- Hellig Usvart +Album Reviews

Most controversial Black Metal Album Ever?

Tom Servo | Satelite of Love | 01/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"YES! You better believe it. Even after all the blasphemous lyrics that came from bands such as Bathory, Mayhem, and Darkthrone, even after all them a CHRISTian black metal band with this album created more controversy than any of the previous bands did!Nuclear Blast, headed by Markus Staiger at the time, released Horde's only album called Hellig Usvart in 1994. Only 4000 copies were made of this masterpiece. There was only one person to the band of Horde; he performed all instruments, sounds, and vocals. He has traditionally been named as Anonymous over the years, but most people have discovered that Anonymous is, in fact, Jayson Sherlocke, the ex-Mortification and ex-Paramaecium drummer. In 1994, the German record company known as Nuclear Blast established a music contract with an anonymous resident who was thought for a long time to be from the country of Norway but was actually a resident of Australia with the alias of Horde. There he recorded an album most Christian metal fans know as the legacy of Hellig Usvart. This was the first black metal album released by a major label in the Christian music society. It must have caused such a scare that death threats are rumoured to have been made against Mark Staiger in Nuclear Blast and against Horde. In 1995, right when Steve Rowe made his foundation for the record company Rowe Productions, he decided to buy the remaining copies of the album and distribute them world-wide. The one and only album by Horde is entitled by the Norwegian words of "Hellig Usvart" which translates as Holy Unblack. This is also the album which started the term "holy unblack" metal instead of just the traditional black metal. A big hype was made over the introduction of this album to the Christian music society. This is a must buy for fans of Darkthrone, Bathory, and Mayhem."

Raw Black Metal Fury

Bu-Chan | Aotearoa | 12/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While you may not like the style, "Hellig Usvart" by Horde represents a milestone in the evolution of Christian metal. Assaulting the listener on whole new planes of existence, this CD leaves nothing to the imagination and pulls no punches.

The track titles themselves plainly give voice to where Horde are coming from, in a no-holds-barred presentation of their view of the Christian message. Rather than dish it out in nice manageable pieces, they proceed to head-butt you right between the eyes. This is unapologetic Christian music at its best.

The music is fast paced, (to put it mildly), and high energy. The sounds blast at you in relentless pounding fury. The drum work and guitars are amazing as they are fast. Coupled with vocals that grind and howl with the best, this is perhaps some of the best black metal to come from a Christian band.

First released on Nuclear Blast, it has since be re-released on Rowe Productions. I have only heard the original Nuclear Blast and this review refers to that one. For collectors of music off the beaten path, or fans of hard black metal, this CD should appeal. Petra fans please be warned!"

The first xian blackmetal release

raven | 01/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"first of all, Anonymous took his name as a parody of Euronymous from the band Mayhem [basically the founder of 2nd wave blackmetal]. what we have here is the very first 'christian blackmetal' cd...this predates Antestor's blackmetal releases so when someone tries to tell you that Antestor was first ask them if they can tell the difference between black metal [what horde was playing] and doomdeath [what antestor was playing at the time]. originally this cd was released on Nuclear Blast and it ticked off all the satanists to no end ... of course this cd also tends to tick off ultra-fundamentalist christians as well, so at least Horde is equal opportunity in making people mad.

the sound is comparable to earlier Darkthrone [not Soulside Journey] or "The Return..." era Bathory. if you like early 'trve, kvlt und grim' blackmetal and you arent one of those sticklers for satanic lyrics this is definitely an album you should check out."

Not for the faint of heart!!!!!

Awesomeguy | Atlanta, Georgia USA | 07/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am the proud owner of one of the 4000 original pressings of this cd that was released on the Nuclear Blast label. The only christian artist to be released on any major black metal label i believe. I guard it with my life. This cd is unlike any cd you have ever heard from a christian artist before. Imagine being in the middle of a transylvanian forrest with dense, thick fog all around you. The clouds in the sky are black and there is a light, depressing drizzle and the wind is howling all around you. In the distance you hear a maniacal, sickening, gutteral, screeching, croaking sound. It sounds like someone is having their throat slit open and they are trying to speak through the gash in their larynx. You hear blast beats of tinney sounding drums with rubberey sounding bass and guitars that sound like the world trade centers collapsing. You are terrified to see what you are hearing looks like but you are drawn to it on a supernatural level. You step through thick briars and thorns and before you, in front of an opening to a cave, you see a goat like, frog like , mountain man performing the most terrifying music that has ever been created. His name is Horde. The mountain man you see has lived in the cave for hundreds of years and has been perfecting his craft for all these hundreds of years. He will release one cd to the world so people will know his legacy and then he will go back to the cave to die and asced to heaven to be with Jesus for all eternity. I have just described Hellig Usvart.

Seriously, though, if you want true artistry in christian music, this is the cd to get. Its not watered down and dull like alot of music by christian artists is."

The Quintessential Black Metal Album

xer 21 | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Releassed in 1994, on Nuclear Blast Records, only 4,000 copies were printed. this is truly sad as it is one of THE BEST releases in metal of the past 15 years. this caused a lot of controversy because the album was done by a Christian. as if you couldnt tell by the track titles (Weak, Feeble, Dying Antichrist, Invert The Inverted Cross, Silence the Blasphemous Chanting to name a few.). Anonymous, who was once a drummer for both Mortification and Living Sacrifice, two Christian Death metal bands you should check out, did all the instrumentation. with raw, intense, and grim guitars, really fast drumming, and tr00ly evil sounding screchs and growls, this is incredibly intense, creepy and grim. the first time you hear it, it will make you nervous, even afraid. the instrumentation also nicely matches each songs lyrics. on Weak, Feeble, Dying Antichrist, the guitars have the pace of a dying man's crawl. yes, i may be Catholic so some of you may feel i'm unqualified to judge black metal, but i listen to bands such as Burzum, Bathory, Gorgoroth and Thyrfing too, and this release ranks right up there. buy the re-release, if you can find it online, so you don't have to shell out 35-70 bucks on amazon.com used. this is truly a land mark release in Metal, Black Metal, and Christian Metal. get ASAP."

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