On May 14, 2007, MetalKult caught the Watain/Nachtmystium show at BB King’s in New York City. After we conducted an interview with Nachtmystium singer/guitarist Blake Judd, we caught the Chicago band’s set.

Check out the following clip from that show of the black metallers tearing through “Chosen By No One,” from 2006’s Instinct: Decay.

Also, check out “My Vengeance” from that same night. (more…)

On June 16, 2007, Pig Destroyer played a show at Club Europa in Brooklyn, NY, to celebrate the release of their latest album, Phantom Limb (Relapse).

After openers Total Fucking Destruction, Car Bomb and Genghis Tron whipped the crowd into a frenzy, MetalKult aimed our cameras on the ensuing madness that occured when Virginia grindcore band Pig Destroyer—guitarist Scott Hull, vocalist J.R. Hayes, drummer Brian Harvey and sampler Blake Harrison—hit the stage. Check out the following clip of “Heathen Temple” off of Phantom Limb) from that brutal show. (more…)

Scorching the earth with their fourth full-length studio album Death Is This Communion (Relapse Records), High On Fire reaffirm, yet again, that certain blazes are meant to last. From the album’s gripping start to its epic finish, this Cali power trio—made up of guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike, drummer Des Kensel and new bassist Jeff Matz (formerly of Zeke)—never stop fanning the flames.

Opener “Fury Whip” is an instant classic and rages like the best High On Fire burners of old. Imagine if 2000’s The Art of Self Defense was crushed into one single song, only then are you approaching the furious realm of “Fury Whip.” And thanks to legendary grunge producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney), the sound mix is clear, while still staying true to High On Fire’s brutal, thrashing vision. [Check out MetalKult’s in-the-studio footage of High On Fire here.]

“Fury Whip” begins with Pike’s atmospheric octave riffing, which soon twists into a knotted line that nods to Jeff Hanneman’s notorious intro on Slayer’s “Raining Blood.” The song really unleashes when Kensel assumes a galloping rhythm while Pike and Matz lock into a beefy guitar/bass assault. The trio pummels along until Pike steps to the forefront and carves out a sloppy, murderous solo. This is supreme, brazen metal that lashes the backs of those unfortunate enough to cross its path. (more…)

The Pacific Northwestern black metal eco-terrorists Wolves In the Throne Room’s first full US tour is underway this week, in support of their new full length, Two Hunters.

WITTR will be playing with such acts as Ludicra, It’s Casual, Jesu, Witchcraft and more along the way. Check out the following dates: (more…)

On May 7, 2007, MetalKult met Celtic Frost guitarist/vocalist Thomas Gabriel Fischer and bassist Martin Eric Ain at their hotel near The Fillmore East at Irving Plaza in NYC. Frost were on the third leg of their international tour behind 2006’s brutal return to form Monotheist, this time in support of headliners Type O Negative.

After arriving at Ain’s room—and enduring a tense moment when we had to rouse the sleeping metal giant from his pre-show slumber—Fischer showed up and the two extreme metal pioneers soon warmed to our cameras and revealed the events that surrounded the creation of arguably one of extreme metal’s most influential records, 1984’s Morbid Tales.

In this four-part, 25 minute interview, Fischer and Ain talk about their formation in the cold-war Eighties, the gear they used to conjure Morbid Tales‘ “inhuman” sounds and how they inadvertently created one of the one of extreme metal’s most influential albums. (more…)