The silver lining to the year of Covid is metal bands seem to have had plenty of inspiration. It was very strong year for black metal and a strong year overall. A bit weak in the death metal category but still some gems to be found. Recommendations and comments are always welcome. Enjoy.

1.Atramentus - Stygian

2.Evaporated Sores - Ulcerous Dimensions

3.Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville

4.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

5.Hail Spirit Noir - Eden In Reverse

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Seems like there's a limit on how many albums this site accepts on one list. Gonna have to cut out the last ones while adding new albums for the rest of the year.

1.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

2.Orbit Culture - Nija

3.Wolfheart - Wolves Of Karelia

4.Stormruler - Under The Burning Eclipse

5.Frozen Dreams - The Eclipse Of Eternity

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Are you addicted to the eerie sound of Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate and Portal? Then this list is for you.

1.Above Aurora - Path To Ruin

2.Abyssal - Antikatastaseis

3.Ad Nauseam - Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est

4.Ad Nauseam - Imperative Imperceptible Impulse

5.Akhlys - The Dreaming I

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My favourite black metal albums listed and ranked, all varieties within the black metal genre.

1.Summoning - Oath Bound

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

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Just about finished the first half of the year without losing too much to the character limit; I have learnt to make these list descriptions increasingly pithy

1.Enslaved - Utgard

2.Wills Dissolve - Echoes

3.Wayfarer - A Romance With Violence

4.Aversio Humanitatis - Behold The Silent Dwellers

5.Lucid Planet - Lucid Planet II

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2020 is the year of positivity!!!! Or so I thought, when the year started. "This year I'm gonna stay positive and get shit done!" - and then personal crisis after personal crisis, with horrible election cycles, catastrophies and now a literal pandemic killing hundreds of thousands and dooming us all to stay inside. Weightlifting had another massive outing with rigged competitions on top of the already well known doping, and the US police force kills more than ever.

1.Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh

2.The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic

3.M.S.W. - Obliviosus

4.Drown - Subaqueous

5.Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

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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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All write-in votes from Metal Storm Awards 2020

1.

2.

3.Amaranthe - Manifest

4.Avatar - Hunter Gatherer

5.El Lobo En Tu Puerta - Santana Bendita

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Bury me six feet deep
Cover me in concrete
Turn me into a street

1.Fluisteraars - Bloem

2.Sightless Pit - Grave Of A Dog

3.Neptunian Maximalism - Éons

4.Iress - Flaw

5.Drown - Subaqueous

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1.Imha Tarikat - Sternenberster

2.Akhlys - Melinoë

3.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

4.Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville

5.Jordablod - The Cabinet Of Numinous Song

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Top 30 in alphabetical order plus some honourable mentions, the top 3 EPs and the best split. Here in the Black Lodge we had some other 20 album that could get in, but the gates in Twin Peaks woods slammed down in flickering flashlights...
The comments are from my delirious tulpa...

1.Above Aurora - The Shrine Of Deterioration

2.Acherontas - Psychic Death - The Shattering Of Perceptions

3.Akhlys - Melinoë

4.Ars Magna Umbrae - Apotheosis

5.Blaze Of Perdition - The Harrowing Of Hearts

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WELL,
-WHAT DID YOU DO DURING Pandemic Grandmum?

-I discovered great albums, sipped on my wine and wore my mask, I shaved my balls.

- Epicus Legendicus Metallicus!

1.Eyeless In Gaza - Act I: The Protagonist

2.Turia - Degen Van Licht

3.Clouds - Durere

4.Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter II: Render Unto Eden

5.Of Feather And Bone - Sulfuric Disintegration

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Manuel Castillo (Amusia) is a Mexican youtuber/reviewer specialized in heavy metal, who makes reviews without pression from the labels or distros. His passion and knowledge are the best tools he has and is followed by almost 70,000 people from the Spanish-speaking community. His partner, Carlos, also make reviews but of underground bands.

1.Haunt - Mind Freeze

2.Annihilator - Ballistic, Sadistic

3.Mystic Prophecy - Metal Division

4.Lorna Shore - Immortal

5.God Dethroned - Illuminati

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1.Vile Creature - Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

2.Fuck The Facts - Pleine Noirceur

3.Duma - Duma

4.Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full [Collaboration]

5.Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

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My favorite black metal album’s

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Akhlys - Melinoë

3.Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

4.Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors

5.Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

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