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The Official Black Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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I've bought a couple of used cds in the past that haven't actually worked, or that worked for a while then fucked up (the cd of Frontal Assault by Angel Witch is a prime example, worked the first time I listened to it, but when I went to put it into my computer it wouldn't read, nor would it play beyond thirty seconds into the first track when I put it back in my cd player) so I'm pretty wary of that, but I get a little discount at the record store because I was a frequent customer so I can save a little bit of cash that way

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Arckanum - Kostogher:

Arckanum is a black metal band from Sweden, and are easily one of the best from that country IMO. They're comparable in many ways to Burzum, but they don't really sound like Burzum, it's more their other characteristics. They're both one man bands, both have unique and atmospheric ways of looking at black metal whilst sounding undeniably Norwegian (or Swedish in this case), and both have strange/extreme beliefs. Unlike Burzum, Arckanum is much more technical and well produced, as well as relying less on repetition and ambient passages, but they still have a great sense of melody and building atmosphere. Their debut is my favorite, but you really can't go wrong with any of their albums. EDIT: The song that I had originally posted is no longer on Youtube. However, as this is one of my favorite Swedish black metal albums, I can assure that this song from the same album will be a fine replacement.

 

Astrofaes - Dying Emotions Domain:

Astrofaes are a Ukranian black metal band, and while they have some ties to the NSBM community, it doesn't seem to come through in their lyrics. They definitely sound Ukranian, but not so much the Burzum worshiping side of that sound like Drudkh, this is more along the lines of a less symphonic Nokturnal Mortum. Not much else to say about this band, everything is in place with nice melodies, aggressive riffs and drums, and a captivating atmosphere, but what else could you ask for from black metal?

 

Averse Sefira - Battle's Clarion:

Averse Sefira are a challenging and dissonant black metal band from Texas. They tend to embody the more aggressive side of second wave black metal, with lots of black beats and hate filled riffs, but also bring with their aggression a measure of discomfort and uneasiness from their dissonant and unnatural sounding chord progressions. This could be likened to a less folky early Enslaved, or even what black metal would sound like with Piggy from Voivod on guitar. Either way, between the unique sounds and occult imagery and atmosphere, this band should be heard by all enthusiasts of original and well performed black metal. EDIT: Yet another video removed from Youtube, but this song is from the same album, so it should serve as a fitting replacement.

 

Baptism - Morbid Wings of Sathanas:

Moderator's Note: The original video (Names Of The Dead Souls) has been removed from youtube. I have substituted it for the full album as it is the only video of this band remaining.

Baptism are a modern Finnish black metal band, with a sound that's entirely typical of what you would hear from any number of recent Finnish black metal bands. I've still posted them here because they are very good at what they do, with compelling songwriting, and a great feel for lo-fi atmosphere and grimness. They tend to be a bit slower and more plodding on the whole than other bands with a similar Gorgoroth worshiping sound, like Horna, Sargeist, etc..., but with plenty of Transylvanian Hunger styled mid/fast paced blasted sections and great melodies that you're heard before, just not quite in this order. Not original, but still great.

 

Behemoth - Grom:

Most people know Behemoth as the raging modern death/black monster that they are now, which is not entirely unfortunate, as I do like their newer albums. However, they started out as a wonderful Polish black metal band, and I definitely prefer this sound to what they're doing today. This is very passionately performed stuff, with a sound somewhat similar to early Graveland, but a bit more experimental, and definitely more melodic. This has a very pagan sound to it, but not in a way that sounds like any one band that I could put my finger on. Awesome stuff, it's too bad they only made a couple of albums like this before going more death metal.

 

Beherit - Drawing Down the Moon:

Beherit were one of Finland's earliest and most influential black metal bands. Despite not existing for very long (though they have recently reformed), they helped craft the deeply depraved and bestial sound of early Finnish black metal, along with bands like Archgoat, Impaled Nazarene, Black Crucifixion, etc... Despite being very raw and nasty sounding, they actually have a large ambient presence in their albums, which gives them a much more ritualistic and creepy sound than their contemporaries, which was extremely influential on many bands to come. The vocals are quite low, which is not that uncommon for this type of black metal, but the music what really paints the dark picture here. Essentially listening if you're into less polished and more vicious sounding black metal.

 

Black Funeral - Vampyr:

Black Funeral were one of the earlier embodiments of the more typical US black metal sound. Heavily influenced by Norwegian and French (LLN) black metal, this is sorrowful, lo-fi, and dark black metal with a great deal of ambient leanings. Bands like this definitely helped pave the way for more modern US black metal bands that have enjoyed a great deal of success, like Xasthur and Leviathan, but besides being influential, Black Funeral were also quite good. If you like the more minimal sounds of bands like Darkthrone, Burzum, and Mutiilation, this will probably be something that you would enjoy as well.

 

Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulee:

Blut Aus Nord are one of the best known French black metal bands, if not the very earliest. They were preceded by the LLN, which was essentially a small group of musicians releasing a number of limited demos and EPs of very raw and lo-fi black metal as a number of different bands, with only Mutiilation going on to record any full length albums after the LLN disbanded. Blut Aus Nord didn't bear much resemblance to those bands, focusing on a more epic, yet ambient variety of black metal. This is some of my favorite black metal (as if my SN didn't give that away), with their first two albums being absolute pillars in the 2nd wave black metal sound, with huge swelling atmosphere, yet not skimping on the riffs or originality. This is some of the most entrancing listening ever, I've never been anything less than totally immersed in the textures that Blut Aus Nord creates, simply one of the best black metal bands ever.

 

Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God:

You might be asking yourself, "Why does Blut Aus Nord get 2 videos?" Well, although I suppose some of this can be chalked up to fanboy gushing on my part, I do legitimately feel that they warrant it in this case. Blut Aus Nord's first 2 albums were original 2nd wave black metal, but still sat nicely within the confines of the 2nd wave. However, starting with their 3rd album, they began to evolve into something else entirely. They started adding a great deal of industrial influence into their sound, in addition to evolving their black metal base to something completely different. This is still black metal, but bears little in common with their past works, as it is extremely dissonant, claustrophobic, and honestly terrifying. Along with Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord have been pushing black metal forward into this more dense, creepy, and dissonant sound, which is different enough to warrant another track. Fucking incredible, not only did they master the sound they started in, they moved forward and have become leaders in something else entirely.

 

Covenant - Nexus Polaris:

 

Covenant were one of the many side projects led by Nagash, and although he performed on some of Dimmu Borgir's best work, I would say that almost all of his other bands were better. None of them were wildly different from old Dimmu, but the songwriting and riffs were better IMO than even my favorite Dimmu albums. This is one of his more polished, but also more original efforts, though it could still easily be called symphonic black metal. There is a bit of a futuristic sound at work here, foreshadowing their later industrial sound, with soaring riffs and keyboards, croaked vocals, and excellent drumming from the fucking man himself, Hellhammer. If you're a fan of any era of Dimmu, or even if you're not, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

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Re: recommendations?

hey jayke what is name of the cd i will check it out either on amaaon a record store i shope online or fye
That album, Tara, might not be in print right now, and you probably wouldn't find it at FYE anyway. FYE would probably have their two newest albums, which are still good, but Tara should be easy to find on Amazon, eBay, or a number of online distros. Tara is my favorite, everything about it is top notch. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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Well, I'm a bit bored today and am in a black metal mood, so I'm going to post some more recs.

 

Craft - Terror Propaganda:

Craft are one of my favorite black metal bands from after the initial boom in Sweden. They have a really ugly, sinister, groovy sound that despite the obvious homage to Darkthrone on the album cover, sounds quite different from anything else. Most of their songs are mid-paced, with heavy, nasty sounding rocking riffs made dark and ghastly, and the songs are full of emotion and power. If chunky, filthy, hateful sounding black metal sounds good to you, you've come to the right place.

 

Dark Fortress - Eidolon:

Dark Fortress are a long standing German melodic black metal band, and are one of the few that can tackle high production values without sounding stale IMO. This is really bright sounding (as far as the production anyway) and could be compared to the more slick, modern sound of Dimmu Borgir and the like, but I feel like the music on display is better here. The guitars are heavy and swirling, the atmosphere is rich and deep, and the drumming and vocals are tight. Anybody that digs more melodic and/or symphonic black metal should be checking these guys out, as I'd take them over many of the bigger names in the field.

 

Darkspace - Dark Space III:

Darkspace are a Swiss atmospheric black metal band that have chosen their name wisely, as they do sound like a band creating music to sound like the exploration of deep, dark, cold, and empty space. The songs are very drawn out, most over 10 minutes long, and paint a very expansive picture of gazing at the night sky and the emptiness that lies beyond. The mix is clear, but everything sounds sort of muted and suppressed, but to good effect, as I feel that it strengthens the delivery. Not much else to say about this band, except that they're excellent and I'm looking forward to new material from them soon.

Demoncy - Joined In Darkness:

 

 

Demoncy are one of the oldest US black metal bands, and also one of the most evil sounding black metal bands that I've ever heard. The sound here is totally dark and filthy, bringing to mind other acts like Beherit and Profanatica/Havohej with their primal and vile songs. The songs here alternate between mid/fast paced and some slow, heavy dirges, with a sick tone and delivery. You probably won't dig this if you like your black metal too clean and polished, this is just the opposite of that, and this sound would not work any other way IMO.

Desaster -The Arts of Destruction:

Desaster are one of Germany's oldest and best black/thrash metal bands. Taking their name from the Destruction song Total Desaster, you can tell that a good chunk of the sounds on display here are derived from vicious German thrash metal, but there's certainly a healthy helping of European black metal here as well. Fast paced crunchy riffs, raw vocals, and epic song structures, these guys should appeal to traditional and thrash metal fans into the harsher sides of metal as well as BM fans.

 

Deviser - Unspeakable Cults:

Deviser were one of the lesser known and celebrated Greek black metal bands of the early 90's, treading similar ground to Rotting Christ, Varathron, Thou Art Lord, and the like. Deviser wasn't quite as raw as those bands though, despite having a few more Scandinavian leanings, and did have a few more melodic and gothic leanings, but the sound should still be familiar to Greek black metal fans. They tread a nice path between mid-paced passages and faster blasting passages, but always with that melodic and emotional delivery. Good stuff.

 

Diabolical Masquerade - Ravendusk In My Heart:

Diabolical Masquerade are the one man black metal project of Blackheim from Katatonia. The work here is symphonic and melodic, but in a somewhat sad sounding way, as Blackheim's trademark melodies and leadwork are well on display here. Their early work is not far off from other early melodic/symphonic black metal, but it doesn't exactly sound the same either, there's always been something unique about them. This uniqueness would grow throughout the years until they were a full on avant-garde metal band on their final album, Death's Design. I prefer their early work, though not because the later work is less good, but because I'm a sucker for those Katatonia like melodies in a black metal setting, which he would eventually more away from.

 

Drudkh - Forgotten Legends:

Drudkh are a Ukranian black metal band that build their atmosphere with drawn out and repetitious structures. This is not the kind of stuff that you listen to for variety, but allow the beautiful melodies and hypnotic drumming to suck you in. It's all about the atmosphere here, and is certainly composed in a similar way to Burzum songs, but with more of a pagan ear for melody and without as many keyboards. If you're looking for something that will transport your mind from out of the city and into the forest, this is the kind of music that will transport you there.

 

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse:

Emperor should be fairly obvious, as they're likely the most popular pure black metal band ever. I had skipped over them initially because their best work, In the Nightside Eclipse, is still pretty raw and I wasn't sure if it would click with you or not. However, they were one of the first melodic/symphonic black metal bands, and did so with more riffs and less keyboards than others in the style, and still sound dark and evil. This album tops many people's black metal best of lists, mine included (well maybe not the very top, but it's certainly high up there), because the atmosphere and melodies are just so incredible. This is essential stuff, every black metal fan should have this in their collection IMO.

 

Fleurety - Min Tio Skal Kommen:

Fleurety were one of the more bizarre and original early Norwegian black metal bands. Their EP preceding this album is a bit more straightforward than this one, but is a bit more difficult to listen to because of the EXTREMELY high vocals, which caused permanent damage to the vocalist's throat (and my ears). They had opened up to something more progressive here, but still black metal, with all kinds of different tempos, instruments, and some female vocals too. As a sort of parallel to Arcturus, they would become an avant-garde metal act following their black metal EP and full-length, and also like Arcturus their debut is extraordiarily unique and enjoyable.

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I have just discovered Slidhr - an Irish BM band. They are about to release their first full length "Deluge" after 5 years of absence. It's BM at heart but some of it's sound drips with an almost industrial sheen. I've heard "Deluge" twice now on stream at their Bandcamp page and really like what I hear. The production is appropriate to the direction of the album - not terrible but not layered with polish. It's re-ignited my waning interest in BM anyway. This is evidence that you don't need to reinvent the wheel to move a genre forward - just do it fucking properly and the pieces fall into place.

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