Origin: North Macedonia
Formed: 2016
Disbanded: 2018
Genre: Black Metal
Status: Split-up
Label: Independent
Themes: History
Чума (transl. Plague) emerged from Skopje in 2016 as one of the earliest raw black metal entities in North Macedonia to explicitly root its aesthetic in local historical memory. Their name, taken from archaic Macedonian and other Slavic languages, signaled the band’s fixation on the imagery of pestilence, decay, and the darker strata of Balkan past. Although their existence was brief, Чума quickly became a cult footnote within the region’s underground due to their uncompromising minimalism and the stark, unpolished ferocity of their only release.
Their 2016 demo Црнила (Darkness) captured a sound steeped in primitive black metal traditions: cold, buzzing guitars, austere drumming, and vocals delivered with a harsh, ritualistic cadence. The two-track recording—Црна Чума and Георгиев Гроб—was released independently and circulated primarily through Bandcamp and underground tape-trading circles. The demo’s atmosphere drew comparisons to early Eastern European black metal, marked by its lo-fi production and emphasis on bleak, historically charged storytelling. Despite the absence of formal reviews, the release has been noted in underground forums and zines for its authenticity and its role in documenting the nascent Macedonian black metal scene.
The band remained active until 2018, performing no widely documented live shows and maintaining a deliberately obscure presence. Their dissolution further cemented their status as a short-lived but symbolically important act within the region’s extreme metal landscape. Members later dispersed into other Macedonian and Balkan underground projects, carrying forward the raw ethos that defined Чума’s brief existence.
Aristyan – Vocals
Morgul – Guitars (also in Ruststained; ex-Enwinted, ex-Hëikillä, Sincrest)
Strail – Drums
Nekroza – Bass (R.I.P. 2025; also in Discops, Shallow Cuts, ex-Slave Pit)
Past members:
T.T. – Bass (ex-Aeloth)
Црнила – Demo (2016)