Tag Archives: satanic/occult

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 1. Black Widow

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto TONITE!!!!  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

5. Ghost

4. Venom

3. Mercyful Fate

2. Pagan Altar

1. Black Widow

I know you’re probably asking, “Why is this folksy British flute-rock band who only did one “satanic” album before they sold their souls to CBS Records at the top of the list?”

To which I respond, “Did Venom, Coven, Ghost et al ever perform a ritual sacrifice on stage?  Black Widow did–all the way back in 1970!”

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 2. Pagan Altar

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto on Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

5. Ghost

4. Venom

3. Mercyful Fate

2. Pagan Altar

Some bands aren’t as evil as their name would imply.  For example, Pentagram doesn’t sing songs about Satan; ditto Black Sabbath, aside from a few mentions (ie War Pigs).  Pagan Altar, on the other hand, has a moniker that fits them quite nicely.  This cult occult doom band from the UK cut a record in ’82 that was seldom heard but often bootlegged–and never saw its proper release till 1998, some 16 years later.  The underground buzz brought in by Volume 1 would lead the band to reform, and they’ve since recorded two more albums and appeared on a couple split EPs–the latest of which caused quite a kerfuffle before it even came out.

In December 2010, PA came over to Montreal to play its first North American gig.  I was there–no worse for wear, either!  It was quite the spectacle, the band playing back-to-back sets covering most of their material.  Hmm, let’s see if I can find any clips on Youtube…  Mission accomplished!

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 3. Mercyful Fate

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto on Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

5. Ghost

4. Venom

3. Mercyful Fate

Like Venom, Mercyful Fate was one of the first bands to incorporate Satanic themes into heavy metal music, with their self-titled EP coming out around the same time as Black Metal.  However, I give them the edge over the Englanders for two reasons:

1) These dudes could actually play.  Gimme Hank Shermann and Michael Denner over Cronos, Mantas and/or Abbadon any day!

2) King fuckin’ Diamond.  One of the most dynamic singers in metal, this guy had an amazing set of pipes that only made his messages sound all the more evil.  See for yourself!

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 4. Venom

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto on Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

5. Ghost

4. Venom

The original Black Metal band, Venom was In League with Satan before you were shouting at the devil, their Satanic schlock first taking the world by storm back in ’81.  Their sophomore album not only named a genre that would later be populated by a buncha church-burning Norwegians, it also spawned one of the most iconic cover images of all time.  So what if they had all the musical talent of a Yngwie J. Malmsteen steaming turd?  It was Venom, not Coven, or any of their early 70′s predecessors, who truly brought Satan into the nation’s bedrooms.

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 5. Ghost

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto on Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

5. Ghost

Sure, they haven’t been around that long, but it’s certainly been a while since a band’s debut created so much buzz by crafting sickly sweet Satanic AOR songs with the guitar leads of Mercyful Fate and the vocal harmonies of Blue Oyster Cult.  Hell, their Elizabeth 7″ already sells for upwards of 100 bucks on EBay, and their gig this Sunday is gonna be pretty packed, from what I’ve heard.  Besides, I’d listen to Opus Eponymous over Deicide any day!

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 6. Deicide

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto next Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

6. Deicide

Although you generally strive for number one in most competitions, the most evil number on this list is perhaps the most coveted.  And who’s more evil than Glen Benton?  Even though he drinks Coors Light, there’s no denying that the inverted-cross-branded frontman of Deicide is badass.  I mean, the band’s name means the killing of a god, and they’ve put out such death metal disasterpieces as In Torment in Hell, Scars of the Crucifix, and their most recent effort, To Hell with God.  But who can forget the groove-metal crunch of their sixth album, 2000′s Insineratehymn, particularly its leadoff single, “Bible Basher”?  Blasphemy has never been so catchy, so accessible, so downright karate-choppable!  Check it out–with bonus Spanish subtitles!

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 7. Gorgoroth

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto next Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

7. Gorgoroth

Not only does he deserve credit for bringing homosexuality to black metal (I’m told that Satanic orgies are a real free-for-all!), but Gorgoroth frontman Gaahl also showed Sam Dunn, in a minute and twenty seconds, why he’s more kvlt than you:

Wait, you mean he’s not in the band anymore? Sheeeeet music, son!

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 8. Coven

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto next Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

8. Coven

Face it, all these female-fronted occult rock bands that formed at the end of the last decade owe a lot to Coven, whose debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls was released, and subsequently banned, all the way back in 1969.  Though they hailed from Chicago, they also had a song called “Black Sabbath” and a bassist named Oz Osbourne.  And according to Wikipedia, they were the band that introduced the “sign of the horns” to music.  Tell that to Dio–or to Gene Simmons!

They also made this trippy-ass music video back in ’74, several years before MTV.  True pioneers in many regards.

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 9. The Devil’s Blood

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto next Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

10. Blood Ceremony

9. The Devil’s Blood

While Blood Ceremony has the classic, campy feel of a Hammer horror flick, this female-fronted band of Dutch deviants makes no bones about its fondness for Beelzebub.  On The Thousandfold Epicentre, their non-import debut via Metal Blade, they darken the spacey prog rock of Hawkwind with some seriously sinister themes.  Here, see for yourself:

TOP 10 SATANIC/OCCULT ROCK/METAL BANDS/ARTISTS – 10. Blood Ceremony

Posted by gruesomegreg on

After an aborted attempt at opening for Enslaved last fall, those mysterious Swedish miscreants Ghost are finally making their way to North American shores, hitting up the Mod Club here in Toronto next Sunday.  To mark this momentous occasion, I figure I’d count down my top 10 satanic/occult rock/metal bands/artists.  (What can I say?  Kordell Stewart was my favourite Steelers QB! ;) )

Incidentally, I’m starting this list off with their current touring partners.  No, I’m not talking about Ancient VVisdom…

10. Blood Ceremony

Let me put it bluntly: I’ve been into Blood Ceremony longer than you.  When y’all were still following the latest trends as written in Eye Weekly, I first caught them in concert back on August 19, 2006.  A couple of lineup changes, tours and record labels later, the Toronto flute doomsters put out their sophomore album, Living with the Ancients, on Rise Above last spring.  Needless to say, it cracked my year-end Top 10 list.

Holy shit, I actually found a clip from that August ’06 gig on YouTube!  You can even hear my distinctive banshee wail at the end of the song–and also during that break halfway through where I didn’t know the song wasn’t finished, haha!  Let’s just say they’ve come a long way since then…