Black Metal.

Really? I’ve always thought they were a pretty average band. I’ll give it a listen. Can’t be worse than the new Funeral Mist which defiled my ears.
 
Haven’t listened to them in years but I remember liking them more than Sargeist. By the Blessing of Satan is kinda decent I think, but I don’t remember much.

Their most popular is probably My Soul for His Glory so you could try that as well.
 
Yeah, sounds quite a bit like early Gorgoroth, although nowhere near as good. Thrashier and rawer than what they would become later. Nothing essential, but not awful or anything.

In fact, I’m gonna revisit this band in the near future. As well as Sargeist and maybe Horna, to see if there’s anything I’m missing.

Kyprian’s Circle might be my favourite black metal from Finland that I’ve heard. Are you familiar with them?
 
Black metal albums rarely have drumming that stands out, that's usually by design I suppose because it's supposed to create an atmosphere via repetition, but I love the drumming on Thousand Swords. The cymbal work makes it sound like an actual sword battle is going on throughout the record, it's fucking fantastic.
 
Well of course, everything about Thousand Swords is top tier shit. Well except, “Black Metal War”. And I guess some might take issue with the vocals.

I fucking love the drums on Darkthrone’s Crossing the Triangle of Flames and consider it one of Fenriz’ best moments. One of their best songs in general actually.



Other than that, I love the drums on Far Away from the Sun, lots of varied blasting and just a tonne of power behind them. The middle section of Obsolete Tears is especially incredible.

2:18 - 3:08



I’m a sucker for a good tremolo/blast section in general, which black metal has a lot of. So I largely don’t take an issue with the abundance of blast beats in a lot of it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: CiG
The drums on "Crossing the Triangle of Flames" are cool but nothing that really makes me excited, the cymbal work is nice though. Drumming on "Obsolete Tears" is better and more akin to the repetition method I mentioned, which I appreciate.

Fenriz drumming-wise was at his best on Soulside Journey IMO, just a hurricane of cymbals and fills that gives me goosebumps at times. He was also very interesting on Goatlord, just all over the place stylistically in a really cool way.

Ever since A Blaze in the Northern Sky which has some of his leftover death metal chops here and there his obsession with primitive simplicity has made his drumming less and less interesting for me, even though as a band I've liked their stuff consistently. Black metal isn't really rich soil for great drumming, unless the band is unorthodox within the genre.

This is so fucking good, Fenriz was once a madman:

 
Horna has a daunting discography from what I recall. I'd like to discover the key albums in their arsenal as well.

I believe their key album is Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne. I used to love that album and it was on heavy rotation back in the past for me. However, I haven't listened to Horna for a long time now. They suffered many line-up changes over the years, which daunts me a little bit when it comes to exploring their discography.

 
  • Like
Reactions: dwellerINTHEdark