Balor

Vampyrique is right about the styles, and 'Bergtatt' probably is the best, but the other two are great in their own way. 'Kveldssanger' isn't a black metal album if we're being strict about it, but it has the vibe for sure and fits perfectly with the other two. 'Nattens Madrigal' is black metal incarnate, with each song being an ode to the wolf. 

Kveldssanger drops black metal entirely in favour of folkly acoustic-oriented songs. There's only clean vocals and less vocals in general. 
Nattens Madrigal is the exact opposite. This album embraces distortion, harsh vocals and was a deliberate attempt to play pure, straight-forward black metal. 
Bergtatt is easily the best of the trilogy in my view. 
 

From the list above Schizo was cool but the best is sun worship for me 
some nice albums i recently stumbled upon:
Mgla - Exercisesin furility 
Marthyrium - Beyond the Thresholds
Acherontas - Ma-IoN (Formulas of reptilian unification)
Batushka - Litourgiya 
 
 

Blast beats, tremolo picking, and screechy vocals aren't requirements of black metal, nor are they unique to it. All of these elements can be found in other genres of metal, and black metal can be and is often produced without those elements. Even then, all of those elements were introduced to the genre during the first wave, several years before the Norwegian bands jumped on the black metal bandwagon. Sure, new elements were added by the inception of the second wave, something that is to be expected 10 years after the genre's birth, just as some large changes occurred within every metal genre between its birth and its later evolutionary stages. 

Black metal already existed in the 80s. Sure, it was defined moreso thematically but that was the meaning behind attaching the descriptor 'black' to metal. It doesn't matter how it is understood today by the average person because trends come and go and mean nothing if the historical context is ignored or forgotten. It wouldn't surprise me if the common understanding keeps changing slightly, as it has been, to encompass even more outside influences in order to keep the genre sounding new and exciting without simply regurgitating bands of the past. I mean, isn't Deafheaven and Liturgy already considered black metal by newer generations of black metal fans? 
I posted some comments when this issue was brought up in another thread but I don't feel like repeating everything. I think you just need to research the first wave more thoroughly. Listen to Bathory's 1987 album Under the Sign of the Black Mark, one of the foremost utilized black metal templates. The Norwegians didn't really create anything new, rather they sought to deliberately to shift the focus away from the burgeoning, 'trendy' and 'commercial' death metal scene that seemingly embraced clean production and mainstream exposure. They all quit playing death metal and, driven by their echo chamber of elitist attitudes, collectively decided to pay homage to the ugly, raw and 'evil' black metal of the 80s, and for many reasons this led to black metal becoming en vogue. To their credit they did give black metal a new flavour so to speak but the elements were already in existence. 
Even if, for some bias or reason, you don't want to give 80s bands (that encompassed other styles as well) the credit you can look to other bands whom played a style of black metal close enough to the second wave (Norwegian) sound but did so even before the Norwegians. Listen to Ritual by Master's Hammer, released in 1991. There are other examples too but you would probably find it more rewarding if you did the research yourself. Simultaneously to the Norwegian scene, the Greek black metal scene was developing. The Norwegian scene won out above all because it gathered far more media attention and exposure and under its pall of influence the Norwegian bands and their rhetoric were mimicked ad nauseam so that black metal became most synonymous with them.  
 

Thanks.

I am considering purchasing new picks, but am unsure of what to get.  What kind of picks are best for black metal tremolo picking?

Well... then enlighten me.

I had a guitar teach ask me this once, and the idea of "blood metal" fascinated me. However, no, it's not a thing.

Here are your options on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?sort=price%2Casc&limit=25&master_id=13440&ev=mb&format=CD

God damn it. I always miss something, and end up rethinking my "top ten".. It's impossible I tell you! Seriously though, Bloodbath is fucking amazing! \m/

Wow check out my song...LOL. From glancing at the first tab I would say you just need more time playing an instrument and familiarizing yourself with each role in the band. Think about what the rhythm section is going to be doing and what the lead can do to accent this "atmosphere" you want to create. Burzum is really simple in every aspect thats something to consider. Drudkh isn't. If you want to fake it till you make it maybe just learn to take the riffs you already have and play them on strings 1-2-3 as a variation. Octave chords are great too and if you turn them diminished they become pretty evil. Good luck

Evoken - Antithesis of Light. Funeral doom. Great album.

Dunlop Tortex (standard shape) are my go-to, the orange ones if I'm doing a lot of tremolo picking, the (slightly thicker) yellow ones if I'm playing thicker strings or want a beefier attack. I know people who like their picks a lot thicker and prefer the more pointy ones, though - it comes down to technique, developed through practice. Like the old saying goes, "we shape our tools, and they, in turn, shape us."

The upper left is Evoken - Antithesis of Light. It's fucking incredible funeral doom/death, some of the best that there is. Lots of win in that photo for sure, Depravity is awesome, and I've been after that Fleshcrawl album for a while. Is it an original, or did they finally reissue it?

My most recent purchases: Burzum: Filosofem, Mayhem: A Season in Blasphemy, and Drudkh: Autumn Aurora
Yes it is.  Some of my favorite Bolt Thrower songs are on it.

Love those Burzum and Drudkh albums.

My most recent purchases: Burzum: Filosofem, Mayhem: A Season in Blasphemy, and Drudkh: Autumn Aurora
Yes it is.  Some of my favorite Bolt Thrower songs are on it.

My most recent purchases: Burzum: Filosofem, Mayhem: A Season in Blasphemy, and Drudkh: Autumn Aurora
Yes it is.  Some of my favorite Bolt Thrower songs are on it.

Thank you! I'll check it out!

Dissection has melodic death influence, and they are really good.  Especially songs like "Where Dead Angel Lie" and "The Somberlain."

Re: arab metal Well, there are several bands that do that. Orphaned Land is probably most famous for playing folk metal in the Middle East, but they're Hebrew, not Arab. Al-Namrood, a Saudi Arabian black metal band, is probably the best known Arabic metal group I can think of. Their similarities are primarily in rhythm and melody, not necessarily instrumentation. Maybe you might want to check out Arsames from Iran. Granted, they're not Arabic, they're Persian, and they also don't use folk instruments, but the influence is clearly there. Of course, Al-Namrood (named for a demonic figure in Arabic legends) is flagrantly anti-clerical so I don't like them much. But Myrath is awesome! If Symphony X were all Middle Eastern and had strong folk elements, they'd sound like this Tunisian group. Narjahanam from Bahrain are Arabic folk/death. They're probably the purest synthesis - they even sing about Middle Eastern history.

For true kvlt tone you need to use the Burzum method. Find the smallest amp possible and use a headset as a mic.  

Hello, feel yourself at home! You don't have to pay rent.

Hi balor welcome to the forum