Also the general atmosphere. The music just suits me.
The first cd I bought was Blasfemia Eternal by Ancient Rites.

Interesting thread. I've enjoyed reading some other stories

I got into metal via power metal, symphonic, and several other pretty accessible melodic genres. I still love those, but my tastes have widened considerably, especially over the last few years, and now I listen to just about every metal genre regularly. Life's better on the dark side

I like black metal because of the freedom it allows its musicians. Some of the sounds coming out of black metal are the most visceral and engaging, which is what I loved about metal in the first place. I haven't listened to much of the classic BM acts except Immortal, most of the BM I listen to is the more interesting contemporary groups.

Mostly, I find myself drawn to BM albums where there is some twisted sense of beauty and melody, perhaps a creepy vibe or a heavy, palpable atmosphere; only a few of the super "raw" bands have appealed to me. 2011 releases I've been pretty into: Saille; Aaskereia; Byfrost (black mixed with thrash); and Pensees Nocturnes, which I agree is WAY more avant than black but still... when I'm in the mood for some weird black metal I've been reaching for this one more and more.

It feels very pure to me...pure emotion, the rawness of sound, the low production...it's incredibly nihilistic. It's honest music...there are no ulterior motives, you know anyone playing this music must truly feel it. It's passionate. There's a lot of diversity within black metal. Many times it is soothing, depressive, undeniably beautiful, atmospheric. There is something to fit every mood, especially with all the sub-styles. I love the way it meshes with paganism and a respect for nature. Black metal is a very deep, personal, and intellectual art form in my eyes. I'm fascinated by it's history and the subculture surrounding it. There are more reasons why I love this music, but they are personal to me.

The first black metal song I ever heard was Gorgoroth's "Teeth Grinding" on Youtube. It unsettled me, this was the most vicious thing I'd ever heard. At this point, the heaviest band I liked was Slipknot. Listening to black metal was initially just to shock myself, hear extreme stuff for the fun of it on bored evenings. But I felt a draw to the music, a fascination, even though the raw-er stuff I played turned me off. I started Youtubing videos on the lines of "my top 10 black metal songs" out of curiosity, to expose myself to extreme stuff. Soon I was introduced to melodic and symphonic bands. I remember I kept going back to Satyricon's "The Wolfpack", Dark Fortress' "Evenfall", and Carach Angren's "Bloodstains On The Captain's Log". I had become very drawn to these new sides of black metal I was hearing. So with the help of Youtube and Pandora, I found more bands like Dimmu Borgir, Agalloch, and folk-y bands like Falkenbach. Eventually I acquired the taste for raw black metal..I simply had to ease myself into it rather than jump straight into it

I reckon the lyrics mainly, but then again...?

I started listening to Venom because I thought that almost all other music at the time was too soft and then it just developed from there .. Bathory, Celtic Frost, Mayhem and so on. I still think that the peak was early 90's Norwegian black though but there's lots of current bands that do a good job at it.

Written by sundogs on 21.09.2011 at 21:33

Varg will kill you if you don't .

and mix your body parts with crispy cornflakes and pieces of Dead's brain...

"Battle's in the north" by Immortal. I then bought that album, and my journey into black metal began. I'm not really sure why i even like black metal, i love anything fast and heavy so thats probably why. My favorite black metal album is probably Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

Written by Guest on 01.10.2011 at 07:24

I reckon the lyrics mainly, but then again...?

Lyrics is really important in bm. Most people seem to think that you can just scream anything but the message is sooo important. To me it's not really interesting to have a band like Wolves In The Throne Room going on about vegan food and shit. It has to be EVIL!!

Written by Savopipo on 21.10.2011 at 00:27
To me it's not really interesting to have a band like Wolves In The Throne Room going on about vegan food and shit. It has to be EVIL!!

If you ask me, the orthorexic healthy eating conspiracy is evil as fuck.

I like the whole BM atmosphere and what BM represents. You may find it strange, but I also like the music.

I love the barbaric savagery of it!

Lo-fi, brutal, controversial, chaotic, blasphemous-bliss!

Plus I dig the tremolo picked riffs and it's stylistic approach. Just sounds good in my brain.

Written by Susan on 29.09.2011 at 18:20


I like black metal because of the freedom it allows its musicians.

This.


Your imagination can run wild when you play/write BM. And that is what makes it great.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 01.04.2012 at 06:06

Written by Susan on 29.09.2011 at 18:20


I like black metal because of the freedom it allows its musicians.

This.


Your imagination can run wild when you play/write BM. And that is what makes it great.

Yet look at how the fans react when bands experiment . I agree there's no limits though. My first was Lunar Aurora's Andacht; the hellishly beautiful type of black metal

I disagree with the freedom comment...lol.

The things that make black metal "black" are pretty strict guidelines...I am all for expiermentation in music, I think it is a beautiful thing...but in black metal it really is looked down upon.

Think about all the "kvlt tr00 Ist Kreig" assholes who get angry if the album wasn't recorded on a Fisherprice my first recorder...

Written by Branzig on 01.04.2012 at 15:12

The things that make black metal "black" are pretty strict guidelines...I am all for expiermentation in music, I think it is a beautiful thing...but in black metal it really is looked down upon.
Think about all the "kvlt tr00 Ist Kreig" assholes who get angry if the album wasn't recorded on a Fisherprice my first recorder...

I don't there many guys like that anymore.
And those limitations apply only if you are going to play tr00 kvlt black metal, but lately some bands have been mixing black metal with almost everything. And doing whatever they want. Look at Peste Noire or Sigh.

Written by Unhealer on 01.04.2012 at 17:57

I don't there many guys like that anymore.
And those limitations apply only if you are going to play tr00 kvlt black metal, but lately some bands have been mixing black metal with almost everything. And doing whatever they want. Look at Peste Noire or Sigh.

Yeah, it is a lot more acceptable now a days to be a little more expiermental, but at the end of the day I really do feel that the bulk of black metal fans want some fast tremolo riffs, brutal blast beats, and shrieked vox's from hell...At least it seems like most people I talk to like it that way haha.

IMO that is what many people expect to hear when they hear "black metal" so it puts pressure on the bands/artists to play that style and thus a "limit" is formed because if anything is done outside the box, it will seem to the fans that they're not hearing "black metal" and will give an opinion on that (whether its pos or neg depends). In that case, limits are only formed from expectation of a certain sound from the community/critics and if you were to shut out pressure/outside influences, there would be no limits. Whether that's what brought out bands like Sigh is beyond my knowledge though.

I'm 35 and I listen to black metal since eighteen years. My first song/album was Unsilent Storm ITNA / Pure Holocaust from Immortal!!! It blasted my mind. Then came Mayhem, Arcturus, Absu, Borknagar, Marduk, Emperor, Dissection, COF, and the list goes on. I like the atmosphere and all that make it possible.
My history in metal starts with my uncle who was older than me. First of all, Maiden and Metallica. After that, Cannibal Corpse and then...black:maniac:

The first black metal song I heard was Transilvanian Hunger.
My first thought was what the fuck is this shit?
But if grew on me, and fast too. I never really had a favorite genre until now.
Which of course is black metal.
Also I like the fact that its not overly complicated.
Sort of like punk in a way.
I like the simplistic approach, in the recording, and playing aspects.
But I also like the experimentation.
Black metal seems to have more freedom like stated above.
One reason I like Darkthrone so much. They do what they want and don't give a fuck what others think.
Although not much of a black metal band anymore they are still one of my favorite bands.
Everything by them is good in my opinion.

Because I'm in the mood to listen black metal.. Can't really explain but it depends what mood I'm in..

Well, now that I look into it, I "came to metal world" through the easiest, melodic and more accesible side of it - gothic metal. It was bands such as Tristania, Lacrimosa, The Sins Of Thy Beloved, Theatre of Tragedy, which got me intrigued, because at that time it felt as something different; it was diverse and I loved how many of these bands blended the symphonic elements in music and that it wasn't just growls and fast tempo attacks that ruled the songs. Somehow when exploring around in the whole ''symphonic meets metal'' depratment I came across Dimmu Borgir and - if I don't count the countless songs I heard when spending more time in a metal bar than in school and had no idea what they were, but there was some BM in there too - I think the first song that I actually, really listsned was Mourning Palace, followed by the whole Enhtrone Darkness Triumphant album (which is, still one of my favourite records nowadays).

Then it all occured pretty naturally, liked what I heard, started with more melodic black metal, then of course I had to check the bands that shaped the genre and somehwhere along came Summoning (my fave BM band till this day). And their approach to BM, portraying this beautiful, dark atmospheres is what really got me. And I guess it's the same today, it's the atmospheric BM I mostly listen and now I'm slowly disovering its derivates: blackgaze, post-BM. The combination of BM rawness and a wide array of atmospheres is what intrigues me; I was always into atmospheric, emotional music. I still listen to some "clean BM", but I put on an album and spin it twice and that's it. I get bored more easily with orthodox BM, but I can't really explain in, but sometimes I'm just in the mood for it. Especially contemporary BM, which has divided from the stereotypical image of itself and is more intelligent, thought-provoking and a wee bit more experimental.

Written by AnGina-- on 24.01.2015 at 12:56

Well, now that I look into it, I "came to metal world" through the easiest, melodic and more accesible side of it - gothic metal. It was bands such as Tristania, Lacrimosa, The Sins Of Thy Beloved, Theatre of Tragedy, which got me intrigued, because at that time it felt as something different; it was diverse and I loved how many of these bands blended the symphonic elements in music and that it wasn't just growls and fast tempo attacks that ruled the songs. Somehow when exploring around in the whole ''symphonic meets metal'' depratment I came across Dimmu Borgir and - if I don't count the countless songs I heard when spending more time in a metal bar than in school and had no idea what they were, but there was some BM in there too - I think the first song that I actually, really listsned was Mourning Palace, followed by the whole Enhtrone Darkness Triumphant album (which is, still one of my favourite records nowadays).

Then it all occured pretty naturally, liked what I heard, started with more melodic black metal, then of course I had to check the bands that shaped the genre and somehwhere along came Summoning (my fave BM band till this day). And their approach to BM, portraying this beautiful, dark atmospheres is what really got me. And I guess it's the same today, it's the atmospheric BM I mostly listen and now I'm slowly disovering its derivates: blackgaze, post-BM. The combination of BM rawness and a wide array of atmospheres is what intrigues me; I was always into atmospheric, emotional music. I still listen to some "clean BM", but I put on an album and spin it twice and that's it. I get bored more easily with orthodox BM, but I can't really explain in, but sometimes I'm just in the mood for it. Especially contemporary BM, which has divided from the stereotypical image of itself and is more intelligent, thought-provoking and a wee bit more experimental.

those gothic bands, non plays such music anymore, it was gothic and gothic doom, now all needs prog elements, keyboards, operatic and so on, there are no purness into that music anymore, if there is its deep into underground... I miss old days actually ... and you don't see girls wearning gothic cloths anymore

Written by Bad English on 24.01.2015 at 13:58

those gothic bands, non plays such music anymore,

1) I am very well aware of that. I think we all are. (If nothing else, ToT is disbanded and TSOTB on hiatus for over a decade; Lacrimosa however stays true to its roots!)
2) that is completely off-topic; I think we have enought gothic/doom threads for that, this is a BM topic.
3) I just stated that because it was a part of me discovering BM. May be odd, but it was.

For the black metal I actually like, it's because it has beautiful, haunting melodies and/or atmospheres. I never really got black metal until I heard this song:

Where resonated with the emotion in it and then click, black metal started making sense instead of just being horrible noise. Obviously this means I generally only like the atmospheric or melodic stuff, but some blacked death is also just really brutal without being monotonous and I like it for that.

I actually heard of black metal first by accident. I was on Pandora Radio and they mistakenly listen Theatre of Tragedy as black metal. I checked out the wikipedia page on it and was understandably unsettled by the ideology behind it and the church burnings. I avoided it like the plague for a while but I accidently ended up on an Abigail Williams song and loved it and was surprised that bm lyrics could be good. From there I checked out Emperor since I tend to like the more symphonic/epic metal. From there I listened to Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, Limbonic Art, etc.

For me it is the uniqueness of the music. There's no feeling quite like a good black metal song. To me it is beautiful in a kind of twisted way.

Honestly for me it was a weird road. Back in HS my friend and I were trying out a lot of new stuff, primarily early melodeath. My friend turned to BM and started telling me all these crazy stories about Dead killing himself and being on an album cover, Burzum, Euronymous; the usual. I forgot about all of it and never really tried the music. It wasn't until like a decade later that I ran into those stories again on the internet. I have a BA in psch and a Masters in counseling, so it intrigued me more now. I watched some docs and decided it was finally time to listen to the music. It clicked almost instantly. The combination of the mindset of these young guys at the time paired with the unique atmospherics is utterly gripping to me.

Simple: because "Satan"

I don"t even remember of that,but i love Black/Thrash bands like Immortal,Aura Noir,Coroner,Legion of the Damned i listen these bands pretty much every week

Written by sundogs on 22.09.2011 at 18:18

Written by dr.doom on 22.09.2011 at 04:20

The atmospheric stuff is what captures me. The thrashy, heavy BM bands are nice for short periods of time, but the ambient stuff never gets old for me.

Something about it just chills me to the bone, and I can safely say no other genre of music has that kind of effect on me.

This is quite accurate for me as well.

Interesting. I am into a few black metal bands also for the atmosphere but I don't find this particular to the genre. what do you think about experimental bands like Dawn of Midi?

I'm not a huge fan of Black Metal, but I've been a fan of Immortal for years now.

Darkthrones Transylvanian Hunger does alot for me, Skald Av Satans Sol is a great track.

Lately I've been listening to Akhyls as well as trying to get into more Technical Black Metal like Theoktony as that's something I'd like to start writing.

I'm not a hardcore fan, I don't really enjoy Mayhem that much, won't pretend like I do. Their attitudes were dumb as well if you ask me. All of this talk of being "tr00" and not being a "trendy" or a "poser", it's the kind of elitist garbage I've been trying to steer clear of for awhile now.

But the atmosphere, the course riffage, the dark sound. It's a wall of sound screaming at you through your speakers. When I'm looking for something heavier than your usual Metal staples I throw some on.