Blut Aus Nord

Infobox musical artist
Name = Blut aus Nord


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Background = group_or_band
Origin = Mondeville, France
Genre = Black metal
Avant-garde metal
Industrial black metal
Years_active = 1994 – present
Label = Appease Me...
Candlelight
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.blutausnord.com Official website]
Current_members = Vindsval
W.D. Feld
GhÖst
Past_members =

Blut aus Nord are a black metal band from Mondeville in France who have incorporated elements of the avant-garde. Vindsval, the vocalist and guitarist, made the following statement:cquote|Blut Aus Nord is an artistic concept. We don’t need to belong to a specific category of people to exist. If black metal is just this subversive feeling and not a basic musical style, then Blut Aus Nord is a black metal act. But if we have to be compared to all these childish satanic clowns, please let us work outwards [from] this pathetic circus. This form of art deserves something else than these mediocre bands and their old music composed 10 years before by someone else.

Biography

Vindsval began a solo project, under the name "Vlad", in 1994. He released two demos before changing the project's name to Blut aus Nord, before the release of "Ultima Thulée" in 1995. The next three albums were recorded with the aid of session musicians. It is only recently that the group has had any permanent members apart from Vindsval.

The project's most critically acclaimed release is "The Work Which Transforms God",Chris Dick, "Blut Aus Nord", "Decibel", December 2006. [http://www.decibelmagazine.com/upfront/dec2006/blutausnord.aspx] Access date: July 22, 2008.] a concept album which, in spite of being mostly instrumental with none of the lyrics made public, is meant to challenge the listener's prejudices and preconceptions about reality and various metaphysical subjects.Fact|date=February 2008 "The Work Which Transforms God" has been almost unanimously praised in reviewsFact|date=February 2008 and was named by "Terrorizer Magazine" as one of its top 10 albums of 2003. So far, Vindsval has only allowed the lyrics from one of Blut aus Nord's full-length releases, "Memoria Vetusta I", to be made public.

Vindsval is head of the underground French record label Appease Me..., which is home to several extreme metal acts, in addition to Blut aus Nord.

On their followup relase, 2006's "MoRT", Blut aus Nord moved even further away from traditional black metal. The sound on "MoRT" is closer to avant-garde metal, comprising a mixture of dark and surreal noises and sounds that create a disturbing and bleak atmosphere. Its dissonant harmonies frequently flirt with atonality.Fact|date=February 2008

Blut aus Nord's next album, 2007's "" (the subtitle being a quote from Aleister Crowley [ [http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/interviews/349286-blut-aus-nord-past-present-future.html Ultimate Metal interview with Blut aus Nord] ] ), was leaked to the Internet on September 10, 2007. While the album's superficial sound is similar to that of "MoRT", the album demonstrates a return to more traditional black metal songwriting and structure.

The sequel to "Memoria Vetusta I", subtitled "Dialogue with the Stars", is set for release in November 2008.

The name "Blut aus Nord" translates from German as "Blood from the North", though the non-standard grammar suggests nautical jargon (a more standard phrasing would be "Blut aus dem Norden" or "Blut von Nord(en)," though it's also worth noting that compass directions are seldom used in spoken German to begin with).

Musical style

Blut Aus Nord's work has been described as the "sonic equivalent to Thorns injecting "Streetcleaner"-era Godflesh with an evil unpredictability".

Current line-up

*"Vindsval" - vocals, guitar (Also in: Children of Maani, The Eye)
*"W.D. Feld" - drums, electronics, keyboards
*"GhÖst" - bass guitar

ession musicians

*"Ogat" - session bass on "Ultima Thulee"
*"Ira Aeterna" - session bass on "Fathers of the Icy Age"
*"Taysiah" - session vocals on "The Work Which Transforms God"
*"Nahaim" - session guitar on "The Work Which Transforms God"

Discography

*"As Vlad:"
**"In the Mist" – Demo, 1994
**"Yggdrasil" – Demo, 1994
*"As Blut aus Nord:"
**"Ultima Thulée" – Full-length, 1995
**"Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers of the Icy Age" – Full-length, 1996
**"The Mystical Beast of Rebellion" – Full-length, 2001
**"The Work Which Transforms God" – Full-length, 2003
**"Decorporation 10" – Split with Reverence, 2004
**"Thematic Emanation of Archetypal Multiplicity" – EP, 2005
**"MoRT" – Full-Length, 2006
**"" – Full-Length, 2007
**"Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars" – Full-Length, 2008

*"As The Eye:"
**"Supremacy" – Full-length, 1997
*"As Children Of Maani:"
**"Veil Of Osiris" – EP, 1998

External links

* [http://www.blutausnord.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=2371 Encyclopaedia Metallum entry for Blut aus Nord]
* [http://www.unsilent-art.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=279&task=view&id=4504 "MoRT" Review @ Unsilent Art Radio]

References