Texas Black Metal

An ugly sound has been emanating from the hot weather in Texas for several years now. Bands are combining thrash, death, and black metal into a form potentially even more extreme than the Australian war metal scene. The music is harsh, brutal, bestial, and unrelenting. It is in defiance of everything that the conservative state holds dear. It is a reaction to the political and religious climate of the state. It’s not a scene per se, because these bands come from various parts of Texas, but they are all playing frenzied, dirty, and evil black metal. This is Texas black metal.

ABSU

One of the earlier black metal bands to arise out of the U.S., Absu was also quite possibly the most important black metal band from the country. Absu plays a style that is more based in thrash metal these days, although they have never lost their blackened edge. They were fairly prolific early on, but this year’s self-titled album was their first in several years. The band still has it though. Proscriptor’s inhuman drumming is the most notable feature of the band. Absu was a big influence on most of the rest of the bands to be discussed in this post.

AVERSE SEFIRA

It’s unfortunate that this band is not more well-known. When metalheads in other countries think of USBM (United States black metal) they often think of bands like Xasthur, Leviathan, and Nachtmystium. Not that any of those bands are really bad, but if they knew of Averse Sefira, they would have a much better opinion of the scene in the U.S. Averse Sefira sounds like Immortal on steroids. They are not quite as fast, usually, but what the riffs comparatively lack in speed, they make up for in brutality. One of the heaviest bands in the U.S. without question and a unique take on black metal.

BAHIMIRON

Bahimiron has a little more of a classic black metal sound, although this by no means suggests that this band is less extreme than the others in the scene. The vocals are insane screams over tremolo riffs and blasting drums. There’s actually some melody to the proceedings if one listens closely. The whole album has an evil, horror movie vibe to it. Dark atmosphere and crushing riffs combine to make this a very uneasy listening experience.

HOD

HOD’s pedigree is clear, they are made up of current and former members of Pillcrusher, Thornspawn, and Necrovore. HOD is a little more death metal-based than some of these other bands, but their relation to the other bands is very noticeable. They still have major black metal influences which manifest in the riffs and drums, as well as the vocals. HOD is a newer band and it will be interesting to see how they develop.

OBEISANCE

Obeisance has a little more of a thrash element to their sound than the other bands. Their thrash riffs are buried under distortion and a murky tone that makes the band sound truly filthy. The vocals are delivered with a rasp and what sounds like a mouthful of blood, with occasional high-pitched howls that sound like Tom Araya in the early Slayer days.

THORNSPAWN

Thornspawn has a very raw, evil and primal sound. Full of blasting drums, shrieking vocals, blazing leads, and razor-sharp riffs, their music intense and pummeling. The band is influenced by early black and death metal bands such as Necrovore (also from Texas) and Beherit.