I'd try older Rotting Christ ... I can't understand why the new album gets so much praise; it pains me to say this since the guys in the band are very cool and still put on great live performances (their new DVD is incredible), but it sounds like Ramstein with the odd vaguely eastern-sounding guitar riff or solo. "Thy Mighty Contract" is great, very thrashy, and full of so many great riffs that you won't know what to do with yourself!

Also, I think you might have better luck with bands like these ones:

Master's Hammer--check out "Ritual"...very heavy metal in sound, but wholly original and with captivating riffs. Drumming is really propulsive and the vocals are something akin to little else in the genre. This is definitely one of my most favoured BM albums.

Tearstained--In particular, try the "Final Thoughts" album. It's a splendid blend of influences older and a bit more modern...they're often described as a meeting of Bathory and Mercyful Fate, but on this album in particular, which is my favourite, I think I can detect a few "second wave" Norse influences too. The vocals consist of Quorthon-like snarls as well as King Diamond-ish falsetos, though the quality of his voice isn't much like King's....more melancholy if that makes sense. Guitarwork is great, and you'll love the riffs.

Mortuary Drape--"Secret Sudaria" is definitely a classic, but it's very difficult to locate nowadays. The band are great musicians in nearly all of their incarnations (they've had a lot of lineup changes over the years), and each song is packed to the brim with headbangable dark riffs, wild solos and dextrous drumming. The vocals are deep, manly growls that carry with them a great deal of expression..they certainly aren't typical black metal vocals and their conviction is supreme.

Varathron--Go for "His Majesty at the Swamp". Actually, you would do well to investigate the Greek scene of the early 90s...check this thread because there are references to these groups all over the place. Varathron were arguably the founders of this style of black metal, and can be identified by very melodious, chunky riffs,, harmonising guitars and distant, subdued growls. Rotting christ adopted a similar formula for "Thy Mighty Contract", though I think they had somewhat more of an aggressive sound at the time (more thrash, less Mercyful Fate, maybe).

Grand Belial's Key--"Mocking the Philanthropist"/"Castrate the Redeemer" is my favourite. Here you'll find black metal that runs the gamut from slow doomy riffs to fiery thrash-influenced passages. Their songs are often less simple than they initially appear and they throw in all sorts of tasty passages to keep a listener's attention. Some of their songs are devillishly catchy. Personally, I prefer this late 90s incarnation of the band, for I find the oncient-sounding production and sloppy drumming to be very endearing, but you may find that the later albums have a greater punk influence and a cleaner (read more modern) sound. I think "Kosherat" is shit, though. ANyway, you said, I believe, that you're not chiefly after overtly blasphemous lyrics, and GBK is definitely about as blasphemous as they come, but I find the lyrics well-written and a cut above the usual ..it's clear that those boys from Virginia have read some bible in their time!

Anyone?

You definitely want to hear old Barathrum. "Eerie" in particular is just mandatory. So dark and tenebrous and ritualistic, and with two basses! That album in particular has a strange, crusty and ancient production job..sounds like it could be from the 1970s almost.

Of course, Samael's "Blood Ritual" is one of the defining pieces in crawling, black-as-pitch metal. "Worship Him" may be slightly superior but it's also a bit faster.

Necromantia's "Crossing the Fiery Paths" is mostly very slow, and again, extremely dark and morbid.

I really appreciate all the recommendations and even more the descriptions.
Master's hammer was pretty cool, but the vocals annoyed me.
Tearstained was actually pretty awesome. I felt like killing myself after listening to a few songs though, haha.
The few Mortuary Drape songs I listened to kicked ass.
Varathron was pretty cool but not extremely impressive from what I heard.
I can't bring myself to listen to GBK. I like Satanic lyrics in the more theatrical sense. They just seem too serious.

On another note. I bought Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse today because I saw it for pretty cheap and couldn't pass it up. What should I expect from it?

^^
One of the most essential black metal albums ever. I personally love it.

Searching for raw trashy old school black metal. Not really specific. None of this overproduced drivel. None of this atmospheric shit. Just some black fucking metal.

I don't know how familiar you feel with the genre, but I would suggest to check out early Sodom, early Bathory and Sarcofago's 80's material.

No, I am very familiar with the genre and Sarcofago and Bathory are among my favourites.

I'm looking for something more underground. Early 90ish. Something developed along the lines of early Sarcofago and Bathory, yes.

Try some Aura Noir. Like Black Thrash Attack. They live up to their self-imposed moniker of "ugliest band in the world."

You might enjoy Japanese black metal thrashers Abigail. They started releasing shit in the early 90's, but their later stuff is worthy as well.

An update. So far in black metal I've really liked pretty much all of Mortuary Drape's albums. I also liked Emperor's ItNE(Haven't listened to anymore of their stuff.) Teasrstained was good except for the lyrics.I pretty much have all the black thrash I want. Aura Noir, Nocturnal, Toxic Holocaust, Wastelander, Skeletonwitch.
Anymore recommendations?

I wouldn't go that far.
I'm pretty sure Vulture Lord is what you are looking for. Profane Prayer; truly, the ugliest band in the world.

Has anyone bought from online distro Perverted Taste? Reliable? I would like to know because their inventory is almost too good to be true. If it's any good then I certainly wouldn't mind paying more for import pricing.

Glad you liked some of the bands. I love Franta Storm of Master's Hammer's vocals, but I could see how they might not appeal.

But GBK too serious? Well, I like my BM pretty serious, but those guys really are not .. it's too bad you couldn't have ever seen them perform live.

I guess you could call GBK serious in that Gelal clearly has studied the bible and Christianity in some capacity so that he is better equipped to mock it. Outside of that...no they are obviously not so serious about "satanism".

Anyone want to weigh in on Enochian Crescent? They've played two songs on Beherit radio from Last.fm and they've both piqued my interest quite a bit. It's certainly not as rigid as what I'm used to hearing from BM, but there have been some great riffs and the riot vocals on "Chalk Face" were definitely unexpected.

I'm already addicted to black metal, but it seems that my BM listening habits gravitate toward the genre's "household names", ATM (i.e. Mayhem, Darkthrone and Gorgoroth). While such bands are excellent, I'm looking to immerse myself in the more obscure selections that this genre has to offer. So, basically, I'm looking for the most raw, obscure and majestic shit out there. Suggestions? Please and thank you.

Try Heaven in Flames by Judas Iscariot or you might like the band Hate Forest.

I already know (and dig) Judas Iscariot, and I will check out Hate Forest. Thank you!

Have you checked out Shining (SWE) yet?

I wrote a review on a band last night that might cater to your needs:

Paroxysmal Descent are an Australian band who seem to be influenced by the second wave, but have a surreal majestic feel given the inclusion of keyboards. Raw fuzz and obscure.

A household name, but don't Velvet Cacoon fall into the category of raw, but majestic? Absolutely adore 'Genevieve' given its ambient touch, but 'Dextronaut' might be more to your liking. If you enjoy this band, try Wrath of the Weak as they're similar.

Avsky are also raw, and very aggressive.

Murk aren't much of a step up from the second wave beginnings most of us go through. Raw, aggressive, Darkthrone-inspired band.

If you enjoy something like that, you should enjoy bands like Judas Iscariot another household name. Raw with majesty through repetition. Often melodic, but very hateful. If you enjoy this, check out Weltmacht too.

You may also enjoy bands like Förgjord.

Raw and majestic immediately brings to mind some of the Ukrainian and Russian black metal bands. Check out Walknut, Kroda, Astrofaes, Blood Of Kingu, and, obviously, Drudkh. I also second Hate Forest.

You just reminded me ... What about Branikald?

If you end up liking this band, you might as well check out the rest of the BlazeBirth Hall. Branikald is probably the most popular of them followed by Forest, Raven Dark, and Nitberg.

You might also enjoy bands like Kilte, Woods of Desolation, and Abysmal Sorrow.

So I have been trying to delve further into black metal recently, because I have always like the epic feel of the genre.

My enjoyable listens so far have included Emperor, Enslaved, older Satyricon and recently some thread led me to Siebenburgen who strike me as closer to blackened goth metal, though i like their first couple of albums alot.

I, unlike alot of people on these forums apparently, have no inherent fear of keyboards ruining my music and actually like a decent dose of the gothic in my black metal. Though it had better be good keyboard just as the guitar had better be good guitar, I really don't mind keyboard-heavy metal at all.

So to sum it up, looking for that epic, dark, feel. Not really in search of thrashiness or outright brutality. Though elements of both are fine, i got my thrash and death metal for that

Any suggestions?

^ I think you would like Carpathian Wolves by Graveland or any of their demos prior to that like Drunemeton.

Thanks for the rec. I like what I'm hearing on that album

Do you know Summoning already? Seems you might love them.

Try early Graveworm or Agathodaimon.

Checked out Summoning. I'm liking it alot. Them and Graveworm are adding to my library.

Agathodaimon I will need to listen to some more, I reserve judgment for now

I guess Sovereign from Brazil is supposed to sound somewhat like Aaskereia. Unfortunately, I just learned about them today, so I don't really know a whole lot about their music. They might be worth checking out for you though.

I'm looking for a Black Metal version of Nunslaughter.

Hey everyone. Unusual request, but does anyone know of any black/folk metal bands that use bagpipes?

I'm pretty sure Skyforger and Cruachan do.

The March to the Black Holocaust split with Vlad Tepes and Belketre comes highly recommended.

That would have been me. I am somewhat ignorant on crust [would like some more, but this is a BM thread, so PM me if you want], but I do think Monolith sounds very much like a sequel to Bathory's self-titled. Just thought I'd say that.

I've recently gotten into Ceremonial Castings, I think they fit this description, check them out.

I'm looking for something similar to Anaal Nathrakh's release Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here... I'm an audiophile so good sound quality is a MUST.

Thanks in advance.

I was listening to Old Man's Child's (hm, that's surprisingly hard to say) "Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion" and was looking for more music like it-Cheesy, keyboard-heavy BM-with a sort of melodeath influence. Here are some songs for reference:

Old Man's Child-Demoniacal Possession
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-HYpedBC8w

Old Man's Child-Thy Servant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cceoSPPF2cg

Thanks!

If you like Summoning also check out Kinstrife & Blood.

Suidakra use bagpipes in there music, fantastic band. There is a now defuct German black/folk band who put good use to bagpipes but there name fails me at the minute, I will try to look them up for ya.

Edit:- The name of the band is Wotanskrieger, sadly they are no more, they used to have their albums up for free download through their site but the link is gone also. Also Absu incorperate bagpipes into some of their music, and there is a great bagpipe tune on Graveworms "Engraved In Black" album.