20. Graveland - In the Northern Carpathians
A cheesy yet entertaining intro full church bells and crying babies begins this epic. Solid, raw, and classic, very atmospheric. 1994. Poland.
19. Velvet Cacoon - Avalon Polo
Publicity stunts aside, Velvet Cacoon created some serious atmospheric drone on Genevieve, and this track takes the cake for me. 2004. USA.
18. Summoning - The Rotting Horse on the Deadly Ground
My favorite by Summoning, total Tolkien worship, but great melodies abound. 1999. Austria.
17. Gorgorth - Gorgoroth
The intro is what makes this song so great. Layer upon layer of harmonized guitar trem-picked goodness. 1996. Norway.
16. Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast
Before they got terrible, Dimmu Borgir released an atmospheric masterpiece with the outro of this particular song being the climax. 1996. Norway.
15. Cradle of Filth - A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore)
Before you decide this list has lost all credibility, put your bias against this band aside and listen to this. Vampyric atmosphere at its best. 1996. England.
14. Walknut - Grim Woods
Not very well known. Atmospheric, hypnotic. 2007. Russia.
13. Ulver - Capitel II: Soelen gaaer bag aase need
Everything about this song is pretty much perfect, especially the chorus section with the clean vocals. 1995. Norway.
12. Blut Aus Nord - From Hlidskjalf
Icy and otherworldly. 1995. France.
11. Satyricon - King of the Shadowthrone
I could have just as easily picked Dominions of Satyricon, but decided on this one instead. Classic 2nd wave from Norway. 1994.
10. Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
The aggression to this album is insane, and something appalling was brewing within these guys back in the day. 1992. Norway.
9. Forest Silence - I Feel the Claws of Darkness
The least well known on this list (shame). Thick synth-laden atmosphere with razor riffage. 2002. Hungary.
8. Drudkh - The Eternal Turn of the Wheel
Many would pick False Dawn instead, but I prefer this one. Hypnotic and repetitive with brilliant harmonized riffs, just how I like it. Too bad this band only has 2 solid albums before becoming mediocre. 2002. Ukraine.
7. Vlad Tepes - Under the Carpathian Yoke
The definition of kvlt. Absolutely insane in a great way. 1995. France.
6. Nokturnal Mortum - Kolyada
Essential listening, especially the 2nd half. Folky goodness. 1997. Ukraine.
5. Windir - Saknet
Valfar (R.I.P.) was a true composer. Saknet is his finest work. 1999. Norway.
4. Nokturnal Mortum (again) Tears of Paganism/Lunar Poetry
Pure atmospheric aggressive black metal at its absolute finest. The horrible sound quality just adds to the fun. 1996. Ukraine.
3. Paysage d'Hiver - Der Weg
Listen to believe. The only black metal album as a whole that can compete with Burzum's Hvis Lyset tar Oss. Summed up best from some dude at surrealdocuments.blogspot.com
"The music of Paysage D'Hiver is used as a monomanic, minimalist musical mantra. This mantra is supposed to help the listener to visualize Alpine winter landscapes, and to experience this landscape as sublime, an aesthetic emotion of simultaneous attraction and fear, an emotion which finds its origin in Romanticism. Listening to Paysage D'Hiver is a phantasmatic practice."
2000. Switzerland.
2. Xasthur - In the Hate of Battle
The first Xasthur song I ever heard, and still by a landslide my favorite. I rarely listen to this (once every 2-3 years) to savor it all the more when I do. Depressive black metal at its best.
2002. USA.
1. Burzum - Det Some En Gang Var
No surprise here. Det Som En Gang Var will probably will be the best black metal song ever recorded, past and future. 1994. Norway.
A few notes:
For someone just entering the black metal world, many of these songs, particularly the depressive and minimalist ones, will seem like no big thing. They take many many listens to appreciate fully.
Also, no Emperor, Immortal, Mayhem, or Enslaved made the list, which even surprised me.
You probably think I'm a big nerd now, but I think you are missing out on some of the best music ever recorded.
Might I throw in some "Where Dead Angels Lie" by Dissection, "Non Serviam" by Rotting Christ, and "Xastur Within" by Xasthur. The last was also the first song that I heard by them, which we've discussed before. They're a band that marks you the first time you listen, and you get attached to that first album. I was surprised by the lack of Enslaved too. Full of new things, this one.
ReplyDeleteNo Trollkotze? What the heck?
ReplyDeletelist has no cred.
I didn't add Dissection because I felt they were a fringe band that was half death metal. But that cd is totally classic! And I agree about Xasthur, I remember those discussions quite well.
ReplyDeleteTrollkotze will definitely make an appearance on this blog at some point hehe....
BTW, for this list I made a rule that only one song per album could qualify. If I didn't, the list would not have been as diverse and not as interesting.