TOP 10 WORST BLACK METAL RECORDS OF ALL TIME

Wow, what shit-slinging. What happened to respecting people's opinions? We're talking about fucking musical tastes, after all, not the laws of physics.

I don't listen to black metal that often, and it's far from my favorite genre, but I do get something out of it when I listen to it. There's a coldness and cruelty to it which is pretty exciting - like the aural equivalent of being in the middle of a raging ice storm or something. A lot of art out there exists not just to "look pretty", but to challenge one's typical state of being, and to get you to think/feel on a different level. I think black metal does a great job at this. It's some of the most 'visual' music I've ever heard, probably.

Of course you can argue that the musicianship's not that great. But a song doesn't have to be a Wagnerian opera to give you the feeling that it was meant to give. Black metal is supposed to be dirty - that's the point.

excellent post, dude. +1!
 
saw this today and couldn't resist :)

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"That sort", being an important phrase. Although I would say that they are just as important as Burzum. But Darkthrone pioneered and perfected minimalistic black metal, and that, you CAN'T deny.

i tend to agree. you cant listen to a blaze in the northern sky and not tip your hat if youre at all interested in conventional black metal.

again the problem here is the vast majority here seem to be more worried about the avant garde and "progressive" tinged "black metal" bands than the roots of the genre. which is fine, but some perspective is needed id say. there wouldnt be any enslaved without darkthrone in most respects.
 
never said i enjoyed immortal actually. i like a few negura songs, but they aren't "traditional" BM, and enslaved is only 50% black metal. PWNED.
 
never said i enjoyed immortal actually. i like a few negura songs, but they aren't "traditional" BM, and enslaved is only 50% black metal. PWNED.

Oh shut up will you.

i tend to agree. you cant listen to a blaze in the northern sky and not tip your hat if youre at all interested in conventional black metal.

again the problem here is the vast majority here seem to be more worried about the avant garde and "progressive" tinged "black metal" bands than the roots of the genre. which is fine, but some perspective is needed id say. there wouldnt be any enslaved without darkthrone in most respects.

Well, somewhat embarrassingly, I have to make an admission on something.

When I last checked out Darkthrone, it was long before I really got into the more raw side of Black Metal. Since then, ironically enough, the raw side has become my style of choice for the most part, and I've steadily moved away from melodic and symphonic aspects.

A couple of days ago I decided that perhaps it was about time I checked out Darkthrone again as (not to blow my own horn) I know I have a decent amount of knowledge with Black Metal, but disliking, say, Demon Burger is one thing, but I agree in that disliking an important second wave band is something else. Crimson Velvet's post gave me reason to pause: I think he had a point. So, I grabbed the first 5 albums and decided to "investigate" more myself.

I have to say that in comparison to the last time I checked out Darkthrone (which was a LONG time back), my perspective has drastically changed. Suffice to say, I don't think I'll be saying that they suck anymore: "A Blaze In The Northern Sky" and "Under A Funeral Moon" are fucking masterpieces. I've gone from hating Darkthrone based on an old bad memory of them, to loving them.

However, I must address something, and that is that to appreciate "that" style of BM Darkthrone appreciation is required: here, I don't agree. This is not to say that Darkthrone isn't important, because it *is* very important indeed. They brilliantly executed a lo-fi, garage-ish style, and provided second wave Black Metal with a foundation for its anti-metal characteristics.

The fact is though, that there are second wave bands who did their debut albums around the same time as "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" and I'm not so dead sure that Darkthrone could have provided those bands their influence for the Black Metal sound: Darkthrone themselves had only just changed from Death Metal to Black Metal. Several bands at this same time, including Darkthrone, were releasing their first Black Metal material, everyone had similar ideas in this phase back in 1991/92: the ideology (anti-death metal, anti-popular, elitist) came first, and the music fitted into that ideology. It was the second half of 1992 onwards that more individuality begins to show because the ideology by then is more clearly known.

In summary, I appreciate Darkthrone now because I have a much higher love for raw BM overall. But the side of Black Metal that Darkthrone has isn't what has made me understand that kind of Black Metal: early second wave Black Metal as a whole has, combined with Venom, Bathory, and even in some cases, Motorhead.

Darkthrone is definitely brilliant. But I'm not sure it's role alone is essential as opposed to inclusion with early second wave material as a whole.
 
i was converted from the day you showed them to me, however only once i finally acquired their albums could i play them on repeat anywhere i go instead of just streaming parts of their albums over and over again
 
I disagree. Amazing as Bathory was (in fact, best band ever), they did have a lot of "excess" stuff in their soundscape. Thrashy riffs, and even choruses! Darkthrone most certainly can be credited with what Mr. Squid just said.
 
Black metal is a young genre and still has much life left to explore

think about this. is it really true? BM is what, about 15 years old? for a rock subgenre, that's gettin' old. think about where prog rock was going 15 years after its arrival, or thrash metal, or any other subcategory you can think of. the best stuff is always right at the beginning
 
I disagree. Amazing as Bathory was (in fact, best band ever), they did have a lot of "excess" stuff in their soundscape. Thrashy riffs, and even choruses! Darkthrone most certainly can be credited with what Mr. Squid just said.

:lol: Choruses! What was Bathory thinking...

think about this. is it really true? BM is what, about 15 years old? for a rock subgenre, that's gettin' old. think about where prog rock was going 15 years after its arrival, or thrash metal, or any other subcategory you can think of. the best stuff is always right at the beginning

Good point. BM's even older than that - Bathory's debut album was in 1984. And seriously, how much are you really going to diversify a genre that defines itself through minimalism? Think of all the bands which start out as black metal, but begin to lose that classification and alienate purists as they expand their sound.