A little late, but made me think of Moonkult. I reviewed their new album recently. I think it's pretty awesome, better than the 85% I gave it probably.

Looking for modern bands with good avant-garde and/or experimental sound(s) like Deathspell Omega and Kekal.

If you like DsO for their dissonance then you might like Svartidauði.

My recommendations for anyone trying to get into black metal:

In my mind, these albums influence black metal most:

Bathory - Bathory
-Doesn't really need to be explained that much further. Pretty much invented everything else to the genre except its name and lyrical name. How 99% of black metal sounds.

Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi
-In my opinion, first actual viking/black metal album. Bathory did something like this before but not with the same intensity as these Norwegians. Brutal stuff.

Sacramentum - Far away from the sun
-Just fascinating album. It has all the basic components at their supreme. Vocals, drums and riffs. Everything. It has no keys yet has very clear melodies and beautiful ones. Of course, this album demands so much patience from its listener. I didn't like this album that much at my first listen. But since then, experience has been growing and this masterpiece just keeps producing new nyances. I think no band will ever be able to make something like this, no matter how hard they'd try.

Windir - Arntor
-In my opinion, this viking/black metal album has most beautiful melodies of all metal. As a nordic man, I always feel arriving home when I listen. And im not even Norwegian. Yet this album has massive melancholy and darkness at same time. Brilliant masterpiece.

Emperor - Anthems to the welkin at dusk
-By far, most technical black metal album done in 90s. Even though it's technical and super fast tempo music, it still has nice raspy atmosphere.

Xasthur - Nocturnal Poisoning
-Extremely dark music. I think no band has ever succeeded to add keyboards to black metal as naturally as Xasthur does. Any attempt to duplicate this one man project fails miserably.

All of these albums have very unique and original sound. Yet they are all very enjoyable to listen. Especially when you get inside them. Check them through and black metal will hit your veins for sure.

I'm going to have to apologise for recommending garbage bands, but they are appropriate for your request.

Krallice is experimental, Weakling-inspired stuff with post-rock touches. It doesn't resemble the second wave style much. Noodly, atonal and utterly unmemorable passages, most of the songs incredibly long-winded. Often tonally nonsensical.

Twilight is experimental, but incredibly soft and mellow. Imagine a softened Nachtmystium with more glued-on quasi-experimental crap.

Nightbringer is the epitome of modern experimental garbage "black metal". They have gone further in attempting to create a dark aura for the music, but it's not very convincing, of course.

S.V.E.S.T. might count as somewhat experimental, and they are actually quite good. This might be in part because this band doesn't neglect to write actually inspired black metal riffing. Highly chaotic and aggressive, but with a shroud of mystery to it. Approaches great.

Glorior Belli is also somewhat experimental. A much better take on the things that Nachtmystium is on paper. It's not highly memorable, but I can't recall being irritated by their music either. Less insane than Oranssi Pazuzu.

Some terrible bands that fit the bill: Ithdabquth Qliphoth, Cloak of Altering

Your opinion on Deathspell Omega is about the same as Krallice and Twilight then?

I can't stand Fas, and most of Si Monumentum bores me. However, the song Sola Fide I is incredible. Paracletus also has some excellent songs, although some of them are about Fas level. The band is full of talent and incredible ideas, but some strange preoccupation with aesthetics is clearly holding it back.

As a short answer, not at all. But from my experience, some those bands have qualities that DSO listeners appeciate in music. My intention was absolutely not to be condescending or arrogant. I apologise if I came across as that.

Are all Darkspace albums reissued on Avantgarde pressed on black discs or are there different pressings with clear CDs? What are the differences between them?

First of all I found a really good split, Aeon Odyssey by Midnight Odyssey and Aeon Winds, also the album artwork is very cool.

I am also wondering if anyone has any black metal with folk influences from the South (USA). No shoegaze please...I beg of you.

Looking for more bands like Gestapo666 . More specifically in this song ( with "depressive ?" guitars):

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

Gestapo 666 just sounds like a not as good version of Mutiilation to me, but anyway the newest Vardan album (at least at the time of me writing this post since he seems to be coming out with a new full length everyday) is really good! It reminds me more of the classic original Wigrid album though, and since Wigrid has been inactive for almost 10 years this is the next best thing I've found. "Vardan - ...Dreaming …Living My Funeral" check it out, it's better than "Lifeless Shadow" which came out just before it.

Krallice's first album (S/T?) is actually really good and I'd deem it a necessity if you like Deathspell Omega. It's technical, atmospheric, and has long but well-written songs. I'm not going to say it's what all black metal should sound like, but I will say that it's worth checking out because it's a top-quality release and has an enjoyably unique atmosphere. It's easy on the ears but there's a lot more going on the album than, for example...any Agalloch album.

I´ll always reccomend this

I browse this thread at school and work where I'm not able to listen to youtube material. It would be nice for future reference aswell if you shared a few words about what you're recommending, especially where it seems that it's not directed at any particular request, but is a general recommendation or heads-up. That'd make the thread more interesting to read, and your posts would be more likely to incite discussion and counter-recommendations aswell.

Kyprian's Circle - Noitatulen Vartija

So I know we talked about Massemord (Poland) and Furia a page or 2 back and since this thread has been a little stagnant I'm gonna throw this out there. I got a copy of the new Massemord a few days ago and it's fucking amazing. It's very deathish black metal or tech black metal if you will, the drummer is a machine, but a human and they really put a lot of thought into every moment of every song. Even their slow parts are really funky break downs of bass riffs and grinding guitars that are original and awesome sounding. One of my favorite albums of 2013 for sure and a massive improvement over their last 1 song full length.

Alright, for the past few days I've been on "Swedish black metal" kick, stuff like later Marduk, Ondskapt, Funeral Mist, Mortuus, Watain and Ofermod. I'm not sure how I would describe this sound, maybe aggressive, bass-y somewhat well produced black metal. So I'd like to discover other bands that would fit the bill.

Using the 'similar artists' tab on MA, there's a couple of well known bands I'm either already familiar with or simply doesn't really fit my criteria. Stuff like Deathspell Omega and Glorior Belli (like them both) or stuff like Dark Funeral, Tsjuder (not what I'm looking for).

Nidsang and Triumphator are the first two to come to mind. Actually if you like Marduk and Funeral Mist there's an excellent chance you've already heard Triumphator.

edit: Not Swedish but for some reason I feel Horned Almighty's Necro Spirituals could apply here and also to SadisticGratification's quest for well produced black metal with hooks and deeper vox.

I found two really good pieces of post/atmospheric black metal recently
that is Lost by Cerna

and this is Wind by Ellende.

Nidsang was ok, but didn't grab me much. I'll check the rest of the album because there's potential here.
Triumphator was a bit closer to what I'm looking for, even if it was a bit too close to Marduk's Panzer Division Marduk era for me. Not bad still.
Horned Almighty was a name I've seen before and this is actually the first time I've heard something by them and I liked it. A bit more "groovy" than I was expecting but promising. I'll look further into that band.

Thanx mate!

A slightly vague request; some sad black metal. But not sad as in depressive, but more like downtoned like Enslaved's "The Crossing" or Ulver's "I Troldskog Faren Vild". That slightly melancholic tone to it, you know. thanks in advance.

How do you like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTqyTmkbVSU

PERFECT! Exactly what i was looking for!! Thank you!

Great reaction! Glad you liked it.

You might want to check out Wolfsmond's second and third album, Todtgelichter's first two, and maybe Barshasketh's second album.

Can anyone recommend something similar to Verge's "Because It's Wrong"? I'm familiar with the rest of the bands in their mini-scene, and I'm not looking for church-organ dark ambient/noise, symphonic black metal, or crappy DSBM - I want rough black metal with a similar vibe/aesthetics to their side of that split.

If you're not already familiar, check out the early Forteresse material, especially the "Traditionalisme" EP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAi3kBiKDuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz8rWD-gCcQ

I need to go back and listen to that Verge side again to make a more accurate recommendation however I think the Chronaexus side of the Dodsferd split may be exactly what you're looking for. Many things about them also remind me of the well deserved "popularity" growing band Barshasketh. Furia (Poland) is another possibility due to their many slow acoustic type breakdowns. The new 3 way split with Psychonaught? 4, Happy Days and Dodsferd is an honorable mention, probably not exactly what you're looking for but all 3 bands have some great material that isn't really dsbm but more very melancholy black metal with excellent leads.
Edit: don't post while driving, it's kind of like texting and driving, mistakes happen.

Hi there, I'm looking for something *sort of* specific.

I'm looking for something that's very distorted and "raw" in a way, and mostly I'd like the reference point to be Xothist:



So, buzzy, guitars, some-what depressing melodies, and I'd really love the dark-ambient factor. LLN dark-ambient isn't really like this to me, as I'd like drum beats and other atmospheres as well.

Thanks!

I think you'll enjoy these two bands:

http://svartsekt.bandcamp.com/

And also a band I have a demo .mp3 folder from called Gravsatt, but I can't seem to find them anywhere on the internet anymore.

Also thank you balbulus - they were pretty good.

I'm enjoying this Svartsekt a lot. Monitoring them to see if they release anything more in the future. Vocals actually sound female, weirdly. I like the production and melodies a lot, though.

Could you send me a link for that folder? Where did you hear about them (Gravsatt)?

I could send you a .rar of it. If i remember correctly I downloaded it from a bandcamp page.

I'm looking for bleak, scary black metal from the '80s that will make me literally shit myself out of terror.

I think the closest you're gonna get is Hellhammer.

Great nick name

Alright, since I'm huge on Ukrainian black metal, can you recommend me some atmospheric black metal in the vein of Drudkh and YGG and Blood of Kingu and stuff like that? You know, hypnotic mid-tempo riffs, long-ass songs, intense vocals, that sort of thing. You get the idea.

Walknut is curiously missing from that list.

Walknut, eh? I'm quite familiar with Graveforests. Pretty good stuff.

In that case, I get sort of similar vibes from a few Quebecois bands, specifically Monarque, Csejthe and Grimoire.