The Return of the Black Death
Encyclopedia
The Return of the Black Death is the second studio album by the Norwegian unblack metal
band Antestor
, released in 1998. It is the band's only release on the British Cacophonous Records label. This album's working title was Kongsblod.
). One of the biggest exclusively black metal focused British labels, Cacophonous Records, became interested in the band, and a record deal was signed with Antestor. However, Cacophonous simply released Kongsblod after changing the cover to a painting by the American fantasy artist Joe Petagno
, and the name was changed to The Return of the Black Death. The album was released in 1998.
Afterwards, the incident has caused some debates because it is rare that a Christian black metal band gets signed to a secular label. Previously only Horde
's release of Hellig Usvart
in 1994 on Nuclear Blast
is a similar known case. In December 1998, the drummer Armoth said in an interview with the Art for the Ears webzine that they sent the CD and a short biography for Cacophonous Records and that Cacophonous Records just wanted to sign Antestor because of the music, which was exactly what the band wanted to do. Some time later, in a 2000 interview with the Finnish The Christian Underground Zine issue 4, the fanzine's interviewer asked Antestor: "However, you had a record deal with Cacophonous Records (ex-Cradle of Filth, Bal-Sagoth). What kind of experiences did you get from that?" The band replied: "Pretty bad, actually. I can not say they did anything else than released the album. No money, no royalties, nothing." The interviewer also asked: "Did the record company set any demands concerning your image?" Antestor replied: "Nothing like that. They just said that it is not recommendable for us to announce exactly everywhere that we are a Christian band, and they censored the words 'Lord' and 'Jesus' from our lyrics. We ourselves removed a few texts because we did not want to provoke unnecessarily."
Later, some strong rumors in the metal scene claimed, that Antestor was immediately dropped after Cacophonous found out their conviction. In an interview Antestor stated that their record deal with Cacophonous was still valid in 2000. They also noted that the record label did not keep contact with the band, and later Antestor began working with Endtime Productions
. In the 1998 interview, Svein Sander said that Cacophonous told Antestor that the label had gone bankrupt. Ronny Hansen, who joined Antestor as a vocalist in 2000, questioned the "bankrupt" claim in another interview:
, viking metal
, Norwegian folk, and doom metal
, leaving out the previous death metal elements. Vemod's guitar playing is based on the mesmerizing black metal tremolo
riffing, the sound production is somewhat thin and raw, and Martyr's vocals are high-pitched shrieking. The album's output is mostly down tempo and is characterized by dark, oppressive, and moody keyboards that give the album an epic Viking feel. The album focuses more on the haunting, cold and hypnotic atmosphere rather than technical playing. Songs such as "Sorg" (Norwegian for "sorrow") include several minutes of folky keyboard ambience that specifically focus on creating atmosphere. "Ancient Prophecy" is an over 8 minute slow, black-doom metal hybrid song. The album begins with the intro "Vinterferden" that consists of breezing breath of cold winter wind, followed by a folky Viking melody and deep, harsh and oppressive speaking vocals saying something in Norwegian.
Out of all the 11 songs, only 4 are sung in English, and the rest in Norwegian language. The album ends with an outro that contains samples of wind whistling with all kinds of other spooky noises and a man talking very softly in a low Norwegian voice. The lyrics deal with the second outbreak of the Plague epidemic in mediaval Norway and the country's subsequent Christianization. Other themes include personal darkness, struggle against the evil within, sorrow, longing for salvation, Vikings, the wrath of God, and death. An example of the lyrics from the song "A Sovereign Fortress" that deals with personal relationship to God:
and Terrorizer both gave the album 4 points out of 5. However, some Scandinavian black metal fans felt that Antestor played music that in their opinion should not be played by Christians and disapproved of the albums lyrical content. Eventually the album brought the band a cult fan following. The drummer Svein Sander said of the album's reception in 1998 on Art for the Ears webzines interview:
In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #40 on their Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time list with Beck stating about the album, "Devastatingly dark, The Return of the Black Death set the standard for Christian black metal."
Unblack metal
Unblack metal is a term used to describe musically black metal sounding artists whose lyrics and imagery promote Christianity. Such artists are controversial, mainly because black metal's pioneers, especially those of the Second Wave, intended to encourage hostility towards Christianity...
band Antestor
Antestor
Antestor is an extreme metal band formed in 1990 in Jessheim, Norway. Credited for starting the whole northern European Christian extreme metal scene, Antestor is the only Christian band to have an album released by Cacophonous Records, which has also released records by bands such as Dimmu Borgir,...
, released in 1998. It is the band's only release on the British Cacophonous Records label. This album's working title was Kongsblod.
Recording history
In spring 1997, Antestor recorded a demo CD called Kongsblod in Studio 5, Oslo. At the time their line up consisted of guitarist/keyboardist Lars Stokstad (Vemod), vocalist/lyricist Kjetil Molnes (Martyr), bass player Vegard Undal and drummer Svein Sander (Armoth). The band sent Kongsblod to record labels in hopes of getting finances to record and mix at a better quality studio. The cover of the demo contains a famous Norwegian painting of skiing Vikings (Birkebeinerne, by Knud BergslienKnud Bergslien
Knud Larsen Bergslien was a Norwegian painter, art teacher and master artist. In his art, he frequently portrayed the lives of the Norwegian people, their history and heroes of the past...
). One of the biggest exclusively black metal focused British labels, Cacophonous Records, became interested in the band, and a record deal was signed with Antestor. However, Cacophonous simply released Kongsblod after changing the cover to a painting by the American fantasy artist Joe Petagno
Joe Petagno
Joe Petagno is an artist known principally for creating images used on rock album covers, for bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, Motörhead, Roy Harper, Marduk, Nightshade, and Illdisposed....
, and the name was changed to The Return of the Black Death. The album was released in 1998.
Afterwards, the incident has caused some debates because it is rare that a Christian black metal band gets signed to a secular label. Previously only Horde
Horde (band)
Horde is the single-album unblack metal project of Australian musician Jayson Sherlock, formerly of Mortification and Paramaecium. In 1994 the only album Hellig Usvart was released on Nuclear Blast. With a session line-up, Horde played live-shows in 2006, Norway, and in 2010 in Finland and Germany...
's release of Hellig Usvart
Hellig Usvart
Hellig Usvart is the debut album by Australian unblack metal band Horde, released in 1994 on Nuclear Blast Records. Upon its release in 1994, the album created a controversy among the black metal fans; death threats were sent to Nuclear Blast demanding the label to drop the album from its catalogue...
in 1994 on Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
is a similar known case. In December 1998, the drummer Armoth said in an interview with the Art for the Ears webzine that they sent the CD and a short biography for Cacophonous Records and that Cacophonous Records just wanted to sign Antestor because of the music, which was exactly what the band wanted to do. Some time later, in a 2000 interview with the Finnish The Christian Underground Zine issue 4, the fanzine's interviewer asked Antestor: "However, you had a record deal with Cacophonous Records (ex-Cradle of Filth, Bal-Sagoth). What kind of experiences did you get from that?" The band replied: "Pretty bad, actually. I can not say they did anything else than released the album. No money, no royalties, nothing." The interviewer also asked: "Did the record company set any demands concerning your image?" Antestor replied: "Nothing like that. They just said that it is not recommendable for us to announce exactly everywhere that we are a Christian band, and they censored the words 'Lord' and 'Jesus' from our lyrics. We ourselves removed a few texts because we did not want to provoke unnecessarily."
Later, some strong rumors in the metal scene claimed, that Antestor was immediately dropped after Cacophonous found out their conviction. In an interview Antestor stated that their record deal with Cacophonous was still valid in 2000. They also noted that the record label did not keep contact with the band, and later Antestor began working with Endtime Productions
Endtime Productions
Endtime Productions is an independent record label based in Scandinavia. The label focuses on extreme metal music and helped notable groups such as Norway's Extol to gain fame and get a record deal with Century Media Records. Notable groups on the label's roster include Antestor, Drottnar and...
. In the 1998 interview, Svein Sander said that Cacophonous told Antestor that the label had gone bankrupt. Ronny Hansen, who joined Antestor as a vocalist in 2000, questioned the "bankrupt" claim in another interview:
Overview
Musically, The Return of the Black Death represents the style the band dubbed "sorrow metal" that combines elements of black metalBlack metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
, viking metal
Viking metal
Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its galloping pace, keyboard-rich anthemic sound, bleakness and dramatic emphasis on lyrical themes of Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age...
, Norwegian folk, and doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
, leaving out the previous death metal elements. Vemod's guitar playing is based on the mesmerizing black metal tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
riffing, the sound production is somewhat thin and raw, and Martyr's vocals are high-pitched shrieking. The album's output is mostly down tempo and is characterized by dark, oppressive, and moody keyboards that give the album an epic Viking feel. The album focuses more on the haunting, cold and hypnotic atmosphere rather than technical playing. Songs such as "Sorg" (Norwegian for "sorrow") include several minutes of folky keyboard ambience that specifically focus on creating atmosphere. "Ancient Prophecy" is an over 8 minute slow, black-doom metal hybrid song. The album begins with the intro "Vinterferden" that consists of breezing breath of cold winter wind, followed by a folky Viking melody and deep, harsh and oppressive speaking vocals saying something in Norwegian.
Out of all the 11 songs, only 4 are sung in English, and the rest in Norwegian language. The album ends with an outro that contains samples of wind whistling with all kinds of other spooky noises and a man talking very softly in a low Norwegian voice. The lyrics deal with the second outbreak of the Plague epidemic in mediaval Norway and the country's subsequent Christianization. Other themes include personal darkness, struggle against the evil within, sorrow, longing for salvation, Vikings, the wrath of God, and death. An example of the lyrics from the song "A Sovereign Fortress" that deals with personal relationship to God:
Reception
The album reportedly sold "quite much in the U.S." According to Ronny Hansen (Vrede) in an interview with Intense Radio's Bob Beeman on December 13, 2007, "by various sources, The Return of the Black Death has sold over 10,000 copies and still keeps selling." Overall, The Return of the Black Death was well-received by both Christian and non-Christian black metal fans, for example the British metal magazines Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
and Terrorizer both gave the album 4 points out of 5. However, some Scandinavian black metal fans felt that Antestor played music that in their opinion should not be played by Christians and disapproved of the albums lyrical content. Eventually the album brought the band a cult fan following. The drummer Svein Sander said of the album's reception in 1998 on Art for the Ears webzines interview:
In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #40 on their Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time list with Beck stating about the album, "Devastatingly dark, The Return of the Black Death set the standard for Christian black metal."
Track listing
All songs by Antestor. Music composed by Lars Stokstad. Lyrics by Kjetil Molnes.- Vinterferden - 1:21
- A Sovereign Fortress - 4:54
- Svartedauens Gjenkomst - 4:42
- Sorg - 6:14
- The Bridge of Death - 5:31
- Gamlelandet - 6:14
- Kilden - Lik En Endelos Elv - 6:23
- Kongsblod - 5:50
- Battlefield - 5:59
- Ancient Prophecy - 8:00
- Ildnatten - 2:05
Personnel
- Kjetil Molnes (Martyr) - vocals
- Vegard Undal (Gard) - bass
- Lars Stokstad (Vemod) - guitar, keyboards
- Svein Sander (Armoth) - drums