Yellow Eyes: A Playlist and a Party

I’ve been obsessed with atmospheric black metal troupe Yellow Eyes since I gave their last full-length a good, hard listen (and an ensuing gushy review). Their current release, The Desert Mourns, is cut from the same high-quality cloth as its predecessor, and is available from Dead Section Records and the band’s own Sibir Records.

If you’re not doing anything tonight, you can even swing by The Acheron and pick up a copy, since they’ll be playing a free show alongside death fiends Trenchgrinder and black/thrash miscreants Throaat! It’s my birthday, too, so bring a few extra dollars for whiskey.

With all that in mind, I asked Yellow Eyes guitarist & vocalist Will Skarstad to put together a playlist of his favorite USBM tunes. It’s an interesting look into the inspiration behind some of the best black metal I’ve heard this decade (also, you can never have enough Barghest in your life!).

Marks of the Masochist – “Recalling the Violent and Bleak,” from the Marks of the Masochist / Encare split

Volahn – “Crepúsculo Negro,” from Dimensiónes Del Trance Kósmico

Barghest – “Pain of Days,” from Barghest

Mord – “Occulta Sodomistica,” from Imperium Magnum Infernalis

One Master – “Intolerance,” from Live in The Castle Quiet

Krallice – “Wretched Wisdom,” from Krallice

Havohej – “Spilling Sacred Blood,” from Dethrone The Son of God

Vattnet Viskar – “Weakness,” from Vattnet Viskar

Inquisition – “Desolate Funeral Chant,” from Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm

Lurker of Chalice – “This Blood Falls As Mortals (Part III),” from Lurker of Chalice