"Vampires of Black Imperial Blood"

One that is so obvious to me that I'm often hesitant to mention it. I recall an in-person conversation with another black metal fan where I said "That's the best black metal album ever made", and while I don't truly "rank" albums within a false system like "lists", it would likely be my gun-to-head answer. The guy I was talking to sort of looked away when I said it. I'm sure he is a fan but was also a guy who might say "What about Fallen Angel of Doom?" or something like that because his mind contends with black metal differently. My close friends understand, however, and the album was largely the basis of one particularly significant "black metal friendship" (yes, that is a real and valid thing) I made in my late teens.

"Vampires..." is fundamentally different even from other peak Mutiilation. Yes, I love "Remains..." and other early material. Yes, I can even find hints of sublime pleasure in later Mutiilation even though it is a weakened product. No, none of it sounds structurally or musically like "Vampires...". More importantly, none of it represents the same concentrated magick that album not only wields but PROJECTS onto you.

I did the math one time and I believe Willie Meyhn'ach was something like 17-years-old when he would have written / recorded this. He wove together some of the most striking melodic and dissonant riffing seamlessly in mutant structures that seem to have naturally organized themselves. When actual magic is at play, it is less a matter of "guiding" the force and more about staying out of the way. With the right (actually left, but left here is right) hand and circumstance, all ego and intention is blasted into nothing by energy of this nature and the compositions form themselves.

We discussed before how even Darkthrone or Burzum were once regarded as "necro black metal" by some ears and although deliberately and consistently "raw" black metal (i.e. not just early limitations or demos, but a deliberately raw product even when other means were available) did exist alongside them, you didn't typically hear an "album" like this with such little regard for mixing, proper leveling, even consistent peaks, plus it is blown out. The result is a "barely hanging on" presentation that fits the music perfectly. A guitarist and drummer being carried by the momentum of something beyond them and they fought glowing winds to punctuate it with the right notes and hits while everything else was carried away.

I heard several different versions with different tracklists and mixes prior to owning any copies of the album. The original was expensive and barely-obtainable at the time (I still don't own an original issue) but I was taken by the different versions and contemplated the decision-making or lack thereof; why was "Born Under the Master's Spell" on the original when it is a much different style (closer to other Mutiilation releases) set to drum machine? The first actual hard copy I owned was a bootleg CD that included the LP reissue's tracklist and mixes, which didn't include "Born Under..." and rather included other tracks not on the original that were more comparable to the rest of the release. The drums and vocals were loud, guitar thin, and I must have listened to it thousands of times on repeat after finally having some tangible version of this. I of course later bought 2LP and CD reissues of other versions of the material. I like the variance -- it gives me more to listen to, more to think about, more to feel, and communicates that "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" was a living document and not a static entity. Yes... that's perfect.

I don't really consider Mutiilation representative of "the Black Legions" even though along with Vlad Tepes they were the flagship band. Notice though how Willie didn't indulge in all of the side projects. There is no need. Yes, other LLN is fantastic and magical, but Mutiilation is the essence of something larger and his friends provide only a glimpse of that. Willie is royalty and "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" is the divine spear wielded by the king, thrown not because he chose to throw it but because the spear willed him to do it. It had to pierce something and he provided only a gentle touch yet his hand was the only one who could wield it. Hail Willie the Peerless forever!