Top 20 Essential Black Metal Albums

[MasterpieceMesias]

. . . why not?
In no particular order

In the Nightside Eclipse- Emperor
Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk- Emperor
The Secrets of the Black Arts- Dark Funeral
Under a Funeral Moon- Darkthrone
Transilvanian Hunger- Darkthrone
Storm of the Light's Bane- Dissection
Nemesis Divina- Satyricon
Defending the Throne of Evil- Carpathian Forest
Tales From Eternal Dusk- Dark Fortress
Under the Sign of Hell- Gorgoroth
Enter the Moonlight Gate- Lord Belial
Hell Eternal- Setherial
Plague Angel- Marduk
Ugra-Karma- Impaled Nazarene
Rapture- Impaled Nazarene
At the Heart ov Winter- Immortal
Casus Luciferi- Watain
Filosofem- Burzum
liðskjálf- Burzum
Vittra-Naglfar

 

[Avigrus]

Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun

 

[Master_Yoda77]

^

Burzum - "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" and "Immortal - Pure Holocaust" are both better than "Filosofem" and "At the Heart ov Winter."

 

[divine_torture]

Why does everyone insist on creating this lists over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over?

 

[Lateralus14]

Yea, half of those albums wouldn't even be in the top 100...

 

[Bitencourt29]

I love lists, so I'm getting a shot...

In no particular order:

1 - Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
2 - Sarcofago - I.N.R.I.
3 - Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
4 - Dissection - Storm of the Lights Bane
5 - Burzum - Hvis Lysset Tar Oss
6 - Taake - Natestid ser Porten Vid
7 - Bathory - Blood Fire Death
8 - Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
9 - Enslaved - Frost
10 - Deathspell Omega - Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice
11 - Immortal - Pure Holocaust
12 - Behexen - By the Blessing of Satan
13 - Grand Belial's Key - Mocking the Philanthropist
14 - Venom - Black Metal
15 - Gorgoroth - Antichrist
16 - Summoning - Dol Guldur
17 - Ulver - Nattens Madrigal
18 - Graveland - Thousand Swords
19 - Negura Bunget = OM
20 - Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers

 

[Spiderchrist]

I was considering making this after my Death Metal essentials.
Thrash next?

1. Sacramentum- Far Away From The Sun (Best Black Metal album of all time, hands down.)
2. Darkthrone- Transilvanian Hunger
3. Emperor- In The Nightside Eclipse
4. Mayhem- De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
5. Bathory- Under The Sign Of The Black Mark
6. Burzum- Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
7. Dissection- Storm Of The Light's Bane
8. Immortal- Pure Holocaust
9. Enslaved- Frost
10. Ulver- Madrigal of the Night
11. Satyricon- Dark Medieval Times
12. Gorgoroth- Antichrist
13. Leviathan- Tenth Sub Level of Suicide
14. Summoning- Dol Guldur
15. Destroyer 666- Unchain The Wolves
16. Borknagar- Borknagar
17. Burzum- Filosofem
18. Darkthrone- A Blaze In The Northern Sky
19. Bathory- Blood, Fire, Death
20. Taake- Nattestid Ser Porten Vid

 

[Spiderchrist]

Does first wave count?

If so:
1. Sacramentum- Far Away From The Sun
2. Darkthrone- Transilvanian Hunger
3. Emperor- In The Nightside Eclipse
4. Mayhem- De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
5. Bathory- Under The Sign Of The Black Mark
6. Burzum- Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
7. Dissection- Storm Of The Light's Bane
8. Immortal- Pure Holocaust
9. Enslaved- Frost
10. Sodom- In The Sign Of Evil (FUCKING AWESOME)
11. Sarcofago- I.N.R.I.
12. Gorgoroth- Antichrist
13. Leviathan- Tenth Sub Level of Suicide
14. Summoning- Dol Guldur
15. Destroyer 666- Unchain The Wolves
16. Borknagar- Borknagar
17. Venom- Black Metal
18. Darkthrone- A Blaze In The Northern Sky
19. Bathory- Blood, Fire, Death
20. Celtic Frost- To Mega Therion

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I'll try and give some explanations to my picks. A few albums will be on the list that I don't think are truly great, but they are influential enough that they need to be on here. After all, the question is "essential" not "best". These aren't listed in any particular order.

1. Bathory- Under the Sign of the Black Mark: Bathory's first albums coined the fundamental tropes of black metal- blood curdling screams, raw production and extremely dark melodies and themes. UTSOTBM is the darkest and most unsettling of Bathory's work and contains some of the most influential songs on the entire genre.

2. Master's Hammer- Ritual: Highly underrated- this album is highly influential on the Eastern European scene, but also strongly influenced Nordic bands like Enslaved. Eerie, spooky and mystical, but at the same time, it has an element of quirkiness to it. The albums aren't ranked in any particular order.

3. Mayhem- Live in Leipzig: It's tough to pick the most essential Mayhem album, because they are all flawed. DMDS has a terrible vocal performance and isn't harsh enough, but LiL is a little too sloppy. Ultiamtely, Dead's vile vocal performance and the harshness of the execution grasps the essence of Mayhem better than its studio counterpart. The drumming and guitar work are quintessential for the genre.

4. Burzum- Hvis Lyset Tar Oss: Captures the combination of pain, agony and retaliation that are at the heart of black metal. Simply the best black metal album.

5. Burzum- Filosofem: Creates an astounding blend of repetition and variation. A deeply hypnotic recording.

6. Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky: A riveting release that is drunk on catharsis. Captures the excitement and energy a genre at its birth more than any 2nd wave band.

7. Darkthrone- Transylvanian Hunger: Raw, cold and inhumane. There are intense feelings, but the musicians are completely detached from them. It is music devoid of the human form of life.

8. Immortal- Pure Holocaust: Pure indeed. Blistering fast tremolo, whirlwind blast beats and absolutely exquisite melodies. Probably the best guitar performance in black metal.

9. Enslaved- Víkínglígr Veldí: The essential viking black metal album. Massive, sweeping pieces of oceanic black metal that integrates elements of psychedelia.

10. Emperor- Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk: The essential symphonic black metal recording. Absolutely brilliant compositions and execution.

11. Ildjarn- Strength and Anger: Minimalist black metal perfected. A series of short, hypnotic songs that collectively entrap the listener in dizzying hall of hateful mirrors.

12. Mutiilation- Remains of a Ruined, Dead and Cursed Soul: Raw, nihilistic black metal at its best. One of the most vicious and bleak recordings ever.

13. Drudkh- Autumn Aurora: Melodic, atmospheric and beautiful. An astounding expression of awe at the power of nature.

14. Deathspell Omega- FAS - Ite, Maledicti, in ignem Aeternum: Black metal of the future; blends the dark atmosphere and Satanic themes of black metal with the whipping, whirling controlled chaos of technical death metal.

15. Arcturus- Aspera Hiems Symfonia: Fundamental to the development of symphonic and avant-garde black metal. Cold and majestic.

16. Velvet Cacoon- Genevieve: The feeling of becoming one with matter. Its cold, impersonal and emotionless. Yet its beautiful. The only true predecessor to Transylvanian Hunger. Also the frontrunner in the blackgaze movement.

17. Graveland- Following the Voice of Blood: European folk melodies played with blackened distortion, primitive percussion and stunning synths. Captures everything that makes Graveland great on a single album.

18. Agalloch- The Mantle: A stunning combination of folk, black and doom metal that expresses modern detachment from nature and the desever that gap. Also the frontrunner of the post-black metal movement.


19. Dissection- Storm of the Lights Bane: The essential melodic black metal album. Like a tyrannical king, it is simultaneously noble and vicious.

20. Blut Aus Nord- The Work Which Transforms God: A brilliant blend of moments of dark dissonance and addictive melodiousness. A benchmark of 21st century black metal.

 

[Krow]

I absolutely cant decide on 20 black metal albums to narrow down... but some stuff that will go unnoticed for whatever reason:

Blasphemy - Fallen Angel of Doom.... (for the same reason Devourment should make the death metal list, honestly)
Bathory - S/T (the first "first wave" album to actually sound like black metal and one of the most iconic metal album covers of all time)

 

[Spiderchrist]

Bathory - S/T (the first "first wave" album to actually sound like black metal and one of the most iconic metal album covers of all time)

Bathory is responsible for the Black Metal sound we know today. It's interesting listening to them progress into the "true Black Metal" (I hate using that term) sound.

 

[theoden236]

tough one but..
(in no order & subject to change)
1. Limbonic Art: Ad Noctum-Dynasty of Death
2. Emperor: In the Nightside Eclipse
3. Immortal: Battles in the North
4. Satyricon: Nemesis Divina
5. Burzim: Hvis Lysett Tar Oss
6. Ulver: Bergtatt
7. Summoning: Dol Galdur
8. Dissection: Storm of the Lights Bane
9. Negura Bunget: Om
10. 1349: Hellfire
11. Darkthrone: Under a Funeral Moon
12. Mayhem: De Mysteriis Dom Satanas
13. Altar of Plagues: White Tomb
14. Sear Bliss: Phantoms
15. Wolves in the Throne Room: Two Hunters
16. Keep of Kalessin: Armada
17. Shining: The Erie Cold
18. Enslaved: Below the Lights
19. Gorgoroth: Under the Sign of Hell
20. Nazxul: Iconoclast

 

[Avigrus]

Why does everyone insist on creating this lists over and over and over

Because lists are awesome.

Any man knows this.

 

[divine_torture]

I have 3 balls. That makes me slightly more man than most of you. I say lists were cool when we were all in junior high, but cool they no longer are.

 

[Avigrus]

I have 3 balls. That makes me slightly more man than most of you. I say lists were cool when we were all in junior high, but cool they no longer are.

3 testicles > 2 testicles

Detachable grenade!

 

[MasterpieceMesias]

^

Burzum - "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" and "Immortal - Pure Holocaust" are both better than "Filosofem" and "At the Heart ov Winter."

yeah I can see what you mean. . . the only reason I put Filosofem above the one you mentioned was because of the song 'Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament'

 

[divine_torture]

3 testicles > 2 testicles

Detachable grenade!

Yes!

 

[Onder]

I won't do a full list but first three are these. IN ORDER. Anyone who doesn't include them was molested in childhood.

1) Mayhem DMDS (best black metal album ever period)
2) Burzum Filosofem (the best Burzum album)
3) MH Rituál

+ I was never molested. But I wasn't very attractive as a kid. Girls were always saying I "wasn't ugly" but only one in our class voted for me in the boy miss contest in our class. In return I always imagined her face covered with a load of cum.

 

[AllShallFall]

Tormentor of Christian Souls is a fucking awesome classic song

 

[crimsonfloyd]

1) Mayhem DMDS (best black metal album ever period)

Not at all. The vocals are terrible. It's like Attila listened to Ritual and thought all he needed to do replicate Storm's style was make a bunch of goofy, clown-like gurgles. Also, the production focuses too much on creating a "spooky" atmosphere and consequently sacrifices the vicious element of the compositions, which in my opinion is the most powerful element of Mayhem's sound. The guitar work and drumming is excellent though, I'll give you that.