Annick Giroux of Cauchemar fame posted on FB that Black Goat is in a coma and will apparently stay in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

A real shame as barbarian wrath is and was one of the great underground metal labels. Never spoke to him but he seemed like a decent fellow.

Have heard he was a really passionate metalhead. Things went great everytime I bought something from him, what a shame.

This sucks; anyone know what happened? Accident? freak medical incident?

Wow, that's awful. I had some dealings with him a long time ago at the old Metal-Rules forum. He was always a nice guy. Sad to hear.

I remember him from those days as well. Very sad.

Yep - terrible news.

I wish him all the best.. sad how life can just take a turn and become shit so fast.

All the best to this guy - but I gotta say, with all due respect, this thread title is ridiculous.

Damn, that really sucks. Would hate to be in their shoes.

Awful!

He was always a super nice guy and a passionate supporter of the metal scene. This is absolutely awful.

Is there a GoFundMe or anything we can do to help?

From what I understand they're having a sort of sale through November and December to liquidate funds from their stock, so you could buy a bunch of stuff from Witches Brew to help 'em out

Correct.

I will also add that I have made several orders from both Barbarian Wrath and Witches Brew over the years and never had a single problem, so first timers can buy with confidence.

I've followed the whole story through Cheryl's posts on social media (no idea about specific causes, though) and all I can say is that I'm totally heartbroken. They both seemed passionate, nice folks I would enjoy hanging around with, not to mention very close as a couple. They didn't deserve such a horrifying ordeal.

Here's the Witches' Brew shop link. As already mentioned, all funds will be donated to Blackgoat's medical expenses. It's also a very significant 40% discount and they have lots of great stuff.

http://www.witchesbrewthrashes.eu/shop/ ... hp?lang=en

I'm rather devastated. I hardly even know what to say about this. It's awful when someone who's directly or indirectly shaped your life in some way dies, but this is the kind of situation where I don't even know if paying tribute to the man would be premature or appropriate or what.

I don't normally pay too much attention to record labels. I just get things I like. Although I have a somewhat encyclopaedic memory stuff with trivia, I'd be hard-pressed to name the labels on which many of my favourite things were released, metal or otherwise.

But for me, at least, Barbarian Wrath was kind of different. I only came in at the tale end of the Nazgul's Erie days, but when BW started, it was becoming more common for people who ran labels, distros and the like to have some kind of presence online. I know this wasn't unique. Full moon Productions for instance had its message board, which I never visited, and nowadays Nuclear War Now does too, and of course everyone communicates via facebook and so on. Back in those days (for me, between 1999 and 2006 or so), there was the message board, and there was iRC. There were also other connections. The person who released Demontage's first official album thingy was responsible for distributing BW and NEP titles in North America, for instance. Both BW and Witch's Brew signed several local bands from around here, including Meggido, who's orchestrator also ran lARM, one of the first and most comprehensive review sites for underground black, death and other obscure things. I found out about a lot of music from those people, one way or another.

I can't think how many times my friend and I ordered titles together from BW Germany, and later Witch's Brew, the label run by his wife Sheryl, during those years. Lots of memories of sitting around in the basement, smoking dope and drinking weiss, listening to Countess or Anael or Barathrum or Mortuary Drape or Bifrost and Amon (Goeth) and countless other things.

I met him once. He saw my band play live, back in 2006 or so. We were kind of awful at that time, but I'm pretty sure he had a great time in Montreal that night. I know that online he sometimes came off to people as rather brusque, but I got the feeling even before meeting him that sometimes people had the wrong impression. Indeed, in person he was very jovial and friendly. Could have been the drinks and metal and good company, but you know, some people just project a little differently online. I haven't talkedo to him in years, but we recently did some trades for stuff and I got some of the new BW releases. This all feels strange to me and I think anything I say is totally inadequate.

Hear hear. I echo your sentiments. Even though it’s been a long time Barbarian Wrath was a huge part of my experience of ordering albums and finding new music 15-20 years ago. I remember my first serious girlfriend buying me that Megiddo album as a birthday gift and that was back when it came out and was limited to 666 hand numbered copies. Still got it too. Tearstained’s There Is No Hope was my breakup album as well. The label had this charm of DYI and slightly amateurish bands that just made the music they wanted to in an uncompromisng way. I loved that, that true underground feeling. I’ll never forget it and his (what sounds like the inevitable) passing will make the metal world poorer for it.

i read something somewhere i dont know exactly where that he had undergone surgery but due to complications it all went wrong.

This guy was a relentless marketer and I don't think I ever ordered any of his stuff after years of emails and requests on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I am ordering some now.

--------------------------------------------------------------
1 x HYBORIAN STEEL Barbaric Mysticism CD (ArtNo. 00000915) = 6.60 EUR
1 x ILLEGAL BODIES Mindflayers CD (ArtNo. 00001059) = 6.60 EUR
1 x PUTREFIED REMAINS The Enthronement CD (ArtNo. 00002407) = 6.60 EUR
1 x TERRÖR STRIKER De Vermis Mysteriis CD (ArtNo. 00003485) = 6.60 EUR

Oh yeah, Tearstained. I probably got that album around the same time. And Final Thoughts not long after, which was my favourite of his.

Hah yeah, some of the bands were/are a bit amateurish, but then sometimes they're not and surprise you. A band like Countess has got such an individual character despite being called "orthodox" by the label. It's something "normal" people wouldn't understand.

dude I get exactly what you mean, and I'd say countess could be called truly orthodox black metal, in the sense of sticking to the(ir) "original" formula of black metal, not in the "watain etc." sense of orthodox/theistic black metal. even though they have of course developed, or even "changed" their black metal style throughout the years- countess = one of a kind really, even if I don't enjoy every single release.

I still don’t own one damn Countess CD. I ordered 6 BW cds yesterday and I still didn’t order any. Gotta change that.

definitely. as I said one of a kind really. check out their bandcamp to see what you need, I think they have everything up there. they have sort of "gone heavy metal" with their latest releases, at least compared with the older, more primitive stuff. in fact they have a pretty diverse discography, despite somehow always remaining themselves and sticking to their OG sound while/despite developing it. I hope you get what I mean.
now, apart from the fact that right now BW/WB is the primary go-to place for countess stuff for obvious reasons, the "secondary" go-to place for countess stuff is heidens hart, who, although located in the netherlands, will also ship from germany by request (makes sense especially for overseas orders). both are long-running, highly dedicated labels that deserve all the support

Are any of them good?

i hadnt ordered much this year and decided to lend a hand
1 x AMON GOETH The Worship
1 x DEATHHAMMER Phantom Knights
1 x DETERIOROT In Ancient Beliefs
1 x MEGIDDO The Atavism Of Evil
1 x MORRIGAN Plague Waste And Death
1 x MORTUARY DRAPE Secret Sudaria
1 x NAPALM RAID Wheel Of War CD
1 x PYRRHON The Mother Of Virtues
1 x WINTERWOLF Cycle Of The Werewolf

i recently sold my ticket for this years of the eindhoven metal meeting so i had some money lying about anyway.

Funny that there was no overlap in what we picked. I used to be into Deathhammer and Megiddo but the samples didn’t do anything for me this time.

I grabbed that Amon Goeth and Megiddo too but went for some Bloodstorm and Scythe albums for my 6 picks. Bloodstorm is hard to find around these parts.

Shame that a footsoldier of metal has fallen so. Hopefully he recovers (if such is possible) or at least his family is able to take care of whatever needs to be done.

The Blood Cult comp that was going to be released in October got cancelled because of this development as well, so hopefully that work is also completed.

Devastating news! Barbarian Wrath remains one of the purest things in metal and although I never got to meet Black Goat in person we interacted some on Facebook. Always so involved and fired up about the underground. This hurts.

Rest in peace BG

I'm genuinely depressed. Everything about this was so unfair. The worst part is that this situation went on like this for two years; I'm in touch with his wife and needless to say it's been hell for her.

Thank you for everything, Opyros. Your devotion to underground music made my life better. No more pain now.

This topic and story REALLY hit home for me.

I have an aunt that has been locked in a coma since February 10th 2010. She was in a motor vehicle accident in her late 30's and has remained in that state for now almost 10 years. There is nothing that can be done for her, besides taking her feeding tube out and literally starving her to death (she isn't on a respirator, she has been breathing on her own since days after the accident). My grandparents clutch to hope every single day that a miracle will happen. Most of our family just wishes for closure and for the suffering (of all of us) to be over.

I hope his family finds some comfort and solace in it finally coming to an end. So much sorrow and pain. My heart is with them all.

Never heard this person or the band. What do they sound like? Any recommendations to check out?

It was a record label that mostly focused on black metal bands that sound like traditional heavy metal bands. The music wasn't my cup of tea at all but the label also represented an incredible dedication and work ethic that deserves eternal respect.

Plus BG was a very early contributor of this page.

Rest in Power my old friend.

Thank you for everything you did for the scene.

Fuck this is so sad.

Awful news. RIP Black Goat. His passion and dedication to underground metal was unparalleled.

Cheryl and Hart were two early contributors to Metal-Archives (Cheryl's work ethic was insane back then, I still remember how dedicated she was to helping out! <3) and I remember both fondly from way back before it too. Wish I had met them more than once IRL, but I'm glad we at least got to meet once.

Cheryl has been incredibly brave throughout all of this. I can't imagine how awful those last two years must have been and I hope she gets closure.

It is sad as shit. So much good music I learned about both directly and indirectly through him. Only knew him through brief online interaction but his opinionated and blunt passion for the music he loved ruled. Would consider him an underground legend, along with his wife.

Remember partying near the seaside with the two of them at a small festival they'd driven hundreds of miles to attend. Extremely passionate about metal and down to earth, I remember arguing about Sepultura, that was such a fun memory. Rest in peace.

Gutted. Not a day went by that I didn't have Goat in my thoughts.
A true Metal Giant.
Can't thank the man enough for giving my "music" a home for so long.

See you in Hell brother.