In the early days of the second wave of black metal, Norway had its Helvete-based “Black Metal Inner Circle” and France had it “Les Légions Noires” to discourage mainstream reception to the underground nature of the trve kvlt. These tight-knit, closed groups were – from an outside perspective – dangerous hotbeds of militant and occult activity when in reality they were just angry kids making obnoxious music. Chile draws inspiration from these, however, with its own affiliation of black metal artists, the “Pure Raw Underground Black Metal Plague circle,” and Gryftigæn is a central force in all this. Their first record – Graven til Måneåpenbaringer – reflects this perfectly. Not only is its concept – death worship, black sorcery and primitivism – exactly what typified so many of the ea...
