Nostalgia: second wave black metal (list-making included)

[V.V.V.V.V.]

It's a very good album, yes, and it doesn't sound that much like Kriss Hades (though he's worth checking too).

 

[Mort Divine]

Well I was just referring to the psychedelic BM stuff, not saying that they sound very much alike.

 

[HaggardBastard]

Psychedelia? How so?

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Delayed/echoed lead guitar lines, weird mixing in some parts, far-off sounding vocals...

 

[Zephyrus]

And wahed-out guitar solos.

 

[cookiecutter]

Nachtmystium is my favorite BM band, but as Mort said, they aren't great for their black metal part. They have really good lead guitar work with really cool sounding effects. They combine genres well and write interesting songs. There is a definite progression in their discography. Their first few releases were boring and typical, Demise was very BM but with some cool melodic parts, Eulogy IV is very good and you can start hearing the ideas for Instinct: Decay, which as others have said is fantastic. There upcoming releases appear to be heading even further from black metal.

 

[Alter]

If we're gonna talk fucked BM, let's not forget Tjoltgtjar!

I swear to god I found the record store for your tastes. You might be able get some of your noise in their stock.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Cool...gimme their e-mail and I'll try to push some new Ichorous shit on them...I have a new tape and 3" out now that aren't selling like the last two releases...

 

[Alter]

Cool...gimme their e-mail and I'll try to push some new Ichorous shit on them...I have a new tape and 3" out now that aren't selling like the last two releases...

Posted in the brutal death metal thread.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Gotcha. I've heard of AQ, the owner is the guy who runs tUMULt (Leviathan's old label). I probably won't send anything to them, but Andee does have pretty good taste in BM...

 

[Alter]

Gotcha. I've heard of AQ, the owner is the guy who runs tUMULt (Leviathan's old label). I probably won't send anything to them, but Andee does have pretty good taste in BM...

Their stock is immense. I found a ton of amazing records there.

 

[Cythraul]

Sacramentum are great, though I actually don't have Far Away from the Sun. AND, I've been meaning to check out Dawn for years now, so they've been moved to the top of my to-get list. I'd heard they sound like Dissection, but more mantric in strucutre. Does that sound accurate?

What do you mean by "mantric in structure"?

AND, question: are Nachtmystium worth the hype? I've heard the incredibly innovative? What do you guys think?

No. They're crap.

 

[J.]

Poccolus' self-titled album

 

[Hatebreeder]

Instinct: Decay is one of the best black metal albums of the past few years that I've heard.

In this context, I agree, because a lot of the black metal released in this era has been rather uninspired, but I find this album to be much less pretentious than a lot of modern black metal.

 

[~Derek~]

I'm into primarily the Norwegian 2nd wave the most and also some of the Swedish stuff, though I really need to hear more out of that outside of Marduk and Dark Funeral. I even like the raw non-melodic black metal out of the 2nd Norwegian Wave like Darkthrone and Mayhem, compared to me not liking bands like Beherit, Profanatica, and Inquisition. I do like a little of every regional black metal scene though, though I'm not into the French scene much at all. Emperor's In The Nightside Eclipse is my favorite black metal album I've ever heard, and I also like some bands I dont have CD's of from the 2nd wave like Kvist, Ulver, Troll, Obtained Enslavement, Arcturus, Borknagar, and Enslaved. Satyricon is most likely my favorite 2nd Wave band despite not having my favorite 2nd wave record(though I like Dark Medieval Times better than Anthems and probably Nemesis Divina too). I cant wait to get The Shadowthrone from them, something tells me this will be my favorite Satyricon CD. I dont have many CD's but here's my favorites of the 2nd wave from each band
Emperor-In The Nightside Eclipse
Satyricon-Dark Medieval Times
Dimmu Borgir-Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Burzum-ST
Worthy of mention
Emperor-Reverence EP
Satyricon-Nemesis Divina
Emperor-Anthems To The Welkins At Dusk

 

[Vilden]

I thought Tiamat were death metal.

No they are black, a common misconception.

Some good stuff I don't think have been mentioned:

Forgotten Woods - The Curse of Mankind
Arckanum - Fran Marder
Strid - Strid
The Black - The Priest of Satan

 

[black blood]

Good thread. I'd like to add a few albums to the ongoing list...

Bestial Summoning - The Dark War Has Begun
Behemoth - ...From The Pagan Vastelands
Black Goat - Black Goat
Fimbulwinter - Servants of Sorcery
Havohej - Dethrone the Son of God
Mystifier - Goetia
Xibalba - Ah Dzam Poop Ek

 

[MasterOLightning]

I think the best of the 2nd wave is covered here for sure. These releases are definitely in no danger of being forgotten. They are well documented on other sites and forums, and even stuff, like Kvist, that never made a big splash, is certainly more recognized now than a few years ago. Labels continue to try to rerelease the old OOPs, and sometimes forgotten tracks resurface. Metal fans worldwide have certainly taken care to preserve the legacy of that pre-digital music age. A few things inevitably slip through the cracks, but the situation is generally good.

What I am concerned about is that the best of black metal from 97-07 is never put on equal footing, and the poor signal-to-noise ratio has made it difficult to find standouts. I can't accept that the mental facilities required to create good black metal have disappeared from the human consciousness. There must be more great albums out there. Fairly often, people show up and say that they do not get Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, and they are told to keep listening to it. Then after 5 or 10 listens they get it. I wonder how many great albums were lost in the last 10 years because no one told people to keep listening to them. It's hard to believe that at a time when it has never been easier for a band that's good to record music and expose it to millions of people, that so few make it into the evoked set. For every Forgotten Legends or Genevieve, are there really 2000 total duds?

Maybe my perspective is badly skewed by message boards. If 10 people know and like a band and are somewhat vocal about it, then that's a popular band. Even if 5 or so speak up about something, it appears there's an actual following. And if 0 of the 50 or so regulars know a band, then it doesn't exist. Such small samples can be dangerous. Good luck finding bigger samples in the real world though.

 

[Hypnos]

in additon to the already huge number of all those fine releases mentioned here, i'd name the following ones:

Necromantia - Scarlet Evil Witching Black
Mörk Gryning - Tusen år har gått...
Ophthalamia - Via Dolorosa
Funeral Oration - Sursum Luna

 

[Zephyrus]

No they are black, a common misconception.

Blame M-A for that.