There's 1,000,001 underground black metal albums out there… it was basically bedroom lofi for Nordic teens in the 1990s.
Don't fret if your favorite underground demo tape didn't make our list. This is just 10 black metal works that are awesome and underrated. Jonas Åkerlund may never make a film about these bands, but you should check out their stuff anyway.
Bestial Summoning – The Dark War Has Begun
An old-school gem from the Netherlands, Bestial Summoning’s The Dark War Has Begun is simple, raw and piercing. It was a one-and-done album for the band, which only existed for two years in the early ‘90s. The performance from Bestial Summoning’s vocalist, The Unsane, really sets this album apart from similar Northern works. He put his chest into those howls, truly cutting through the mix. If you’re in the mood for meat and potatoes, here’s your supper.
Spectral Lore & Mare Cognitum – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine
Gustav Holst COULD NEVER. Based on the planets of our solar system, Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum’s 2020 collaborative album is a masterclass of atmospheric black metal. Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine is epic and cinematic, with both bands switching off on lengthy, cosmic tracks. The two-hour album is a galactic trip, with Spectral Lore’s “Pluto Part II” closing the record with one of the best 12-minute tracks you’ll ever hear.
Trom – Evil
Who needs a debut when you can just release a live album? Trom’s Evil was recorded in 1995, most likely in a haunted rockabilly club somewhere in Switzerland. Evil tows the line somewhere between gothic metal, deathrock and black metal. It sounds like it was recorded in front of 20 or so people, but they were fuckin’ digging it. Inexplicable is the right word here. Who cares how or why this happened? It just rules.
Fleurety – Min tid skal komme
Skip this if you aren’t into unfettered beauty. Norway’s Fleurety flew in the face of black metal trends with their 1995 debut, Min tid skal komme (My Time Shall Come). The album lands in the black metal / avant-garde space, leaning heavily on instrumental work. The vocals are great and everything (especially the female Cocteau Twins parts), but it’s the quiet, guitar-driven moments that define Min tid skal komme. It’s phenomenally expressive and moody… before its time for sure.
Dawn – Slaughtersun
What a perfect piece of blackened metal. Dawn kept much of their early death metal influence for the hybrid they called Slaughtersun, but the heart of this record is black and icy. Released in 1998, Slaughtersun is one of those classic “screaming into the infinite forest” albums. Only those long Northern winters can produce a record like this — both beautiful and agonizing with a bend toward the existential.
Parabellum – Sacrilegio
Worst. Production. Ever… but it’s what ultimately makes Parabellum’s 1987 EP, Sacrilegio, which is just a vicious hellscape of nonsense. What’s even weirder is that happened in Columbia, where no extreme metal really existed at the time. Parabellum didn’t just dip their toe into extreme tones, they made one of the heaviest, most chaotic and obscene records of the ‘80s. This is cocaine black metal.
Windir – 1184
Hail to these Vikings. Steeped in Norse mythology and warrior spirit, Windir never came close to releasing a bad album (Arntor rules, get over it). Following up the fiercely melodic Arntor, Windir’s third full-length, 1184, leaned more into harsh tones and brutality. It’s not too folky for the extreme metal fan and its accessible enough for Ren Fair brutes and hags.
Profanatica – Disgusting Blasphemies Against God
Profanatica is pure filth — caveman black metal that’s meant to be as unsophisticated and blasphemous as possible. It scratches that anti-religious itch with tracks like “Smashing Religious Fucking Statues,” “Fuck the Blood of the Lamb” and “Pious Piece of Shit.” Disgusting Blasphemies Against God is also steeped in every bodily fluid imaginable — black shit, black cum… it’s a god-damned smorgasbord!
Ultar – Pantheon MMXIX
So much great black metal has come from Russia in the past decade. In 2019, Ultar blended atmospheric black metal with a touch of blackgaze, resulting in the vastly underrated Pantheon MMXIX. “Father Dagon” is so damn expressive, thanks to air-tight musicianship and densely layered vocals. Same goes for the emotive vortex “Worms.”
Obtained Enslavement – Witchcraft
How can a symphonic black metal album still sound so primitive? The word “pagan” gets thrown around a lot in metal, but Obtained Enslavement’s Witchcraft really earns the label. The 1997 album is ritualistic, ancient and wicked while feeling strangely modern. Witchcraft is like bizarro Fantasia or something. There’s magic cast into this album… bet on it.
