Black Metal’s earliest roots can be traced back to the Thrash/Speed Metal eighties band Venom. Venom considered themselves as only a musical version of horror movie films, they, like Slayer and later “Death Metal,” used a lot of satanic imagery, but unlike “Death Metal” Venom used constantly evil lyrics and sounds, they even invented the name for the style in their song/album entitled of course “Black Metal.” But Black Metal was not through in it’s creation, it reached it’s characteristic style in a very unlikely country, Norway. The Late Euronymus of the under-appreciated, band Mayhem came up with an idea for what came to be known as “True Primitive Norwegian Black Metal,” a totally nihilistic, satanic/pagan, style of “Death Metal.” He felt that "Death Metal" bands had become trendy and had lost it's roots and the scene had truly died, he called thes bands that were not obsessed with death and hate (he mentioned the band Therion quite a bit)"Life Bands." His influence was felt through out the small Norwegian “Death Metal” scene, transforming bands such as DarkThrone (then known as Black Death) to primitive black metal. Some of the originators of the Black Metal sound are Mayhem, Bathory, DarkThrone, Emperor, Immortal, etc. Black Metal had come from thrash/speed metal to Black Metal. Primitive Black Metal was extremely dark, atmospheric, ugly, and usually badly produced garage-band quality recordings. In the early nineties Black Metal reached it’s lowest or highest point depending on the way you look at it, their were several church burnings, murders, and racism was appearing on the scene. Christian Vikerness a.k.a. Varg Vikerness a.k.a. Count Grishnak ex-bassist for Mayhem now Burzum became the most infamous figure in Black Metal, who was involved in the church burnings, murders (he murdered Euronymus), and pro-nazism. Many people within the scene now and did dispise Varg, he came to hate the Black Metal scene and now spends his time in a prison cell in Norway writing “Aryan” folk music on his keyboard for his one man band Burzum. But Black Metal did not fall! It began to evolve from primitive to melodic, gothic, atmospheric black metal, and is now characterized by such bands as Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Agathodaimon, Hecate Enthroned, etc. It is now known for it’s dramatic at times operatic or harsh vocals, beautiful synth music, complex guitar riffs, and lightning fast drumming… a long way from the ugly three-chord garage style recording of DarkThrone, and Emperor. One thing the scene still retains is the atmosphere, the supreme satanic evil, and it’s ties with “Death Metal.”
