I wouldn't call Sigh, Deströyer 666 and Lux Occulta BM, but good choices nevertheless

Always fun recommending black metal. Based on your list...let's see...

Alda, Drapsnatt, Fell Voices, Gris, Kathaarsys, Pantheon I, Raventale, Saille, Skogen, Spectral Lore, Todtgelichter...

And I'm sure you've heard all the Burzum/Darkthrone/Satyricon/Gorgorth type stuff already.

So yeah, just gonna reccomend three of my favorite black metal bands, Sacramentum, Averse Sefira, and Spite Extreme Wing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtpraIMkvc Sacramentum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrefZG7iuro Spite Extreme Wing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP0l6GISoXwp Averse Sefira

So yeah this stuff is awesome and if you don't like it, then please get the hell out of my hall.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check them out asap.

Thumbs up for DsO, Oranssi Pazuzu and Enslaved.

Written by Chobo_jokeR on 27.05.2012 at 06:56

Thumbs up for DsO, Oranssi Pazuzu and Enslaved.

Thanks, I generally go for that sort of prog/avantgarde black metal, the kind that doesn't stay entirely within the confines of the genre and plays around in territory a bit more familiar to me. But there are some cases where I do enjoy straight up black metal, be it of symphonic, atmospheric etc.

Written by R'Vannith on 28.05.2012 at 15:54

Thanks, I generally go for that sort of prog/avantgarde black metal, the kind that doesn't stay entirely within the confines of the genre and plays around in territory a bit more familiar to me. But there are some cases where I do enjoy straight up black metal, be it of symphonic, atmospheric etc.

I'm the same when it comes to black. I like the black metal+ sort of band, and all three of those have that little extra kick to their music that take them to the upper echelon.

Ha! Naxzul is featured! Great list.

Written by Carl Berg on 07.01.2013 at 06:30

Ha! Naxzul is featured! Great list.

Thought I'd sneak a bit of Aussie goodness in there

Nice to see some Klabautamann on here!
Underrated jewel for sure

Written by Auntie Sahar on 25.02.2013 at 05:15

Nice to see some Klabautamann on here!
Underrated jewel for sure

You know few black metal bands have stuck with me as well as they have and I find it strange that they haven't received a lot of attention. My black metal listenings are fairly erratic to say the least, so I'm not sure why they appeal to me more than others. Probably something about the proggy/folk mix I think. Plus they write damn good songs of course.

Old Gehenna ,old Dimmu Borgir are just brilliant....

Written by R'Vannith on 25.02.2013 at 10:40

Written by Auntie Sahar on 25.02.2013 at 05:15

Nice to see some Klabautamann on here!
Underrated jewel for sure

You know few black metal bands have stuck with me as well as they have and I find it strange that they haven't received a lot of attention. My black metal listenings are fairly erratic to say the least, so I'm not sure why they appeal to me more than others. Probably something about the proggy/folk mix I think. Plus they write damn good songs of course.

Psychedelic black metal is prob my favorite of all the weird stylistic divisions of the sound that've emerged in the past decade, so I first got into Klaubatamann after hearing Oranssi Pazuzu last year and wanting more from that kinda sound. No other band can hold a candle to Oranssi in the psychedelic black area as far as I'm concerned, but if you want some more good bands within that department, check out Candy Cane, This Is Past, and that one man Wormlust project I just reviewed.

Written by ANGEL REAPER on 25.02.2013 at 12:28

Old Gehenna ,old Dimmu Borgir are just brilliant....

I might return to stuff like early Dimmu Borgir at some point but I remember at the time I didn't really enjoy that kind of black

Written by Auntie Sahar on 25.02.2013 at 14:26

Psychedelic black metal is prob my favorite of all the weird stylistic divisions of the sound that've emerged in the past decade, so I first got into Klaubatamann after hearing Oranssi Pazuzu last year and wanting more from that kinda sound. No other band can hold a candle to Oranssi in the psychedelic black area as far as I'm concerned, but if you want some more good bands within that department, check out Candy Cane, This Is Past, and that one man Wormlust project I just reviewed.

Anything with psychedelic usually grabs my attention, so naturally black metal of that kind does as well. And I love me some Pazuzu! I'll check out those others (Candy Cane is the last name I would expect for a black metal band ). Don't know of any other psychedelic black off the top of my head save Verdunkeln, they put an album out last year.
About the Wormlust one, I dig the ambient passages but not so much that raw sounding black stuff in it, although the psychedelic chunks make those parts listenable.

Written by R'Vannith on 28.05.2012 at 15:54

But there are some cases where I do enjoy straight up black metal, be it of symphonic, atmospheric etc.

i wouldn"t call symphonic, possibly athmospheric not either, straight up black metal

Written by theFIST on 26.02.2013 at 15:46

Written by R'Vannith on 28.05.2012 at 15:54

But there are some cases where I do enjoy straight up black metal, be it of symphonic, atmospheric etc.

i wouldn"t call symphonic, possibly athmospheric not either, straight up black metal

I see what you mean, my idea of "straight up" black metal is probably misconstrued. What I meant by that was black metal that isn't of the proggy/psychedelic kind or mixed with other genres. Though symphonic black is obviously a mix of symphonic and black.. guess I just lump them together.
Though I'm curious wouldn't some more generic black use symphonic elements or go for the atmospheric approach? I've always associated those two musical elements with my idea of what "generic" black metal would be.

Written by R'Vannith on 26.02.2013 at 16:18

Written by theFIST on 26.02.2013 at 15:46

Written by R'Vannith on 28.05.2012 at 15:54

But there are some cases where I do enjoy straight up black metal, be it of symphonic, atmospheric etc.

i wouldn"t call symphonic, possibly athmospheric not either, straight up black metal

I see what you mean, my idea of "straight up" black metal is probably misconstrued. What I meant by that was black metal that isn't of the proggy/psychedelic kind or mixed with other genres. Though symphonic black is obviously a mix of symphonic and black.. guess I just lump them together.
Though I'm curious wouldn't some more generic black use symphonic elements or go for the atmospheric approach? I've always associated those two musical elements with my idea of what "generic" black metal would be.

well, mayhem didn"t need symphonic elements or a sound resembling what"s called atmospheric black
neither do bands that play pure black nowadays (examples: Haemoth, Behexen, Katharsis,....)
but of course any term describing music styles can be interpreted differently by different people

Written by theFIST on 26.02.2013 at 20:13

well, mayhem didn"t need symphonic elements or a sound resembling what"s called atmospheric black
neither do bands that play pure black nowadays (examples: Haemoth, Behexen, Katharsis,....)
but of course any term describing music styles can be interpreted differently by different people

Yeah I agree, "straight up black" isn't a hard and fast definition of sound so people would have their own ideas about it. Though I guess there is a general consensus about the "purity" of it; that it has black metal elements and nothing else added to the mix.

Thumbs up for general awesomeness (Enslaved, Oranssi Pazuzu, Negura Bunget).

R'Vannith: Your difficult quest for Black Metal+ echoes my own... for psych-black, go with the latest A Forest of Stars, A Shadowplay for Yesterdays and Nachtmystium's excellent-excellent Assassins/Addicts Black Meddle dyptich. Cannot go wrong with these releases.

For Folk-tinged Black (or rather, make that Black-tinged Folk): Dordeduh's self-titled debut, takes it right from where Negura Bunget left off.

For some glorious Black & Roll: Glorior Belli's catchy-as-sin The Great Southern Darkness.

For nihilistic modern industrial (yet surprisingly accessible): Blut Aus Nord's 777 trilogy, preferably starting from the inverse order (Cosmosophy), since, for some reason, the trilogy becomes progressively more accessible.

Written by Czerny Reiter on 28.06.2013 at 20:38

Thumbs up for general awesomeness (Enslaved, Oranssi Pazuzu, Negura Bunget).

R'Vannith: Your difficult quest for Black Metal+ echoes my own... for psych-black, go with the latest A Forest of Stars, A Shadowplay for Yesterdays and Nachtmystium's excellent-excellent Assassins/Addicts Black Meddle dyptich. Cannot go wrong with these releases.

For Folk-tinged Black (or rather, make that Black-tinged Folk): Dordeduh's self-titled debut, takes it right from where Negura Bunget left off.

For some glorious Black & Roll: Glorior Belli's catchy-as-sin The Great Southern Darkness.

For nihilistic modern industrial (yet surprisingly accessible): Blut Aus Nord's 777 trilogy, preferably starting from the inverse order (Cosmosophy), since, for some reason, the trilogy becomes progressively more accessible.

Hey thanks! I've heard a few of those ones, need to look more into Forest Of Stars based on their latest one. Dordeduh and Negura Bunget are both really appealing to me as well (black-tinged folk seems about right)

Thanks for the suggestions, only heard a small selection of Blut Aus Nord and their new trilogy is something I've got to have a crack at, as well as the others you mention.

Also need to update this list somewhat, I've heard some more stuff that grabbed my attention since I last added anything here.

I think you might like these albums:
Mescalin Massacre -Liquid, Soma, Death (demo) (psychedelic industrial black metal)
Murmuure - Murmuure (psychedelic ambient black metal)
Stagnant Waters-Stagnant Waters (experimental industrial black metal)
The Meads of Asphodel-The Murder Of Jesus The Jew (experimental black metal)
Cobalt-Gin (sounds like tool playing black metal)

On a side note, I would not consider virus a black metal band. You might have included them because of history with Ved Buens Ende but BM elements in virus are not enough to call them black metal.

Written by mz on 14.10.2013 at 13:48

I think you might like these albums:
Murmuure - Murmuure (psychedelic ambient black metal)

This one I've heard and liked, I should pay it another visit. I remember Mr. Doc recommended it to me for my Space metal list.

Written by mz on 14.10.2013 at 13:48

The Meads of Asphodel-The Murder Of Jesus The Jew (experimental black metal)

Need to give this one a listen, I found their most recent one pretty interesting, especially for the depth of lyrical content and such.

Written by mz on 14.10.2013 at 13:48

Cobalt-Gin (sounds like tool playing black metal)

And this I really need to check, I've seen it mentioned on lists and elsewhere on here. Haven't come across the description you give to it though, sounds really interesting.

Written by mz on 14.10.2013 at 13:48

On a side note, I would not consider virus a black metal band. You might have included them because of history with Ved Buens Ende but BM elements in virus are not enough to call them black metal.

I've always associated Virus with black metal, for more reasons than the Ved Buens Ende connection. They play avantgarde metal primarily, this is true, but to me it seems they experiment within the confines of black metal. Avantgarde can be a strange beast, sometimes it has a distinctive sound of its own that I can't attach to any "mother" genre, so to speak. Sometimes I can hear certain sounds that clearly extend from another genre, Virus is a good example I think.
I think it depends upon how strict you are with calling something black metal, I don't listen to nearly as much of it as you do but it's an easy association for me to make, calling Virus a variation of black metal that is. Though I guess I could be too liberal about it...
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out.

Written by R'Vannith on 15.10.2013 at 06:05


I've always associated Virus with black metal, for more reasons than the Ved Buens Ende connection. They play avantgarde metal primarily, this is true, but to me it seems they experiment within the confines of black metal. Avantgarde can be a strange beast, sometimes it has a distinctive sound of its own that I can't attach to any "mother" genre, so to speak. Sometimes I can hear certain sounds that clearly extend from another genre, Virus is a good example I think.
I think it depends upon how strict you are with calling something black metal, I don't listen to nearly as much of it as you do but it's an easy association for me to make, calling Virus a variation of black metal that is. Though I guess I could be too liberal about it...
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out.

I understand what you mean,. Virus sound might have been loosely been based on black metal aesthetic and in this regard, it is somehow similar to terra tenebrosa and this brings up another question: Isn't terra tenebrosa good enough to be included into this list or you do not consider them BM?
anyway, I do not think it is a big deal.
Finally, I have just recently started listening to BM and I highly doubt that I've heard more black metal than you

I tend to consider The Black Flux in some way black metal though I can't really explain why, however their stuff after that seemed to veer off in an avant-garde rock direction and I would have trouble arguing for them being black metal any more.

Written by mz on 14.10.2013 at 13:48

On a side note, I would not consider virus a black metal band. You might have included them because of history with Ved Buens Ende but BM elements in virus are not enough to call them black metal.

I totally agree with this. I listened to Virus - Carheart twice (yesterday and today) and there's no black metal at all in their sound. And even if there were any BM elements then it won't be enough to call them BM.