Artwork by Cat Elia
Robby Grodin has been hopping around Boston’s metal scene for the last decade, both attending shows and playing in bands (notably the grindcore act Armpits). Over the past year in quarantine, Robby sought to take on the task of recording a solo black metal project, resulting in The Deafening, which he released in May under the moniker Nevropathy. The six track album is a sonic adventure, exploring Robby’s fascination with subverting common religious tropes to comment on the gender binary (“A Whore in Ram’s Cloth”), a loss of feeling (the name Nevropathy itself references a neurological phenomenon where one’s peripheral nerves lose sensitivity and feeling), and themes of isolation (“Desolation”).
Photo Courtesy of Nevropathy
Robby– who uses both he/him and she/her pronouns – is a seasoned aficionado not only in terms of black metal lore, but also when it comes to the crossroads of music and technology, having worked several jobs in the audio tech field, going all the way back to his time as an undergrad at Northeastern, where he double majored in computer science and audio technology. Since then she’s worked on some projects to develop fascinating new interactive audio technologies and softwares.
On a personal level, I’ve been tentatively dipping my own toes into the dark, murky waters of this metal subgenre since Deafheaven released their glorious opus SUNBATHER, which combines the black metal aesthetic with elements of shoegaze. However, I’d been cautious to take a full dive after hearing of some… less than savory figures core to black metal’s inception. In short, the genre has a reputation for being racist, pro-fascist, and even straight up murderous. Plus, a lot of die-hards will only listen to pure black metal (always a red flag to hear racists and fascists throw the word “pure” around). But I knew that there had to be a lot more to a scene and genre that, at its best, is absolutely mighty in its musical delivery, delightfully dark, and sonically experimental. So I needed a guide. Enter Robby and Nevropathy.
Robby was happy to give me the 101 course in black metal: its history, stylistic tenants, and the current wave of queer and BIPOC acts who are thrashing about the fringes of the genre, trying to reclaim the aesthetic back from some of its more purist fanbase. And, unsurprisingly, those artists absolutely rip. So, ya, basically I’m a big black metal fan now.
Listen to the inaugural episode – which will be released in two parts – of The Puddcast featuring Nevropathy. In part one, you’ll hear Robby walk me through the history of black metal before we get into a track-by-track breakdown of Nevropathy’s The Deafening in part two. Then be sure to check out Nevropathy’s debut album via Spotify, Bandcamp, or whatever streaming service you prefer. ALSO be sure to listen to this Spotify playlist that features all the artists we ended up mentioning in the episode, black metal or otherwise (just in case you’re wondering why Britney Spears ended up on a mostly-black metal playlist, as if anyone needs any justification to throw some Brit on a playlist).