1.Testament - The Legacy

2.Overkill - Taking Over

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Sodom - Persecution Mania

5.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

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1.Burzum - Filosofem

2.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

3.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

4.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

5.Marduk - Rom 5:12

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1.Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion

2.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Slayer - Reign In Blood

5.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

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My favorite albums on alphabetical order.

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow

4.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

5.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

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As is the case with my other lists, this is for my own organizational purposes and is designed purely to help me keep track of all the many black metal bands and albums that I enjoy, since I can't keep all of this information in my head. It has no other benefit whatsoever and will likely result in tantrums should anyone else see it. I'm aware that I haven't listened to every black metal album that I should have. I only went down to the 6s on this list, so it's possible that I have listened to your favorite black metal album that you desperately need to suggest and I thought it was terrible. There are a lot of heinously incompetent black metal bands out there.

On the off-chance that you've found this and actually care about what I think (you shouldn't), be advised that my favorites come first. Some are favorites in the general sense; some are favorites within black metal. The first few of those are in some order and not so much after that.

Because this is for my own purposes and not intended to be a definitive list of pure black metal, there are some black metal-adjacent bands, or albums by black metal bands that may not themselves be black metal. That's why you'll find so much Sigh clogging up the top of the list. I prefer to keep whole discographies together on one list. I used to include Primordial, Forefather, and other such bands, but a while back I created a list for folk and I decided that those artists would fit better there.

I update these lists very infrequently. This was last updated December 7, 2022.

1.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

2.Sigh - Graveward

3.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

4.Sigh - Heir To Despair

5.The Meads Of Asphodel - The Murder Of Jesus The Jew

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For many, some of the more extreme types of metal can be challenging to penetrate. I'll admit that my first time listening to Burzum was nearly the equivalent of listening to a buzz-saw. But over time, I found my ears became acclimated, so to speak. All of the beauty and subtlety within became more and more apparent. Now I find listening to Darkthrone to be little different from listening to Vivaldi. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, but you get the idea. The point of this list to help those looking for a more gradual path from unkvlt to kvlt, if you will. IHopefully it provides some assistance. The top represents some of the more mainstream, well-produced (but still solid) releases, while working your way down results in a stripping away of sound quality, melody, and radio-friendly content. The list ends with a mixture of gritty second wave and mentally challenging avant guarde stuff. This is far from comprehensive, so feel free to hit the forums for some deeper cuts. I also welcome thoughts on reordering as this was no easy task for one set of ears.

1.Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon

2.Melechesh - Enki

3.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

4.Immortal - All Shall Fall

5.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

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1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Master's Hammer - Ritual

4.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

5.Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

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1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Mayhem - Chimera

4.The Ruins Of Beverast - Rain Upon The Impure

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

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1.Converge - Jane Doe

2.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Faith No More - Angel Dust

5.Slayer - South Of Heaven

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1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

3.Slayer - Reign In Blood

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

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This list is list of my favorite albums in last 30+ year,limited to one album per year.
*Years marked with ? means that i have not decided what album to put there.
**Also there were so much good albums from '84 and '94 that i like but that is theme for another list.

1.Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

2.

3.Crysalys - The Awakening Of Gaia

4.Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons

5.

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These are the 211 essential hard rock/metal albums of the 80's, as were selected by the Greek Magazine "Metal Hammer" (August 2001 issue).

The albums followed by a star are the "must have", whereas the rest albums are the "could have".

1.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

2.AC/DC - Back In Black

3.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

4.Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations

5.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

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This list is a guide to the first wave of Black Metal.
Releases here are considered to be a part of the first wave
or they stylistically are similar to the first wave bands.
Some releases are of thrash/death bands but please note that
at the time first wave wasn't really homogeneous style and that
those bands are included cause they were influence to the bands
that will later form Second wave.
Have in mind that First wave ceased to exist somewhere around 1987-1989.
Releases are ordered by release year.
Have fun!

1.Venom - Welcome To Hell

2.Venom - Black Metal

3.Mercyful Fate - Mercyful Fate

4.Slayer - Show No Mercy

5.Mercyful Fate - Melissa

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1.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

2.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

5.Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

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1.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

2.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

3.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

4.Hades Almighty - The Dawn Of The Dying Sun

5.Gorgoroth - Pentagram

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