(Andy Synn wrote this review of the debut album by the Texas band Tyrannosorceress.)

A couple of weeks back I got caught up in a… let’s call it a “discussion”, for the sake of politeness… with a certain individual about whether or not all Black Metal bands have to ascribe to a certain “ideology” or ethos in order to actually be counted as Black Metal.

Now this question is nothing new – it’s been argued back and forth for eons (well, eons in internet years), with no definitive answer in sight – yet it still retains its strange power to fascinate, provoke, and repulse in equal measure.

Take even a small sub-section of Black Metal fandom and you’ll undoubtedly find as many different opinions on this matter as there are individuals to hold them, from those who believe that all Black Metal should be all-Satan, all the time, to those who’ll settle for just a general anti-Christian (or, more broadly, anti-religion) approach, to those who feel that the focus should be purely on nihilism/nature-worship/none-of-the-above, and most of whom will soundly reject any suggestion to the contrary as not being “true” Black Metal.

I don’t have an answer for this conundrum myself. In fact I’m not even sure there is one, seeing as how some of the most seminal and respected figures in the scene itself all seem to have different ideas and opinions on the matter.

But I know what I like. And I like this album. Continue reading »