Svart - Förlorad (2010)

Related:

Svart - Våran tid är förbi (2009)

Acacia - Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt (2013)

A deep, echoing pit of droning, patience-testing DSBM/blackened doom. Heavy, harsh, and hopeless, but brightened by some at times quite pretty, borderline post-rock-sounding guitars. Förlorad could be likened to the Flood of DSBM, in that it has a number of sections that go on waaay longer than they 'should' yet it's absolutely crucial to the overall impact of the payoffs, and the album as a conceptual piece, that they go on as long as they do.

Track listing:

1. Förlorad I

2. Förlorad II

3. Förlorad III

Jag dukar under utan strid inför mörkret
En gnista går om intet utan förhoppning

More sunshine, good times, and fine wine:

Dictator - Dysangelist (2008)

Urna - Iter ad Lucem (2009)

Black Priest of Satan - Element of Destruction (2016)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Black Priest of Satan - We, as Shadows of Satan (2010)

Just got a re-up request on the above post, felt like a good time to revisit this piece of mid-paced, doom-laden German black metal. Gnarly guitar tone, ritualistic atmosphere, riffs, and a touch of slop to let you know that practice comes second, Satanic Chaos comes first.

Track listing:

1. The Element of Destruction

2. Prophet of Fire

3. Blazing Fires in the Night

4. Unheard Prayer

5. Ritual of Three Candles

6. Guided by Two Moons

Bleeding worship

Also listen to:

Törr - Armageddon (1990)

Barathrum - Infernal (1996)

Alkerdeel - De Speenzalvinge (2010)

Sludgy black metal/blackened sludge from Belgium. Dry, thudding drums encased in a thick coat of murky guitars shot through with strung-out screams and moans. "Luizig" is almost half an hour long but it really ties the room together so stick around.

Track listing:

1. Verdesteleween

2. De Bollaf!

3. Luizig

In the coffin of eternal life

My floating self

If you like this, listen to:

Vrolok - Resurgence III: Order of the Sphere (2007)

Brulvahnatu - Menstrual Extraction Ceremony (2011)

Ophthalamia - A Journey in Darkness (1994)

Related:

Abruptum - Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectère Me (1993)

Abruptum - Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes (1997)

Swedish melodic blackened doom featuring the guitar stylings of the late, great It. Riffs right out of the Sabbath/Candlemass playbook, raspy black metal vocals, and some goth-y keyboards here and there for atmosphere. Get it, you fools!

Track listing:

1. A Cry from the Halls of Blood / Empire of Lost Dreams

2. Enter the Darkest Thoughts of the Chosen / Agony's Silent Paradise

3. Journey in Darkness / Entering the Forest

4. Shores of Kaa-Tu-Nu / The Eternal Walk, Part II

5. A Lonely Soul / Hymn to a Dream

6. Little Child of Light / Degradation of Holyness

7. Castle of No Repair / Lies from a Blackened Heart

8. This Is the Pain Called Sorrow / To the Memory of Me

9. I Summon Thee, Oh Father / Death Embrace Me

My blackened teeth chew at the air we breathe

If you like this, check out:

Shadowseeds - Dream of Lilith (1995)

Necromass - Abyss Calls Life (1996)

Maestus - Voir dire (2015)

Atmospheric funeral doom from sunny Portland, OR. At the start, a mix of ethereal female vocals, drifting keys, and death growls immediately brought to mind Shape of Despair circa Angels of Distress. Then the more sinister, death-doom-influenced riffs hit, followed by some quasi-operatic male vocals and blackened tremolo picking, and it became apparent that Maestus has forged their own depressive path through the misty Cascadian mountains. Free/name your price via bandcamp.

Track listing:

1. Shrouded by Peaks, Valleys Speak

2. Weeping Granite

3. Tears of Sky

4. Algid Lungs

5. I: Overcast Fields Ridden with Dew

6. II: Specie Æternitas

7. III: Water Sifting Though Iceladen Veins

8. IV: Per Æternitas 

Lightless hope recedes

Also listen to:

Darkflight - Perfectly Calm (2008)

The Austrasian Goat - Stains of Resignation (2010)

Darkflight - Perfectly Calm (2008)

Atmospheric symphonic funeral doom with a lightly blackened finish. Drifting strings, majestically mournful leads, reverb-drenched drums, the occasional dramatic brass melody, and hoarse, rasping vocals.

Track listing:

1. Indifferent

2. Dissolving into Nothingness

3. Distant Pain

4. Perfectly Calm

5. Yet Here I Stand

6. Better Than Real

7. Regard d'outre monde

8. L'ether astral

Dissolving into eternity

You should also hear:

Forest of Shadows - Where Dreams Turn to Dust (2000)

Remembrance - Fall, Obsidian Night (2010)

Bann - Æschatologia (2009)

Epic, symphonic German black metal with strong doom overtones. A beautiful, keyboard-heavy ode to medieval times (the era, not the dinner theater chain) colored by whispery-rasps that sound more like Golem than any other vocalist I've heard.

Track listing:

1. Der Geiger

2. Schwarze Bulle

3. Narrenschyff

4. Carmina Necrologia

5. Fraß der Flammen: I Póli

6. Die letzten Dinge (Æschatolog)

Eat the flame

For fans of:

Asgaroth - Trapped in the Depths of Eve (1997)

Summoning - Oath Bound (2006)

Blood of the Black Owl - A Banishing Ritual (2010)

A heady fusion of dark psych, Pagan neofolk and blackened drone-doom. Dissonant monoliths of sound worthy of latter-day Swans broken up by flashes of crushing, pitch-black caveman sludge. It's borderline criminal that it took me so long to post this.

Track listing:

1. Intent

2. The Statement of Will

3. Chant of the Captured Spirit

4. The Final Banishing

I will stab and cut

Also check out:

Matt Howden & Tony Wakeford - Three Nine (2000)

Amestigon - Thier (2015)

Venus Star - Son of Venus the Destroyer (2010)

Related:

Prevalent Resistance - Eternal Return (2008)

Circle of Ouroboros - Abrahadabra (2012)

Rahu - The Quest for the Vajra of Shadows (2012)

Finnish raw, punk-and-doom-infused black metal. Compilation of three cassette demos. An endless parade of largely mid-paced riff-fests with psychotic, almost screamo-y vocals. Some of the most mosh-worthy raw black metal I've heard.

Track listing:

1. Venus-Lucifer I

2. Venus-Lucifer II

3. Venus-Lucifer III

4. Venus-Lucifer IV

5. Venus-Lucifer V

6. Venus-Lucifer VI

7. Destroyer Sonata I

8. Destroyer Sonata II

9. Destroyer Sonata III

10. Son of Ishtar I

11. Son of Ishtar II

12. Son of Ishtar III

13. Son of Ishtar IV

The abyssic energy

Leaks in from the outside

From the uneven world

Similar listening:

Sortsind - Sår (1999)

Black Stench - Black Stench (2009)

Black Mass of Absu - Black Mass of Absu (1995)

Two demos for the price of one of raw black/doom insanity. Plodding drums, strung out guitars, psychotic vocals, droning organ, funeral bells, and a fucking Twisted Sister cover.

Track listing:

1. Your Soul Belongs to the Goat

2. Strangled by the Tail of Lucifer

3. The Bloody Feast of Our Horned Saviour

4. The Inquisition

5. Servant of the Darklord

6. Rise of the Unholy Beast

7. HIV Infected Blood of Christ

8. Urine Soaked Purity

9. Virgin Sodomy & Decapitation

10. Vile Odor of Shit

11. Scrotum Detachment by Meat Cleaver

12. Burn in Hell [Twisted Sister cover]

13. Harder Than Goat Feces in Winter

14. Dark Sword of Abaddon

15. Satan's Supper

Welcome to the abandoned land

More like this:

Absum - Eznerapsart Led Oicsnocbus Onamu (2008)

Vucub Cane - Sacrifical Hate Rituals (2012)

Shadowseeds - Dream of Lilith (1995)

Swedish atmospheric, ritualistic black/doom metal with a strong dark ambient presence. Reverb-drenched, melodic sorrow with vocals consisting entirely of spoken incantations. A truly singular record. Main dude from this band went on to form Saturnalia Temple.

Track listing:

1. Dream of Lilith (Lilith)

2. Kalis Moon (Gamaliel)

3. The Hidden God (Samael)

4. Thy Shrouded Wings (A'arab Zaraq)

5. Lion-Serpent Sun (Thagirion)

6. Baptized in Blood (Golachab)

7. Dreaming Ecstasy (Gha'agsheblah)

8. Dark Night of the Soul (Satariel)

9. Daemon est Deus inversus (Ghagiel)

10. Shadowseeds (Thaumiel)

Let the darkness be your light

You'd probably also like:

Nahual - Mysteries of the Cosmic Serpent (2001)

Black Autumn - Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom (2007)

Forgotten Tomb - Love's Burial Ground (2004)

Italian black/doom metal. One of my favorite records of its kind. The vocalist actually achieves the kind of desperate, on-the-brink feel that so many DSBM vocalist reach for but come up short, and even when the band slows it down, which is often, they're playing like their instruments are responsible for all that's wrong with the world. Also, riffs.

Track listing:
1. Malus Vivendi Pt. I (Intro)
2. Kill Life
3. Alone
4. House of Nostalgia
5. Malus Vivendi Pt. II (Intermezzo)
6. Love's Burial Ground
7. Slave to Negativity
8. Forgotten Tomb MMIII
9. Malus Vivendi Pt. III (Outro)

I'm just waiting to piss on your desecrated tomb

You might also like:

Vrolok -
Void (The Divine Abortion) (2007)

I Shalt Become -
Poison (2010)

The Austrasian Goat - Stains of Resignation (2010)

French blackened funeral doom with elements of post-metal. A massive, layered, crushingly heavy thing of beauty that folds acoustic guitars, cello, keyboards, and more into its world-ending sound.

Track listing:
1. Even in Uneven
2. A Liquid Manure of Guilt
3. The Arsons of Pride
4. Arrheton
5. Voice of Aenima
6. Hands
7. No Crowd Will Be Mine
8. Diseducation
9. Miles from Anywhere

Just stones paving our way to decay

You'll also enjoy:

The Fall of Every Season -
Amends (2013)

Arcana Coelestia -
Nomas (2014)

Forest Stream - Tears of Mortal Solitude (2003)

Russian blackened gothic doom. Almost every moment of Tears of Mortal Solitude is drenched in keyboards, making for a lushly melodic, heavily adorned sound. Jesus, what an eyesore of a cover, though.

Track listing:
1. Autumn Elegy
2. Legend
3. Last Season Purity
4. Snowfall
5. Mel Kor
6. Whole
7. Black Swans
8. Winter Solstice
9. Steps of Mankind

Leave me
I've chosen

If you like this, try:

Cryptal Darkness -
They Whispered You Had Risen (1999)

Fallen -
A Tragedy's Bitter End (2004)

Amestigon - Thier (2015)

Related:
Abigor - Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age (1994)
Summoning - Nightshade Forests (1997)
Dargaard - Eternity Rites (1999)
Summoning - Oath Bound (2006)

Elite-tier Austrian psychedelic black metal. Given the above-linked related projects -- responsible for some of the greatest black metal ever made -- it should come as no surprise that Amestigon kicks ass. Beautiful, cosmic fury with a side of hypnotic ritual doom.

Track listing:
1. Demirug
2. 358
3. Thier
4. Hochpolung

Dead are all gods
Now we must live

More along these lines:

Deathmoor -
Actus Sacrophagia Mortem (2015)

Invehertex -
Hacia el Vórtice (2015)

Brulvahnatu - Menstrual Extraction Ceremony (2011)

Fucking phenomenal Canadian black/death/doom. I understand your trepidation: you're looking at that album cover, and wondering what kind of weird, amateurish perversion I'm trying to get you to download. But since I'm lazy and high and I hate music writing, you're just gonna have to trust me on this one. Free/name your price via bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. The Book of Forgotten Places
2. Hunting Season (At an End)
3. Fluids
4. The Gland
5. Menstrual Extraction Ceremony

Sick creature nightmare

You should also listen to:

Rites of Thy Degringolade -
The Caryatid (2000)

Wormlust -
The Wormlust Collective (2012)

Listen to the new Abstracter!!!

Y'all. This record, Cinereous Incarnate, just came out, and it is some of the heaviest, most massive-sounding blackened doom I've ever heard. Truly mammoth, world-crushing shit that's somewhat in line with what we've been hearing from Iceland over the past few years. Without a doubt, a shoe-in for my year-end list. It's on the same label that reissued my solo record earlier this year, so I'm doubly interested in seeing it succeed. Do me and yourself a favor, go buy their record. Stream it there or below.

Barathrum - Infernal (1996)

Glorious Finnish black metal. Heavy, war-like, first-wave style blasphemy with some slower, ritualistic elements that recall doom and viking metal.

Track listing:
1. The Night of the Demon Lord
2. The Blasphemer
3. Warmetal
4. Deliver a Battle
5. Death Is Saviour
6. Leaving the World of Mortals
7. Deadmarch
8. Ethereal Guest
9. Immortal Warrior
10. Demon Est Deus Inversus
11. Infernal

His breath will sear your back like winds from hell

You should also hear:

Wind of the Black Mountains -
Sing Thou Unholy Servants (1996)

Mordaehoth - Bloedwraak - Verdoem
Al 't Christelijk Leven (2003)

Night Heir - A Maze of Evenings (2013)

US blackened occult doom. Ranges from raw, blast-beat-and-tremolo-picking chaos to expansive, layered, sometime quite beautiful sludge. A real unsung gem of an album, and band, for that matter. Free/name your price via bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. Inviolate
2. Inamorata
3. Daymare
4. Giver & Receiver
5. The Wheel
6. The Curator
7. Solar Plexus
8. The Snakewife
9. Theme from Slowland
10. Draw Me Down the Moon
11. Inner Female
12. Inviolate

The moon is high
The hour is late

Also check out:

Aelter -
Aelter II: Follow You Beloved (2011)

ION -
ION (2014)

Robedoor / Husere Grav - Robedoor / Husere Grav [Split] (2008)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Robedoor - Devourer (2005)
Husere Grav - Haunted Tomb / The Great Empty (2009)

Excellent split cassette by raw dark psych/drone/noise/what-have-you band Robedoor and black drone project Husere Grav. Robedoor lead off with a slowburning monolith of eerie, ritualistic psych, followed by a murky cauldron of narcotizing black slime, courtesy of Husere Grav.

Track listing:
1. Robedoor - Terminal Abomination
2. Husere Grav - Awakening
3. Husere Grav - Heart Problems
4. Husere Grav - Silver Mist
5. Husere Grav - This Is Forever
6. Husere Grav - Falling from the Sky

Fog of God

More like this:

Equimanthorn -
Lectionum Anituquarum (1999)

Emit -
A Sword of Death for the Prince (2005)