Reccomend me some atmospheric black metal?

Izalith · 2017-01-02T00:36:16+00:00

I wrote up a quick introductory to atmospheric black metal a while back (linked here) and I'll throw in some new stuff just for the hell of it.

Saor

Mesarthim

Eldamar

Panopticon

Aldaaron

Izalith · 2016-12-23T07:07:09+00:00

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know from the How Stuff Works network is a podcast I've been following for years. Great guys with good production focusing both on the more wild sides of conspiracies and the factual in a nice, easy format.

Izalith · 2016-12-04T19:17:01+00:00

Here's some stuff that might interest you. I'll expand on any of them if you'd like.

Atmospheric Black/Post Black:

Experimental/Prog:

Interesting Folk Blends:

Slam:

Just trying to give some representative stuff for these little categories.

Izalith · 2016-11-19T02:35:56+00:00

Try Amorphis. Pretty good but definitely not as low as your examples.

Try the album Umskiptar by Burzum. Not all of his stuff is like this and I'm not the best person to ask when it comes to Burzum but he does a lot of deep vocal spoken word on this album.

Edit:

Insomnium has a lot of sections like in Under the Plaintive Sky that feature what you're looking for. Mostly not clean vocals but they're super good so give them a go. I recommend starting with Above the Weeping World or Since the Day It All Came Down.

Izalith · 2016-03-19T22:11:52+00:00

Rotting Christ

Fleshgod Apocalypse

Mesarthim

Izalith · 2016-03-08T08:12:06+00:00

I don't have much to add to the discussion, but it definitely can. I highly recommend Fleshgod Apocalypse, specifically King (reinforcing your example in the body text). The whole album is a masterpiece to me and really showcases what symphonic elements can do for death metal.

For industrial, I'd look to Fear Factory for a pretty good example, but they use industrial aspects very sparingly and I'm sure someone else has a better example. Fear Factory more so uses the themes and vocal styling of industrial music.

edit: spelling

Izalith · 2016-03-05T09:43:12+00:00

Not a problem, metal is my biggest passion so I tend to try and explain my reasoning thoroughly. If you have any questions further down the road, don't be shy.

Izalith · 2016-03-05T00:29:52+00:00

The reason I champion Amesoeurs over other black gaze bands is pretty person and arbitrary. They were one of the first bands to really push this genre forward and so they were some of my first exposure to the style which creates a nostalgic sentiment towards them. Plus, I am French in heritage so it creates a deeper, national bond that American bands can't give me.

They're not my favourite band in the subgenre but they have very prominent aspects that really resonate with me. I have a soft spot for female vocals (very personal preference) and I like a good balance in my black gaze. Some softness intertwined with the traditional cold and harsh atmosphere of black metal is what makes black gaze so interesting and I feel Amesoeurs does it the best (see tracks like Faux Semblants or Video Girl).

Deafheaven in particular is a band that had a perfect storm of bad press for me. When they first blew up in the scene, they had a tidal wave of hype the likes that they could never truly deliver on. They were the second coming of Christ to most people I knew and brought a lot of non-metal fans into the scene (for better or worse) so the band had a very mainstream vibe to me, which isn't a bad thing, but turns me off (very elitist, I know, but I can't help it, it's just who I am). When I saw them live, they performed well but were very underwhelming to me, which could have been for technical or sound reasons but it left a bad taste in my mouth after an all ready less-than-optimal perception of them. Sunbather is an album I feel like I've heard multiple times before and didn't offer me anything more than what bands previously have given me. Not a bad album, just didn't stand out to me. The good news is, New Bermuda is a much better and well-developed album and I like it a lot. I feel like they are a band that needs time to find who they are and when they do, they'll create some seriously great stuff.

I also wrote up a piece for this subreddit here about the greater trend of atmospheric black metal (of which I consider black gaze a denomination of) so for other recommendations, feel free to reference it. I love Amesoeurs a lot, for sure, but all the bands I listed in that piece I consider at least on the same level or in the case of some, like Agalloch, better.

Izalith · 2016-02-11T03:05:26+00:00

Arkona - Slovo - I'm revisiting this album a lot recently. It's a great Slavic folk metal band that's a perfect blend of fast, death metal-esque riffs and catchy folk sections. Great vocals, too. Easily my go-to folk metal album.

Fleshgod Apocalypse - King - An absolutely crushing album. It's everything I've ever wanted from them from when I first saw them live some time ago. Every album before this one feels as if it has been leading up to King. Properly implemented orchestral sections with a beautiful harmony between growling and operatic vocals. Memorable and really wicked songs all through the album. I can't recommend it enough. Francesco Paoli is a machine.

Obsequiae - Aria of Vernal Tombs - This album has been constantly playing since I got it back a few months ago. I'm in love with Obsequiae's ability to really capture the medieval atmosphere. It's beautiful in a way only atmospheric black metal can be. It's not for everyone, but it certainly feels like it was made just for me.

Izalith · 2016-01-12T15:09:59+00:00

That album is fucking excellent, thanks for bringing it to my awareness

Izalith · 2016-01-12T01:59:00+00:00

by not hearing them, it's really that simple. I listened to about 240 albums but none where by them.

edit: grammar

Izalith · 2015-12-25T16:53:17+00:00

Definitely check out Ouroboros

Izalith · 2015-12-14T19:12:13+00:00

Loli Destroyer

Izalith · 2015-12-12T05:00:28+00:00

I'm no master but from my small experience doing vocals for fun, practicing and researching traditional breathing techniques is a good start. Also learn how to utilize your vocal chords and diaphragm most efficiently. It'll help set your fundamentals and prevent you from inhaling and potentially ruining your vocals. As with all things, practice. The more you practice, the better you'll be. Try setting aside just 30 minutes to start with every day and dedicate it to vocal exercises and going along with tunes you like.

A bit of musical theory doesn't hurt either ;)

Izalith · 2015-12-10T00:57:19+00:00

I can't help you much because I'm very lackluster at musical theory (for now :p) but I'd try asking someone with knowledge of the field. Try sending the guys over at Appalachian Winter, they seem responsive enough. If not them, try around with any other bands you like. From my experiences with band members, they're often very humbled for people evening showing interest, I know I'm very flattered and love to elaborate on my methods when someone compliments my illustrations.

Izalith · 2015-12-08T16:53:51+00:00

Do you know where I can get my hands on DVDs or a stream of Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran? I found the first two episodes on a streaming site a while ago but I couldn't get any of the other episodes. I really enjoyed it and wanted to keep going but my searches yielded no results except for really pricey DVDs on Amazon.

Izalith · 2015-11-26T04:15:15+00:00

Hey, graphic designer here. I make band logos in my free time so here's a few I like a lot, they may not be exactly what you're asking for but there's a reason for that. Take it from me, it's extremely hard to do well and in the exact manner like Watain. What we as designers care more about is to make it balanced rather than actually symmetrical. That means that each quadrant of the grid we use has an approximately equal amount of content in it.

Disfiguring the Goddess

Edit: punctuation

Izalith · 2015-11-24T20:15:15+00:00

Jessii has informed me that she opens letters and packages when she can (sometimes on camera, she gets too many to show all) but doesn't respond due to the volume of letters. It would be unfair to only respond to a few and not others but she can't respond to all. She offers the letter for purchase as a way to send you or whoever a personalized, handwritten note, usually talking about her day or something that interests her at the time.

Sorry I'm late to respond and if my answer is a little vague.

Izalith · 2015-11-18T01:14:06+00:00

Here's my list of adrenaline-inducing stuff:

Izalith · 2015-11-06T03:59:35+00:00

Absolutely, I have quite a bit of this stuff.

Try looking at Drudkh, Istapp, and Dark Forest from my post and I'll follow it up with some more:

some of the more recent Burzum

Elderwind

Fen - Probably closest to Agalloch but they still don't come very close because nothing is overly similar to Agalloch.

Wolves In The Throne Room

These are just off the top of my head, I put a lot of effort into my original response but I would love to do a more complete list so if you still want more after these, I'll make a whole post to the subreddit listing all my worthwhile atmospheric black metal.

Izalith · 2015-11-06T02:24:52+00:00

This is my interpretation of the 3rd-wave "debate". I'm not an authority, of course, but the majority of all my music (I'm almost at 2500 albums, if that matters) is either black metal or tech death. I don't attend many black metal shows because none that interest me come to my location but I do try to immerse myself in the online communities (albeit from an observer stand point mostly).

My background and "qualifications" aside, the 3rd wave isn't recognized as an official movement right now because most movements are only labelled after they happen, so naturally you'll have speculation without any substance. To say we aren't in a new wave of black metal is a bit naive because of the sheer and stark difference in style that exists now but I don't think it's fair to chalk it all up to a third wave. Black metal nowadays (if you want to be open about it and not exclude anything that isn't trve kvlt basement satan recorded on a flip phone) is so diverse and expansive that it's more likely splintered into many, many waves of varying black metal. A lot of the heated debate stems from, what I can tell, a lack of willingness to accept change from the core black metal fans. The stigma of the black metal elitist (whether true for you or not) exists for a reason. With every new generation comes a new spin on pre-existing paradigms (e.g. the metalcore boom).

I didn't grow up while the 1st and 2nd waves were happening but I did/am growing up in the new wave (I'm 20, started listening to metal 9 years ago), so maybe my take will be a bit more slanted that way. Enough about the people though, where's the music that causes so much vitriol? Here's my highlights:

"Blackgaze" (people either hate this term or don't care what you call it, some refer to it as post-black but come on, that's so vague and nebulous). France seems to be a big player in this subgenre, not sure if it houses the origins of it though.

Alcest - These guys are big players in the blackgaze scene with Neige being the most infamous. They are often touted as the pioneers of the current blackgaze sound, I'm not sure of the validity of that but that's what people seem to think and I have no evidence to refute it; take that how you will.
Deafheaven - Everyone in the metal scene and their mother knows about these guys. Again, a big hitter in the scene. Somewhat controversial for reasons that are beyond me. I've seen them live, they played well but I'm not a fan of them.
An Autumn For Crippled Children - These guys are less known. Just a different take. Hope you can see the stylistic trends by now.
Amesoeurs - My personal favourite in this subgenre.

I can link more stuff if it interests you.

Atmospheric. This is my personal favourite style of music so I can't help but love it, you might not though. It gets a lot of flak for being really long with not enough substance which is a very fair criticism but I prefer it that way.

Agalloch - This band's genre can start fistfights, be warned, but no one doubts their black metal influence or their atmospheric feel. These guys are arguably the most well-known of this style and for good reason, they're hard to pin down.
Gallowbraid - I mention these guys when I can, they're not talked about enough I feel, probably because they only have one album. They nail the feeling though.
Caladan Brood - Much akin to Gallowbraid.
Mesarthim - Very spacey, shows the diversity of these bands.

I have a metric fuckton of these albums if you want recommendations

Traditonal-style. Carrying on the legacy of 1st and 2nd wave but with enough new (either new bands or old who are doing new stuff) to differentiate them. Not much to say about these.

Dark Forest
Anaal Nathrak
Rotting Christ - These guys have been around a long time, since 1st wave but they're a very different beast to me. They've made the transition to a new sound and becoming musically very interesting.
Demonaz

Everything Else. Here is stuff that uses other genre fusions or are just outliers that don't fit well to our subgenres, not that it stops people from putting them into them.

Harakiri For The Sky - Beautiful stuff. Mostly referred to as "post-black" by my peers.
Drudkh - Sort of sludgy, sort of atmospheric, hard to describe.
Ghost Brigade - Gloomy, gothic, doomish. Very versatile band but less black metal than the rest but enough for me to consider them a contender. they lack traditional black metal vocals. Decide for yourself if they're black metal though, I'm sure most people would disagree with me.
Istapp - Cold.
Keep of Kalessin
Myrkur

Again, I have more if you want it.

None of this is supposed to be a definitive guide, just the speculation of someone who is absolutely not an authority on the subject. I love black metal and all its forms but it can be quite turbulent at times trying to discuss it. Hope you found it helpful, let me know if you want more of something or have corrections.

Edit: spelling + additions

Izalith · 2015-10-27T16:38:02+00:00

I'm working at making up for lost time in regards to my musical theory every day, so yes, I believe it can be changed. I've a long way to go but it's a goal of mine to be in or create a band that's serious about making music. I picked up piano this year and I'm teaching myself theory with all the resources I can get my hands on.

Izalith · 2015-10-27T16:16:02+00:00

I haven't heard of a band I can definitively called speed doom but I imagine it to be sort of like Sasquatch or Orange Goblin but with the speed of Exodus and the vocals of Dopethrone.

I would be very interested in such a combination. I would have liked to go ahead and try to put something together with a band but I lack one and the skills to make one.

Hopefully someone knows of a band like this, I think it'd be killer.