Top 10 favorite Black metal albums

I like about a handful of Black metal albums. And those albums, for the most part, come from mostly the big names in the Genre. There's a reason they float to the top. However, I wouldn't mind checking out some more black metal, but most of what I come across is either imitations of the real thing or just plain, well, bad (matter of opinion I suppose).

So Black metal enthusiasts- What be your top five Black metal albums... be it christian or not- does not matter to me.

I'll drop mine a bit later.

When it comes to black metal, I listen pretty much exclusively to Christian black metal. These are my top five in alphabetical (not sorted by favorite) order. Not all of these are pure black metal and may contain influences from other genres.

Crimson Moonlight - The Covenant Progress
Crimson Moonlight - Veil of Remembrance
Dormant - Consolamentum
Lengsel - Solace
Sanctifica - Spirit of Purity
Skald in Veum - Stridslysten

I'm not sure how much these will sound like copycats of the big secular bands, but those are all, imo, peak Christian black metal. Lengsel might be the most original sounding of those.

I could easily make a list of 10 but that would take more thinking, so here's 5 for now lol.

Guess Horde is one of the biggest copycat Bands?... around. But That album is in my top five and love it. So guess that doesn't matter too much. I just like bands that are perhaps influenced by something (no prob) but bring something of their own to the table- I guess that is what I was trying to say. Actually come to think of it, Horde is the only Christian Black metal album I really know well and like. So need to check out some more.

Top 10 is fine too. Thanks for your list. Will check them out.

I added a sixth that totally slipped my mind earlier.

Not a huge fan but I do enjoy A Hill to Die Upon and Primordial.

In no particular order:

Weakling - Dead As Dreams
Vials Of Wrath - Dark Winter Memories
Vials Of Wrath - Days Without Names
Vials Of Wrath - Seeking Refuge
Bann - Aeschatologia
Epta Astera - Feste Burg
Lengsel - Solace
Skald in veum - Stridslyten
Antestor - The Forsaken
Evroklidon - The Flame Of Sodom


Is Alcest black metal enough?  If so, then add Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde and Les Voyages De L'Âme to the list.

The closest I’ll get to black metal is A Hill to Die Upon.

I have listened to very little black metal, but I enjoy:

Antestor: The Forsaken
Horde: Hellig Usvart
A Hill to Die upon: Infinite Titanic Immortal
Sorrowstorm: Triune Imminence 
Crimson Moonlight: Veil of Remembrance
Ceremonial Sacred: Christ Worshipers 
Divine Symphony: Reject Darkness 

And I know it’s not troo or kvlt, but I also enjoy Frost Like Ashes: Tophet

For anyone unfamiliar, I do highly recommend checking out Weakling.  They're NOT a Christian band by any means, but are at least not satanic/anti-Christian in their lyrics (which are quite indecipherable and not even the vocalist remembers them anyways haha).  One of their track titles has a four-letter word though FYI.



Check out this interview (language warning).
https://hubsterblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/interview-with-john-gossard-weakling.html

Maelstrom: What kind of stuff is stupid about black metal?

John Gossard: People who are obsessed with the image of black metal: corpsepaint, spikes, being anti-Christian. I know plenty of people who are anti-Christian, but don’t know what Christianity is all about...

I'm not really into Black/Unblack Metal too much anymore but I'm pretty familiar with it from having been quite into the genre previously.

For the more straight up stuff I listen mostly to Unblack. The only non-Christian act I'm into is Immortal and they have some great stuff like At the Heart of Winter, Sons of Northern Darkness, and I also like the more recent Northern Chaos Gods.

Here are what I consider to be 20 essential Unblack releases (keeping it to one release per band):

Kekal - Embrace the Dead (highly underrated melodic Unblack)
Hortor - Dharma Esencia de Impureza
Horde - Hellig Usvart
Antestor - The Forsaken
Vaakevandring - Vaakevandring
Crimson Moonlight - Eternal Emperor
Slechtvalk - Falconry
Admonish - Isnarjd
Sanctifica - In the Bleak Midwinter
Vardoger - Whitefrozen
Cerimonial Sacred - Christ Worshippers
Anima Mortuum - Goat Destruction
Skald in Veum - Stridslysten
Frosthardr - Frosthardr
Elgibbor - Resist him
Blood Covenant - Sign of Time
Evroklidon - The Flame of Sodom
Usynlig Tumult - Voices of the Winds
Vials of Wrath - Days Without Names
Grave Declaration - The Nightshift Worshipper

Other bands worth checking out include: Frost Like Ashes, Drottnar, Dormant, Exortta, Dominus Dominantium, Bealiah

On the secular side, I prefer stuff from the Folk/Pagan/Viking, etc. sub-sections of Black Metal.

Agalloch - Pale Folklore, The Mantle
Empyrium - everything
Drudkh - Autumn Aurora
Hate Forest - Battlefields
Bergthron - Faust fur Faust
Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
Falkenbach - Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty
Negura Bunget - 'N Crugu Bradului
Nokturnal Mortum - Verity
Temnzor - Horizons
Ulver - Bergtatt, Kveldssanger
Otyg's two albums
Vintersorg and Borknagar catalogues

There's also some cool Christian stuff that branches further into these categories like Illuminandi and Slechtvalk - A Forlorn Throne.

Hate Forest - Battlefields (I already know what this is going to sound like)


Well that's more than I was expecting, being that Black Metal is probably the least popular genre in metal (I think...) Thanks peeps.

Just a needs a bit of color I reckon.

The actual album cover with band's name.

They had to update their band name for the times...

Kerrick wrote:For anyone unfamiliar, I do highly recommend checking out Weakling.  They're NOT a Christian band by any means, but are at least not satanic/anti-Christian in their lyrics (which are quite indecipherable and not even the vocalist remembers them anyways haha).  One of their track titles has a four-letter word though FYI.



Check out this interview (language warning).
https://hubsterblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/interview-with-john-gossard-weakling.html

Maelstrom: What kind of stuff is stupid about black metal?

John Gossard: People who are obsessed with the image of black metal: corpsepaint, spikes, being anti-Christian. I know plenty of people who are anti-Christian, but don’t know what Christianity is all about...

Man, these guys aren’t really about concision, are they? The shortest song is over 10 minutes!

MagnusPrime wrote:
They had to update their band name for the times...

Darn you! That font and placement is so much more pretty than mine! Now I know how Christian bale feels.

Pethead wrote:

Kerrick wrote:

[Weakling stuff]

Man, these guys aren’t really about concision, are they? The shortest song is over 10 minutes!

LOL no.  But their 20-minute epic title track is pure black metal perfection IMO.  I recall falling asleep to it many years ago and having an especially epic, gnarly, vivid, and apocalyptic dream - which was quite fitting to the music!

I always thought of Burzum - Filosofem as the blueprint of black metal. Obviously I don‘t listen to it anymore but I use it as a benchmark. 

There‘s very good Christian black metal. I haven‘t heard much yet hut I particularly dig Crimson Moonlight and Evroklidon.

Raegoul wrote:I always thought of Burzum - Filosofem as the blueprint of black metal. Obviously I don‘t listen to it anymore but I use it as a benchmark. 

There‘s very good Christian black metal. I haven‘t heard much yet hut I particularly dig Crimson Moonlight and Evroklidon.

I'd say, at least I am 90% sure, Burzum is the blue print for DSBM (depressive Suicidal Black metal) sound. It's that wash of distortion sound with someone pretty much in agony and crying over it like an orc in lament in some cave somewhere. not a black metal style I'm into so much. Not a fan Burzum, which I find to be waaayyyy overrated (just IMO) but I guess he did start of a whole branch of blac metal so credit where credit is due and all that.

Tend to enjoy the Cold Vampire stuff- Freezing Moon from Mayhem is a good example. Do like cradle and Emperor and A little Dark funereal and Caladan brood is pretty cool for fantasy role playing type Black metal, and the lyrics are based on Steven Erikson's Malazan series (a pretty complex fantasy series).

Yeah I gotta check out some of the lists above. Crimson Moonlight are one of the big boys in the Christian metal realm from what I gather. Still haven't given Vails of Wrath a good listen. And there's all those recommendations above. Sorry, rambling. Cheers.