Destructhor81

Fucking Nuclear Assault...Probably the most underrated thrash band of the 80´s. Their first three albums are just invincible and easily whipe the floor with anything Metallica or Megadeth did at the time. Not a big fan of the 90´s album though, but those early albums are pure bliss. 9 out of 10 for sure!

Funeral Mist - Hekatomb In my memories this was easily the weakest Funeral Mist release. But now listening to it again i might have to review my opinion, there are actually some pretty cool tracks, especially "Cockatrice" which features some subtle but cool synths.

Black metal doesn´t need to have a raw production to qualify as black metal in my opinion. Sure, i prefer a more natural and rough sounding mix since it just adds to the listening experience in my opinion. I want a drums to sound like drums and not like perfectly programmed samples that could have been done with a drum computer. Call me crazy but i´d rather listen to Capricornus´ sloppy but natural sounding drumming on the early Graveland releases then Hellhammer´s perfect but clinical drumming on the last few Mayhem releases. Keep in mind a raw mix doesn´t mean you can´t hear the individual instruments. There´s a big difference between a raw mix and shitty mix where everything sounds like a wall of white noise. A lot of times when black metal bands rely on a polished and sterile production (Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir, late era Gorgoroth) you just lose some of that chaotic, raw magic that we know from the early 90´s albums. It just sounds soulless like it was produced by a computer instead of a bunch of musicians if that makes sense. I´m still able to enjoy those albums but whenever that dreaded Nuclear Blast-esque production pops up i instantly lose interest in the material. I gave a few of your songs a spin and i kind of get what he means. The overall sound and tuning of the guitars sounds somewhat closer to death metal then black metal at times, although it´s still clearly rooted in black metal. My guess he was just being polite since there are clearly enough black metal elements present in your music. But at the end of the day who gives a fuck, you can´t please everyone right?!?

Hey there, Fellow Dutchman here Welcome to the board and enjoy your stay. I'm sure you'll discover some new and interesting band through this forum. Do you prefer a certain kind of metal? Might make it easier to recommend something since Metallica and Stone Sour are pretty middle of the road bands.

I used to be a huge Pantera fans but things obviously cooled down as i discovered other bands through the years. But they were certainly a formative band for me in the early days and there is no denying these guys had a golden formula. For me personally they had one of the most intense and talented singers ever. I know the opinions on Anselmo are divided but they guy can do no wrong in my book. He was a true beast in the earlier years and he has shown has versatility throughout the years with his numerous side projects. Most of them turned out to be even better then Pantera. That said i can still listen to "The Great Southern Trendkill" and "Reinventing the Steel" on a regular basis. Those are just stone cold classics. The older albums are okay but have lost some of their magic throughout the years. I caught Anselmo & The Illegals 2 years ago at a local festival doing a Pantera set and it would be hard for me to deny that those classic tracks still got me pumped as fuck even 25 years later. So i think Pantera were hugely influential and got a lot of kids into Metal back in the days. For that alone they deserve eternal hails. Side note... If i never have hear "Walk" again i´ll die a happy man 😁

I really tried liking the new stuff but somehow it just doesn´t click. It just feels like the same old tired riffs we´ve been hearing since "Tempo of the Damned" coupled with that awful toothless and sterile production job which is classic Nuclear Blast. This is a band that stopped existing for me back in 1992. But to be fair this can of course be said for a lot of the 80´s thrash bands. The only one that hasn´t disappointed me personally so far is Overkill, although they got close a few times as well. Candlemass - 2005 self titled album The great return of Messiah Marcolin and what a comeback it is! Now this is what a Candlemass record is supposed to sound like. Chunky and heavy, doomy riffs while Messiah´s majectic vocals soar on top. Even though more then 15 years passed this still feels like a natural continuation of "Tales of Creation". Wish Marcolin would have stayed a little longer but at least we got this awesome album from the doom masters.

Been busy going through the whole Evilfeast discography these last few weeks. Soundwise it may remind you of early Burzum but with some awesomely haunting synthesizers to top it off. Great hypnotic and atmospheric stuff from Poland which is best enjoyed while listening with headphones.

Overkill are possibly my favorite thrash metal band right after Slayer. Bobby's vocals might be an acquired taste like people already pointed out in this thread. But his whiney, nasal voice is a breath of fresh air compared to most tough guy vocals in thrash metal. The first five albums are just classics from beginning to end and i even have a weak spot for "I Hear Black" and "W.F.O." After that they lost me somewhat though when they went the Pantera routa. I only started purchasing their albums again when "Ironbound" came out in 2010. The new stuff sounds still really energetic and reminds of the early days at times. Bands like Metallica and Megadeth would wish they could still write this kind of material. Just wish they didn't have that typical plastic Nuclear Blast production job with those horrible triggered drums. But i guess you can't have it all, right? I hope to catch them live in the not to near future. For some reason Overkill is one of those bands that i always missed when they came over here.

Love me some Testament and like most i think they should have replaced Anthrax in the big four. But Testament was unfortunately a little late to the party and ended up with the other second rank thrash bands like Overkill, Forbidden and Death Angel. Their first three albums are nearly flawless to me, after that you can argue about the quality of some of their releases. I will defend "The Ritual" til my death though. Sure they tried to imitate the more commercial sound of the Black album and Countdown to Extinction but they did it the best of all three bands. It still was more accessible for regular listeners but maintained that sligthly rawer thrash edge, it's shame the fans didn't appreciate it at the time. "Low" is another criminally underrated album which deserves way more praise. They came back with a vengeance and went full on thrash again even though it was 1994 and metal was all but dead. They kept representing thrash metal while other bands like Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax were going the alternative route in hope of commercial success. Also thought "Dark Roots of Earth" was a great comeback after a longer period of silence. Unfortunately the two albums that followed were all pretty mediocre and felt like Testament was just going through the motions. But after 30 years that's kind of to be expected. They still do awesome live shows and get regular airplay in my home.

Nothings most of the time to be honest. I´ll just sit or lie down and focus and enjoy the music. Especially if it´s a new record or something i haven´t listened to in a long time. I think music deserves your attention and time and shouldn´t be viewed as mindless entertainment, sound snobby but that´s how i experience it personally. Whenever i start doing something i just lose focus and the music ends up being background noise. Of course i´ll put some music on while working out or cleaning the house but like i said it mostly just turn into white noise unless it´s a records that i know by heart.

Too bad these guys broke up last year. Only got the chance to see them live once 😐

Utgard was definitely a grower for me, but so were most Enslaved albums these last 10 years or so. I blame the proggy influences since normally i´m not a big fan of long, complex 10 minute epics songs. Just keep it and short and sweet is more my kind of motto. But... for Enslaved i´ll gladly make an exception. Like i said their last five albums or so were all growers for me. With Utgard it took me about a week or three before it finally clicked. But most tracks really warrant multiple listenings to appreciate them. Just like with a tapestry there are all these little intricate details woven throughout the music then only reveal themselves upon repeated listenings and preferably with headphones. Tracks like "Sequence" and "Distant Seasons" really show the intricacy and skills involved in composing such tracks. Of course you have more straight forward bangers like "Jettegryta" and "Urjotun" which should even please the average metalhead. If you had asked me a few years ago which era of Enslaved i´d prefer, i would have said the early stuff like most fans. But nowadays i find myself revisting their newer albums alot more. I think with "Utgard" Enslaved once again showed their diversity with all kind of influences (electronics, kraut rock, etc) and delivered one of their most well rounded album in years. I already loved the previous album "E" but this one is just as great or maybe even a notch better. Can´t wait to catch them live when the finally get around to touring for this album.

I´m not too keen on death metal but the usual suspects count among my favorite. Band like: Autopsy, Arghoslent, Bloodbath, Cadaver, Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel and my absolute favorite... the almighty Necrophagia.

I loathe death metal with a passion but the boys from Autopsy can do no wrong with me. The doomy/black sabbath influences keep things interesting instead of just pounding away like a sledgehammer like most death metal bands. Normally i´m opposed to remastering classics album as well but in this case it´s just subtle tweaks without altering the original mix too much and it actually makes the record more enjoyable in my opinion. It´s not like they did some shitty remix like they do so often with more well known bands which are brickwalled to shit just so they sound as loud as possible.

They re-released their first two albums on vinyl and CD last week. New artwork and remastered sound. I was a little skeptical at first but they were worth upgrading since the originals had a pretty weak production to begin with. Not a total botch job like the Megadeth remixes in the early 2000's, just nice subtle tweaks that enhance the sound without changing it drastically.

haha, fair point. Like they say, it´s only good black metal if you can´t read the band logo Fixed it! Pretty decent remaster, Satyricon didn't fuck around too much with the sound. Just a little more punch (drums mainly) and more well defined an balanced mix. I'm happy with my upgrade of this classic. Don't even mind the new artwork which everybody seems to bitch about...

Carpathian Forest is the band i turn to whenever i get tired of your average black metal and want a more simple, agressive, primitive sound. I like how they carved their own path and chose for a more mid paced old school metal approach instead of non stop blast beats and tremolo picking like most Norwegian bands. Also love how their first album "Black Shining Leather" has such a prominent bass tone, absolutely unheard of in black metal at the time and that cover of The Cure´s "A Forest" is just magnificent. "Skjend Hans Lik" and "Fuck You All!!!" are also standout albums, the first one has some cool synth work which work really well and their last album just sounds really pissed off and has a beautiful heavy production sound. I know they put out a single a few years ago that sounded okay, but a new album doesn´t seem to be in the works. I don´t know if Nattefrost is even up to nowadays. To be honest he sounds like shit in the live video´s i´ve seen recently but that might have to do with him finally kicking his heroin addiction. Was never a fan of his solo album though, they just sounded a little too basic and primitive for my taste. Still i´m hoping to at least see one more Carpathian forest album or at least to get the chance to see them live once.

Goatmoon - Voitto Tai Valhalla - Love the punky folk influences on the album, nothing quite like it.

To be honest not everything from that phase was horrible but most of it aged pretty badly in my opinion. And like you said it gave other countries a chance to show of their music. I really got into the Polish and Greek scene around that time so it wasn´t all bad in the end

Digerdöden - Majestätens Dunkla Håg, I Dödens Profana Ståt

Who know what possessed them to turn into a shitty gothic symphonic metal band all of a sudden. I blame the whole gothic/symphonic scene at the time. With bands like Dimmu Borgir and Nightwish on the rise it became trendy to incorporate those elements in your music if you craved commercial success and Kovenant clearly wanted a piece of the pie. Plus it seemed like the Matrix movies kicked off this whole futuristic trend among the black metal scene at the time. All of a sudden bands like Satyricon, Dødheimsgard, Gehenna, Zyklon and a bunch of others anbandoned their much beloved Norwegian pagan image and became a bunch of fucking Mad Max look-a-like clowns for a few years. Gladly this phase passed pretty quickly and lasted only until 2005 or so.

Another insane demo from the early days of Norwegian black metal. Fleurety was the odd duck from the beginning and their demo reflects this as well, even in the early stages they were going for a totally unique sound. Alexander Nordgaren´s vulture-like vocals on the third track are just insane and inhuman and he actually permanently damaged his vocals chords doing them. They did an EP which is even better and the first full length album is gold as well. Sadly they went full prog after that and i lost all interest in them after that. In the Woods is another one of those Norwegian bands which chose to forge their own unique path. On their demo they still retained a lot of the classic black metal influences but there is already some amazing synth and guitar work which already showed a lot of promise. Their debut album ranks among of my favorite albums of all times because you simply won´t ever hear an album like it ever again.

Well, you probably are right "The Underground Resistance" is probably the most non black metal album Darkthrone has done so far now that i think of it. This never even occured to me until you pointed it out. I´ve never considered Darkthrone anything other then a black metal band even with all the stylistic shifts throughout the years. So it would be fair to exclude that one i guess. If i had to substitute it i would choose Satanic Warmaster´s "Nachzehrer" which in my opinion is one of the finest Finnish black metal releases of the new millenium which combines the raw Finnish black metal sound with just enough melodic influences. The production is on point and for me personally was the highlight of his discography so far. As for Enslaved i always think their black metal roots (even if they never considered themselves black metal) are still visible even though the progressive elements are more prevalent nowadays. It´s strange... as much as they have evolved throughout the years i think they haven´t changed that much whenever i listen back to "Vikingligr Veldi". The progressive elements were always there from the beginning it´s just they learned to implement and balance them better throughout the years.

I´m not going to even attempt to rank my personal top 10. So it´s going be 10 of my favorite albums in a totally random order. Taake - Hordalands Doedskvad - Taake will probably never make another classic like this one. All things just came together perfectly on this album and kept the flame of the Norwegian black metal alive and showed the world that the Norwegian scene is still a force to be reckoned with. Evilfeast - Elegies of the Stellar Wind - Evilfeast is one of the best bands to come out of the Polish scene since the new millenium. This is probably how Burzum would have sounded if Vikernes had lived in Poland. Lot´s of beautiful and lush keyboards and hypnotic riffs which all blend together into a perfect storm. Evilfeast albums should be enjoyed in their entirety to get the full experience. Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance - Unlike most people i´ve accepted that Darkthrone will never return to the sound of their first five albums. To be honest i didn´t expect anything from this album at the time, but now i count it among my favorite Darkthrone releases. They just went full steam ahead and embraced their 80´s speed metal influences on this one and it works. There isn´t one boring track on the whole album and even Fenriz his singing on "Valkyrie" sounds epic. I really wish Darkthrone would abandon their current doom phase (Artic Thunder was all i needed) and gives us another one of these. Funeral Mist - Hekakomb - Just when you though you´d never hear from these guys again they return after almost 10 years to drop a bomb. Mortuus and the boys haven´t missed a step and this album just one big relentless sonic assault on your ears. No frills or fancy stuff, just pure and unadulterated black metal from beginning to end. 1349 - Demonoir - 1349 pretended to be groundbreaking or sophisticated, they just stuck to what they knew which is simple 90´s Norwegian black metal. On this album they did best yet also managed to include some new elements which gave it a fresh sound. As usual Frost´ drumming is just insane, but the whole album is just a great experience from front to back. Myrkgrav - Trollskau, Skrømt og Kølabrenning - To be honest i know little to nothing about this band. I´m not that big on folk influenced black metal but this album just hits the spot for me. It´s hard to describe but the sound of album just paints a certain picture that i can identify with and evokes emotions within. Sometimes it´s hard to explain what makes an album stand out and you just have to experience it. This is one of those cases for me. Satyricon - 2013 Self titled album - Probably my most controversial pick from the whole top 10. But regardless of how much people hate this album i´ll defend it to the end. Satyricon went back to the roots and chose for a simplistic and straight forward approach and thus gave us their probably most genuine album in years. Tracks like "Tro og Kraft", "Nekrohaven" and "Ageless Northern Spirit" can easily hold their own when compared to the early material. Maybe in time people will learn to appreciate the album for what it is. Funeral Storm - Arcane Mysteries - Yeah, okay these guys are pure early Rotting Christ worship and probably aren´t the most original band around. But man, they nail that typical Greek black metal sound so well on this album i just can´t get enough of it. And since Rotting Christ seems to be stuck on automatic pilot nowadays i welcome Funeral Storm with open arms. Can´t wait to see what they deliver with their second album. Vargrav - Netherstorm - I often catch myself wishing for the days of old and my picks probably reflect that. This band sounds like Emperor if Isahn hadn´t decided to go all proggy on our asses after "In The Nightside Eclipse". But just like Funeral Storm, Vargrav manages to fill a void that desperately needed filling. If you are like me and worship the first Emperor album then this will be right up your street. Just pure raw symphonic black metal at it´s best. The follow up album "Reign in Supreme Darkness" is probably even more of a Nightside clone but it just sounds sooooo fucking good. Enslaved - Utgard - Lot´s of band always claim that their newest album is the best stuff they ever did. But with Enslaved this could actually be true. The new blood in the band really seems to have boosted their spirits (and sound) and i love how they even got more experimental on this release with small kraut rock and electronic influences. This album has been on regular rotation since it came out and i discover little new elements each time i listen to it. This could probably the best Enslaved album they have done since Isa in my opinion.

I´m normally not a big fan of compilations but this one is just perfect. Not a single dud on the whole album, would have loved to seen a second album but unfortunately it never happened.