Top 5 Black Metal Albums

I continue my quest to gain further appreciation for black metal. So, with that in mind, hit me with your top 5 albums in the genre. Even if I’m familiar with them I can take the time to go back to them. Also, if you could describe their sound briefly that would be great. (I.e. are they ambient, riffy, deathy, rapcorey, etc). 

Hit me!

1. Crimson Moonlight - Veil of Remembrance. You already know this one. Unrelenting, riffy black/death.
2. Sanctifica - Spirit of Purity. Also black/death with a lot of awesome riffs and some keyboards to add some atmosphere. Reminds me of CM's The Covenant Progress but just a bit better.
3. Antestor - The Return of the Black Death. A little more laid-back. Some songs are very slow. Lots of keyboards. Overall sad atmosphere. Plenty of catchy melodies that stick in my head.
4. Dormant - Consolamentum. Everything black metal should be: dark, mysterious, cold, and very organic (i.e. not overproduced). Awesome vocals and catchy riffs. Some acoustic guitar thrown in there for good measure. Dark atmosphere.
5. Skald in Veum - Stridslysten. Harsh, aggressive black metal that never lets up. Also has plenty of catchy riffs. Best album of the last five years for me, easily.

I think I would score all five of these albums a perfect 100/100 if I were to review them (ignoring the lyrics, which I sometimes have problems with).

Edit: I want to add some honorable mentions:

Antestor - The Forsaken (symphonic)
Antestor - Omen
Crimson Moonlight - The Covenant Progress
Evroklidon - The Flame of Sodom
Fathomage - Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness (atmospheric)
Horde - Hellig Usvart
Kekal - Embrace the Dead (progressive)
Lengsel - Solace (progressive)
Marble Tomb - Dawn of the Vertical Flame (melodic)
Parakletos - Offerlammets Makt (symphonic/melodic)
Slechtvalk - At the Dawn of War (viking I guess)
Slechtvalk - A Forlorn Throne (black/death)
Stronghold - Cult of Remorse (black/death, a bit slower)
Vials of Wrath - Days Without Names (atmospheric)

For secular black metal, I don't listen to much, but Xanthochroid is awesome. Very cinematic sounding.

Thanks, man. I know several of those, but several I’m not familiar with. Time to get cracking!

1. Epta Astera - Feste Burg. Not pure black metal, more like black metal mixed with Gregorian chant mixed with beautiful melodies played on unusual instruments (like the glockenspiel and didgeridoo). One of my favorite albums of all time.

2. Spätregen - Tagtraum. Very melodic and symphonic, probably my favorite “true” black metal album

3. Antestor - The Forsaken. An absolute classic in Christian black metal, and for good reason

4. Divine Symphony - Reject Darkness. Lots of long, epic songs (I know not everybody’s thing, but I really like it). Has operatic female vocals on some songs

5. Grave Declaration - When Dying Souls Scream Praise. Good music and great lyrics

All of these are on the more melodic side of the genre, which is the only form of BM I like

The only black metal band I listen to is 20 Lb. Sledge

These are not necessarily the "best" ones out there but they are the ones I like the most:

1.  Lengsel - Solace   (progressive, complex and creative; this one has a depth to it that is hard to describe)

2.  Arvinger - Rast E.P.   (Atmospheric, melodic black metal with Viking and folk elements, meaning there are some violins, female vocals, choirs, and keyboards interspersed through the music but never dominating it. Sharp riffs, time changes, dynamic and varied).

3.  They Wither - S/T E.P.    (The cover art turns some people off.  An unblack/death metal band from Pretoria, South Africa.  What sets them apart is a high level of musicianship and a a keen sense of dynamics. Each of the 5 songs are distinct and the last song "Awakening" is a masterpiece - the only song with clean vocals. The folk / pastoral feel of the song reminds me of Winterfylleth's (secular band) excellent "The Hallowing of Heirdom.")

The remaining 2 choices, I don't know...it could be a toss-up between any of these:

Antestor - The Forsaken or Omen
Grave Declaration - When Dying Souls Sing Praise
Anima Mortuum - The Return
Vials Of Wrath - Days Without Names
Sanctifica - Spirit Of Purity
Veracious - The Well Of Life E.P.
Necroblation - Stab Yourself
Sorrowstorm - Onward
Daygraves - Imperishable E.P.
Epta Astera - Feste Burg
Crimson Moonlight - Divine Darkness, The Covenant Progress, or Songs From The Archives

Crimson Moonlight and Evroklidon are my favorites by far.

 I need to be in the mood to enjoy the symphonic stuff but if I am I can vibe to Sanctifica, Slechtvalk, Pantokrator. 

Throw in some some Elgibbor in homeopathical doses from time to time.

Honestly (no pun intended) I prefer yellow and black metal

I like my BM to be death influenced like Sawol and Enshrouding and I do like A Hill To Die Upon.

I think Sawol is more death/doom than black but they are pretty good

Probably, has a little black mixed in.

Horde - Hellig Usvart
Antestor - The Forsaken
Crimson Moonlighth - Veil Of Remembrance
Cerimonial Sacred - Our War Is Only Against Hell
Devotam - Para Sempre Guerreiro da Luz

MagnusPrime wrote:

Is this some new indie band?

Pethead wrote:
Is this some new indie band?

It's a garage (days) band....

Black Rider wrote:I like my BM to be death influenced like Sawol and Enshrouding and I do like A Hill To Die Upon.

I wanted to add Enshrouding "Time To Kill The Beast" to my list but my desire to avoid the inevitable comments of "they're not really black metal" won out this time.  Blame my lack of sleep....

Dang this is tough...

Vials Of Wrath - Days Without Names
Vials Of Wrath - Dark Winter Memories
Epta Astera - Feste Burg
Lengsel - Solace
Skald in veum - Stridslysten

I realize my list is missing many of the classics like Antestor, Evroklidon, Crimson Moonlight, etc. but these are albums I find myself reaching for much more often.

Kerrick, did you ever check out Fathomage's Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness?

Antestor - The Forsaken
Crimson Moonlight - Divine Darkness
Horde - Hellig Usvart
A Hill To Die Upon - Omens
Slechtvalk - A Forlorn Throne

Arguably only Horde is pure black metal but I personally think thats when the genre is at its best, when other elements are mixed in, and as far as pure black metal goes Horde is about all you need

Pethead wrote:Kerrick, did you ever check out Fathomage's Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness?

If he hasn't, he needs to. I think he would love it.

I'm going to focus my list on Black Metal albums I love that aren't mentioned as much as some of the bigger names.

Kekal - Embrace the Dead - Atmospheric and slightly melodic and progressive - This album exudes youthfulness and romanticism and all the most charming elements of Black Metal in it's artistic purity.

Track recommendations: The Fearless and the Dedicated, The Final Call

Evroklidon - The Flame of Sodom - This Ukrainian BM album is just about CBM's only answer to great secular BM bands like Nokturnal Mortum, Temnozor, and Drudkh. The Flame of Sodom is raw but melodic. It's atmospheric, but also folky. Undoubtedly one of the best CBM albums.

Track recommendations: Legends of Old Men, Funeral of a Dead Soul

Hortor - Dharma Esencia de Impureza - Fredy's best songwriting by far - everything came together for Hortor on this one. The riffs on this album slice and dice, but it also has the added layers of symphonic elements and clean male and female vocals.

Track Recommendations: Viejos Portales de Abominacion, Dogma de Toth

Cerimonial Sacred - Christ Worshipers - Here is a true classic that gets overlooked (maybe because of the silly cover art?) Few albums reach the majestic heights of "The Seal of Perfection."

Track Recommendations: The Seal of Perfection, The Star Blower

Elgibbor - Stronger Than Hell - Elgibbor is a project that suffers from too much output. Instead of refining his best ideas, Fire just releases everything. When he's on point though, it's great stuff. Raw and emotive, albums like Stronger Than Hell and Resist him are among the best in CBM.

Track Recommendations: Fire, Blood, Honor, and Death, Suffering Soul

Dark Woods - The Return of Cold Ice - This Brazilian BM masterpiece is dripping in synth-driven atmosphere. It's unique and pulls me in. I don't know how "good" people would consider it objectively, but the atmosphere is second to none.

Track Recommendations: The Coldest Road,  Frozen Thunder Night

Golgota - Return to the Old Path - Black Metal with full-sounding production and great riffs!

Track Recommendations: Anti-Pagan Cult, Nomads

Blood Covenant - Sign of Time - This is carnival Black Metal. It's a very weird sonic experience with some truly bizarre clean vocals but it's not some sort of noise project. It's well-crafted symphonic Black Metal that is even catchy. Very unique and underrated.

Track Recommendations: Sign of Time, At the Gates

Anima Mortuum - Goat Destruction - A truly underrated project that incorporates some real Thrash influenced riffs into it's swirling Black Metal cocktail.

Track Recommendations: Soul Sacrifice, Cryptic Rotten Curse

Frosthardr - Frosthardr - This project has some heavyweight pedigrees, but gets discussed a lot less than Antestor or Crimson Moonlight. The Frosthardr full-length also has some great thrashy and punk influenced Black Metal riffing.

Track Recommendations: Devastation, Warmachines

Other recommendations:

Antestor - The Forsaken
Horde - Hellig Usvart
Skald in Veum - Stridslysten
Slechtvalk - Falconry
Slechtvalk - A Forlorn Throne
Vials of Wrath - Days Without Names


EPs:

Vaakevandring - Vaakevandring
Crimson Moonlight - Eternal Emperor
Admonish - Insnarjd

Great list, Son of Nun! I have Dark Woods' first album and it is decent, but I never really checked out anything that came after it. Now you have inspired me.

Don't know if someone posted already, but check out Salvation by Jernlov.

Some good ones mentioned so far, but the one that really grooved this here cat was Evroklidon’s The Flame of Sodom. So dang riffy. Even groovy.

Pethead wrote:Some good ones mentioned so far, but the one that really grooved this here cat was Evroklidon’s The Flame of Sodom. So dang riffy. Even groovy.

In high school when I had a lot of free time, I used to play around with my dad's old electric guitar and try to play riffs from songs that I liked. I had a lot of fun with Funeral of a Dead Soul.