The Soft Pink Truth – “INTR(O)UTRO Mix” (audio)

The Soft Pink Truth‘s Why Do the Heathen Rage? is one of 2014’s most daring musical experiments. Drew Daniel has used the Soft Pink Truth name to cover artists before, with 2004’s hardcore punk tribute Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Soft Pink Truth? With Why Do the Heathen Rage, however, Daniel takes his musical vision to even gutsier heights, offering up catchy and off-kilter electronic covers of black metal songs. Dancing could be a side effect of these tunes, yes, but there’s a much bigger point being made by Daniel, who arranged these covers to shed light on the darkest, most overlooked aspects of black metal’s history, namely its racism, sexism, and homophobia.

For those who agree with Daniel’s moral concerns but find his methodology unappealing (it is truly odd to hear black metal done like this), “INTR(O)UTRO Mix” should further go to show Daniel’s genuine love for the genre. Culled from intro and outro tracks from black metal bands including Striborg, Mayhem, Morbid Angel, and Celtic Frost, this 34-minute mix is a fascinating dark ambient compendium that gets right at black metal’s chilly moods.