This is your first and only warning.

A highly important album for the development of Melodic Black Metal. This album has quite a bit more clarity and possibly accessibility than their Black Metal counterparts' releases of the first half of the 90's, while retaining a hard, dissonant edge that made it relatively unique around its release.

**** off toad.

Israeli progressive metal band who mix in ethnic influences and utilise lyrics supporting the struggle within their divided land to get their message of peace and reconciliation across. Very arabic eastern influences with some indiginous instruments used, like oud, chambush and saz.

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For obvious reasons, Absurd's music has often been overshadowed by their history of murder and Nazism---drummer Hendrik Möbus is perhaps the second most infamous person in all of metal, after Varg Vikerness himself. But if you can separate the reprehensible artists from the music itself, you'll find a special band who is legitimately notable for their (occasionally) quality output.

This was originally released as an EP, but I'm using the expanded, remastered version, which is basically a full-length. Earlier in their career they played a scuzzy, punked-up version of black metal, and later a much more melodic form, but here, rather than your standard, Norwegian style of tremolo-laced, dissonant, Darkthrone worship, Absurd play a primitive black metal, not at all that far removed from Mayhem's Deathcrush album, albeit with a more epic, warlike touch. It's no less unpleasant though, and if you like your black metal ugly and sloppy rather than just plain unlistenable for the sake of being unlistenable, then this is not to be missed.

I imagine Wpnfire might be highly interested, assuming he can ignore the lyrics; of course they're sung in German anyway, so I can't even be sure how much of it is legitimately National Socialist---though "Crux Gammata", which is technically an instrumental, is clearly impossible to deny as it's just the band riffing over samples from Hitler speeches. Those riffs are just so ****ing heavy and brutal though, and if you're the right kind of terrible person---like me---the samples add a certain flavor of wrongness that is just too intriguing to be cast aside. How this album was ever allowed to be released in Germany, with it's strict censorship of Nazi imagery and speech, is beyond me, though it was subsequently banned in 2010.

Regardless, lyrics and band history aside, I legitimately consider this a great release that I'd take over 95% of any other black metal albums. And since this thread is about albums you should hear before you die, I figure this is a corner of the metal universe that should be explored by any metalhead, even if only to say you did.




P.S. And yes, that second cover has swastikas.

A great, consistent album of Industrial Black Metal. Many of the songs are very catchy and groovy, yet are able to still hold a feeling of darkness, aggression and dissonance. An album that would likely be of high interest to people who haven't explored the Black Metal sub-genre very much, and are interested in discovering the bands' albums that started to experiment with and evolve the second wave of Black Metal beyond its foundations.

Figured I'd start with this one since it is my avatar and definitely deserves a spot.


Ulver smashed the standards set by the black metal bands before them and created their own, one that few have come near since. This album is simultaneously raw and celestially atmospheric, seamlessly integrating with acoustic and Scandinavian folk sounds. There is wonderful contrast between Garm's angelic chanted clean vocals and his otherworldy shrieks. The clean vocals are a surprisingly perfect fit for the music, with I Troldskog Faren Vild being the best showcase of this - an absolute classic. Soelen Gaaer Bag Aase Need and Graablick Blev Hun Vaer are equally good. The soundscapes captured here make one feel like a wayward soul wandering across a mountainous landscape under a full moon. This music is truly serene yet sinister and enchanting. The interludes of nordic folk that Garm adds, like the beginning of Capitel III, most of Capitel IV and the end of Capitel V, augment the already splendid black metal fare in a way no one had done before in the genre and create some deliciously abrupt dynamic shifts, completing the spiritually transcendental experience that is Bergtatt.

^ Great choice. A definite classic of the Black Metal sub-genre.



An excellent Power Metal album that greatly built on the melodic progressions Blind Guardian made with their prior album to Somewhere Far Beyond; Tales From the Twilight World. Somewhere Far Beyond has extremely consistent songwriting and production, with many catchy yet mature hooks, that are far removed from being cliche or cheesy like some Power Metal out there. There're great performances from all members of the band, and a great atmosphere to showcase the performances. The atmosphere on this album is melodic, majestic, and extraordinary. An album with a very powerful sound, and very well crafted songs. As said before, I can't stress enough on how consistent this album really is, plus all the songs are easily identifiable and unique. Also, one of Blind Guardian's albums of which I feel Andre Olbrich's guitar style really shines. His lead guitar playing is absolutely amazing on this album and goes greatly with Hansi Kursch's magnificent and epic vocal performances.

^Same. Love that album.


Though often referred to as a member of the "Big Four of Grunge", Alice In Chains mix in tons of heavy metal and even stoner/doom metal influence to give their music a darker edge than their contemporaries. Make no mistake, Dirt is no vanilla grunge a la Pearl Jam. With this sophomore album, Alice In Chains achieved perfection of their sound. It is stuffed to the brim with thick and gloomy metal tunes that are also morbidly catchy. Of course, the songwriting of Jerry Cantrell and the vocals of Layne Staley are what make this album so special. Cantrell and Staley were a match made in heaven (or maybe hell). Their trademark crooning vocal harmonies have made a permanent mark on music history. Staley's wails on songs like "Would" and "Down in a Hole" truly are the cries of a man who has lost hope and feels isolated from the world. The feelings of melancholy and loneliness Dirt emits will grab you by the throat for its entire duration. It is my definition of consistency...almost every song is an instant classic. Though it was a huge mainstream success, Dirt has an emotional intensity, something real, about it that few others do.