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raw black metal

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Raw black metal strips the genre to its most primitive, uncompromising core—aggressively lo-fi production, relentless tremolo riffs, and deliberately abrasive recording techniques that prioritize atmosphere over clarity. Emerging in the early-to-mid 1990s as a reaction against the increasingly polished sound of second-wave black metal, this subgenre weaponizes murky soundscapes, buried vocals, and minimal production values to create an immersive, almost suffocating sonic experience. Bands like Ildjarn, Darkthrone (in their early-to-mid '90s incarnation), and Mütiilation embraced tape hiss, distortion, and intentional recording degradation as aesthetic statements, forging music that feels excavated from forgotten crypts rather than recorded in studios.

While neighboring extreme metal genres pursue brutality through technical precision (brutal death metal) or shock value through gore aesthetics (goregrind, gorenoise), raw black metal channels its aggression through sonic decay and minimalist repetition. Its distinction from traditional black metal lies in the deliberate rejection of any production refinement—where standard black metal might balance atmosphere with clarity, raw black metal drowns melody in static, transforming songs into half-audible rituals. Acts like Beherit, Sargeist, and Grausamkeit demonstrate how rawness itself becomes an instrument, creating hypnotic, trance-inducing walls of sound that demand active listener excavation.

This is black metal as primal document—unmediated, unforgiving, and utterly devoid of commercial compromise. For those seeking music that challenges comfort and rewards patience with haunting, atmospheric immersion, raw black metal offers an experience closer to archaeological discovery than passive listening.

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List updated:

Top Releases

#43
Forest
ByForestReleased:1968
#6
A Blaze in the Northern Sky
ByDarkthroneReleased:1992-03-02
#74
Drunemeton
ByGravelandReleased:1992-11-28
raw black metal
#27
A Sorcery Written in Blood
ByGorgorothReleased:1993-04-28
#84
Dethrone the Son of God
ByHavohejReleased:1993-05
black metalusbmraw black metal
#57
In the Glare of Burning Churches
ByGravelandReleased:1993-06
#4
Drawing Down the Moon
ByBeheritReleased:1993-11-13
#1
Transilvanian Hunger
ByDarkthroneReleased:1994-02-17
#37
War Funeral March
ByVlad TepesReleased:1994-08
raw black metalfrench black metal
#80
Blood Must Be Shed
ByZyklon-BReleased:1995-03-01
#20
Lugburz
BySummoningReleased:1995-03-20
#9
Panzerfaust
ByDarkthroneReleased:1995-06-06
#42
Vampires of Black Imperial Blood
ByMütiilationReleased:1995
#61
Manndaudsvinter
ByTaakeReleased:1995
raw black metal
#63
Folkloric Necro Metal
BySort VokterReleased:1996-01-01
raw black metalmetalblack metal
#33
Forest Poetry
ByIldjarnReleased:1996-06-24
raw black metalblack metalambient
#15
Goatlord
ByDarkthroneReleased:1996-10-24
black metaldeath metalraw black metal
#87
Thy Dying Light
ByJudas IscariotReleased:1996
#85
Those Once Mighty Fallen
ByIldjarnReleased:1996
raw black metal
#2
Pink Green 666
ByGrausamkeitReleased:1997
#90
Wrath of the Tyrant
ByEmperorReleased:1998-09-28
#60
Hell Eternal
BySetherialReleased:1999-08-16
#71
Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul
ByMütiilationReleased:1999
#72
Suicidal Emotions
ByAbyssic HateReleased:2000-05
#95
Night of the Unholy Flames
ByClandestine BlazeReleased:2000-06
finnish black metalraw black metal
#21
Rituale Satanum
ByBehexenReleased:2000-07
#11
Heaven In Flames
ByJudas IscariotReleased:2000-08-07
black metalusbmraw black metal
#78
Strength & Honour
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2001-11-13
#32
The Final War Approaching
ByArmageddaReleased:2001
#46
Tyranny Returns
BySargeistReleased:2001
#45
Goétie
ByAkitsaReleased:2001
#25
Tristesse Hivernale
ByAlcestReleased:2001
#49
The Eyes of the Beast
ByAstrofaesReleased:2001
raw black metal
#86
Of Elitism and War
ByKristallnachtReleased:2001
raw black metal
#66
Seigneur Voland
BySeigneur VolandReleased:2001
french black metalraw black metal
#98
Destroy Your Life for Satan
ByMütiilationReleased:2001
#30
The Most Ancient Ones
ByHate ForestReleased:2002-03-25
#18
Inquisitors of Satan
ByDeathspell OmegaReleased:2002
#69
Sang Nordique
ByAkitsaReleased:2002
black metalraw black metal
#99
In Flames of Purification
ByBilskirnirReleased:2002
#19
Opferblut
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2003-02-19
#13
Satanic Black Devotion
BySargeistReleased:2003-07-22
#59
Dusk Woerot
ByMoonbloodReleased:2003-09-18
black metalraw black metal
#65
Black Esoteric Evangelium
ByNoenumReleased:2004-01
raw black metalfinnish black metal
#39
By the Blessing of Satan
ByBehexenReleased:2004-03-15
#56
Ahnenerbe
ByBilskirnirReleased:2004-05-17
raw black metal
#36
Desert Northern Hell
ByTsjuderReleased:2004-11-01
#76
Death Before Dishonour
ByGoatmoonReleased:2004
#73
Genital Tomb
ByAsh PoolReleased:2005-01-01
black metalraw black metal
#92
Upheaval Of Satanic Might
ByBlack WitcheryReleased:2005-03-11
#8
Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne
ByHornaReleased:2005-03-23
#5
Carelian Satanist Madness
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2005-06-30
#68
Fuck The Universe
ByCraftReleased:2005-09-17
#81
Disciple Of The Heinous Path
BySargeistReleased:2005-10-25
#88
Demonic Possession
ByTsjuderReleased:2005-12-12
#48
Presence
ByMgłaReleased:2006-01-30
#28
Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam
ByGorgorothReleased:2006-06-19
#40
La Grande Infamie
ByAkitsaReleased:2006-06-30
black metalraw black metalmetal
#70
VVorldVVithoutEnd
ByKatharsisReleased:2006-08-31
#58
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
ByPeste NoireReleased:2006-08
#77
Kill for Satan
ByTsjuderReleased:2006-09-04
#34
Destroyer
ByGorgorothReleased:2006-10-23
#23
Sworn to the Dark
ByWatainReleased:2007-02-19
#55
Pimeyden Hehku
ByHornaReleased:2007-08-28
#52
To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding
ByJudas IscariotReleased:2007-11-15
black metalmetalraw black metal
#94
Black Bondage in the North
ByAsh PoolReleased:2007
raw black metal
#83
Sanojesi Äärelle
ByHornaReleased:2008-10-01
finnish black metalraw black metal
#35
Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmico
ByVolahnReleased:2008-10-12
raw black metal
#22
Behexen / Satanic Warmaster
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2008-10-17
raw black metal
#14
Paysage d'Hiver
ByPaysage d'HiverReleased:2008-11-03
#51
Ballade cuntre lo Anemi Francor
ByPeste NoireReleased:2009-03-27
#10
Engram
ByBeheritReleased:2009-04-09
#53
Saldorian Spell
ByDarkened Nocturn SlaughtercultReleased:2009-11
#38
Au crépuscule de l'espérance
ByAkitsaReleased:2010-04-06
raw black metalblack metalmetal
#97
Sielunmessu
ByVitsausReleased:2010-05-20
#16
Nachzehrer
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2010-08-18
#75
Varjot
ByGoatmoonReleased:2011-08-07
#24
Noregs Vaapen
ByTaakeReleased:2011-09-19
#96
Magia gwiezdnej entropii
ByPlagaReleased:2013-04
#93
Peste Noire
ByPeste NoireReleased:2013-06-20
#54
Demo
ByBurzumReleased:2013
#82
Feeding The Crawling Shadows
BySargeistReleased:2014-03-31
#26
Grief Garden
ByGrief GardenReleased:2014-12-12
black metalraw black metalblackgaze
#91
Grands Tyrans
ByAkitsaReleased:2015-06-02
black metalraw black metal
#44
Hengen tulet
ByHornaReleased:2015-09-22
#3
Black Brick
ByDeafheavenReleased:2015
#67
Vida longa ao primitivo
ByVelhoReleased:2016-09-11
#29
Throne of the Goat
ByTsjuderReleased:2018-06-08
norwegian black metalraw black metal
#17
White Noise And Black Metal
ByCraftReleased:2018-06-22
#100
Nostalgia
ByColdWorldReleased:2018-07-23
#64
Night of the Crimson Stars
ByMäleficenttReleased:2019-02-14
raw black metalusbm
#7
Nattens Madrigal
ByUlverReleased:2020-07-23
#12
Night of Eternal Darkness
ByMäleficenttReleased:2020-10-13
raw black metalblack metal
#79
Festering Vampirism
ByWinter LanternReleased:2021-07-09
black metalraw black metal
#47
Misanthropie
ByNachzehrerReleased:2023-03-17
raw black metal
#31
Stardust
ByGrausamkeitReleased:2023-06-16
black metalraw black metal
#41
Night's Embrace
ByNachzehrerReleased:2023-07-04
raw black metal
#62
nêbamducel cánsë ulan da gunej
BytrhäReleased:2023-08-05
#50
av◊ëlajnt◊ë£ hinnem nihre
BytrhäReleased:2023-11-01
#89
Taste Our German Steel
ByMoonbloodReleased:2025-01-19

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