Depressive Suicidal Black Metal: Xasthur

gender: atmospheric black metal, dsbm

Xasthur was a depressive black metal band formed in 1995 by Scott Conner, who goes by the pseudonym "Malefic." While similar to other black metal bands in terms of low-fi production and lack of corpse paint, musically and lyrically Xasthur's focus is not on paganism, Satanism, or Christian blasphemy—as is common in the genre—but rather on astral projection, darkness, despair, suicide, hatred, and death.

Malefic toured alongside Sunn O))) and performed with Nachtmystium on stage, but stated in an interview with Pitchfork Media that he "will always maintain Xasthur as a band that won't play live."

The name "Xasthur" is a combination of "Hastur" and "Xenaoth." Malefic explained that he discovered the former name in a draft of the Necronomicon and believes it refers to "a demon that kills people in their sleep." The latter name refers to a celestial deity he read about in a book on Afro-Caribbean religion.

Malefic cited other one-man bands, such as Burzum and Graveland, as inspiration for the creation of his band: "The main reason Burzum inspired me (contrary to popular belief) was that if he could do everything on his own—why couldn't I?"

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