I made a thread like this about fastcore/powerviolence a while back but I suspect more than 2 people on this board will be able to post in this one.

I've listened to/had black metal albums for maybe 5 years but never in a big way and pretty much just Darkthrone, Burzum, Mayhem, and Bathory (of which I mostly only listened to Bathory and Darkthrone). I've always loved Sigh and Dissection as well, but I don't group them in with the stuff I want to learn more about so much.
In the past year I've gotten stuff from Watain, Deathspell Omega, Weakling, Gorgoroth, Judas Iscariot, Enslaved, Nachtmystium, and Emperor. This is pretty much my black metal collection. Of these bands, the ones I come back to the most seem to be Weakling, Watain, and Judas Iscariot. Gorgoroth and Nachtmystium are newer to me but seem like they will get lots of plays. The Deathspell Omega I have so far, does almost nothing for me. I also am not so big on the symphonic stuff.

Tell me what I need to know.

Tsjuder
old Satyricon (Rebel Extravaganza and before)

I want to say I had some Satyricon that I hated a while back that was supposed to be a good. I've read a ton since then about people who hate them and figured they weren't universally loved and I wasn't just ignorant. Any specific album you think will win me over?

Dark Medieval Times, The Shadowthrone and Nemesis Divina. i'd be surprised if you didn't like those. a lot of stuff it just takes time to grasp, there are albums i didn't like years ago that i hear now and kick myself in the ass for not paying attention to earlier.

Deathspell Omega is an aquired taste, but they add a slight twist to the BM aesthetic. Especially on their last release "Fas", they utilize angular riffing, reminiscent of Ved Buens Ende. It gives the music a sort of bizarre and bent feeling. They also inject ambience passages as well, for atmospheric effect. Cool stuff.

I love Old Man's Child, Galder the genius behind it all is also in Dimmu Borgir but still does Old Man's Child on the side.

Yeah DSO is definitely an acquired taste. They're really unique though, and you should keep trying to get into them.

I think an important thing to know is to learn about the different Black Metal scenes. Usually these are categorized by country. The biggest ones tend to be the French, Norweigan, and more recently the U.S. scene. I tend to listen to the most French Black Metal as well as the classic Norweigan bands. Generally I avoid the U.S. scene, but there's a select few bands (Weakling, Wolves in the Throne Room, Absu, Negative Plane) that I really like.

I forgot that I love Absu, especially The Sun of Tipareth and Tara.

havez u hurd teh immortolz??

I have loads of great Black Metal...

http://www.pathosproductions.com/

NGBM

My_dying_bride said:

Yes. Not in a long time, but I remember never wanting to listen to them instead of bathory or darkthrone.

Blue said:

?

No
Gay
Black
Metal

Agreed, I only like good BM!

You missed your ride kid, take another bus.
If you need to be schooled it ain't for you.

Black Metal is such a fuckin' passe label. Makes me sick. Its very definition as a genre today only serves stagnant hanger ons. Its far exceeded its usefulness to target folks who just needed more atmosphere in there extreme metal than the Death Metal "br00tal dude" types which plagued/plagues underground metals true growth. BM is dead and rightly so...........Gives room for serious artists who subsequently evolve and outgrow the confines of such a label.




mood= craggy, cold and grim

haha

Grim and cold are key points in being trv kvlt BM

Immortal is a definite, and old Dimmu isn't bad. Emperor is my favorite black metal band. Rotting Christ is another good one, and don't forget 1349.

And uh...do your best to avoid COF at all times.

Taake
Abigor
Drudkh
Astrofaes
Nokturnal Mortum
Beherit
Bethelehem
Craft
Skyforger
Falkenbach
Graveland
Hate Forest
Manegarm
Summoning
Temnozor
Mithotyn
Thorns
Isengard
Negura Bunget
Storm
Veles
Velvet Cacoon
Vrolok
Manes
Weakling
Woodtemple
Thats enough

another vouch for Taake, love their music

VON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OLD FUCKING WAINDS!!! Strid. Kroda. Antaeus. Impiety. Arkhon Infaustus. Inquisition. Arkha Sva. Cantus Bestiae.

one more no one mentioned: Twilight

Hell, not one mention of either Ulver or Ildjarn and I know less about black metal than the OP...hmm.

As of lately, the only black metal bands I've been listening to a lot of are:

Drudkh
Nokturnal Mortum
Skyforger
Graveland
Tengereken

SOUND BARRIER

ARCKANVM

http://www.arckanum.se

To the OP: You'd probably be into sum Impaled Nazarene - especially since they tend to have sort of a hardcore feel to a lot of their stuff. (Black metal with football chants? Awww, yeah.)

Carpathian Forest is cool; they have a definite "rock" influence, a la first wave / proto-BM. Very cold, very not-liking-you-very-much.

Drudkh bears re-re-rementioning again - It's (IMO) the next logical step from Burzum, with a bit of the folk dialed in.

Kult ov Azazel is hyperblast-y USBM; I've heard people say it's too death metal-ly (and the drums definitely are pretty flat and clinical, at least on the stuff I have), but I like the songwriting, and the blown-out loudness of the production.

Super-hyper-backed on Arckanum; and I'll raise you a Troll (the band, not the sweet and cuddly RTTP poster). It's Nagash from Demon Burger before he was Nagash from Demon Burger, when he was a teenager (and not quite so lame). Very... um... trollish, on both counts.

Sweet, I have a solid month of downloading before I can even listen to most of this. Out of all the new stuff I have gotten, the first two Gorgoroth albums are my favorite, and probably the angriest I have.

Lamp, do you like black metal?

Pentagram and Antichrist dominate. Under the Sign of Hell is great too, i just hate the snare sound.

Grand Belial's Key!

Grand Belial's Key (Best American Black Metal ever, catchy and classic riffs, anti semitic lyrics, memorable songs, especially "Mocking" and "Judeobeast")
Xasthur (Black metal that appeals to hipsters with black rimmed sun glasses)
Absurd- "Totenlieder" (One of the most under rated bm albums of all time, sung all in German, really violent sounding with Oi! influence)
Aborym (weird shit that fuses psycho industrial and techno)
Craft- Kind of a newer band but not really, the first track on "Total Soul Rape" sounds like the vocalist is being doused with gasoline and set ablaze... EVIL!
Blasphemy- Canada's Satanic Steroid freaks, primitive spinal extractions
Ibex Throne- GG Allin meets black metal
Shining- Suicidal and Serpentine black metal
Silencer- More suicidal with really psychotic Vokills...
Impaled Nazarene- "Tol Compt Norz Norz Norz"- Probably the most violent and diabolic black metal album I have ever heard... Even has intros of devils fucking little childen and farm animals. "Urga Karma" is also good... New stuff aint as good...
Blut Aus Nord- "the Work which transforms God", one of the few French band's I like, really Avant Garde type stuff ... Has a neurosis vibe to it.
Arcturus- Great atmospheric black metal, vast soundscapes and awesome vocals... Esoteric
Abruptum- The guy tortures himself when recording, nuff said...
The Black- Jon from Dissection's black metal project, awesome fuckin band, evil and atmospheric
Swordmaster- "Wraths of Time" (Intense!!)
Hades- "Again Shall Be..."- Cold, dark, glorious Norse bm with Viking lyrics
Mysticum- has an industrial and dead feel to it... Like an evil assembly line
Necromantia- Best greek bm
Nifelheim- Black Metal, whiskey, and Judas Priest

ah yeah, Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta is killer too.
also check out Limbonic Art. their earlier stuff has a ton of synth work, but its not the huge epic symphonic style. Moon in the Scorpio is my favorite one, but In Abhorrence Dementia is just pure fucking evil.

Top five in no particular order would be:

Katharsis
Antaeus
Bathory
Funeral Mist
Abruptum

And I've been listening to the following over the past few months:

Arkha Sva
Black Wood
Merrimack
Teitanblood
Necros Christos
Thunderbolt
Abigail
Barbatos
Taarma
Apokalyptic Raids
Myrkr
Warloghe
Chalice of Blood

Listen to Hellhammer.

I'm surprised no one posted a pic of the all mighty IMMORTAL

My_dying_bride said:

That's a pic?

ancient master said:

some that were not mentioned that I am fond of...

Ophthalamia
Pazuzu
Dolorian
Profanum
Avsky (for obvious reasons)

My_dying_bride said:

i was walking home yesterday and silently rocking out to Existence. the end of that song makes me want to punch old ladies.

Naked Whipper
Goat Vomit
Uranium 235
Godkiller
Niden Div. 187
Dead Christ
early Forgotten Tomb (though on the doom side of things)
Strid
Abigor

Just some off the top of my head.

And there should be more mention of Ved Buens Ende and Manes, some of the best Norway had to offer.

Root

Striborg
Judas Iscariot
Tjolgtjar
Leviathan
VON
Hellhammer
Immortal
Blut Aus Nord

...so fucking many

Just listen to every black metal band, ever.

dISEMBOWLMENT is a must, even though they are blackish/death doom, i feel there is enough of a black metal sound to appeal to most. it is fucking evil.

Also, you're not tr00 if you're not into these guys:

http://www.returntothepit.com/view.php?formid=42666

tee-hee

and go to these shows, or you're a jesus-kissing turd

goatcatalyst said:

Well, I don't want that.

... who would?

i mean - besides jesus-kissing turds, that is

My_dying_bride said:

This just looks fucking GAY.

I've been downloading a lot and loving a bunch of it. There are a few bands I knew about beforehand that have not been mentioned but I want to say they are respected bands.
What's the word on:
Destroyer 666
Belphagor
Dark Funeral

Other than Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir (though people tell me their first album is good), what should I specifically stay away from? I don't know of any other hated BM bands and there's got to be a few.

Also, anyone want to sendspace any of this stuff? Most of it is pretty hard to find.

If you're looking for other titles check out our page
http://www.myspace.com/humanitysplagueproduction

ZJD said:

seemingly black metal at face value, but they basically all play bad death metal.

Naw, Destroyer 666 has a definate thrash influence and they fuckin rip... Peroid.

COLD STEEL FOR AN IRON AGE !!!

Troll said:

Keep in mind, there's Belphegor (Aut), and Belfegor (Pol). The Polish band is pretty good, from what I've heard of them. But, yeah, the Austrian one not so much.

Edit: And, of course, there's two Belfegors from Poland - I've only heard the recent one, but there was an unrelated band with a demo out in '89.

not a big fan of the Austrian one, myself. cool for about ten minutes, and then my infantile attention span begins to wander towards grimmour pastures.

ZJD said:

just listen to it all man, decide what you like for yourself. lots of people hate Dimmu, i personally love all of their work, but its all based on your own tastes. i love Dimmu, but i loathe Cradle. as for Dark Funeral, i think The Secrets of the Black Arts is insanely good, but everything after it sucks major balls.

Yeti said:

DestroyYouAlot said:

this here dilapidated school might be a good place to start. bet there's all kinds of obscurity and mournful spiritual disrepair to be found