The singular essence of black metal 

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Review of the concert: Black Altar in Colombia

Words and images: Juan Sabbath ( www.bsabbath.com ) 

Concert hall: Ace of Spades (Bogotá) 

Date: Saturday April 6, 2024 

Organization: Colombian Shows 

«Under the trivialization of metal a radical and exclusive scene survives, that scene constitutes an exception to mass and superficial consumption that never tires of mocking what once was» 

—Juan Sabbath (Book: Bienvenidos al Sabbath). 

In the book Bienvenidos al Sabbath I wrote: «Black metal, at the dawn of the nineties, was a serious matter. A proposal that took music to sonic, conceptual and musical extremes. At that time, the symbolic universe merged with the political universe, affecting not only the identity but also the character and actions of musicians and listeners. That has been lost. The genre has been ridiculed, vulgarized and popularized as if it were condemned to pay its own curse.» Fortunately, beneath this vulgarization, an elite persists over time. Elite in the sense of a select minority that remains hidden in the underground and only becomes present when blasphemy rituals specially convened for them are executed against all commercial logic. 

What prevails here is a passion that seems governed by Drakon himself, a Greek legislator who went down in history for imposing severe punishments for crimes such as homicide, but also for all types of minor offenses. The elite of black metal is not an arbitrary selection, it originates from those who actually connect with the depth of its philosophy and not only with the visual artificiality: they are the few who acquire physical material and give their lives to that dark fanaticism; not that mass that poses as a rebel abusing the power of the symbol. Thus, the selection is natural, a product of how black metal is experienced in private and how it manifests itself in blasphemy rituals. A select group of black metal lovers were present for the Black Altar concert in Bogotá, Colombia. The degree of elitism was defined in the words of the members of Black Altar when they stated that the Bogotá scene is the largest they have seen. 

Talking about elitism forces one to be prepared for the criticism of the false morality of those who equate art and social class (nothing could be more wrong): to be part of it you only need to love black metal and that implies knowing about black metal. Following this draconian but simple law, you will begin to attend concerts, to be part of the elite. The days of ripping shirts or beating up fakes are long gone. In fact, today these routes are useless and anachronistic. The selection of the musical elites occurs, I insist, naturally. It is one of the great advantages of the popularization of metal: it allows only connoisseurs to connect with the true art, while snobs are left with the mere appearance: it consolidates the elite. 

Now, black metal bands that preach draconian elitism must be consistent with it and not beg for support. As I expressed at length throughout the book Bienvenidos al Sabbath, musicians should focus on their art and not the audience. In terms of music—and in art in general—fame is inversely proportional to quality. That said, the Black Altar event in Bogotá was enjoyed by a select number of attendees. Talking about elitism here is not a strategy to evade the commercial failure of events whose goal is to fill the concert hall. After such a ritual act, the high quality of both the preceding groups and the international guest was evident. The absence of Ofermod—initially announced on the bill—was irreplaceable, but did not diminish the quality of the event. With that quality, the commercial balance becomes totally secondary. Success was on the artistic level. The organization (Colombian Shows) will now have the opportunity to satisfy the masses to, in this way, subsidize events like this. 

According to the audiovisual record of the national opening bands, I was able to confirm the excellent staging of Storm Of Darkness and Ahriman. I was not able to appreciate those couple of good bands live because the vehicular traffic in Bogotá, on the night of Saturday was jammed like any other everyday morning. Almost impossible arrival. Dark Wisdom showed coupling, compositional variation and the ability to captivate the listener song after song. Great prelude to the Polish band. Black Altar unleashed musical quality directly, based on a paraphernalia emphasized in the captivating but sinister music. The band was commanded by the legend Shadow (Dariusz Sieradzki, bassist), creator of the Odium Records label and who has been resisting in the elite since 1996. This implies being consistent with the draconian law of black metal: nihilistic individualism for lonely souls who hate the masses, or remembering the definition proposed in the book Bienvenidos al Sabbath: 

«Black metal is the search for a luminous state through the representations of evil – understood as an essential part of the universal balance – that are expressed as a musical concept, based on the hierarchies that make it up and link to transcendental aspects of the human essence.» 

Essence in the sense of unity, the singular that stands out; opposed to the plural that confuses. The organization is clear about these draconian laws, so we just have to wait for new elitist rituals of satanic supremacy. 

The low attendance prevented the drowsiness typical of Ace of Spades when it is crowded. The gig had a masterfully balanced sound, something rarely seen: finally an engineer who knows that sound quality is not synonymous with stridency! The result? balance of strength and power without an excess of decibels. These two factors (sound and room), plus the quality of the bands, define the Black Altar concert in Colombia with an oxymoron: it was a black metal paradise. 

Juan Sabbath. Bogotá, April 7, 2024