA Sounds like MMM G'WA
This album is a masterpiece front to back....really need to listen to it front to back.
Ironically it was a side project.
Also try Bolzer - Hero
As mentioned by KingTwall there are a bunch of additional bands that you may want to delve into.
Satyricon - Tied in Bronze Chains is a lesser known gem from them.
MGLA is my favorite band of the last three years. I ordered "Age of Excuse" (phenomenal record) on vinyl and a shirt and it was shipped from Poland by Darkside, the drummer himself. How cool is that! Since I got into Black Metal late I gotta mention my next favorite heavy Poles, Batushka. Please give "Litourgiya" a listen friends.
You really should have done some dissection! Beautiful compositions and melodies
mgla is my current fave, happy to see a reaction for them!!
I'm still here!
yeah that tremolo picked melody in the Mgła song stood out for me too.
Geebz! That was awesome!! I appreciate your approach in this journey of music. Your mention of authenticity is great is why i love this genre. I’ve been an engineer and producer for many years and too bad we didn’t get the full list!
Seemed like you really enjoyed Mgla. I'd definitely recommend Excersises in Futility I, which is my personal favorite. Also, like others have commented, the live drum cam video of Excersises in Futility V is absolutely crazy!
Love the songs selection.
As you noticed, the one from Behemoth was actually a bit different from the others.
This is because they sometimes lean more towards death metal, so they have more deep growling instead of high shrieking and their riff are more rythmic and "percussive" than the melodic tremolo-picking riffs of most black metal.
I say this because I think this highlights a key difference between most black metal and the rest of metal's subgenres: death metal is (usually) harsh and brutal, doom metal is slow and heavy, black metal is dense often athmospheric and manage to insert melodies in songs while staying harsh as hell.
Black metal has gone through a lot of evolution in the decades (First wave, second wave, third wave etc.) but I think those elements (raw production, dense athmospheric elements and tremolo-picked melodies) are what makes you listen at it and say "That's black metal"
Still here at the end! This was great, looking foward to Black Metal Special Part 2!
Black Metal is not easy and man you went with some hard songs and I commend that. Deathcrush is definitely a cacophony of sound and that comes from the genre's hardcore punk roots. There are definitely some melodic songs in Black Metal though. Behemoth's "At the Left Hand Ov God" has a kickass drumbeat that gets my blood rushing every time and I'm sure you'll feel it too when you give it a listen.
Ye cacophony of sound is a great way to describe it lol, between the brutal recordings, the crazy vocals and overall rough punk feel. I think a good way to get into the first wave if you own a guitar is just find some tabs, crank the distortion on your amp and play some. I still remember how my opinion on early bathory and venom totally changed after i played bathory - reaper and venom - angeldust. I was like wait...wtf these riffs are so catchy and fun to play
I was a little bit disappointed to hear death crush. For me Freezing Moon is the ultimate Black Metal song, should have picked that one. Mother North (Satyricon) is also worth a mention
Nothing like starting at the beginning. Venom are formative not just to black metal, but also thrash and death metal, seeing as they predate even Metallica and Slayer, who credit them as their influences. They're also largely responsible for bringing a punk influence into the mix, which can be heard especially on these earlier Mayhem and Bathory tracks. What makes black metal such a fascinating walking contradiction though is that as much as segments of its fanbase loves to harp on about purism, it was actually quite possibly the most ecclectic and willing to experiment musical movement to come out of metal. Bands like Emperor were definetly bringing someting very unique to the table at that time and they predated and even paved the way for bands like Nightwish. ANd they did that while being about 18 on their debut album. Don't know which track you heard from them, but am definitely curious to know which period Emperor did you listen to and what did you think of it.
Clicked here just for mgla. Phenomenal band
I like how ever other reactors have stated that they should of listened to MGLA last and you also mentioned how its good that you listened it to it last.
Its almost as if every track in the album feels like an ending track.
You nailed it when you said " heaviness is not pure" that's how Black Metal should be and most rock and roll in my opinion.🤘
There's so many styles of black metal out there. Bands like Schammasch, Ved Buens Ende...., Decline Of The I, ColdCell, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Drastus, Mephorash, Temple Koludra, White Ward, Panzerfaust, Iperyt, Akhlys, Khôra, Sinistral King, Thron, Solacide etc etc........
I hope this becomes a regular thing!!
Fantastic! When you feel like trying some more new type of black, look into black gaze (mix og black metal and shoe gaze). Bit more cerebral but equally as brutal 😎
Any Alcest track would do, but Là Où Naissent Les Coleurs Nouvelles is a personal favorite.
I love that you picked up a lot of the whole "ethos" of the genre just from these tracks. Production-wise you might have a harder time since barebones (sometimes downright bad) production is usually part of the theme, but emotion-wise seems you got it right away. It might be one of the most controversial fringes of the whole metal scene, and it's sometimes an ideological and political minefield, but it has birthed some really interesting artists along the way. Mgla is a great modern example, if you like a list of artists of the same recent generations to dip your toes in, I wholeheartedly recommend Alcest, Panopticon, Nechochwen, Obsequiae, Mare Cognitum, The Great Old Ones, Oranssi Pazuzu, Altar of Plagues, Woe, Wildernessking, Sun Worship, Ludicra and a lot more that I'm sadly leaving out just out of fear of actually overwhelm you. Great episode!
Yeah I think the production generally makes it harder for me to get into most black metal as well as a lot of hardcore. Honestly, the Venom track almost sounded like hardcore. Barely into the video though.
i'd expect black metal to sound a bit colder than most of this. i'm not really deeply into it though, I just miss something like it during winters.
Yay, Geebs 😀! Keep on roc- umm... _blacking!_ 🤘🤘🤘
Mgła deserves deeper dive, amazing musicianship! About drummer, check Mgła - Exercises in futility V drumcam amazing video, you will see some greatness there!
Now this is a slow burn I'm really excited for. This is gonna be good!
you should definitely look into Sadness, very atmospheric post-black metal I think you'd appreciate
Given that you were into that Behemoth track, you should check out Nile. Like that, but even faster and more aggressive. Those Whom The Good Detest or something like that...
"mgla" is polish for "fog" - great live as I have been fortunate enough to see them
Great one Geebz!
Wishing you did some Darkthrone, Immortal, Marduk. Another BM slow burn perhaps!
Please react to “sunbather” by deafheaven! They combine black metal with elements of shoegaze and post rock.
I am a fan of Immortal and especially Abbath
Reminds me of my early teens and hearing about the church burnings and the murders.
Awesome selections. It’s always interesting to listen to older stuff and hear how thrashy it is! Great selections. As someone who loves BM, I’m in support of more of these. Maybe moving through different waves or subgenres could allow a fuller picture of BM and it’s evolution up till now!
If you want to be flabbergasted, look at a drum cam video of mgla.. They are sooo tight live! I've seen them a couple of times and it's like a wall. A fog. Mgla, (mmgwa) means fog in polish.
Awesome!
I recommend you exercises in futility II by mgla, its my favourite song from that album
I highly recommend you check out Cradle of Filth. All of their stuff is great but you might be interested in any tracks from Dusk and Her Embrace, Midian, Damnation and a Day (which was recorded with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra), Hammer of the Witch’s and their last album Existence is Futile.
They’re considered Extreme metal, I think because that’s the easiest way to explain them aside from symphonic gothic metal, which still doesn’t tell you everything about their style.
They started as a Death Metal band, transitioned to Black Metal and then added a lot more theatrical gothic elements to it.
Check them out. I think you’d be pleasantly surprised/impressed.
You should totally check out the song “De feu et d’acier” by VÉHÉMENCE. One the best modern melodic BM bands, IMO.
If you want a really great documentary on the Norwegian black metal scene i really recommend Helvete. Lots of interviews with the OG's
Mgła is an absolutely exceptional band. It's trendy to call them overrated now, but their attention to detail is masterful.
So happy you did mgla, if you really want to see their drummer shine you need to check out exercises in futility v
Hey man, I recommend you song Residual Blight by Kriegsmaschine, its Mgła's second project (to be precise those guys original project), it's very much complicated and has many layers, so it could be interesting listen
Another random track to add to the list is "Burzum - Key to the Gate" if you're looking for something interesting.
Black metal friday would mean cybergrind monday, right? Right?
Hmm... A reaction to Libido Airbag would be interesting to see.
The Berzerker would be the most notable choice. But I would love to see some Gigantic Brain and Ozigiri (Japan)
Would love to see you react to the more mellow side of black metal too, Geebz. Agalloch, Ulver, Alcest, Summoning, etc. Would be cool to see you react to the zanier side of the genre too once you get the general sound of it down, with bands such as Sigh, Jute Gyte, Krallice, Oranssi Pazuzu, etc.
Still here!
Be all, and you'll be the end all...
One song you absolutely MUST do is Neka Morgondagen by Shining. Amazing song.
Would love a slow burn of just MGLA🤘🏻
MGLA is my favorite band.
Behemoth is more like blackened death metal at that album, not black metal.
But it's one of the best, if not the best.
You should check out some emperor too. Probably one of the best 2nd wave black metal bands. They're fantastic and really have the BLACK METAL feeling I love ❤️
Black Metal and Egg Nog... that could be a thing 👍 I hear alot of Motorhead in Venom.
Im not a huge BM fan myself, but i appreciate you checking out the more "extreme" side of metal
Age of excuse is an awesome album. It's one of those black metal albums that I find very soothing in spite of the velocity and inherently harsh elements. The drummers(Darkside) performance is stellar as fuck. He's in another band called Kreigsmachine and very worth your time. Mgla is the polish word for "fog" and I might not be hearing it correctly the word sounds like moog-wah. Nevertheless, check out Schammasch or Deathspell Omega if you dig this more sophisticated kind of black metal. One album that kinda caught me off guard is from the states and I don't know about all the musicians but they are a Native, first nation native American band called Blackbraid. The lyrics are quite uplifting really and center around a love of nature and the music is really good. It drives forward hard when it needs to and soars along real easy at other times. I don't know how long they've been making music but this debut Lp is going to be a difficult one to beat.
Let's get our black metal face on. 6am. Lol. Let's GO 😂🤘
You should definetely do a slow burn to Mgla, they are amazing :) Exercises 5 is their masterpiece and most popular, at least check it out. Cymbal work in that track is outer worldly.
why arent you wearing the corpsepaint?! :O
As you certainly already figured out, it's Behemoth, not Bohemeth.
Not a problem though. Everybody knows that is meant.
Thanks for the great work man!
My bad, thank you - fixed :)
Hey geebz! Nice job! Would be awesome if you checked out Exercises in Futility V as a stand-alone. I believe that is one of my absolute favourite tracks and probably the best of Mgła! Cheers!
Ya, you really gotta check out MGLA
I would love for you to do an analysis of something by Dark Moor. It's a Spanish neoclassical metal band. My suggestions anything from Gates of Oblivion album. By the Strange Paths of Destiny is a great one.
I can't believe I've missed this!! I was literally typing a comment on the newest video regarding Black Metal and Doom Metal I was dropping some suggestions there I hope you check them out ( I might tack them below this comment as well, or others I think of) 🤘🏼🤙🏼
BAND-MAID just release a new video for the song "from now on", which is an instrumental.
My dear you should react to Bathory more, albums from blood fire death to nordland (I am addicted to black metal but finest releases are from Blood Fire Death)
to quote Mindless Self Indulgence:
"The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble
I like my coffee black just like my metal"
He should give MSI a listen and quick breakdown.