5 Black Metal Musicians Who Don’t Fit the Stereotype

Today, we present our list of five of the best black metal artists who don’t fit the stereotype in order to shed light upon what is perhaps the most misunderstood genre of them all.

But what is the supposed “stereotype”? If anyone impudently alleges that black metal is all about corpse paint and burning churches, then that person is clearly an ignoramus in need of musical reeducation.

As the venerable figure on our main list who brought audiences Kronet Til Konge (1995) has repeatedly said, the scene was created by individualists; thus, he explained that if a band didn’t bring anything original to the table in the early days, it was determined that they had nothing to offer and were accordingly banished. Even many offerings that we now regard as classics were rebellions against not only societal norms but black metal norms.

Therefore, if a group fits the black metal mold, you must ask yourself: Is this so because they are genuine bearers of black light, or are they perhaps just copycat-posers tainting the movement with mediocrity?

READ MORE: Why 5 Classic Black Metal Bands Stopped Wearing Corpse Paint

If you would like an example of the noble, cold and blasphemous True Black Metal Soul, please experience the works of the late Trondr Nefas of Urgehal, Beastcraft, the black-deathrashing Vulture Lord, etc. Trondr is also relevant to the current discussion for having spawned one of the art form’s wildest avant-garde experiments — the depressive, alien black/death/prog outfit Angst Skvadron.

This sonic hallucinogen of a project shared a split with So Much For Nothing, whose Erik Unsgaard, known primarily for Sarkom, similarly both delivers First-Class Norwegian Black Metal as it should be and hits us with unforgettable surprises; Unsgaard has incorporated trumpet, saxophone, violin, cello and all kinds of other unexpected impulses into his addictive releases.

Unless you have impeccable taste in metal, Unsgaard and Nefas’ creations will make your playlists sound “plastic, lame and weak” (to make a Darkthrone reference) like the catalogs of their fellow veterans below.