The Official Black Metal Recommendations Thread

[RelentlessOblivion]

Bumping thread

[BlutAusNerd]

I'm a bit bored at work, I'm going to do another round here:

 

Gehenna - Malice

Gehenna are one of a seemingly endless supply of early Norwegian black metal bands, and like most of those bands, they aren't mentioned as often as the really well known ones. Gehenna had a bit of a somber and mid-paced start to their career, before venturing more into symphonic black metal, and doing it better than most of the Dimmu Borgir type bands that followed them. They make great use of melody, and the keyboards are never overwhelming, they just add to the songs instead of drawing attention away from them. This is how symphonic black metal should be done.

Glorior Belli - Manifesting the Raging Beast:

Glorior Belli are a French black metal band sort of in the vein of Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord. They seem to be a bit more deliberate and straightforward sounding than either of those bands, but they possess similar ideas on atmosphere and dissonance here, with a heavier and less weird approach. Everything here is performed magnificently, with great vocals to top it off. I'm told that their newer stuff is a bit more out there, taking on something of a bluesy feel, but this is the only album I have of theirs, so I can't comment.

 

Gorgoroth - Pentagram:

Gorgoroth are a Norwegian black metal band that are often talked about more for the antics of the band and members than for their music, which is unfortunate. Especially early on, Gorgoroth were one of the most vicious and awesome bands in the scene, sounding a bit like Darkthrone, but definitely going about things in their own way. Their music was especially influential on the Finnish black metal scene, many of the bands after the initial 2nd wave boom in that country owe a great deal of their sound to Gorgoroth, with vicious riffs and dark melodies galore.

 

Grand Belial's Key - Mocking the Philanthropist:

Grand Belial's Key are one of the oldest American black metal bands, and one of my favorites this country has produced. Everyone should know by now that I like my black metal with lots of riffs, and Gelal Necrosodomy brings those riffs in spades. Many harken back to the 80's, but all of the riffs and songs are laid out in his own unique way. A pretty blasphemous and vicious band that is often written off for their lyrical rhetoric and extreme views (homophobia, racism, etc...), which I think is unfortunate.

 

Graveland - Thousand Swords:

Graveland is one of Poland's oldest black metal bands. They began with a very signature Eastern European black metal sound and slowly morphed into more of a pagan/viking metal band, owing a great deal more to Bathory's Hammerheart. Their music has always had an epic and grandiose feel to it, which increased as they transitioned away from black metal, which is awesome, but I prefer their older sound. Their production has always sounded rough (not a stretch for black metal), but give it a chance. I should probably also note that these guys have racist views, but unlike most NSBM bands, they seem to actually give a shit about their music, instead of just using it as a vehicle to spout rhetoric.

 

Gravewurm - Blood of the Pentagram:

Gravewurm are an American black metal band with a very old-school sound. This is very primordial black metal, sounding like black metal did in the 80's when it was still closely tied with doom, thrash, and death metal, with the biggest and most obvious influence here being Hellhammer. A bit repetitive at times, but I dig what these guys are going for.

 

Havohej - Dethroning the Son of God:

Havohej is another ancient US black metal band, with its roots tied to an even older band, Profanatica. When Profanatica broke up in the early 90's after some demos and EPs, Paul Ledney took many of their songs and recorded the album Dethrone the Son of God as Havohej, with some new songs in the mix. Stylistically, it's obviously very similar to Profanatica, but everything here is much more raw and hateful sounding. One of the most sinister and unforgiving black metal albums ever.

 

Horna - Envaatnags Eflos:

Horna are one of the best and most prolific Finnish black metal bands to come after the initial 2nd wave boom (Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat, etc...), releasing tons of albums, EPs, and splits. The good news is that pretty much all of their stuff is awesome, very Gorgoroth inspired black metal, with lots of raw riffs and dark melodies and atmosphere. Many of their past and current members are involved in tons of other bands, most of which are also great. It seems like this group of musicians really has their shit together.

 

Ildjarn - Forest Poetry:

Ildjarn is often credited as being the rawest of the raw, one of the most "unlistenable" black metal bands of all time, from Norway or elsewhere. It's not hard to see why, the production is atrocious, the music is basic and repetitious, it's just not easy stuff to listen to. However, some (myself included) find the high degree of repetition to have a hypnotic effect, which really lets Ildjarn's rage pour through you. This guy's vocals are nuts, all of his songs are fairly furious bursts like this, which I can't help but love.

 

Impaled Nazarene - Ugra Karma:

Impaled Nazarene were one of the first Finnish black metal bands, and have always been one of the most energetic, somewhat punkish black metal bands out there. Their music started out very raw, and has become progressively less so over time, but has always been pretty aggressive. Obviously you can tell from their name and lyrics that they're quite tongue-in-cheek, which only adds to the appeal for me. In the end though, it's all about the ripping black metal, and Ugra Karma is one of my favorites.

[RelentlessOblivion]

bumping thread because it dropped near the bottom of the page somehow

[Vinushka]

Wytchfilth, hehehe.

[MacabreEternal]

This past week I have discovered a couple of new bands, Crom Dubh who have a real sense of thought going into what they do with many poetic influences, Animus Mortis (who depsite the cold sound are actually from Chile) whose full length "Atrabilis (Residues From Verb & Flesh)" I'd recommend. And finally Nastrond who do an odd mix of doom in their BM with a distinct death/doom vocal style to my ears. Not really heard a lot of their stuff but "Muspellz Synir" is decent in places although it feels like a collection of songs just put together on an album as opposed to a selection written for an album. Issues with song length too (too short) but decent enough.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: recommendations?

This past week I have discovered a couple of new bands' date=' Crom Dubh who have a real sense of thought going into what they do with many poetic influences, Animus Mortis (who depsite the cold sound are actually from Chile) whose full length "Atrabilis (Residues From Verb & Flesh)" I'd recommend. And finally Nastrond who do an odd mix of doom in their BM with a distinct death/doom vocal style to my ears. Not really heard a lot of their stuff but "Muspellz Synir" is decent in places although it feels like a collection of songs just put together on an album as opposed to a [i']selection written for an album. Issues with song length too (too short) but decent enough.

Try Toteslaut and The Age of Fire, both are excellent. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[BlutAusNerd]

Okay, all of the broken video links have been fixed here now as well. I'll probably be updating this thread and the doom metal thread with new material first as soon as I have fixed the broken videos in the other threads.

[RelentlessOblivion]

No hurry mate I've got so much to get through on each of these lists I may die of old age before I tick everything off.

[BlutAusNerd]

No hurry mate I've got so much to get through on each of these lists I may die of old age before I tick everything off.

Some other people have been requesting additions, so I'm working on them. Don't worry, I'll never make it through all of the suggestion threads on my other forum either. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Frostaudn]

I can put up some atmospheric and dsbm recommendation, although I don't know if someone is interested

[Midi]

I can put up some atmospheric and dsbm recommendation' date=' although I don't know if someone is interested [/quote'] They're not really my thing, although I did like Bëkëth Nexëhmü's De Dunkla Herrarna

[BlutAusNerd]

How about another round of black metal videos?

 

I.C.E - Apocalyptic End In White:

I.C.E. was a one off side project from members of the blasty death metal group Aurora Borealis. Not surprisingly, their black metal side project was also pretty high speed and blast heavy. There are still some death metal elements here, and the album is fairly one dimensional, but it's pretty well done, and if you're in the mood for some black metal aggression with a frosty sound, this is a good way to go.

 

Inquisition - Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult:

Inquisition is, in my opinion, one of the best black metal bands around today. With a sound that is both familiar and highly unique, they make expansive and entrancing albums of consistently high quality. They're fairly cheesy in the lyrical department, but I guess that's to be expected of black metal, though the way they deliver their vocals seem to throw more people off. I love the feeling that they add to the proceedings, which involves creating a massive tapestry of sound backed by outstanding drumming. Huge riffs, awesome melodies, and a dark, sinister atmosphere that should win over most any black metal fan that lets themselves sink into the music.

 

Judas Iscariot - Heaven In Flames:

Judas Iscariot was another of the earlier bands in the US black metal scene. This band probably sounds more European than most of the other early US black metal bands, but that's hardly a bad thing. This is far from a Norwegian clone, but fans of bands like Darkthrone and early Gorgoroth should find plenty to enjoy here.

 

Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus:

Keep of Kalessin was another of many Norwegian black metal bands that most people seem to gloss over when making suggestions for one reason or another. Maybe not as seminal as Burzum or Mayhem, but always a good band. They really started spreading their wings on their last few albums though, with Kolossus being a bold and brazen look at melodic black metal with some death metal elements. Epic, technical, and very well written, this album has a lot about it that would appeal to more mainstream metal fans while still being vicious. On the following album though, they would start to adopt some power metal elements, which really turned me off, so I would suggest avoiding that one. Just another good album to recommend.

 

Khold - Phantom:

Khold sprung up from the ashes of Tulus, another seldom mentioned Norwegian black metal band. They don't seem to get much traction with fans of more "typical" sounding Norwegian black metal because of their overall slower pace and groovy feel. This is still a grim and filthy sound, so I'm not sure why the lack of blast beats seems to put so many people off, but if the idea of black metal atmosphere and grime with a catchy groove appeals to you, give this a listen.

 

Leviathan - The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide:

Leviathan were one of the earlier depressive black metal bands to spring up in the US, but have some key elements that differentiate them from their contemporaries. Firstly, Leviathan is certainly an ambient influenced black metal band, but unlike their contemporaries, the instruments don't all blend together into a wall of sound. Everything here is audible, including some excellent drumming and bass work, though it may not have a very loud mix. Secondly, this band tends to be much more riff driven than other non-doomy suicidal black metal bands, using plenty of riffs in addition to the more typical strummed atmospheric patterns. The songwriting is excellent, and the feeling is dense, oppressive, and hopeless. Awesome band, they should really get more credit than just being lumped in with the "bedroom black metal" scene.

 

Lifelover - Pulver:

Lifelover was one of the better known suicidal black metal acts before the passing of one of its founding members. Their sound is an interesting one, with black metal only being one facet. Mostly you will hear gothic and depressive rock/post-punk elements mixed with some black metal techniques, but they are certainly not limited to that. The vocals have that sort of spazzy, "tormented" style that you could come to expect from these kinds of artists, but they're very well done here. Then there's that cover art. Interesting band for sure, well worth a listen for anyone who craves something different.

 

Limbonic Art - Moon in the Scorpio:

While I tend to prefer the more raw and riffy sides of black metal, I can't deny that Limbonic Art has a great sound. Symphonic black metal is often the subject of shit talking because of bands like Dimmu Borgir, but not all symphonic black metal is created equal. Limbonic Art have a similarly thin guitar tone/heavy keyboard sound to many of their contemporaries, but the symphonic elements are well integrated into the black metal, neither sounding out of place with the other, but rather enhancing each other, as it should be. Their songs are long and grandiose, the atmosphere elegant and dark, and they keyboards don't come off as cheesy. Fans of the style really need to give these guys a listen if they haven't yet.

 

Ljå - Til Avsky For Liver:

Ljå is a newer band that is breathing some new life into the Norwegian black metal sound. Much like contemporaries Tsjuder or even Taake, the sound here definitely fits with that of the rest of the scene, but this is a band taking the influences of old and putting them together in their own way. Also like the others mentioned, the fast sections are pretty damn fast, the riffs are tight and trimmed, and there is a slightly folky feel to the melodies. Nothing totally out of the ordinary, but I have a hard time imagining that any fan of the aforementioned Taake, Immortal, Gorgoroth, or even early Enslaved would not enjoy this.

 

Lord Belial - Unholy Crusade:

Lord Belial doesn't seem to be mentioned among the luminaries of the Swedish black metal scene, but I'm not sure why. This definitely sticks to the more typical Swedish sound of melodious black metal with some melodeath influences, and maybe Lord Belial is a bit more accessible than many of their peers, but still throw down some nice aggressive passages to offset the more mid-paced melodic ones. Definitely a band that doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

[Midi]

Some black metal is always nice. I hadn't heard of I.C.E. and Keep of Kalessin yet. I'll be sure to check them out

[Midi]

Some more...

Peste Noire is a black metal band from France. La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence was their debut album. This ‘Black Plague’ does honour to its name: wretched screams defile even the groovy and melodic passages of this album and give it really nasty appeal, in both the good and bad way of the word ‘nasty’. Peste Noire - La Sanie des sieclus

 

Although I’m not a big fan of atmospheric black metal, I wouldn’t be surprised if this album ends up on my drawer. Krigsgrav, which means ‘War grave’, is a Swedish band of whom the newest album will be released at the end of this month. The songs released already sound very promising... Krigsgrav - The Carrion Fields

 

Moderator's Note: The video which was intended to go here could not be retrieved due to the new embed method and lack of info from the OP.

I’ve mentioned Krigsgrav’s new album above. Emptiness’ new album takes a spot on the list of my favorite 2014 BM albums as well and let’s not forget a spot on my favorite Belgian metal albums list! It’s a very dark and very creative album from beginning to end. I recommend listening to the entire album to really get in the atmosphere of Emptiness.

 

I have loved the Swedish Setherial since the first song I heard of them. There may not be any renewing elements here, but I find it refreshing to hear this kind of black metal every once in a while. There older material is perhaps of more interest to people who prefer their black metal a bit harder than this song. Setherial - Ekpyrosis

[RelentlessOblivion]

Bumping thread

[deathstorm]

Amaranthe are good

[BlutAusNerd]

It looks like I’ve had a request to post more black metal videos, so for your listening pleasure, here are another 10 killer bands to sink your teeth into. It looks as though I was a bit too verbose this go around, I am having to split this grouping up into 2 posts because I've exceeded the character limit for a single post.

 

Lunar Aurora - Zyklus:

I know that I have made frequent mention about many bands being criminally overlooked and often unheralded for making great albums, but Lunar Aurora's lack of mentioning in most of the black metal circles I've seen just leaves me scratching my head. This is a band that has released a number of albums, all of which that I have heard have been absolutely marvelous, they were around early enough to have garnered attention during the 2nd wave explosion, and were still releasing albums up until recently. I don't get it, their compositional skills were astonishingly developed (even early on), their sound was a very original one (The Ruins of Beverast is one of the only bands I can think of who bear a passing resemblance to Lunar Aurora), and the production and performances are basically perfect for black metal. The atmosphere here is something to behold, very few bands can enrapture my senses quite the way that these guys do, and everything in their sound is done to work toward this atmosphere in the best way possible. I would say that I don't want to oversell Lunar Aurora to you, but I'm not sure that would be possible, they are deserving of every bit of the praise that I have seen all of their fans shower upon them. Enjoy.

 

Maniac Butcher - Invaze

Maniac Butcher is a band that I have posted about a few times here, as the most ridiculous looking black metal band that isn't an actual joke band, trumping the likes of Immortal and Graveland with ease. As we all know though, appearance isn't everything, and they're actually a damn good band. Their sound is an old school one, a 2nd wave black metal band with the riffing and feel of a 1st wave black metal band. This is black metal that you can headbang to, full of aggression, nasty vocals, killer drumming from none other than Tomas Corn of Lykathea Aflame, and even an element of sinister fun. There is nothing original about this band, but it doesn't really matter when you do what you do well.

 

Marduk - Those of the Unlight:

Every black metal fan has likely heard and/or heard of Marduk at some point. They are known for being one of the bands to develop the "norsecore" sound, that being black metal that is almost solely reliant on blast beats and high speeds, sounding more like death metal/grindcore than the black metal of old. While this can be considered true about their later albums (though many of them are still very good), this is absolutely not the case for their early material. Their debut album was more of a Swedish death metal album with some black metal elements, but with their 2nd album, Those of the Unlight, they shifted into a fully black metal sound. This album represents the pinnacle of the band's career for me, and while there are blastbeats and aggressive, high speed passages here, the melodies here are absolutely sublime. What you hear in the guitar playing is not all that far removed from more "cult" acts like Sacramentum or Dawn, even Dissection comes to mind at times, but here it is done in a way that only Marduk could, but could never really replicate. Jocke Göthberg's vocals are also the best that the band ever had IMO, Legion was certainly one of the factors dragging down their mid-period albums, and Jocke also kept the drums varied and interesting without sacrificing ferocity. In summation, if any of you have ever written off Marduk without hearing this album, I would encourage you to let them change your mind.

 

Midvinter - At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon:

Midvinter was a short lived Swedish black metal band, only releasing one demo and one album toward the latter end of the Scandinavian black metal explosion. It may be due to this late, one off release that they are much less known than their contemporaries, but I find that unfortunate when obviously lesser bands like Dark Funeral are so popular. In fact, this band's aggressive passages sound a great deal like Dark Funeral to me, that is, if they would pull their heads out of their asses and write a song now and then. However, the band also used mid-paced melodic passages and clean vocals in their somewhat longer songs, which not only gives the album depth and variation, but sets them apart from so many other Swedish black metal bands at the time. You will know that this is Swedish black metal when you hear it, but this is far from another carbon copy, so if the sound is something that you enjoy, there's no reason not to make this a part of your collection.

 

Mongrel's Cross - The Sins of Aquarius:

Mongrel's Cross is a newer black/thrash band that has been making some waves with their debut, The Sins of Aquarius. The sound here is pretty professional for a newer band, especially for a style usually noted for its raw production and primal nature. That said, there is no shortage of savagery here, but this band is already well versed in texturing their songs through various tempo and atmosphere changes, all while keeping the riffs and morbid vocals flowing. While maybe not the most original thing ever, I would urge any black/thrash fan to give them a chance, you won't be disappointed.

[BlutAusNerd]

Mystifier - Goetia:

Mystifier was one of Brazil's earliest 2nd wave black metal bands, though they did have their share of 1st wave black metal bands that were pushing in that direction (Sarcofago, Vulcano, Sepultura, etc...). Mystifier's sound balanced two types of black metal sounds that to this day are not frequently merged, that of a ritualistic feel with very raw, bestial techniques. Many of their songs are slow to mid-paced, and very atmospheric, but their uptempo portions will call bands like Beherit, Blasphemy, and early Impaled Nazarene to mind. This merging of the two styles creates one of my favorite sounds in black metal, as Mystifier are simultaneously heavy, dark, horrifying, and evocative of an interesting occult feeling. I highly recommend checking them out, especially this album, Goetia, which is among my favorite black metal albums.

 

Nargaroth - Herbstlevd:

Nargaroth is yet another black metal band that tends to be famous for all of the wrong reasons. Kanwulf, the man behind Nargaroth, has had more than one campaign led against him to defame his image, which he seems to have artificially inflated by lying about himself so that he would sound more "kvlt". I won't get into the specifics, as they are quite idiotic, but the bottom line is that at least on his debut album, Herbstleyd, he wrote some pretty majestic and epic sounding black metal. You can see from his album art and behavior that he seems to look up to Varg Vikernes, so it should come as no surprise that one of the biggest influences you'll hear in his sound is that of Burzum, but whereas Burzum tends to revel in repetition and slow changes (to great effect, mind you), Nargaroth shows more variety, and a more nature sounding epic quality similar to Graveland's early albums. The songwriting here is simply stunning, the songs themselves develop marvelously throughout their running time, and build together into quite the immersive album experience. I can't speak for the quality of his later releases, but you owe it to yourself to at least check out Herbstleyd.

 

Nåstrond - Toteslaut:

Nåstrond is certainly an odd entity in the Swedish black metal realm, especially given the time frame within which they released most of their work. In 1995, most of the Swedish scene was in quite a melodic swing, whereas Nåstrond went totally against that grain with a very decrepit, morbid, and stunningly creepy sound. The use of keyboards and spoken passages in their sound are phenomenal at setting the stage for more aggressive and hideous sounding numbers like this one, with everything adding up to a very dissonant (though not in the same sense as more modern bands like Deathspell Omega), uncomfortable listen. Not only were these guys unique to their scene and time period, they are unique even today, I can't think of another band that even comes close to sounding like this. If you're up from something disturbing and different, look no further.

 

Nazxul - Totem:

Nazxul is one of the best known among Australia's black metal acts, despite their limited output, likely due to just how good that output is. While they would opt for a more majestic, though still excellent sound later on, their debut album, Totem, sounds like a vile and decrepit cousin to Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse. You can hear similar reverb drenched epic black metal passages with a vicious blasting undercurrent of drums, but the vocals and tone here are far more sinister, though still with plenty of melody and atmosphere beneath the filth. This is that sweet spot for 2nd wave black metal, where bands were branching out and becoming more personal and introspective, but still retained ties to their first wave roots. If you wish that symphonic/atmospheric black metal bands had a more aggressive side under all of the pomp and circumstance, Nazxul will show you how it's done.

 

Necromass - Mysteria Mystica Zofiriana:

Necromass were a short lived Italian black metal band, but they did release some great material while they were around in the mid-90's. As with most black metal around this time, there were certainly some unifying characteristics that tied them all together into the 2nd wave sound, but the boundaries were not yet established and all kinds of territory was yet to be explored. Also, like other bands from this time frame exploring 2nd wave black metal, they managed to possess all of the traits that later bands would single out, and often miss the point of entirely, like melody, speed, aggression, atmosphere, originality, etc... There's not any one thing that I can point to that would explain why this is different from so many other releases at the time, but most 2nd wave black metal fans know this era to be the golden years for that sound and try to track down as many releases from that time as possible because of how consistent the quality tended to be (like thrash in the mid-80's, death metal in the early 90's, etc...). This release is no exception, so enjoy another piece of history.

[tayorous]

the normal black metal kind of stuff - mayhem - burzum - dark throne - immortal - gorgoroth

[BlutAusNerd]

the normal black metal kind of stuff - mayhem - burzum - dark throne - immortal - gorgoroth

Read through this thread, there are literally hundreds of black metal bands mentioned, most of which have video accompaniments.

[Black Milk]

I've been perusing Drowning the Light's catalog for a few days now, its so large that there's obviously your expected deposits of respective shit and gold, but I'm really enjoying this album at the moment, Blood of the Ancients. It's a little too powerful to call depressive, unlike some other releases, but it's definitely up that alley though with a hateful and somewhat pagan/folk hint showing itself in certain dark corners. Drowning the Light - The Blood of the aAncients

 

[Black Milk]

so a couple of tracks from the upcoming Blaze of Perdition album have just been posted, and I'm really liking what I hear. Its the first release since the accident that killed their bassist Blaze of Perdition - Near Death Revelations

 

 

[Black Milk]

I'm digging the shit out of Vattnet Viskar's newest album Settler. Im not in the mood to learn how to post a video again with this new layout, so just take Milk's word that it's worth checking out. 

[BlutAusNerd]

I'm digging the shit out of Vattnet Viskar's newest album Settler. Im not in the mood to learn how to post a video again with this new layout, so just take Milk's word that it's worth checking out. 

Hopefully it's better than their live performance, they bored the shit out of me with Necrophagia and 1349. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Black Milk]

 

your welcome. Mgla - Exercises in Futility