Metal Mondays: My Top 5 Black Metal Albums

I was almost too afraid to attempt this list.  There are a LOT of stellar and seminal black metal albums, and narrowing them down to a top 5 is a tall order (also, I was worried Varg would stab me if I didn't put him first).  Anyway, I guess the thing to keep in mind is that this is my personal list.  I'm sure plenty of you will disagree with my choices, so please feel free to post your own top 5.

Image from: http://www.themetal-spirit.com/2008/02/enslaved-frost-1994.html

5. Frost by Enslaved 

Some say Eld is Enslaved's best old school release; some say Vikingligr Veldi.  For me, though, it's Frost.  This is a great little album that has a lot going for it.  The intro track is easily my favorite synthetic piece in black metal (sorry Varg); it is both chilling and beautiful.  The folk elements on "Yggdrasil" and "Isoders Dronning" really spice up the album.  And "Svarte Vidder" is one of my favorite tracks of all time.

Image from: http://www.avantgardemusic.com/wordpress/?p=903

4. Nattens Madrigal by Ulver

This is just a great, utterly raw release.  Garm's vocals shine on this truly grim recording.  Each track even ends with around 30 seconds of foreboding noises before the next track begins.  In addition, the album harbors some of the best, most haunting tremolo riffs in black metal.  I also like how the tracks are simply named "Hymn" I through VIII.  The album carries an identity as a whole.

Image from: http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Mayhem/De_Mysteriis_Dom_Sathanas/254

3. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem

This album is simply epic.  The opening of "Funeral Fog" builds up delightfully ominous tension.  As soon as this tension is released by that lone guitar riff and the ensuing cascade of percussion, I am taken to another plane of existence.  The drumming is the highlight of this album: pounding, energetic, and with a good sense for theatrics.  The vocals are unique as well.  And the album carries a morbid aura, being the first release after the suicide of Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin) and murder of Euronymous (Oystein Aarseth).

Image from: http://fanart.tv/artist/49cd96a6-42c3-44f6-ba2a-cd9301046b96/burzum/

2. Burzum by Burzum

For many, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss is Burzum's masterpiece of epic black metal.  For others, Filosofem is his magnum opus of atmospheric darkness.  But I'll always be taken with his first full-length release.  Sure, it contains the oft-mocked "War" and the borderline filler tracks "The Crying Orc" and "Dungeons of Darkness."  But any album that kicks it off with the legendary "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown" and "Ea, Lord of Depths" makes a strong case in my court.  Burzum is the master of the sinister riff, and this is where it all started.

Image from: http://johnnyringoreviews.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/

1. A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Darkthrone

I was tempted to pick Under a Funeral Moon here, but I can't listen to the opening riff on "In the Shadow of the Horns" without choosing its predecessor.  Darkthrone would argue that this album really contains three black metal tracks and three death metal tracks, but, whether they like it or not, this album in its entirety was a major influence on all black metal that came after it.  It exudes dark, spacial minimalism of the best kind.