I write for the blog No Clean Singing. Before I organize my "best black metal of 2017" picks I just kind of want to get a survey of what everyone thinks was the cream of the crop of the style this year. It can be traditional, progressive, any kind, as long as it's actually black metal. What's everyones recommendations? I want to check shit out.

Havukruunu - Kelle surut soi and Death Fortress - Triumph of the Undying are certainly contenders for me.

CORPUS CHRISTII: Delusion
NARGAROTH: Era Of Threnody
SATYRICON: Deep Calleth Upon Deep

Nightbringer - Terra Damnata: Those high note riffs...fuckin' hell, interesting vocal dynamics, a real evil 'open the gates of hell' occult vibe in this one

Inferno - Gnosis Kardias: Ritualistic, psychedelia infused bm with some fine layering & 'textural' depth

Dodecahedron - Kwintessens: Post DsO experimental, kinda' industrial tech bm, really intense & boundary pushing

Wode - Servents of the Countercosmos: Just some solid standard bm with killer riffs & interesting songwriting

Jordablod - Upon my Cremation Pyre: Whammies, reverb, bluesy, 70s inspired bm, somebody brought up Woodstock in the comments as well, I can see it

Xanthochroid - Of Erthe & Axen: Only tangentially bm with equal parts prog, folk & soundtrack oriented music, different but worth a shot

Serpent Column - Ornuthi Thalassa: Tight rhythm guitar work with Arghoslent styled melodic riffing & great drumming, pretty promising for a debut effort

Best based on what?

I don't listen to as much black metal as I used to so I am sure there is a lot I haven't heard yet, but here are my favorites.

Jordablod - Upon My Cremation Pyre - Iron Bonehead is my favorite label right now. I like the catchy, and slightly quirky riffing style. Reminds me of Tribulation a bit.


Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia - Another masterpiece from this guy. Mix of ambient black, and doom.


Antiversum - Cosmos Comedenti - Cavernous black/death on Invictus Productions so if you are familiar with the label then you should be at home with this.


:edit: Vassafor - Malediction - Shouldn't have forgotten to add this one earlier.

Why not go by your own taste?

i'm not your biggest black metal fanatic, but stand outs for me include bestia arcana, barathrum, cult of erinyes, biesy, hellripper, slaegt, and acrimonious

dodecahedron was a bit of a let down for me - i liked the debut way better

Cannot stress that enough.

why would you two assume he's doing anything but exactly that?
he's just asking for recommendations to listen to, since it's quite impossible that he'd have heard everything there is to hear already. nothing wrong with that - actually i'd say it's commendable

Second Xanthochroid - Of Erthe & Axen Act I (Act II is not good).

Of the stuff that hasn't been brought up yet (+1 on Nightbringer and Ruins Of Beverast), Woe - Hope Attrition and Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Finisterre are definitely worth checking out.

Highland - Loyal to the Nightsky
Windswept - The Great Cold Steppe, a Drudkh sideproject
Cult of Eibon - Lycan Twilight Sorcery, classical Hellenic Black
Also everything from Malum and Uten Hap

Isfet's "Shards from a Formless Past" for sure.

Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia - Another masterpiece from this guy. Mix of ambient black, and doom.



A real masterpiece indeed.

wow, i can't believe i'm not listening to early rotting christ right now

This thing pretty much floored me. An absolute surprise from an unknown artist. Wonderful.

https://vaivatar.bandcamp.com/

Cause it is his list.

We have similar taste

Cheers! If you would make a top-5 list of the above mentioned, which ones would you choose?

It's hard because all of them are great, but I'd pick:

1. Blaze of Perdition - Conscious Darkness
2. Wulkanaz - Paralys
3. Karne - Symposium of Torments
4. Whoredom Rife - Dommedagskvad
5. Third Eye Rapists - Deathtrip Transcendence

Hm. That is hard. A few of my favorite 2017 releases:

Wulkanaz - Paralys
Mystik - Dunkla Klangor af Herrens Mystik... (Kapitel 1 ock II)
Sanguine Relic - Bitter Reflection in Luminous Shadows
Faceless Entity - In Via Ad Nusquam
Vaal - Geesten Van De Verlorenen
Gjendød - Håpet Falmer
Arckanum - Den Förstfodde
Ungesehen - Unaussprechliches Entsetzen

Here's the ones I've kept in my collection so far (out of dozens from 2017

The Ruins Of Beverast "Exuvia"
Satyricon "Deep Calleth Upon Deep"
Blut Aus Nord "Deus Salutis Meæ"
Carach Angren "Dance And Laugh Among The Rotten"
Fen "Winter"
Wolves In The Throne Room "Thrice Woven"
Arallu "Six"

No. Just no.

I hated Deep Calleth Upon Deep. It just breaks my heart that the guys behind great albums like Shadowthrone and Nemesis Divina are capable of spewing out shit like their new record (and pretty much every release since Nemesis Divina). It has nothing to do with me being an elitist or some shit like that, but in my opinion Satyricon turned gold into shit over the years.

Exuvia I enjoyed a lot. Not at all comparable with Rain Upon the Impure but definitely better than Blood Vaults.

Riiiight. I believe ya. It's just a coincidence that you only like their "elite" black metal.

LOL. Ok, maybe Carach is a guilty pleasure. A refreshing break from the "satan this satan that" immature crap of most symphonic BM

No, just no. I only like their "elite" black metal as you call it simply because the first records are good and the rest are shit. Simple as that. But I'm not as narrow minded as you might think, for example: I enjoy Marduk more since Arioch joined on vocals than their old stuff. Another Example is Enslaved: I love the first two full lenghts, but I hate Eld, and some of their newer stuff are much better than their "elite" black metal albums... Get a grip, man.

"Get a grip, man"? Yeah, well, I have a firm hold, bruh.

Agree to disagree on Satyricon. I dig all their albums except "Rebel Extravaganza".

I dock "Nemesis" a point or two for the anti-Christian/satan silliness. I'm not religious but I hate that tired old tripe. "Rebel" is a cacophonous mess and the self-titled 2013 album is slightly boring. "Deep" rocks.

Nothing wrong with elitism in black metal. Nowadays black metal is often nonsense.

I strongly recommend Malakhim. A project born in the woods of northern Sweden last year and in October this year their first demo saw the day of light. One the finest demos I've heard all year.

THIS! And add Sarkrista - Summoners of the Serpents Wrath to the list.

"Get a grip, man"? Yeah, well, I have a firm hold, bruh.

Agree to disagree on Satyricon. I dig all their albums except "Rebel Extravaganza".

I dock "Nemesis" a point or two for the anti-Christian/satan silliness. I'm not religious but I hate that tired old tripe. "Rebel" is a cacophonous mess and the self-titled 2013 album is slightly boring. "Deep" rocks.[/quote]

So apparently people can't just prefer when a band writes their best music? Who gives a fuck if it's elite or not? The bottom line is that Satyricon wrote their best material from 1993-1996, regardless of what genre they played.

Forgot this too!!!

I won't re-mention any of the ones already listed, but I really enjoyed "Where Life Ends" by Deadlife

https://officialdeadlife.bandcamp.com/a ... ends-album

Havukruunu - Kelle Surut Soi must be the best pagan black i ever heard so far from Finland.. really amazing cd.

Jordablod - Upon My Cremation Pyre also a worthy mention from Sweden great black metal!

Demstervold

yellow eyes

Nobody talks about Dawn Ray'd