Black Metal

John

Anyone have any good black metal tips? The more obscure the better (not for any reason other than I'm familiar with all the usual suspects).

It wasn't me!

Nargaroth - Quite entertaining
Sigh- Excellent
Anorexia Nervosa - French Black Metal outfit, very good.
Meads of Asphodel - Not traditional Black Metal, but the eastern edge is really interesting.

John

Quick response! Cheers.

It wasn't me!

I'm bored and idling, what can I say? Those are some good recommendations. I entirely recommend Anorexia Nervosa though, and you can thank Undergod for introducing me. They're absolutely stunning. Pick of that bunch for me anyway. Just threw them on actually since you put them in my mind.

John

Cool. I was listening to a load of black metal today and decided I needed something new in that realm. Any particular release with Anorexia Nervosa that you'd recommend?

It wasn't me!

I only have New Obscurantis Order. They have two other albums to the best of my knowlege anyway, probably more. I don't know about the others, but there's orchestral support on New Obscurantis Order that, were it missing on other albums, would be sadly missed in my opinion, so try that maybe? It's kinda like a tR00 version of Arcturus in some respects.

herobear

black metal tends to get bad press even in the extreme underground metal scene, because of the overt satanism and corpse paint, but i love it, just because the genre is so varied.

from bnrmetal.com

Black metal finds its roots in bands such as Venom and Bathory, and is often characterized by an inherently evil tone and a raspy vocal style (Quorthon of Bathory may or may not be the originator of this vocal style, but once you've heard him, many black metal vocalists will sound very similar to him, for what that's worth). The earlier bands focused on minimal instrumentation, as represented by Darkthrone, early Mayhem, and older Immortal, while another group of bands explored a more symphonic, keyboard-driven style (Emperor, Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir) and still others have migrated towards an eclectic, avant-garde direction (Arcturus, new Mayhem). Norway continues to be the primary exporter of black metal bands, though other countries have contributed some quality bands as well.

i think Bathory is a must listen(like Death is to death metal), as above Quorthon pratically invented the genre. im not a huge fan of the symphonic sub genre and yet i find Emperor extemely compelling. a lot of modern day black metal bands play a more kinda thrashy punk groove-laden kinda black metal(the new darkthrone, carpathian forest). there's also a really great(but small) british bm scene, check out bands like anaal nathrakh & meads of asphodel.

as for personal reccomendations, as well as the bands already mentioned above:
negura bunget
rotting christ
gorgoroth
1349
keep of kalessin
enslaved
early opeth

and many more

Karl Hungus

I think you can't go wrong with Enslaved, as Herobear mentioned, but these I'm just not listening to any new Black Metal.

John

Thanks herobear but I know what black metal is

Got Opeth well covered and recently got some Enslaved stuff. Gorgoroth is some cool **** too. I'll check out the rest, wallet won't be happy but **** it!

And I'll throw in my own recommendation here with Leviathan (especially the Tentacles of Whorror album).

wanwarlock

enslaved - all
dodheimsgard - 666 international
sigh - all
rotting christ - the old albums esp. thy mighty contract
varathron - his majesty at the swamp, both RC and varathron have the 'greek black metal' sound, and yes they're both greek bands
dissection - old albums, not new one, i love the track 'where dead angels lie'
ancient rites - all
behemoth - all
nokturnal mortum - ukranian bm band, with nationalistic views apparently
old man's child - all esp the pagan prosperity
kalmah - are they bm??
gorgoroth
sorhin
carpathian forrest
ulver
watain

try and find a band called kvist, brilliant band! they only have 1 album though.

most of the bands here are from the nineties, when i 1st heard of bm and all the church burnings and euronymous' death etc etc and loved (can i use that to describe bm?? ) the music

Agent Steel

Macabre Omen - The Ancient Returns

A must have. Midhir Records or Sentinel Records should have it.

Ancient1

Wolves In The Throne Room.

Think you might dig them, John.

I don't know their website, but I'm sure your Google-Fu is advanced.

Táck

a distant sun

Táck

I like the new wave of Ukrainian folk/black metal bands:

Drudkh
Evroklidon
Kroda

LightofDarkness

Averse Sefira, Vesania, Vokodlok, Bethlehem, Aura Noir, Blut Aus Nord, Drudkh, Deathspell Omega, Borknagar (earlier), Ephel Duath (not really BM anymore, but still brilliant), Finntroll, Asmegin, Kekal, Satyricon (anything BEFORE Rebel Extravaganza), Ragnarok, Thorns, Xasthur.

They're all pretty much great.

It wasn't me!

Anorexia Nervosa actually have eight releases.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_Nervosa_(band)

Also, I forgot 1349, stunning act.

John

Ancient1 wrote:

Wolves In The Throne Room.

Think you might dig them, John.

I already do dig them

*fetches pen and paper*

I'm going to take a list of this stuff as I'm heading to Poland next week, friends from Gdansk and Warsaw will be able to point out some decent metal shops for when I visit. I imagine the range will be better than here (and cheaper too)

Ancient1

Speaking of Poland, check out www.metalopolis.pl - great mailorder company.

If you're looking for "local" bands like Vader and Behemoth etc, they're very cheap. Be careful what shipping option you select though, the cheapest one is the "standard" shipping. Airmail will cost you as much as the CD itself.

It wasn't me!

http://www.metalopolis.pl/mm2.app?metalopolis-Id=metalopolis44c6100c0dade952c3897d05d1&a=s

Wahey, sorted on the Anorexia Nervosa front anyway.

Ancient1

What, 7 minutes after I posted that?

Damn you're trigger happy.

It wasn't me!

I try. Also, honourable mention for Impaled Northern Moonforest.

John

Great site, thanks Ancient!

ThrownAway

I used to be veery into BM I'd recommend Gorgoroth too so satanic
and...
Emperor
Darkthrone [Love them for their lyrics and album artwork]
Taake


But above all

Vintersorg and Borknagar [vintersorg was the lead vocalist for Borknagar but has his own band too, great lyrics]
Check out ''Future Reminiscence'' by Borknagar they used to have it up on their main site ...not sure if it's there anymore it's more folk than satanic if that makes any sense.

Agent Steel

Check out http://www.midhirrecords.com/ for cheap Black Metal CD's. They're Irish too.

Treebeard

I'd recommend Ildjarn if you're not already familiar with him. It's kinda like the primative Bathory/Darkthrone kind of thing only a bit more abstract. I believe Samoth and Ihsahn played in the band before Emperor took off. Burzum are also highly recommended

Pugsley

Harkokin and Asmodeus would probably be the best BM Im currently listening to, definately recommend them, Anaal Nathrakh are also worth a listen. Dissecton are also excellent, not very evil, infact downright hillariously cheesey and loving to sing about dragons way too much, but still a really good band and worth looking into (for a giggle even if you dont like the music).

Táck

Pugsley wrote:

Dissecton are also excellent, not very evil, infact downright hillariously cheesey and loving to sing about dragons way too much, but still a really good band and worth looking into

“Not very evil”? The lead singer got convicted for murder. Hmmmmm

ThrownAway

Treebeard wrote:

Bathory

Completely forgot yeah they're definitely worth it

I forgot about Satyricon too

Haha, Fuel for hatred do do do dooodoooodooodoo what a song

Pugsley

T&#225 wrote: »

“Not very evil”? The lead singer got convicted for murder. Hmmmmm

Didnt know that, well the music isnt very evil

Kivun Sotilas

My first post on this forum.. Here are a few of my recommendations. I'll post more when I think of them.
My absolute faves are in bold.

Abruptum (NOR) - Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectére Me
Abyssic Hate (AUS) - Suicidal Emotions
Arcturus (NOR) - Aspera Hiems Symfonia (though I like all their cds even the weird ones)
Beherit (FIN) - Drawing Down The Moon
Bethlehem (GER) - Dictius Te Necare
Burzum (NOR) - Aske, Det Som Engang, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, Filosofem
Black Crucifixion (FIN) - Faustian Dream (new album)
Clandestine Blaze (FIN) - Night of the Unholy Flames
Forgotten Woods (NOR) - EVERYTHING!
Frost (Uk) - Talking To God or Filthy Black **** (Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrahks other band)
Graveland (POL) - In The Glare of Burning Churches
I Shalt Become - (USA) Wanderings
Ildjarn (NOR) - Forest Poetry and Landscapes are my fav.
Mayhemic Truth - (GER) In Memoriam
Myrddraal (AUS) - Falling Sky
Nargaroth (GER) - Herbstleyd, Amarok and Black Metal Ist Kreig
Naxzul (AUS) - Black Seed
Necromantia (GRE) - Crossing The Fiery Path
Nehemah - Light Of A Dead Star
Veles (POL) - Night On The Bare Mountain

ThrownAway

Kivun Sotilas wrote:

Beherit (FIN) - Drawing Down The Moon

OOOoooh memories all coming back forgot completely about Beherit. That's an unreal album too I must have a root around for it...