Black Metal... Black Metal... Lay Down Your Soul!

[WhiffleBallTony]

The title is a stunted quote from the song "Black Metal" by Venom.

So, I made a death metal thread and got some great suggestions. Now, it's time to move on to the next most extreme genre of metal... black metal! I am extremely uneducated when it comes to genre and know close to nothing. I like Venom, Celtic Frost, and Mercyful Fate, but they aren't necessarily black metal, just very influential to the genre.

I know that there are some fans out there, so I'm looking at you for some suggestions.

[Rev0lver]

Some would call them blackened death metal more than black metal, but check out Melechesh, particularily the song "Rebirth Of The Nemesis".

[DarkSide247]

Mayhem and King Diamond are two good bands to start. Also try Emperor and Gorgoroth.

[afterstasis]

it's pretty important to check out the old masters, so in addition to the above suggestions of mayhem...

bathory - under the sign of the black mark
darkthrone - transilvanian hunger
burzum - filosofem
ildjarn - forest poetry
beherit - drawing down the moon

after you've explored black metal's roots, there are multiple directions you can take... symphonic, raw, ambient, experimental, etc...

while they are lacking in symphonic BM (i hate most of it), my black metal mixes on the blog are pretty much incredible...

let me know if you need further help.

[Shredder87]

Shame on you guys, the lack of Immortal and Dissection suggestions make me sad.

Immortal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaNVXDTMepQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xusmqC00Lg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32n1AK6o5i0

Dissection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c3L0bqUnao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOVgsYqsZk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW7LbOka1eI

Mayhem is good too.....if you can get the bootlegs.

[afterstasis]

i love dissection (and wanted to avoid any death metal influence in my primer), but have never gotten into immortal.

if you can look past the ideology, then graveland also has a nice discography if you also enjoy viking-metal.

[WhiffleBallTony]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I've been getting so much new music lately, it's awesome.

[Schmeal]

I don't really care for "troo kvlt" black metal. Mix a bit of prog (or actual production) in with it and it can be pretty awesome. Check out these bands:

Enslaved
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PNUJ0l...eature=related
Primordial
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GHvuXd...eature=related
Rotting Christ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=81D5HfOnjqw
Vried
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPGjc8ES5Y
Woods of Ypres
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tuJWGs...eature=related

[back_blows]

Oooh a Rotting Christ fan I wasn't too fond of Theogonia, it was a bit too melodic for my tastes, except for Rege Diabolicus. I really enjoyed anything from the Genesis album, particularly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJGJ9...eature=related

[Schmeal]

Oooh a Rotting Christ fan I wasn't too fond of Theogonia, it was a bit too melodic for my tastes, except for Rege Diabolicus. I really enjoyed anything from the Genesis album, particularly

I am only familiar with Theogonia. If that track is indicative of the rest of their stuff then it looks like I have some shopping to do