Nargaroth

"Kanwulf" redirects here. For the fictional character, see List of Highlander characters.

Nargaroth
Origin	Germany
Genres	Black metal
Years active	1996 - present
Labels	No Colours Records
Members
René "Kanwulf" Wagner
Past members
Akhenaten Occulta Mors L'hiver

Nargaroth is a German black metal band led by René "Ash" Wagner, formerly known as “Kanwulf”.

History

Wagner had earlier claimed that Nargaroth was formed in 1989, the seven track instrumental demo Orke was released in 1991, and the demo Herbstleyd in 1993. Years later, after many accusations from the international BM scene he stated in his webside (www.nargaroth.de) that the genesis of Nargaroth was in 1996 after the band Exhuminenz, formed by himself, R.S., Charoon and Darken (not to be confused with Rob Darken of Graveland fame)split up. The afore mentioned Nargaroth demo tapes were completed and recorded no earlier than 1998 with the aid of Charoon on guitar and a drum machine. Nargaroth's first album Herbstleyd (Autumnal Suffering) was released by No Colours Records in December 1998, followed in 2000 by the Amarok compilation of older and unreleased material including the promo version of the song "Herbstleyd", a Burzum cover, among others. The demo Fuck Off Nowadays Black Metal got released on the same year. This demo is said to be limited to 333 tapes and 100 LPs by the label Sombre Records; it was re-released by No Colours Records on Pic LP limited to another 333 copies in 2005.

In 2001, No Colours Records released Black Metal ist Krieg, considered Kanwulf's dedication to black metal. This album spawned countless misconceptions for both the band and artist, most notably being labeled as a Nazi for including photographs of relatives of his that served in the Nazi army during WW2, this being meant as a dedication to his deceased family members, regardless of their political affiliations; and being labeled as an avid Burzum supporter for the song "The Day that Burzum Killed Mayhem" which only retells the story of the murder of the Mayhem leader Euronymous by the hands of the Burzum sole member Count Grishnackh. It was followed in 2002 by Rasluka Part II, which along with "Rasluka part I", is dedicated to the memory of R.S. whose suicide in 1995 greatly affected Wagner. The third album Geliebte des Regens (Beloved of the Rain) was recorded in the same sessions as the Rasluka series and got released in 2003. 2004 saw release of live album Crushing Some Belgian Scum, Rasluka Part I, and Prosatanica Shooting Angels. This last release was originally intended to be a side project of Wagner's called Prosatanica with the recording being called "Shooting Angels". This record has plenty of jokes within it; many of which would go unnoticed by most people for the jokes not being of obvious nature; in both the music, layout and sometimes lyrical content too. The next album Semper Fidelis marked Wagner's parting of his former artistic persona of "Kanwulf" and the genesis and embrace of his new gimmick, simply "Ash", which has been his nickname since his childhood. This decision was taken as a means to estrange himself from the rest of the BM scene, which for the most part never understood his work; thus his new "Ash" persona would work as an artist with very little or rather no regard for any scene. It got released by No Colours Records in 2007 in regular jewel case CD and a box-set limited to 99 hand numbered copies that included the CD, the double LP version of the album which included several bonus tracks, a DVD titled "Burning Leaf", a T-shirt and other things and personal effect of Wagner himself of which he felt the urge of getting rid of (e.g., this wedding ring of his first marriage).

Wagner played one show in Mexico and Guatemala in 2008.

In 2009 the album "Jahreszeiten" (Seasons) got released on A5 digibook version and double LP. The vinyl version contains spoken intros to each song, these intros are not included in the CD version. In 2009 he engaged in a full tour of South America and in 2010 he toured most Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) and gave a few extra shows in Colombia and Venezuela.

The new Nargaroth album "Spectral Visions of Mental Warfare" was released in 2011.

René Wagner

Wagner classifies his music as "German Hateful and Misanthropic Metal", not as black metal; he does so as he claims black metal is mainly influenced by Satanism whereas Nargaroth is not. Despite Wagner’s denial, as the music resembles classic black metal and the emotional background and influence being an essence of black metal, Nargaroth is often seen as a black metal band.

Wagner participated in the NSBM band Totenburg for some rehearsals as a personal favor to a then member of the band with whom he was acquainted with at the time but was never a member of the band.

In the booklet for Herbstleyd, Wagner wrote the statements:

• “To the higher honour of the German soldiers of the Wehrmacht 1933-1945. The Negation of their achievements and closing the eyes for their readiness to sacrifice, especially in the last year of the war, is a shame for our nation.^[1]
• “German Hateful and Misanthropic Metal, made from White man for White man.”

However, while interviewed by "Magacinum ab ovo", Wagner said he sees Nazism as a mental restriction and that he had no fascist ideas because he was a supporter of the Kriegsgräberfürsorge, a German organization caring for graves of soldiers similar to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the MIA International.^[2][3]

Discography

• Orke demo (1998)
• Herbstleyd demo (1998)
• Herbstleyd (1998)
• Amarok (2000)
• Fuck Off Nowadays Black Metal demo (2000)
• Black Metal ist Krieg (2001)
• Rasluka Pt. II (2002)
• Geliebte des Regens (2003)
• Crushing Some Belgian Scum (live) (2004)
• Rasluka Pt. I (2004)
• Prosatanica Shooting Angels (2004)
• Semper Fidelis (2007)
• Semper Fidelis Boxset (2007)
• Jahreszeiten (2009)
• Spectral Visions of Mental Warfare (2011)

References

1. ^ “Zur höheren Ehre der deutschen Soldaten der Wehrmacht 1933–1945. Die Negierung ihrer Leistungen sowie das Augenverschließen vor ihrer Opferbereitschaft, gerade im letzten Kriegsjahr, ist die Schande unserer Nation!”
2. ^ Interview with Magacinum ab ovo, 1999 (German)
3. ^ archived cached copy

Spectral Visions of Mental Warfare (2011)

External links

• Official Website