I'm looking for bands that play pure black metal music that use death metal vocals exclusively or majority of the time. Not black/death or blackened death, but straight up black metal with death vocals or vocals near enough. Bands along the line of Hate Forest.

Set from North Carolina come to mind, although their style of black metal contains, in fact, an apparent death metal influence beyond the vocals, particularly in terms of the sound's overall bass-heaviness and density and the musical structure of certain song passages. Nonetheless, the death metal influence is, in my opinion, minor when seen in the overall context of the Set's music; and because I find Set to be similar in tone and atmosphere to Hate Forest, I recommend that you do give them a try: http://www.myspace.com/setiandarkness

I suggest especially giving a listen or two to "Abominations of Blasphemy" and "Into the Cryptic Void". Set have, as of yet, only released a demo tape, "Dominus Profanum", in 2008, but a full-length is scheduled for release sometime during 2013 on Nuclear War Now! Productions, so keep an eye open if you enjoy them.

Hate Forest is kind of in their own league, so there aren't really bands that are very similiar. But other black metal bands with way more death metal style vocals...


Grand Belial's Key (US)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01uS-C-7woU

Blasphemy (Canada)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6kh37y8B3M

Archgoat (Finland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNktDjND0SU

This is basically what I was looking for. A death metal influence is fine, like Demoncy's Joined In Darkness, but I didn't want straight up black/death. Set definitely sounds like an American version of Hate Forest and that's not a bad thing. So thanks for recommending them.

There's Blood of Kingu, which might as well be the direct successor to Hate Forest.

Astrofaes is pure black metal other than for the folk influences. The vocalist, Thurios, sang for Hate Forest, and his low growl is quite similar to what Blood of Kingu vocals are on the second album. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend Idea. Form. Essence as a starting point, but I think it has the lowest vocals.

I'm looking for black metal that has a chilly, outer-space feel (and space-themed lyrics are a plus), on the order of Mussorgski (Pol). Anything leaning toward the ambient/industrial side is especially good.

The most obvious suggestion would be Darkspace.

Astral Silence's debut could also work. Not that many industrial elements, but there's BM and ambient, so...

Another recommendation in the very same vein, although they sound far more directly similar to Hate Forest than Set, are Death Fortress from New Jersey: http://youtu.be/CJrEpLAvaYw Mind you, Death Fortress are more of a downright Hate Forest clone, but nonetheless a potent one.

There's a band- and label-endorsed download of the complete "Pulling Ancient Stones" demo tape available at SVN OKKLT, too: http://www.svn-okklt.com/2012/10/death- ... stone.html

Check out german Trist's "Hin", the black metal side, if one hour track with over 10 minutes ambient intro doesn't turn you off.

Add Alrakis to the already mentioned, the debut album should be just what you are looking for -

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Al ... Eri/320485

Antiphrasis seem to fit that bill.

Excellent, I've been looking for black metal with gory lyrics. Cheers! Let's see if it's any good, then.

I mainly recommend Wiedergeburt from the s/t demo and Conquering Heaven from Gutsfuck.

Edit: By the way, I want to thank you and all the other people that participate and give out recs in this thread. Thanks for keeping this thread alive

Massemord (Poland)

Despite the obvious difference in production values between the two I'm inclined to recommend Melencolia Estatica to you. They do not fit the super distorted part of the bill but they are certainly dense and melodic. I think that you'll probably enjoy them.

Let me apologize beforehand if you don't like them, though. I've fallen a bit behind in my BM knowledge the last 2-3 years.

Where to start with Rotting Christ?

Someone asked the same question on the last page, so I'll just drop the same answer.

This song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m15tGbYP9J4

Seriously now, Rotting Christ is a band whose musical evolution has been quite evident in their work. Every album is slightly different from the last one and adds some new elements. Yet, they still have their characteristic sound no matter how far out they branch out or how much they evolve.

You can skip the grindcore period, of course. It consisted of only two demos and a split and it was at the very beggining of the band so it isn't as important on their musical evolutions as the other periods.

I'll try to break down their periods in order to make it a bit easier for you:

1) The Hellenic Black Metal Period

From Passage to Arcturo to Non Serviam:

That's the period that shaped the sound of the Hellenic BM scene. That's the sound that characterised the sound of Rotting Christ. You can still find elements of this period in the newer material of the band. Simply put, this period represents Rotting Christ in their purest form.

2) Venturing into the Gothic Realm and Return to Black Metal

From Triarchy of the Lost Lovers to Sanctus Diavolos:

That's not a compact period like the previous one. The musical evolution that the band is going through in this period is almost tangible. You can hear it. You can feel it. You can sense it.

Triarchy of the Lost Lovers is the first album in which they incorporate Gothic elements but it's still a BM album for the most part. "King of a Stellar War" is a track that stands out.

In A Dead Poem they went a step further. They blended the two genres. Their brand of Gothic and BM is almost unique as it still incorporates a lot of elements of Hellenic BM. "Out of Spirits" and "As if by Magic" are songs that one has to listen in order to fully understand Rotting Christ.

Sleep of the Angels is their most Gothic album to date. It goes further than A Dead Poem and emphasizes the Gothic side over the BM one. The BM side is pulled back and you actually have a difficult time classifying this album as Black Metal. It still has some excellent tracks like "After Dark I Feel", of course.

In Khronos the band starts moving towards BM again. The BM side resurfaces and is blend once again with Gothic elements. But this blend isn't romantic this time around as it was in A Dead Poem. It's a different, darker blend. "If It Ends Tomorrow" and their cover of Current 93's "Lucifer Over London" stand out.

Genesis is their strangest album. It takes on the symphonic ideas prevalent in the last three albums and expands on them. "In Domine Sathana" and "Under the Name of the Legion" are excellent tracks.

Sanctus Diavolos signifies the return to their Black Metal nature while expanding upon the ideas of Genesis. "Visions of a Blind Order" is an excellent example of this. It starts off with a bombastic blast beat and a great tremolo riff, it contains a somewhat symphonic chorus and ends with an excellent solo. "Athanati Este" and "Sanctus Diavolos" are must heard songs. They certainly rank in the top 10 (if not top 5) of Rotting Christ's songs.

This period represents Rotting Christ's musical evolution.

3) The Modern Black Metal Period

From Theogonia to current:

Sanctus Diavolos signified Rotting Christ's return to Black Metal but it's Theogonia that shaped their modern sound. The band started incorporating folk melodies and themes to their brand of Black Metal. Aealo took it a step further with some tribal vocals and percussions. They are going to release a new album soon so we'll see how their sound will evolve

This period represents Rotting Christ's maturity. They're still evolving their sound (and they'll continue to do so for as long as they record albums) but they have managed to develop a sound that no other band can replicate.

Personally, I'd start from Passage to Arcturo. But you can just pick the period that you think you prefer and start from there. I hope that I was able to help

Would someone recommend me black metal in the vein of Darkwoods My Betrothed's Autumn Roars Thunder and Forgotten Woods' The Curse of Mankind? You know, the kind of stuff with very 'pagan' atmosphere and lots of acoustic guitars, and maybe clean vocals too. I know all the big names in this field (like Enslaved's Hordanes Land and Drukh etc.), so don't bother mentioning them.

Hey Scandal, check out the early Wyrd albums, should be just what you are looking for. Also if you like good acoustic work in your black metal check out Blaze of Sorrow, I have a thread for their new album in the metal discussion thread, excellent stuff. I have the two cds you mentioned but its been a while since I listened to them so I hope those are not far away.

Okay, thanks for your answer! I check those two bands out if I can find their records somewhere. That DMB album is kind of sloppy, but I still like it. Worth a listen every now and then.

I will be seriously impressed if anybody can name a band like inquisition that is nearly as good.

Okay, so Innsmouth's "The Plutonian Drug" kicks ass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-MjbV-3Zc

Can anyone recommend anything else that sounds like this? I'd be curious to know what influences they might be pulling from here, if any come to mind. I know this isn't strictly BM, more of a death/black hybrid of sorts, but any parallels that could be drawn would be helpful.

Pretty decent, but not what I'm really looking for. It's not this humongous body of sound that's absorbing like Mord (us). Thanks though.

One in ten bands I name aren't as good, but admittedly there are few similar ones. If I crave something in a groovy style, I usually go with Craft.

Does anybody know of any bands that play a slow, melancholic kind of black metal, but fast mid-tempo to fast vocals? Kinda like this live video of Nocturnal Depression? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTcFWZh9aCE

Do you know of Archgoat? Primitive, bestial black metal with deep, booming vocals.

Dödsengel's Imperator springs to mind, which was released last year. Really massive and evocative of subterranean rituals in mazelike tunnels, if a bit of a grower of an album. I've spun this only a couple of times through and keep on noticing new things going on. I really liked their earlier Mirium Occultum, which did a good job of giving that weirded-out feeling, and I feel that this might outdo that one. Good shit.

Hmm, maybe the excellent Sombres Forets might be something you will enjoy? -

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Be8cqOAuluE

Black Metal is so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDDoxykqWA8

USER WAS SUSPENDED FOR THIS POST

Anyone know any bands like Verdunkeln? Extra points if it sounds like their demo. So basically, raw black metal with subtle undertones of dark psychedelia (they have some cool clean chanted vocals, as well).

Also, I second the Sombres Foret rec. Their second album is amazing. Their first is good, but everything that is good about it, the sophomore does better.

You probably know these already and they're only vaguely similar but thought I'd throw them out there anyway:

Graupel
Nagelfar
The Ruins of Beverast

Interested to see what other people come up with, I love the Verdunkeln demo (and the follow up album).

what would be the best nocturnal depression album to buy?

The only one I know is Ruins of Beverast (they have some pretty cool shit). I've heard of Nagelfar, but never checked them out. I'll check out Nagelfar and Graupel for sure. As for Verdunkeln, the demo is absolutely perfect as far as I'm concerned, and while the follow up was good, I felt it could have been a bit better. Their new album is fantastic, one of my highlights of 2012 metal.

Dystopia, check out Krater and Kaltetod, 2 very awesome German bands that Nightgaunt recced me.

Will do, haven't heard that much German black metal, but the stuff I have has been quite good.

I'm sure that some people here know them (they were recommended quite a lot 3-4 years ago) but you have to listen to Bornholm if you don't know them already.

Their debut, "...On the Way of the Hunting Moon", is fucking amazing.