A guy I used to know who was a member of The Temple of Set(a group that developed out of the schism from The Church of Satan - loooong story) turned me on to black metal some years ago... there are millions of underground one-man bands, most of which suck, but there is some GREAT stuff to be heard. If you're a long-time fan of the genre, this will all be extremely basic stuff, but if it's new to you, this might give you something to go on without getting mired in shit and missing out on the good stuff. This is NOT "the history of black metal according to Tony", just sharing some info on good bands in the genre.
It supposedly all starts with the British band Venom and their song "Black Metal"... but to me, they're more of a Satanic Motorhead than anything else. Another band that is revered in the creation of black metal is Bathory - but, and these are just my opinions, Bathory sounds like early Slayer... or Slayer got it from Bathory. I dunno... but it's not black metal. It's like porn - you know it when you see(hear) it! (**And for those so-called "Xtian black metal bands" - um, no... just stop. You're kidding yourselves and annoying everyone else.)
Immortal is probably one of my favorite black metal bands. They had some pretty goofy stuff earlier in their career(a video called "Call of the Wintermoon" is a fave for haters to bash, and it IS quite silly. It was literally shot by a local tv news crew doing a spot on the then-newly emerging black metal scene in Norway and it aired like 2 hours later!!), and even they know that, but if you just check out the music, it's really freakin' cool. To bash a band or even an entire genre of music over one bad television news blurb is of course, ridiculous, but people do. "Sons of Northern Darkness" is probably their best album. They just released their first ever live DVD last year, but I haven't seen it yet... but I'm working on that. *wink* They're also quite unique in that their lyrics aren't Satanic - it's all set in a mythical ice-laden world called Blashyrkh. Abbath, the guitar player/singer did a video with Guitar World a few years ago and he was absolutely hilarious - really funny guy.
Dimmu Borgir is great too - another band people like to bash, just because they've become financially successful while actually playing Satanic music, as if they've "sold out"... you know how that goes. *rolls eyes* Their real early stuff is all in Norwegian, but most of their catalog is in English. "Stormblåst"(which they re-recorded with modern recording studio quality, and it ROCKS), "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant", and "Death Cult Armageddon" are all amazing.
Emperor isn't around anymore, but they're the ones that invented symphonic black metal, which is where Dimmu Borgir gets it. Emperor can be pretty "prog" in their stuff, so it's not for everybody. They only released four albums, so you can pretty much take your pick.
Marduk is absolutely brutal - and another one of my faves. Their first EP was entitled "Fuck Me Jesus" and had a drawing on the cover of a chick sticking a cross up her ass! ROFLMAO "Panzer Division Marduk" is one of their best studio albums and "Warschau" is an awesome live album.
Gorgoroth is another one of the BIG guns in black metal. Alot of controversy around them too, but you can read all about it elsewhere... I seem to be typing a book here already! LOL "Incipit Satan", "Twilight of the Idols", and "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam" are albums to check out. Also their live DVD "Black Mass Krakow" is awesome.
Dark Funeral are from Sweden(as are Marduk) and probably one of the most consistent bands out there. You could pretty much choose anything from their discography and it will kick your ass. They also have a FANTASTIC two-part 'video album' "Attera Orbis Terrarum" featuring live professional-shot footage(also including some fan-shot bootleg stuff) from their world-wide concert tours. If you're a Dark Funeral fan, this is a MUST BUY.
Mayhem is pretty good, but they've gotten more popularity from the murders surrounding them than their musical quality. They don't suck, not by any means, but to me, they're just 'pretty good'. "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" is the album that put them on the map, so to speak. I actually recorded a guitar cover of their song "Freezing Moon" off that album awhile back on my youtube channel...
re: Burzum
'Burzum' is Varg Vikernes, the guy that committed Euronymous's murder in August 1993(killing the main founder of Mayhem). He claimed to be "Mr. Evil Church Burning Black Metal Satanist" before, but once he got in prison, he became a Nazi skinhead, so frankly, I think he's just a worthless piece of shit. I guess getting buttfucked by inmates changes a person, eh? (for the record, I actually AGREE with alot of what he says regarding the destruction of Pagan traditions by the spread of Judeo-Christian oppression across the world.) yes, he was in 'the circle' that started the entire black metal scene, but he killed his friend over petty bullshit, and for that, he should rot in prison - like he is currently doing. I've never heard his music and I won't ever listen to it, so I couldn't tell you what it sounds like. There is a sub-genre(isn't there always?) that has emerged called NSBM - "Nationalist Socialist black metal", which basically is a bunch of Nazi-fanboy idiots, screaming about concentration camps, Jews, and posting pictures of Adolph Hitler and Heinrich Himmler on webpages, etc. There is also a group called "Joy of Satan" who espouses these bullshit theories and tries to link it to Satanism, which is fucking stupid. They can all fuck off as far as I'm concerned... that crap has NOTHING to do with music or even Satanism for that matter.
Cradle of Filth... whahahaha!! Gotcha! They're NOT black metal, despite what that 12-year old girl at Hot Topic says.
anyways, I talk(type) too much. LOL Just abit of my black metal 2 cents... do I claim to be an expert? Nope. I'm just a guy with a computer, an internet connection, and a blog. hehehehe There is sooooo much more I could recommend - sooooooo much more - but this is getting way too long as it is... here, watch some videos:
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