zampyre's favorite albums

year of the goat morbid

in my eyes this is a amazing compilation album for morbid's music, from demos to rehearsals to lives, i truly love this album, all that comes with it.

though i must say that i am a really big fan of per ohlin (known as dead) and his vocals, both his days as the vocalist of morbid and the vocalist of mayhem i adored his voice and song writing and think there's none like it. my fondness for ohlin grew more and more over the years and i don't think it'll die down anytime soon.

as for the rest of the band at this time consisted of guitarist uffe cederlund, john lennart on additional guitars and vocals, bassist jens nasstrom and drummer l-g petrov. petroc and cederlund, as many metal fans know, went onto join entombed after exiting from morbid, but the rest of the band has remained pretty silent for a while aside from that. that was until 2023 january, for the 35th anniversary of their demo december moon, the surviving original members along with daniel ohlin, per's younger half brother, performed as morbid, and the band is active again since then.

fav songs: my dark subconcious wings of funeral

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.2

december moon morbid

if you clicked on and read through the year of the goat album to the left then you might wonder why this is here, well i like the album cover, i think its really beautiful and wanted to put it on here, thats it.

december moon only has 4 demos, my dark subconcious, wings of funeral, from the dark, and disgusting semla. i wanted to be able to put all of morbids music on here so i opted for year of the goat at first, but then i realized that i also wanted to include this album and the nice cover of it so here it is.

rest in peace dead...

fav songs: from the dark disgusting semla

links: bandcamp youtube

added on: 2026.mar.2

deathcrush mayhem

deathcrush is one of my favorite mayhem albums due to how raw sounding it is, and the opening too, it really makes the album special.

the opening track "silvester anfang" was from a german electronic music composer conrad schnitzler, the jarring switch from silvester anfang to deathcrush was a demonstration of euronymous’s artistic vision.

a pretty known fact actually is that euronymous found conrad's home address and camped outside until he let him inside and agreed to contribute to the album. even then though rather than record a new composition conrad gave euronymous a random piece from his archives which is now know as "silvester anfang."

fav songs: deathcrush chainsaw gutsfuck

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

de mysteriis dom sathanas mayhem

de mysteriis dom sathanas, it translates to the mysteries of the lord satan. whats so special about this album for most people is that the bassist is varg vikernes, the one and only guy behind burzum.

with dead being, well dead, the vocalist role was now filled in by attila, i'll be honest and say im not the biggest fan. his singing is fine but i believe that for funeral fog, freezing moon, buried by time and dust, pagan fears, and life eternal, it would've sounded a lot better if it was dead singing instead as the lyrics to these songs were written by him.

my favorite songs for this album would be freezing moon and life eternal, for freezing moon i explained it in live in leipzig but for life eternal its a bit different. on the night dead commited suicide he also left a suicide note.

i found the entire note translated on reddit if you would like to read it but the lyrics of life eternal were a part of dead's suicide note and im glad that mayhem did something with it. i would have loved to hear dead himself sing it but thats impossible now.

fav songs: life eternal freezing moon

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

live in leipzig mayhem

live in leipzig is one of the only offical releases with per ohlin, known as dead as the vocalist. if you read through what i said in year of the goat you'll know somewhat how i feel about him.

for this album the main point for me is that dead is the vocalist instead of anyone else.

i really love the song freezing moon, the intro and the guitar solo was really nice to listen to and the lyrics, story behind it, and the meaning of it was something that resonated with me well.

i got this from reddit but according to dead or necrobutcher, freezing moon was written while dead was in morbid and was based in a dream/vision he once had, where his blood was freezing all the time while he was walking in a cemetery, watching a frozen moon, observing how while he was walking, the things that surrounded him began to decay and die, noticing that he also was already dead. imagine him in a cemetery observing a frozen moon in the sky, following her while he was bleeding and the living things that surrounded him began to die, suppose flowers, grass, and etc...

i've actually had a pretty similar dream to this too once before.

fav songs: the freezing moon funeral fog

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

storm of the light's bane dissection

if your at all into metal then im sure you've heard this album or at least this album being talked about and i have to say, i agree with what everyone else is saying, this album is a timeless masterpiece, perfect down to each riff might i say.

aside from the riffs, dissection's lyricism is just as astonishing, im sure you could already tell by the song names, i suggest looking them up if your interested

i find the outro, no dreams breed in breathless sleep really beautiful, especially after listening to the entire album, it feels completely different than if you listened to it by itself

choosing my favorite songs was really hard since i would choose all of them but that defeats the whole purpose... in the end i chose where dead angels lie and thorns of crimson death, there's not much i know how to put into words other than i recommend listening, though i could say that for everything else here.

fav songs: where dead angels lie thorns of crimson death

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

the somberlain dissection

the somberlain, also another widely acclaimed album within metal. the music dissection created is pure perfection and jon has an impeccable ability to write riffs.

i said something similar while talking about the storm of the light's bane but every riff just feels like ice cold black metal. this album along with storm of the light's bane pretty much invented melodic black metal, and one of my favorite genres just so happened to be meloblack, melodic black metal.

and of course, choosing my favorites for this album was difficult too but i went with the somberlain and black horizons.

for me the somberlain has one of the best intros i've ever heard and for black horizon the guitar solo was really nice to listen to.

fav songs: the somberlain black horizons

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

at the heart of winter immortal

immortal's music makes me feel cold, this album in particular though does it best though, the whole album feels icy and it's even called at the heart of winter.

this album is definitely different from immortal's earlier stuff, it's also the first immortal album to not feature demonaz on guitar as he suffered from acute tendinitis in his hands after blizzard beasts, another immortal album.

im not really sure what to say about this album other than it's great and it's just ice cold riff after ice cold riff.

i ended up choosing at the heart of winter and withstand the fall of time as my favorites though i do like the whole album. at the heart of winter has a really nice intro and withstand the fall of time the riffs just go so hard.

fav songs: at the heart of winter withstand the fall of time

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4

filosofem burzum

before anything else i want to say that i am someone who can separate the art from the artist and i dislike varg as a person, if you wish to know why i suggest searching him up.

aside from that i believe varg is musically gifted. burzum is the one-man project of varg vikernes, he has created a lot of music i like and enjoy listening to and i'd call myself a burzum fan.

burzum is considered a pioneer of ambient/atmospheric black metal, which happens to be one of my favorite genres.

this album is yet another masterpiece that you'll definitely have heard of if your into metal. many agree that this is one of the best black metal albums ever made and i admit it truly is too

filosofem was recorded under purposefully bad conditions in order to retain a raw lo-fi sound. no guitar amplifier was used; instead varg plugged his guitar into the amplifier of his brother's stereo and used old fuzz pedals. for the vocals, he asked a sound technician for the worst microphone he had, and ended up using an old helicopter headset.

while listening i noticed that dunkelheit has an almost identical riff to freezing moon, so if you enjoyed that then check this out too maybe.

fav songs: dunkelheit jesus' tod

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

hvis lyset tar oss burzum

same disclaimer as filosofem as this is another burzum album by varg vikernes.

hvis lyset tar oss, translates to "if the light takes us" and the album cover depicts the corpse of a dead human, laying on the side of a path through the forest with crows flying overhead. the meaning behind it could be widely interpreted and i have my own thoughts but i'd rather not speak about it since i'd end up going on forever.

once again this is well-known as a black metal masterpiece, which i fully agree with.

varg dedicated this album to fenriz from darkthrone and demonaz from immortal though in a 2010 interview, he expressed regret for the dedication to demonaz and claimed demonaz was "a rat like no other".

fav songs: det som en gang var tomhet

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.3

transilvanian hunger darkthrone

for some backstory, it was the early mid 90's where quite aa lot of things happened, the murder of euronymous of mayhem by varg of burzum. darkthrone's guitarist zephyrous had left the band and vocalist noturno culto had moved far away from oslo, the band's area, and thus had become pretty detached from the band.

transilvanian hunger is the fourth studio album by darkthrone, released 1994 feburary 17. ferniz recorded this album by himself. though he did receive lyrical help from the not yet convicted varg for four of the songs, tracks 5-8, and sent the recordings he made to nocturno culto for him to record vocals.

with the help from varg and the raw vocals from nocturno culto, this album is dark and atmospheric, depressingly cold and raw.

the fact that all but one of the songs are sung in norwegian makes it feel even colder. i love listening to this album it's yet another well regarded black metal album and it's clear why.

the album cover is also a really nice touch, it's ferniz in corpsepaint, howling while standing next to a candelabra, reminiscent to mayhem's live in leipzig album cover where it was dead instead of ferniz.

fav songs: transilvanian hunger skald au satans sol

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4

panzerfaust darkthrone

pretty similar story and all to transilvanian hunger as this album was the fifth studio album by darkthrone, released in june 1995.

as with the previous album transilvanian Hunger, all instruments on panzerfaust were recorded solely by fenriz on a 4-track recorder set up in his bedroom with nocturno culto performing vocals on all songs except for the outro.

the track quintessence featured lyrics by varg vikernes, darkthrone's second and final album to do so. in my opinion quintessence has really nice riffs and is my favorite song for this album alongside en vind av sorg which also had riffs i really like. i do also like the hordes of nebula as it sounds pretty similar to quintessence and gives off the same feeling but i still prefer the other two.

fav songs: quintessence en vind av sorg

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4

bathory bathory

bathory by, well bathory.

their self-titled debut from 1984 is widely regarded, and i would agree, as the first ever true black metal album.

there are definitely big hints of thrash metal in this album but there's no doubt this is black metal.

and the mastermind behind whats known as bathory is quorthon. he would continue to make more music in the future which ended up being more viking metal than black but with this album i really think he took a major step in developing the sound of the black metal genre.

fav songs: necromansy hades sacrifice

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.11

the return of darkness and evil bathory

the full title of this album is "the return of darkness and evil" despite the album cover only saying "the return..."

the over 3 minutes long intro track "revelation of doom" features exclusively dark atmospheric sounds leads to "total destruction," and you hear the harsh guitar riffs. (pun intended)

this album is defintely much darker and heavier of an album than their self-titled one, and shows more signs of being and feels "black metal."

fav songs: born for burning total destruction sadist

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.11

under the sign of the black mark bathory

i just want to start of and say the cover art on this is amazing.

black metal later on is frozen introspective evil, cold and icy, whereas bathory's music is burning with an aggressive and purely destructive evil, fiery anger.

personally i just prefer the freezing chill side to black metal but i still enjoy this album, really sounds evil in a scorching hot way unlike other black metal.

fav songs: call from the grave woman of dark desires equimanthorn

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.11

blood fire death bathory

going 4 for 4 in my favorite albums list is bathory with their 4 earliest albums.

blood fire death is the last of bathory's black metal albums and the beginning of their viking metal era which i do like but not as much as black metal.

this album is probably my favorite bathory album mostly just because it's a lot higher quality and has better consistency than their previous albums.

rest in peace quorthon...

fav songs: a fine day to die blood fire death

links: youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.11

pale swordsman kekht arakh

many people hate on këkht aräkh and i can sort of see why it happens (he's popular on tiktok)

but nonetheless i really enjoy listening to his music and hopes he continues making more since currently he only has two albums and some singles.

këkht aräkh is really unique with his lyrics and music in general, it's not like he's the first to make music about love or romance in black metal but it's pretty rare to find with the gatekeeping in metal.

for some reason he was doing rap hand gestures in some of his music videos but i really don't mind it and find that it puts a smile on my face after listening to and getting sad over his music. love everything about this man and his music.

one of the tracks in this album called nocturne really feels like a minecraft song to be honest and it also sounds like one yume nikki soundtrack. it's really refreshing to hear despite still making me feel rather sad

for my favorite songs i chose thorns, in the garden, and amor. for thorns and in the garden the lyrics really stuck out to me and for amor it sounds really romantic in a melancholic way. trve black metal.

fav songs: thorns in the garden amor

links: soundcloud youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4

inori kanashimi

inori is a really beautiful album by kanashimi, hearing the piano like this as the soul with the electric guitar backing it up was something rare in black metal.

the lyrics to the songs are nice too, you can find some of the translated lyrics here. and probably some more if you search deep enough. though i really wish that i knew japanese to be able to understand the lyrics.

i love the entire album and all of the music made by kanashimi, like with everything else my words can't explain how i feel but the genres are dsbm (depressive suicidal black metal) and atmospheric black metal, it should give you an idea of what it's like.

a small fun fact is that in a different album the song called "lullaby" features këkht aräkh.

i highly suggest giving at least this album a listen, it's a more personal favorite and i believe kanashimi deserves to be much more known.

fav songs: scar of heart tomurai in my tears

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4

il était une foret... gris

il était une forêt... unlike with a lot of dsbm these days, icare the vocalist's screams aren't a performance, it really feels like listening to a torn heart. the pain in his voice can really be heard too.

this album is truly feels doomful and hopeless, like they were genuinely being tortured in the studio. it feels really ugly, but at the same time it is captivating, being able to hear art this painfully raw.

the album feels awful yet artful at the same time, it makes even being depressed feel pleasant.

there's definitely a lot i have to say about this album but i wouldn't be able to fit it here or be able to write it all down honestly.

il était une forêt is pretty popular so if you are interested in the lyrics you can search it up, though i of course wish i knew french to be able to experience the original lyrics.

dsbm is really a hit or miss, some hate it, some love it, and it's pretty obvious im part of the people who love it.

fav songs: il était une forêt... cicatrice veux-tu danser?

links: bandcamp youtube

added on: 2026.mar.4

damp chill of life none

the cover for damp chill of life is a cold snowy forest but despite the cover, the album is more about the coldness of the soul than an actual physical coldness.

damp chill of life portrays the kind of frigid iciness and hopelessness that accompanies depression, like an never-ending winter, seeming as the hope of spring will never come.

this album genuinely may be a little too successful in portraying the feeling of depression for anyone familiar with that feeling.

i said this previously but i'll say it again, hearing something that gives such an awful feeling in an artistic way makes even feeling depressed feel pleasant.

i've previously talked about cold guitar riffs but the piano notes add to this frigidness in a way that is completely different than the riffs of a guitar, this entire row of albums actually has a incredible usage of piano within the album.

fav songs: the damp chill of life cease i yearn to feel a chance i'd never have

links: bandcamp youtube spotify

added on: 2026.mar.4