1995: The Turning Point for Norwegian Black Metal

Thirty years on, we look at 10 of the most influential Norwegian Black Metal records of 1995, exploring the shift from orthodoxy to experimentation.

Fenriz. From the ‘A Blaze In The Northern Sky’ album art courtesy of Peaceville Records.

1995 was a pivotal year for Norwegian Black Metal. Like virtually every scene on the planet, none of the artists sounded particularly alike, yet they were unified in their ability to attract a particular kind of fanatic.

The philosophical orthodoxy that had directed — or better stated, put acceptable parameters around what was stylistically acceptable — became unraveled in spectacular fashion as 1995 rolled on.

The slew of releases from ’91 to ’94 that cemented what people characteristically recognise as the genre’s creative peak was set to fall asunder. And interestingly it was these same architects of the traditional sound that would devise this distortion in the signal.

Five of the most acclaimed, and arguably timeless records of the golden age of Norwegian Black Metal

1. A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Darkthrone, 1991
2. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem, 1994
3. In The Nightside Eclipse by Emperor, 1994
4. The Shadowthrone by Satyricon, 1994