You know what? I think I'm starting to dig black metal. Well, some of it, anyway. I've been listening to a couple of atmospheric/folk-tinged bands (Burzum, Ulver, Drudkh), and it's a lot better than I thought it'd be.

^Drudkh's first two albums are some of my favorite metal. Highly highly recommend them to anyone. Good to see you're starting to dig them. And some black metal in general.

Unless you're one of those people who actually really dig that whole Mayhem/Darkthrone thing right off the bat black metal can be hard to get into, but when you start really digging into it you find it's one, if not the most, varied and interesting sub-genres of metal.

I'm not quite at Mayhem yet, but I did try Burzum's Aske earlier today. While I liked the riff of the first song, and thought that the shrieks were pretty badass, I didn't think it was as good as Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. It was brutal and all that, but felt a little more... empty. I will have to give it another listen to be sure, however, and then maybe see what I think about Mayhem and the likes.

Never been the biggest Mayhem fan. If you wanna hear who they kinda sorta ripped off then check out Sarcofago, a far superior band that's also easier to get into. INRI is just one of my favorite metal albums at the moment.





And I actually only listened to it for the first time a little while ago, but Mayhem's Grand Declaration of War is actually a pretty interesting album. It sounds nothing like what they're known for. It's actually more of an avant garde metal album than a black metal album. I don't even know quite what to say about it as it's so odd. Can't really post any one song as the album really needs to be taken as a whole.

I have just discovered Black Metal, but would everyone consider Venom to be the fathers of it? I have read that Hellhammer have their hands in it, but Venom came out a few years earlier than they did. I believe sometime in the late 1970's.

My hats off to the creator of this string of posts. There is much Black Metal to explore.

I'm also starting to dig black metal a little bit, though it's limited right now to Bathory which batlord introduced me to. You and I have much in common, and I recommend, as batlord recommended to me, Bathory's first 5 albums. Their second album is epic, and rapidly becoming a favorite of mine.

Some more black metal that's easier on the ears than Mayhem or Darkthrone.

I've found Mondstille to be a very accessible Black Metal band for newcomers, and they're also one of my favourite Black Metal groups as well. Their album Seelenwund is, in my opinion, about as much of a Black Metal newcomer's necessity as Bergtatt by Ulver is.

Here's an awesome song by Mondstille to check out.


Mondstille - Ich, der Pan - YouTube

I'd say probably a 4/5 for the first one....
2/5 for the second one (still a little too intense for me at this stage)
3/5
And that last one is ******* sick ! !


Also, I can't say I'm a fan of listening to anything by Burzum if the guy is, as I've heard multiple times, racist. I'd be lying if I said that did not bother me listening to his stuff.