I like Obsequiae, Godkiller and Ungfell! Dolcinian was new to me, I like it, thanks!



Yes, but black metal doesn't get much better than those records.

That album is rather unique. Some bands that come to mind that might be similar to it are Heimdalls Wacht, Irrlycht, Lunar Aurora and Nachtfalke
These are pretty obvious so you might already know them.

Looking for the best black metal bands that aren't trying to be evil and whatnot. So no satanic or violent themes, and absolutely no violent activity (murder, church burning, etc), or anything else that might cause controversy. Basically, my only requirement is that they're morally respectable. In terms of musical style, I'm open to anything. Already found Immortal, it seems like they might be the only band from the Norwegian scene that wasn't causing controversy.

Enslaved too had zero involvement with the controversial side of the scene, and while i can't speak for the early norwegian lyrics the ones on the latest black/viking/prog albums have introspective and mystical themes. The music is great, but not exactly what you expect from a black metal album

There are a tons of atmospheric BM bands that go for a nature/spirituality themes, but 99% of them make me struggle to stay awake:
Fen's The Malediction Fields however is an exception, great record with a great atmosphere

Klabautamann's Merkur is another one: contemplative, creative and most importantly full of great riffs. If you are into Opeth's music you'll probably love this

Spectral Lore's later albums like III, the Gnosis ep... are also focused on beautiful, cosmic soundscapes without lacking in the riff department

Also staying in the realm of really creative music Negură Bunget's Om is a must: I can't think of any album like it.

Thanks for those suggestions, I've also found that atmospheric black metal is usually on the spiritual side so that's where I've been focusing. I'll probably try the Klabautamann one first, since I do love Opeth.

Take all the fun out it, why don't you?

Haha, no I'm just not ready to listen to bands knowing that they've been murdering their own members and burning churches and shit.

You sure black metal is for you?

Yes, I listen to a shit ton of black metal bands already. I'm just looking for more of them, I don't need any trouble.

You should go back to asking people for recommendations on black metal that sounds like the smell of a barnhouse or whatever, and stop being a pretentious gatekeeper.

Ardbeg Wizard is a useless edgelord. You can ignore whatever he says.

As for your request, check out Dzö-nga. Great atmo-black heavily inspired by Native American mythology. And though they don't reflect it in their music, the musicians lean heavily toward antifascism.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Dz ... iscography

As pointed out, there are plenty black metal bands that diverged from satan and destruction. Actually the abandonment of the original theme and embracement of the concept of the black metal in music only is an important movement of the scene called 3rd wave of black metal. Pretty much any band that started after circa 2000 can be expected to be non-satanic and if they are they are often referred to as a '2nd wave type' black metal band. To put it shortly, nowadays thinking that bm is about satan is a very 90s thing and you could go hunt pretty much without any fear on recent bandcamp releases.

It's hard to give recs since there are so many of them, but since you seemed to show interest in atmoblack, and especially on bands related to nature and spiritualism I'm gonna drop out some curious stuff on that line:

Botanist is an atmoblack project themed on plants. They have replaced the guitars by a hammered dulcimer. I don't know why but the dulcimer does make it sound a bit more organic, imo

Panopticon is a nature themed atmoblack with some americana influences (not all albums have those, though). I also think they are antifa, but not sure, I don't follow the politics behind

Kaatayra began in 2019. It doesn't get closer to nature-themed black metal than a full acoustic guitar black metal act from Brazil

Is Wolves IN The Throne Room too obvious? They are pretty much the most well known and the first recommended band when it comes to non-satanic/non-90s norwegian scene related. Nothing groundbreaking if listened nowadays, but they can definitely do a good songwriting. Also check my post slightly above for some classic heavy, not too light atmospheric bm recs if you're into the heavier stuff.

I don't wanna spam too much recs, but just so you know apart from atmospheric bm there are other niches that came with the 3rd wave that may be worthy following: space black metal (Darkspace, Mare Cognitum, Midnight Odyssey, ...) often focus on space themes and a desolate feeling
Shoegaze black metal or blackgaze (Deafheaven, An Autumn For Crippled Children, Violet Cold...), as the name implies, is black metal mixed with shoegaze. The themes may vary, but you can pretty much see it as if a shoegaze band like My Bloody Valentine had harsh vocals and blastbeats, so not much satanism and violence involved.
Post black metal (Fen, Entropia, ...) as the name impolies, is black metal mixed with post metal. Again the themes may vary. You can pretty much expect it to be a regular post metal band like Cult Of Luna lyricalwise, except that black metal sounding.
Experimental black metal or avantgarde black metal are mixed of black metal with avantgarde huh... metal (debatable?) Again, there are tons of these, but most of them is focused on the gimmick also lyricalwise, therefore not satanic in most cases. For instance Botanist linked above may be considered experimental black metal because of the dulcimer, and the lyrical themes are all plant related.

So since you said you're open to anything, maybe you'd like to browse the subgenres as well, it's what i'm saying :3

Sounds interesting, I'll definitely give them a try.


Thanks for the info and thorough list, I'll make sure all of these bands are saved to a notepad. Btw, I did already find Wolves In The Throne Room a long time ago, pretty cool band. I'm also somewhat familiar with blackgaze, Møl being the only band from the genre I currently follow.

Just in case anyone was thinking of suggesting these, I've also already found Agalloch, Akhlys, Auðn, Drudkh, Fuath, Numenorean, Saor, Wiegedood, Wilt, and Woods Of Ypres (if you count them). All great bands, if anyone else is looking for that kind of thing.

Auðn is an excellent one. I'd also recommend Fluisteraars, and Lantlôs (especially Agape, as that's the peak of their post-black metal catalogue, and the following albums, while very good, have dropped all black metal elements completely). I'd also warmly recommend Skogen, although they're a bit "edgier" than some of the other bands. Any album is good to start with, except maybe the latest one, as that's a sudden shift to a more epic doom influenced sound.

I will!

Is there a band of that recent trend of lightweight atmoblack or blackgaze, except that with tortured vocals, like... dsbmish? That'd be quite interesting to listen

A Light In the Dark: https://alightinthedark.bandcamp.com/
Cold Body Radiation: https://coldbodyradiation.bandcamp.com/.

Could use some non-satanic black metal bands who use fast diminished or dissonant chords. Think tritones, not panic chords.

This is probably the best example of what I'm looking for:


The little black metal(ish) part at 2:14 in this song is also an okay example:


This isn't quite the same thing, but the chords and notes here make a really dark and evil atmosphere that I love:

Jute Gyte? The fast paced parts are so dissonant that make me kinda dizzy.

Are Imperial Triumphant and Ved Buens Ende too obvious? I figure they are pretty famous as of now.

Also Drottnar is so non-saatanic that they're actually christian, lol.

Thanks for those suggestions, Ved Buens Ende and Drottnar sound pretty good. I suppose I should specify in my post what I mean by "dissonant" though.

And no, those bands aren't too obvious. I'm fairly new to black metal, so I'm not familiar with too many bands yet outside of atmospheric black metal.

Found a beautiful atmospheric black metal band that doesn't have enough followers. Most atmo black tries to go for a woodsy feel, these guys feel more spacey. The vocals, though distant, are also pretty phenomenal in my opinion.

Bandcamp:
https://astralpath.bandcamp.com/releases

I see people talking about "blackgaze" and stuff, what do you think about White Ward and maybe Ultar?

White Ward is pretty sick. I downloaded a couple of their albums a little while ago, haven't gotten around to listening to them completely. Haven't heard of Ultar before now, but I'm glad you mentioned them cause they seem really good too.

White Ward is one of my favorite black metal-related bands. I love the city vibe, it gives a completely different atmosphere than normal. Saxophone is great as well, such an underused instrument, a few other exceptions being Ihsahn and Sigh.

Yeah, White Ward is pretty much all I want to listen to lately, it's too damn perfect. I only noticed them recently thanks to Spotify playing random similar songs. I really enjoyed reading Bastardhead's review of Love Exchange Failure, sums it up bleak and beautifully.

I'm looking for albums that weren't released in Norway in the 90s but sound like this. I think I already know most of the relevant stuff from that time.

For example, like this release: https://skarntyde.bandcamp.com

there's loads of these, the "90's norway sound" was VERY diverse actually. think mayhem, darkthrone, immortal, ildjarn, kvist, emperor, burzum, mysticum, thorns, dimmu borgir, enslaved, ved buens ende, arcturus, you name it... and these are all big names and not even really that obscure.

check out odelegger, mörkeheim and vevstol for stuff in the vein of ildjarn, the first ofermod EP for DMDS worship, blood stained dusk for emperor stuff, hepatomancy or leraje's full-length for early gorgoroth, meillä oli vain yö for an exact nattens madrigal emulation, and hinsidig's first full-length for...something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlHoNwq ... nnel=Zifir
How can i find more music like this? Soul darkening atmospheric track. Dark ambientish but not exactly dark ambient. Balanced sound production.

Been listening to pagan warmoon, and I really like their sound. Give them a listen. Like more pagan lyrical themed bands.

Bands/albums with vibe similar to the Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen album? I am aware of the Memoria Vetusta Thrillogy and other stuff by BaN btw, so looking mainly for stuff from different artists. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hello.
I'm looking for black metal or black/(funeral) doom metal songs/albums that have relatively long slow or slow/mid tempo atmospheric parts with 'clean' electric/acoustic guitars or with some electronic elements that are similar to these:

https://youtu.be/4-m2_YtMHEw?t=407 (6:47-8:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm1opLIJiOw (0:00-0:30 and 1:01-1:27)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmyUL0Su9D4 (0:04-1:28 and 9:04-10:25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGzwedH4e-M (the beginning of the song)

- i.e. minimalistic, repetitive, cold-sounding, preferably (but not required) with some electronic effect(s) (reverb, echo).
Long song duration and songs that have both slow atmospheric parts and fast+intense parts are a plus.

I enjoyed a lot the debut EP of Kosmovorous (Greece / Germany) featuring members of Mosaic, Nachtmystium, Sun of the Sleepless, Herald amongst others.

Kosmovorous - Glorification Sermons (EP) [2020]
Herald (Greece) - Herald (EP) [2021]
Pakkt (Germany) - To Brocken Heights Where Witches Dance [2021]

Are there any black metal bands that make use of throat singing or similar sounding vocal techniques, like the new Wiegedood single at 1:36s?

Hmm, not really my area of expertise, but have you heard Yith?
https://yithmetal.bandcamp.com/track/madness This is one of my favorite songs, but all 3 albums are amazing, I still need to listen to the new one more.

A little late, but have you heard Djevel? one of my favorite things coming from Norway lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtLHWq6SY0

Sick6Six, thanks for the recommendation.


No, I haven't heard of Yith before, unfortunately.
I've got and listened to ''IMMEMORIAL'', and it's such an impressive black/doom metal album! The music is very emotional, and I love the vocals as well.
And I'll check out the other albums.

And I like the intro to the song "Madness" - its sound is more 'natural' than the sounds of the guitars from my examples, but it's also minimalistic and very atmospheric+cold-sounding so it fits into the request quite well.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Here's a couple more that are different, but have a similar feel I think:






Djevel and Hermodr both have a pretty extensive and excellent discography.

EDIT: Also, I always assume everyone has heard Wigrid but if you haven't, check it out! The first 2 albums are both perfect, and the new one after a 14 year break was pretty damn good too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-dO5aREqKI

Sick6Six, many thanks for the interesting recommendations.
I haven't heard of any of these bands/projects before. I like the moods and the styles of music and vocals on most* of the songs, and I like the lyrical themes/imagery of all these bands/projects/albums. I will check them out in more detail.
*
As for the non-metal parts/elements on these particular songs+album from the examples, I liked and enjoyed listening to all of them, but most of them are not exactly what I'm looking for in this request so I'll try to give a more detailed comment with explanations and descriptions (in order to make the request a bit more specific and clear):

- The parts with clean guitar playing on the songs "Two Ravens", "Paa vintersti skal hun synge en gravsang som aldrig ender", and "Drawn Astray" are a bit too fast and/or are filled with too many notes. It doesn't feel as fast and intense as the vast majority of the patterns from this video, for example - https://youtu.be/h5gMkXV-lEI, but it is still a bit too fast and 'energetic' for the request + and I guess most of the patterns (from the non-metal parts of the songs) themselves seem a bit too long and not minimalistic enough for me personally.
Repetitive acoustic guitar playing at the ending of the song "Drawn Astray" is relatively OK but that particular non-metal part of the song is a bit too short.

I'm looking for metal songs that have parts with slow or slow/mid tempo minimalistic and repetitive clean guitar playing not only because it sounds more atmospheric, but also because this kind of guitar playing can give the listener a sad/depressing/desperate mood/feel. A repetitive pattern for clean guitar playing should have relatively noticeable rests between each of/most of/some of the notes/elements of the pattern and/or there should be a relatively long pause between each repetition of that pattern (+ and the rests/pauses can be used as a place for reverb/echo effects of that clean non-metal guitar and/or for more prominent metal-related lead/rhythm guitar and drum playing).
The atmospheric guitar playing on the intro to the song "Madness" by Yith works really well because it's relatively slow tempo (and there's a space between each of the elements of a pattern), plus there's also quite a long pause between each repetition of the pattern (i.e., like, 1--1--1--1--1*-___(a long pause)-1--1--1--1--1-___(a long pause)-1--1--1--1--1-___-...).
(* it does not have to be so simple/repetitive/monotonous, patterns that are (relatively) melodic and/or a bit more diverse/complex are absolutely OK)

Constant repetitive mid tempo or mid/fast tempo clean guitar playing that has way too short rests between each of the notes/elements of a pattern and that doesn't have a relatively long pause between repetitions of the pattern (i.e., like, 1-1-1-1-1-(_)- 1-1-1-1-1-(_)-...) just doesn't work that way (for me, at least).

- The parts with repetitive atmospheric non-metal elements on the song "Nachtkrapp" and at the beginning of the album "Hoffnungstod" work quite well and fit into the request.
The intro to "Hoffnungstod" is rather unsettling than depressing (and to me seems closer to the mood+atmosphere on the intro to the album "In the Nightside Eclipse" by Emperor), but this kind of mood+atmosphere also fits, I like it.
The mood and atmosphere on the parts with the repetitive atmospheric non-metal elements on the song "Nachtkrapp" are perfect, I love these parts so much! They're very beautiful, sad and soothing at the same time.

I am mostly looking for black metal or black/doom metal songs with slow or slow/mid tempo minimalistic and repetitive atmospheric clean guitar playing that is either a separate non-metal part of a song or a very well-audible and distinguishable in the mix and that is not drowned out by distorted electric guitars and drums, but black metal or black/doom metal songs that have some relatively long parts with relatively well-audible and distinguishable slow or slow/mid tempo minimalistic and repetitive atmospheric keyboards/or some other atmospheric non-metal elements are also OK.

Alright, I'm still not sure what "bestial black metal" is, but hit me up with it. Sounds like something I'd like to try.

Edit: sounds like it's somewhat synonymous with war metal. So give me both I guess.

Check this out! The tittle song "Lustcifer" and there are others as well!
https://thetruegodless.bandcamp.com/

This is tough cause I'm not sure if they are real genres or just kind of a general type of raw/thrashy ugly black metal. Here's a few that might not be perfect, but all I can really think of at the moment:

https://schrat.bandcamp.com/album/seelenfresser Haven't really listened to this yet, but I liked all their previous stuff
https://helleruin6.bandcamp.com/album/war-upon-man
https://odiumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/desecration-rite
https://ende-official.bandcamp.com/album/em-n-etan
https://urzeit.bandcamp.com/album/anmoksha
https://axisoflight.bandcamp.com/album/axis-of-light
https://wearg.bandcamp.com/releases