by Niklas Göransson

At the turn of the century, a young outlier from New Jersey entered the beating heart of US black metal. In the shadow of Judas Iscariot, Neill Jameson forged Krieg into a blade – honed by chaos, tempered in hardship, and buried deep underground.

 

NEILL JAMESON: Milwaukee Metalfest in 1998 would become the genesis of everything that happened in American black metal over the next few years. Almost every major figure in the scene was there – Akhenaten (JUDAS ISCARIOT), the guys from THORNSPAWN, Bernie from LUST, the NOCTUARY members, AVERSE SEFIRA, and so on.

Milwaukee Metalfest XII took place in July 1998, featuring a host of death metal bands such as IMMOLATION, DEATH, and CANNIBAL CORPSE, veterans like MERCYFUL FATE, DESTRUCTION, and SODOM, as well as prominent Scandinavian black metal acts EMPEROR, MAYHEM, and IMPALED NAZARENE.

NEILL: Up until then, I’d always been an outsider, just a kid trying to navigate a world far bigger than me. But that weekend, for the first time, I felt like I belonged – as if I’d found my tribe. It might sound cliché, but at that moment, everything clicked. I was exactly where I needed to be.

A few months earlier, Blood, Fire, Death released KRIEG’s debut album, “Rise of the Imperial Hordes”. In its wake, JUDAS ISCARIOT founder Akhenaten – an old pen-pal of Neill – had praised KRIEG in several interviews. Their first face-to-face meeting took place at Milwaukee Metalfest XII.

NEILL: Philosophically, getting to know Andrew (Akhenaten) had a huge impact on me. He worked alone, fully committed to his artistic vision. We shared the same outlook: if you have a clear idea of what you want to create, then you shouldn’t compromise or let anyone strip the purity from your work. Seeing Andrew’s confidence in JUDAS ISCARIOT reassured me.

The year prior, Akhenaten had released the third JUDAS ISCARIOT album, “Of Great Eternity”, through Elegy Records. Ever since the project’s 1992 debut demo, “Heidegger”, the Illinois native handled all instruments and recording duties himself.

NEILL: I still experienced moments of doubt – had I made the right choice by going at it alone, refusing to bend my vision for others? It made me realise that working solo wasn’t about being difficult or unwilling to collaborate, but about having a clear creative purpose and never diluting it.

 

Akhenaten performed at Milwaukee Metalfest XII with SARCOPHAGUS – his main band at the time – who’d just released their second album, “Requiem to the Death of Passion”. Across multiple interviews spanning two decades, Neill has described that set as one of the best live performances he’s ever witnessed.

NEILL: I can’t even describe it; just seeing an American band hold their own alongside IMPALED NAZARENE and MAYHEM felt absolutely unreal. It was one of those rare instances where music transcends sound and becomes a spiritual connection to the moment itself. That show embodied everything I wanted US black metal to be.

After meeting at Milwaukee Metalfest, Neill and Akhenaten stayed in regular contact.

NEILL: Andrew was always on Unholy Metal – an AOL chatroom that, at the time, felt like the gathering point for everyone in the American underground. Our bond strengthened over shared philosophical and musical interests. We kept in touch constantly, and he even provided some lyrics for “Sono…”.

By then, former bassist Lord Soth had returned to KRIEG, bringing in a new guitarist, Azag. In November 1998, the band entered Vortex Sound Studio to record what was intended as their second full-length, “Sono Lo Scherno”. Neill, still living with his mother and working at a record store, financed the sessions himself.

NEILL: This time, I was more prepared – I’d recorded “Rise of the Imperial Hordes” at Vortex the year before, completed the “A Crumbling Shrine” demo, and developed a much better understanding of the whole process. I also had clear reference points for how I wanted the album to sound.

The plan was ambitious – samples were meant to tie everything together into a concept album about the Black Plague. As on the debut, Neill entered the studio with plenty of riffs but no actual song structures or arrangements in place.

NEILL: With not only Soth back on board but also Azag – who is an incredibly creative guitarist – I was convinced we’d take KRIEG to the next level. Instead, it became the single worst recording experience of my life up to that point, and all the chaos bled into the music.

Like what?

NEILL: Azag and my girlfriend decided they’d rather be fucking each other than being part of my life, which got him out of the picture. And yeah, that definitely messed with me. As for Soth, much like the first time, he just stopped showing up. They did come back for some edits a few months later, then fucked off again.

For percussion, Neill opted to continue working with Jim Tarby – the drummer from his and Lord Soth’s old death metal band ABOMINUS – rather than Teloc Coraxo of BLOOD STORM, who played on “Rise of the Imperial Hordes”. Six months earlier, Neill and Tarby had recorded the “A Crumbling Shrine” demo at Orchard Studios.

NEILL: I liked what Jim had done on “A Crumbling Shrine”. In a way, he saved the day after all the bullshit with Soth and Azag. That period also marked my first real struggle with depression, and by the time the initial recording wrapped up – since “Sono…” took a fucking year of editing – I was making some terrible decisions.

 

In September 1999, at the tail-end of the “Sono Lo Scherno” debacle, Neill and Jim Tarby recorded “Tormenting Necrometal” – a KRIEG demo featuring the first iteration of “ColdWind Flame” – at Broken Chapel Studios.

NEILL: The recording took place at Orchard Studios, but I called it Broken Chapel as a way to break from the past and move forward. This time, everything had been fully composed prior to entering the studio; aside from some ambient elements and minor adjustments, nothing was improvised.

Did you rehearse the material?

NEILL: No. But I made sure to track all the guitars properly, in time. So, when Jim arrived to lay down the drums, I could actually direct him – ‘Play this here, that there’ – instead of just letting him do whatever. For the first time, I approached one of my recordings as a collaboration rather than pure turmoil.

In a 2001 Strength Through War interview, Neill described “Tormenting Necrometal” as one of the few KRIEG recordings he was fully satisfied with.

NEILL: At the time, it felt like the clearest musical statement of KRIEG. The rawness remained, but some of the madness had been reined in; “Tormenting Necrometal” was more structured than anything I’d done before. Looking back, it offered a glimpse of where I would take my music in the coming years.

 

Also in 1999, Neill and his friend H.C. – also known as AK Bestial – with whom he’d recently formed a side project named ANGELKUNT, launched Profanation Records. The label’s first release was “Infernal Legions”, an EP by fellow US black metal band THORNSPAWN.

NEILL: Lord Necron (THORNSPAWN) had read a KRIEG interview in Ultima Comparatio and reached out – just like I used to when trying to connect with other bands. Their “Consecration of Evil Flesh” tape is one of the best American black metal demos of the 90s, and “Infernal Legions” was Profanation’s first widely distributed release.

At the same time, Profanation reissued “Ancient Hatred”, the 1999 demo of Akhenaten’s side project WELTMACHT, as a limited tape run. After he discovered a Swedish band with members of SORHIN and ALGAION using the same name, the cassette was released under the slightly altered moniker VELTMACHT.

NEILL: Andrew offered us the chance to repress the tape, and we went for it. I don’t remember how many copies made it out. This one doesn’t even show up on Discogs – probably because of the spelling change. We kind of stumbled through the process but finally got it released by December, right before Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child.

 

The inaugural Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child – an underground festival organised by Blackthorn of THORNSPAWN – was held in San Antonio, Texas, in December 1998, drawing a modest crowd of around eighty people. The following year, Blackthorn received an email from Akhenaten, who expressed interest in performing with JUDAS ISCARIOT.

NEILL: One day, Andrew messaged me and said, ‘Hey, do you wanna play bass live with JUDAS ISCARIOT?’ That was it – no big dramatic moment, just a casual conversation. To prepare, he sent me a VHS tape of himself playing the songs on bass so I could learn them.

In December 1999, two days before the festival, Neill and Akhenaten flew into San Antonio and were picked up by Bjorn Haga – the former NECROVORE guitarist, then playing in THORNSPAWN. Proscriptor, drummer of Texan black metal veterans ABSU, had agreed to step in on drums.

NEILL: The gravity of the situation didn’t hit me until I got there, met Proscriptor, and realised, ‘Oh, it’s actually happening. I’m the third man in this.’ Here were two incredibly talented, creative, and highly proficient figures in American black metal – and then there was me. I had to get over that fast because now I needed to perform at a level I’d never reached before.

Had you even been on a stage before?

NEILL: Once or twice, doing guest vocals – awkward, stiff, and visibly nervous. But this was different. I knew I wasn’t the best musician in the band, not even close, so I had to bring something else: atmosphere and energy. I needed to make my presence count and live up to the significance of the moment.

How did it go?

NEILL: At best, you get a handful of instances that define who you are – proof you’re on the right path. My first such spiritual awakening hit me on stage with JUDAS ISCARIOT. I stopped feeling like a kid from New Jersey and became the musician I’d always pretended to be. That show set the course my life has followed ever since.

 

While many key scene figures had already met at Milwaukee Metalfest the year before, Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child in 1999 was a major gathering of US black metal. It brought together countless underground die-hards who’d previously only connected through tape trading, letters, emails, or early online forums.

NEILL: The second edition captured national and even global attention; it was the first true American black metal festival. Sure, there had been the ENSLAVED/ABSU tour a few years prior and underground bands playing at larger metal events, but nothing like this. It helped solidify the US scene and put us on the map.