Black Metal or Old Timey Country?
I've recently finished some research that involved a jaunty excursion down the bumpy backroads of old school country, American dustbowl music of the 50s, coal miner dirges of West Virginia and modern bluegrass. Scanning through the tracklist of an obscure 50s country record, I came across more than a few song titles that struck me as so bleak, portentous and overly-dramatic that they would easily make sense on the back of a black metal record. I retraced my steps through the various old timey artists — mainstream and obscure — and came up with a list of songs that I felt seethed with the jagged nihilistic abandon of Norwegian black metal. I mixed those song titles into a list of black metal tracks that I pulled off of a couple of my playlists and found that while some songs are obviously black metal and others obviously country/bluegrass, many, if not most, could go either way. So here's a brain teaser to start out your weekend: check out the list of songs below and guess whether each one is a black metal song or an old school country or bluegrass standard. Give them a shot without Google, Spotify or what have you and see how close you can get. I'll post the answers this week.
Dark as a Dungeon Father to SonThe Sun No Longer RisesThe Long Dark pathSatan’s ChoirJeannie’s Afraid of the Dark Marie LaveauA Veil Is LiftedA Soul UnboundIn My Kingdom ColdSatan Is Real The Bottomless Hole KathleenThe State Of Our UnionKey to the GateMental RevengeIf We Make It Thru DecemberNever Grow ColdBlessed Curse,Into The North WoodsAm Abend auf der HeideRiverbeds Hewn In MarrowPale HorseI Want To Commit MurderI Am DeathI’ve Got Someone To KillThe Blacksmith and the Troll of LundamyrlTormentor of Christian Souls Where Dead Angels LieBlack Waters The Burning Shadows of SilenceCursed in EternityFountain Filled With BloodTying a Knot in the Devil’s Tail In Your Grave Walk The Path of SorrowCall From The Grave Redneck WarSwamp Witch The Satanic VersesAnd They Will Be Cast out Into Utter DarknessMy Refuge In Darkness