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true black metal

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True black metal represents the uncompromising essence of black metal's second wave philosophy, stripped of commercial concessions and aesthetic dilution. Emerging as a purist response to the genre's late-1990s diversification, it emphasizes raw production values, tremolo-picked riffs shrouded in reverb, blast-beat percussion, and shrieked vocals that prioritize atmosphere over clarity. The sonic template borrows heavily from Norwegian pioneers like Darkthrone and Burzum's early works, rejecting the technical precision of brutal death metal and the symphonic embellishments that crept into mainstream black metal. Lyrically, it explores misanthropy, anti-religious sentiment, and nature's indifference, delivered with deliberate lo-fi aesthetics that evoke isolation and hostility.

What separates true black metal from adjacent genres is its ideological rigidity and sonic minimalism. While broader black metal encompasses everything from folk experiments to industrial hybrids, and true Norwegian black metal anchors itself in geographic heritage, true black metal functions as a purist manifesto—rejecting polish, accessibility, and cross-genre contamination. Bands like Tsjuder, Urgehal, and Judas Iscariot exemplify this through willfully abrasive recordings that challenge listeners rather than accommodate them. It stands apart from politically charged nsbm by focusing primarily on sonic extremity rather than explicit ideology, though boundaries blur in some acts.

This is essential listening for those who crave black metal's original transgressive power—unfiltered aggression that refuses to evolve or apologize. It's the genre's beating heart preserved in ice.

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List updated:

Top Releases

#10
Under the Sign of the Black Mark
ByBathoryReleased:1987-05-11
#3
A Blaze in the Northern Sky
ByDarkthroneReleased:1992-03-02
#6
Under a Funeral Moon
ByDarkthroneReleased:1993-06-24
#29
In the Glare of Burning Churches
ByGravelandReleased:1993-06
#22
Those of the Unlight
ByMardukReleased:1993-10-01
#7
Pure Holocaust
ByImmortalReleased:1993-11-01
#2
Transilvanian Hunger
ByDarkthroneReleased:1994-02-17
#1
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
ByMayhemReleased:1994-05-24
#8
Pentagram
ByGorgorothReleased:1994-10-12
#24
Opus Nocturne
ByMardukReleased:1994-12-01
black metalmetaltrue black metal
#4
Panzerfaust
ByDarkthroneReleased:1995-06-06
#76
Det Frysende Nordariket
ByIldjarnReleased:1995
#14
Total Death
ByDarkthroneReleased:1996-01-15
#41
The Secrets of the Black Arts
ByDark FuneralReleased:1996-01-28
#11
Antichrist
ByGorgorothReleased:1996-06-03
#59
Thy Dying Light
ByJudas IscariotReleased:1996
#71
Koldbrann i Jesu Marg
ByTaakeReleased:1996
#20
Under the Sign of Hell
ByGorgorothReleased:1997-10-20
#54
Of Great Eternity
ByJudas IscariotReleased:1997
#94
The Flame Of Dark Creation
ByArgarReleased:1997
#50
Vobiscum Satanas
ByDark FuneralReleased:1998-04-27
#46
Nightwing
ByMardukReleased:1998-04
#16
Black Shining Leather
ByCarpathian ForestReleased:1998-08-28
black metalmetaltrue black metal
#48
Wrath of the Tyrant
ByEmperorReleased:1998-09-28
#47
Massive Terrestrial Strike
ByUrgehalReleased:1998
#52
Distant In Solitary Night
ByJudas IscariotReleased:1999-01-01
black metalraw black metaltrue black metal
#53
Hail Lucifer
ByBesattReleased:1999-06-01
#62
Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul
ByMütiilationReleased:1999
#83
Sota
ByHornaReleased:1999
#45
Cut Your Flesh And Worship Satan
ByAntaeusReleased:2000-07-24
#33
Rituale Satanum
ByBehexenReleased:2000-07
#34
Heaven In Flames
ByJudas IscariotReleased:2000-08-07
#64
Fuck Off Nowadays Black Metal
ByNargarothReleased:2000
#9
Black Metal ist Krieg
ByNargarothReleased:2001
black metalmetaltrue black metal
#56
The Final War Approaching
ByArmageddaReleased:2001
#30
Rasluka Part II
ByNargarothReleased:2002
#70
Back To Chopped Down Roots
ByLucifugumReleased:2003-02
black metaltrue black metal
#19
Liberation
By1349Released:2003-04-07
#93
And to Every Beast its Prey
ByWeltmachtReleased:2003-04
#32
Satanic Black Devotion
BySargeistReleased:2003-07-22
#27
Casus Luciferi
ByWatainReleased:2003-11-01
#39
Geliebte des Regens
ByNargarothReleased:2003-11-03
#80
We're Going to Hell for This - Over a Decade of Perversions
ByCarpathian ForestReleased:2003
#97
Apostle Of Him
ByMalicious SecretsReleased:2003
#44
By the Blessing of Satan
ByBehexenReleased:2004-03-15
#26
Beyond the Apocalypse
By1349Released:2004-04-19
#72
Wisdom & Hate
ByBaptismReleased:2004-10-26
raw black metalblack metaltrue black metal
#13
Desert Northern Hell
ByTsjuderReleased:2004-11-01
#38
Plague Angel
ByMardukReleased:2004-11-22
#35
Prosatanica Shooting Angels
ByNargarothReleased:2004
black metaltrue black metal
#85
In the Sign
ByDark FuneralReleased:2004
#82
Talismaani
ByHornaReleased:2004
#23
Carelian Satanist Madness
BySatanic WarmasterReleased:2005-06-30
#42
Fuck The Universe
ByCraftReleased:2005-09-17
#15
Hellfire
By1349Released:2005-10-24
#73
The Shadows Eternal Call
ByGravenReleased:2005-12-01
german black metaltrue black metal
#69
Warschau
ByMardukReleased:2005-12-05
#17
Demonic Possession
ByTsjuderReleased:2005-12-12
#78
Der schwarze Tod
ByPestnebelReleased:2005
true black metal
#75
A Hidden Ceremony of Blood and Flesh
ByInquisitionReleased:2006-07-18
black metalusbmtrue black metal
#18
Kill for Satan
ByTsjuderReleased:2006-09-04
#57
Hora Nocturna
ByDarkened Nocturn SlaughtercultReleased:2006-10-20
#40
Goatcraft Torment
ByUrgehalReleased:2006-11-09
#31
The Eternal Eclipse - 15 Years of Satanic Black Metal
ByUrgehalReleased:2007-02-12
black metaltrue black metal
#12
Sworn to the Dark
ByWatainReleased:2007-02-19
#36
Nekro
ByTaakeReleased:2007-03-12
#67
Deathcult Barbaric Hell
ByAmpütatorReleased:2007-08-14
#63
Pimeyden Hehku
ByHornaReleased:2007-08-28
#87
New Order of Chaos
ByLapis NigerReleased:2007-09-26
#60
Reversed Black Trinity
ByBestial RaidsReleased:2007
#99
Оружие Возмездия
ByЁvilReleased:2007
black metaldeath metaltrue black metal
#68
Perverting the Nazarene Cult
ByAguynguerranReleased:2008-02-15
black metaltrue black metal
#81
Sacrilegium
ByGrommReleased:2008-05-14
#79
Grimalkinz Skaldi
ByArckanumReleased:2008-07-13
#55
Necrosodomic Abyss
ByMordReleased:2008
#49
ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
ByArckanumReleased:2009-05-29
#84
Intolerance Deathsquads
ByAmpütatorReleased:2009
#77
Kres Panowania Ery Ludzi
ByActum InferniReleased:2009
#89
Prey From Burning church
ByInferius TormentReleased:2009
#90
Two Spears Of Hatred And Coldness
ByBaal ZebuthReleased:2009
black metaltrue black metal
#86
your god Liar
ByInferius TormentReleased:2010-01-17
#5
Belus
ByBurzumReleased:2010-03-05
#95
過去と悲哀 (The Past and Sorrow)
ByManierismeReleased:2010-11
#43
Darknessence
ByDeus MortemReleased:2011-12-06
#91
Жизнь в Темноте
ByNefas TerraReleased:2011
#96
Ave Voluptatis Carnis
ByOuijaReleased:2013-11-12
black metaltrue black metal
#37
Demo
ByBurzumReleased:2013
#25
Frontschwein
ByMardukReleased:2015-01-19
#21
Instinctus Bestialis
ByGorgorothReleased:2015-06-08
#28
Abbath
ByAbbathReleased:2016-01-22
#66
Nordkarpatenland
ByMalokarpatanReleased:2017-10-31
#92
Woodland Journey
ByPanychidaReleased:2018-07-20
#65
Nostalgia
ByColdWorldReleased:2018-07-23
#61
Aestas Pretium MMXVIII
ByXasthurReleased:2018-08-26
true black metal
#51
Ond Spiritism
ByArmageddaReleased:2019
#88
Black Vitriol & Iron Fire
ByTHANATOMASSReleased:2021-05-21
#100
Distorted Visions of Death
ByNecrorootsReleased:2021
black metaltrue black metal
#74
Szum Ściętych Drzew
ByRtęćReleased:2022-06-09
#98
Fathomless Hysteros
ByOuijaReleased:2023-03-21
true black metal
#58
Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence
ByInquisitionReleased:2024-01-26

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