ok..horna aren't bad.......at least not as shitty as vlad tepes, but i don't like them. i've bought the Kohti Yhdeks?n Nousua album once...but i just don't like it..its lame, somehow
there are a lot of better black metal bands around, z.b. svartskogg, massemord, sargeist, wigrid, ackercocke, ildjarn, shining, curse, myrk, carpathian forest, 1349, taake usw...
I disagree, at least in part, as I like almost all those bands to one or another degree (all but two assuming Z.B. refers to Zyklon-B. I haven't heard Wigrid or Curse). However, Horna are without a doubt one of my favourite underground BM bands: part of it is the fact that they just seriously rock, with a hefty thash/punk influence, probably filtered via Carpathian Forest, given the way it's mixed with some truly bleak, depressing atmosphere. They also really do sound
vile: their production is generally a spot on, allowing the instruments to stand out whilst still delivering a raw BM kick. There's too much tame, un-threatening BM around nowadays, you need some proper blood vomiting filth: again, this is the reason I so fucking love Carpathian Forest, and Nattefrost in general. He genuinely sounds sick, diseased, unwashed and filthy.
As for Vlad Tepes, who are by far and away the best Les Legiones Noires band, I just think they write great songs. There's an understanding of melody buried under all that cheap as fuck recording that allows them to write songs that truly deserve the appelation 'epic' with only the simplest of elements. Yes, they are fantastically over-rated by stupid kvlt wankers who think that liking the LLN makes them, liek, tooootally grim, But they still write good primitivist black metal. I'm not one of these people who thinks the worse an albums production is the better it is, but I do have to admit I like a lot of raw, guttural black metal. 1349, for example: I generally prefer 'Chaos Preferred' and '1349' to the albums (though there are some kick-ass tracks scattered about: 'Riders of the Apocalypse' is the sound of Satans biker boot in Jesus' tender groin). It's not that I dislike melody or symphony, I just seem to
feel that sort of thing more. That said, my 10 favourite BM albums (no order) are probably:
Bathory - The Return...
Burzum - Burzum
Carpathian Forest - Defending The Throne Of Evil
Dark Fortress - Stab Wounds
Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
Deathspell Omega - Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice
Immortal - Battles in the North
Isengard - Vinterskugge
Marduk - Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered
Ulver - Nattens Madrigal
So, pretty mainstream all in all.
