Graveland are a Polish neo-Nazi pagan black metal band which was formed in 1991 by Rob Darken. They began as a black metal band before adopting a pagan and Viking metal style. The lyrics and imagery of Graveland are strongly inspired by European mythology, nature, winter and war. Their early work focused on Celtic and Slavic mythology, while their later work focuses on Norse mythology and Wotanism.
The Gallery is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity, released on 27 November 1995 by Osmose. It was the first full-length release to feature Mikael Stanne on vocals, as he was previously the rhythm guitarist.
Agalloch is an American extreme metal band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm, they released five full-length albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums and one live video album. They announced their disbandment in May 2016, but reunited in 2023.
The Great Cold Distance is the seventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released on 13 March 2006. The album was recorded and mixed at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro between May and August 2005.
Frost is the second studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved. It was released in 1994, through Osmose Productions.
Pure Holocaust is the second album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on November 1, 1993, on Osmose Productions. It is generally faster sounding than its predecessor Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. The lyrics focus mainly on ice, snow, and fantasy landscapes. It is the first album to feature Abbath on drums.
At the Heart of Winter is the fifth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on February 22, 1999 through Osmose Productions. It is the first Immortal album not to feature Demonaz on guitar, as he suffered from acute tendinitis in his hands, as well as the last album until Sons of Northern Darkness to feature Abbath on bass. The album marks a shift in Immortal's musical sound, towards a black metal and thrash metal fusion.
Detonation is a Dutch death metal band, with members from the Netherlands and the United States. In recent years, the band has gravitated towards a less thrashy melodic death metal sound.
Hate Forest is a Ukrainian black metal band formed by Roman Saenko, the leading member of Drudkh, Dark Ages, and Blood of Kingu. Thurios joined the band in 1998 after the recording of Scythia. The music is mostly very fast, but occasionally slow, with low, distorted vocals, raw low fidelity quality production, sometimes with programmed drums(drummer is a live player during concerts), and dark ambient elements. Musical influences are mostly from Scandinavian black metal to traditional death metal, especially Bolt Thrower. According to the band, its lyrics are about mythology, mainly Slavic, and inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's stories and Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. The band never gave interviews, never released photos, and held its distance from the black metal scene. After Hate Forest disbanded, Saenko focused on Drudkh, and other side projects such as Blood of Kingu, Windswept and Precambrian which are of different inspirations. After a 16 year hiatus Saenko released a new album in 2020 under the Hate Forest name titled "Hour of the Centaur" and has steadily released more albums and EPs from that point.
Worship Him is the debut full-length album from the Swiss black metal band Samael. Released in 1991, it was the first-ever release from Osmose Productions, an independent French metal label. Worship Him is considered a milestone in the development of second wave black metal.
Necromantia was a Greek black metal band that was founded in 1989 in Athens. Alongside Rotting Christ and Varathron, they are considered to be pioneers in establishing the Greek black metal scene in the early 1990s. The band is notable for the complete lack of rhythm guitar in their music, which is substituted by an eight-string bass guitar. Another notable feature is the band's frequent use of musical instruments not usually associated with black metal, such as the saxophone and flute.
Ondskapt was a Swedish black metal band. They have previously shared members with other Swedish metal projects such as IXXI and Shining.
Pulver (Powder) is the debut album by Swedish blackened rock band Lifelover, released in 2006. The album art depicts a friend of the band reclining in a field of wood anemones while covered in cow's blood the band bought from a local butcher shop.
Ablaze My Sorrow is a melodic death metal band from Falkenberg, Sweden. The group formed in 1993, released three full-length albums for No Fashion Records through several lineup changes, and received significant exposure among metal press outlets before disbanding in August 2006. In January 2013 the band reunited.
Defeated Sanity is a German technical death metal band from Dachsbach, Bavaria that was conceived in 1993 by guitarist Wolfgang Teske and his son, drummer Lille Gruber. The group's lineup currently consists of Gruber (drums), Jacob Schmidt, Josh Welshman (vocals), and Vaughn Stoffey (guitar). The band is known for their very brutal, abrasive and intricate style of death metal, while at the same time maintaining almost jazz fusion style influences. Defeated Sanity's genre has also sometimes been categorized as progressive death metal.
Embalmer is an American death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio.
Revenge is a Canadian war metal band formed in 2000 by James Read following the collapse of his previous outfit Conqueror. Revenge's chaotic black metal sound represents a direct continuation of Read's previous band's direction. Although sometimes referred to as war metal the band has never referred to themselves as war metal and has always called themselves black metal, chaotic black metal or black death metal. They have released six full-length albums to date. The band's lyrics explore among other things various militant themes of anti religion, anti humanity, self ascension and the collapse and rebuilding of mankind.
Bestial Mockery is a Swedish black metal band formed in Uddevalla, Sweden, in 1995 by the quartet of Carl "Master Motorsåg" Bildt, Micke "Doomanfanger" Petersson, Jocke "Christcrusher" and Carl "Warslaughter". The band's stated aim at that time was to "channel perverted lusts for Satanic bloody Metal". Although they split up in 2008, Bestial Mockery released four full-length albums for Metal Blood Music, Osmose and Season of Mist, as well as a large number of stand-alone EPs and shared releases with other underground metal acts. In a review of Slaying the Life in Decibel magazine, a similarity between the band and Nunslaughter was noted.
Sjukdom is the fourth and final album by Swedish metal band Lifelover. It was written almost entirely by band member Jonas "B" Bergqvist, who also played all instruments on it, and it was released on 14 February 2011 by Prophecy Productions. A limited edition vinyl and CD boxset was also released. The album is noted for its more ‘gritty’ sound compared to other Lifelover records–a couple songs notably feature an apparent groovy death metal influence, which was a style never previously explored by the band.
Darkestrah is a Kyrgyz pagan metal band, formed in 1999 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Throughout their career the band has blended folklore music with metal elements. In its lyrics and in musical composition, the band uses national folk musical instruments, such as the komuz and kyl-kyak, and references shamanism and Tengrism. The band also takes influence from genres such as progressive rock and post-rock, generally constructing lengthy, rhythmically complex songs that often feature several discrete movements.
