Not sure about the unintelligible part, but Mgla's vocals are probably my favorite, there's nothing overly impressive or different about his vocals they are just filled with the utmost hatred, that band really just does everything perfectly. Hoath from Sargeist/Behexen, quite impressive when you listen to the variations throughout his career from the extreme ear piercing shrieks to the super low growls on the new Sargeist, definitely one evil dude. Crypt666 mentioned Urgehal who will always be one of my favs RIP, and Dodsferd on certain releases is pretty fucking awesome.

Oddly enough a lot of bands I listen to that begin with an A are from France. None of these are probably right but worth a shot.
Aorlhac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b7pIn4PlHs
Aldaaron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3ySy0sRt4
Acherontas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPImr_D7tjU
Astriaal (man this song kills) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hvrEtr80k
I doubt it would be anything like Arckanum, Aosoth, Astrofaes, Azaghal, etc. those aren't really in the realm of melodic like these other ones. This concludes my lesson on the letter A

No, none of those (although great recs once again). I'm seriously racking my brain here, hahaha, I think they have 3 albums? Very modern, slick looking artwork. I believe the album titles may have been in German. I have seen them mentioned here before but I'll be damned if I know what threads.

I'd really like an entire Black Metal album sounding like Infernum's song "Pagan" from their album "The Curse":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcgaS0PGyS0&t=18m40s

Closest I've got to the singing vocals is Nitberg - Nitsanger EP but it just isn't the same:
http://youtu.be/R-4oXHlzsvE

The singing on Urfaust - Die Kalte Teufelsfaust (Geist Ist Teufel) but I don't like the rest of the album or the high screams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjHaJq1B ... ture=share

^
Dude.. I think it's gonna be hard to find an entire album with that vocals. Except for Arcturus but I guess you already know that, and plus the instrumental is far different from what you asked.
There's this album by Niding
I'm not gonna say I listened to the whole album, but the parts I heard are like the song on the video. If you can find it somewhere... =P
Then there's the pretty chaotic Reverorum Ib Malacht which alternates on harsh vocals and to those kind.

Arafel fit some of your descriptions - http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Arafel/5547 - Worth a try. Have you any more info, whats on the covers, do they use keyboards etc Might help narrow your search down somewhat.

Thanx but I don't like Ambient, Experimental, Progressive or Avant-Garde Metal!

Ugh I wish I knew dude. I'm starting to give up hope. I know they exist though! I don't think they used keyboards, but I'm pretty sure the latest album had a very modern and sleek cover of some otherworldly monument. Greenish maybe?

↑ Fuck you will have is all scratching our heads lol Your description made me think of this http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/M% ... nen/149846 but it does not tick the other boxes. I also thought Blodsgard because of the cover but again the rest does not match?? Hopefully your cover description will ring a bell with somebody.

This evening I finally got around to YouTube-ing Mutiilation's 'Sorrow Galaxies' and I have to say that BM fans who don't dig Meyna'ch's other stuff should still give this one a chance. Rather different from the typical Black Legions material, more (good) Burzum-like if anything.

I also thought Sorrow Galaxies was pretty damn good... I remember when it first came out and I can't believe that was 7 years ago already. Still sucks that he called it quits

EDIT: Also does anyone have any incite on the Schattenvald albums? which is best to start with, they sound pretty good just not sure if they are too keyboard heavy for me or what. Also any opinions on Bilskirnir? I've enjoyed some of his music for awhile, but always just ripped it off because of that "National Socialism" in his lyrical themes, but I don't know to what extent that is taken. I generally don't listen to stuff unless I own real copies of it, but a little hesitant to add some stuff to my collection that i'm not sure about.

Autumn Aurora by Drudkh has been one of my favorite black metal albums since I first got into the band several years ago. I'm looking for bands who replicate the sound of that album. I don't want them to simply rip Drudkh off, but similar is what I'm basically looking for. Song lengths preferably around 8-10 minutes, but longer is okay too. One aspect that appeals to me about this album is that there's no relentless blast beats, and where there are some they fit well and are used right. I know most of the well known bands that are similar to Drudkh, but you can still feel free to throw them out there too, because I must admit I often times let bands fall between the cracks, and miss out on great music because of it.


Please no black/folk metal.

And don't get me wrong about the blast beats comment, I love chaotic 200 BPM black metal too, but I'm currently hunting another sound.

First, the obvious: Walknut.

Similar to Walknut but much blastier, Irrwisch - the atmosphere is still tranquil and enigmatic even though the drum beats are faster and more energetic.

Drudkh is calm and long-winded with some clever riffs here and there. If it's especially the clever riffs that you're drawn to, I definitely recommend Cosmic Church. Their latest album was somewhat blastier, but especially the first full-length fits that bill. Fairly similar to Cosmic Church, especially the demos, is Laster, and similar to that, Malacath's Songs for the Destitute.

Nidhoggr might be pushing it, but it's atmospheric, serene black metal with excellent riffs that deserves much more attention.

Walknut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQGN4F3X6Xg
Laster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3-8H1xCDzo
Malacath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXjmLTX2ZVw
Cosmic Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfjZo_Eb00
Irrwisch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8g_WnrcN0A

Am I completely off here?

Try Folkvang's - Atmospheric Black or earlier stuff, don't let the Folk in the band's name throw you off like it did for me... totally not folk. I always got the same kind of feeling from this band as I did from Drudkh and the lyrical themes are also similar.

Also Imperium Dekadenz who will probably appear in the similar videos on the right side of youtube

Also check the similar artist tab for Drudkh a lot of those are pretty good. Winterfylleth, Wodensthrone, Kladovest, Haven't listened to some of the others.

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm a huge Walknut fan so that one is definitely spot on. I am currently listening to the "Vom Felsen" track by Irrwisch, and while it certainly is a bit more on the blasty side, it works, and I'm digging it so far.

I am a bit short on time so I am unable to check Cosmic Church out right now; But I am a big fan of the clever riffs and long windedness, in fact that long winded and calmness is what draws me in to Drudkh so much. The whole atmosphere that helps to create. So if your description is accurate I believe I will greatly enjoy it.

I think I have just the thing, it is very similar but a fine release all the same -

http://axiowa.bandcamp.com/album/glare-of-autumn

Enjoy!

Schattenvald are worth checking out bro. Aa far as sound goes he can have quite a mixture of styles going on, atmospheric, folky, grim, its all there. Check out any of his releases as they are all worthwhile imo. He does use keyboards but not overkill and can be quite raw sounding.

Other suggestions for this request: Wodensthrone, Alda and Eoront.

Interesting. Is the rest of Ax's catalog similar to this? Or just this EP? Either way, I'm enjoying it; And while it is very similar so far the songs I've had time to check out have been pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation!

Thanks everyone who gave me suggestions, and thanks in advance for anyone else who might reply to my post in the future.

The debut from Fluisteraars has a lot of parts reminiscent of Autumn Aurora. Probably my favorite black metal release so far this year.

http://records.eisenton.de/album/dromers

To the guy requesting bands like Drudkh, I don't know if I would directly compare them musically, but Wolves in the Throne Room would be a good example of a band with fairly long songs and an overall "epic" feel - along with some pretty sweet trem riffing and, of course, the nature worship/natural history themes. I only have 'Celestial Lineage' so far but it is excellent - buy it!

For the Xasthur fans: I've only fully listened to 'Telepathic With the Deceased,' which I like but don't really love. Are any of his albums, in your opinion, considerably superior to that one? I'm not picky about different production styles or anything, so disregard that.

You have to listen to "Subliminal Genocide", which I believe is superior.

The Funeral of Being is the best one I remember, but to be honest, they are all rather bad.

Just finishing up listening to 'To Violate the Oblivious,' which I like the general vibe of, but the songs kind of run into one long gray mush. I will check out 'Subliminal Genocide' for sure though - Spotify actually has quite a few Xasthur albums, which is nice for convenience's sake.

Nocturnal poisoning and "to violate" stood out most to me... Not sure why I own most of his albums since I really never listen to them at all.

The first two WitTR albums are definitely my favorites. Their newer stuff certainly isn't bad, but can't really compete with the excellent first two I don't think. But yeah, good suggestion for this request for sure.

I stick by my overlooked mentions of Folkvang and Imperium Dekadenz! Also there's this band from Thailand called "Lux Serpent of Eden" his last few releases have been extremely Drudkhish. Problem is it's nearly impossible to find any of his stuff unless you have connections like myself. Most of his releases are limited to only 66 and he seems to have deleted most of his samples from Youtube I believe his latest album is being released on CD soon (only on tape before) but still probably hard to get ahold of. Found a couple samples on Myspace, but they are a little faster than some other songs. https://myspace.com/luxserpentofeden/music/songs

EDIT: Also this band which I still need to listen to more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJvfAlW8AI

↑ Would agree with Imperium Dekadenz, great band. I would try there latest album first, it has that 'warm atmopshere' if you know what I mean, a great release ro say the least.

As a large Xasthur fan, I don't think Scott's ever made a really great album. There are phenomenal songs here and there (pretty much the first half of Subliminal Genocide...which makes it probably the best), the first track on To Violate... along with "Marked by Shadows." Last 3 lps are junk, which is a shame because the real drums (even though they're poorly played) sound way better than the drum machine. "Dehumanizing Procession" off Defective is one of his best songs and lacks vocals.

Suicide in Dark Serenity might be his best overall release. The first two albums have pretty flat and bad production and the drum machine KILLS me. It's a shame his side of the Leviathan split sucks, because that's some of Leviathan's best work.

Telepathetic with the Deceased is super dense, a bit scatterbrained (I think his limitations as a songwriter come through here when he starts layering the shit out of everything to hide the lack of any kind of riffs or melodies) but kind of grows on you the way old Swans does.

I remember liking the split with Nortt, but can't recall specifics. Might've been one of those splits where the songs are taken from a different ep.

Pretty much anything after Subliminal Genocide should be ignored.

On a funny side note. A friend of mine was chatting with a guy about Xasthur and the guy said "Man, I don't know. That sad stuff doesn't do it for me. I mean, a whole portal of sadness?[sic] That's too much."

I have always suspected most Xasthur fans are on the heavier side

Not overlooked! I had a listen, and enjoyed that! Just hadn't a chance to get back by this thread and make a reply. The Folkvang was very good, and will definitely be going back to check them out when I get a chance too! Have a lot going on right now, and will be without internet for a couple of days.

haha it's all good, sorry to hear about your loss of internet for a couple days, that is brutal!

@FleshMonolith Yeah I have to agree with that, I used to listen to a lot of Xasthur and well... you are spot on I think.

So just a recap of what I think of Xasthur full-lengths if anyone cares:
A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors: worth a whirl
Nocturnal Poisoning: one of the best
The Funeral of Being: it's alright I guess, everyone else seems to praise it but I don't think it's that great
Telepathic with the Deceased: perhaps the most solid one
To Violate the Oblivious: slightly above NP and TwtD
Subliminal Genocide: hhhnng... has some highlight here and there I suppose
The Rest: crappy and boring, barely black metal

So basically, try Nocturnal poisoning, Telepathic.. and To Violate... for the most consistent albums.

Here's a bit of an odd request maybe..

It's a little late in life for this perhaps, but better late than never, right? I'm currently beginning to read the Lord of the Rings series, and I'm looking for heavily Tolkien influenced "epic" black metal. Now I'm fully aware of Summoning, and while normally I'm not interested in this type of music at all, I am right now as I'm reading this series, and maybe reading this will give me a new outlook on this music.

So, basically, very epic sounding black metal/dark metal whatever, folky sounding stuff is acceptable here, some clean vocals are okay, songs between 5-9 minutes are preferable.

Bands I know; Summoning and Rivendell.

I know there's a good number of bands who play this style, but as I said, I'm not normally into this type of stuff. So I'm hoping someone who knows a bit more can point me in the right direction in terms of what bands are the best.

Does it have to be Tolkien themed? There's Caladan Brood who apparently base their lyrics off of a different work of fantasy fiction: Malazan Book of the Fallen

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Cal ... 3540359903

They actually lean closer to black metal than Summoning's later stuff. Not quite as strong as them though in my opinion.

That works! Perhaps I should correct that in my original post, perhaps I should say fantasy themed "epic" black metal (that feels weird to type in a way). This works for me, I'm liking it. Appreciate it!

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I love the fact that no matter what band is mentioned, somebody somewhere is an expert on it.



I'm about 205 at 5-foot-9, so you may be right...

Drudkh had a rather specific riffing style from Blood in our Wells to Estrangement, including the EP, which I always found worked much better in more emotionally intensive black metal as opposed to the woodsy, calm and long-winded style. Those melancholic chord progressions with bright guitar tones - bands like Verge (Hatemagic), Todtgelichter (Was Bleibt) and even Primordial (The Gathering Wilderness, To The Nameless Dead) created far better things with that kind of riffing style.

Blood of Kingu also sounds much like Drudkh at times, only it's fast and relentlessly intense, and much darker as well. Incidentally, De Occulta Philosophia is a very good album.

Here is a very promising new release for you guys to check out, Old Graves, free to download here -

http://oldgraves.bandcamp.com/

Enjoy!

Requests always bring me back to Cirith Gorgor - Very "epic" and Tolkien themed, band even named after a haunted passageway in middle earth!
Gorgoroth was also named after "the dead plateau of evil and darkness in the land of Mordor" Their music isn't really Tolkien themed though I don't think.
Azaghal's first album "Mustamaa" means Mordor in Finnish, right Ilwhyan?
There's also this killer song by Horna