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Unearthing the Metal Underground: The Montana Black Metal Scene

Band Photo: Throne Of Malediction (?)

Each week with Unearthing the Metal Underground we provide a new batch of bands that aren’t signed to a major label and are making a name for themselves in the underground. This week I’ll be digging into three Montana bands influenced in one way or another by black metal.

Kalispell’s Throne of Malediction is a band that plays by their own set of rules and doesn’t particularly ascribe to any specific genre. Just take a look at their description on metal-archives.com. What precisely is “Black/Death/Thrash Metal/Metalcore?” It’s Throne of Malediction. While they don’t have the high pitched shrieks or non-stop blast beats, their slightly rough production and guitar tone shows a clear black metal influence. Cover songs by bands like Carpathian Forest and Cradle of Filth certainly help as well. Throne of Malediction released the simply titled “EP One” earlier this year to showcase their talent at switching off between growls, male clean vocals, and male female vocals. You can hear Throne of Malediction on their MySpace page or catch them live on the following dates:

10/8 The Palace Lounge w/tba Missoula, Montana
10/17 The Cretin Hop w/ Odyssey and 427 Spokane, Washington

Missoula based Epitaph of Seikolos stays true to the core black metal sound that started a musical revolution. Their debut demo “Comes the Angel of Death” features rasping growls and screams, freezing cold guitar riffs, and a truly “necro” production that will make any cvlt black metal fan proud. For good measure there are female vocals, interesting guitar effects, and a surprising amount of melody hidden within the tracks. The entire “Comes the Angel of Death” demo can be heard at this location.

Also hailing from Missoula, Walking Corpse Syndrome is another act that doesn’t precisely end up in any one genre definition. There is black metal, death metal, and a good dose of gothic atmosphere. The most noticeable difference between Walking Corpse Syndrome and any other band is their extremely non-traditional take on a band line-up, as they are one of the few groups that utilize two drummers. They released their debut album “Forsaken” in 2008 and tentatively plan for a follow up in 2010. Samples of their music can be found at their MySpace page, or you can see them perform on these dates:

10/9 The Union Hall Missoula, Montana
10/10 The Pen Convention Center Deer Lodge, Montana
10/31 Club Q Missoula, Montana

Each week we will continue to explore more underground metal bands, but in the mean time please feel free to recommend and discuss any other metal bands from Montana in the comments below.

Ty Arthur is a freelance writer who writes for both entertainment and technical instruction sites. An avid fan of many different forms of metal, he has been involved in reviewing music for several years and is currently a contributing editor for Metalunderground.com