Hellig Usvart is the debut album by Australian black metal band Horde, released in 1994 on Nuclear Blast Records. The name is Norwegian for "Holy Unblack." The term "unblack metal" used to describe Christian black metal artist is a reference to the title of this album.
Upon its release, the album created a controversy among the black metal fans; death threats were sent to Nuclear Blast demanding the label to drop the album from its catalog because the album contains Christian, anti-Satanic lyrics that counteract the usual black metal thematics at the time. Because of the strong lyrical contradiction, the album was thought to be a parody of the Norwegian black metal movement by magazines such as Morgenbladet in 1995. Sherlock, however, has denied that the album was meant to be a parody.
The sole member of the band, Jayson Sherlock who used the pseudonym Anonymous, has later stated in interviews that the album was intended to bring "some hope, some light to the bleak black metal subculture." Several labels have re-issued the album since, as Hellig Usvart achieved a respected landmark status in the Christian metal movement, and it is regarded as the first and most groundbreaking Christian black metal album.
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01.
A Church Bell Tolls Amidst the Frozen Nordic Winds
02.
Blasphemous Abomination of the Satanic Pentagram
03.
Behold, the Rising of the Scarlet Moon
04.
Thine Hour Hast Come
05.
Release and Clothe the Virgin Sacrifice
06.
Drink From the Chalice of Blood
07.
Silence the Blasphemous Chanting
08.
Invert the Inverted Cross
09.
An Abandoned Grave Bathes Softly in the Falling Moonlight
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