Thou - Summit

 2010; 6 tracks  Thou is a prolific Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based doom/sludge/black metal group formed in 2005. They have continued to release several EPs and albums each year since their formation, and just this year have already released two splits.  

Summit is a fantastic record. The only album out of four releases in 2010, it is an absolute masterpiece... at least to me. I can't even explain my love for this album in words. I just can't.

For more information on the band's upcoming shows as well as visual and social elements of the band's activity, check out their website.

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Organ - Apoplexy in Six Parts

2004; 10 tracks

Organ is "an experimental post-metal band from Oslo, Norway containing members of the black metal band (V.E.G.A.). The bands only release to date is Apoplexy In Six Parts." I personally enjoyed it very much, and strangely enough found some very Alcest-like moments among the experimental black metal multifariousness.

Apoplexy in Six Parts
01 Part I
02 Part II
03 Part III
04 Part IV
05 Part V
06 Part VI
Non-Intentional Devices
07-10 Untitled

Download.

Sixx - Sister Devil

2009; 8 tracks

Get this. Get this. Get this. Get this. Get this.

Sixx = members of Von playing Joy Division-esque black metal. First recorded in 1991 but not widely distributed until 2009, Sister Devil is just so dark and bleak and perfect.

"The lo-fi atmosphere and an almost tentative approach to the songs are complimented and tied together by creepy spoken interludes by frontman Goat... that sound like 'found' recordings of a killer's last confession."


In the boundaries of the circle
Under natural light of white
Sitting with jointed fingertips
A voice which hums
Lost deep within the magic of the circle

Blut aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)

2011; 6 tracks

These 6 tracks by French black metal band Blut aus Nord have the chaotic feel of Deathspell Omega's latest with the plodding & obvious help of a drum machine, striking of Justin Broadrick. This album is very enjoyable to listen to... once. The instrumentation and overall "evil" atmosphere is not quite what it was in Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars, which is one of my favorite black metal albums ever. 777 Sect(s) is still a worthwhile listen, (the 2nd and 6th tracks are pretty fantastic), so go ahead and find out what it's all about.

Download.

Nazxul - Totem

1995; 11 tracks
An incredible black metal debut from a very under-appreciated black metal band, named after one of Tolkien's beasts.

"Nazxul is a black metal band from Australia. Since its inception, this band has been shrouded in secrecy. Their releases are few and far between, with Totem being their only full-length offering to date.

Nazxul's musical style reminds of early Emperor taken to a new level of extreme aggression. Their musical style incporates intricate guitar and keyboard melodies with thrashier, more aggressive sections and distorted, evil vocals. The vocals are of particular interest, a seemingly endless array of sinister whispers and inhuman growling.

Well-suited for such an obscure project, Nazxul's lyrics touch on occult and mystical themes. The album's title track is a good example of their lyrical vision:

The seal of wonder
The mark in blood
The one true symbol
Of everlasting fear

They will find it, they will fear it
The mighty mark
In bloody merciless madness

Totem
Thy mark, my mark
The winds will speak, when the storms die

Throughout the album, Morelli and Mitchell create some truly memorable riffs and melodies, with bassist Adrian Henderson fortifying their efforts with a solid backbone. Henderson also provides tasteful, intelligent keyboards that add another dimension to the album. Backovic's vocals seem to know no bounds, assaulting the listener from every angle.

While the entire album is powerful and consistent, 'I Awaken (Amongst Them)' and 'Distance Begins' strike me as being particularly ferocious and powerful examples of Nazxul's musical vision. The album closes with a long interlude consisting of a recording of a thunderstorm, but Nazxul treats their fans to a new recording of 'Hymn of a Dying Moon' from their demo before dissolving back into the shadows. Totem comes heavily recommended to fans of intelligent, complex black metal bands such as Abigor and Lunar Aurora, although most fans of extreme metal will find something to enjoy here." - Implications.

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Ad Hominem - Climax of Hatred

2005; 10 tracks

Ad Hominem is a French black metal band created by Kaiser Wodhanz, who does all the instruments. His approach to black metal is much like death metal in content - packed full of non-stop anger and power, the drums a prominent part of nearly every track. There isn't much attention to the "atmosphere," as the main focus seems to be the content of hatred (hence the title?) I wouldn't call this a strictly NSBM release, to be honest. Their lyrics deal more with anti-religion and just hatred in general:

Looking forward to another existence
from ashes will rise a new essence
No religion. nor lowest lambs
Only cold plain and devastated landscapes

I am filled with admiration.

This is one of the most hateful and aggressive albums I've ever heard, definitely on par with the two released by M8L8TH.

Download.

Darkthrone - Soulside Journey

 1991; 11 tracks

For the past few days I've been in a state of near-death sickness, and even now I am still feeling extremely weak. I listened to this album pre much the whole time I was in bed, motionless. I don't know much about whether this is black metal or death metal or something more or in between or none of the above, but it's super great. I became thoroughly addicted from the very first riff of "Cromlech," to which I want to make love for days on end.

tl;dr Debut album from Norwegian band Darkthrone, I'm sure you've heard of them.

Download.

Verdunkeln - Einblick In Den Qualenfall

2007; 6 tracks

I haven't posted any black metal in a while.

Despite many negative reviews, Verdunkeln's one and only full-length album is not bad.. not bad at all. The German band's sound is purely atmospheric, very resonant, with a psychedelic/hypnotic touch. If you like the more creative styles of black metal in the vein of, say, Urfaust, try this out.

Download.

Hate Forest - Purity

2003; 7 tracks

I know this is an older album that everyone has probably already heard, but I still wanted to post it. It's really very lovely, one of the better black metal albums I've heard in a while.

Download.

Urfaust / Circle of Ouroborus - Auerauege Raa Verduistering

2006; 10 tracks

Urfaust and Circle of Ouroborus are both truly individual and fantastic acts on the black metal scene. Urfaust is a Dutch black metal band that tends toward the avant-garde at times, providing full symphonic tracks in their releases and playing a unique style of black metal.. that with almost entirely clean vocals. Circle of Ouroborus is a Finnish black metal band that reminds me a lot of Nuit Noire, although they are very different, as they are heavily influenced by the post-punk band Joy Division. Their sound is also highly individual and unique - clean vocals, lo-fi production, and sometimes completely acoustic tracks. It is gorgeous, though, and this split provides the best of both worlds.


Urfaust:
1. Verächtung Wird Einen Messertragenden Schatten
2. Der Halbtoten Dichters Schein-Existenz
3. Zur Winter-Wanderschaft Verflucht
4. Dämmert, Gelähmt und Mit Scheinbar Erloschenem Geist
Circle of Ouroborus:
5. Dream of Death
6. Mouldering Leaves
7. Dimicatio
8. Eyes of the Flames
9. Congregation of Sorrow
10. In the Forest of the Horned God


Download.

Thorns - Thorns

2001; 8 tracks (48:11)

Mesmerizing piece of music similar to The Work Which Transforms God. What else can I say? Just listen.

Download.

Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God

2003; 12 tracks (51:40)

A must hear infinite times album. Listen in the dark for best results.

777

Altorių Šešėliai - Margi sakalai

2007; 10 tracks

I've already done a post for Altorių Šešėliai's demo because I thought it was his best, but I feel like this album deserves some serious respect as well. A few tracks here remind me of Empyrium, but Altorių Šešėliai's are quite a bit less gloomy/doomy. There are plenty of soft neofolk sections, such as on "Gelsvas mėnuo III" - flute, acoustic guitar, running brooks - but the atmospheric black metal sections are what make me love this album.

From Metal-Archives:

"Avinpapis’ true strength lies in his skills of composition. While the songs presented on Margi Sakalai are all quite simple, their draw lies in the subtle changes in mood which he is able to create through slight tempo, riff or drumming changes, each one of which adds another layer onto the music and the atmosphere. Avinpapis’ vocals also add quite a lot to the feeling of the album, always maintaining a low-fi growl which seems to just float on the music and become part of the atmosphere, rather than ever being intrusive or overpowering which wouldn’t work in such a mellow album.

This is the perfect album for going to sleep to. It is just a beautiful, laid-back 45 minutes of music, which is able to transport you to rain-soaked fields and forests, thick scrubland, misty moorlands or wherever you let it if you’re feeling so inclined to go on transcendental nature journeys."

Download.

Thränenkind - Eine Momentaufnahme - Der Rest ist nur Einsamkeit

2008; 5 tracks

This is Thränenkind's debut demo, (Self-released), and it's really great. It's post-rock influenced black metal from Germany, with depressive/suicidal tendencies. There are many soft parts and many Gris-like parts, which make this a very interesting demo for sure.

"The sound of Thranenkind is that of most Post-Black Metal bands, droning, repetitive guitar lines interspersed with short interludes of atmospheric clean strummed guitar. While the band does nothing new in terms of style, the two members of the group Nathaneal (guitars/bass/vocals) and Pesten (drums) obviously have great skills in terms of song-writing, with Eine Momentaufnahme - Der Rest ist nur Einsamkeit clearly being a highlight album in the burgeoning Post-Rock influenced sect of Black Metal.

Another great aspect of the album is the contrast between songs with a depressive atmosphere and songs with a joyous atmosphere, giving the album great variety. One can only be doing themselves a favor by this acquiring this excellent demo and start following the progress of Black Metal's soon to be most prolific band."

That's a pretty dumb review, but I think it gives a good introduction to what this band's about. Thränenkind's demo is awesome.

Download.

Amocoma - Go To Hell

2009; 9 tracks

This is some very dreamy noise/black metal, and I love it.

“Amocoma traffic in an ultra lo-fi, muddy murky blackness. It’s definitely black metal, there is plenty of buzz and blast and howled vocals, but at the same time it’s sort of stumbling and noise rocky, it’s probably a little of both, but it’s all rendered nearly indistinct by the incredibly FX drenched lo-fi production. Beginning with dreamy swirls of soft focus harmonics and distant rumbles, it doesn’t take long for the band to lurch into action, a simple hypnotic riff, looped over and over, almost sounding more like a bass than a guitar, and not so heavy as it is trancelike. The drums are mechanical and repetitive, the vocals are howled and swathed in reverb, spread out over the proceedings like a black cloud, so much so that at times they just sound like another layer of buzz. And the more you listen, the more pretty it sounds, sure it’s raw and harsh, but the melody is so hypnotic, and the swirling clouds of distortion and reverb give everything a sort of soft focus shimmer.

Damaged and dreamy, freaked out and fucked, one of our new favorite slabs of black beauty for sure…”

You Shall Yet Rise

Pensées Nocturnes - Grotesque

2010; 8 tracks

Pensées Nocturnes is a French one-man black metal project, where everything is done by Vaerhon. This album is one of the better black metal releases I've heard lately. It's full of lovely, rich texture. Also, "Thokk" is a black metal reproduction of Grieg's "Morning" from his suite Peer Gynt. So yeah, another reason to love this album.

Download.

Urfaust.

I've decided to get down to business and post more black metal instead of dreampop/shoegaze/whatever because it's much more important... but also because I'm in a black metal mood >.<



Urfaust is a black metal group from the Netherlands. More info on Urfaust here. It may just be me, but I've noticed that most of their album covers have something to do with a man, either in anguish/agony, or in a deep state of meditation, or just sitting in the dark somewhere. Maybe this is supposed to be Docteur Faust, or Goethe, or a Schopenhauer. In any case, these images contribute quite well to the atmosphere of the music... I really like it when artists do that, but I guess it's generally unwise to judge an album by its cover. Well, screw that, I do it anyways.

Geist ist Teufel


2004; 6 tracks

I'm going to write like a first grader because I feel like this explanation should be simple: This is my favorite Urfaust album. It might be one of my favorite black metal albums. I cannot describe what appeals to me so much about this album. I just like it. The end.

Download.


Verräterischer, Nichtswürdiger Geist


2005; 7 tracks

Okay, listen. There are NO words at all to describe the magnificence of this album. It is the most amazing "black metal" album I've heard in like, forever... Plus, it has great album art. PLUS PLUS: it has CLEAN vocals! in black metal - gotta love that.

The first track (Dunkel, still von Ewigkeit) is 13 minutes long. It is a completely instrumental classical track. Some might find this odd for a black metal album, or whatever. This track is really amazing, reminiscent of something like black coffee mixed with snowstorm, seen through a beautiful stained glass window. Actually, let's make this a broken stained glass window. It's like that, beautiful, but only because it is shattered. The rest of the tracks are equally as great.

Download.


Drei Rituale Jenseits des Kosmos EP


2008; 3 tracks

While not my favorite Urfaust release, it is the first thing of theirs I ever heard and it was quite enjoyable. I was not expecting the marvelous clean vocals, especially on "II," but that made it all the more powerful for me. These three tracks seem to radiate a dark, ancient, mysterious majesty that can only be experienced by the abrasive sound of Urfaust... In other words, it's a really awesome EP.

Download.

I have only heard these two albums and the one EP, so I cannot give my thoughts on their two splits and 09 EP, but I'm sure they're great............................................................... :3

Ben Frost - By the Throat

Ben Frost is Australian composer who now resides in Iceland. His music is transcendental for me. There are elements of nearly everything I like in his music, especially this album: Black metal, soft electronics, some drone, elements of harsh noise, and experimental use of many different instruments. I want to have this album forever - it is a frosty masterpiece. More info here.


2009; 11 tracks

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Altorių Šešėliai - Ir Nusinese Saule Miskai

^ I think this is one of the coolest corpsepaint-jobs I've seen in a while, but the bed-head look is sooo 90's.

Altorių Šešėliai is a one-man black metal project from Lithuania. More info here.

I have heard only Altorių Šešėliai's second demo and his 2007 full-lengh. I like the demo better, so here it is.


2006; 6 tracks

Download.

Nahvalr - Nahvalr

Nahvalr is a noisey black metal band featuring members of Have a Nice Life (lolwut.)
This music is dark and terrifying. It will give you nightmares.

I recommend this for fans of bands like Gnaw Their Tongues and Portal.


Download