VMP Magazine

The first thing you should know about black metal is that it takes itself very seriously. Between the corpse paint, the blazing churches, the sex-starved nuns and the satanic rituals, it’s easy to see how Westerners could find the morbid aesthetic a bit much: and that’s the point. Just like punk, heavy metal and aggressive music at large, this notorious subgenre is all about challenging authority with brutal honesty. In conjuring terrifying images of social collapse and animalistic desires with the most tortured lexicon pained screams, howling guitars, ferocious drums–black metal confronts the listener with a warped, funhouse mirror-reflection not only themselves, but the corrupt world at large.

Once you’ve peered into black metal’s void, it’s damn near impossible to shift your focus elsewhere–especially if you’re experiencing it on vinyl. Read on for ten works of musical necromancy that belong in every collection.