Part IV: The 20 Most Important Black Metal Records from the Most Significant Countries

The final chapter. Learn how the respective cultural environment is imprinted on these recordings.

Venom ‘Black Metal’ LP Cover, courtesy of Neat Records, Combat Records.

Part IV

In the fourth and final instalment, we look at five more bands who have made an indelible impression on Black Metal. Their respective countries represent pillars of the style, and their particular albums are part of its canon and folklore.

Necromancy, infighting, Eastern European isolation and the cave from which it all emerged. Wild stories from an era where the spirit of metal was pervasive — a global language if you will. Before the internet came along and homogenised creativity, technology streamlined production and file sharing usurped tape trading.

What is the purpose of this? Why am I reading it?

These submissions anchor each artist and release to a country critical to the establishment of Black Metal as a global force, offering a cultural context to the environment in which each release was composed and recorded.

This final part of this four-part series considers the last of the 20 mandatory Black Metal releases, concluding with the record that gave the style its nom de guerre — Venom’s 1982…