Does anyone else love black metal?

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Agreed.

i'm terrible at telling what specific genre some artist or song or album is supposed to be. so to be honest i don't even know what black metal is. but judging by the fact that i don't know any of the names already mentioned in this thread, i suppose i'm probably not a fan

the metal / sort-of-metal bands i've been listening to lately are baroness, dethklok, finntroll, helloween (for nostalgia's sake), kvelertak, mastodon, purified in blood, tengger cavalry, torche and týr

I tend to gravitate towards the OMBM artists. I very much like the idea of an individual going at it alone, making music with whatever is at hand -- industry standards be damned! For me personally, after so much academic brainwashing, it was liberating to witness how these guys not only found it within themselves to embrace their lo-fi production values but were able to garner such positive feedback as well. Varg Vikernes with his deliberate "necro-sound" micing, the cassette decks and the cheap digital portastudio devices, etc.

I really, really like what Scott Connor did under Xasthur. People rip on him for being too repetitive and "boring", however coming from the noise music camp I can both understand and appreciate his methodology. Although the staple black metal shtick is great fun, the phony diabolism does tend to get a bit old after a while; Scott's approach was more genuine, in my opinion, as he endeavored to create something thematically different...something darker and more personal. Too many black metal acts are overly preoccupied with their aforementioned "kvlt" image and their instrumental technique. I would argue that, for all their entertainment value, the vast majority of these people are incapable of truly baring their souls in their work (or perhaps they are simply unwilling to do so, for fear of being perceived as "weak"). I can listen to Xasthur and immediately sense that Scott is wrought with some measure of pain...



I'm not above listening to old-school Dimmu Borgir, however I draw a line in the sand immediately after Death Cult Armageddon. I think they took a serious blow in the 90s, with Stian Aarstad plagiarizing Amiga tunes and being fired from the band. Post Enthroned Darkness Triumphant, their output became more bloated and unimaginative with each new release, so much so that I completely lost interest in them sometime in the mid-00s.

Limbonic Art -- another favorite of mine when I was a teenager -- might have fared better, though I couldn't say as I haven't listened to either group in years.

Also, Abruptum is hilarious...

Do you enjoy Panopticon?

Actually, just getting around to checking them out, since you brought them to my attention. My first impression of them certainly isn't negative...

I like Burzum, especially this record;