It's kind of like an extreme metal version of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" with all of the instruments crashing into one another creating a symphonious effect that stays with you long after the first listen. Produced by Eirik Hundvin, the endless barrage of keyboards, multi-tracked guitars, piercing vocals, and hyperkinetic drum beats must have been a big challenge but he nails it. Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth owe a huge debt to this album. Rejecting the notion that all black-metal had to be stripped-down and primitive in approach, Emperor inspired the wave of overtly-technical black-metal bands that would rule the underground in the early 2000's. If you follow black-metal, this full-length is most likely already in your possession. In the Nightside Eclipse (Century Media, 1994) Emperor Though many of the picks on this list will probably be argued by our fickle readers, Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse won't be one of them. Csihar's schizophrenic performances on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas are perfectly aligned with the FTW spirit of the music underneath it. The naysayers seem to be missing the point. His vocals here have polarized critics since the album's initial release. On certain parts he even croons like an opera singer. He growls, screams, shrieks and wails over Mayhem's layered arrangements like a demon unleashed. Not to be outdone, Attila Csihar provides one of the most thrilling vocal performances metal has seen in the last 20 years or so. Guitarist Euronymous (another fatality of the black-metal scene) lays down every shade of heavy you can think of from gothic inspired doom parts to thrash informed sections that drive the faster bits with relentless power. Each of the 8 songs is a journey onto themselves with constant tempo shifts and a blizzard of riffs that never seems to end. But for experienced listeners, the album will leave you absolutely entranced.
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Its way too complex and extreme in its maverick approach to be taken in by ears not accustomed to something so out there. There's no question Nödtveidt had haunting issues but the music he left behind speaks for itself.ĭe Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Century Media, 1994) Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is the sort of album you wouldn't play someone first trying to get into black-metal. This is the kind of ghastly drama that has followed black-metal for most of its history and made it a frequent target of the media throughout Europe. Two years later the musician was found dead in his apartment after he shot himself inside a circle of lit candles.
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He served prison time and restarted Dissection again when he was released in 2004. In 1997 he was convicted of being an accessory to a murder that happened earlier that year. A true wizard of the art, Nödtveidt sadly lost out to the demons that crippled him throughout his final years.
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Unlike the crude almost punk infused simplicity that many of their counterparts went with, Nödtveidt adorned the album with flashy riffs and the kinds of solos that revealed a neo-classical influence only hinted at on their earlier releases. Their previous album, The Somberlain proved Dissection were a force to be reckoned with but 1996's Storm of the Light's Bane was on another level completely. Their world-class musicianship and accomplished songwriting made them one of the firebrands of the genre. Storm of the Light's Bane (Nuclear Blast, 1996) Dissection Lead by guitarist/singer/songwriter Jon Nödtveidt, Sweden's Dissection was one of the best melodic black-metal outfits the underground has ever produced. Songs like "Paragon Belial" and the title track still are every bit as cold and caustic today as they were back in 1992. Although the band have always maintained that A Blaze in the Northern Sky wasn't a truly black-metal album because there were still some guitar parts left over from their earlier style but the raw production and streamlined performances tells a different story. After the intricately arranged songs of their debut album, Soulside Journey, the band abandoned the flashy riffing and went into the studio with a new found adoration for the black-metal sounds of bands like Bathory and Mayhem. For starters, the band who created it, Darkthrone, were originally a technical death-metal band more in the style of Entombed, Autopsy, and Death than the primal, stripped-down attack showcased on their later material.
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A Blaze in the Northern Sky (Peaceville, 1991) Darkthrone Arguably the album that sparked the 90's black-metal fever that still lives on today, A Blaze in the Northern Sky was pivotal for many reasons.