I think these are all kind of brutal in one way or another..

Death metal:
Immolation – Close to a World Below
Cremation – Black Death Cult
Imprecation – Theurgia Goetia Summa
Dead Congregation – Graves of the Archangels
Ignivomous – Death Transmutation
Demigod – Slumber of Sullen Eyes
Autopsy – Mental Funeral
Goat Molestor – Ancient Barbaric Assault demo

Black metal:
Ad Hominem – New Race For a New World
Infernal War – Terrorfront
Bestial Warlust – Vengeance War Til Death
Revenge – Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist
Blasphemy – Fallen Angel of Doom
Conqueror – War Cult Supremacy
Black Witchery – Desecration of the Holy Kingdom
Der Sturmer – A Banner Greater Than Death
Impurity – The Lamb’s Fury
Anal Vomit – Demonaic Flagellations
Beherit – The Oath of Black Blood

Try Havohej's "Dethrone the Son of God"; Paul Ledney was a former member of Incantation who split prior to the release of Onward to Golgotha. Havohej are most definitely black metal, but in a style that's reminiscent of Incantation; notably, the songs contain micro-riffs, that is a collection of simplistic riffs repeated over & over again rather quickly.

Bickle made a wonderful list of Black Metal, I'd fully endorse the following albums:

These albums aren't just fun to listen to, they're representative of a rather unique style of black metal, wherein the bands refused to cave-in to the pressure of becoming another Norsecore band. Further, if you're looking for brutal albums, these would certainly qualify.

I love this album. Such great atmosphere to it. Up there with:

^^^ I definitely second the Immortalis, OSDM with a genuinely dark atmosphere from Germany. I was actually lucky enough to find this one for $4 in mint condition at a pawn shop here in town. Now that was a good day.


Yes! Some of the most blasphemous, hateful bm ever recorded. And then of course Ledney’s Profanatica material is worth checking out as well! :dj:

When I think of USBM, I tend to think more of Absu, Cobalt, and Xasthur more so than the aforementioned bands...but this is probably because of my age more than anything. Oh, and you can't forget Botanist!

Anyways, really digging Cobalt right now:

Gin (2009) was a pretty popular album on this forum back in '09.

I quite like it, the mix of styles kept it fresh and interesting as opposed to just rehashing old BM clichés. People don't lump them in with the "hipster" BM scene do they? Not that it matters to me, I'm just curious.

Ugh, whatever Cobalt are, they're godawful.

It seems like they base their songs around a crescendo that is supposed to be powerful or exciting - but they're neither. Instead of sounding powerful, they sound impotent.

I know you've all probably heard it, but Octavarium by Dream Theater is a sublime album. It's so complex yet accessible. One of those albums you can keep coming back to after years and always notice something new.

It has a few good to okay songs, but on the whole, it's representative of Dream Theater's whole problem. All prog, no substance. The songs generally are unmemorable and often laughable IMO.