Favorite black metal bands

[Mr. Halloween]

I know a thread like this has been posted in the past, but who would you list as your favorite black metal bands? Maybe not the greatest of all time, but the bands you listen to on a regular basis. Debating the best of all time could take forever, people's opinions change with time and age, as well as with the release of new music.
I'd like to know who your 10 favorite black metal bands are at the moment. Currently, mine are as follows,
WATAIN
BEHEMOTH
MARDUK
BATUSHKA
INQUISITION
AKHLYS
DARK FUNERAL
BATHORY
EMPEROR
BELPHEGOR.

 

[Bloopy]

Dunno about regular basis as my listening habits are irregular in general, but my favourites are:

Creeping
Craft
Exordium Mors
Ludicra
Mayhem
Satyricon
Aoratos
Skuldom

I'd probably complete the 10 with Ghast and Deathspell Omega, but I need to check out more of their material.

 

[CiG]

 

[SonOfNun]

Here's 20 I listen to regularly, many with roots going back 20 years in my listening habits. Most are Black + something else or Black adjacent.

Borknagar
Vintersorg
Immortal
Ulver
Empyrium
Agalloch
Primordial
Drudkh
Bergthron
Sigh
Oathean
Kekal
Bathory
Falkenbach
Crimson Moonlight
Alcest
Slechtvalk
Antestor
Hortor
Blaze of Sorrow

 

[PrincessHades]

I'm huge into what people call first wave bands, and the later acts that are either faithful to that style or built upon it and took it in a direction that's quite different from the Nordic sound. Eastern Europe, Greece, Italy, Asia, and Latin America spawned some really good black metal. I also really like when it's mixed with other styles of metal. Bathory is probably my all time favorite, but I also really love Celtic Frost, early Root, Master's Hammer, Torr, and Necromantia. There's a lot more, but I really try to show some love to the bands that do something different with the style and aren't just "inner circle" aspirants.

The French LLN scene is also very good, albeit very different. Vlad Tepes and Mutiilation are awesome, but I have to be in a particular mood for that much bleaker style of black metal.

As for some of the more Nordic-sounding black metal, I think Darkthrone had a really solid series of albums, and I think the stuff they put out later has been really good as well, though I haven't delved very deep into the later stuff. Gorgoroth has some decent albums, as does Immortal. I think Emperor may be one of the most talented Norwegian bands, and I love their work too.

Then there's what I'm listening to right now:



Norwegian black/doom

 

[WorldObliteration33]

Always subject to change but top ten currently:

Bathory
Master's Hammer
Rotting Christ
Immortal
Darkthrone
Nokturnal Mortum
Graveland
Arckanum
Behexen
Morrigan

 

[PrincessHades]

Always subject to change but top ten currently:

Bathory
Master's Hammer
Rotting Christ
Immortal
Darkthrone
Nokturnal Mortum
Graveland
Arckanum
Behexen
Morrigan

Is black metal your favorite subgenre?

 

[WorldObliteration33]

I don't really have a favorite out of the main subgenres. I probably listen to black and death metal more than anything else overall though.

 

[Slayed Necros]

Haven't attempted a top black metal albums list in a while... might as well do it here.

Top 25, full-lengths only, 1 album per band

25. Vinterland - Welcome My Last Chapter
24. Moonblood - Blut & Krieg
23. Dawn - Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher
22. Setherial - Nord...
21. Mystifier - Göetia
20. Morrigan - Celts
19. Varathron - His Majesty at the Swamp
18. Warloghe - Womb of Pestilence
17. Immortal - Pure Holocaust
16. Graveland - Thousand Swords
15. Grand Belial's Key - Mocking the Philanthropist
14. Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun
13. Ancient Rites - The Diabolic Serenades
12. Thy Serpent - Forests of Witchery
11. Deathspell Omega - Inquisitors of Satan

10. Gorgoroth - Pentagram



9. Abigor - Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)



8. Root - The Temple in the Underworld



7. Nåstrond - Toteslaut



6. Mortuary Drape - All the Witches Dance



5. Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract



4. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger



3. Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane



2. Sarcófago - I.N.R.I.



1. Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark

 

[PrincessHades]

Good shit, I'm going to give Toteslaut a listen

edit: So far, not regretting it. It's much heavier than I expected based on the Digerdoden EP

 

[Mr. Halloween]

Haven't attempted a top black metal albums list in a while... might as well do it here.

Top 25, full-lengths only, 1 album per band

25. Vinterland - Welcome My Last Chapter
24. Moonblood - Blut & Krieg
23. Dawn - Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher
22. Setherial - Nord...
21. Mystifier - Göetia
20. Morrigan - Celts
19. Varathron - His Majesty at the Swamp
18. Warloghe - Womb of Pestilence
17. Immortal - Pure Holocaust
16. Graveland - Thousand Swords
15. Grand Belial's Key - Mocking the Philanthropist
14. Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun
13. Ancient Rites - The Diabolic Serenades
12. Thy Serpent - Forests of Witchery
11. Deathspell Omega - Inquisitors of Satan

10. Gorgoroth - Pentagram

View attachment 35914

9. Abigor - Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)

View attachment 35900

8. Root - The Temple in the Underworld

View attachment 35901

7. Nåstrond - Toteslaut

View attachment 35904

6. Mortuary Drape - All the Witches Dance

View attachment 35905

5. Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract

View attachment 35906

4. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

View attachment 35907

3. Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane

View attachment 35909

2. Sarcófago - I.N.R.I.

View attachment 35908

1. Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark

View attachment 35910

The first 3 or 4 Bathory records are all legendary, but I concur with your choice for number one, I love this fucking record.

 

[CiG]

Hit us with a post-90's top ten now @Slayed Necros.

 

[Mr. Halloween]

I know a thread like this has been posted in the past, but who would you list as your favorite black metal bands? Maybe not the greatest of all time, but the bands you listen to on a regular basis. Debating the best of all time could take forever, people's opinions change with time and age, as well as with the release of new music.
I'd like to know who your 10 favorite black metal bands are at the moment. Currently, mine are as follows,
WATAIN
BEHEMOTH
MARDUK
BATUSHKA
INQUISITION
AKHLYS
DARK FUNERAL
BATHORY
EMPEROR
BELPHEGOR.

I need to add a few more bands to my list, I love this music, and listen to it every day.
DARK FORTRESS
ENTHRONED
BLOODBATH
PRIMORDIAL
SEPTIC FLESH
ROTTING CHRIST
TSJUDER
TRIPTYKON
IMMORTAL
DIMMU BORGIR
DISSECTION
HELRUNAR
MELECHESH
NORDJEVEL
SUMMONING
That should be enough to start with, right?

 

[WorldObliteration33]

Don't overstep his only social clout SN.

 

[Slayed Necros]

View attachment 35937
Hit us with a post-90's top ten now @Slayed Necros.

1. Deathspell Omega - Inquisitors of Satan
2. Warloghe - Womb of Pestilence
3. Morrigan - Celts
4. Sorhin - Apokalypsens ängel
5. Dub Buk - Русь понад усе!
6. Bekhira - L'Élu du Mal
7. Hail - Inheritance of Evilness
8. Mortuary Drape - Tolling 13 Knell
9. Nehëmah - Light of a Dead Star
10. Nifelheim - Servants of Darkness

Maybe not in that order other than the first three but close enough. Post 2010 is where it gets rough...

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

1 - DISSECTION

Darkthrone
Deathspell Omega
Bathory

 

[PrincessHades]

The first 3 or 4 Bathory records are all legendary, but I concur with your choice for number one, I love this fucking record.

This. I bought Under the Sign of the Black Mark when I was 14 but didn't really get into it until that year because it was very extreme, and I was more of a traditional heavy metal kid at the time. I finally listened to it one night in the pitch dark and it was terrifying for me as a kid, but I loved it. It's such a unique album, and it's the one that set the stage for "modern" black metal.