Your top 10 Black Metal albums

[Death Aflame]

I like lifelover, alcest, lantlos, the new drudkh, basically I am a fan of the the whole post-black metal/metalgaze stuff, but none would make my best of black metal list.

I haven't listened to much of the genre recently, so a top 5 will have to suffice for now.

Burzum - Hvis Lysett Tar Oss
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun
Deathspell Omega - Fas...
Aeternus - Beyond the Wandering Moon
Sorcier Des Glaces - Moonrise in Total Darkness

 

[IntoPhagist]

Whenever I list Black metal albums I always forget about Borknagar!

 

[AnamCara]

AnamCara - That's an interesting list for sure.

Well it's where I am musically right now. Had I been asked this 5, 10 or 20 years ago, my list would be different. Now, if there was a question about most influential or essential black metal, again my list would be much different and would probably reflect many of the lists on this thread. At 42 years old, I have watched the black metal scene begin, and then take many different turns over the years. It certainly has been a wonderful ride and one I hope never stops.

 

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

Damn dude, you're old. And have good taste. My respect for you is growing.

 

[AnamCara]

Damn dude, you're old. And have good taste. My respect for you is growing.

Not a dude since I am very female. My husband is laughing that I was called a dude. As for my age, the man who owns my ass thinks I look damn hot for 42. Though I will always feel like I am in my teens when I pull out the old metal vinyls from the early eighties and remembering all the great shows I was lucky enough to see.

 

[Slayed Necros]

Good to see another big Morrigan fan. Celts probably should've made my list, actually. Looking forward to their new album supposedly out next month!

 

[AnamCara]

Good to see another big Morrigan fan. Celts probably should've made my list, actually. Looking forward to their new album supposedly out next month!

Me too. I can't wait. Morrigan is one of my all time favorite bands ever. I loved Mayhemic Truth too but not as much as when they became Morrigan. Celts is my favorite album of theirs, though I do love it all even the splits on vinyl I have.

 

[Vilden]

I think Mayhemic Truth and early Morrigan is great, they kinda lost it after Headcult though imo. Celts is my favorite too.

 

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

Not a dude since I am very female. My husband is laughing that I was called a dude. As for my age, the man who owns my ass thinks I look damn hot for 42. Though I will always feel like I am in my teens when I pull out the old metal vinyls from the early eighties and remembering all the great shows I was lucky enough to see.

Meh, it's an easy mistake; most people into metal are guys

 

[HamburgerBoy]

No. Exodus is not and never was black metal. I don't know if you're seriously this dense or maybe you just discovered metal like 2 years ago or something.

How is Bonded By Blood less of a black metal album than Don't Break the Oath?

 

[Vilden]

Top 10 btw, no order:

Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Summoning - Nightshade Forests
Graveland - Carpathian Wolves
Vlad Tepes/Belketre - March to the Black Holocaust
Beherit - Drawing Down the Moon
Bathory - Blood Fire Death
Burzum - Filosofem
Mütiilation - Vampires of Black Imperial Blood
Ulver - Bergtatt
Nokturnal Mortum - Goat Horns

...maybe

 

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

How is Bonded By Blood less of a black metal album than Don't Break the Oath?

:zombie: You're a goddamned troll, but I'll bite anyway.

Mercyful fucking Fate's DBTO is black metal because of its unified "black metal" aesthetic, which BBB does not fucking have at all. Since aesthetic is a big part of what makes black metal "black metal" (as opposed to thrash, like Exodus on that album), BBB is clearly not fucking black metal at all.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

:zombie: You're a goddamned troll, but I'll bite anyway.

Mercyful fucking Fate's DBTO is black metal because of its unified "black metal" aesthetic, which BBB does not fucking have at all. Since aesthetic is a big part of what makes black metal "black metal" (as opposed to thrash, like Exodus on that album), BBB is clearly not fucking black metal at all.

What is a unified black metal aesthetic? Don't Break the Oath has the most Satanic/anti-Christian song qualitatively (The Oath, of course) but Bonded By Blood's lyrics aren't that less blasphemous, especially on Deliver Us to Evil, and quantitatively they're approximately equals even still. Is it the metal-themed songs that spoil it for Exodus' debut? If so, I must question Venom's claim to black metal aesthetic.

 

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

Do you know anything about aesthetics at all? If you do, you shouldn't be asking the question, unless you're playing dumb in an attempt to prove your ridiculously bad point.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Do you know anything about aesthetics at all? If you do, you shouldn't be asking the question, unless you're playing dumb in an attempt to prove your ridiculously bad point.

Consulting Merriam-Webster, maybe I do not.

1
plural but sing or plural in constr : a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty
2
: a particular theory or conception of beauty or art : a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses and especially sight <modernist aesthetics> <staging new ballets which reflected the aesthetic of the new nation — Mary Clarke & Clement Crisp>
3
plural : a pleasing appearance or effect : beauty <appreciated the aesthetics of the gemstones>

I have no idea how I would use that definition to find distinction genre-wise between two given albums, though. I hoped that there was some special musical usage of the word, but Wikipedia states basically the same in a "Aesthetics of music" article. Please, define it in a way comprehensible to my black metal ignorant mind.

 

[AnamCara]

How is Bonded By Blood less of a black metal album than Don't Break the Oath?

I am really curious why you probably are the only person that considers Exodus's BBB black metal. When the rest of the world, including Exodus themselves, considers it thrash. Can you just clarify where you feel it's black metal besides the lyrics? If we based black metal on lyrics, then a majority of every genre of metal would be classified as black metal. If you can not grasp that it is thrash, then there really isn't any point in explaining why Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath is so vastly different than Bonded By Blood.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I am really curious why you probably are the only person that considers Exodus's BBB black metal. When the rest of the world, including Exodus themselves, considers it thrash. Can you just clarify where you feel it's black metal besides the lyrics? If we based black metal on lyrics, then a majority of every genre of metal would be classified as black metal. If you can not grasp that it is thrash, then there really isn't any point in explaining why Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath is so vastly different than Bonded By Blood.

Maybe I shouldn't have picked Don't Break the Oath as I don't know what the band members actually consider it. I do know, however, that members of Venom don't stress importance on whatever sub-genre they are considered, and there certainly isn't much black metal musically in their song writing or vocal style. It is also worth mention that it doesn't matter what an anything call itself, as self-definitions are inherently meaningless due to their arbitrary nature. Exodus once called themselves "hardcore metal" and death metal, but no one would call them a part of the first wave of those, of course in part thanks to no one inventing such a term. Slayer was certainly called black metal once upon a time, but do people even lump them in with Destruction and Sodom anymore? Not especially. You are arguing exactly my point with sentences three and beyond.

 

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

Please, define it in a way comprehensible to my black metal ignorant mind.

When talking about a "unified aesthetic" of any particular piece of art, I'm speaking of a total 'package' of content that points to a definitive set of objective categorizations of said piece of art. Stuff like "Mercyful Fate is obviously fucking black metal, aesthetically, because fucking look at it. Exodus isn't, so get over it."

 

[HamburgerBoy]

When talking about a "unified aesthetic" of any particular piece of art, I'm speaking of a total 'package' of content that points to a definitive set of objective categorizations of said piece of art. Stuff like "Mercyful Fate is obviously fucking black metal, aesthetically, because fucking look at it. Exodus isn't, so get over it."

Ok, so let's make a list to see which album has more black metal-pointing content.

Bonded By Blood's Claim to Black Metal-ness

1. Satanic/anti-Christian lyrics
2. Look at the scary cover art

Don't Break the Oath's Claim to Black Metal-ness

1. Satanic/anti-Christian lyrics
2. Look at the scary cover art
3. Their singer wears make up

Aw shit, you win.

 

[VelociBrad]

The lyrical themes of Mercyful Fate were very important to the black metal aesthetic. Crucifying nuns, Satanic oaths, Satanic gatherings, Rituals, lots of anti-christian themes, etc.



Then you have the fact that they were the first band to actively use corpse paint in metal, another important part of what was to become "the first wave of black metal".

Does Exodus do any of this, at all, even remotely close to Mercyful Fate? No. Exodus has absolutely zero to do with the 1st wave of black metal and the influence on the 2nd wave of black metal that bands like MF, Venom, Bathory, etc. had.