Thanx but they weren't really my kind of thing. I've combined Absurd's demo God's Death with their Thuringian Pagan Madness EP and tracks 5-7 from Facta Loquuntur. 13 tracks combined little over 37mins, I don't think I have recently played anything this often!

Hmmm... would Isengard work for you Crypt666?

Recently got CD of Rodent Epoch album Hellbastard, from Finland very raw and feral. Worth checking out! A very good album.

Thanx, I could really like his voice but the way he uses it and the music just isn't my thing

↑ No problem mate, was worth a try! Not alot I can think of in the style you are looking but I am sure I would have something in my collection. Will let you know if I come across anything. I have others in the style of Isengard such as Storm but I know know this is not the style you are after.

LIK is not exactly black metal but "occult black rock", but I'd say the influences you are looking for are there and considering you had Isengard linked as an alternative before, this should work as well.

Thanx I was recommended Lik in my closed topic but I don't like it.

I sampled Absurd a few times and found the bands name to be fitting. Didn't get it or like it at all, not sure why I've seen it as a best seller on some more obscure distros.

Anyway I think some people were looking for some DSBM with lower vocals recently? Maybe check out Blodulv (any album) and Luror - Cease to Live. Not the typical Xasthur kind of DSBM, but way way better IMO.

Not too surprising I suppose since you're probably the first person I see say they didn't like Isengard, and LIK took a lot of influence from Isengard.

I always kinda just thought they were shitty RAC (white power rock) masquerading as black metal. A lot of NSBM bands could be described thusly.

Well they didn't release a single full length I entirely liked. I like the God's Death demo and a couple of more tracks from other demo's. Rerecorded versions of these songs appear on their debut EP and first full length (Which are great) but I don't like any of the new material they wrote.

I'm a big fan of early 80's Oi! so that probably explains a lot

Are there any experimental/post black metal bands using 1st wave black metal kind of vocals? You know, those vocals we hear in venom, or mayhem's de mysteriis.

While these bands aren't too far off the beaten path, Dragonlord and Vesania should appeal to the person looking for stuff similar to Dimmu Borgir. I prefer Vesania's album God the Lux to the one the above linked song comes from, Firefrost Arcanum, but GtL is a little deathier.

Hello thread, what's some foresty black metal that sounds similar to Branikald? Ideally not NS but if it is I don't really care.


There's a demo tape by a norwegian band called Incarnator that might interest you, unfortunately it's only 2 songs and they never did anything else, but it's very Bathory like.

Ifing is pretty forest like.
http://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/against-this-weald

Was hoping to just get some general opinions on Thantifaxath? I ordered their EP and full length last night. I didn't sample anything because it's more fun that way, but I AM curious what people think of their sound and there isn't a lot in the way of reviews. Can the "similar bands" tab be trusted, do they have similarities to Negative Plane? I'm a big fan of NP.

Not a big fan of them as a live band (I've seen them twice) but I think the full length is pretty boss (easily one of the highlights of 2014, autothrall is right). I'm not quite sure you'll dig them though, they don't have NP's traditional metal influences and are way more dissonant. I guess we'll see since you have this old school "surprise me!" approach!

You know, I took that similar artist tab with a big block of salt since autothrall NEVER mentioned a similarity. The closest he came was mentioning them in the same breath as Funereal Presence. I'm kind of curious what they're all about too. Love the album name/cover and of course it's the drummer from NP on all instruments.

Thanks though Tony, that's a good start. I'm really excited to check them out. I'm not sure I know what dissonance means in relation to black metal anymore, but I don't think that's a deal breaker necessarily.

Any other opinions (good or bad) anyone wants to toss in the ring would be appreciated.

Alright so there isn't a ton of clamor in these parts about Thantifaxath, good to know! They may not sound like Negative Plane but I've been obsessively consuming reviews and the bass keeps being mentioned as being rich, warm, upfront, etc. Very excited to see how that plays out with the dissonant approach and the wandering structure.

I don't listen to autothrall! as good as his reviews are, and I think some of his titles are down right hilarious, some of his scores just baffle the fuck out of me. He seems to have the exact same taste in music as me, but some things I completely agree with and others I just don't understand one bit. I don't see how he has time to listen to so many albums more than just once either.

I guess we're the exact opposite. Once I get an idea of what a reviewer focuses on I don't even usually bother looking at the score or taking it into account. That percentage is nothing to me. I glean just as much positive information from negative reviews. Autothrall may be a fungus but he's pretty talented at giving me a decent idea what something is going to sound like. Plus I know he's into NP so I'm sure he would have mentioned it if there was much of a correlation.

Today in high-quality USBM (it does exist!), this band I stumbled across called Yith that describes itself as black/doom. Definitely a hybrid of the two, rather than just slow or minimalist black metal like lots of bands that use the tag, though some songs definitely lean more heavily one way or the other. Very evocative of crumbling, ruined yet once majestic castles. Haven't heard the first demo yet as it's not on their Bandcamp but I snagged the other three (Demo 2 is free and Demo 3/the S/T are only a buck each) and the band is incredibly solid.

From the third demo:


More black metally track from the second demo:

Wow! Thanks for that Batman, never heard of that band.

Yeah, I found them a little while ago but wanted to listen to all their stuff to confirm that they were as cool as I thought they were and they definitely are. Added a second track to the post just now that's a little more black metallish and not as doomy as the first.

I recently found this Finnish band called: Hiidenhauta.
Really good melodic black metal. Maybe bit Emperorish also.

http://hiidenhauta.bandcamp.com

Nice folk BM band. The album is free on Bandcamp.

Their keyboard player is a total miscreant!

Cool band though. Reminds me a good bit of early Enslaved, too, but often with a more pronounced modern folky feel. I also owe them a review of the full-length, which will happen...eventually!

What's the best introduction to Lunar Aurora?

Anything from Ars Moriendi to Mond. It depends on what you're expecting, though. For some people it would be Andacht, and for some it would be the first two albums and demos.

It really depends on your taste. I like these:
Lunar Aurora - Auf Dunklen Schwingen (Demo) (1996) (GER)
Lunar Aurora - Weltengänger (1996) (GER)
Lunar Aurora - Ars Moriendi (2001) (GER)
Lunar Aurora - Mond (2005) (GER)

Thanks. They showed on this list of bands similar to The Ruins of Beverast so I'm hoping they won't disappoint.

They're not very similar at all, though - in fact, I think Lunar Aurora has more in common with early Horna than it does with Beverast. They have vague similarities with Beverast's debut up to Elixir of Sorrow, so either that or Ars Moriendi would probably be the best introduction for you.

I only have 'Mond,' but it's quite good. They really nail that cold, somewhat depressive atmosphere.

I definitely recommend exploring their discography further. Mond and Andacht are much less varied and interesting as most of their albums. The first three albums can be outright psychedelic, and the last album, while very impressive, is a very different beast from all the other ones.

recently re-listened to Raise Hell's debut album and now I've been craving black/thrash with a mild hint of Storm of the Light's bane-era Dissection. Any recs come to mind?

@OneSizeFitz - The first on Black Anvil's upcoming album might be something you dig. http://blackanvil.bandcamp.com/track/still-reborn
The rest of the album isn't too much like the first song sadly.

How about Valdrin from Cincinnati?



http://valdrin.bandcamp.com/

iamntbatman, those Yith songs are pretty cool. Might have to check out more.

damn, Valdrin kicks ass. Gonna have to check out the rest of that album. I remember listening to alotta Black Anvil's Triumvirate when it first came out, definitely wasn't expecting them to make something that had that much melody in it like that Still reborn track. Both bands basically hit the nail on the head for me.

Agreed, thanks for the tip batman!