#yaotl mictlan

[anomalocariscanadensis]

black metal 🎶 counter-attack!

black metal is one of my favorite genres. screams and tremolos just rub my brain the right way for whatever reason, i love them outside of black metal too (tho i can be picky with vocals especially). plus it's the faggiest subgenre of extreme metal - how many death metal bands would name a song some shit like "Tears of a Melancholic Vampyre"? it's got a lot of theatrical elements, and I tend to judge black metal albums by their overall vibe along with the music.

before i get into the recs, famously and unfortunately, a lot of people in black metal suck in a lot of ways. i generally don't worry too much about this because i'm pirating most of it anyway, but i've checked these ones out and as far as i can tell, none of them suck in any especially bad ways. with that out of the way here are some favorites of mine:

Spectral Wound - Frigid and Spellbound - melodic but uncompromising black metal that sticks within the classic vein, particularly influenced by Gorgoroth and the Finnish scene. one of the few black metal bands with good lyrics, inspirations including Walter Benjamin, Ingmar Bergman, Giorgio Agamben, and Kate Bush. this song is their catchiest, with some really good melodic riffs. no left theorists show up directly within its lyrics, which are instead about the beauty of a frozen river, and a Grindr hookup ("Come to me anon/Deranged and defiled/Twisting in dark passions/Of the cruel nauseous hours").

Mortuary Drape - Not Still Born (The Unborn Plane) - founded in the late 80s, this Italian band is one of the best of the "first wave" of black metal, from when it was all sort of a soup of black/death/whatever. they're influenced by occult rock and their sound predates the Norwegian codification of the standard black metal style, so they're light on the blast beats, tremolo riffs, and Satanism and heavy on the bass, necromancy, and occultism. though not nearly as influential as Bathory or Celtic Frost, they've inspired a decent few bands in their own right. this one's about getting reincarnated.

Yaotl Mictlan - Nada Verde Crece Aquí - one of the first songs that got me into the genre, and still a favorite. melodic folk/black metal which makes good use of some indigenous flutes, not a lot of blast beats. lyrics are derived from one of the Nahuatl flower-songs of Nezahuacoyotl, about the impermanence of all things on earth.

Paysage d'Hiver - Welt Aus Eis - the most common word used to describe Paysage d'Hiver is "cold". it's stark and minimal, riding the line between atmospheric and ambient, and barely produced: i once saw someone complaining about being able to distinguish the instruments on a newer album of theirs (or should I say his? it's a one-man project). these days, i get it. everything in this song blends together into an entrancing whole, only broken by snatches of croaking and cackling carried on a freezing wind, and (twice) a beautifully dissonant violin. the lyrics are never comprehensible or transcribed, but conceptually it's about winter and a mysterious spiritual journey, as all their songs are.

Deafheaven - Dream House - You already know this song. It's really good! Takes some of the musical elements of black metal, reconfigures others (more complex drumming, different sorts of melodies in the riffs), and completely changes the aesthetics while still keeping a coherent vibe overall.

Odz Manouk - To Feast on Celestial Bodies - the (one-man) band's name is Armenian for "Snake Child", from a folk tale about a royal couple whose baby was born a serpent. hypnotic dissonant riffs, harsh but clear vocals (with an interesting sort of singing at times), production that's neither too raw nor too clean. super cool song title also. if you go deeper into their music, the split with Tuukaria is not to be missed.

Negative Plane - Angels of Veiled Bone - one of the bands inspired by Mortuary Drape, they take the occult sound and bring it closer to modern black metal while adding a ton of reverb for atmosphere. the vocalist is really good at putting emphasis on the right points in the lyrics, which makes the vocals much more memorable than the average amorphous harsh vox. members' side projects Funereal Presence and Occultation are also excellent.

Iron Firmament - Keepeater - the production on this EP is so bad that the drums mostly just sound like a strobing effect on the rest of the instruments, which is honestly really cool. they've got some more EPs which lose that effect for better or worse. this song is - as you might expect - about covering the sky with iron plates, and a giant serpent that eats castles. i can't make out enough lyrics to tell how those two themes are related.

Gevurah - Dies Irae Lacrimosa - Gevurah are insanely pretentious "orthodox" Satanists (they worship Satan as a literal god, not a symbol of human will or whatever). their theology is some sort of Gnostic anti-cosmic occult shit, which as it turns out makes for really fucking sick black metal. the drums are doing a lot here but the real highlight to me is the boiling tremolo riff that starts a minute in (and gets brought back later with a vengeance). there's one part when it's just the vocalist shouting in a Quebec accent that pushes the cheese factor a bit too far, but the rest is really great.

[saltlakehardcoreflyers]

[sendmyresignation]

In that case could you possibly compile an introductory list to what you would consider good black metal for someone coming more from hardcore (i also listen to some metal but nothing really specific as a genre)? Thank you for your previous answer

sorry this took so long anon! i wanted to really give some specific recs, especially considering you sound less familiar with the metal basics. hopefully you find some good stuff worth exploring!

first and foremost, i would recommend first wave black metal pretty wholeheartedly for punk/hardcore fanatics. First wave essentially refers to the 80s black metal that existed pre-scandinavian genre definition (which means its also less sketch, typically, though there are shitheads). This stuff is pretty nebulous, its defined mostly by "extremity" and genre mixing (stuff that existed on the outskirts of other genres, with different balances of black/death/thrash). A lot of it is influenced by thrash and punk + it was way underground so shares a lot of qualities with diy/shit production + was primarily made by teens and people who could barely play their instruments. some essentials:

Venom - Welcome to Hell (defining black metal influence even if the sound of black metal is unrecognizable now. punk influence in spades, if you like discharge you'll love this)

Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark (if venom is what really codified Satanism in bm, then bathory did the same for vikings. this is probably The Classic first wave rec)

Slayer - Show No Mercy (barely counts here, but they rip off venom enough and this is impactful enough that if you haven't gotten to it, this is required listening)

Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales

Sarcofago - INRI

Sodom - In the Sign of Evil (much more on the thrash side of first wave, Sodom was pushing enough boundaries that they've been incorporated into the first wave)

Bulldozer - The Day of Wrath (blackened thrash with a ton of venom/motorhead influence)

Mortuary Drape - All the Witches Dance

there's also a long tradition of black punk crossover. ultimately the genres have ideological similarities in terms of their philosophies surrounding music imo (not politically, obviously) and how it manifests as its own self-perpetuating diy culture. black/punk tends to also be less full of shitheads, which is nice

Devil Master - Satan Spits on the Children of Light

Melissa - Melissa

Truchlo Strzgi - Gwiezdny Demon

Gehennah - Hardrocker (tw for puke on the cover btw)

Wildspeaker - Spreading Adder (black and crust infusion here, rather than just punk)

Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better? (technically my blackgaze rec, I think it's tempered significantly by the post-hardcore influence, it feels much more intense and varied)

in terms of true blue kvlt black metal, here's a nebulous collection of bands I'd suggest checking out since they're more along what i see hardcore heads gravitate towards and then you can dig deeper into their respective scenes/niches

Darkthrone (first couple classics have the greatest diy charm of the second wave imo. later work incorporates a lot of punk, they experiment with crust and trad and such)

Immortal (think the fact immortal seem very ridiculous and over the top makes them very endearing to people who otherwise dislike the self-serious nihilism of the second wave)

Rotting Christ

Panopticon

Gabestok

Hulder

Tietanblood

Havukruunu

as a final note, I'll just mention Opera IX, Spectral Wound, Yaotl Mictlan, Valdrin, Tresspasser, Dawn's Reflection, Thantifaxath, and Marthe for some bands i really like that are less accessible for hardcore listeners (mainly use symphonic elements like synths and keys or are atmospheric in an opposite direction to blackgaze)

[brunokennel]

[acid-sodapop]

I bestow my first and best meme upon you. This is for Crunchyroll's Onyx Equinox, go watch it!!

There's Inuyasha's latin dub references in this btw, hahaha. It roughly translates to "my cute master". But not quite.

[luzveldibujos]

I love onyx equinox, it is a beautiful series please see it, the plot is very good and the character designs are beautiful

[lordedgyfingers]

Nicely cut , if i do say so myself *tooting my own horn*

<random Onyx Equinox snippets > idiot part 1

[thegoldenshi-shi]

Mictlantecuhtli: Dios de Mictlan

[koldnat]

YAOTL MICTLAN | NUEVO FUEGO

Sagrada Tierra del Jaguar [2020] | black metal | Mexico

[drondskaath]

Yaotl Mictlan | Sagrada Tierra del Jaguar | 2020

Mexican Folk Black Metal

https://yaotlmictlan.bandcamp.com/album/sagrada-tierra-del-jaguar

[horrid-phantasm]

He aquí Huitzilopochtli El que nos regresará Mexico Y eliminará al impuro de nuestras tierras Tu bandera de guerra en mi sangre para siempre Izcatqui Huitzilopochtli in aquin cuepa Mexiko Izcatqui Huitzilopochtli in aquin cuepa Mexiko ------------------------------ Here is Huitzilipochtli The one who would give us Mexico back And will delete the impure from our lands. Yaotl Mictlan - Huelitiyotl Mexica 

[stoneoferech]

Yaotl Mictlan is a Mexican Pagan Black Metal band formed in 1999. Guerreros de la Tierra de los Muertos (The actual meaning of Yaotl Mictlan) is their first full length, released September 17th, 2006.

[vykodlak]

You got any music recs for somebody who's currently half assing being a metalhead? I want to get in deeper, you seem to have interesting taste

Yeaman shore.

I could probably give more specific recs if I knew some subgenres/bands you like (or whether you're more into harsher or cleaner stuff, how obscure you wanna go, how comfortable you are with the possibility of developing tinnitus and so forth), so feel free to ask abt that. I'm always down to talk about music.

I'll just list what I can think of off the top of my head now. Gonna assume you know the super popular/older bands and skip most of those. 2 lazy to link them all but I'll point out any notable tracks/albums for a few.

Speed/Thrash/NWOTHM/Power:

☞ Enforcer, Ambush, Black Soul Horde, Black Sites, Satan, Traveler, Silver Talon, Herzel, Obsession, Voivod, Hyperia, Enforced, Demoniac, Heathen, Bütcher, Eliminator, Skull Fist, Eternal Champion, Herzel, Pharaoh, Manticora, Stone Dagger, Atlantean Kodex, Spirit Adrift, Hammers of Misfortune, this song by Vicious Rumors that's been stuck in my head lately

Black/Doom/Death/Grind & adjacent:

(I've marked the bands who have artwork with gore/disturbing imagery in purple in case you wanna skip that stuff. you know how it is with spaghetti.)

☞ Human Serpent (ach nae.... I love them...), Seer, Grima, Allfather, Obsequiae, Grey Aura, Wiegedood, Etxegiña, Folterkammer, Valdrin, Lamp of Murmuur, Ultha, Yaotl Mictlan, Nechochwen, Mare Cognitum, Hulder, Kampfar, The Silver, Bathsheba, Black Curse, Panopticon, Uprising, Pagan Altar, Dautha, Restless Spirit, Magic Circle, Funeral Circle, Paul Chain, Moon Reaper, Green Lung, Cormorant

☞ Veilburner, Slugdge, Konvent, Undergang, Exhumed, Vastum, Worm, Nexorum, Necrot, Horrendous, Pharmacist, Urushiol, Paranorm, Sigh, Blood Spore, Tribulation, Edge of Sanity, Pale Divine, Heretical Sect, Putrescine, Anaal Nathrakh (popular enough that you probably know 'em but I have to shill in case you don't), Aephanemer, In Mourning, Wharflurch, Avatarium, Our Place Of Worship Is Silence, Dragged into Sunlight, chained to the bottom of the ocean

Enjoy!