Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.
Gylve Fenris Nagell, known professionally as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host who is best known as being one half of the black metal duo Darkthrone, alongside Nocturno Culto. Although primarily a drummer and songwriter, he has also played bass and guitar and performed vocals for Darkthrone and several other metal bands. Fenriz is famed for his encyclopedic knowledge of metal music, his eager promotion of underground bands and the DIY ethic, and his rejection of the "showbiz side of the music industry". Fenriz was also the studio drummer for doom metal band Valhall, and has had several solo projects, including the folk black metal project Isengard and the dark ambient project Neptune Towers.
Soulside Journey is the first studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 13 January 1991 by Peaceville Records. It is notable as the band's only death metal album, before they became an integral part of the Norwegian black metal scene.
Transilvanian Hunger is the fourth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 17 February 1994 by Peaceville Records.
Master's Hammer are a Czech black metal band formed in Prague in 1983. They were active, with several lineup changes, until 1995, and again from 2009 onward. As of 2024, they have released eight studio albums, five demos, one EP, two split albums, one live album, and several compilations.
Blasphemy are a Canadian black metal band based in Vancouver, British Columbia that formed in 1984. The band was formed initially by vocalist and occasional bassist Gerry Bull and drummer Sean Stone, known better by their respective stage names Nocturnal Grave Desecrator and Black Winds & 3 Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Geoff Drakes, also known better by his pseudonym Caller of the Storms, would join the band. The band formed first as "Antichrist", and would see two further name changes before settling on Blasphemy in 1987.
Worship Him is the first full album from the Swiss death/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.
Jilemnický okultista is the second studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, self-released on December 1992 and distributed by Osmose Productions in the following year. Described by the band as "the world's first black metal operetta" and largely inspired by King Diamond's rock operas, it is their first of two concept albums, the second being Vagus Vetus, released in 2014. On several early Osmose pressings, Jilemnice is misspelled as "Filemnice", which was corrected on later pressings. Despite the track listing being in English, all the lyrics are in Czech; the original release contained Czech titles.
Fenriz Presents… The Best of Old-School Black Metal is a compilation album by Darkthrone drummer Fenriz featuring bands that have been highly influential for, and pioneers of the black metal genre; Nattefrost and Aura Noir being the only newer bands. He originally also wanted the compilation to include Possessed, but Larry LaLonde refused.
Jiří Valter, better known as Big Boss, is the vocalist for the Czech black metal band Root, the progressive metal band Equirhodont, and Big Boss Band, which mainly performs ballads.
Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt is the eighth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. It was released on 21 October 2009 by Regain Records. This album marked the return of Pest on vocals, as well as the debut of Tomas Asklund on drums and Bøddel on bass.
Circle the Wagons is the fourteenth studio album by the Norwegian band Darkthrone. The album was released 5 April 2010 by Peaceville Records. Fenriz, the band's drummer, described the music as Darkthrone's "own brand of heavy metal/speed metal-punk", and declared it a further shift from their old black metal style. About half of the album was written by Fenriz and half by Nocturno Culto.
Šlágry is the third studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released in 1995 by a now-defunct subsidiary of Osmose Productions, Kron-H, specialized in more experimental outputs than Osmose itself. Greatly contrasting with the sonority of the band's previous releases, Šlágry sees them "virtually abandon[ing] the operatic black metal of previous releases in favor of modernist electronic music", and "shar[ing] publishing credits with Carl Czerny, Otto Katz and Giuseppe Verdi, mixing bits of metal, folk and musique concrète into a style based on the classical avant-garde", as they put it in the album's liner notes. In fact, "Hlava modernistova" is the only black metal-oriented track of the entire album.
Mantras is the fourth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, independently-released on 3 December 2009. It is the band's first album of new material since Šlágry on 1995, and sees them returning to the black metal style of their first two albums, but blending it with the experimental sound demonstrated on Šlágry. It was released both in CD and vinyl format; the vinyl version contains less tracks.
František "Franta" Štorm is a Czech musician, photographer, typographer, writer, teacher, artist, illustrator and record producer, famous for being the vocalist and a founding member of the black metal band Master's Hammer.
Vracejte konve na místo. is the fifth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, independently released on 8 February 2012. It was released both on vinyl and CD format; the vinyl version contains two bonus tracks.
Vagus Vetus is the sixth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released on 18 May 2014 through the band's own record label, Jihosound Records, founded the year prior. It is the group's second concept album so far, the first one being Jilemnický okultista, released in 1992.
Formulæ is the seventh studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released on 30 May 2016 through the band's own record label, Jihosound Records, founded in 2013. The album was composed by Franta Štorm in India and South Bohemia in winter 2015–2016, and recorded between January and March 2016 at Biotech Studio in Prague, Czech Republic.
Zjevení is the debut album by Czech black metal band Root, released in December 1990 through now-defunct record label Zeras. It is noticeably the only full-length album by the band to feature songs with lyrics in Czech, and is regarded for shaping the sonority of the early Czech black metal scene of the late 1980s/early to mid-1990s.
Fascinator is the eighth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer. It was released on 10 February 2018 through their own label, Jihosound Records, and is available in vinyl, CD and cassette formats.
