Winter is the ideal season for listening to black metal, but if you’re in need of a beach vacation and still want to retain your “trve kvlt” status, these surf rock interpretations of classic black metal songs should serve as a fair consolation prize if you can’t manage to get away and rub your toes in the sand while basking in the warmth of the enemy sun.
At least one YouTuber and clever musician realized this dilemma — or one quite similar, we imagine — and executed the perfect vision of what it’s like to hang 10 while embracing 666. Giving it all a humorous spin (as if the premise alone wasn’t funny enough), Ventus played around with the names of iconic Norwegian black metal groups to cast them in a more beach-positive light — Mayhem became The Mayhems, Darkthrone became The Darkthrones, etc. — and fed off the monikers of surf rock legends such as The Ventures, The Beach Boys and The Surfaris.
Song names also got revamped while the instrumentation morphed into what sounds like the cloudiest day there’s even been at the beach. “Freezing Moon” off Mayhem’s infamous De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas debut got reimagined as “Surfin’ Moon,” Gorgoroth‘s “Carving a Giant” was reworked as “Carving a Giant Wave” by The Gorogoroths and… well, you get the point.
If it’s actual black metal songs you’re after, you can follow Loudwire’s ‘Early Black Metal’ playlist, but if you want frosty nostrils and the taste of sea salt on your lips, check out the black metal/surf rock tracks directly below. And if you’ve never liked black metal, this is likely the most agreeable you’ll ever find it to be.
Forget “sun’s out, guns out,” try on “surf’s up, horns up!”
The Mayhems, “Surfin’ Moon”
The Darkthrones, “Californian Hunger”
The Immortals, “Lifeguards”
The Gorgoroths, “Carving a Giant Wave”
The Beherits, “The Surf of Nanna”
30 Perplexing Rock + Metal Mashups
Rock and metal can mingle with pop music (and pop culture) in fascinating ways, including the many puzzling but enthralling rock mashups that often mix artists who are heavy with songs that usually aren’t.
