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Australian Bands
Virgin Black Avantgarde Gothic Metal
One of the most original bands I've listened to in a while. Avantgarde song structures, tenor vocals, gregorian choirs and dark, melancholic overtones.
Recommended Songs :
Walk Without Limbs (great electronic number)
Museum of Iscariot
Astriaal Black Metal
One of Australia's premier black metal bands, their recent full-length album Renascent Misanthropy pretty much redefined internationally what has become a bit of a stagnant genre with killer riffing and brutal vocals and drumming.
Recommended Songs :
Glories of the Night Sky (the mastered version from their 2003 release)
Overseas...
Finntroll and Moonsorrow Viking/Folk Metal
Scandanavian bands that combine black metal with traditional nordic instruments.
Recommended Songs :
Finntroll - Midnatten's Widunder
Moonsorrow - Sankaritarina
Arcturus Avantgarde Metal
Innovative (especially on their newer albums) Avantgarde metal which combines elements of metal, pop, trip hop, industrial, folk and elektro.
Recommended Songs :
Kinetic
Sigh
Japanese outfit that combines 70's rock, jazz fusion and black metal.
Recommended Songs :
Scarlet Dream
Divine Graveyard
Evergrey
An exceptional metal band, with great female and male vocals and heavy guitars.
Recommended Songs :
Recreation Day
Waking Up Blind
In The Wake of the Weary
Ulver
Amazing band. Ulver started off as a black metal band with folk inspired passages, but then followed their debut with an entirely acoustic guitar and tenor vocal driven album, Kveldssanger. After their third release (Nattens Madrigal) Ulver moved into electronic music, and in my opinion are one of the best Electronic groups around, combining elements of jazz etc into their music.
Recommended Songs :
Vowels (electronic)
Little Blue Bird (electronic)
Agalloch
Melancholic Folk/Forest metal with both growling and clean vocals. Probably one of my favourite bands.
Recommended Songs :
Kneel to the Cross
As Embers Dress the Sky
Vintersorg
Originally a Scandinavian folk act, Vintersorg (a one-man project) eventually evolved into something that can't be pigeon-hold into any genre, and is an amalgamation of rock, pop, metal, folk, jazz and electronic
Recommended Songs :
Till Fjalls
Universums Dunkla Alfabet
Svältvinter
Enslaved and Bathory
Raw and brutal Viking metal.
Orphaned Land Progressive Metal
Progressive Turkish band with touches of power metal and Turkish folk music.
Recommended Songs :
Ocean Land
Amorphis Folk Metal
One of Finland's finest. Excellent folk inspired metal.
Recommended Songs :
Drowned Maid
Divinity
Primordial Celtic War Metal
Celtic war metal in the vein of Belinus, Waylander and Cruachan (all great bands mind you). Combines traditional Celtic folk instruments and black metal.
Recommended Songs :
Spirit the Earth Aflame
Summoning Black Metal/Dark Ambient
Their first few demos and full length releases were pretty mediocre black metal, but on their second full length release Summoning began to produce some of the best dark-ambient music I've heard in a long time. (It's also based on LOTR
)
Recommended Songs :
Arcenstone
A New Power Is Rising
Nightshade Forests
Throes of Dawn
Began as a black metal group, but are now a keyboard driven avantgarde metal band, their 2004 release Quicksilver Clouds is amazing.
Recommended Songs :
Black Carbon Snow
Sol Invictus
Apocalyptic folk with gothic elements.
Recommended Songs :
Trees In Winter
Winds
Dark/Avantgarde metal with beautiful classical passages.
Recommended Songs :
The Fireworks of Genesis
Time Without End