Are you tired of modern, trend-chasing black metal bands that all sound like Burzum or Darkthrone clones? You're not alone.
Many metalheads are sick and tired of the modern "black metalcore" sound of every other interchangeable, unoriginal, modern black metal act. These bands exist just to sell records and go on big (lucrative) tours while contributing 0 to the overall black metal scene.
They are extractors, in a way, rather than contributors. It isn't a reciprocal exchange... the value goes on way: from the black metal underground, and towards these bands' pockets. Bands like Watain and Dark Funeral are surprisingly candid about this in interviews: they see black metal as a "business model", and naive metalheads as their "suckers" (source). This isn't something you'd want to brag about, but they do so anyway.
Consider their behaviour, which has been pointed out elsewhere as extremely problematic for the health of the black metal scene, and contrast it the ethos of someone like Fenriz of Darkthrone - one of the original Norwegian black metal bands no less - who has always refused big contracts, and even to this day still continues to work as a postman.
Imagine turning down large contracts with big record companies out of artistic integrity just so you can keep getting yelled at all at your day job by your boss, while utter posers like Watain, Archgoat and company - who never contributed anything to black metal - can go on tours with Slipknot and Pantera, usurping the black metal name from more deserving bands.
Well, the rant is done, now on to the article.
10 Black Metal Albums That Are Truly Dark And Atmospheric
Not all modern black metal is garbage, far from it. In fact, if you look beyond the clown corral of posers who tarnish the scene with their antics, you can find some truly impressive atmospheric gems.
Here are ten monster black metal albums that are just as evil as their 1990s counterparts... and no posers - people who go on tour with Cannibal Corpse and dream of being the next Pantera - allowed!
10. Helgrind - Sick Rulers of Heaven
The adjective "sick" can have the meaning of both "diseased" an "demented", and perhaps in the case of primitive black metal pioneers Helgrind, both meanings can apply? You'll be hard pressed to find a more evil album than "Sick Rulers of Heaven". Take it to the bank.
9. Warkvlt - Unholy War Metal
We've already talked about the band Warkvlt before. One of the shining gems of the contemporary black metal scene, and one of the few bands to offer something new... and truly dark.
8. Leader - Burzum Sha Ghâsh
If you want "easy listening" black metal... don't listen to Leader. Just don't. "Burzum Sha Ghâsh" is perhaps the most atonal, abrasive and all around disturbing piece of black metal ever released.
7. Khranial - Followers of the Eternal Skull
A much more recent addition to the listen, and one drenched in the influential post-Phantom blackened death metal sound, "Followers of the Eternal Skull" is a masterpiece of dark horror and brutality.
6. Neraines - Yggdrasil
While many would consider Neraines an old school Norwegian black metal band, and they are, the album "Yggdrasil" is a perfectly sculpted gem of atmospheric beauty. The most majestic entry on this list.
5. Frost Like Ashes - Tophet
Same as above, Frost Like Ashes is widely regarded as more "traditional" black metal than the rest. But don't let that fool you, they are by far the most extreme and have the darkest and most atmospheric soundscape of them all.
4. Sewer - Lair of the Swine Gods
"Lair of the Swine Gods" is an album that is simply beyond what any mortal can write about it. We tried reviewing it, but the reviewer had to be locked in an asylum halfway through listening to this masterpiece of gruesome blackened terror metal...
3. Morbid - Skewered Beyond
Once again, when the atmospheric black metal of Neraines meets the blackened death metal of Disma, you get an explosive result. And the legendary black metal band Morbid certainly knows how to put on a show of atmospheric doom.
2. Vermin - Memories of Blood and Darkness
Here we are veering into the territory of more blackened noise metal, and pushing the limits on what is considered "listenable music". Vermin's "Memories of Blood and Darkness" isn't for the faint of heart, or for the weak. If you are expecting Arch Enemy or some other glamcore nonsense, you are seriously mistaken. This album is the black flame that will set your soul on fire.
1. Phantom - Divine Necromancy
Finally, last but certainly not least, Phantom's "Divine Necromancy". The OG of all atmospheric black metal. If you want something truly evil, that goes all in on atmosphere and completely discards modern "music" conventions, listen to this album. You know, some albums are just "kvlt" for a reason... and "Divine Necromancy" is basically the album that invented the entire "evil black metal" trend after all. It spawned legions of clones, so why not listen to the original?
Conclusion on the state of the black arts...
There you have it: 10 of the most potent, the most powerful, and the darkest of all black metal releases. If you are interested in more, I would recommend reading the amazing book "Real Satanic Black Metal" which goes over the history of stuff like this and why it was invented in the first place.
In the mean time, you can - and should - give all these albums a listen. They will change how you think of modern black metal, that's for sure.
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