Some cool album covers 🖒 my favourites here would have to be At the Heart of Winter and In The Nightside Eclipse.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 18.06.2021 at 01:57

Some cool album covers 🖒 my favourites here would have to be At the Heart of Winter and In The Nightside Eclipse.

You definitely seem to be a black metal fan! I have to admit that they create some of the best atmospheres - in the music and the cover art. Only the vocals are hit-and-miss for me. My favorite two black metal albums are Storm of the Light's Bane and At the Heart of Winter.
By the way, please check out my Favorites List again - I updated it with descriptions and my favorite songs!

Written by F3ynman on 18.06.2021 at 12:33


You definitely seem to be a black metal fan! I have to admit that they create some of the best atmospheres - in the music and the cover art. Only the vocals are hit-and-miss for me. My favorite two black metal albums are Storm of the Light's Bane and At the Heart of Winter.
By the way, please check out my Favorites List again - I updated it with descriptions and my favorite songs!

I began with listening to bands from the Norwegian scene, where it begun like Mayhem, Immortal and Darkthrone, and for some reason I took an instant liking to the music, I liked the hypnotic riffs and blast beat drumming, and the harsh vocals that created a really sinister atmosphere, even though it took time understand the lyrics, I also liked the raw production, which kept the music sounding authentic.

Over the years black metal has adapted many styles, some bands like Dissection and Necrophobic are melodic, others like Cradle Of Filth and Emperor are Symphonic, and bands like Summoning focus mainly on atmosphere, you also now have black metal bands with folk elements like Agalloch and Primordial.

There is so much to Black metal nowadays compared to how it all began in the early 90s, which was mostly satanic themed.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 18.06.2021 at 16:26

I took an instant liking to the music, I liked the hypnotic riffs and blast beat drumming, and the harsh vocals that created a really sinister atmosphere, even though it took time understand the lyrics, I also liked the raw production, which kept the music sounding authentic.

Interesting! Black metal is definitely the genre that I have the most difficulty getting into. I love the concept: chilling atmosphere and hypnotic riffs. But the execution I often find disappointing. It's mainly the vocals that put me off, I guess.
When I started listening to metal, I loved the operatic voices of Dio, Dickinson, and Halford. In thrash metal and death metal, I learned to also love a song for the guitar-work and not necessarily the vocals. But while the singing in Megadeth, Death, and Vektor aren't as refined as Dio, I still like them because I can feel the emotion that the singers put in their voices.
For black metal, I have trouble picking up that emotion. To the uninitiated (me) it sounds just like noise that's indiscernable and gets in the way of the music. For example in Nightside Eclipse's opening track, I love the haunting atmosphere that builds up, but when the vocals come in, I can't understand what's being said and it's not pleasant to listen to and I think "what's the point?".
I don't want to disrespect another genre, but I want to understand what people find appealing about the black metal vocals.
That said, I do like some black metal such as At the Heart of Winter and Storm of the Light's Bane. But this could be because they are kind of a mix of genres and not pure black metal.
Do you have suggestions where I could start getting more into black metal?
Thanks!
PS: Sorry for the long reply

Written by F3ynman on 25.06.2021 at 06:29

Interesting! Black metal is definitely the genre that I have the most difficulty getting into. I love the concept: chilling atmosphere and hypnotic riffs. But the execution I often find disappointing. It's mainly the vocals that put me off, I guess.
When I started listening to metal, I loved the operatic voices of Dio, Dickinson, and Halford. In thrash metal and death metal, I learned to also love a song for the guitar-work and not necessarily the vocals. But while the singing in Megadeth, Death, and Vektor aren't as refined as Dio, I still like them because I can feel the emotion that the singers put in their voices.
For black metal, I have trouble picking up that emotion. To the uninitiated (me) it sounds just like noise that's indiscernable and gets in the way of the music. For example in Nightside Eclipse's opening track, I love the haunting atmosphere that builds up, but when the vocals come in, I can't understand what's being said and it's not pleasant to listen to and I think "what's the point?".
I don't want to disrespect another genre, but I want to understand what people find appealing about the black metal vocals.
That said, I do like some black metal such as At the Heart of Winter and Storm of the Light's Bane. But this could be because they are kind of a mix of genres and not pure black metal.
Do you have suggestions where I could start getting more into black metal?
Thanks!
PS: Sorry for the long reply

It could be a hard genre to get into if you don't like the vocals, I admit there are still vocals I don't completely understand myself even after listening many times, Darkthrone, Burzum, Gorgoroth and Satyricon for example, from the early Norwegian scene and are extremely Raw, and the music from the instruments is what keeps me listening.

There are several Atmospheric Black Metal bands I like, which use harsh vocals which I mainly tend to ignore because the atmosphere is stunning, such as Blut Aus Nord, Drudkh and Summoning who you already know.

There are a few Black metal bands that use less harsher vocals such as Primordial who I admire greatly, they are Irish folk metal but their music has a lot of black metal influences, Agalloch are another similar band but are even more Folk based.

Bathory also use less harsh vocals, especially the later albums such as Hammerheart, Twilight Of The Gods, and Nordland, which are Viking themed, and far easier to understand.

If you like Dissection, or Melodic Black Metal In general then I recommend Necrophobic, especially their debut, they are quite similar in sound.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 25.06.2021 at 11:15

It could be a hard genre to get into if you don't like the vocals, I admit there are still vocals I don't completely understand myself even after listening many times, Darkthrone, Burzum, Gorgoroth and Satyricon for example, from the early Norwegian scene and are extremely Raw, and the music from the instruments is what keeps me listening.

There are several Atmospheric Black Metal bands I like, which use harsh vocals which I mainly tend to ignore because the atmosphere is stunning, such as Blut Aus Nord, Drudkh and Summoning who you already know.

There are a few Black metal bands that use less harsher vocals such as Primordial who I admire greatly, they are Irish folk metal but their music has a other of black metal influences, Agalloch are another similar band but are even more Folk based.

Bathory also use less harsh vocals, especially the later albums such as Hammerheart, Twilight Of The Gods, and Nordland, which are Viking themed, and far easier to understand.

Thanks for the recommendations! Yeah, I started listening to some Bathory (A Fine Day to Die, the Golden Walls of Heaven, and Shores in Flames). A FIne Day to Die was pretty badass, but the rest of the songs didn't really catch my attention yet (although the album intros for Blood Fire Death and Hammerheart were pretty epic). I'll try listening to some more of them and might try out some others you suggested.

You should also check out Mercyful Fate if you haven't already, they were supposed to have been part of the 1st wave of black metal in the 80s, although I would say there music is Purley heavy metal, but with some satanic lyrics, and use of Corpse paint on stage.

The lead singer, King Diamond has a strange unique vocal style which you will either love or hate. La Roque is the lead guitarest, and is known as one of the best heavy metal guitarists of his time.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 25.06.2021 at 13:01

You should also check out Mercyful Fate if you haven't already, they were supposed to have been part of the 1st wave of black metal in the 80s, although I would say there music is Purley heavy metal, but with some satanic lyrics, and use of Corpse paint on stage.

The lead singer, King Diamond has a strange unique vocal style which you will either love or hate. La Roque is the lead guitarest, and is known as one of the best heavy metal guitarists of his time.

Yes, I've briefly come across Mercyful Fate. A Dangerous Meeting was good and Welcome Home (King Diamond's band) was also kind of cool. Like you said, I'm not sure if I like the vocals (even though I love the vocals of Judas Priest and Savatage, which are also high-pitched). I'll give them a try.
By the way, you've made me eager to listen to Necrophobic after you said they were like Dissection (I can't wait to see if you're right, since I love Dissection's style/sound)

Written by F3ynman on 25.06.2021 at 14:53


By the way, you've made me eager to listen to Necrophobic after you said they were like Dissection (I can't wait to see if you're right, since I love Dissection's style/sound)

Necrophobic have been releasing alot of albums in recent years, but my favourite is the debut Nocturnal Silence.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 25.06.2021 at 16:16

Written by F3ynman on 25.06.2021 at 14:53


By the way, you've made me eager to listen to Necrophobic after you said they were like Dissection (I can't wait to see if you're right, since I love Dissection's style/sound)

Necrophobic have been releasing alot of albums in recent years, but my favourite is the debut Nocturnal Silence.

I just listened to the Nocturnal Silence album. It was pretty good! Probably the most evil album I've heard!