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Blackbraid, the solo project of Indigenous black metal musician Jon Krieger, is coming to Launchpad on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Although he lives in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, Krieger was born in Mexico and has Indigenous roots, which he said connects him to the culture of New Mexico.

鈥淲ith us being an Indigenous-centered black metal band, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 has been huge for us,鈥� Krieger said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a bunch of different tribes around there, and it always feels like home. It鈥檚 one of the best crowds we鈥檒l ever play. It doesn鈥檛 matter how big the venue is, people always go crazy for us in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. We love that place.鈥�

Navajo fans, in particular, have embraced Blackbraid.

鈥淭he Navajo Nation has been just insanely welcoming to us,鈥� Krieger said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e played sa国际传媒官网网页入口 three or four times now. Earlier this year, we did a one-off over there, actually. Whenever we come there, (the audience) is mostly Navajo every time.鈥�

Black metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that gained popularity in Norway in the early 1990s. On the surface, its appeal to Indigenous audiences in the United States may seem surprising. But Krieger sees parallels in their shared history and culture.

鈥淏lack metal will always be very rooted in chaos and paganism and nature,鈥� Krieger said.

Krieger explained that Scandinavian black metal was part of a movement to revive folklore and traditions which centuries of Christian culture had suppressed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty much the exact same thing that happened when Europeans came to America, too. They did the same thing and tried to destroy our culture and make us convert,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e might be on two different continents, across the world from each other, but the base emotions and disdain for being made to conform is especially strong amongst both cultures. So, I think it fits perfectly, honestly.鈥�

The threat of cultural genocide is a theme in some of Blackbraid鈥檚 songs, including 鈥淲ardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death鈥� from their recent album, 鈥淏lackbraid III,鈥� which was released on Aug. 8.

Although Blackbraid鈥檚 music can get extremely loud and heavy, 鈥淏lackbraid III鈥� begins with an instrumental acoustic guitar track, 鈥淒usk (Eulogy).鈥�

鈥淎coustic, I feel, always has its place in black metal,鈥� Krieger said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a huge fan of acoustic, and I think it speaks to a lot of the softer emotions that are in the music. By starting with an acoustic guitar, I see it as laying the foundation for (the album). Like, you know it鈥檚 going to be a black metal record, but right out of the gate, it鈥檚 already not what you鈥檙e expecting from a black metal record, I guess.鈥�

Some of the softer feelings Krieger identified in the album involve a mix of beauty and sadness in the face of death.

鈥淒eath is a huge theme on the record. Death and rebirth and sadness and sorrow. It鈥檚 all very interconnected in my mind,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of the beauty in this world is a direct product of death. It鈥檚 like a recurring cycle.鈥�

As an example, he pointed to the album鈥檚 third track, 鈥淭he Dying Breath of the Sacred Stag.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 talking about the stag dying and returning to the earth. It鈥檚 more cyclical than an end to me. It doesn鈥檛 feel like death is the end. It鈥檚 the start of a journey. Or, in this case, the start of the rest of the album,鈥� Krieger said. 鈥淏ut the beauty has always been inseparable from the sadness in nature to me. So, I try to convey that with the music.鈥�

In the album鈥檚 louder, more intense moments, the content of Krieger鈥檚 screeching vocals may not always be clear. But he said he chooses to focus on the emotions.

鈥淚 would rather have it be emotional and raw,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檒l always publish my lyrics, too. I know some black metal bands don鈥檛 do that, because they want to be secretive or whatever. But I鈥檒l always have the lyrics published when we release the album, so people can look them up if they want and see what they鈥檙e listening to and read along. But in the moment (of performing), I would say it鈥檚 more about the emotion.鈥�

Although black metal often deals with the theme of death, it is not the same as death metal. But Krieger acknowledged there is significant overlap between the two subgenres.

鈥淭hey say black metal is more atmospheric, and I guess it can be. Some black and death metal sounds exactly the same, and you can barely tell the genres apart. They get very closely intertwined at times,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I think death metal is more focused around technicality and riffs a bit more whereas black metal, traditionally, is a lot of tremolo picking. You鈥檙e still playing just as fast as a death metal band, but I think it鈥檚 more rhythm based, and maybe a little more of a punk influence.鈥�

Some of the early Norwegian black metal bands became associated with violence in many people鈥檚 minds, with bands like Mayhem accused of inspiring church burnings. But Krieger, who shared a stage with Mayhem in Finland, said the musicians were not nearly as scary as their public image.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e cool,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just a bunch of old rockers who like to drink beer. I mean, I guess they鈥檙e crazy, but not any more crazy than Ozzy (Osbourne) or Mot枚rhead. It鈥檚 just rock 鈥檔鈥� roll at the end of the day.鈥�

Krieger said there is a difference between his own stage persona and who he is in his daily life, too.

鈥淚 think sometimes it鈥檚 easy to forget that we are just normal people at the end of the day,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ell, I guess it depends how you want to define normal, because we鈥檙e all crazy f---ing weirdos.鈥�

The diversity of Krieger鈥檚 musical tastes might also surprise people.

鈥淚 like pop and country,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 listen to a ton of metal, too, but also a lot of electronic music, like ambient stuff. I鈥檓 all over the place.鈥�

He even said he is considering putting out a Blackbraid folk album.

鈥淚 think I鈥檒l definitely put out a folk album one day, like an all-acoustic one,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 probably definitely in the pipeline somewhere down the road.鈥�