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I used to think it was edgy to listen to Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and such bands. I even had a shirt with "Devil to the Metal". Twenty years later I tried listening to it again and it did not age well. I assume these are probably the worst examples of black metal though. I'm sure there's still decent bands out there
Still decent bands out there? Oh bloody gosh there are! Let me just give you two, if not we'll be here until dawn. There is Icelandic Misþyrming and Finnish Havukruunu. Both leaning a little bit into more atmospheric soundscapes rather than the "pure" low-fi dissonance black metal is known for. Their whole libraries are worth listening to and searches gives you quality starting points.
Havukruunu are phenomenal, so it sounds like I need to check out Misþyrming tomorrow
Anything by the vocalist Noise is good as is the same with Naas Alcameth
Panzerfaust
Akhlys is really good but the vocalist unfortunately has ties to nazi circles so pirate his shit if you listen to it
Kriegsmaschine/Mgła
Asenheim
If I had to single out a few, it would be Blackbraid from the US, Vermilia from Finland, and Praznina from Serbia. Vermilia and Praznina made up like 90% of my listening a few months ago.
I stumbled upon Dimmu Bongir a short while ago, did not dissapoint.
Read that again, it's not a typo.
Cradle of filth is such a cool name though. I have no idea what it sounds like, but their name rolls off the tongue nicely.
Their music is amazing!
I’ll check it out.
Nymphetamine Fix would most likely be considered one of the top songs (which is a shortened version of the original...) Wouldn't be a bad starting point.
I wasn’t expecting microphone cunnilingus, but this was good indeed. Thanks!
I never even knew Cradle of Filth were considered black metal but according to Encyclopaedia Metallum, their neither-early-nor-late material is symphonic black metal. Think I'll give them a second chance!
Blut Aus Nord is my current favorite, they've been evolving yet still staying within the black metal feel (in my opinion) and are amazing.
Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir do not represent Black Metal well. They have quite a different emotion associated.
Cradle Of Filth - Nymphetamine Fix
DIMMU BORGIR - The Serpentine Offering
vs.
I still listen to both and recommend them all of the time! I don't really consider Cradle black metal, and Dimmu is black metal lite.
Now I want to listen to Sacrilegious Scorn and Born in a Burial Gown!
I found German metal and folk metal this way, and loved it ever since. Especially Mongolian folk metal.
BTW Electric Callboi is awesome. Yes, I know they aren't pure metal, but hey, I like some fun, alright? (and they can poke fun at themselves)
They got the moves.
And everybody's like "Yesterday we drank too much, let's do it again!"
Can't say I'm super plugged into Black Metal, but I really dig Batushka (recently renamed Patriarkh).
This album is pure gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgfa5UlZAL8
PSA: www.rateyourmusic.com is my goto for accurate band & album reviews. You can query by genre/subgenre if you want to see what most fans rank as the best in any genre.
Puddle of Filth?
There's an interesting documentary about black metal on Netflix (at least, the last time I checked). I didn't find it on a quick web search, so not sure the title. It platforms Varg Vikernes, so maybe it's worth avoiding now cause he's a nazi fuck. But if you look past that, it interviews some key characters in the scene. I knew next to nothing about the genre going in, so it was fun.
Here's one black metal track that I found on my own. Supposedly the vocalist is an Arab woman. I've read that maybe it isn't sincere, but probably a lot of black metal isn't.
This one?
No, that's way longer than the one I watched. One thing that stood out about the film was that the long-haired musician from one of the bands did a phone interview where he was cheerful and gracious near the opening. It was counter to the image of black metal and made an impression on me. I don't mean overly cheerful, but just polite.
Relatable