With hundreds of miles of forbidding, rocky coastline and thick forests covering more than three-quarters of its total area, Maine is an anomaly in densely populated New England. Its biggest urban center, Portland, is home to a mere 66,000 souls, not even enough to crack the top 300 cities in the U.S. by population. Maineâs proximity to cities like Boston and New York, coupled with its remoteness, has led to a huge influx of hikers, hunters, naturalists, writers, and artists over the generationsâa diverse population brought together by the promise of physical and spiritual sustenance. More recently, a small but fervent community of musicians based in and around Portland has quietly built one of the strongest regional black metal scenes in the country.