Judas Iscariot (band)

Judas Iscariot
Origin	DeKalb, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Black metal
Years active	1992–2002
Labels	End All Life Moribund No Colours Elegy
Past members	Akhenaten [1]

Judas Iscariot was an American black metal band. It began in 1992 as the solo-project of Andrew Harris, who performed under the pseudonym Akhenaten (after the Egyptian Pharaoh of the same name).

With the release of Heaven in Flames (1999), Duane Timlin (a.k.a. Cryptic Winter) joined the band as a session drummer. During 1999 and 2000, Akhenaten twice performed live with a line-up featuring members from Nargaroth, Krieg, Absu and Maniac Butcher.

After relocating to Germany, Akhenaten announced the end of Judas Iscariot on August 25, 2002. ^[2]

Later in 2018, a man named Blake Judd also known as "Azentrius" re-released several of the Judas Iscariot releases falsely claiming they were officially authorized by Akhenaten. ^[3]

Ideology

Akhenaten considered the story of the band Judas Iscariot as documentation of one individual's struggle against the moral boundaries set by Christianity. ^[2] Furthermore, he expressed contempt towards capitalism, which he dismissed as inextricably linked to materialism. ^[4] Akhenaten stated that his music was intended to give others strength to live in a world compromised by materialism and irrational religious ideology.

Some of the lyrics on early Judas Iscariot albums are borrowed from the works of English poet and Christian mystic William Blake, ^[5] as well as from English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, fundamental for understanding the connection between Dark Romanticism, the esoteric and their connection to heavy metal lyrics.

Akhenaten repeatedly denied association with the National Socialist black metal movement. In an interview he stated "Judas Iscariot is no Nazi band. I myself am no Nazi either [...] If other bands think they have to include politics into their music, it's their business, but this has nothing to do with my band." ^[6]

Band members

• Akhenaten (Andrew Harris) – vocals, guitar, bass, drums (1992–2002)

Session members

• Cryptic Winter (Duane Timlin) – drums (1999–2001)

Touring members

• Kanwulf (René Wagner) – guitar
• Lord Imperial (Neill Jameson) – bass (1999–2000)
• Proscriptor (Russley Randel Givens) – drums (1999)
• Butcher (real name unknown) – drums (2000)

Discography

Full-length albums

• The Cold Earth Slept Below (1996)
• Thy Dying Light (1996)
• Of Great Eternity (1997)
• Distant in Solitary Night (1999)
• Heaven in Flames (2000)
• To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding (2002)

EPs

• Arise, My Lord (1996)
• Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten (2000)
• March of the Apocalypse (2002)
• Moonlight Butchery (2002)
• Midnight Frost (To Rest with Eternity) (2003)

Split albums

• Judas Iscariot/Weltmacht (with Weltmacht) (1999)
• None Shall Escape the Wrath (with Krieg, Eternal Majesty and Macabre Omen) (2000)
• To the Coming Age of Intolerance (with Krieg) (2001)

Live releases

• Under the Black Sun (2000)

Compilation albums

• From Hateful Visions (2000)
• American Black Metal Assault (2001)
• Аветињски плес сабласти (Serbian exclusive cassette release limited to 300 copies) (2002)

Demos

• Heidegger (1992)
• Judas Iscariot (1993)

References

1. "Krieg VI". bardomethodology.com. April 2, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
2. Statement from the inlay of Judas Iscariot's final release. Judas Iscariot: Midnight Frost (To Rest with Eternity), Sombre Records 2002.
3. "Judas Iscariot - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
4. "Interview on Tartarean Desire". Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
5. ROB: Secrets of the Tune: Unholy Blake Metal Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine .
6. Interview on Art of Malice (in German), accessed on 31 December 2012.

External links

• Judas Iscariot on No Colours Records