Horror Metal

GJ · Post by GJ » Tue May 20, 2008 2:01 pm

I don't know if it is Sarcofagus' intentions to scare the shit out of people, but I guess they sort of do...

Piotr Sargnagel · Post by **Piotr Sargnagel** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:55 pm

Abysmal Grief - great, great stuff.

Post by **DaN** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:59 pm

Two seemingly off-topic issues must be brought up if we're really gonna get to the bottom of the Horror Metal-phenomenon:

1. The Roots
..i.e. the old Horror Rock of the 50's-70's. I'm thinking of guys like Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Screaming Lord Sutch and various lesser known acts and novelty songs of the era. The more salutes to this genre I hear in Horror Metal, the more I tend to enjoy it.

2. Their contemporary Punk/Post-Punk counterparts
..like 45 GRAVE, MIGHTY SPHINCTER, MISFITS etc. Bring 'em on!

vasilis2112 · Post by **vasilis2112** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:46 pm

DaN wrote:Even if I'm fully aware that there never was a "Horror Metal Scene" and hardly any bands that cathegorized themselves like this in the 80's

Dan, Halloween from Detroit categorized theirselves in the horror metal scene. Remember "Detroit's Heavy Metal Horror Show".

Other bands that can be called horror metal are:

The Italian masters of horror: Fulci, Argento haha just joking...!!! Death SS, Black Hole, Paul Chain. The British masters Hell.
Denemark has King Diamond and Mercyfull Fate!

In the other side of Atlantic, we have:

Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!

Ripper
Trop Feross (CAN)
Iron Cross (from Florida no one mentioned them!!!!!!)
LIZZY BORDEN (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And of course so many more bands I cannot recall, or I am not aware of!

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:52 pm

ION BRITTON wrote:DAMIEN STORM!

Uh, what the fuck is with the band photo on Metal Archives?

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:55 pm

Halloween was definatly first on the top of my head.

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:15 pm

Avenger wrote:
ION BRITTON wrote:DAMIEN STORM!
Uh, what the fuck is with the band photo on Metal Archives?

Hmmm, wouldn't call DAMIEN STORM "them", it is a one man's band.

Maybe DS do sound like a joke as MA says, but he also sounds so convincing and honest as few 'horror metal' bands have sounded so far, at least to my ears. He might also fit quite well in the "so bad it's actually good" category, if you like that kind of stuff, you will probably find yourself enjoying DS too. Don't know what else to say, the photos are quite funny!

Post by **DaN** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:30 pm

The most fascinating thing about Damien Storm is that at least the "St. Lime's Hill" CD could have been awesome if it weren't for the vocals and the digital drums. There's some really amazing riffing on that album - - > http://www.damienstorm.net/stlimeshill.html

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:46 pm

Dan- good point about the forefathers! Most folks would probably cite Alice Cooper and some other 70s 'theatrical' acts, but you're right that the style can be traced back to stuff like Screamin' Jay Hawkins of 'I Put a Spell On You' fame, Pickett's 'Monster Mash', etc. I used to have an album of 60s surf-rock songs but with poppy, gothic-horror lyrics (think the Beach Boys singing 'Monster Mash' and you're there). I forget the band's name but the album was called 'Dracula's Deuce'... don't know if I still have the album or not.
And yes, there were plenty of early 80s non-metal bands that sort of went in this direction (I've seen the term "death rock" used for some of them). Besides the obvious Misfits, there was also Christian Death, who had the gothic theatrics (though maybe not the horror so much) and hardcore legends TSOL ('Dance With Me").Those are just a ouple of the top of my head.
Getting back towards metal territory, Manimals is a good, obscure call. Halloween too, although they alwayss truck me as being more style than substance.

Regarding the Italian bands, how many of these really played up the horror theatrics as opposed to just going for a doomy ambiance? Death SS obviously counts, but I don't know what kind of image Paul Chain has gone for over the years, and I also don't know whether bands like Black Hole and Requiem were aiming for a really thatrical, horror image or just a dark, doomy image (obviously there's gonna be some gray area in between).
From the look of the vids on their mysoace site, Energy Vampires were also aiming to play up the macabre image. The same could be said of 80s-era Pentagram.

Shadow Kingdom · Post by **Shadow Kingdom** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:59 am

Good choices.

Shadow Kingdom · Post by **Shadow Kingdom** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:10 am

DaN wrote:The most fascinating thing about Damien Storm is that at least the "St. Lime's Hill" CD could have been awesome if it weren't for the vocals and the digital drums. There's some really amazing riffing on that album - - > http://www.damienstorm.net/stlimeshill.html

I agree.... and while I've tolerated a lot of strange vocals before, this guy is really pushing it for me.

I eventually might stock this band.

ZOMBIE · Post by **ZOMBIE** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:24 pm

WASTED from Denmark are truly great! Check their Halloween ... The Night Of LP asap.

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:31 pm

ZOMBIE wrote:WASTED from Denmark are truly great! Check their Halloween ... The Night Of LP asap.

I definitely agree, amazing album and very ignored too. I can't remember whether all tracks were dealing with horror themes, many of them did though. A top-5 Danish LP as far as i am concerned.

Post by **DaN** » Thu May 22, 2008 6:02 pm

On a mere quick glance it's almost difficult to pick out the Metal ones...

Cochino · Post by **Cochino** » Fri May 23, 2008 12:11 am

I saw that Doctor Druids cover in a Creepy magazine and thought that it would be an amazing cover for a Doom album.