The Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2025

It is not surprising that Black Metal's popularity continues to wane in the hipster metal scene. It's now called problematic by poseurs who were only into it for superficial reasons in the first place, as the genre has always represented misanthropic hate and nihilistic disdain for the world. These albums captured what black metal should be with very little compromise. Black metal is a sub-genre of metal that is for the true outsiders. Here are the bands that captured it best. 

 After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of 2025. The very fact that these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album; there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day, what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, and you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list, and I have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway, here are the top 10 Black Metal albums of 2025

10-Cult Burial- "Collapse of Pattern, Reverence of Dust."

It seems all too often blackened death metal bands add the wrong parts of the two genres. These guys seem to get the atmosphere and aggression combo before going into a more winding technical riff for the second song. The vocals are produced to give the growls the biggest roar for your buck. When they chug along at a very deliberate pace, it gives the vocals more purpose. The use of a present bass in the mix is effective and creates a darker backbone for the songs

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/cult-burial-collapse-of-pattern.html

 

9-Karg-"Maroduer" 

This is the band's 9th album, and Black metal seems to be at the core of their DNA, as it's the attitude propelling the aggressive tendencies, and even in how the atmosphere is approached. The vocals are not screamed but shouted in a forceful yet pained manner. More melodic and angular than what I expect from any metal coming out of Germany, with some turns into a more in-your-face black metal approach, 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-karg-maroduer.html

8-Deafheaven- "Lonely People With Power." 

On this album, they have balanced out the varied elements of their discography, right down to the deliberate chug the song transitions into. Having made their way onto the rock festival circuit, you had to wonder how much playing with big mainstream bands would influence them. Truth be told, when I saw them at Rockville, there was little compromise on their part to win anybody over. 6 albums into their career, I think it is safe to say if they were going to sell out, they would have by now. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/deafheaven-lonely-people-with-power.html

          

7-This Gift is a Curse-"Heir." 

This Swedish band plays a confrontational style of black metal that carries hard-core roots in its aggression. They do not just blast at you, but bring various influences. At times, layering things with like spoken female vocals before their more hard-core side of the band surfaces, and sparse places where they blast along in the vein of most black metal bands these days. It's the darker creep of the riffs that makes them stand out from the pack.  

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/this-gift-is-curse-heir.html

6-Shining-"Divided You Stand &United You'll Fall." 

Sweden's Shining should need little introduction here to regular readers, as they are one of the biggest bands from the depressive black metal sub-genre.  They have evolved past the weeping drama they once invoked. A gritty mix of covers and originals that finds them spreading their hatred in the best way possible.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/shining-divided-you-stand-united-youll.html

 

5-1914-"Viribus Unitis."

This Ukrainian band is branded as blackened Death-doom. It is the band's fourth, the second since their country was invaded by Russia. That conflict is the inspiration for this album. They go from black metal to a more deliberate crunch to back on a blackened path until the more melodic doom elements also begin to creep in. They color the songs with chanted vocals and wisely placed blast beasts to craft actual songs that are effective rather than an angry burst of sound. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/1914-viribus-unitis.html

 

4-Grima - "Nightside" 

This Russian band brings a more overt aggression than I remember from their last album.  There is almost a more Dissection-like layering to the guitar here. The vocals are more anguished, with the black metal shriek doubled by a lower death metal growl.  The production is great; it's a stellar mix with nothing buried. For some black metal purists, this might be too much of a sell-out, although we should be well past that point of contention by now.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-grima.html

3-Abigail Williams- "A Void Within Existence." 

One of the rare American Black Metal bands that has stood the test of time as a legitimate representation of what their genre is, with the same level of sonic darkness as their European counterparts. There is a bigger sound that pushes them more in the direction of a band like Behemoth.  The guitar work begins to dazzle over the commanding march. They find the perfect blend of bleak melody with enough black metal bombast to keep the dynamics balanced.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/abigail-williams-void-within-existence.html

2-Morast-"Fentanyl"

This is what black metal should be. Darkness and misery forged into music. It carries a dreadful throb, that is not what you might think of as depressive black metal, but they succeeded in capturing the despair of a junkie in a manner so real we have not heard it since mid-2000s Nachtmystium. I did not know fentanyl was big in Germany, but it's spread worldwide now, as I am sure the trailer parks of Europe in the Eastern Bloc are spreading it like roaches.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-morast.html

1-Blut Aus Nord - "Ethereal Horizons." 

The French Black Metal band's 16th album shows Blut Aus Nord never makes the same album twice, and they are embracing every side of the genre here while cloaking them all in their signature atmosphere. It is like listening to a smoke machine envelop a band rather than just seeing it on stage. Atmospheric black metal is being pushed in new directions, while the pained moaning of the clean vocals cuts through the thickness of sound, bringing' Mercyful Fate's earliest incarnations of black metal to mind. There is the needed cauldron of blast beats and tremolo-picked guitars needed to identify their blackened intent, but not sounding like everyone else in the process

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/blut-aus-nord-ethereal-horizons.html

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Shining : "Divided You Stand & United You'll Fall"

 

Sweden's Shining should need little introduction here to regular readers, as they are one of the biggest bands from the depressive black metal sub-genre.  They have evolved past the weeping drama they once invoked. The first song is a cover of Entombed's "Chief Rebel Angel," though it feels more like Dissection. Though the more forceful nature of the vocal punch matches up with Entombed. This is the first of three covers on the album, the second being Alice Cooper's "Picking Up the Bones" from 'Brutal Planet" which is cool as you never hear bands cover the latter era Cooper. They do a good job of it. 

"Joakims hogghussang" is an original. It has a creepy bass line and a darker throb, fitting in well as a follow-up to the Alice Cooper cover. Kvarforth is not growling his way through this one, nor is he singing. Musically, it falls somewhere between a solo Ozzy vibe and Danzig. It is very deliberate and works well to showcase how they are much than a black metal band, and great songwriters. Then comes their cover of Danzig's "Crawl Across Your Killing Floor". It's an odd one vocally, as there are moments where he comes pretty close to doing what Danzig does, but then he loses focus and falls closer to where he sings on their original work, but it feels pitchy in the context of this song. When his growl comes, there is some great guitar work, that balances out the section where it feels like he just did not care if he was flat or not, as in this day and age, it is something they could have fixed.

"Ugly and Cold' was previously released as a split. It is a rather straightforward black metal style, though with enough of what they do in it to work. They have hung onto Nick Barker from Cradle of Filth, whose drumming works really well on this one. Peter Huss' guitar playing shines on this one. Overall, I will give this ep a 9.5, it shows how they are on their own tier of black metal.

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The Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2023

It is not surprising that Black Metal's popularity has waned in the hipster metal scene . If people are calling it problematic then they are poseurs who were never into it in the first places as it has always represented  misanthropic hate and nihilistic disdain for the world,  These albums captured what black metal should be with very little compromise, as being the outsider sub-genre of metal, here is are band that exceled the most at it.   After I sort trough the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Black Metal  albums of 2023.

10-Felsenmirror -"s/t"

They do have a dark sound and are very deliberate, which I prefer to a bunch of blast beats, If you were to take away the folk of Agalloch, long with the more technical side of their guitar work and replaced it with crust then you would get something close to what goes down here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-history-month-felsebmirror.html

 9- Tulus -"Fandens Kall" 

They are a piece of black metal history, as it features members of Khold. If you do not know Khold, but claim to like black metal then you are a poseur and should burn a church with yourself in it. Granted Khold is not as big of a name in Norwegian black metal as Darkthrone, Mayhem, Emperor or ... well you can see where this is going. They are most impressive due to the fact they retained their rock n roll sense of groove, making their songs catchier than your average blast fest. Or really any blast fest for that matter, since they all sound the same.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-history-month-tulus-fandens.html

8-Altari-  "Kröflueldar" 

There is a darker more melodic throb. The bellowing vocals are the most black metal thing about the opening track. What I like about this album is two songs in and it is clear the darkness of the overall sound is the most black metal thing about this, as they are not hitting you with the normal metallic onslaught of blast beats. For that reason, there is something more honest in the sound. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-history-month-altari.html

7-Monachopsis Art - "An Empty Existence" 

Not as raw as many of their Finnish countrymen, there is a more deliberate and majestic feel . The vocals are multilayered, with both the anguished scowling of the more wretched larynx torture along with the softer more operatic intonations of Natalie from the Abbey. It's the melodic excursions that add more depth than their peers.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-monachopsis-art-empty.html

6-Dødheimsgard -"Black Medium Current" 

The 6th album this band has released since 1995 means that they value quality over quantity. Their first album in eight years, finds that they are still Norwegian black metal in the truest since of the term, but they are not just trying to replicate what Darkthrone once did. They are not afraid of blast beats, but do not depend on them, while sung vocals are used almost in equal measure to the harsh growls as They shift through many melodic moods and atmospheres.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/ddheimsgard-black-medium-current.html

5-Cloak - "Black Flame Eternal "

This  Atlanta band might have  finally hit their creative stride with album number three.  The songwriting stomps with more debilitation. The influence of Dissection is still here and heard on "With Fury and Allegiance".  While fellow Atlantans Withered have flirted with black metal influence in the past , these guys are the first to really commit to it. The layers of guitar benefit from the evolution of production that hits the sweet spot on this album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/cloak-black-flame-eternal.html

4- Shining - "s/t" 

My favorite depressive black metal band is back for album 11. They are stepping back into their old ways. Niklas is joined by two former members of Cradle of Filth, to bring a darkly unrepentent vision of sonic darkness, that pays homage to classic metal in it's own way, as King Diamond's Andy Laroque produced the album as well as adds a guest guitar spot. This album is darker and has more malicious intent than Cloaks more theatrical efforts.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/shining-st.html

 

3-Hexvessel - "Polar Veil" 

With this project's 6th album, things have taken a turn to black metal. The metallic buzz of guitar casts chilling shadows behind the mournful vocal melody. It moves at more of a drone, but with the dreary chant of the vocals it somehow works. He does have a black metal past, so this is not a surprise in how these sounds are married. The fact this album takes the risk of showing clean vocals can hold down a black metal album elvevates it over the heavier release by Shining. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/hexvessel-polar-veil.html

 

2-Wayfarer- "American Gothic" 

This band has gotten progressively better with each album. This one is more metallic than their last. The Western-tinged throb of guitar is still in the mix.  They still hold plenty of snarls, though lean into a more deliberate double bass attack rather than adhering to the blast-beaten formula of black metal. The  have gone deeper into their dusty brand of black metal, with more power and authority than Hexvessel earning them this spot.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/wayfarer-american-gothic.html

 

1-Downfall of Gaia -""Silhouettes Of Disgust."

This album is more black metal in its feeling than what I remember of the 2019 album. It is both darker and more aggressive. The soaring atmosphere still lingers, but not enough to stop this raging storm of sound they are creating here. The world is a darker and angrier place, so this is fitting. It takes more chances than Wayfarer, who are also great songwriters, but in more of a well-fitted groove, as Downfall of Gaia, is not content with a formula. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-history-month-downfall-of.html

Shining : "s/t"

My favorite depressive black metal band is back for album 11. In the past the Swedish band strayed into a more rock direction , but this album finds them stepping back into their old ways. Niklas remains the only original member, it's basically his creative vehicle anyway. Peter Huss almost counts as an original member since he has been around since "Halmstad". They are joined by Nic Barker from Cradle of Filth to band this one out. He is not the only Cradle of Filth alumni in the fold this time as guitarist Charles Hedger also played with the Fithys as well as Mayhem. Former Necrophobic bassist A. Impaler is taking care of the low end here. The opening track is a more blackened  attack on your spirit that gets grim without resorting to a steady diet of blast beats. This is one of the reasons I love these guys is they have a very distinct sound and it is intact on this album. 

Niklas' voice is where it needs to be, equally angry, as he utter Celtic Frost like grunts , and sometimes even sings. By the second song things are becoming increasing melodic. Huss knocks out a very bluesy rock god guitar solo that sets his foot firmly on the monitor. "Allt For Dodden" is very commanding in the march of the guitars. It ebbs down into more nuanced melodic passages for Kvarforth to emote in . The riffs shift like restless water under the pain exclamations of the vocals. "Fidelis Ad Mortem" finds my favorite metal guitarist Andy La Rocque lending his magical fingers. It is one of the album's more melodic moments with layered vocals sung in a resonant baritone. La Rocque's guitar solo might be the best playing of this sort I have heard on an album this year. 

The album's most epic moment is in stark contrast juxtaposed by an interlude of piano doodling that follows it. The album close with a ten minute ripper. The first riff has a Slayer like buzz of aggression driving it. This is used to create a droning tension for almost three minutes before the drums kick in. Perhaps excessive, you can not say the are content to churn out color by numbers black metal. Things transition into a more flowing melodic verse which swells back up to serve as a fitting summary for the direction this album goes, as it as both one of the heaviest and most melodic. I will give it a 10 , if you are fan of the band it's not "the Eerie Cold" but looks forward while retaining who they are. 

Høstsol : 'Länge Leve Döden'

 

This black metal super group of sorts caught my eye as it features the singer of one of my all-time favorite black metal bands Shining. Niklas Kvarforth brings his trademark scowls of agony to some icy Scandinavian black metal, that also finds Tor-Helge Skei on guitar. The result is something that uses atmosphere as a lubricant to dominate you with its commanding charge. For Kvarforth this is a rather straight forward approach to song writing when compared to the depressive sounds of Shining. Over the years Shining has refined their sound into at times something with a more dynamic rock n roll swagger than what is thought of as black metal so this will appeal to fans of their earlier and heavier work. 

The raw energy that possesses the second song which can be roughly translated as "That Which Once Was". I think the keyboards really add a great deal to the song and remind you of the classic days of European Black Metal. Normally I like black metal to be a dark nuanced beast of sonic depth, where this has a slightly rawer edge to it, but I think it works well for what they are doing here. It is not all just blast beast and tremolo picked guitars though there is plenty of both. The songs are book ended with ambiance, which might be trimmed slightly to streamline the song lengths if you were edited this like a book. Does their ten-and-a-half-minute epic need the minute long lead in?  It is explosive when it does kick in and at times runs the risk of playing it almost too safe when comparing it to the status quo for black metal. Though the more atmospheric passage employs a really cool melodic element halfway into the song, which is one of the album's high points. 

The second half of the album keeps a similar balance of old school second wave rough edged throttling that is tempered with a majestic sense of atmosphere. Not as personal in its anguish as the more introspective loathing that Shining summoned. Manes is also a more experimental act when it comes to black metal, so things fall more along those lines, by the book in that it is paying homage to an era or tradition. There is a darker more deliberate menace to the last song that I prefer over them just raging like the fire of a burning church, not that I have anything against churches burning as that is something I support. I will give this one a 9. it drops the 13th of this month.

    

Black Metal History Month -The Top 66 Black Metal Bands of All Time -16 to 7

We are going further into this darkness with this list of the Top 66 Black Metal Bands of All Time. Before you get your bullet belt twisted with what is about to go down here. I am not writing commentary with each entry, instead I will cryptically foreshadow the reasoning for where these bands fall. I typically defaulted to Last Fm so this is ranked by most listened to by me. Since it is my blog it only makes sense I can think I am a huge fan of one band but if I never listen to them how good can they really be? There are bands that are supposed classics , and well they did make the list and this is the top 66 black metal bands out of hundreds. If they did not rank as high as you liked well go make your own fucking list or start your own fucking blog. 

 There will not be much in the way of Raw or Beastial black metal, because they tend so sound like shit . There are many sub-genres represented here, Atmospheric, progressive , first wave , depressive, post ...so lots of ground is going to be covered. I have also included the country so we will have a clearer picture of who is exporting the best black metal. The tracks chosen are not the best , but the 6th track from my favorite album unless my favorite album does not have six songs and then I am picking the album before that one, if that one doesn't have six songs then I keep going back until I find one that does. So here ya go

16 -Enslaved

Country -Norway

 

15- Weakling

Country- America

   

14-Immortal

Country - Norway

 

13-Tombs

 

Country- America

 

12-Burzum

Country - Norway

11-Agalloch 

Country - America

 

10- Mayhem

Country - Norway

   

9-Totalselfhatred  

Country- Finland

   

 8- Shining 

Country - Sweden 

 

 7-Nachtmystium 

 Country- America

 

Kall : "Brand"

I used to love Lifelover, so when I heard they were kind of back together in this band , it made me happy., This album is more of a blatant black metal direction compared to the first one. There is more of a gallop than blast beats, which is fine with me. There is a more of a modern Darkthrone feel to this than anything that depressive. Things get darker on the second song. More emotive. Perhaps not outright depressing, but tormented for sure. Sax is the odd unsung instrument. It is interesting how much of a prescence it has in black metal over the past few years. There is more of a rock n roll feel to the wonderfully written groove of "Eld" . It is both melodic and dynamic. Not the most black metal moment of the album in fact it is more indie rock like Hum than anything. That is except for the angry scowl of the vocals.

"Fukta din  Aska"  or "Moisten your ashes" has a great deal of metallic kick going into it then allows it's self to drift off into a dark place. I would be all about it except for the fact the song is over 17 minutes which is excessive. What goes down is sprawling and beautiful. Not something you can listen to on the way to the store. Is there fat that could be trimmed from this song? Yes. The sax solo is cool , but some of this could have been edited down and then they could jam out as they see fit on stage. They go full on blast beat by the end, though it does not end up sounding like everything else. For all my criticism of blast beats they can be effective when used sparingly. There is a whole jammy section that while it has impressive guitar playing and is pulled together nicely, is more than I am going to listen to on a regular basis. The song after this one is almost 13 minutes and leads in with another jammy section. Once again great guitar playing that makes it more forgivable. Almost five minutes in before the vocals commit to anything more than a sparse scream. The musical scope of what they are kicking up sonically impresses me. It explodes with more of a rock n roll drive.

The drop things back into a darker creeping groove for the last song "Fall" . It's eight and a half minutes long ,which at this point in the album doesn't seem like very long. At the two minute mark it kicks in with the distortion. The sax comes in over a big sludgey riff that they jam out on . I will round this down to a 9.5 ,because it is not a perfect album due to some of the jammy bloat. It might not be perfect, but is it still pretty fucking awesome with the massive sounds they bring to the table here and the places this album takes you are pretty epic as well. Out on Prophecy.

the Top 10 Metal Albums of the Decade

Pulling from all the other  best of decade lists this is the over all best of metal albums list for the decade. The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre.  Black metal certainly left it's mark on the decade , while only one actual black metal band is on this list there are 3 others with touches and influence of black metal or used to be black metal bands that grew into something else. This is not going to be  the most hipster of the lists that say Vice puts out, what matters is the fact; these are the albums I listened to the most. Any ways here are the Top 10 Metal   albums of the decade.


10-Goatwhore - "Blood For the Master " 2012













9-Morbid Angel - "Kingdoms Disdained" 2017 










7-Evoken- "Atra Mors" 2012











7- Agalloch - "Marrow of the Spirit" 2010 




 





6-Anthrax- "For All Kings"-












5-Iron Maiden- "the Final Frontier" 2010 











4- Shining- "Fodd Forlorare"  2011







3- Fistula- "Longing for Infection" 2016




 







2- Pallbearer -- "Foundations of Burden" 2014












1- Watain - "Lawless Darkness " 2010




 

Black Metal History Month - the Top 10 Black Metal Front Men

Scowling misanthropes are not known for there charisma. This makes someone who is a true front man in a black metal band  a rarity. They do exist and are what gives most of their bands an edge over the other more faceless black metal acts.Yes it says front men and you might want to ask why do they have to be men ? You ask. They did not have to be these are just how it went down and even if you were going to include someone like Myrkur on a list. These guys just have a darker and more in your face that sells them where she becomes more introspective.So here are the top 10 black metal front men, they are ranked by the passion they invest in the music more than their pipes.

10 - KK Warslut

 From Destroyer 666, he brings to the table and almost Blackie Lawless vibe , but much more confrontational, which is what black metal should be.


 

 9-Nattefrost 

 The lead growler for Carpathian Forest has a rock n roll sensibility to him. Not the most mobile, he comes across as meaning every word.


 

8--Shagrath

The vocalist for Dimmu Borgir, is no stranger to theatrics. He does work the stage well and shows up well dressed.

 


7-Ravn 

 The snarl of the 1349 frontman is conveyed with a tangible intensity. He commands the stage and seems to have a great deal of conviction .

 

6-Alan Averill 

 The driving force of Primordial. More of an actual singer than the previous entries. His presence also places him ahead of most.

 


5- Louis Falgoust

 Goatwhore's lead growler really throws himself into every performance and is one of the key components that makes the band better live than in the studio.




4- Erik Danielsson

 What gives Watain an edge is how serious they are about what they do and while p/r companies are quick to call shows rituals , in the case of Watain they actually are and Erik is committed to being as priest in this regard.
 

3-Attila

 Watain was obviously influenced by Mayhem on many levels. Attila is very serious about what he does and has made it an artform. Over the years the theatrical elements have gotten more elaborate.

 


2-Niklas Kvarforth

 While he is not as tortured as he once was , the Shining singer is almost the Iggy Pop of black metal. He is both introspective and confrontational onstage.

 


1-Ghaal 

 Words like intensity and conviction are important when it comes to black metal as it is as much an idealogy as it is music , so it's hard to be more of an iconoclast in this regard than Ghaal.

 

Shining :" Varg Utan Flock"

These guys have been one of my favorite black metal bands, though over the years they have grown weary of being a black metal band.  opening riff is more rock than metal, though it has a ton of drive. The vocals are choked yell. The vocals are normally neck and neck with the guitars as the band's strong point. They do morph into more of a black metal feel, but I am not going to hold my breath in hopes this will be a black metal album. Though his band has been at the forefront of the depressive black metal scene so maybe I am supposed to be holding my breath with a noose. It breaks into a darker section with clean guitar. Still very well in the range of what fans of this band expect. The second song moves with a darker throb and has some raspy sung vocals that still keep to a more dismal mood, which is what you want from this band, along with a return to the kind of guitar playing that elevates them above their peers. They do blast back in a pretty savage display of metal in the song's third act. The song end with a great sonic build.

One of this band's strengths is that they pull from many influences outside of not only black metal, but meta as a whole. There is still plenty of muscle to songs like "Jar Ar Din Fiende" which is one of the more straight forward metallic offerings. Kvarforth does go into a more sung section here, but these are done with more grit than what we have heard from this band in the past. The guitar solos are stellar adding to the melodic range of the songs rather than just wanking for the sake of it. A more melodic section brings another layer of darkness to the song and the drumming tastefully displays some chops in the process. It doesn't sound like Kvarforth is up to the same destructive indulgences as these album has a very controlled and clean sound.

"Han Som Lurar Inom" buzzes to life from the ambiance. While it doesn't run off of blast beats it still has a more black metal feel as it builds. There is a tense dissonance. It breaks down into a deliberate bass line. This song is followed by a piano interlude which doesn't serve much purpose unless it's to transition into the acoustic guitar that opens "Mot Aokigahara". The vocals are goth low riding the line between being spoken and sung, until they move up into actually singing. The song itself feels like a cross between Type O  Negative with Neurosis and is broken up by a more Pink Floydish guitar solo.The song roars back into a more blackened explosion. Lyrically it's mainly in Swedish with some of the spoken vocals in English.

After this the album ends with two covers, both of songs I liked the originals the first being "In Cold Light of Morning". His thick accent gives the lyrics a less androgynous feel than the original. It feels more like Psychic Tv and takes on a more folk feel in the way the arrangement has been stripped down. Next up is a cover of "Cry Little Sister " from the Lost Boys soundtrack. I might put this is my top 100 songs of all time. However they do not give it the same punch of Gerard Mcmann's version which is not heavy but worked off a more sensual punch. The vocals here are raspy, but it is instrumentation here that is lacking. But if this is the albums weakest moment it's still solid even if it falls behind some of their classic work I will round it up to a 9. This comes out the 5th on Season of Mist

Ihsahn : "Artktis"

Ihsahn has brought back the metal is back in a big way on his 6th solo album.  You won't forget Ihsahn was in Emperor. I suppose he felt he took the experimentation as far as he could without losing sight of where he came from. This makes for an album that is in line with his earlier solo work. Captures more of an Opeth like feel...that is when Opeth actually played metal.The electronic elements are still there just set back behind the guitars. The guys from Leprous are still around with  Einar Solberg, helping out with vocals . I really like the melody that closes in on the song's three minute mark. If you are going go from growls to clean vocals this is the way to do it. "Mass Darkness" finds Matt Heafy from Trivium stepping out of the where are they now files to lend a hand in the shredding department.  It's a darker more ominous song. He is back in full force with the harsher vocals.

There is a punchy almost Deep Purple like riff to "My Heart is of the North" . It really goes into an unexpected place, that almost made me think it was another song. If you think prog is about wanking then you need to learn something and give this album a listen. That's not to say Ihsahn doesn't flex his chops and he has them as one of metal most under rated guitarists. I'm not even going to tell you what happens at the three minute mark. The keyboards on this album are on point and production wise everything is dialed in perfectly. Things take a much darker turn into more Skinny Puppy direction on the incredible "South Winds" which still finds electronica in play but being used in context of what Ihsahn does best. The Opeth like clean vocals do show up, but somehow it all meshes. "In the Vaults" finds more of a tug of war between the influence of black metal and prog metal. The prog wins out.

"Until I Too Dissolve" finds him fighting off the Dream Theater temptation. The awesome chorus of "Pressure" is what really brings it all home and pulls the twisted verses together. "Frail" really takes the concept of being a musical oddity in the right direction.  The Nordic Shining's Jorgen Munkeby to chime in on" Crooked Red Line" . It's cook to hear him play something less spastic than his band, there is more straight up jazz to the melodies here, though it's worked smoothly into the type of dark thinking man's metal that makes up this album.  They balance is tipped into straight up balladry on "Celestial Violence". It kicks in right on time a minute and a half into it, which any longer would have wandered into power ballad territory. When the clean vocals come back in they prove you can really sing in 2016 and still have a sense of commanding power without coming across like you are in Primal Fear. For the sake of this review I am not going to count the bonus track which is the weird spoken word "Til Tor Ulven", it sounds like something from the Metallica & Lou Reed "Lulu" album. The rest of the album kicks ass and finds him back in fine form I'll give it a 10.

Black Metal History Month- Abysmal Hymn's Top 10 Depressive Suicidal Black Metal Albums

Leap day makes this the last day of Black Metal History Month. It is sad that is has to end, even though after 29 days of black metal all blast beats were beginning to sound the same to me. So to ease your sadness I am posting the Top 10 Depressive Suicidal Black Metal albums. Of all time...I can't speak to that  since all time has not come to an end yet, but I can say these are albums that I have listened to a lot and I find have the qualities I want out of the sub-genre, which is my favorite black metal sub-genre. It's low on the corpse paint and high on emotion.

10- Nocturnal Depression - Near to the Stars I was hopeful when I came across the new one by France's Nocturnal Depression.  France normally makes some pretty quality metal. This band has been around for ten years and this album is it's 6th full length. Two of the three members of this project preformed live with Make a Change Kill Yourself.. which is high pedigree when it comes to this sub genre.The production is why it's at the bottom of the heap. This album is a very dynamic addition to the genre and it hits all the marks you need from this sort of thing.

 

9-Woods of Desolation - "Torn Beyond Reason"

 Australia was once killing it when it came to depressive metal. This is not our first time with these guys as I reviewed there last album "As the Stars" , but in looking back in anger at some older depressive suicidal releases, this one is often thought of as the band at their peak. The screams paved the way for similar patterns that Deafheaven would later follow.

 


8-Wedard"Wo die Ewigkeit die Zeit berührt"


 This might come closer to being a post-rock album, if it was not for the weird vocals that sounds like they were recorded from beneath a sheet of ice while the screams of agony bubbled up, as the singer drowned.Has sounds of nature to back up this theory. The clean guitar tone is center stage and they do not go to blast beats as their default mode. They do pick up the pace as the album progresses and this is sometimes done with double bass and almost punkish beats.

 

7-Xasthur - Portal of Sorrow"

 The final album by this project, which might paint frowns on some as it's not the first album of the most overlooked album, but it is more fully realized and sounds better production wise than the bulk of the Xasthur catalogue which goes a long way in my book because it means you care about the songs. It's more like listening to a symphonic work that plays of themes rather than an album of songs, but the sound captured here are pretty incredible.

 

6-Weakling -"Dead As Dreams"

 A band out of San Francisco that is one American black metal band that really got it  right in a big way. Dispirit is really the only active metal band of note that bears former members though one of these guys have also played with the Fucking Champs.They are one of the most straight up metal bands on this list but I believe they still earn their spot here by the mood this album captures.

 

 5-Coldworld - "Melancholie"

 This album came out in 2008 and has the thundering momentum you want from more traditional black metal coupled with more atmospheric elements like clean vocals and odd little electronic flourishes. The guitar might fly with a metallic buzz when they are going full blast, but when the songs break down into the more melodic sections the tone is pretty chilling. Vocally you can hear where this influenced Deafheaven's singer, who name drops this band often. Though the vocals here are more varied than what Deafheaven does sometimes going into more of a croak.

4-Lifelover- "Sjukdom"

 The final album by a band that didn't play by the traditional black metal rules and sometimes made me wonder if they were black metal at all. However they still earned their place to be thought of as legends when it comes to this genre and this album is next to perfect with a wide dynamic range.

 






3- An Autumn For Crippled Children- "Everything"


 These guys are now off in some other dark post-rock thing, this album still had post- rock elements but was more firmly rooted in this genre they beat out Lifelover on the basis that I still listen to the album more than Lifelover and it really has stood up to the test of time even if that test has so far only

 been five years


.



2-Totalselfhatred - "Apocalypse In Your Heart" -


 It was hard to pick between this one and their first album. This 2011 album might not be as depressive, it is one of the heaviest on here and also sounds but it sounds better  than the self titled. The guitar playing rules pretty hard on this one, so hard until It's hard to argue against these guys, I wish they would put out another album.

 


1-Shining: "the Eerie Cold"

 There last two albums don't even seem like they are from the same band since they began getting into death and roll, still one of my favorite bands ever and the guitar playing on this album is the only soulful shred that can stand up to Totalselfhatred when it comes to this genre. These guys won out because I think this album just defines the genre better.

  10


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Black Metal History Month - Urgehal : "Aeons in Sodom"

Many of you might only know this band from the sight of Enzifer's spiked face masks that makes him a Pinhead look a like, but you missed out on a classic black metal band if you dismissed them from there. This is their final album guitarist Tondr Nefas, whose solo's appear on this album died in 2012. The reports of his death are shadowy since he died from natural causes at the age of 34 out in his favorite place in the woods. So some undisclosed condition was obviously afflicting him. The album has a who's who of the Scandinavian black metal scene contributing to this swan song. With even Darkthrone vocalist Culto lending his voice to the song "Iron Children".  there is a very strong Venom influence. One thing I like about these guys is the fact they really care about writing actual songs and not just throwing a tone of blast beats at you. This is not to say they can not indulge in that vein as They is a little more of your typical Nordic black metal on "Blood of the Legion" with M. Shax lending his throat to this one.  They keep up the pace with "the Sulphur Black Haze". The vocals have a purpose and the lyrics make it through the rasped gasping of Taake's Hoest. The gang vocals add to this before they descend into something really creepy. Sure they used to go all out on the theatrical presentation, but they have enough hate and darkness to be taken seriously.

 They bring on the blasting with "Lord of Horns" shifting into double bass as needed when it's time to shift speeds something that's a blur to something still faster than most thrash. They don't numb you out with the sonics and keep a thicker almost more death metal like guitar tone. From a production stand point the drums are produced with a big death metal like sound as well. Koldbrann's Mannevond handles the vocals on this one.   There is more of an undulating groove to "Norwegian Blood and Crystal Lakes" . The anguished croak of Niklas from  Shining, is unmistakable.  For these guys the stomping accents of "Thy Daemon Incarnate" is more of a mid pace with Vulture Lord's Sorath contributing the vocals.  The bass doesn't disappear in the mix and for black metal retains a presence not unlike that which can be found on the first few Venom albums. They pick up into the more thrashed out tempo on "Endetid".  With Nattefrost throwing down vocals , the band starts off with a dense momentum and then litters the song melodic nuances, Showing that you can have the best of both worlds and capture raw intensity while having attention to detail.

They are full blast ahead at the onset of "Psychedelic Evil" . Nag from Tsjuder's  vocals are less intelligible and more like crazed snarls.This is one of the album's more straight forward songs. Oddly the last two songs on the albums are covers, respectively "Funeral Rites" by Sepultura and "Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay" by Autopsy. I think the fact these covers are by death metal bands, speaks to the fact that these guys came from a era when that was the heaviest thing going. Both songs are done justice with the Sepultura being the best two with the singer from Sadistic Intent handling the vocals on that one. I'll round this one up to a 9 as it's a fitting final chapter in the legacy of the band and the guest list along should make fans of Norwegian black metal want to check this one out. Seasons of Mist is releasing this one.

Diabolicum :" la pazuzu"

This is way heavier and more straight up black metal than Shining. The songs are up in your face , blasting away at time at other relishing the solos. On the first song I'm not sure how aptly the industrial tag fits these guys though they do use samples, then it begins to click into place more with the clanging behind them on "Silent Spring".  Some clean singing does come into play towards the end of this song, its almost choral and back in the mix. The are often at a very Watain pace and intensity through out the album, which is really the only other connection to Swedish Metal I hear.

There is a weird techno break in the middle of "Genocide Bliss", which I am fine with but for those of you who are more fans of early Shining and prefer Darkthrone on vinyl it might be too much for you. The Jim Jones samples might be more of your thing. The synth are pretty mean on "The Abyss of Shadows", as he growls through some over driven effects, but it's more of an interlude than a song. "One Man's War" drives straight ahead. The double bass sounds like it might be triggered. This sort of thing has come a long way since Fear Factory. The song slows into a more militant march.

They close out this beast with "Angelmaker" where the guitar is allowed to ring out on it's own with some mumbling beneath it for the first half of the song until they pound it into place with a half time groove that find the drummer wearing out his symbols before the shred fest begins. There is no question as to if these guys can play. Its not their first rodeo. This is actually their third album. Their first was released 16 years ago. I think this is worth rounding up to a 9 and see how it sits with me over the summer.

comes out July 7th on Code 666

Shining : "IX Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends"

After being let down by Faith No More's new one, I am hoping they don't go back to cock rock, because to disappointments is more than I can take. I brace myself because right the opening  the guitars are pretty classic metal. Which scares me a little. This is off set by noise, and a piano part. It sounds good but this could be Nightwish. I have like Peter Huss' playing in the past so I am going to have faith. The second song is where it gets into something harder. It's black metal influenced metal, like Old Mans Child. The chords ring out with a dark dissonance that I need from black metal and Niklas is bringing the angry nastiness in his vocals. They are more commanding and lack the tortured sound of Depressive Black Metal, but right now I am not complaining. This album sounds great has a clear yet dense mix.

By the second actual song, we are at clean vocals and acoustic guitar. Two minutes into and the drums come in. They keep a darker tone so everything is still good in my book on this one. There is some great guitar playing on this album, so quality is not in question here. It does get angrier here. Black metal no, but it's decent enough dark metal with a kick to it. Some of this is because the drummer and bassist are not from the bands more depressive days and the drummer attacks his kits with a more straight ahead feel."Manniskotankens vagglosa rum" borders on blasty. It has a dynamic ebb and flow that is consistent with the band. Niklas' singing is a style he has embraced as his own by this point. The guitarists are not afraid to put their feet up on the monitor and let a solo rip.

Later in the album they make some interesting choices in guitar tones, that is different for the band. The harsher vocal rant over the strummed guitar, which is some thing I would like to hear more of as a general rule. The closing song has some cool moments  where they back off and let the song breath. not sure it's as compelling as some of the other songs on this album. I think a 9 is pretty fair on this one . The last song had me checking out a little bit, and while I am not rushing to listen to it again it could have been worse so that is encouraging.

Shining:"8 ½ – Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd"

I pretty much wrote the band off as having drifted off into cock rock after "Redefining Darkness". Fodd Forlorare was a far in the melodic rock direction I could stand to see the band venture and then they pushed it too far into power ballads. So it was a big surprise to hear what I found on their new album that is stripped down raw black metal in the vein of Burzum. I think some of this was done because in the studio the band was reduced to a three piece, forcing them to get back to basics.

The change of tone is noted from the onset of "Terres Des Anonymes" or Land Anonymous, it has the cold "necro" sound, but with more room for atmospherics so often feels more like a Nachtmystium album when it comes to the mix though the songs tend to drone on like Burzum. While I'm over joyed to hear a return to the caustic heaviness of their earlier work, the lack of the metal god guitar solos is missed. There are some rock grooves on this album but the sound more like Celtic Frost than Guns N Roses. There is a dirge like drone to the final act of the opener.

"szabadulj meg onmagatol" or rid itself, finds him taking on more of an Immortal like croak, that at sometimes also sounds like Mayhem, with ghostly moans floating in the chaotic backdrop. They get into the blasties here which is where I began to suspect the drums are programmed , but as a whole the album is produced in such a way this fact is well hidden.

"ett Liv Utan Mening" or a life without meaning, finds them in more familar territory with an acoustic intro that Kvarforth grunt and gurgles over. The song gets heavier but keeps a balance with the dark melodic progression they are know for. So even though is this a change in sound the same way Cowboys From Hell to Vulgar was a change, you still have enough shades of the glory days to hold on to.I like the effects on his voice here, he never really sings in his clean voice on this album and at times the production on the vocals is more like Circle of Ouroborus.

This album is more lo-fi and raw than anything they have done since say the Eerie Cold, they still manage to blend lots of textures and layers , even though they are worn around the edges. On songs like "Self destructive emissaries", the ebb and flow from the more haunting passages to the grime of the nasty darkness are well balanced making one another seem wither more beautiful or more vile depending on the juxtaposition.  "Black Industrial Misery" fires off with the venomous howl of Kvarforth, whose harsh vocals have found a new authenticity. This is one of the albums more straight forward songs, as it hardly lets up its onslaught.

The whole depressive suicidal vibe is recaptured on " Through Corridors of Oppression " that starts off feeling like funeral doom, which I always thought was the next door neighbor to dsbm. but it's more like an outro piece than a full fledged song with a defined verse or chorus. I'll give this album a 10 as it's perfect for long walks in the rain and is a welcome return for the band after the mis-step of the last album.  

Shining : "One One One"

I have never made a secret that I was prejudice against this band due to the fact I liked the Swedish band who held the same name but was depressive suicidal black metal so being their fan I could not listen to a band of the same name. Only metal heads will understand this sort of retarded devotion. How ever feeling betrayed by the Swedish band's turn into Opeth like pussydom I decided to give the Norse band a shot as have been surprised . They are less mall metal than i though a more like a heavier version of muse. Though they never have claimed to be cvlt or

The other point of Intrest bout the band which helped serve as an entry point for me is the fact main man and saxophonist Jorgen Monkeby also has contributed the sax parts to Ihshan's solo albums which is the bands closest ties to black metal.

"I Won't Forget" sounds like what I had originally expected Chinese Democracy turn out like. There's a off kilter guitar that builds into a very Muse like punch before the sax of chaos stirs the pot. Monkeby's vocals fall ofme where in between singing and screaming. By its just screaming that is more thought out in its rhymthmic placing giving it the illusion it is being sung. It makes the chorus pretty catchy and I have found it stuck in my head.

Their flirtation with prog rock can be seen in the first few measures which they go into a King Crimson like roll, that is repeated at various points in the song so, they aren't just letting bloated Dream Theater part flap a out , but every thing remain tightly coiled and focused in its attack. The vocals on " the One inside" don't have the same infectious Quality as they did on the first song.

The industrial undertones flourish, much I. The same way their trapping were used by bands like Stabbing Westward in the nineties."My Dying Drive" finds a little more commitment to the industrial elements like say Static x but there's also an element that reminds me of the cock rock bands of the minties like Faster Pussycat who on their "Whipped" album dipped into some Marilyn Manson elements when grunge wiped hair metal off the map. The guitar and drum interplay retains its adventurous streak and keeps it from becoming to rock.

Monkeby comes closer to singing on "Off the Hook" and this raises the Guns N Roses comparisons again. The Muse styled syncopation still present keeps the cock rock in check and it's this blend of influences which keeps these guys inn a middle ground safe from them falling into one sub genre. I think in America this could play to their favor if they put on tour with a band with at least the clout of an Opeth, Muse has to commercial of a following whose listening habits is to mired in the mainstream for these guys.

They have one foot firmly planted in the nineties on " Black Jazz Rebels" though it comes together as something which could have emerged back in 2004. I don't think that while it tries to be anthemic in some sense this ong really plays up to the bands strength and sounds like some the Wildhearts of Therapy would have done in 96.

The sax parts are this albums strength and the intro to "How your Story ends" highlights this fact. They delve back into more genuine prog when the rest of the band falls in behind the sax. The vocals assume the more Taime Downe type of inflection, which I can live with as I like Faster Pussycat back in the day. The band goes int some impressive Mathy breaks beneath his screeching and sax solos.

The straight forwardnineites style punk metal on " The Hurting Game" doesn't play to what they do best, though it finds some breathing room on the choru only to revert back into it. There are some prog leaning that weave in and out of the shouting over these tenuous drum pattern but it isn't until the sax comes to save their asses that this really comes to together into something noteworthy. They are great players, I get the point loud and clear and earlier I. The album experienced them as not too shabby in the song writing department so not sure why the filler.

The chaos ensues for the spastic beginnings of "Walk Away" the verse seems a little loose though it congeal into the cyber rock normal feel of the what I'm assuming is the pre chorus, the song title shout must be the chorus, they try to emulate the approach that's worked really well on the first song but comes up a little flat here. Their are some Korn like children's rhymes in one part before the guitar solo, which I would like to hear these guys cut loose into a shredding solo as I suspect they are capable of it.

"Paint the Sky Black" duels between the industrial colors they paint themselves with vs the more Muse side, while the bass player and drummer indulge their prog metal leanings. I don't hear them as a jazz band really at any point on the album as all the bag of tricks pulled from are more King Crimson, though without the Fripp ambiance. On this one I find myself wanting a little more to hook me in as a listener otherwise some of it comes across in a manner that might appeal to fans of djent but other than the dexterity involved leaves me a little bored by the monotony , this isn't to say the songs don't have twists and turns. They have it in spades but to pull it all together into a working song requires melody that isn't Monkeby's forte as a singer and he chooses not to go the blatant route as a saxophonist.

I wish there was more sax on this and I think aside from the Muse comparisons, which come it the feel of some of the riffaveratherthan a shared love of Radiohead, I think overall these guys will have some appeal to a broader audience. I will round the score up to an 8 as when I was scoring this album as I went along the impressive opener could have used an extra knod, though I'm not sure how much longevity this one will have , round this down a point if you have a total aversion to mall metal and only like your Cvlt with a hipster snicker as there is nothing ironic to this as they only go big on both preformance and production.