The Black Arts Movement

ORIGINS: Parramatta, NSW

GENRE: Metal, Death Metal, Metalcore, Thrash Metal

YEARS ACTIVE: 1997-2007

 

MEMBERS:

• Trev Raiss - Bass
• Nathan McMahon - Drums
  
• Pat Orriss - Vocals (2004-2006)
• Chris Maloney - Vocals, Bass (1997-2003)
• CJ McMahon - Vocals (2007)
  
• Dane Brett - Guitar (1999-2007)
• James Zulich - Guitar (1997-1998)
• Jonathan Talan - Guitar (1997-2003)
• Tommy Jarvis - Guitar (2007)
  

RELEASES: 

 

• The Remnants of Self Destruction (1999) [as Baraka]
• 1. The Remnants of Self Destruction
• 2. Outbreak
• 3. Beneath These Scars
• 4. Aftermath 
  

• Self-Titled (2001) [as Baraka]
• 1. Welcome to the New World
• 2. The Remnants of Self Destruction
• 3. Recto-Cranial Inversion
• 4. Tunguska
• 5. B.R.S.
• 6. Aftermath  

• Demo (2003) [as Baraka]
• 1. Disturbance
• 2. Oxygen
• 3. Reborn
• 4. Seizure Apprenticeship
• 5. Inside My Head
• 6. Tydes
• 7. Innocence Lost
• 8. Your Sympathy
• 9. Defiance on the West Bank
  

• Demo (2004)
• 1. The Conversation's Passed (no vocals)
  
• 2. Embalming
• 3. Momentarily
• 4. S.I.N.
• 5. The Conversation's Passed

• A Wall and a Tomb (2006) - Download Here.
  
• 1. Disturbance
• 2. Seizure Apprenticeship
• 3. My Sympathy
• 4. Reborn
• 5. Oxygen
• 6. The Method to Ruin
• 7. Anagram

• Live (2006)
• 1. Intro / Momentarily
• 2. The Conversation's Passed
• 3. Libran / Cancerian
• 4. My Sympathy
• 5. Reborn
• 6. Seizure Apprenticeship
• 7. The Method to Ruin
• 8. When Two Negatives Collide
• 9. S.I.N.

SUMMARY: Beginning at Northmead High School as 'Baraka', the band developed into a hard-edged metal act who played a variety of All Ages and pub shows throughout the early '00s. Their first EP, The Remnants of Self-Destruction, was distributed by the South Australian record label Necrodecay. Baraka made some additional recordings before undergoing some lineup shuffles around 2003/2004. At this point the band decided to change their name to The Black Arts Manifesto after learning of a touring Japanese band of the same name, and around this time Pat Orriss joined the band as vocalist. The band continued for a couple of years and recorded a final studio EP before Pat left the band. CJ McMahon (later of Thy Art is Murder) joined The Black Arts Movement briefly as the new vocalist before the band called it a day.

 

SHOWS: 

• PCYC, Hornsby - unknown date, 1999 (as Baraka)
  
• Bloodlust Festival, PCYC, Penrith - 12th July, 2001 (as Baraka)
• Backdoor, Panthers Leagues Club, Penrith - 5th November, 2004
• Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills - 26th August, 2005
• Backdoor, Panthers Leagues Club, Penrith - 21st January, 2006
  

ORAL HISTORY:

CHRIS MALONEY: Baraka was my first band and was started with a few friends from Northmead High school who were all into heavy metal. We were in Year 9 or 10 and we used to practice in the lounge room of his family home. After about six months we started playing local schools and all ages metal festivals. When we turned 18 (around 2000) we started playing the local bars. One of our first gigs was at the Forest Inn in Bexley. This was one of the venues we played most regularly at in the early days. It was great just being on stage with my mates playing songs we wrote together.  

Chris Maloney (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

The start of the band - founding members.

 

NATHAN: We loved the movie Baraka and we were young and pretentious, haha. At the time we just liked how worldly the film was, and both the cinematography and music was amazing. 

Nathan McMahon (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

CHRIS MALONEY: The scene for metal was still relatively small with only a handful of venues across Sydney, so all the bands knew each other quite well. The small festivals were always fun, with Cryogenic a crowd favourite. We used a play a lot with the band Headmess and were friends with the pop-punk guys Secondbest as well.  

Chris Maloney (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

DANE: The Black Arts Movement started in 2003 from a lineup change in a previous band, Baraka, which started in 1997. The original Baraka lineup was a four piece - one guitarist left and then I joined. This lineup continued for about four years until The Black Arts Movement happened. My first show with the band was at Hornsby PCYC in the basement there in 1999.

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

NATHAN: The Black Arts Movement emerged from the band Baraka. We changed the name to The Black Arts Movement as there was a band overseas called Baraka. The Black Arts Movement sounded cool and also was a representation of counter-culture and minority expression (metal being the minority). Kind of pompous stuff. 

Nathan McMahon (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

At the Bexley Inn, c. 1998

DANE: We played a smallish festival, Bloodlust, at Penrith PCYC in 2001 and it was the biggest show we played up until that date. Forest Inn shows at Bexley were also fun and it was a cool place to play. We used to play a lot of shows with bands like Headmess, Flesh Mechanic, Tocata, and a lot of bands from Penrith. It was fun to play shows back then - social media like MySpace was only just starting out so it was all about putting up flyers and drum media ads to promote shows. It was Nathan mostly who did that side of things. 

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

PAT: The band was originally called 'Baraka'. I think we changed the name just after I joined actually. I came to the band through mutual friends. I'd see Baraka and The Black Arts Movement as two separate bands but the other guys might see things differently. All I know is that I never performed under the name Baraka. There were a few songs that rolled over - 'Seizure Apprenticeship' wasn't my lyrics. I still have no fucking idea what's going on there. The newer stuff I found more to my taste but that's biased.

Pat Orriss (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

NATHAN: I knew Patrick Orriss through friends and his work in Dyasphere. When he joined the band that's when we became The Black Arts Movement. We reworked some songs that had been done under Baraka, and then recorded the EP A Wall and a Tomb.  

Nathan McMahon (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

DANE: There was a bit of a different sound with the newer songs and we kept a bunch of Baraka songs but some lyrics changed.

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

Pat on vocals.

PAT: Metal in the Veins at Blacktown RSL was a pretty fucken tight show. The Daysend guys swung some compliments our way that day and I thought that was the duck's nuts 'cause I held them in pretty high esteem. We got to show off a few new songs at another show, our EP launch, which I was excited for too. Awesome crowd. I ended up losing my voice that night. I often listen back to the recording we had done of that - I'm proud of the work we put in but disappointed for the guys because of my form on the night. It is what it is. Live and learn. 

Pat Orriss (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

DANE: We went in as The Black Arts Movement to just do a demo, maybe three songs, but we did those pretty quick and then recorded a few more. It took two years in total to complete it as we weren't happy with the mixing of it and it took a while to find someone to do it to our satisfaction.

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: Compared to other bands I'd been in, I found The Black Arts Movement to be much more involved in the less-musical part of being in a band - the visual art and monetary side of things - probably because I never got that far with a band in that sort of business sense before. The sum of my ambition was the music, I didn't take the rest seriously. I enjoyed composing with those guys, as much as I could act like a clown and fuck around and do some stupid stuff. Every now and again I'd get a smile or a laugh and I thought 'fuck it, worth it'. 

Pat Orriss (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

PRESS RELEASE: Bursting out of Western Sydney, Australia, The Black Arts Movement are here to change your perception of modern metal. With genres and stereotypes being the new black, The Black Arts Movement throws this on its head, baring a title and profile that polarises its audience; the willing and the complacent. Black Arts? Think a little further. The Black Arts Movement is about the progression of metal from socially outcast stereotype to a credible form of music that is both accessible yet abrasive and confronting. It's about aggressive music being a tangible medium that can churn a crowd into a frenzy yet on another face provide contemplative thought and emotion. The Black Arts Movement formed in early 2004 after the demise of previous incarnation Baraka, which had been playing with local and interstate bands since 1998. The Black Arts Movement grew out of an idea to push people's perceptions of what extreme metal is by combining influences ranging from folk music to brutal death metal.

Press Release, Triple J Unearthed Website, 2006

DANE: Our rehearsal space was in the middle of an industrial area - it was a big space that we could leave our gear set up in and we had a PlayStation and an almost-360 degree porn wall.

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: I tuned out when things got serious. Couldn't help it. Now I think about it, it's probably because I was doing it for me, and not anyone else.

Pat Orriss (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

With third vocalist, CJ McMahon, in 2007

DANE: Pat left in 2006 and then two guys from another Penrith band, Evolvar, joined us for about 6 months on vocals and bass. We had enough new songs for another EP - we talked of going and recording them but it didn't happen. We had a few members leave for other projects. So it was Nathan and me continuing on for a few months but we couldn't find anyone else at the time and just decided that was it.

Dane Brett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Cherub Mafia, Dyasphere, Evolvar, Many Ions Apart, Tocata, Remember That You Will Die, Ignite the Ibex, Hemina, Avarin, Transcending Mortality, Violator, Vegas in Ruins, Thy Art is Murder, Namorrodor, No Home For Heroes

 

As Baraka, 1997-2003

Original guitarists Jonathan and Jimmy

 

 As The Black Arts Movement, 2004-2006

 

 

As The Black Arts Movement, 2007