With Immortal finished for the foreseeable future, it seems relevant to look back on their stellar catalog and reflect on one of the best black thrash acts to ever grace the genre.

1.Immortal - Sons Of Northern Darkness

2.Immortal - Pure Holocaust

3.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

4.Immortal - Battles In The North

5.Immortal - Damned In Black

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As is the case with my other lists, this is for my own organizational purposes and is designed purely to help me keep track of all the many black metal bands and albums that I enjoy, since I can't keep all of this information in my head. It has no other benefit whatsoever and will likely result in tantrums should anyone else see it. I'm aware that I haven't listened to every black metal album that I should have. I only went down to the 6s on this list, so it's possible that I have listened to your favorite black metal album that you desperately need to suggest and I thought it was terrible. There are a lot of heinously incompetent black metal bands out there.

On the off-chance that you've found this and actually care about what I think (you shouldn't), be advised that my favorites come first. Some are favorites in the general sense; some are favorites within black metal. The first few of those are in some order and not so much after that.

Because this is for my own purposes and not intended to be a definitive list of pure black metal, there are some black metal-adjacent bands, or albums by black metal bands that may not themselves be black metal. That's why you'll find so much Sigh clogging up the top of the list. I prefer to keep whole discographies together on one list. I used to include Primordial, Forefather, and other such bands, but a while back I created a list for folk and I decided that those artists would fit better there.

I update these lists very infrequently. This was last updated December 7, 2022.

1.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

2.Sigh - Graveward

3.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

4.Sigh - Heir To Despair

5.The Meads Of Asphodel - The Murder Of Jesus The Jew

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SPOILER ALERT: This is mostly just black metal.
****Alphabetical Order

1.Abigor - Nachthymnen (From The Twilight Kingdom)

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Arckanum - Fran Marder

5.Arckanum - Antikosmos

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For many, some of the more extreme types of metal can be challenging to penetrate. I'll admit that my first time listening to Burzum was nearly the equivalent of listening to a buzz-saw. But over time, I found my ears became acclimated, so to speak. All of the beauty and subtlety within became more and more apparent. Now I find listening to Darkthrone to be little different from listening to Vivaldi. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, but you get the idea. The point of this list to help those looking for a more gradual path from unkvlt to kvlt, if you will. IHopefully it provides some assistance. The top represents some of the more mainstream, well-produced (but still solid) releases, while working your way down results in a stripping away of sound quality, melody, and radio-friendly content. The list ends with a mixture of gritty second wave and mentally challenging avant guarde stuff. This is far from comprehensive, so feel free to hit the forums for some deeper cuts. I also welcome thoughts on reordering as this was no easy task for one set of ears.

1.Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon

2.Melechesh - Enki

3.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

4.Immortal - All Shall Fall

5.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

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Maximum three Albums per Year, starting in 1991

1.Bathory - Twilight Of The Gods

2.Master's Hammer - Ritual

3.Samael - Worship Him

4.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

5.Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

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1.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

2.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

5.Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

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1.All time & genre (including Non-Metal on MS)
2.Only studio albums & EPs
3.I DON'T modify this list. So, this list is THE FINAL edition and based on my selection on 1 April 2017. (Modified on 12 February 2022)
4.The genre is primary one.
Last modified on 1 April 2017

...NOTICE: I'm reselecting albums & EPs for "The Timeless Ver2". This will be a bit more stringently selected than "ver1".

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Krallice - Diotima

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Deathspell Omega - Kénôse

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1993 now. Jiri's faves of the year he just spoke of are conveniently written below.

1.Conception - Parallel Minds

2.Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times

3.Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon

4.Immortal - Pure Holocaust

5.Angra - Angels Cry

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1.Angra - Angels Cry

2.Dissection - The Somberlain

3.Edge Of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows

4.Immortal - Pure Holocaust

5.Death - Individual Thought Patterns

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Each album was listened to thoroughly enough to put it in its right place here. So, for now, hail Immortal, the mighty kings of northern darkness!!

1.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

2.Immortal - Battles In The North

3.Immortal - Sons Of Northern Darkness

4.Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

5.Immortal - Pure Holocaust

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Tough year. A lot of amazing stuff.

1.Devil Doll - The Sacrilege Of Fatal Arms

2.Dissection - The Somberlain

3.Sepultura - Chaos A.D.

4.Cynic - Focus

5.Morbid Angel - Covenant

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*** READ ME *** This list is about the greatest metal albums of all-time, from all sub-genres and all countries. You won't see bands like Deep Purple, Rush, BOC, Zeppelin, etc., nor will you see bands like Tool, Rage ATM, Melvins and Soundgarden. While I love many of those bands, my definition of metal does not include them.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Death - Symbolic

5.Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

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***Limit 2 albums per artist***

1.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

2.Burzum - Filosofem

3.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

4.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

5.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

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1.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

2.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

3.Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

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1.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

4.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

5.Setherial - Nord

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