Black Metal History Month -the Top 50 Black Metal Albums of All Time 50 to 41

While making these lists can cause a mild form of obsessive compulsive insanity for me, if I am going to attempt it. Black Metal History month is the only time that makes sense. I am including all eras and forms of black metal. I only include something that is blackened from what ever genre if it feels more black metal than death, prog or whatever. Since this list is being made by this blog their won't be an abundance of raw black metal and more depressive or experimental black metal since that is what I prefer. Typically speaking they are ranked by what I have listened to the most. I did make judgement calls in some cases when one band would not exist if not for the out put of another so I made adjustments that fairly give proper perspective to the bigger picture.I am only listing one album per artist. I am sure some of your favorite black metal albums might not be included. There are a few that are considered classics in the wider world of metal, but in some cases their most popular albums are not the ones I feel are the best. So these are the albums that have not only made an impact upon my when I initially heard them but are ones that I find easy to return to time and time again as that is what truly makes an album great. So here is the first installment of the top 50 black metal albums of all time.


50-Valdur- Raven God Amongst Us

This is the only album I have been totally behind by this American band.Later on they got a little too much death metal creeping into their sound. Another album to prove how great of a year 2010 was for black metal. The goal of every American black metal band is to sound like you are not from American and they achieved this as going back to listen to this I would guess Poland. While the vocals go into deeper growls this album has the sonic dark of black metal.

49- the Great Old Ones - Al Azif



The 2012 album by this French band, might not be their heaviest work, but it masterfully fuses shoe gazing post-rock passages into black metal with a meaner, darker edge than Alcest does.Any album with a Lovecraftian theme gets points in my book.

48-Cultest Des  Ghoules -"Henbane" 



 Not sure what it is about Poland that makes black metal bands bring so much death metal to the table. This 2013 album adds horror movie atmospherics to craft an album that can be jarring and unhinged with a great deal of atmospherics and hooky riffs which wink at classic metal.
 

47- A Forest of Stars -"Opportunistic Thieves of Spring"



This British band pursued an odd vision of progressive steam-punk tinged black metal. The elements in this equation have varied in the albums that came after this 2011 gem, which made it way on this list because of the balance they found here that made them something truly unique.

 

46-Craft- "Void"


They don't make black metal as hateful as they did in 2011. This band from Sweden was nihilistic and embodied the attitude black metal should have. They took this attitude and injected it into their music. Unlike punk they did not rely on that attitude to compensate for a lack of songwriting prowess, as these songs are equally raw and catchy, a combination most bands of this ilk do not get right.

 

45-Istapp -"Blekinge"


Yet another 2010 album, this one comes from another Swedish band, are we seeing a trend here? These guys play a thrashy version of black metal that incorporated clean vocals to create some viking metal with a black metal bite. The follow up to this one could not compare.


 

44- Peste Noir-"l'ordure a letat pur" 


 This French band has never disappointed me, but there is something about this album that was fucking gangster. I could picture them pulling guns on people while wearing ski masks in the streets of Paris. Both raw and progressive this was one of 2011's best black metal albums.

 

 43-Borknagar- Universal


 he albums that followed this 2010 album, were not as heavy and more progressive viking metal than this one. ICS Vortex's brought his soaring vocals full force. This is a good gateway drug to bridge you from Dimmu into other forms of black metal. It is also good to show that not everything from Norway has to sound like Darkthrone.

 

42-Urfaust- "Der freiwillige bettler"


 This band from the Netherlands will always hold a fond place in my heart as I love the fact they use sung vocals that border on being operatic, with none of the power metal cheese to them, and yet playing uncompromising dark metal that carries at atmospheric throb. I think this album showcases this fact and displays them at the height of their powers. It also comes from 2010.

41- 1349 - "Demonoir"


 If you are a regular reader of this blog you could be confused as to how I can love black metal but not be the biggest fan of blast beats. I do not have a problem with them when they are used as a dynamic blended into the larger context of an album. But there are exceptions to any rule These guys are heavily into their blast beats , but are able to make you a believer. Having seen them preform these songs live they are deadly serious about what they do and crank this out with 100 percent conviction.It was a hard choice between this one and "Hellfire" their 2005 album, but album is darker and has a wider range of sonic colors.

 

Valdur : "Pathetic Scum"

They are back and bringing it harder. If you have been hung up on the False album, here is the really shit you need to check out. Cavernous and roaring. They have more than one way to crush you. The vocals are low both tonally and in the mix. They are not the prominent element to their sound, but serve the purpose  in the depths of this pit of primal power.  Crushing is often over used description of extreme metal, here it is actually fitting , though they still have ghostly echoes of atmosphere in the distance. The jack hammer start of "Impending Doom" can be migraine inducing. I don't feel it's as nuanced song writing as the opener, the vocals shift into more of a coarse cry. Then the blasting really starts on "Blessings of the Goat". The drumming gets really thundering, but it's it's not until everything slows in the final two minutes that it really finds its footing. The vocal variance is subtle and can get lost in this storm but it's there.  The chanted part really works well.

The title track kinda becomes a blur until the synths soften the back drop a little and the drums go into the more tribal pound. The militant beat it opens with goes unnoticed until the second listen. Once the song really kicks in the double bass to blast momentum takes you away. While it's more of an interlude the synth break down in "Incantre pt2" is very creative and a nice touch. It's bookended by to metal sections so it might be one of the oddest black metal instrumentals. The album closes with the somewhat more straight forward "Morbid Emanations" though it does have a layer of creepy guitar running along side it's more traditional metal path, there is one riff that reminds me of old Morbid Angel. They use atmosphere well in this song to throw you a sonic curve ball and it envelopes the metal swallowing it.

This is a step forward sonically for this band, sometimes it gets so heavy until its more of a vibration than a song, which is the only pit fall to daring to be that heavy you sacrifice musicality though I think they proved on the first song they could do it which set the part so high for the rest of the album I'll give this one an 8.5 for that reason. If you wanting something that kicks your face in and willing to disregard the finer points of musicality then round it up another point.


This monsterpiece comes out June 3Oth on Bloody Mountain Records.

Valdur: " At War With"

West coast metal maulers are back and even more brutal than their last album. The album opens with a return to the more death metal elements of their sound. It is typical in the sense that it is powerful enough to keep your attention through sheer pounding ,but can they keep it up with less black metal here and more death metal?

 The drumming is top notch, the vocals are the weak link sticking to a lower roar. The eerie hint of melody on "Death Winds Will Cleanse" restores my faith in their songwriting after the first song, as I had braced my self for just a dense beating. This song gives that but also establishes a catchy groove to the verse riff. The verses are still more deathly than black. The very Incantation rumble of "Incantre" really brings this fact to the forefront. The sampled sections create the needed ambiance preceding songs like " Vast" this song has the first sense of sweeping sonics that differentiate black metal and proves to band the bands strongest suit

"At War With the Old World" takes on a more death metal like tone, it keeps an equal balance of dark and epic before it reverts to the blast. The beat slows into a more formed riff midway through."The Calm Before the War" wastes little time wasting time in a frantic blast. This finds the bands up against the judgment around here that cool riffs don't make a song."Hellish Discord" takes on a more ambient dissonance in its blasting that is more typical of black metal."Hammer Pit" takes a more deliberate pace, more death metal than not , it's a decent song amidst the blasting breaks. Digging its claw in on a heavy chug mid way through. Once the song reaches the three minutes mark even at this speed it feels like it drags. The outro is pretty much more of the same blasting, but the  riff is a little more melodic, but not enough to provide the dynamics this album needs.

This album doesn't quite reach the balance of great metal metal they found  on Raven Go Among Us", I'll give it a 6.5 as I have enjoyed their past work so am a little disappointed in the more death metal direction they have gone.




Valdur - "Vicious Existence" Bloody Mountain... by BlankTV