Chiva
Chiva was a Swiss atmospheric doom/black metal and darkwave project from Sion, Valais, formed in 1996 as a parallel/solo outlet for the person behind the band Sadness, described in its own liner notes as 'a desire to realise my personal work through a different and majestic music.' The sole release, the CD 'Oracle morte' (1996, Witchhunt Records/SPV), features four tracks exploring sadness, loneliness, winter and majesty, with additional vocals from Robert Frost on 'Fire And Ice.'
SCORE PROFILE
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MEMBERS
- Chivamusic, all instruments, vocals, lyrics
- Robert Frostadditional vocals (on 'Fire And Ice')
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 12Ritual CairnBlackDoomAmbient
One-person black/doom project from Seattle helmed by J.B., active since 2020, exploring prehistoric mysticism and psilocybin-tinged, entheogenic themes across the demo MMXX (2020) and a 2023 split with fellow Balor's Eye Productions act Graal. J.B. also drums in Graal, making the split a genuine bandmate connection rather than a mere label pairing.
- UnaffiliatedEI 10Omega CentauriBlackAmbientDoom
Omega Centauri is a UK-based atmospheric black metal project built around multi-instrumentalist Tom Vallely, blending glacial tremolo-riff black metal with dark ambient textures, doom-paced passages, and cinematic post-rock swells. Recorded piecemeal between 2006 and 2011, debut Universum Infinitum favors slow-burn atmosphere and philosophical/theological themes over aggression. The project sits in the same cold-and-spacious atmospheric black metal lineage as labelmates on Duplicate Records.
- Dissonant blackEI 8PræternaturaBlackDoomAmbient
Præternatura is the solo project of Matron Thorn (also known for his work in Ævangelist), originally based in Portland, Oregon and later Tampere, Finland. Active since 2016, it plays dense, atmospheric black/death metal with doom elements, with Thorn handling all instruments and vocals across a series of Bandcamp-released albums.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 16UmbrtkaBlackDoomAmbient
Umbrtka is a prolific Czech black/doom/industrial project from Plzeň, active since 1999 and centered on a self-invented industrial deity presiding over the city's factories, railways and scrapyards. Their 'grey metal' sound layers dissonant black metal with field recordings, mechanical noise and surreal spoken-word narration. František 'Franta' Štorm — closely associated with Czech black metal pioneers Master's Hammer — served as a past vocalist.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Grave GnosisBlackAmbientDrone
Grave Gnosis is a ritualistic occult black metal band from St. Petersburg, Florida, formed in 2015, rooted in Theistic Satanism, framing its recording sessions as literal ritual and trance work.
- UnaffiliatedEI 12NomiconBlackAmbientDoom
Nomicon was a Helsinki act led by vocalist/bassist Tommi Launonen (Ceasar), moving from an early death/thrash sound into symphonic, atmospheric black metal by the 2001 album Halla, drawing comparisons to The Kovenant's Nexus Polaris but 'enriched with more deeply doomy atmospherics.' The band drew on a deep bench of Finnish extreme-metal talent, including guitarist Roope Latvala (later Children of Bodom), rhythm guitarist Miika Niemela (Shape of Despair), female vocalist Tanya Kemppainen (Lullacry), and drummer Yka 'Agathon' (Barathrum). A Metal Archives review characterizes Halla's keyboard-led sound as a 'misanthropic baroque celebration' anchored by 'apocalyptic witch-esque rasps.'
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 9Porta NigraBlackDoomAmbient
Porta Nigra is a German avant-garde black metal band founded in Koblenz in 2010 by Gilles deRais (guitars, bass) and drummer/vocalist O., who recorded the first two albums as a duo before expanding to a full band. Their concept records — Fin de Siècle (2012), Kaiserschnitt (2015), Schöpfungswut (2020) and Weltende (2023), the last inspired by World War I — move between straightforward black metal fury and more psychedelic, spoken-word-laced detours, released through Soulseller Records. Guitarist Gilles deRais has described the project as a way of channeling 'old spirits' through the music.
- UnaffiliatedEI 7Ôros KaùBlackDrone
Ôros Kaù is the solo black/death metal outlet of Belgian multi-instrumentalist CZLT (also of Sol Kia and Neptunian Maximalism), built from a self-described 'inner existential crisis' and steeped in occult Hermetic imagery. Across Imperii Templum Aries (2020) and Thanatos (2023) the project folds drone and psychedelic passages — including a Pink Floyd cover — into otherwise violent, blast-driven black metal. Vocals are handled by fellow Belgian musician Déhà, tying the project into Brussels' small experimental extreme-metal circle.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13UlveblodBlackDoomAmbient
Ulveblod is the solo black metal project of Vitriol, formerly guitarist of Dutch black metal band Nihill, launched after the death of Nihill co-founder/vocalist Michiel Eikenaar. The debut full-length 'Omnia Mors Aequat' (Fantoom/Consouling Sounds, April 2020) trades conventional song structure for extended, corrosive drones: reverb-drenched shrieks and 'demonic, sizzling guitars' sit on a single idea for minutes at a stretch (one closing track runs 21 minutes) until, per one review, 'static morphs into beautiful pulses.' The result sits at the abrasive, noise-soaked edge of black metal, with doom-paced riffs breaking through the wall of distortion.
- UnaffiliatedEI 18TodesstoßBlackDoomAmbient
Todesstoß is the solo experimental black metal vehicle of German musician, poet and painter Martin Lang, active out of Munich since the early 2000s. Releases like Hirngemeer and the 46-minute single-track Ebne Graun fold harmonica, funeral-doom pacing and abrasive electronic texture into a deliberately disorienting, self-willed strain of black metal, released via I, Voidhanger Records.