Ethereal as defined by dictionary.com comprises five definitions which are as follows:

-adjective
1. light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
2. extremely delicate or refined: ethereal beauty.
3. heavenly or celestial: gone to his ethereal home.
4. of or pertaining to the upper regions of space.
5. Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ethyl ether.

Now, you may ask what the hell I am defining this word for, but I think it is the only word that fits what I am trying to get at. Some "Black Metal" bands have for me a feeling that goes far beyond what conventional music gives out and really brings my listening experience to a plane beyond this physical one. Now, I'm not really a fan of Black Metal and am usually rolling my eyes when guys talk about Black Metal, Satan, and corpse paint as "modern art" but some bands out there really do strike a chord (no pun intended) with me and this is what this topic is about.

I am searching for bands and respective albums that play a type of Black Metal that goes beyond the typical raw, dark, sound and message and plays something on a whole other level, though obviously recognizable through the medium of Black Metal. To nail the sound is kind of difficult, since it varies with band to band, but I think Black Metal with a shoegaze and/or Post-Rock atmosphere and sound kind of gets my point across. If you're not sure what I mean, think of bands like:

Alcest
Miserere Luminis
Ulver (Bergtatt)
Blut Aus Nord
Negură Bunget

I apologize in advance if what I am trying to get at doesn't make any sense. Basically, this type of Black Metal goes beyond conventional tactics and is, what I believe, an evolution of both sound and thought in the Black Metal "camp" if you will. I am also still trying to understand what sets bands such as these apart. Is it just a similar sound and an unconventional approach to image and lyrical themes? This may also help open up some discussion and basically, do you like this kind of Black Metal too?

I personally find the melodic, post-rock vibe of the aforementioned bands a lot more than your typical Black Metal band, but I realize they are most likely going for two completely different things. I'm still trying to understand if there really is some type of brilliant undertone to the music (which I believe many may still consider unlistenable to the average person) and lyrical approach or if it's just something that tickles my fancy right now.

Well, any opinions, recommendations, and/or other comments?

Interesting post, I think obviously a lot of the depressive and ambient stuff which I am big fan of can set a mood or take the listener on a journey so to speak. In terms of cosmic themes and the like Otargos often have lyrics that are in that vein, check them out dude. A band I recently listened to called Enmerkar have an interesting sound as well, the album is called Starlit Passage.

First band which came to mind is my favorite one, Nocte Obducta. Their first albums are pretty raw BM but as they evolved they started perfecting their sound and the result is simply amazing. Try a song called "Gemälde Derer, Die Schieden", if you want something "atmospheric"; also check out "Lethe - Teil I" and "Lethe - Teil II", amazing piano instrumentals (you can find those o youtube). Overall, the "Nektar Teil" albums are their best ones, and if you start digging into the band, I'll assure you you'll find more than one song that suits what you seek.

Written by Clintagräm on 18.01.2010 at 05:27

3. heavenly or celestial: gone to his ethereal home.
4. of or pertaining to the upper regions of space.

I've been searching for similar music the past year and I'll be following this topic with great interesting. You've got my stamp of approval.

Oranssi Pazuzu
Finnish Post/Kraut/Psychedelic Rock gone Black metal. It's very 'playful' and astral. Perhaps a bit lacking on the 'beautiful' side (beautiful in the Alcest sense of the word), but you should definitely check it out. There's a review for their only album on Metal Storm, by me.

Chaos Moon
Quite raw, has ties with depressive Black metal, but overall it's very lively and astral Black metal. They often get the point of 'infinity' across pretty well, especially through the synths. The synths supply the frequent ambient passages the band weaves into their music. They're often glorious, joyful and colourful and very cool in my opinion. I'm talking about the album Languor Into Echoes, Beyond by the way, I haven't heard the other album but I believe it's quite different in style. Again, review by me on MS.

Darkspace
Perhaps a bit too raw, but their third album (Darkspace III) is one of the best 'cosmic' Black metal albums ever. If you're looking for the edge of the universe, where the void rages and the souls of the dead are eternally tormented, check it out. One of the best interpretations of 'emptiness' I've ever heard too. (That might be a bit pretentious, haha). Again, review by me on MS.

Sun Of The Blind
Side-project of one of Darkspace's member, also has only one album out, but it's very much worth it. Resembles Darkspace in the riffs but is overall more colourful and contains more variety. Distortion and melody are weaved into a grand album, which is spaciously produced (all of the above are, actually) and is a wonderful listen for the astral-minded. I'll copy paste, review by me on MS.

Kataxu
NSBM, beware, if you're offended by this sort of stuff. Less 'ethereal', more 'astral'. HEAVILY synth-driven, which is the main reason why I don't enjoy it so much. They're too synth-driven imo. Still, their songs are well-crafted, thickly layered, full of catchy melodies etc. "Hunger Of Elements" is an album you should check out if you don't care about NSBM and when you've checked out the others.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm just as curious to other peoples' replies as you are. I'll get back to you when I find more. Oh, and let me know what you think of the albums I mentioned and why you like/dislike them, I might be able to point a few more out to you.

That's fucking interesting, man, that's fucking interesting. I don't know if the world needs another sub-genre title, but I understand where you're coming from. The bands you listed do have something different. I have no problem tossing bands into the avantgarde section because of it's broad definition.

Written by Lucas on 18.01.2010 at 15:32

That's all I can think of for now. I'm just as curious to other peoples' replies as you are. I'll get back to you when I find more. Oh, and let me know what you think of the albums I mentioned and why you like/dislike them, I might be able to point a few more out to you.

One question, do you think that Lurker Of Chalice would count as etheral?
Well... Etheral seems to be a word that is hard to describe when it comes to music but based on the bands that you mentioned I thought that Lurker Of Chalice would be a good recommendation as well.

From what I've heard of it... It's so... I don't know, it's just like the review ["written by you" ]:
"the eerie, dark, sinister and pitch-black tranquility this album evokes. Although tranquility is perhaps not the right word, lethargy comes closer."

It really makes you floooooat. And I just got it with one bonus track as well and I can't wait to listen to it in it's entirety with the lights off when I have the time.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure. Lurker Of Chalice isn't really ethereal, as there's nothing cosmic/divine/sublime about it. Which is usually how I interpret "ethereal". Lurker Of Chalice is great, yes, but sits on the dark, evil and wretched side of the spectrum. (And yes, review written by me )

I'm still unsure whether or not to recommend A Forest Of Stars. Well, actually, I do really want to recommend them, but I'm not sure if they're what you're looking for. They have a certain cosmic and magically eerie vibe to them but rely more on 'sophistic' Black metal. Violins, howling and weeping vocals, you know the deal. If this sounds interesting, Clint W. or anyone else, check them out because they're a great band (only have one album out, unfortunately.)

And yes, you guessed it right, review by me.

Written by Lucas on 18.01.2010 at 18:50

And yes, you guessed it right, review by me.

You're just posting here so you can show off your reviews, right?

Well... If etheral has to do with cosmic stuff then I guess Lurker Of Chalice wouldn't count as etheral although I do view the meaning of etheral as being that kind of [in this case] Black Metal that makes you float and just sit on the couch and with your eyes open without actually seeing anything, just being there... Either full of emotions or without any trace of them

Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.01.2010 at 18:54

Written by Lucas on 18.01.2010 at 18:50

And yes, you guessed it right, review by me.

You're just posting here so you can show off your reviews, right?

Dude, you KNOW all bands I mentioned are good. Don't whine.

Quote:
Well... If etheral has to do with cosmic stuff then I guess Lurker Of Chalice wouldn't count as etheral although I do view the meaning of etheral as being that kind of [in this case] Black Metal that makes you float and just sit on the couch and with your eyes open without actually seeing anything, just being there... Either full of emotions or without any trace of them

I generally go by "not of this world", that sounds better than my previous choice. That'd also mean a lot more stuff would be permissable. But I don't want to cause a system overload of recommendations.

When I read the word "Ethereal" Lurker of Chalice was the first band to spring to mind. Of course the word ethereal tends to have positive connotations and I'm not sure you could call LoC "positive" as such but in terms of otherworldly-ness I can't think of a better band.

Ethereal is by definition a fairly ambiguous word so to try to allocate a music form to it is pretty hard as it's largely down to perception really.

I second A Forest of Stars though, when that album clicks with you it stays for a lifetime.

Actually maybe Negură Bunget's 'Om' release could be considered? I often visualise that as a less sinister version of LoC's self titled album but that may just be me.

Written by [user id=4365] on 18.01.2010 at 19:26

Actually maybe Negură Bunget's 'Om' release could be considered? I often visualise that as a less sinister version of LoC's self titled album but that may just be me.

You didn't read the entire opening post, didn't you? Glad that I'm not the only one who thought about LoC.

Whoops =p at least I know i'm vaguely on the right wavelength.

Okay instead of that I submit Gnaw Their Tongues. Out of this world but probably as far from the dictionary definition of ethereal as you can get

And Walknut as well. They have a very gentle, beautiful quality to them.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. It looks like I'll have my hands full for a little while checking out these bands. As far as I can tell, Otargos is a little too straight forward for what I'm trying to find. A Forest of Stars is something close to what I am thinking. It's a little heavy on the strings side, but I've only heard their two songs on their myspace and there are definitely some good synth/spacey parts, but the vocals may be a little too chaotic for me. But then again, some might think that it would encompass the madness of space quite well.

Another band I forgot to mention is Wolves in the Throne Room. I think they fit the pattern/sound I am looking for. And as for the word "ethereal" it's just that, a word. The lyrical themes don't dictate whether the band fits this idea I have, but obviously those bands with astral, space/time, spiritual etc. themes seem to follow this sound sometimes and other times they totally don't. As for Lurker of Chalice, I think they would fit. Obviously I don't have a monopoly on what ethereal means to people and we have a couple people mention LoC already so I think they would fit.

Oh yeah, I'm listening to the samples that Enmerkar have on their myspace and I'd say this definitely is what I am looking for. Definitely recognizable as Black Metal, but there seems to be that background vibe or atmosphere or what have you. Very good recommendations guys! I'll definitely be posting what I think of the others later.

Oh, and has anyone heard Fen and/or Altar of Plagues? I read they fit this BM/Post Rock/Shoegaze feel.

Fen was my greatest discovery of last year, i don't think any album hit me as hard as The Malediction Fields did. And yes it's heavily steeped in the post-rock style. You could do a lot worse than checking it out.

I agree with JOOE on Fen, although I'm not really into them myself. They're a strange case for me, as I like what I hear but I just can't enjoy it. Somehow.

Altar Of Plagues' is something I'm undecided on as well. It gets a lot of praise and I enjoyed it initially as well, but it slowly started declining after a while. It all seemed a bit mish-mashed.

There's a whole variety of bands that can be considered ethereal black metal, but what the listener gets from the music and interprets as bring "ethereal" might affect it, even though there is a dictionary definition, it's still pretty ambiguous. I highly agree with many of the above bands though, and another I could add might be Fauna from the US and Njiqahhda has a very ethereal feel as well.

I liked the term ''Ethereal'' to define this kind of Black Metal. It spill awesomeness from every pore . The first band that came to my mind was Chaos Moon, since I recently have read Lucas review and listened to their Myspace songs. I also remembered Njiqahhda review.

For sure that Im gonna use this thread as a guide for this wonderful discovery for me

Written by spirit_inblack on 18.01.2010 at 21:49

...Fauna from the US...

Any idea where I can get some samples?

Written by Lucas on 18.01.2010 at 15:32

rtaining to the upper regions of space.


Darkspace
Perhaps a bit too raw, but their third album (Darkspace III) is one of the best 'cosmic' Black metal albums ever. If you're looking for the edge of the universe, where the void rages and the souls of the dead are eternally tormented, check it out. One of the best interpretations of 'emptiness' I've ever heard too. (That might be a bit pretentious, haha). Again, review by me on MS.

Is Darkspace III the best album to start from them?, I've been looking forward to check this band, and from what I've listened, they seem to be kinda hard to get into, so is it the best to start with?

Written by Clintagräm on 18.01.2010 at 20:56


Oh, and has anyone heard Fen and/or Altar of Plagues? I read they fit this BM/Post Rock/Shoegaze feel.

Fen is great, I've been addicted to their debut lately, and Altar of Plagues I just listened once, but haven't listened to them again, maybe I should do it.

And a band that I could recommend from this, could be Lantlôs, they only have one album, they have like a "Urban Black Metal" sound, and also you could check Caïna, though they're not purely BM, it's kinda the base of their sound, but beware if you don't like raw-ish production, but if you don't have a problem with that, you could check it.

Written by Zuzuz0r on 19.01.2010 at 05:14

Is Darkspace III the best album to start from them?, I've been looking forward to check this band, and from what I've listened, they seem to be kinda hard to get into, so is it the best to start with?

I'll say that III is easiest one to get into. But also their best so when it comes to bands like that I preffer to listen to other albums so I will not compare them to their best and not appreciating the other albums on it's own.

But yeah, III is a very very good album, there are even some death metal riffs at some points that makes the atmosphere easier to get into. But I recommend you everything by them. They are not really that hard to get into if you already listen to some noisy music.

Written by Clintagräm on 19.01.2010 at 05:03

Written by spirit_inblack on 18.01.2010 at 21:49

...Fauna from the US...

Any idea where I can get some samples?

I found one of their first album, Rain. It's really hard for a sample to do them justice, seeing as the two releases they've had have both been single long songs. http://www.myspace.com/auroraborealisrecords

Redaing post 2 come sin my mind Polish Titan Mountain and swedes Armauk. As far 3 years ago TM was awalibe download 2 songs from 12 albums and if you're interesting about Armauk PM me , because I dunno where you can get , my friend sold all demos 6 years ago to me, since he was not in BM

Other bands I could think of, are Sombres Forêts and Gris, though I don't know if you already listened to them, since you mentioned Miserere Luminis in your list, and they feature members of both bands, if you haven't listened to them, you should give them a try.

It didn't occur to me until now, but do you all think Behemoth's Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) would fit into this category? I may need to give it a one over again but it just popped into my head. Especially those synths and acoustics.

Written by Clintagräm on 20.01.2010 at 06:32

It didn't occur to me until now, but do you all think Behemoth's Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) would fit into this category? I may need to give it a one over again but it just popped into my head. Especially those synths and acoustics.

No, not to me. It's raw and storming, it has a few acoustic tracks and it is - in my opinion - a very fucking great Black metal album, but miles and miles apart from what I'd call "Ethereal". But it has been said before that the definition of ethereal is vague and open to interpretation, so it might work out for you...

Was going to suggest Wolves in the Throne Room and Fen but you guys beat me to it. 'The Malediction Fields' is one of my favourite Albums at the moment along with the latest Blut Aus Nord and Wolves in the throne Room. I'm just getting into this stuff myself coming at it from a more prog metal aspect and wanting to hear something mind blowing... And ended up checking these types of bands out. I'm just checking out Negura Bunget on myspace now it's impressing the hell out of me so I think I'll get 'Om' and maybe a trip to Leeds on 2nd May. Have you tried Agalloch or In the Woods yet? They may not be strictly where you're coming from but I'll bet they're both influences on these bands. Great thred....

By the way... I got Bergtatt (as well as Heart of ages by In The Woods) when it first came out, yes I am that old, and it still sound relevant today!

Altar Of Plagues would be a good band for this as well.

Yes I've heard of Alters of Plagues and these will be checked out due course, thanks!! I've bought Negura Bunget's 'Om' and it's really good. I saw on their Myspace page that they will be touring the UK with support from Fen ...

A suberb new band to fit this category would be Petrychor. They released an amazing ep recently (which is available for free or pay what you want), and it's really something quite special. Great melodic guitar sections included. Also, Ash Borer is another great band.

On the Petrychor site it gives the following info on the music:
"In an increasingly faceless and globalized culture, it is of the utmost importance that we document the emotions and attitudes of the dissenter whose goals and practices are not condoned or made possible by large society. This is music for meditation, for frustration and anger, for beauty, and above all for communication. Petrychor seeks to expand on and enhance those focuses typically associated with black metal by staying open to outside influences, especially modern acoustic music, the gothic/neofolk scene, and the thickness and visceral catharsis present in the best post-rock."

Link for the for the ep:
http://petrychor.com/