As Rob Zombie discusses in the current issue of Revolver, he and guitarist John 5 wrote and recorded a black-metal song for the fictional band Leviathan the Fleeing Serpent featured in Zombie’s new movie, The Lords of Salem. Below, you can view the video for the track, called “Crushing the Ritual.” Let us know what you think in the comments.

U.K. rockers Muse have unleashed the video for their song, “Supremacy,” off their last album, The 2nd Law. In a surprising turn, the clip features corpse-painted surfers and a corpse-painted wedding party. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Interview by J. Bennett

The 2013 edition of the annual Sundance Film Festival, which is going down in Park City, Utah, starting on Thursday, will be extra grim and frostbitten this year with the inclusion of Black Metal, a 9-minute short directed by University of Texas film lecturer Kat Candler. The flick features music from Pallbearer, Horned Almighty, and Vesperian Sorrow, and follows the leader of a black-metal band as he copes with a murder committed by one of his fans. We recently had a chance to chat with Candler. Read what she had to say below, and check out the trailer for Black Metal.

REVOLVER What was the inspiration for the Black Metal short?
KAT CANDLER I became pretty fascinated with this idea of “artist’s guilt” a few years ago: How an audience reacts to something an artist puts out into the world and how that reaction can come back to haunt them. I looked at A Clockwork Orange a lot and how it was pulled from theaters in England after a series of copy cats. The whole Judas Priest case. I did a bunch of research into bands, movies… My stance is that responsibility lies with whoever holds the gun or the knife, but inevitably as a human being it’s hard to shake a feeling of guilt.

I also felt like I hadn’t seen the metal scene on screen in a more humanistic light. I wanted to see the theatrics onstage and then more importantly the reality offstage. I’m much more interested in the human element of a metal scene that’s very fear-based and horror-based and what those musicians look like at home, with their families, their children, going to the grocery store.

I wrote a feature film that dealt with both of these ideas. It went through a bunch of drafts and will continue to go through a bunch more. With the short, I knew I wanted to make something last summer on the heels of our other short film, Hellion, and so I pulled the first act of the feature and whittled it down to a 13-page script. That’s where it started. Hopefully we’ll have a bigger film later on when I get back to writing.

How closely does the finished film resemble your initial idea?
That 13-page script got shaved down to a 9-minute film. So we lost a few scenes that ultimately weren’t necessary. I have to say for the most part it’s definitely what was in my head. We were pretty detailed with how to shoot the show, the house… I had a style and look I was going for. Luckily, I had a fantastic cinematographer, Andrew Droz Palermo, who’s mostly shot music videos and a few horror films and a really great Production Designer, Yvonne Boudreaux. We all talked a lot about the look early on. I sent them a bunch of videos of live shows. I loved that red drenched look. They pulled it off beautifully. I tried pretty hard to do my research and talk to a bunch of folks in the scene and go to black metal shows. I discovered some pretty fantastic bands in Austin and in Texas.

Ultimately, I wanted to be pretty respectful and honest about how I put things on screen. I completely understand how guarded and cautious folks can be about their world. I get it. I’d be the same way.

How were you first exposed to black metal as a music genre?
I was never a metal fan growing up. Even though I worked at the college radio station, was friends with the boys who ran the metal show, and went to support all my friends in bands every weekend. But it I was working at Book People in Austin when Lords of Chaos hit the bookshelves in the late ’90s. People started passing it around and talking about the Norwegian Black Metal scene. At the time I was really into true crime reading Helter Skelter, In Cold Blood, Bully…so my ears definitely perked up. With that said, I was aware of the Norwegian scene for a while. But not until several years ago did I really get into metal. My husband, who’s a total music nerd, started buying all kinds of records, books and pushed it all on me. I finally fell in love with heavy metal. The more I got into it, the more the idea of bringing it to a screen materialized. But to be perfectly honest, I’m more of a death-metal, thrash-metal kind of girl.

REVOLVER How did you and Rick Spears came up with Black Metal?
CHUCK BB At the time I was way into black-metal music, I just couldn’t get enough, so of course my drawings reflected it. I started doodling these two metalhead hooligans with corpse paint, but I had very little planned out aside from the fact that they had a sword. I met up with Rick years ago–I already knew his work–and when I showed him some of the character designs, he got pretty into the idea, and I sent him a bunch of Darkthrone and Emperor and he fleshed out the story like a real champion of the deep.

As the artist, how much input do you have on the story behind the comic book? Does Rick send you a story, or do you two collaborate?
It’s a fairly collaborative process. Rick handles the writing, but we always discuss where it is going beforehand. And then I end up coming back with notes. Mostly my notes are something like, “Can we change this minotaur into a goat-a-taur?”

Your artistic style is very different from traditional black-metal art—not as much cross-hatching, more clean lines. What did you do to inject the music’s atmosphere into your artistic style?
Use a lot of black! Partly that’s true, I think that there is a good amount of contrast in the books, that is sort of indicative of those great Darkthrone album covers. Of course the style I work in is very cartooned–and that is something pretty foreign to black metal, which has an image that is taken very seriously. But I think that the subject matter of the genre lends itself to cartooning. It’s how I draw, and I love black metal–so it’s what I do.

Tell us about Sam and Shawn Stronghand, their origin and design. Though they’re twins, what differentiates them as characters–other than a hoodie?
Don’t forget their corpse paint patterns are different. Shawn is the de facto leader of the two, because he wields the sword. Sam is the more visceral feral brother, who will get a little more violent and probably says fewer words. But their differences become much more apparent in Black Metal 2, where the twins truly find their individual voices and motivations.

Black Metal Vol. 1 sees Sam and Shawn defeating the ruling Baron of Hell. Where does Vol. 2 take us?
I think Gaahl of Gorgoroth said it best “…Satan.” It is those aforementioned differences between the Brothers Stronghand that come into play story-wise.  All the while delving deeper into hell and ascending to the blasphemous bureaucracy of Heaven. We see much more of Satan, and it is very likely that the twins will come face to face with the Bringer of Light.

The figure of Satan Himself only shows up at the very end of Black Metal Vol. 1—why wait so long? Many would think Satan to be the pivotal character in the story of this music…
Of course you can’t have black metal without Satan, we knew that–but we wanted to build up to that. And I won’t say too much, but Book 2 has plenty of the big guy. Black Metal 2 gives us a pretty solid look at Satan, his origins in heaven and in hell. So Don’t worry–Satan is fully covered in the world of Black Metal 2, and he proves to be very pivotal.

A big part of Vol. 1 is Frost Axe, your fictional black-metal band. What went into their creation? In your mind, how do Frost Axe sound?
Initially, I think we had settled on the name Wintre Blade, but after a moment it became apparent that was way too fantasy/power metal. I always envisioned them as sort of an Immortal-like band. Big giant Norsemen, who dress like black-metal wrestlers. I think they sound just like Immortal as well, but with a Burzum-like production value. There is something bigger than life about a band like Immortal, and, on top of having this crazy image with all the posing and wireless guitar playing on mountain tops, they also put out some pretty great tunes. I was able to get Christophe Szpajdel to design Frost Axe’s new logo which appears in Black Metal 2. You may know his logo work from a little band called Emperor and many others. It is totally awesome

Many would see writing a comic book about black metal as poking fun at the genre, but Black Metal is very serious and respectful. Is it a hard balance to keep—being funny, but not hating on the music?
I love every aspect of black metal, from the kvlt grimness of low-fi recording to the ridiculous corpse paint–I honestly think it is all so cool. But you have to be sort of blind, even within this genre, by now to not find some things relatively humorous about it. Still, it was very important for us to not poke fun directly at the genre, and this is where I think the style I chose to draw it in comes in handy. The art style is fun, and has some humor to it–but the subject matter is almost completely serious and intense as hell. I think the book comes off pretty reverential to the genre, and metal in general–with many references and capturing the overall attitude of a teenage black-metal kid.

Tell us about your own experiences getting into black metal.
Living in Los Angeles, it may seem pretty hard to identify with a music born out of frost and an overbearing Christian presence–but something about the music just drew me in. From the imagery, to the melodies…it just connected with me. There is something so genuine about black metal, especially the early stuff, it’s hard not to admire because it came from such a real place.

You reference tons of bands in the comics, both visually and textually—who are your favorite black-metal bands? Who do you listen to while draw
Yes, we definitely wanted to pepper the book with lyrical reference and visual references. There are just so many great lyrics to quote, Rick and I would just keep emailing each other back and forth with different choice selections. Easily my favorite piece of black metal is Ulver’s black-metal Trilogie. I even have all three of the albums on picture-vinyl in the box set, because I am a nerd. Of course, I regularly listen to Emperor, Burzum, and Darkthrone for inspirations, as far as newer bands I’m really enjoying Nachmystium, Agalloch, and Wolves in the Throne Room… I just recently started listening to the new Absu album, and if it is as good as their last, it may go into the Black Metal inspiration pile. The truth is I listen to way too many to even remember everything and some of the stuff absolutely blends together. Beyond that, I am not limited only to metal while I work, and I do imbibe quite a bit of podcasting and Howard Stern.

How have metal fans responded to Black Metal?
I was pretty worried how It would be received by metalheads, that that might think we were mocking the genre or taking the genre for our own purposes.  But the goal was always to sort of write a love letter to metal music and attitude. Thankfully, it has been almost 100-percent positive. I have met a lot of metalheads who love the book. I even had one guy say that Shawn and Sam reminded of he and his brother when they were younger. I think we really connected with the metal mentality in the book, and its kind of the only thing like it in comics. Comics and metal have more of an overlap than it might seem, or at least that is what I’ve found.

How long do you and Rick intend the keep Black Metal going?
We have always planned on it being a three-volume series–so the next volume will be the last. I know what the end is, Rick has already finished the script…and it is extremely “Black Wizards.”

French black metallers Glorior Belli have just revealed the cover art and track listing (see below) for their new album The Great Southern Darkness, which will be released through Metal Blade on September 27, 2011.

Here’s what the band has to say about the new release: “The Great Southern Darkness has been recorded over a few months period and is comprised of 11 tracks that magnify all the best elements of Glorior Belli in a twisted unique way again; a tremendous journey through dark deserts and evil swamps with Lucifer as a personal guide. It’s also dangerously violent and fast, yet at the same time really dark with all the Americana/stoner/blues elements that we cherish. Though often warm and almost inviting, the allure of Glorior Belli’s bidding is revealed by a vicious duplicity; you will find comfort here, but at an unspeakable toll. The production is clear yet just harsh enough to bring a warm, fuzzy and completely unique sound you won’t find in any other modern recordings. So load up your haversack and hit the dusty road!”

The Great Southern Darkness Track Listing:
1. Dark Gnosis
2. Secret Ride To Rebellion
3. They Call Me Black Devil
4. Negative Incarnate
5. Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme
6. The Great Southern Darkness
7. The Foolhardy Venturer
8. Per Nox Regna
9. The Science Of Shifting
10. Chaos Manifested
11. Horns In My Pathway

Glorior Belli are:
Julien: Vocals + Guitar
Gionata: Drums
Davide: Bass
Bjørn: Guitar

Chris “Cheese Dog” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels,

On June 3, I saw Marduk with Aura Noir, Black Anvil, Hod, Panzerfaust, and Natur at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in NYC. Here’s what I witnessed.

• Number of hours spent being tattooed before the show: Three.
• General feeling: Just…just a little woozy.
• General feeling about the tattoo: Hail!
• Easiest way to find the Williamsburg Music Hall: Follow the guy in the Nunslaughter T-shirt!
• Disheartening sight of the night: The sheer lack of Aura Noir merch available. I wanted an “Ugliest Band In Metal” shirt!
• Onstage when I arrive at Williamsburg Music Hall: Natur from Brooklyn.
• Sounds like: Blackened thrash with over-the-top power-metal moments. Pretty entertaining overall.
• Happy time fun fact: The cover of Natur’s Spider Baby EP is preeeetty fucking cool.
• Number of people in corpse paint present: So far only one, and his is pretty low key.
• Thoughts on this: Marduk is just a little too militant and nihilistic for people to dress up in full black-metal costume for.
• Unlike: When I saw Immortal in February: Half the crowd wore corpse paint.
• Next up: Panzerfaust from Ontario.
• Sounds like: Really raw, acidic black metal powered by thrashing rage and morbid chugs.
• Overall opinion: Any band that turns their mic stand into a chain-and-skull-covered inverted cross is OK by me.
• Rainbow puppy good time fact: The band’s name is taken either from the Darkthrone album of that title or a German anti-tank weapon whose name means “armor fist.”
• Hope for the night: That some corset-wearing black-metal chick will notice my awesome new tattoo and swoon over me.
• Only people who notice my awesome new tattoo: Two Mexican black-metal dudes, in the bathroom.
• Sustenance consumed: A cheese dog and a Lone Star over at the Levee on North 3^rd Street.
• Now, we have: Hod from San Antonio, Texas.
• Sounds like: Unrelenting death-march black metal instilled with a weirdly American sense of groove and sweep.
• Number of leather/denim vests onstage: 4.
• Number of members in Hod: 4.
• Diagnosis: True.
• “Say No To Drugs” fact: Hod’s first demo is named Cry And Piss Yourself. You only wish you could come up with such an awesome title.
• Weirdest merch: Thin metal shields and blasphemous art prints by Remi from Light’s Eclipse Productions. (Check his shit out at remiart.carbonmade.com).
• Other random items sold: A whole bunch of rare patches, sold, I think, by the dudes from Warhemic in Flushing.
• Patches include: A Raped God 666 patch! Holy shit, I just got a Raped God 666 patch! MEXICAN METAL DEATH SQUAD ARISE!
• On that note: Black Anvil from Brooklyn.
• Sounds like: Shred-heavy thrash with holocaustic black-metal overtones and brilliantly dark lyrics.
• Favorite song of the evening: The cunt-punching declaration of “Angels To Dust.”
• Explanation: It’s not a song about cunt-punching; it just feels like some huge unholy necrospirit has uppercutted you clean in your cunt.
• Members of the Metal Press Class Of 2009 present: Two that I’ve run into—Henry Yuan and “Grim” Kim Kelly.
• Members of the local Brooklyn metal militia present: At least six, including Lucky 13’s Melody Henry, Ralph from Demilitia, and a slew of others.
• Shout outs: Done and done, son.
• Second to last: Aura Noir from Oslo, Norway.
• Sounds like: Furious black metal-inspired thrash putridity.
• Personal response: AURA FUCKING NOOOOOIR!
• Standout track of the night: “Unleash The Demon.” What lyrics.
• “Unleash the demon!”: “Come satisfy my need!”
• “Release the semen!”: ….uuuuh…
• Aura Noir songs to look up when you get home: “Death Mask,” “The Pest,” “Blood Unity,” “South American Death.”
• Physical state at this point: Semi-conscious.
• State of my tattoo: Officially starting to throb like a bastard.
• Finally: Marduk, from Norrkøping, Sweden.
• Sounds like: Steel-plated occult war brigade marching across a field of desecrated coffins and burnt church remains.
• Peace love and happiness fact: Marduk’s lead singer Mortuus studies Judo (I believe) and threw a drunken fan over his shoulder at a show.
• Performance observation: Man, these guys are killing it, much more so than the last time I saw them.
• Favorite track: “Burn My Coffin.”
• Wave of nausea and exhaustion: Sudden and jarring.
• Number of times I’ve missed “Panzer Division Marduk” encore: Twice, once due to excessive drunkenness, once due to tattoo-inspired blood loss.
• Diagnosis: False.
• But guess what: No one really gives a shit.

In addition, the band’s two full-lengths—2006′s Whore of Bethlehem and 2009′s The Light-Devouring Darkness—will be re-released by Debemur Morti Productions as 12-inch picture discs. The albums’ art and layout are currently being reworked by Finnish artist Helgorth from Babalon Graphics.

Fans can also catch the band perform at select festivals this summer, including a headlining set at Germany’s Deathkult Open Air in Gera, Thüringen, Norway’s Hole in the Sky Festival in Bergen and the fourth edition of the Return Of Darkness & Evil Festival in Clifton, NJ, which is the band’s only East Coast appearance.

Aura Noir formed in 1993 by Apollyon (Immortal, Cadaver, Lamented Souls) and Aggressor (Virus, Dødheimsgard, Infernö), with Blasphemer (Mayhem, Ava Inferi) joining in 1996. In 2005, Aggressor fell from the fourth floor of a building, though he is slowly making progress. Obliteration’s Kristian Valbo will fill in the drum position on this tour.

5/27 – Maryland Deathfest – Baltimore, Maryland
5/29 – Les Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, Quebec*
5/30 – Wreck Room – Toronto, Ontario*
5/31 – Reggie’s Rock Club – Chicago, IL*
6/1 – I Rock – Detroit, MI*
6/2 – Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH*
6/3 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY*
6/4 – Mojo 13 – Wilmington, DE
6/6 – Key Club – West Hollywood, CA
6/10 – Espacio 1900 – Puebla, MX
6/11 – Foro Alicia – Mexico City, MX

* with Marduk