As the story goes, Cold Meat Industry was a Swedish label founded in 1987 which specilized in some of the more obscure fringe genres of heavy metal including ambient, martial music, industrial, power electronics, and various iterations of noise. Cold Meat is interesting because this loose affiliation with heavy metal because while never being a true heavy metal label has had its memory carried on by metal bands and prominent metal labels. Enter Ancient Meta Revived, a compilation put together by Nuclear War Now and Iron Bonehead to celebrate the ruminating existence of this nihilistic flagship.
One of the more interesting aspects of this compilation is not just the interpretations of these songs but going back and discovering the source material. Songs like Sinistrous Diabolus’s tribute to Aghast is powerful when backed by slow moving drums and guitars. Spire’s letter of appreciation to In Slaughter Natives takes a brooding industrial track and transforms it into a glacial black/death interlude which is both intriguing and unnerving. Perhaps the most adventuresome is the Temple Nightside metamorphosis of a neoclassical song into something ugly and monstrous.
If you never heard the bands In Slaughter Natives, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, or Ataraxia, do not feel bad as their status has reached cult level but only through obscurity and neglect. The bands that are representing these legends are almost equal in their status unless one follows contemporary extreme metal. Grave Upheaval, Temple Nightside, Spire, and Antediluvian are not premiere acts but their growing legacy is perfect to bow to the altar of dark outsider music. In fact, I can not think of a better match for these two dark worlds.
Kaptain Carbon is the custodian of Tape Wyrm, a mod for Reddit’s r/metal, Creator of Vintage Obscura, and a Reckless Scholar for Dungeon Synth.