Dark Metal: The Definitive Albums

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Dark Metal: The Definitive Albums

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A list by
NurseryRhyme
Created
October 03, 2021
Entries
42
Endorsements
5
The purpose of this list is not to find and record which albums are the best but to define Dark Metal. We will try to specify which albums are the definitive examples of Dark Metal. "Dark Metal" is what we would call a "post-subgenre". An album that's not quite Black, not quite Death, sometimes a little Doom or Gothic, other times just Melodic or Symphonic or even "Atmospheric", anything that could fall somewhere in between some or all of these categories, that could probably be a "Dark Metal" album, as long as the tone is somewhat dark.
42.
1.
Rotting Christ - Sanctus Diavolos
2004
42.
2.
Celtic Frost - Monotheist
2006
42.
3.
Nightfall - At Night We Prey
2021
42.
4.
Septicflesh - Sumerian Daemons
2003
42.
5.
Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
2018
42.
6.
Moonspell - Wolfheart
1995
42.
7.
Cradle Of Filth - Dusk... And Her Embrace
1996
42.
8.
Dark Fortress - Ylem
2010
42.
9.
Monumentum - In Absentia Christi
1995
42.
10.
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
2010
42.
11.
Septicflesh - Communion
2008
42.
12.
Cradle Of Filth - Midian
2000
42.
13.
Moonspell - Under Satanæ
2007
42.
14.
Tiamat - Wildhoney
1994
42.
15.
Behemoth - The Satanist
2014
42.
16.
Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
2001
42.
17.
Nightfall - Lesbian Show
1997
42.
18.
Moonspell - Irreligious
1996
42.
19.
Opeth - Deliverance
2002
42.
20.
Cultus Sanguine - The Sum Of All Fears
1999
42.
21.
Diabolique - Wedding The Grotesque
1997
42.
22.
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno
2019
42.
23.
Tiamat - Clouds
1992
42.
24.
Celtic Frost - Into The Pandemonium
1987
42.
25.
Cradle Of Filth - Damnation And A Day
2003
42.
26.
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
1993
42.
27.
Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites
1994
42.
28.
Paradise Lost - Gothic
1991
42.
29.
Dark Fortress - Spectres From The Old World
2020
42.
30.
Carach Angren - Lammendam
2008
42.
31.
Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2017
42.
32.
Dawn Of Ashes - Anathema
2013
42.
33.
Old Man's Child - In Defiance Of Existence
2003
42.
34.
Rotting Christ - Non Serviam
1994
42.
35.
Nightfall - I Am Jesus
2003
42.
36.
Paradise Lost - Obsidian
2020
42.
37.
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
2014
42.
38.
Moonspell - Memorial
2006
42.
39.
Cradle Of Filth - Cruelty And The Beast
1998
42.
40.
Hecate Enthroned - Redimus
2004
42.
41.
Opera IX - The Call Of The Wood
1995
42.
42.
Winterhorde - Maestro
2016
More lists by NurseryRhyme ››
Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Comments: 11 Visited by 46 users
Starvynth
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16.10.2021 - 15:53
Starvynth
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Interesting list with quite a few old favorites of mine.
The term was a big thing in Germany in the 90s and a common umbrella term for (almost) everything you couldn't categorize otherwise. It was only years later that I realized that dark metal had very little meaning outside of Germany...

Off the top of my head, I would also include early albums by Dornenreich, Graveworm, Dark (GER), Agathodaimon and Siebenbürgen.
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16.10.2021 - 18:26

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Thanks. Interesting info. To be honest, many of these bands are also old favorites of mine, back from mid 00's when I got into extreme metal.

Agathodaimon and Graveworm will definetely be included in the future, they are solid examples of bands that you couldn't say explicitly that they are black, and they had that dark atmosphere and tone especially in their early albums. Sieben are also a good band and good example of what I consider "Dark Metal".
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F3ynman
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30.04.2022 - 07:30
F3ynman
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Interesting list! I do see how all of these albums have something in common
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mz
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04.05.2022 - 00:45
mz
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Oh I wanted to make a list with the same exact title, but the albums there would had been very different
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05.05.2022 - 03:16

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I wanna see what albums you would put in that list. I'm in the right mood to discover some good music.
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12.05.2022 - 20:43

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I've heard November's Doom (specifically The Pale Haunt Departure) referred to as "dark metal" before. Still not too understanding of the concept of the genre itself so can't really verify.
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13.05.2022 - 08:18

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Well, I listed Opeth & Triptykon, so why not Novembers Doom? Although I personally am more familliar with "The Novella Reservoir" album of theirs.
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28.10.2022 - 14:08

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Just wanted to say, and very much mean this unironically , thank you for putting Deliverance as the only Opeth album on this list
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28.10.2022 - 19:47

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No problem. I don't know about their best album, but Deliverance it's their most fucking dark one. And it is dark without making you any damage, psychological or emotional. It is great stuff. Trully amazing,
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Roman Doez
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29.10.2022 - 16:25
Roman Doez
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Did you really make a list named dark metal that doesn't even include Bethlehem
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01.11.2022 - 01:05

Posts: 7
I religiously believe my friend that the Beths are Depressive/Suicidal Black, in the same way that Venom's "Black Metal" was Thrash.
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