Metal Mixology for April 28th!
- Jason Hesley
- Apr 28, 2025
- 4 min read
The latest edition of Metal Mixology comes from the band Horrenda!
1. Harakiri for the Sky, Agrypnie – "Burning from Both Ends"
Album: Aokigahara
In truth, most of this list could have just been Harakiri for the Sky. Their melancholic yet aggressive style, paired with emotional, poetic lyrics, creates an atmosphere that’s utterly powerful. I couldn’t help but be inspired by their work.
This track was one of the first I heard by HFTS, and it hooked me immediately. The vocal blend and the juxtaposition between beautiful, melodic guitar parts and raw tremolo picking was unlike anything else. I had to dive deeper.
Without them, there’s no Horrenda. They are my favorite metal band. For me, they’re the benchmark of modern blackened metal and a continuing source of inspiration.
2. Karg – "Alles wird in Flammen stehen"
Album: Alles wird in Flammen stehen
Karg would also feature heavily here if I didn’t limit myself to one track per band. There’s a lot of crossover between HFTS and Karg in both sound and members, but Karg leans more into atmospheric and depressive black metal.
The vocals in German add an extra raw and native intensity. Their long-form epics breathe and pulses with atmosphere. The clean section in this track is hauntingly perfect. Their new album “Marodeur” is on my regular rotation.
3. Mayhem – "Life Eternal"
Album: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Mayhem basically invented the genre—this album is core black metal. Any track from it could’ve made this list.
"Life Eternal" stands out for its cold riffs, fantastic walking bass line, and focused drumming. It’s a journey rather than just a collection of parts. That approach to songwriting has stuck with me.
4. In Flames – "Versus Terminus"
Album: Come Clarity
Melodic death metal was a massive discovery for me as a teen, and In Flames was central to that. The Gothenburg-style hooky riffs became a big part of how I play guitar.
Our shows in Horrenda are intense—we channel that same energy in tracks like “AxeWound” and “Doom Tranquility.” The galloping chug in this song shows up at the end of “Come and See.”
“AxeWound” was my attempt at writing a Gothenburg-style song. At The Gates, Dark Tranquility and The Haunted are all key influences.
5. Dimmu Borgir – "The Chosen Legacy"
Album: In Sorte Diaboli
Black metal is a broad spectrum, and this era of Dimmu captured something special—aggressive, layered, dark, and catchy.
This album is a masterclass in production. Vocals are on point, and the tightness between Hellhammer’s drumming and the guitars makes it pop. There are “better” songs on this album, but this one is a blast to play along to. It shaped how I approach songs like “Doom Tranquility” and the faster songs on the set. Also, it’s where I picked up reverse arpeggio picking.
6. Behemoth – "Ben Sahra"
Album: The Satanist
I didn’t “get” Behemoth until I saw them on tour for The Satanist, and then it all clicked. "Ben Sahra" has such a haunting, ritualistic vibe that just consumed me.
The atmosphere, the samples, and the performance live were what made me a fan and drove me to explore their earlier work. This track is a slow burn and a jewel in any set. We use similar structuring in our live sets, letting a song like “Dioltas” function as a break in the chaos that consumes the live audience.
7. Megadeth – "Blackmail The Universe"
Album: The System Has Failed
This was a toss up between Megadeth or Children of Bodom in this spot. In Ireland during the mid-2000s, if you liked heavy music, you either fully dove into metal from the USA or the Spinefarm/Nuclear Blast stuff from Norway, Finland and Sweden.
For me a standout, and often I was alone on this, was Megadeth. From the opening of “The System Has Failed”, if you've seen us live, you can see how much I've been influenced by it.
We found ourselves getting political from the start; this is mostly focused on modern Ireland which has become a dystopia resulting from generational corruption and social apathy.Horrenda often tries to make people face the ills of Irish society. Very much in a manner that Megadeth have been in theirs.
We use samples heavily in our set to add to the show and that was picked up from how effective they are in this album.
The main riff in this song has inspired me a lot. I wrote a similar pattern for our songs “16 Deadmen” and “Dian”; Dave Mustaine has always been a genius and been a major influence on me and the Horrenda as a whole.
8. Shining – "Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra"
Album: V. Halmstad
Horrenda is rooted in DSBM. When I started the band, it was a solo project heavily inspired by this album. Halmstad is emotionally devastating. The use of samples and melodic breaks paints a pitch-black, hopeless soundscape and it is one that demands introspection. That raw emotional catharsis is something I still try to channel.
9. Lifelover – "I Love (To Hurt) You"
Album: Erotik
Lifelover approaches DSBM through a more avant-garde and deeply depressive lens. I find myself circling back to them time and time again.
Their mix of black metal with rock and post-punk that jumps in and out of the genre, while maintaining absolute bleakness, is just unmatched. As Horrenda evolves, they’ve become a crucial inspiration for new material. Look for our upcoming single “Meanwhile”; or catch it live as it is in our current set.
10. Totalselfhatred – "Enlightenment"
Album: Totalselfhatred
Black metal has to be felt. Ireland is cold and depressing; we try to use that in the same way that Totalselfhatred did with their minimalistic and nihilistic approach. You can feel the coldness in the music and that realness is everything I look for in the darker corners of black metal.
I aim to channel that in our more traditional black metal tracks. You can really hear that influence in “Sluagh” and “Primordial Knowing” which use a lot of Irish myths as metaphors for the corruption of Ireland and despair which comes from living in modern Ireland.
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