‘Les Légions Noires were an infamous group of underground black metal artists/bands that emerged from France in the early 90s in response to the newly born Norwegian second wave of black metal (bands like Mayhem, Burzum and Emperor). With a penchant for prolific demo output, next to no full lengths, rough and raw material, barely audible/listenable recordings, obscure naming conventions, true satanic piety and rabid anti-commercialism – the LLN made a name for themselves by intensifying almost every black metal stereotype known to the metal community.
‘Most of the bands centered around a few very talented and driven individuals – Vorlok Drakkstein, Vordb Dreagvor Uezeerb, Vlad Drakkstein, and Meyhna’ch. However, the volume of bands that the group produced greatly outweigh this, with 20+ groups validated as being part of the LLN. The more well known bands of the group included Mutiilation, Vlad Tepes and Belketre, but there were also other hidden treasures and auditory obscurities which many could rightly regard as simply abstract noise.
‘Being such an obscure group, rumours about their nature have always been rife. More well known tales are of Mogoutre’s demo being recorded with a microphone inside a dead rat, or of the bands recording and living within an ancient castle (dispelled as Meyhna’ch’s archaic home). To further to add to their underground predilection, the band had an unequaled elitist view of black metal with unbridled contempt shown in statements like the following: “Black Metal doesn’t mean anything any longer. It has become the shame of Satan, undermined in it’s very essence by all those pathetic worms, false Satanists, traitors and bastards of all kinds, have gathered to insult our art, and the least one can say is that they really succeeded in making it pure shit, a simple and only matter of image, money, publicity.”
‘While the LLN died silently in darkness by the end of 1996, petering out as other projects, contempt for popularity and alleged drug abuse took its toll, Mutiilation and Vlad Tepes stood out as the most distributed in the group. While the LLN did not last, it’s effects on the French black metal scene clearly did, making way for bands such as Alcest, Mortifera, Celestia and more who may have done away with the necrotic rodent production, but kept the melancholic sensibility. Even afar, bands like Xasthur pay homage to the LLN with Malefic covering Mutiilation and providing keyboards for a French band like Celestia.
‘Like much avant-garde art, the LLN has it’s detractors. Many criticisms about various LLN soundscape projects could even be considered valid, at least if one considers “the conventions” of quality to be “the establishment”, but like those who mock Jackson Pollock, most cynics about LLN are essentially saying “anyone could make those noises!” But the truth is of course, no-one but the LLN ever had the evil imagination to do it.’ — Cynic, Metal Underground
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‘Vlad Tepes was a French black metal band which was formed in Brest in 1992. The name originated from the 15th century Wallachian ruler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire Dracula. Worlok Drakksteim also has a side project named Black Murder. He is the composer of that band, while Wlad Drakksteim is the composer for Vlad Tepes. After a number of self-released demos, the demo-tape War Funeral March (1994) was released on the American market by Full Moon Productions. It was followed the next year by March to the Black Holocaust, a split release with fellow Black Legions act Belkètre, issued on the french Embassy Productions. In 1996, another split album with the Black Legions project Torgeist, Black Legions Metal was released by the French Drakkar Productions.’ — Encyclopaedia Metallum
‘Nos Terribles Pensees’ (1996)
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‘Dzlvarv was a project headed by Vordb Dreagvor Uezeerb of the bands Belketre, Torgeist, and Black Murder. Dzlvarv released one demo in 1996. In typical LLN fashion it is lo-fi, eerie, and bizarre. Their recordings touch on one of the many beautiful things about LLN releases. Tape is really the only format that decays, most LLN releases are tape. I love the idea that the releases have a ‘shelf-life’, and decompose with age like a corpse or dream.’ — COSMIC HEARSE
Dzlvarv ‘5’ (1994)
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‘One of the more underrated Black Legions bands, Torgeist was made of several important and key figures in the French Black Legions scene; Lord Beleth’Rim (voice, guitar), Lord Aäkon Këëtrëh (guitar), Vordb Dréagvor Uëzéërb (bass) and A Dark Soul (drums). For any LLN elitist this is the closest to being a dream team lineup considering that you have the masterminds of such bands like; Amaka Hahina, Moëvöt, Belketre, Aäkon Këëtrëh, Vermeth and so on. Judging from the first song ‘March Of The Black Assemblies’ it sounds like something straight from an Amaka Hahina demo. The vocal delivery is top notch and resembles something like a snake.’ — Encyclopaedia Metallum
Torgeist ‘Time Of Sabbath’ (1995)
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‘Black Murder was a side project to The Black Legions band, Vlad Tepes. Worlok has stated that this side project differed very much from Vlad Tepes, as in this band he was the composer, and in Vlad Tepes, Wlad composed most of the work. He also describes his music as compositions of murder. They released a promo in 1994 and the Feasts demo in 1995. Last known line-up: Vorlok Drakksteim, Wlad Drakksteim, Vordb.’ — blackmurdeefanspage @ myspace
Black Murder ‘Deadsex’
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‘Mütiilation was formed in 1991 by Meyhna’ch, Dark Bumsi of Silence and a bassist by the name of David. They recorded some amounts of demos as a trio until 1994, when David left. This was due to Mütiilation joining The Black Legions and his choice to not follow their views. At this time Mütiilation released an EP to honor the circle titled Hail Satanas We Are The Black Legions. Shortly after Dark Wizzard of Silence was replaced by Krissagrazabeth, who participated in the recordings up until Vampires of Black Imperial Blood. Once again it was due to disagreeing views. At his departure, Mørdrëd joined and became the first Mütiilation bassist to be part of The Black Legions. This line-up would be featured in The Black Plague – First Chapter (And Maybe Last One).’ — discogs
Mütiilation ‘Black Imperial Blood’ (1995)
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‘Formed around 1989 under the name of Chapel of Ghouls the name was changed in ’91 to Zelda, then finally in ’92 became Belketre. As well as Belketre both members, Aakon Keetreh and Avaethre, took part in many other projects with other LLN members. They also had solo projects most notable of these being Keetrehs self titled project Aakon Keetreh and Avaethres project, (under the name of Vordb Dreagvor Uezreevb), Moevot. As with any LLN release, so called genuine works by Belketre come to sites like e-bay and other such places very rarely. Think twice before paying much money for these as they are, more often than not, fakes and bootlegs.’ — belketre @ myspace
Belkètre ‘Last Sigh of God’ (1995)
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‘Started in 1996, Aäkon Këëtrëh is the one-man project of Lord Aäkon Këëtrëh. Lord Aäkon Këëtrëh was one of the more famous figures in the French black metal scene. Belketre, Dzlvarv, and Torgeist were the three black metal projects he contributed to before forming his one-man project. However, once he shifted from his former black metal projects, Aäkon Këëtrëh became solely a dark ambient musical project that held true to the precepts of the Les Legions Noires (the Black Legions). After three demos and a short life span, Aäkon Këëtrëh disbanded in the fall of 1999.’ — Attila the Hun
Aäkon Këëtrëh ‘Dans la forêt – Untitled VIII’ (1996)
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‘Of all LLN bands, the shadowy and impossibly named band Brenoritvrezorkre ventured closest to the most dangerous, the most polluting, the most contagious point in the process of rotting. The four demos which the band released over the course of 1995 and 1996, contain music that is unstable, viscuous, formless. They are amongst those rare albums which seem to exude a smell, a stench (Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is another one). Listening to the music, one fears the aural dirt might rub off onto one’s inner ear, tainting forever the pleasure of listening to music. Like the dead who are not yet without flesh, the decayed sound of Brenoritvrezorkre can haunt its audience.’ — DOCUMENTS
Brenoritvrezorkre ‘nèvgzérya’ (1995)
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‘Moëvöt is the work of a French musician known only under the pseudonym Vordb Dréagvor Uèzréèvb. Very little is known about Vordb. Possibly his name was Stéphane Z, possibly he hailed from the (rather provincial) town of Bergerac in the Dordogne. What seems certain is that Vordb was one of the leading figures of a collective of ‘Les Légions Noires’. Moëvöt is likely to have been only one of Vordb’s many projects, others being Brenoritvrezorkre, Dzlvarv, Susvourtre, Torgeist, Vzaeurvbtre, Dvnaèbkre and (the best-known) Belkètre. It cannot be said with certainty how many demos Moëvöt brought out. Some internet sites list up to twelve demos, but only two demos can definitely be attributed to this project: Voryathre (1993) and the impossibly named Ézléýfbdréhtr Vépréùb Zùérfl Màzàgvàtre Érbbédréà (1994).’ — DOCUMENTS
Moëvöt ‘Verwüstete Landschaften’ (1994)
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p.s. Hey. A reader of this blog who goes by the moniker ami_de_la_mort thinks the place needs a little sprucing up in the form of an introductory overview of the French Black Metal movement Les Légions Noires, and, you know what, they are absolutely right. So please enjoy this venture’s upgrade today as you will, and all my thanks to ami_de_la_mort for their foresight and generosity and effort. ** darbbzz⋆｡°⋆❅*𖢔𐂂☃︎꙳, Hi! Well, now that you’ve explained it to me, I welcome the hazenut BREWED coffee with bells on. That’s so thoughtful, and I’ll endeavor to prove you right. I’ve never actually tried a horchata personally, but I’ve watched friends drink them with delighted expressions. I think I’ll wait until I’m in LA to break that ice. That’s a very beautiful and enlightening description of where you were. And I think your genre mix idea would satisfy yours truly at the very least. ** _Black_Acrylic, Worth the digging around, I think. ** Carsten, Family is mostly an anchor, it’s true. I’ve seen fake Xmas positivity depicted in movies and TV and stuff, but in me and those around me, it feels very real. But I love fake things: amusement parks, etc. And even sappiness can make me tear up sometimes. I could be some kind of sucker. Never ever experienced Thanksgiving outside of the family set up. 4th of July, yes, for sure, always maybe. I do a reading in NYC, and then I head to LA to show ‘RT’ and hopefully lay some groundwork for the IRL home haunt that Zac and I would like to do next year, and then back to NYC for two screenings of ‘RT’, and then home again. A bit over two weeks total. Brain Dead Studios is in the same space as the old Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax if you remember that place. I think BDS is a few years old, I’m not sure. ** Steve, I was thinking of LSD on the weaker front. I suppose mushrooms must still be intact unless they can be interfered with somehow? No, or it’s the very rare store here that pumps out Xmas music all the time. I think just the big department stores. ** Hugo, I agree that the cult of personality thing can be off-putting. I never really like the Beats except for Burroughs and Paul Bowles partially for that reason. And Burroughs’ schtick annoyed me. But, on the other hand, I kind of like Kathy Acker’s persona outlay. My impression is that you’re neither a contrarian nor a tool. You’re just foraging in your own dedicated manner. I’m not sure that Firbank was so popular in his lifetime. But, yeah, a lot of the top British writers now considered experimentalists sold books in bulk in their day. Strange that, since it’s usually the opposite. It’s not raining, but I think it’s going to be any second now. ** Alice, Hi, Alice! Ooh, you caught an MBV show. Amazing. I saw a coupla live clips this morning. I only saw them in their heyday, but they were singularly transformative for sure, and I assume their current show is essentially the same one. I don’t know London well enough to know where the cool bookstores are. That place is confusing to me. Years ago, I seemed to go to bookstores in Camden, but I doubt that’s still the case. ‘Nightwood’s’ amazing, yeah. T.S. Eliot shouting. I’m going to have to really concentrate to imagine that. Have continuing fun in that big city. ** Eric C., Hi. Yes, she’s a really interesting writer. Strange that she seems to be so obscure even amongst people who prize daring, eccentric English language lit. I guess the New Zealand locale must throw people off? Both incarnations of ‘Destroy, She Said’ are very worthy. Up there amongst the best titles ever too, of course. ** Steeqhen, Feel better. Dumb thing to say, but meant. In my past experience, Santa’s sleigh landed on one’s roof at, oh, maybe 3-5 AM, and he unrealistically slid down the chimney, deposited gifts under the tree, ate the cookies that the children of the targeted family left out for him, and then somehow slid back up the chimney and flew onwards. You guys and your remembered dreams. So exotic to moi. ** Jackie, Hi, Jackie! Welcome! I haven’t listened to/seen The Residents in a really long time for no good reason. I only really know their early stuff: ‘The Third Reich ‘n Roll’, ‘Duck Stab’, ‘Eskimo’ and that era of their work. During my brief time at university, I used to play their version of ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ at full blast to infuriate the other people in my dorm. I’ll find ‘Mine is Not Available’ and ‘The Bunny Boy’, thank you! I’d be very interested to explore the rest of their stuff. Yeah, thanks very much for the suggestion and for coming in. How are you? ** HaRpEr //, Yeah, me too, quite obviously, on that type of writer + love. Great, I’m excited for the post, thank you so much! And if it helps you regroup re: your novel, bonus! ‘The commitment to the artifice’: totally. That’s where my home haunt adoration comes from too. ** Uday, Oh, okay, I’ll go look at that photo and concentrate on the lower extremities. Flat asses rule. Awesome on your great day. Me too. Our film got great reviews in the two biggest French newspapers yesterday, and today’s the theater release, and I’m kind of flying. ** Laura, My dad gave me his name plus Jr. He was that kind of egomaniac. I like the name Laura. I do think of the writer and Bataille’s girlfriend Laure when I hear it. And the only girlfriend I ever had was named Laura. Okay, intertexting with you, interesting. I’ll have to get through all the film stuff before I can think about anything. Yeah, I think one theory was that Janet Frame autistic, but I don’t know what’s the deal. So sorry about your bad, symptoms-hampered day. I hope today is very different. Ha, when I had my rock band in high school, we played ‘Heroin’. It was hard. We totally ruined it. Having trouble with Edmund White’s stuff is completely understandable to me. ** Right. Enjoy the darkened sights and sounds today to your fullest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
Hey Dennis,
Have just woken up from a very strange fever dream (which I can correctly label it as, as I have a temperature and the chills). I was in this compound that was a bit like a prison, a summer camp, and a school. I was in a room with another, though originally I had been placed in a room with 5 other beds in the one room — I can’t remember if this was a dream I had months ago or just my mind playing tricks on me as it felt very familiar, like repeating situations. Anyway I was waiting to leave the room as I was too warm and it was raining outside, so I couldnt decide between being out in the rain in shorts and a tshirt, or wrapping up. This guy I’ve kind of been seeing plays a song I made, except does a bad remix and it humiliates me. All of this is just like vignettes and random stories, until I get to the stage where there is some curse or presence from a Japanese horror movie haunting the place, and torturing people. This leads to me having to repeat events and fix them, with this weird system where certain events played at a specific speed, whilst others could be sped up, I think so that they could all be aligned. I woke up and still was convinced that I had to move pillows around to move time and events. I will read the post properly later, just had to get that out of me, as I’m sure the dream itself isn’t as interesting when described as it was when experienced, but it was perhaps the most ‘real’ dream I’ve had in so long, enough that I struggled to recognize the dream from my reality until a few minutes ago…
mate i literally read you had to rape events and fix them lol facepalm
the subconscious is so weird. i had hypokalemia last year and they don’t warn you once your potassium levels start going up again, you’re likely to trip balls. i def did, amongst other things i dreamt i was this idk 90 year old Native American guy and when i woke up i still thought i was that? horrid but also lol wtf
hope your fever breaks soon!
Thank you ami_de_la_mort for this day! The LLN do seem to have had a good thing going.
Trying to think of any equivalent UK scene, and most of the Metal subcultures seem to be situated around Birmingham. Maybe it’s the heavy industries that are concentrated around that area? Could also explain the preference for hard-as-nails Techno around there.
YES this
Yeah I do know where the Silent Movie Theater was. Sorry to learn it’s gone, though I’ve never actually stepped inside. Brain Dead Studios looks like a cool replacement though. I like that someone is challenging Tarantino’s monopoly on “cult movies” with his New Beverly. I see that beside your RT screening they’re doing a Nic Cage retro, which I’m all for, I love that inspired lunatic.
I just listened in on your French radio interview until I realized they’re over-dubbing your voice. Did it go over well?
Gonna ask you what I asked Laura: any thoughts on Carlos Saura? Specifically those flamenco movies, wondering if they’re worth checking out.
Hey Dennis
Well, Firbank always seemed like a kind of mainstream obscurity in his time, in that his influence was more widespread than he was. I discovered him in my granny’s library as well, but then again, she also had “Strait is the Gate” by Gide and some books by Sebald. My judgment of obscurity is quite hampered in that regard.
Funny you bring up Acker, cuz I feel I would’ve been slightly scared of her had we met. I’m sure she and Alice would get along swimmingly, though. I dunno if this is too personal to ask, but what did Acker think of your later work? Reading “Wrong,” I read about the letter she sent you, where she said that the theme of your work put her off. Really, I just wanna know what she thought of “Try”, cuz that’s quite an emotional work in my opinion. I know she could be quite evasive. But I haven’t really read any biography about her apart from maybe flipping through Krauss’s book once and feeling that something was off. But I felt the same way about that Sontag biography by Benjamin Moser that most people liked.
It’s getting cold here in Brussels. Hope you enjoyed the premiere in Paris!
hey Dennis!
you’re Dennis Jr! think i probably like him quite a bit better than Dennis Sr. tbh
gosh, how did my namesake work out for you? was she very hot? i’ve only ever been super in love with two girls, three if kindergarten counts (her name was Eva, perfect lol), and each time she was totally off-type. not as in girl, obvi, just looks-wise. stuff can be so democratic sometimes.
Bataille’s Laure, thnx! i’ve been meaning to read her for a while. her posthumous thing freaks me out, ideally i’d make smth of myself while i’m still with the living and while it can pay for like a new kitchen or smth. but then again, who ever makes themselves happen.
oi what was your band’s name! what did you guys play? i feel Heroin is v easy to do stripped down, but the violin and the drums are almost everything, so… playing piano i figure i’d just let my right hand be the guitar and do weird, cavernous shit w the left and maybe kick the bottom panel a bit or whatever.
i was in a couple of grindcore bands in my late teens (think in the Babes In Toyland direction, i don’t have a voice that cracks well). we were so bad lol. what i make by myself is v diff and possibly a byproduct of just not wanting to bother the neighbours. uh, that’s not all, obvi, but it’s likely how it started.
will be catching your interview! let’s see how good my French is lol.
and i def find Edmund White v lovely and fun to read, it’s just… where is obese uncle Ken getting up to some massive screwball tragedy etc? as i said, i’m still a bit too full of your whole thing to just go and move on. eeevery time i reread you, man.
today was a bit better than yesterday but still sort of patchy, wish me luck and sleep tonight!
<3
@ ami_de_la_mort thnx for the post! those guys actually looked a bit sinister, def more so than American Black Metalists. i’ll be checking them out a bit. now, trying to read the insanity of their noms de guerre, and in a French accent nonetheless, that was a whole thing. and i suspect truly satanic ppl would be a bit more… stoic, maybe? and they should like bastards by default, like, that would never be an insult lol. just how seriously did these blokes take themselves…? wonder what they were like under the whole artifice if that’s what it was. which maybe it wasn’t, but i’m like 70/30 about it. ^_^
Yeah, I’m already feeling more refreshed being away from the book for a moment. I sometimes forget it’s good to do that. With the last book I was actively losing my grip on reality as I wrote it, and I wanted that to show in the final thing as soon as I started getting saner. I put all of these esoteric messages and things in and forgot exactly where they were so I was very careful when tampering with it, as if I’d be haunted by evil spirits if I made a wrong move.
And ugh, same old same old when it comes to that, still sitting on the MS like a hitchhiker with a thumb out in the desert. I’ve sent it to so many places and I guess it’s just a matter of waiting. I might start reaching out to people who aren’t explicitly open or not open to submissions, which I haven’t been doing. One of my unrealistic but dream publishers would be Far West Press because it’s a slim little book which fits with some of their general ethos. I suppose you have to do those kinds of things where you risk making a fool of yourself to get anywhere.
Thanks for writing back! I’m doing okay, lately I’ve been working on some writing and making music in FL Studio. My brother says my beats sound like dungeon synth. The Residents back catalog is definitely worth exploring, I’d also recommend the Wormwood tour video which focuses on the dark side of the Bible and features a great female guest singer named Molly Harvey.
Good post! I’m going to meditate on the phrase ‘true satanic piety’ from the introduction for a bit. Just got back to my room. All tired out, which is good. To sleep now, and perchance to dream. I’m glad you think flat asses rule because this is not received opinion, and would’ve been helpful when mine was basically concave. I’m not so sure that I have much of a preference either way, and really the only physical trait I look out for in somebody is the presence of a chin. Congrats on the reviews! Everything I see about RT makes me want to see it more and more. Bubbling with excitement to either be able to make it to a screening or to catch it when it comes to streaming (and make all my friends watch it).
Hey friend, a little spacey right now so dont expect too much of an introspective comment….i
Can you believe this? Surreal. Its about…2am? Frankie (the cat) is snoring like a wine-filled mother passed out on valium.
Wasnt actually planning on commenting today(well Thursday thanksgiving 2am, technically) but figured since im going to be working the next couple days including A 9 HOUR SHIFT ON BLACK FRIDAY aghhh, I suppose you wont be hearing from me in a bit.
Send me luck and al lifeboat…..9 hours
black friday
fucking
old navy
Im sure the pay will be great tho, probably will use on books and…..other things
Impulsively sent you a Swans meme on instagram, check it out if you want. No hard feelings if not. I will say there have been times ive seen art so weirdly grotesque and shocking that I think”who would actually appreciate me sending this to them without being intently creeped out?” hahaha and I’d just think no that would be so weird if I just randomly sent you something on there. Weird. anyways tomorrow im planning to eat+ watch a movie at a friends house while on shrooms.
Have u ever been addicted to anything? I actually…dont know. Maybe thats too ominous a question for early morning;
I will possibly hold you to that hazelnut/coconut brewed coffee thing…..until my mind inevitably forgets.
What are your thoughts on Tricky and his solo stuff outside Massive attack? DO you like massive attack? Ive had “hell is round the corner” running through my head all week.