This is a bit of a oddity for me, this band have been around since 1992 and have released a lot of albums consistently with great acclaim. Why haven't I heard of them till today? Supposedly the first band to utilise the "orthodox" moniker. The only release I've heard so far is 'Heilig Vuur' which I've been informed is one of their best and I can honestly say I enjoy it very much. It's very odd that I've never seen this guy/band discussed on here, maybe he's not as well known as he should be?

Anyway, I don't really know what the other albums sound like but it seems they're all pretty old-school. 'Heilig Vuur' is simple, minimal and akin to blackened heavy metal yet has some pretty cool echoing, melodic leads and solos that're very haunting. The first album in a long time I've heard that conveys that authentic early 90's second wave feel. Would appreciate any recommendations/insights into Countess, if not I'll just go download everything he's done =P

Gah, it's nice to enjoy some black metal without having to re-program my brain and grit my teeth.

Written by Guest on 10.09.2008 at 23:08

This is a bit of a oddity for me, this band have been around since 1992 and have released a lot of albums consistently with great acclaim. Why haven't I heard of them till today?! Supposedly the first band to utilise the "orthodox" moniker. The only release I've heard so far is 'Heilig Vuur' which I've been informed is one of their best and I can honestly say I enjoy it very much. It's very odd that I've never seen this guy/band discussed on here, maybe he's not as well known as he should be?

Anyway, I don't really know what the other albums sound like but it seems they're all pretty old-school. 'Heilig Vuur' is simple, minimal yet has some pretty cool echoing, melodic leads and solos that're very haunting. The first album in a long time I've heard that conveys that authentic early 90's second wave feel. Would appreciate any recommendations/insights into Countess, if not I'll just go download everything he's done =P

Hahahahaha Jan Kik's band, or should I say Orlok?
Well, Heilig Vuur (sung totally in Dutch) I find enjoyable but most of his work is just laughable at best for me. A Manowar type back metal band. However his bands before Countess are extreely crap, especially Fallen Temple.

Bloed In De Sneeuw, (Blood in the Snow in English) on The Return of the Horned One from 1994 is said to be the first ever BM song sung in Dutch.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.09.2008 at 23:33

Written by Guest on 10.09.2008 at 23:08

This is a bit of a oddity for me, this band have been around since 1992 and have released a lot of albums consistently with great acclaim. Why haven't I heard of them till today?! Supposedly the first band to utilise the "orthodox" moniker. The only release I've heard so far is 'Heilig Vuur' which I've been informed is one of their best and I can honestly say I enjoy it very much. It's very odd that I've never seen this guy/band discussed on here, maybe he's not as well known as he should be?

Anyway, I don't really know what the other albums sound like but it seems they're all pretty old-school. 'Heilig Vuur' is simple, minimal yet has some pretty cool echoing, melodic leads and solos that're very haunting. The first album in a long time I've heard that conveys that authentic early 90's second wave feel. Would appreciate any recommendations/insights into Countess, if not I'll just go download everything he's done =P

Hahahahaha Jan Kik's band, or should I say Orlok?
Well, Heilig Vuur (sung totally in Dutch) I find enjoyable but most of his work is just laughable at best for me. A Manowar type back metal band. However his bands before Countess are extreely crap, especially Fallen Temple.

Bloed In De Sneeuw, (Blood in the Snow in English) on The Return of the Horned One from 1994 is said to be the first ever BM song sung in Dutch.

Well at least they have some historical relevance I'll check out the other albums (downloading The Book of the Heretic at the moment) and see what I think.

Written by Guest on 10.09.2008 at 23:37

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.09.2008 at 23:33

Written by Guest on 10.09.2008 at 23:08

This is a bit of a oddity for me, this band have been around since 1992 and have released a lot of albums consistently with great acclaim. Why haven't I heard of them till today?! Supposedly the first band to utilise the "orthodox" moniker. The only release I've heard so far is 'Heilig Vuur' which I've been informed is one of their best and I can honestly say I enjoy it very much. It's very odd that I've never seen this guy/band discussed on here, maybe he's not as well known as he should be?

Anyway, I don't really know what the other albums sound like but it seems they're all pretty old-school. 'Heilig Vuur' is simple, minimal yet has some pretty cool echoing, melodic leads and solos that're very haunting. The first album in a long time I've heard that conveys that authentic early 90's second wave feel. Would appreciate any recommendations/insights into Countess, if not I'll just go download everything he's done =P

Hahahahaha Jan Kik's band, or should I say Orlok?
Well, Heilig Vuur (sung totally in Dutch) I find enjoyable but most of his work is just laughable at best for me. A Manowar type back metal band. However his bands before Countess are extreely crap, especially Fallen Temple.

Bloed In De Sneeuw, (Blood in the Snow in English) on The Return of the Horned One from 1994 is said to be the first ever BM song sung in Dutch.

Well at least they have some historical relevance I'll check out the other albums (downloading The Book of the Heretic at the moment) and see what I think.

Concerning more info on Countess.... I ahve the Encyclopedia Of Dutch Black Metal at home (currently working so...) and am off to Copenhagen till Monday but upon return I will post here what it says on Countess and Orlok's (Jan's) earlier bands.
Way back in 1989 I bumped into Jan (so no Orlok back then yet) quite often at at metal parties hosted by different Universities. The guy must be about my age, at the time he was reading History at the University of Leiden. And if I remember correctly he actually got various death threads rom the Norwegian black metal scene at the time. Jan ran a fanzine called The Return Of Darkness And Evil which focused prinarily on death metal and early balck metal and also the Scandinavian death metal of the time. Jan and a couple of his friends showed up at the Dynamo Open Air festival which featured Morbid Angel and Primus and had a banner with them "Larry is a traitor" and they were yelling that during the entire Primus set as well. Of course referring to the fact Lalonde who once played in POssessed had now become a traitor to the death metal cause by playing in tat funky quircky Primus band then (and still of course)

Haha, that's quite some insight, he sounded like an interesting guy to say the least. Cheers for the info, definitely chuck that other stuff up here when you get back =]

Concerning 'The Book of the Heretic' my, what odd production. I can only assume it's the bass I can hear which sounds distinctly like farting. Wouldn't be so much a problem it wasn't the most prominent part of the music.

Yeah this forum isn't the greatest for discussion of lesser known black metal such as Countess... personally I can recommend The Gospel of the Horned One and The Return of the Horned One, great stuff if you like your black metal raw, thin, noisy, and structurally counterintuitive on occasion. Haven't really taken a look at any more recent material though I've heard nothing but good things.

Written by totaliteraliter on 11.09.2008 at 00:00

Yeah this forum isn't the greatest for discussion of lesser known black metal such as Countess... personally I can recommend The Gospel of the Horned One and The Return of the Horned One, great stuff if you like your black metal raw, thin, noisy, and structurally counterintuitive on occasion. Haven't really taken a look at any more recent material though I've heard nothing but good things.

It's been a while since I've listened to good ol' raw black metal so I'm probably in the right, receptive frame of mind to appreciate it. Might as well try their first and recent stuff.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.09.2008 at 23:33

Written by Guest on 10.09.2008 at 23:08

This is a bit of a oddity for me, this band have been around since 1992 and have released a lot of albums consistently with great acclaim. Why haven't I heard of them till today?! Supposedly the first band to utilise the "orthodox" moniker. The only release I've heard so far is 'Heilig Vuur' which I've been informed is one of their best and I can honestly say I enjoy it very much. It's very odd that I've never seen this guy/band discussed on here, maybe he's not as well known as he should be?

Anyway, I don't really know what the other albums sound like but it seems they're all pretty old-school. 'Heilig Vuur' is simple, minimal yet has some pretty cool echoing, melodic leads and solos that're very haunting. The first album in a long time I've heard that conveys that authentic early 90's second wave feel. Would appreciate any recommendations/insights into Countess, if not I'll just go download everything he's done =P

Hahahahaha Jan Kik's band, or should I say Orlok?
Well, Heilig Vuur (sung totally in Dutch) I find enjoyable but most of his work is just laughable at best for me. A Manowar type back metal band. However his bands before Countess are extreely crap, especially Fallen Temple.

Bloed In De Sneeuw, (Blood in the Snow in English) on The Return of the Horned One from 1994 is said to be the first ever BM song sung in Dutch.

lol well I do agree, mainly the vocals gave me a good laugh several of times. But still there are plenty of good old black metal with a Heavy metal edge songs by him. All of his albums are more or less the same though. By the way Marcel have you ever seen them live in the 90ties?

I only have 'the return of the horned one' and it sounds a bit shit to me.

i have the whole disco, but since it's so overwhelmingly huge, i never got around to listen to it. plus i figured i'm not missing anything by ignoring Countess.

Written by Damnated on 11.09.2008 at 13:30

i have the whole disco, but since it's so overwhelmingly huge, i never got around to listen to it. plus i figured i'm not missing anything by ignoring Countess.

Well try 'Heilig Vuur' at least, I still think it's a pretty good record.

Written by Guest on 11.09.2008 at 13:43

Written by Damnated on 11.09.2008 at 13:30

i have the whole disco, but since it's so overwhelmingly huge, i never got around to listen to it. plus i figured i'm not missing anything by ignoring Countess.

Well try 'Heilig Vuur' at least, I still think it's a pretty good record.

i did. couldn't get passed the first song lol.

Heilig Vuur is indeed a very good album. I avoided this band like plague thinking they were some shit in the vein of Nargaroth, and well, actually I wasn't wrong, but musically they're much better.

I love the vocals.
I've had mix tastes about certain albums, but I love the return of the horned one more than any one i've heard so far.