The soundtrack to war.

Hatred and war are perhaps the most common tropes in heavy metal. They're as deep-rooted in metal as the drum set is and have, admittedly, always been easy themes to fall back on when imagination fails to do its job. I'd be of the few who believe that Canada's Blasphemy were as instrumental in the formation of extreme metal as the likes of Bulldozer and Hellhammer, and the hellish canucks' influence on the following groups is immeasurable. While it may have taken them almost a decade to release any recorded audio, there's no doubt that these bands that refer to themselves as "war metal" (I hate the term), learned everything they know from Blasphemy. Not to mention a certain horde of Brazilian savages whose numbers were many and whose hatred was seething. 

So if you ever find yourself riding through city streets on horseback and swinging an indiscriminate bastard sword, you might consider these musicians to accompany your gore-soaked campaign. 

Proclamation - Crucifixion Vomit

Perhaps my favourite of the lot, probably because they were my first "war metal" band, Proclamation are the sound of primitive war drums bouncing and ringing on a rain-drenched battlefield. Theirs is the music of ripping flesh, chiming iron and post-war ritualistic cannibalism. There's nothing nice about them. They're not very nice. Spain is warm, its nice, its death metal is fucking disgusting.

Tetianblood- Whore Mass

Again, proof that the Spanish are among the generals leading the global death metal scene, Teitanblood are the perfect mixture of the old school and (what I personally like to call;) the new wave of extremity. Inhuman growls echo over the explosive crack where violent waves meet jagged cliffs.

Morbosidad - Conjuro Infernal

Morbosidad's history is as chaotic as their music. With two drummers dying violently, one in a rehearsal room explosion and the other falling to his doom from a three-story building, Morbosidad have overcome many obstacles in their career and have been hammering out sonic barbarism since 1993.

Nyogthaeblisz- The Abysmal Wargoat

You don't get much more raw and hateful than Nyogthaeblisz. They are perhaps one of the few black metal (?) bands in this day and age that truly promote hatred. Operating out of Texas and with connections to a seemingly legitimate Neo-Nazi record label, Nyogthaeblisz's history is as confusing as the pronunciation of their name. I wrote an article recently regarding Neo-Nazi bands and how awful they are, but if Nyogthaeblisz are of the idiotic, race-obsessed persuasion, then they are probably the only Nazi band I enjoy listening to.

Weregoat - Antichrist Kommand

There is absolutely no foreplay with Weregoat. They simply penetrate immediately and leave before you've even had a chance to clean up. I could use all of the same adjectives to describe them as I have many of the bands above, but these yankey-doodle brutes don't fuck around with atmosphere or setting. They come at you suddenly and their deed is done before you've noticed limbs missing.