Les Légions Noires | |
|---|---|
| Origin | France |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1993–1997, 2015–present |
| Labels | Drakkar End All Life Full Moon |
| Past members | Lord Aäkon Këëtrëh Lord Beleth'Rim Vordb Bathor Ecsed Vorlok Drakksteim Wlad Drakksteim Dark Wizzard of Silence Krissagrazabeth Lord Meyhna'ch Lord Ogvdreb Lord Urvdrem Mørdrëd / Belinda |
Les Légions Noires (also known asThe Black Legions in English, or simply abbreviated toLLN) is a movement of French undergroundblack metal musicians and their bands, centered mostly around the city ofBrest, inBrittany. The bands involved limited their releases to very small numbers (often just enough to get to the other circle members), and distributed them among friends and close workers.
Possibly the circle was formed in the late 1980s, early 1990s, in response to the supposed Norwegian "Black Metal Inner Circle". According to a 2005 series inTerrorizer magazine on the history of black metal, "A bunch ofcorpsepainted characters, rumoured to be drawn from such acts asMütiilation, Torgeist andVlad Tepes named themselves the 'Black Legions' as a tribute to the so-called 'Black Mafia' Norwegian BM heroesDarkthrone andBurzum, who were supposedly ready to terrorize Christians a couple of years before."[1] The first recordings of LLN members came about in the early 1990s, and their influence was acknowledged in the same issue ofTerrorizer: "One should never count out France, primarily as the home of the inscrutably influential Black Legions of ridiculous rawness during the mid-90s."[2]
Regarding their influences, Wlad Drakksteim of Vlad Tepes referred, in an interview withPetrified magazine, toHellhammer and especiallyBathory: "Every True Black Metal Horde should play in old Bathory style."[3] When asked about the "Norwegian Black Metal Mafia", he said, "Norwegian mafia did lots of 'bad' things to this world. With Euronymous death MAYHEM is definitely dead and it's better like that as it will help Black Metal to return to darkness. [Euronymous] must be in peace now so I don't complain [lament?] him. And about Varg Vikernes (BURZUM) I don't have any opinion. WE have OUR opinions and he certainly knows them so..."[4]
The best-known bands of the LLN are Mütiilation (the one-man band formed byWilliam Roussel, also known as Meyhna'ch), Belketre, Torgeist, and Vlad Tepes.
Vlad Tepes have been outspoken in the goals of their black metal: "We are Black Legions of Satan, we are the immortal warriors of Black imperial blood. We are here to pervert christian worms and they shall face the Black holocaust. It's near!"[4]
While none of the bands involved in Les Légions Noires released any new material from 1998 to 2014, Belketre released a new EP entitledRyan Èvn-A in 2015. It is unclear if the bands were inactive during that time or simply preferred not to release their material to the public.
Personnel: |
| Function: |
| Project name | AäK | BLT | VRD | WOR | WLD | NFL | NAI | MYH | KRS | ADS | Releases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aäkon Këëtrëh | ┿ | 3 demos | |||||||||
| Amaka Hahina | ┿ | 3 demos, 1 CD | |||||||||
| Belathuzur | ┿ | 2 demos | |||||||||
| Belkètre | ┿ | ┿ | 4 demos, 1 CD | ||||||||
| Black Murder | ┿ | ┿ | ┿ | 2 demos | |||||||
| Brenoritvrezorkre | (vo,gt,dr) | ┿ | dr | 14 demos | |||||||
| Dvnaèbkre | ┿ | ┿ | 1 demo | ||||||||
| Dzlvarv | ┿ | 1 demo | |||||||||
| Moëvöt | ┿ | ┿ | 7 demos | ||||||||
| Mütiilation | ┿ | (dr) | 6 CDs, 3 EPs, 6 demos | ||||||||
| Satanicum Tenebrae | all | 3 demos | |||||||||
| Seviss | ┿ | 2 demos | |||||||||
| Susvourtre | dr | vo,ba | 1 demo | ||||||||
| Torgeist | gt | gt,vo | ba | dr | 3 demos, 1 CD | ||||||
| Uatrb Vélèpr | ┿ | 1 demo | |||||||||
| Vagézaryavtre | gt,vo,ba | vo | 1 demo | ||||||||
| Vérmyapre Kommando | ba | gt,vo,dr | (dr) | 2 demos | |||||||
| Vlad Tepes | ba,vo | vo,gt,dr | (dr) | 10 demos, 2 CDs | |||||||
| Vzaeurvbtre | ┿ | ┿ | 3 demos |
