Non-"Black Metal" Bands That Have Done Unblack Stuff

It didn't seem sensible to make whole pages for bands/artists who are totally unrelated to the scene, yet there are many such artists who have done one or two unblack metal songs across a wider musical career. It only made sense to me to document these songs somehow. This page will be hosting the majority of them. This page is not complete yet. I'll add to it over time.


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(logo not available?)

ARTIST NAME: Jaakob Aako
GENRE: Various (electronic, acoustic, hip-hop, and more!)
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Finland

Relevant music:


Gethsemane (single, 15 September, 2021, Independent)
Format: Digital / SoundCloud
Stream / Download (OFFICIAL)

Post-Black Metal / Electronic / Ambient

1) Gethsemane
5:36, seems to be instrumental?


I Bow to No Man (single, 10 June, 2021, Independent)
Format: Digital / YouTube
Stream (OFFICIAL)

Lo-fi black metal with some folk elements. Apparently the distorted string sounds here aren't from a guitar, but rather a ukulele!

Strangely, the title states this is a "4-hour un-black metal song", yet the song is only about 5 minutes long. Any explanation?

1) I Bow to No Man
5:19, lyrics unknown

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(logo not available?)

ARTIST NAME: Alexander Kledtke
GENRE: Symphonic Metal, Folk/Power Metal
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: Austria (Vienna)

Relevant music:


Raven (single, 8 January, 2017, Independent)
Format: Digital / SoundCloud
Stream (OFFICIAL)

Melodic Unblack.

1) Raven
2:48, instrumental

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BAND NAME: Deuteronomium
GENRE: Melodic Death Metal
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Finland (Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi)

Lineup:
Miika Partala - Vocals (lead), Guitars
Kalle Paju - Guitars
Manu Lehtinen - Bass
J.J. Kontoniemi - Drums

Past members:
Tapio Laakso - Guitars
Jari Mantour - Guitars
Johnny Pesonen - Drums
Jarno Lehtinen - Drums

Relevant music:



Street Corner Queen (album) 
Track 3 is black metal.

3) Spell of Hell
4:14, lyrics:
"Hell is a totally cool site
So let's get there, all right?"
"I'm gonna party down there all the time
All the pleasures I'll want are mine!"
"Satan has given me his vow,
I'll rule over souls, beneath my feet they'll bow!"
You are all bewitched
Bewitched by the Spell of Hell

Spell of Hell
Spell of Hell will pass
Spell of Hell
Only pain will last

Let me tell you the Spell of Hell
Is just a lie that makes you die
That lie is Satan's crooked tool
He's gonna get you, Hell is not so cool
you think, and Satan thinks you're fool
"No fun in Hell", that's number one rule
And you will not rule over any souls
But suffer under a pain that holds

Spell of Hell
Spell of Hell will pass
Spell of Hell
Only pain will last

There is a way to avoid that place
Escape Satan's trap, enter God's grace
Bathe in the Blood of Christ
Receive forgiveness and new life
Let's get spelled with Christ
Savior, Lord and Light
Let's get spelled with Christ
Who takes away the night


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BAND NAME: Kohllapse
GENRE: Gothic Doom Metal with Darkwave / Deathrock Influences
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: Australia (Canberra)

Relevant music:

 
Kohllapse / self-titled (album)
The song "An End to Pain" is in a gothic-tinged black metal style, almost like early Cradle of Filth.

Note that a handful of places have mislabeled the song "And End to Pain" - this is incorrect.
 
7) An End to Pain
2:29, lyrics:
This tomb, my house of pain
it has been so long
this blood covered floor screaming walls surround me
every waking moment
to feel like I will burst in agony
stretched skin from the pulsating pressure
it’s unbearable
they’ve tried to chain me
subdue my rage, this is living hell
the chains I tore apart
irons on my feet I broke
until that day
I saw him coming through the mist
a lonely vessel on the water
it carried more than a man
upon the shore I raced to him
the man whom I feared
before him I dropped
my knees Kohllapsed in pain
from inside screamed a voice
it was not me
"what do you want with me?
Swear to God you won’t torture me"
 
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BAND NAME: With Fire
GENRE: Experimental / Sludge Metal / Atmospheric/Ambient
STATUS: Split up
LOCATION: USA (Illinois)

This artist currently does not identify as Christian.

Lineup:
Wavy Svendersuhn - All instruments (project is instrumental)

Relevant music:
 

^ "First reissue". ............... Not sure what this is from. ^

^ Pink CD-R version .................. ^ Digital version

Stepping Out of Ruin (EP/album)
Track 3 is basically ambient black metal.
 
3) Passed by Yet Again
8:34, instrumental
 
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BAND NAME: Sebaoth
GENRE: Death Metal
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Brazil

Lineup:
Roberto Junior - Vocals
Rogério Soares - Guitars (lead+rhythm)
Felipe - Guitars (lead+rhythm)
Samuel Cordeiro - Bass
Bruno Herbet - Drums

Past members:
Sérgio Gomez - Guitars (lead)
Fabrício Rodrigues - Guitars (rhythm) (RIP 26/4/2020 - Covid)
Henrique - Guitars
Manuel Sales - Guitars
Emanuel - Guitars
Jales Filho - Bass
Rafael - Bass
Ronaldo - Drums
Davi Lemos - Drums
Jéferson Filho - Drums
Moisés - Drums

Relevant music:

^ CD-R version ..................... ^ Digital version

Império das Traças (demo)
Track 8 on this demo is black metal.

8) Babilônia
3:47, lyrics unknown

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BAND NAME: Acoustic Torment
GENRE: Death Metal with Doom Influences
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: Germany (Wildberg, Baden-Württemberg)
 
 Lineup:
Artur - Vocals
Christian Urff - Guitars
Marius - Bass
Tobias Roller - Drums

Past members:
Sascha Hornberger - Vocals, Bass

Relevant music:
 

My Hope Is in You (album)
Track 2 on this album is black/doom metal.

2) Sick World
6:48, lyrics:
Child abusing. The sick man. His thoughts.
The criminal perverted act. Rapes and kills.
No one heard the cry. No one saw the tears.
No one, no one heard...

The scream, the scream, the scream
The scream in a sick world.
Full of violence, full of perversion.
Satan goes around
Searching for inhuman machines.

Everyone is searching for answers.
Answers from this world
But Satan's influence has come
To manipulate the minds,
And no one asks for Jesus Christ.
That's the problem, that's the truth,
This will be our death.

Break down marriages. Divorce. Lost children
Without support, without love, hatred grows.
No one hears the cry. No one sees the tears.
No one hears...

The scream, the scream, the scream.
The scream in a sick world
Full of hate, full of infidelity.
Satan goes around
Searching for inhuman machines.


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BAND NAME: Scarlet Oath
GENRE: Extreme Gothic Metal with Various Influences
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Canada

Lineup:
Mordecai - Vocals (male), Drums
Atara - Vocals (female), Keyboards
Matar - Guitars, Bass

Relevant music:


Where Their Worm Dieth Not (album)
Track 1 is gothic black metal.

1) Where Their Worm Dieth Not
12:40, lyrics:
Anathema
Eternally encased in flames
The fruits of deception
The everlasting pain
The decadent illusion - fuel to the fire
Devoured by death with ease
Exposed before the one you despised
His sentence incites your pleas

Temporary glory - the everlasting fire
The Serpent's true agenda - the passion of the liar
Driven by hatred of God and man
Maniacal thrust
Morbid prince of darkness fueled by pride
Consuming souls with lust

Eden's garden - without pardon
Cursed and cast away
Fell from Heaven - prideful leaven
Creation subject to decay

The seduction brought corruption
From conception we're estranged
Enslaved to mass deception
Now the sane appear deranged
Yet a light shines in the darkness
To redeem the souls of man
Through divine condescension
Salvation wrought through God's right hand

On a bloodied cross he purchase our redemption
Divine intervention - the death and resurrection
Behold the fulfillment of the scarlet oath

Souls in torment where their worm dieth not
Now enslaved where their worm dieth not
There they suffer where their worm dieth not
No one saves where their worm dieth not

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^ Old logo .......... v New logo
 
 
BAND NAME: Amelioration
GENRE: Cybergrind / Dubstep / Grindcore
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: USA

Lineup:
Blake Sherwin - Everything
 
Relevant music:

(artwork
not
available)


Empyreal (further info unknown)

Amelioration started out as a black metal project. I had seen a couple references to this and messaged Blake about it. According to him, this is the only black metal-oriented song he did before deciding to switch styles. Further info pending!
 
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(logo not available?)

ARTIST NAME: Luke Hendricks
GENRE: Acoustic / Piano / etc
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: USA (California early, Colorado now)

Relevant music:


"Instrumental Raw Black Metal Song"
20 July, 2020
5:55, instrumental of course

"This is a song for a black metal project that I have yet to name."
Presumably this will, at some point, be moved to its own band page. In the meantime, it just makes more sense to list it here.

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BAND NAME: Above the Storm
GENRE: Melodic Death Metal
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: USA (Santa Cruz, California)

Lineup:
Justis Earle - Vocals
Egor Zimin - Guitars (lead)
Eric Zwierzynski - Guitars (rhythm)
David Wans - Bass
Kevin Seng - Drums

Past members:
Jeff Huff - Drums

Relevant music:


Slow Temple (single, 2015, SkyBurnsBlack Records)
Format: Digital / Bandcamp
Stream / Download (OFFICIAL)

Melodic black/death metal.

The release date on Bandcamp is 3 February, yet the page source confirms the page wasn't even created until the 19th, so I'm not really sure when this was released...

1) Slow Temple
4:58, lyrics:
You are so afraid
Of what others think
Afraid to speak the truth

This is not in love
Saving face
Superficial ways

Now is the time to
Make your life count

Live by design
Life is divine
Seek and ye shall find

The way that you live
And the way
That you want it to be
Are two different things
Living two different dreams

An open rebuke is better
Than love secretly
Say what you mean
Say what you mean

Now is the time to
Make your life count

Live by design
Life is divine
Seek and ye shall find

Hold your faith

 
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BAND NAME: Elephant Watchtower
GENRE: Progressive/Symphonic Death Metal
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Canada (Toronto, Ontario)

Lineup:
Peter Watson - Everything

Relevant music:


Dust (single, 16 December, 2022, Independent)
Format: Digital / Bandcamp
Stream / Download (OFFICIAL)

Symphonic death/black metal, surprisingly similar to bands like Lorna Shore.

A song calling out vanity in atheism:
" 'Dust' is a song with one simple message; if God doesn't exist, life cannot be significant on an objective basis; but merely a relative basis. The answer to questions such as 'What is my purpose?' or 'What is the meaning of life?' would be that you exist for no purpose whatsoever, and that life has no overarching, grounded objective meaning."

1) Dust
6:44, lyrics:
Taste and see of the vanity
A cosmic accident of insignificance
Merely a spark in the infinite darkness
Spiraling in relativity, life is absurd
No worth
True purpose is lost if we reduce to dust
All meaning becomes subjective
In the absence of God we will rot, and our souls are lost

Mankind is orphaned, no reason for us
Just specks of dust, straying through infinite nothing.
Objective significance is illusory

Now fade, and decay
The rotting is our call

A bankrupt pursuit
Striving after air in unyielding despair
Creation ripe for cessation
For all that awaits in the end is absolute death

Mankind is orphaned, no reason for us
Just specks of dust, straying through infinite nothing.
Objective significance is illusory
Void of God, all is destined to futility

Accidents, byproducts of matter and chance
Woe where humanity stands
We live for naught, and return to dust

(whispers, can't make out the words)

Accidents, byproducts of matter and chance
Woe where humanity stands
We live for naught, and return to dust

Mankind is orphaned, no reason for us
Just specks of dust, straying through infinite nothing.
Objective significance is illusory
Void of God, all is destined to futility


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BAND NAME: Christ in Flesh
GENRE: Thrash Metal with Various Influences (Grind, Symphonic, Death, etc)
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: USA (Indiana)

Lineup anonymous.

Relevant music:


Dark Separated from Light (EP)
Tracks 2 and 4 both have significant black metal influence.

2) Dark Separated from Light 2:24, instrumental
4) We Shall Live 2:38, instrumental
 
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BAND: Cursed Is the Man
GENRE: Progressive/Post-Metal
STATUS: Unknown
LOCATION: Australia (Melbourne, Victoria)
 
Lineup unknown.

Relevant music:
 
 
Cursed Is the Man / self-titled (demo)
Track 2 is post-black / blackgaze.

2) Winter
4:57, instrumental
 
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^ Solo project .............. ^ Full band

ARTIST NAME: Steve Chab
GENRE: Rock with various influences (emo, electronic, post-rock, etc)
STATUS: Changed name
(Active under new name, Steve Chab Band)
LOCATION: USA (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Formed as a secular project, and converted to Christianity at some point between 2009 and 2013.

Lineup:
Steve Chab - Everything (early), Vocals, Guitars (now)
Alex Williams - Bass
Glenn Durham - Drums

Relevant music:


At the Western Wall, Some Will Believe What God Says (EP)
Track 1 is basically post-black metal / blackgaze.

The EP is meant to be a complementary piece to some of Nils Frahm's music, and can be played simultaneously with it. More info on that [here]. Also, Jesse Stiles (Carnegie Mellon University) is listed as "advising" this EP. I'm not totally sure what that means?

1) At the Western 4:45, instrumental
(and [here] is the Nils Frahm song that "At the Western" is meant to complement.)
 
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BAND NAME: Sekten
GENRE: Experimental Electronic, Noise, Techno, Instrumental Hip-Hop
STATUS: Active
LOCATION: Sweden

The logo is the band name in braille.

Lineup:
Emil Lundin - Synths
(not sure if there are other members or not?)

Relevant music:


Grime Life (single, 14 March, 2023, Independent / Malacht Multimedia)
Format: Digital / YouTube
Stream (OFFICIAL)

Industrial black/grind.
Note despite using the same picture as "Sekten Gold", it doesn't appear on that album.

1) Grime Life
2:52, lyrics unknown




 
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IncompletePage, CouldUseBetterImages, NotOnMA**
INFO:
1) I heard there were 30 blue, and 30 pink versions of the "With Fire" artwork. I own a pink version, indicating a missing variant that looks like the pink one, but is blue, is not pictured here. Anyone have pictures of it? What's with the "blue with a spacey look" variant? 2) Lyrics for any songs that don't have them. 3) When was Above the Storm's single released? 4) Missing lyrics on the Elephant Watchtower song. 5) What does "advising" mean, for Jesse Stiles?

IMAGES:
1) It's really difficult to find good-quality pics for Deuteronomium for some reason. I could use better versions of all three of their logos, and all three cover variants for "Street corner Queen". 2) The logo and original / left cover art for Kohllapse's album. 3) All versions of "With Fire". 4) Acoustic Torment's logo and cover art. 5) Do Jaakob Aako or Alexander Kledtke have logos?

**Projects here that aren't on Metal Archives:
Jaakob Aako; Amelioration; Luke Hendricks; Steve Chab; Sekten

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