Mayhem Old School Death and Darkness Live On...

The beginning of my new every day jacket. Total dedication to the old black magic, the bands I grew up obsessing over and being haunted by. They’re still my favorites all these years later and I wear these badges proudly.

The Dissection backpatch is a combination made from a shaped logo back I purchased on this site and a Storm of the Light’s Bane custom patch in black and white, made by a Swedish patch distributor called Cellar Patches. I dedicated the back to this album because i think it’s one of the most mesmerIzing ever written. Dissection are a band that perfectly combined harmony with crushing brutality. Everything from the classical acoustic interludes to the assaulting blackened death metal of “Unhallowed” of “Thorns of Crimson Death” blends together into a single cohesive work of pure genius. It creates an arcane, almost medieval aura that I am a total sucker for. RIP Jon Nodtveidt.

The Morbid Angel strip is in honor of the album that gave me nightmares as a teen. While Altars is still my favorite Angel album, I think the skull wielding a flute that we hear on the “Leading the Rats” section of Blessed are the Sick’s title track is one of the all time coolest motifs and most bad ass classical sections in extreme metal history. And Trey is, of course, a god amongst men.

The Mayhem “DMDS” patch is in honor of the band that first got me involved with extreme metal. For me, black metal started with Deathcrush. I obsessed over that album and the entire history of the infamous band. Seeing the band perform the entire DMDS album live was indescribably satisfying and I still think it’s one of the greatest black metal albums ever spawned. Whenever I want to feel like I’m walking RIP Per Yngve Ohlin and Euronymous.

The Immortal “At the heart of winter” patch is dedicated to the band that taught me how to truly appreciate the cold weather. Also, One by One was the first black metal songs I ever heard and nothing would be the same after that moment. Abbath is not only one of the greatest frontmen for a band, but he’s a reminder that we should never takes ourselves too seriously in life. A true hero for music.

The Enslaved pin is dedicated to the band I have seen live the most times. Those guys never get old and they’re constantly progressing into stranger territory as a band. Everything from Vikingligr to Eld, Mardraum to Below the Lights, and the latest offerings are all the result of a dedicated, hard working group of talented musicians. I hope to see these guys performing live for another 20 years!!

And lastly... Emperor. Emperor is king. When I first heard “In the Nightside Eclipse” I was baffled by the band’s ability to paint grandiose landscapes with walls of raw, distorted sounds. Then I heard “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” and proceeded to study it for the next two months straight. “Anthems” is an album saturated with texture, atmosphere, and wonder while still retaining the bleakness of any great black metal album. From front to back, it is one of the most inspiring albums ever created.