Mutilated Tyrant - Ho'dichiih Dóó' Sáji'

 

Artist: Mutilated Tyrant

Album: Ho'dichiih Dóó' Sáji'

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2020

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Mutilated Tyrant are a black metal trio from Ganado, Arizona, which is on the Navajo Nation Reservation. This is their second release and first EP. While their first demo, Dark Sign of the Baphomet, was more death metal influenced and steeped in metal cliches of satanism and blasphemy, this EP sees the band honing in a more purely black metal sound, definitely inspired by the second wave Norwegian scene. As the EP's title would suggest, this release also focuses more on the band's Navjo/Diné roots. The title translates to "Birth to Old". 

The EP begins with the sound of crows cawing over a sinister synth loop and the beating of war drums, setting the attitude for the journey ahead. The band wastes no time after the intro, with "Under the Cold Dark Moon" starting immediately with an assault of tremolo picked chords and blasting drums. The music evokes the feeling of a nightside journey under the full moon on horseback through the vast deserts that the Navajo call home. The band does an excellent job of breathing new life into the cold and bleak sounds that the Norwegians innovated, without sounding like a lazy copy cat. There is a mystical nature to these songs, that would fit nicely as soundtrack to a nocturnal ceremony around a large fire. The band mentions that these four songs are going to be part of a full-length album due some time in the near future, and I look forward to when that day comes. 

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Zurg - Decolonizing Black Metal

 Artist: Zurg 

Album: Decolonizing Black Metal 

Label: Self-Released 

Year: 2020

 Country: USA 

Genre: Raw Black Metal

Zurg are a three piece black metal band from Arizona. This is their debut demo. Inspired by the members collective Apache, Pima, and Zapotec ancestry, they create raw black metal teeming with ancestral rage. The tape begins with the sounds of war as it would sound in the 1800s, with muskets blaring, horses galloping, and bugle fanfares before a the beat of a war drum begins and the first riff enters. With the tone set, the band delve into a old school black metal march. Following the first track we get more aggressive cuts like "Paleface" and "Ancestral Terror" which sound like the band are out for colonizer blood. This is a strong beginning for this band and I look forward to what their future holds

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Jeksolok - Jetaksor

 

Artist: Jeksolok 

Album: Jetaksor 

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2019 

Country: Chile 

Genre: Post-Black Metal

Jeksolok are a one-man post-black metal band from Punta Arenas in the southern tip of Chile. This is their debut EP. The EP starts with a melancholic guitar intro before soaring into the first track, "Saltaxar" a beautiful song that balances lush atmosphere and piercing catharsis of bands like Woods of Desolation and Cold Body Radiation. The following song "C'ek'eslak" has a much colder and more brooding atmosphere, capturing the feeling of the cold and rigid terrain of the band's southern homelands. A beautiful and dreamy instrumental track "Os Jeterhana" precedes the title track, an anthemic conclusion teeming with pride and glory. 

Thematically, the band takes inspiration from the mythology and cosmology of the Kawésqar indigenous people of the Chilean Patagonia.  It is believed that their history in the region extends over six-thousands years! Unfortunately like many indigenous cultures, the culture and language of the Kawésqar is being practiced by fewer people as time passes. Jeksolok's music is powerful not only by its own right but also because it is preserving part of an ancient culture. 

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Arani - Raoni... Armados na honra, guerreiros da terra!

Artist: Arani 

Album: Raoni... Armados na horna, guereiros da terra! 

Label: Barleycorn Produções

Year: 2016 

Country: Brazil 

Genre: Pagan Black Metal

Arani are a one-woman pagan black metal band from Natal, Rio De Grande de Norte, Brazil. This is their debut demo. Their name translates roughly to "furious time" in the Tupi-Guarani language. Based on the demo's subtitle, which translates to "Armed in honor, warriors of the land!", I'm guessing the main title Raoni is a reference to Raoni Metuktire, a famous environmentalist and chief of the Kayapo people, native to regions now know as Pará and Mato Grosso in Brazil.

The demo begins with the sound of birds chirping before a mystical synth melody is introduced, later joined by acoustic guitar plucking and chanted vocals, setting the atmosphere for this journey through the Amazon. Musically the band takes influence from the pagan strain of black metal, with mid-tempo melodic riffing of a valiant nature, chanted vocals, and heavy use of synthesizer being the stand-out characteristics of their sound. Arani goes the extra mile to immerse the listener into a heroic journey forests of the Amazon, from the hooting of owls sampled throughout the track "Reína", the panflute used on "Ataendy Aíba", and the galloping of horses sampled on "Antes Do Fim". Overall this is an excellent pagan black metal demo, and I hope we hear more material from Arani in the future.  

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Eltun - 1553

Artist: Eltun 

Album: 1553

 Label: Self-Released

Year: 2016 

Country: Chile 

Genre: Black Metal

Eltun are a pagan/black metal band from Santiago, Chile. The band take their name for the word "cemetery" in the Mapudungun, the indigenous language of the Mapuche people, native to the southern region of Chile. 1553 is their sophomore release. The EP is inspired by the first wave of the Arauco War, where the warriors Caupolicán and Lautaro led the Mapuche to victory against Spanish colonizer Pedro de Valdivia. Sonically, the band takes inspiration from Scandinavian bands, adapting the classic cold sounds of the north to the frigid winters of the Andes Mountains. Songs like "Bajan Con Antorchas" also incorporates the trompe, a traditional Mapuche jaw harp. This is music that is battle ready and aims for glory, with the band incapsulating the valiant spirit of their Mapuche ancestors and delivering power pagan black metal marching towards victory.

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Dispossessed - Warpath Never Ended

Artist: Dispossessed 

Album: Warpath Never Ended

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2019

Country: Australia 

Genre: War Metal

Dispossessed are a black metal band from Sydney, Australia. This is their sophomore album. The band features members that are from Dharug aboriginal nations, and are unapologetically black and indigenous and at war with so called "Australia" and colonizers worldwide. This new record serves as a war cry, and is absolutely blood thirsty. The listener is bombarded with furious and violent barrages of grinding black metal that is seething with contempt for colonization and the havoc it wreaks to this very day. In a genre rife with meatheads and mediocrity, Dispossesed carve for themselves war metal with a fiery passion and intent that is stronger declaration of power and hate than any goat worshipping losers could ever muster. FIRE TO THE COLONY!

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Illapa - Deshonestos Y Hechiceros

Artist: Illapa

Album: Deshonestos Y Hechiceros 

Label: From The Andes Prod.

Year: 1996

Country: Peru

Genre: Black Metal

Illapa are a black metal band from based out of Lima, Peru. They formed in 1993, and briefly went under the name Funeral Mist before changing their name. This is their debut album. The album features violent and evil black metal with a lot of interesting keyboard work. Though most of the album is standard blasphemic black metal fanfare, the first two songs lyrically focus on mythology of their Inca ancestors. The album cover also features two hechiceros, the name of brujos from the Andes region. 

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Xolotl - Xolotl

Artist: Xolotl 

Album: Xoltol 

Label: American Line Productions

Year: 2009 

Country: USA 

Genre: Black Metal

Xolotl were a pre-hispanic black metal band based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. They share members with Yaotl Mictlan, and released this one self-titled album. The band takes their name of the sinister Aztec god of lightning and death, and lyrically draw from stories in both Aztec and Mayan mythology. Musically, Xolotl obvious carries some similarities to their sister band, but opt for shorter, more violent tracks than the long-form atmospheric black metal of Yaotl Mictlan. In addition the band incorporates many traditional indigenous flutes, whistles, and percussion into their music that adds a layer of mystique and transports you to the temples of Tenochtitlan. 

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Sangre Y Tierra - Cuando Los Blancos Vienen

Artist: Sangre Y Tierra

Album: Cuando Los Blancos Vienen

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2009

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Sangre Y Tierra was a one man raw depressive black metal act from Holyoke, Massachusetts. This is their debut EP. In addition to themes of self-hatred and depression, Sangre Y Tierra write songs about Puerto Rican and Taino history and ancestral pride. On their debut offering, Sangre Y Tierra create a short but power statement of hatred and loathing. The record starts with a mid-pace dirge seething with venom and a pain that is palpable in the vocal performance. Right after "Pegado A Mierda" unleashes a belligerent torrent of contempt, only with things to slowly crash and fade into oblivion on the final track. A formidable initial offering from this Taino DSBM act. 

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Ahpuch Oztoc - Nemiliztli In Coatl

Arist: Ahpuch Oztoc

Album - Nemiliztli In Coatl

Label: Eternal Producciones XOCOC

Year: 2006

Country: Mexico

Genre: Black Metal

Ahpuch Oztoc are black metal band from Culiacán, Sinaloa. Their name roughly translate to "In the cave of Ah Puch", Ah Puch being one of the Mayan death gods found in Xibalba. The album title translates roughly to "The Way Of The Serpent" in Nahuatl and all the band's lyrics are also written in Nahuatl. In addition to pre-hispanic themes and a veneration for their ancestors, the band also fits under the banner of RABM, with lyrics in support for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Musically, this is old school black metal filled with ice cold, hateful riffing that will make you want to behead capitalists with a macuahuitl. 

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Kaanek - Tucur

Artist: Kaanek
Album: Tucur
Label: Self-Released
Year: 2017
Country: Guatemala
Genre: Black Metal

Kaanek are a raw black metal band from Sololá, Guatemala. The band makes raw black metal inspired by the traditions and oral history of their Kiche Mayan ancestors. Tucur is the Kiche translation for owls, which are symbols of death and the night. Kaanek display their power with two triumphant tracks, with melodic mid-tempo riffing reminiscent of early Greek black metal. In addition to the indigenous themes, the band links to a handbook on how to fight fascism on their bandcamp page. We need more openly indigenous and anti-fascist black metal worldwide!

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Tiyug - Hymns To Anhangá

Artist: Tiyug

Album: Hymns To Anhangá

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2017

Country: Brazil

Genre: Black Metal

Tiyug is a one man atmospheric black metal from Vitoria De Conquista, Brazil. The band's name is "rotten liquid" in Tupi Guarani. This is the band's second record, with lyrical themes centered around Anhangá, a spirit in Tupi mythology that is a protector of animals. Tiyug's brand of black metal sounds really celestial and gorgeous, despite the obvious DSBM influence in the guitar leads. Each song sounds like a journey floating through a spirit forest. 

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Yaotl Mictlan - Guerreros De La Tierra De Los Muertos

Artist: Yaotl Mictlan

Album: Guerreros De La Tierra De Los Muertos

Label: American Line Productions
Year: 2006
Country: Mexico
Genre: Black Metal

Yaotl Mictlan are a black metal band originally from Mexico, but now based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The band's name roughly translates to "warriors from the land of the dead" in English, which is also. Guerreros De La Tierra De Los Muertos mtheir debut album, a Spanish translation of the same phrase. Throughout the hour long listen, Yaotl Mictlan conjure fierce black metal that invokes the fires of Mictlan, the Aztec underworld. The band writes war hymns dedicated to indigenous history and liberation.

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Morbithory - Unholy Fucking Diné Black Metal Hell

Artist: Morbithory

Album: Unholy Fucking Diné Black Metal Hell

Label: Death Portal Studio

Year: 2013

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Morbithory are a Diné black metal band from Many Farms, Arizona. Their debut offering couldn't possibly have a more apt name. Morbithory waste no time unleashing black metal hell on the listener, with furious and blazing black metal assaults that reek of blasphemy and misanthropy. Across three hellish hymns they spread their hate, with lyrics that are against Christianity, against man, and for total destruction. 

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Hacavitz - Venganza

Band: Hacavitz

Album: Venganza

Label: Moribund Records

Year: 2005

Country: Mexico

Genre: Black Metal

Hacavitz are a black metal trio out of the state of Querétaro, Mexico. Their debut album is a savage display of dark and unforgiving black/death metal influenced with lyrics focusing on death, anti-christianity, and pre-hispanic mythology of Mexico. This album contains lyrics in English, Spanish, Nahuatl, and P'urépecha. The album cover is a painting by Mexican artist Francisco Moreno Capdevila, titled "The Conquest and Destruction of Tenochtitlan". That paired with an album title that translates to vengeance, it is clear the path that Hacavitz are taking with this initial statement.

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Horned Warrior - Horned Warrior

Band: Horned Warrior

Album: Horned Warrior

Label: Death Portal Studio

Year: 2013

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Horned Warrior is a one-man Diné black metal band from Shiprock, New Mexico. Sole member Hellheart crafts an eclectic mix of black metal on this debut demo, from raw and raging tracks, to songs that channel more DSBM vibes, as well as some haunting synth tracks. The album is rife with contempt for life and a searing hatred for Christianity. Just as black metal should be.

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Aanishinabe - 500 Year Massacre

Band: Aanishinabe 

Album: 500 Year Massacre

Label: Self-Released

Year: 2012

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Aanishinabe are a rather nebulous black metal entity from the USA. The band takes their name from the Anishinaabe peoples, who historically lived in the American states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma and the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. There is close to no information available about the band, with the only source being a youtube video with a link to download the demo from mediafire. The demo is four tracks, with two displaying some incredibly raw and primitive black metal, and the other two being synth interludes. Although a bit under developed, this demo stands as a unique piece of raw indigenous black metal. 

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Kuxan Suum - Kuxan Suum

Artist: Kuxan Suum 

Album: Kuxan Suum

Label: Crepusculo Negro

Year: 2012

Country: USA

Genre: Black Metal

Kuxan Suum are an entity of the Black Twilight Circle. This release is a compilation, comprising of Kuxan Suum's debut offering "Kinich Ahua", as well as their contribution to the Odour of Rot and Dust compilation, "Principle of Harmonic Resonance" released by Rhinocervs. The band embrace Mayan mythology and astrology, perfectly embodying the vastness of the cosmos with their sharp and droning psychedelic black metal. 

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Axeman - Arrive

Artist: Axeman

Album: Arrive

Label: Crepuscolo Negro

Year: 2010

Country: USA

Genre:  Metal/Crust

Axeman are an entity of the Black Twilight Circle. Another solo project from group leader Volahn, Axeman's debut demo is a glimpse into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. Taking inspiration from Amebix and 80's Brazilian black metal, Arrive is a violent display of total 80's metal perfection. From the frenzied riffs, kosmic atmosphere, and whirlwind shredding solos, this debut shows incredible promise. Hopefully a proper full-length is on the horizon, as this is Axeman's only proper release to date.

Worship Black Twilight

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Xibalba Itzaes - In Lucescitae Tristis Hiei

Artist: Xibalba Itazes

Album: In Lucescitae

Label: Self-Released

Year: 1992

Country: Mexico

Genre: Black Metal

Xibalba Itazes are black metal band based out of Mexico City. Xibalba are the first black metal band to incorporate Ancient Mexican imagery and narratives to their music. Their name is adopted from the name of underworld in Kiche Mayan mythology. This debut demo is 1st wave black metal perfection, complete with primitive and blood-hungry riffing and Mayan inspired blasphemies screamed in Latin. This is mandatory listening.

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