I'll do it in the same style, since I'm quite pleased with it.
Joyless - (1996) Unlimited Hate
Black metal band Forgotten Woods decided on a depressive rock side project. This is the album bridging the two styles.
Their latest album, "Without Support" is a masterpiece, by the way.
Katatonia - (1993) Dance of December Souls
Melancholy given sonic form: the album. Probably the best death/doom album and maybe the best metal album of all time; I don't say this lightly, there's just
nothing bad to say about it, not a speck of criticism to give.
Loudblast - (1993) Sublime Dementia
A very interesting progressive death metal album being quite the surprise since their first album was kind of classic sounding. I may be biaised, but France doesn't have that much content compared to other big European countries, but the proportion of truly interesting work is quite high.
Lux Occulta - (1996) Forever Alone, Immortal
Another haunting atmospheric black metal band that doesn't use atmosphere to hide their lack of substance. I'll give this opinion as fact: the best black metal isn't fast.
Manes - (1999) Under ein blodraud maane
Now we're going into kvlt and less known territory. Raw, hypnotic black metal from Norway. Perfect for long evening nights with the wind blowing too hard on
your walls.
Master's Hammer - (1992) Jilemnický okultista
A legendary masterpiece of progressive/melodice black metal from Czech Republic, with obvious folkloric inspiration in its sound. I recommend the previous album, "Ritual", too.
maudlin of the Well - (1999) My Fruit PsychoBells… A Seed Combustible
Getting into stranger lands with this. I'd call it avant-garde/psychedelic death metal (the death part being actually rare). Even if you don't like metal, you should try this one.
Megadeth - (1985) Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!
Ok, Megadeth isn't really obscure, but this album is cruelly underrated, because of the amazing follow-ups. But I maintain this is their best. The playing is sharp and the composition extremely good.
PS: I STRONGLY recommend the remaster for this special case, the original has a very bad production.
Melvins - (1989) Ozma
Melvins is a special band. One of the most underrated of all times, they managed to invent two genres (sludge and drone) while constantly changing style and never caring about what others thought of them.
This is merely my favourite album of them, but almost all their stuff is worth your time; I suggest "Bullhead" as a good introduction to their sound.
Mercyless - (1993) Coloured Funeral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkNo0_vdu_Y (only one track, sadly)
Like Loudblast, an incredible technical death metal album whose quality is inversely proportional to its fame. A must hear for connoisseurs.
Meshuggah - (1991) Contradictions Collapse
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL29RB_EsyjZyuKZoN_JyUekuGiW3ZcSKV
Not an unknown band, but did you know they started as a Metallica worship band with a fusion touch and death rasp?
The following EP, "None", has an incredible value because of its transitional nature; should please anyone liking rhythm oriented music.
Michael Romeo - (1994) The Dark Chapter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHNWogQ6E10
A little departure from extreme metal, Michael Romeo is more known for his role as Symphony X's guitarist, but this first solo album is where he truly shined.
This Edgar Allan Poe inspired album is what good shred sounds like: virtuoso without being mindless.
Moonblood - (1997) Blut & Krieg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs0PVF2lx0Y
One of the only no-surprise traditional album here. Straight raw black metal where you can still taste the Venom and Bathory roots. The execution itself is just so good that it deserves to be here.
Moonspell - (1996) Irreligious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akF8ueyhB4o (only one track)
Something very different from previously listed albums, because it has a very "modern" production and is quite accessible too. A simple gothic/symphonic album that substitutes his predecessor's originality ("Wolfheart", for those wanting more) by a truly flawless execution.
Morpheus Descends - (1992) Ritual of Infinity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvecEirC-z4
Heavy and straightforward OSDM. Nothing more to say.
Mortuary Drape - (1994) All the Witches Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkAcq_1SBrk
A very interesting occult black metal band from Italy. Absolutely nothing quite like it, you'll have to listen to it since it can't really be described with words. Eerie, maybe?
My Dying Bride - (1993) Turn Loose the Swans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHUppy2k77g
1993 is definitely a very important year for metal and especially the short-lived death/doom genre. In the same year, we got Katatonia's masterpiece, Cemetary's "Godless Beauty", Disembowelment's goodbye gift and Anathema's "Serenades".
This is then another take on what Paradise Lost spawned with its legendary "Gothic", but what a take. With My Dying Bride's sauce of long, ambient intros and crushing, oppressive riffs, you have no chance of confusing it with something else.
Mysticum - (1996) In The Streams of Inferno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM7bdg0uZAo
One of the extremely few entries in the fascinating world of industrial black metal. The genre is so small that everything in it is good, which is kind of useful, I guess?
Mystifier - (1996) The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MroVGqKrJe4
Brazilian black metal with quite the doomy and occult overtones. Just another band that knew how to fuse black metal with external influences very well. Their album and song titles are also quite fun.
I also recommend "Göetia" from them, with titles like "The True Story About the Doctor Faust's Pact with Mephistopheles" really sounding like Beherit's "Drawing Down the Moon".
Mütiilation - (1999) Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI6fz8pi6dg
The sound of depression. Unequaled in that regard, it captures the despair and pathetic of it through an incredibly raw (as in recorded in a crypt) album. Caution, optimistic types and people who never heard real black metal WON'T get it.
I had a lot of trouble to decide between this one and "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood", but while the latter is longer and maybe more consistent, it's less sincere in its message, and the drum machine doesn't give the same feel as the sloppiness in this one.
Necromantia - (1997) Ancient Pride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOuPPLF3rDw (only one track)
Very good black metal with a clean production where you can hear all the instruments (including bass guitar) and even understand the lyrics. And what lyrics:
The Glory of Your Love
Is Built Upon Our People's Pain
And Your Glory is Painted Red
Of Our Noble Blood You Shed.
You Came And Slaughtered Odin
You Came And Murdered Zeus
Our Gods Became Your Satan
And Satan Became Our God
The Ancient Pride
Still Burns Within Us
Honour, Strength And Joy
By Force We'll Purge Our Soil
Really different feel from their other releases, strangely. This is only an EP, so if you like it, I suggest you try their better known LP "Scarlet Evil Witching Black".
Negative Plane - (2011) Stained Glass Revelations
https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/stained-glass-revelations
US Black metal is so lackluster in quality and emotion that when something really good comes from it, it deserves attention. And boy, this one more than deserves it.
Like Mortuary Drape, they really got that unique, occult sound, but they also have the erratic dissonance of Deathspell Omega's good stuff. A really good surprise for a black metal album from the 2010s.
Their first album, "Et In Saecula Saeculorum", is also a very good one, so don't search further if you liked this one.
Nightingale - (1995) The Breathing Shadow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMKsTWtNSM
This is what you get when melodic death metal band Edge of Sanity's mastermind Dan Swano really likes Sisters of Mercy. A very good gothic album with lots of cheesy synth, an appropriate drum machine and exceptional singing.
No Return - (1991) Contamination Rises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imLstvyWDJg
Continuing on the path of unheard of French extreme metal gems, we get this hectic technical death metal with a very fast thrashing sound. Nothing really out of the ordinary, but there's nothing bad to say about it either.
"Beneath the Remains' French Cousin!", as a MA review rightly called it.
Nocturnus - (1992) Thresholds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVwtC8X7NC4
A very eerie sci-fi themed progressive death metal album from Nocturnus, better known for their LP "The Key". The production is less thin and the melodic side more emphasized than before.
Nokturnal Mortum - (1996) Lunar Poetry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbtFq8A8XJE
While this band is known for its cult symphonic black metal album "Goat Horns" and some very good new stuff like "Голос сталі", they weren't always as predictable (even if good). They especially released two demos during their early period that still break the conventions.
The first demo, "Twilightfall", is even more exploratory than this with its mix of black metal and melodic/prog death sound, but less consistent in quality. I suggest you check out both.
Obituary - (1990) Cause of Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XlO16tz2-A
If Entombed's "Left Hand Path" and Autopsy's "Mental Funeral" or Celtic Frost's "Morbid Tales" had a kid, it would sound like this. It's slow like their first ("Slowly We Rot") but with a more clinical sound that goes well with the slightly more interesting song writing.
Pagan Altar - (2006) Mythical & Magical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksoE9jDb-wQ
This is a band with a very interesting history, because it was one of the few NWOBHM band playing doom part together Witchfinder General. Sadly, their first album, released in 1982, was a bit forgotten and the group died. But, in a film story like fashion, they reformed in 2004, released two amazing albums and finally got the success they deserved.
"Mythical & Magical" is the last of those newer albums and is really flawless, as far as the genre goes; they didn't fall in the trap of modern overproduction or trying to change a genre that doesn't need change.
Pan.Thy.Monium - (1992) Dawn of Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADByOipYy0w
In the vein of maudling of the Well, but even stranger (yes, that's possible). To give and idea of how strange we're talking, there's a sample of Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" inside.
By the way, it's also something from Dan Swano (and his brother, Dag), one of metal's most prolific artist.
Paradise Lost - (1991) Gothic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQcAvJaJz_w
I already mentioned it and here it is, the album that started the whole gothic death/doom movement, joined later by Anathema, My Dying Bride, Cemetary and perfectioned by Katatonia.
Its value is not only due to its landmark status, because it stood the test of time and still is an amazing piece well depicted by its ominous title. The following albums are
also extremely good and follow the same style ("Shades of God" is more death and "Icon" is fully gothic).
Penance - (1992) The Road Less Travelled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHeVA7Z372A
A quite obscure doom band with a technical flavour. Very much like Confessor but without the falsetto voice and a much slower pace. Worth your time.
Pentagram - (1994) Be Forewarned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6w5HUHz_cE
Well, another quite famous band, but with the little chance that someone doesn't know them, I need to include it. They're characterised by their sky-high quality and consistency.
They've been perfect for three albums and almost perfect for two more, the genre hardly gets better than Pentagram. And this is possibly their best album; some people swear by "Day of Reckoning", though.
Pestilence - (1993) Spheres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnAjlsSwqx0 (only one track)
With Cynic, one of the death metal bands that decide to go fusion for a short time, which, together with a lack of understanding from a stubborn and young crowd, became their demise. But now that the 16 year old kids have grown up, they can appreciate the fretless bass and synth lines in their death metal.
A really sad story, to be honest.
Psychotic Waltz - (1992) Into the Everflow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IppNvtzx4I8 (only one track)
One of the leaders of progressive (and not "prog" like Dream Theater's snorefest) metal. Very melodic, almost like a power metal band, but never really crossing the cheese line, these are very good.
Pungent Stench - (1990) For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lPHbFRwnk
From Austria, one of the heaviest death metal bands, known for its gritty sound and gore/humoristic themes. It could probably be qualified as deathgrind, as they sound very much like Carcass' "Symphonies of Sickness".
To be brief, if you don't know Pungent Stench, you don't know death metal.
Rotting Christ - (1994) Non Serviam
https://rottingchrist.bandcamp.com/album/passage-to-arcturo-non-serviam
Cheap drum machine: check, riff based song writing: check, slow and melodic backbone: check. This is indeed Greek BM, but this is the best of the bunch and you can really feel the passion behind.
I also recommend their EP "Passage to Arcturo" and LP "Thy Mighty Contract", but they went REALLY casual after this album. Very sad, but maybe they didn't have more to give.
Sabbat - (1999) Karisma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfEdSbdR1Ic
One of the best Japanese black metal bands, known for its gigantic discography and very classic, almost hard rock sound but with incredible composition.
The began with Bathory worship like "Envenom" and "Evoke", but with "Disembody", they started getting much more melodic and progressive, until they made a one hour epic called "The Dwelling", which was followed by something even greater: this album.
Like Melvins, this is a band whose name is famous compared to the number of people who actually heard their music. I suggest anyone into Bathory and other classic black metal fill this hole quickly.
Sadist - (1993) Above the Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLGBBmairDI
Another weird stuff coming from the non existent Italian metal scene, this is progressive death metal with an absolutely adorable harpsichord/piano sounding synth colouring the whole. The music itself reminds me a lot of Pestilence's "Spheres" and earlier stuff.
As someone aptly said, "The briefest synopsis of Italian metal I can give is that when it’s good it’s really damn good but when it’s shite it’s absolutely terrible (anyone fancy a glass of Fleshgod Apocalypse’s wine? I mean, it can’t be worse than their music, can it?)"
Sadus - (1988) Illusions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_556UZovJno
A foundation of very straightforward thrash in the line of Kreator's "Pleasure to Kill" with some technicality peppered on it. The really impressive stuff is how well these two ingredients are mixed.
Saint Vitus - (1987) Born Too Late
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7hOkYvbMsM
A cult release from a cult band, the buzzing crawl from the title track will remain for a long time in your brain. The lyrics are just perfect, too:
Every time I'm on the street
People laugh and point at me
They talk about my length of hair
And the out of date clothes I wear
They say I look like the living dead
They say I can't have much in my head
They say my songs are much too slow
But they don't know the things I know
Samael - (1996) Passage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTmOBzyRa1A (only one track)
This album, along with the following EP "Exodus" and the previous LP "Ceremony of Opposites", is an incredibly interesting piece of metal's history as it mixes symphonic/melodic black metal with danceable industrial like Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine" or Godflesh's "Slavestate" EP.
Nothing really comes close and that's fine.
Samhain - (1986) November-Coming-Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79hE0zlJIzU
This is the point where The Misfits metamorphosed into Danzig. And as such, it's got the best of both worlds.
Sarcófago - (1989) Rotting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dOW4CuD-iA
One of the most influential bands, credited for creating second wave black metal with its "I.N.R.I." LP, along with Tormentor's "Anno Domini" and Mayhem's "Deathcrush". Not content with such an influential work, they continued exploring untrodden metal paths with "Rotting" and the following LP "The Laws of Scourge".
Trying to define its genre, it would be technical thrash/speed/black with a doom/death flavour; really unique stuff.
Sentenced - (1993) North from Here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_6zMxOLQGxAIK_La0DiGKKMyW1Tmf55J
The last death metal album from Sentenced is still legendary for its technicality very much inspired by Atheist and Nocturnus. After that, they did some very good death 'n' roll, even if I know this stuff isn't very popular amongst extreme metal fans.
Not a fan of the mixing putting the drums and vocals a bit too high, though.
Sepultura - (1987) Schizophrenia
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqytfNFx9Ghy234_XSUaNssupnKoHXhX7
A cult thrash album that displayed a high level of aggression and tight instrument play. Nothing very special to it, but it's still relevant.
Shub Niggurath - (1997) The Kinglike Celebration (Final Aeon on Earth)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ5B6TXjj8o
A cheesy title and an ambitious project of doomy black/death for this Mexican band that really managed to be up to the task.
Sigh - (2001) Imaginary Sonicscape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snubqu06ZUE (only one track)
The other well-known Japanese black metal band, famous for its experimentation and genre blending. Their whole discography is a memorable voyage, I suggest you listen to their stuff in chronological order, personally.
Slayer - (1985) Hell Awaits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=869aKwGVmFs
Slayer is not unknown, by any measure, but only a fraction of its fanbase knows their best album. Experimentation creeps at every corner of this album, contrary to the overrated "Reign in Blood". Songs like "At Dawn They Sleep" or "Crypts of Eternity" can just make you wonder about what Slayer could have been.
Sleep - (1991) Volume One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBI50y0lX3s
Sleep got very popular due to their "Holy Mountain", but I find that this first effort has much more personality. The crawling pace maintained during the whole album manages to be even slower than Crowbar's "Obedience Thru Suffering", which, in my opinion, deserves respect (or at least attention).
Sodom - (1986) Obsessed by Cruelty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDCqZhteS0
Caught between two important albums: "In the Sign of Evil" which also part of the proto 2nd wave black metal and the legendary "Persecution Mania", it is often overlooked. Which I find sad, since this album is full of interesting stuff.
Solstice - (1998) New Dark Age
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmh2BjVdJ-4
Very melodic doom metal with a lot of acoustic interludes. Sounds a bit like early Candlemass, which is always a good thing.
Sorcery - (1991) Bloodchilling Tales
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u33jmOFX2RE
Classic Gothenburg death metal. Deserves as much a listen as At The Gates' "The Red in the Sky Is Ours".
Sororicide - (1991) The Entity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWQYKCusf8 (only one track)
Famous for two reasons: 1. it's from Iceland and 2. it's one of the rarest releases of all time. Apart from those peculiarities, it's still a very good doom/death album.
Sortilège - (1983) Sortilège
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4jG3I-AxEQ
Arguably can be called the French Iron Maiden, it stands on its own by its quality. In fact, everything this band did needs a listen.
Supuration - (1993) The Cube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNPgAQhwSts
Still not finished with strange French stuff, Supuration is one cult progressive death band that got its following with this album. And what an album!
Symphony X - (1997) The Divine Wings of Tragedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CISHqGzCg (only one track)
Another band I don't need to present, but that could interest people new to the whole thing. An epic/symphonic band that manages the feat of not sounding cheesy AT ALL. Don't ask me how they do it, it works.
The Chasm - (1994) Procreation of the Inner Temple
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpj3iRFBzGQ
One of the strangest album I ever heard. The content itself is already very strange (death metal playing some harmonic games with minor/major switches) but the mixing is really the alien part.
The guitars sound almost spacey, eerie and in the distance while the vocals are up front. It surprises at first, but it then grows on you. Bonus: try it with headphones, it's even more startling.
Thorns - (2001) Thorns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mrY9u3KUUY
The legendary demo grown into a full album that pioneered industrial black metal. This demo is also known because it was made by Varg Vikernes' friend, that got involved with all the murder drama and got some slammer time due to it.
Tiamat - (1992) Clouds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvsgYG9NoI (only one track)
Another death/doom band with a gothic synth flavour. Can't find anything to say about it, except that it's extremely good. But well, so is everything so far.
Timeghoul - (1994) Panaramic Twilight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vltFjJqrzRc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDbAQRMG4zE
Another incredible band that never got past the demo stage, something a bit too common in metal, sadly. Their two demos got released as a post-mortem compilation, fortunately.
The style is near Nocturnus and The Chasm with a boatload of atmosphere and skill.
Tourniquet - (1992) Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-nQnI3PPw8
One of the rare good Christian metal bands with Believer. An incredibly technical thrash album that has no real equal in its field, a real gem in the dirt.
Toxik - (1989) Think This
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXrwWcM7E-c (only one track)
A further addition to the technical thrash roster. They got popular with their "World Circus" first LP, then decided to get even more technical with this one. Fortunately, they pulled it well without sounding like wankery.
Trouble - (1984) Psalm 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJvz4esZEhw
Another good Christian band, doom metal this time. With Pentagram and Saint Vitus, they form the core of classic US doom. Without talking about history, the album itself is incredibly good even to this day.
Type O Negative - (2007) Dead Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKtzn9Arzrg
It took me some time to realise that this is their best album. The problem is that everyone knows that "Bloody Kisses" has awesome songs, but it also has shit fillers. Well, this is Type O Negative at their best, with an almost scary consistency (for them).
For those who don't know of this band, this gothic doom with a hardcore influence (Peter Steele, the frontman, was previously in Carnivore).
Ved Buens Ende - (1995) Written in Waters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYCZnEpFAE
Probably the WEIRDEST black metal album of all times. Like the cover almost implies, if Salvador Dali's melting clocks were a black metal album, this is what it would sound like.
Veles - (1995) Night on the Bare Mountain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lKASQZWQxE
In the vein of Manes or Mütiilation, this is black metal full of atmosphere and emotion. Actually, this sounds more like early Graveland, with its haunting synth, but you get it.
Vlad Tepes / Belkètre - (1995) March to the Black Holocaust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YC2L5HLCms (only one Vlad Tepes track)
Of the whole Les Légions Noires' work, this is probably the best or second best with Mütiilation's best album. Vlad Tepes is very interesting with its "cleanly" produced rock 'n' roll oriented black metal, but Belkètre really takes the crown with its incredibly hateful and evocative part of the split.
Voivod - (1989) Nothingface
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6kF5KkWPkPb0rsKHptHVQymBP50FEXMF
I shouldn't have to include this, but here we go. Another bizarre act from this speed/thrash Québécois band that shook the metal world to the point that some compared it to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring".
It sports a very interesting cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" that should give an idea of what to expect.
Witch - (2006) Witch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbA66jyyyTU
Modern US Doom band with a very melodic and sludgy sound. A really good release that passed under the radar of the community.
Witchfinder General - (1982) Death Penalty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MBhA_SqZxk
It qualifies more as a hard rock band to me, with its album covers full of nude models and easygoing sound. Still, nothing wrong with accessible stuff when it's polished like this.
And it's done. It it helps even one person find a life changing record, I'd be happy.
no hair metal...
