Von (band)

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Von
Origin San Francisco, California, USA[1]
Genre(s) Black metal
Years active 1989-1992
Label(s) Nuclear War Now! Productions
From Beyond Productions
Associated acts Abscess
Eatmyfuk
Members
Goat, Snake, Kill
Former members
Unnamed bass player

Von was a Second Wave black metal band from San Francisco, California, USA.This is the first American Black Metal band, but has strongly influenced the second wave of black metal.

Contents

[edit] Members

  • Goat - guitar, vocals
  • Snake - drums
  • Kill - bass

[edit] Biography

Von was formed in 1989 by Goat (then using the pseudonym Von) and Snake. An unnamed bass player was in the band before leaving in 1990. After the bass player's departure, Goat and Snake played one gig as a duo. In early 1991 Kill joined the band and the trio recorded their first demo, Satanic Blood. During 1991-1992 Von played a couple of live gigs and recorded another demo, Blood Angel, which was never released on its own. The band disbanded shortly after the release of Satanic Blood in 1992.[2]

In 2003 Nuclear War Now! Productions released Satanic Blood Angel, a double CD compilation featuring the band's demos on one CD and a recording of a live show on another. Beside the Satanic Blood demo, it remains the only official Von release.[1][2]

Very little is known about the individuals behind the band. Kill is known as Joe Allen of Abscess and Eatmyfuk,[1] but the identities of the other three remain unknown to the public.

[edit] Style

Von played highly simplistic black metal with short songs based on almost continuous blast beats (occasionally accompanied by drum fills) and repetition of only from one to three riffs, each containing only about three or four power chords.[3][4] The vocals were performed in a guttural growling fashion more characteristic of death metal than black metal.[4]

Von can be seen having been ahead of their time, playing minimalistic black metal on a time when the genre was virtually non-existent, especially in the thrash-oriented West Coast.[3]

[edit] Cult following

Von have gained a cult following in the black metal underground since their disbandment and the few recordings of Von are considered classic and pioneer black metal. Prominent black metal bands have covered Von, either on record or live (or both), including The Beast,[5] Dark Funeral,[6] Enthroned,[7] Krieg,[8][9] Taake[10][11] and Watain[12] (who are also named after a Von song[13]), to mention a few examples. Also, in addition to spreading copies of the Satanic Blood demo,[2] Varg Vikernes of Burzum did arguably direct promotion for Von by wearing their t-shirt in one of his murder trial sessions.[2][14]

[edit] The band's name

The band's name is sometimes falsely thought to be an acronym for Victory Orgasm Nazi(s).[1] Varg Vikernes used those words to spell the band's name during a phone interview because the interviewer apparently didn't hear the name correctly.[1][2] According to the band, the name stands for "nothing but images of darkness and blood."[2]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Demos

  • Satanic Blood (1992), recorded in 1991
    Some sources[15] report that this demo was released in 1988, but it was actually recorded in 1991[2] and released in 1992.[2][16]
  • Blood Angel (unreleased), recorded between 1991 and 1992[2]
    The demo was never released on its own, only as part of the Satanic Blood Angel compilation released in 2003.

[edit] Compilations

  • Satanic Blood Angel (2CD, 2003), Nuclear War Now! Productions
    Single disc version also exists, released by From Beyond Productions.[17]

[edit] Bootlegs

Several bootlegs exist, mostly containing the Satanic Blood demo,[4] one notable example being a split compilation with Dark Funeral entitled Devil Pigs, released by Karmageddon Media.[18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Von @ Encyclopaedia Metallum
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i The interview in the booklet of Satanic Blood Angel, available at Von's MySpace page
  3. ^ a b Unofficial site
  4. ^ a b c Review of a bootleg from 1999
  5. ^ Album information, track 4 is a Von cover
  6. ^ Album information, track 10 is a Von cover
  7. ^ A thread concerning covers at Enthroned's forum, post #3
  8. ^ Album information, track 18 is a Von cover
  9. ^ Online tribute to Von
  10. ^ Album information: A Norwegian Hail to Von
  11. ^ Taake: Lamb (live) at YouTube
  12. ^ Watain: Watain (live) at YouTube
  13. ^ A Watain interview
  14. ^ Photo of Varg Vikernes wearing a Von t-shirt on a trial session
  15. ^ Example of false information on the year of recording at Myrrthronth.de
  16. ^ The demo's entry at Encyclopaedia Metallum
  17. ^ The compilation's entry at Encyclopaedia Metallum
  18. ^ Review of the bootleg, in Finnish

[edit] External links

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