Cascadian Black Metal

From last.fm:

Cascadian black metal introduce artists from the Pacific Northwest region of North America also known as the Cascade Range. The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California.

What follows is more of a diatribe than anything else, so do not continue if you don't want to read a genre rant. You have been warned.

So I basically think the aboved referenced quote is indeed a good definition of the term. At the very least, if you are more open in your interpretation, it is where the genre started. I also think it is comprised of both a style, musically (a type of atmospheric BM), but also ideologically (eg deep green ecology). Though a band is not neccessarily both, I find most bands from the region have strong tendencies towards both.

Basically, I am just wondering what the definitive definition is. Or what people think it means. The bands that are from their, sound like that, and represent thus, and of course, it. What I wonder more, is of the bands not from the region that are described thus. A really good example is Altar Of Plagues (of Ireland). This band, in being described as some variation of Cascadian BM goes even beyond bands from the US that are outside of Cascadia, but infact outside the USBM scene altogether (geographically). At the very least, on last.fm Altar of Plagues is described in this way.

The best I can do, before exploring this more deeply, is simply to call it Cascadian inspired BM.

The other angle I wonder about with the genre, is the ideology. Of course references of Anarchist BM and RABM come up, but I feel they do not express the particular of the ecological ideas. Eco-BM and hippie BM (though not very desirable, I use it as a simple way to describe radical ecological politics + BM) are terms I have thrown around. GA (Green Anarchist) or Primitivist/Primmie BM are possibilities, and infact the latter is sometimes used for the band Leech (and at least one other band I can't think of at this moment). However, it may be that Leech very particularly identify with that ideological term, whereas other bands, though have somewhat similar ideas, do not identify with that term. So then that at least does not seem to fit.

Maybe somebody will make the point about how alot of BM, irrespective of geography, has strong elements of nature appreciation. That may be true, but I feel there is a great distinction here. This is perhaps linked with a strong tendency within North America (eg Cascadian in particular) of radical ecological politics. And there is a marked absence of the racism or nationalism apparently in certain other BM scenes. That said...

I'm very much open to ideas, and of course to the organic progression of the language of genres... So give me some ideas if have any.

But for now, I'll stick with the definition at the top, Cascadian-inspired, and Eco-BM, depending on the context.