In my years of listening to metal music and being involved in the scene, I have always heard repeated recommendations for newer listeners regarding their favorite bands. It’s always the same names: Metallica, Slipknot, or someone else, generally popular in the genre.

These aren’t bad bands to listen to when you are first getting into the genre; however, I am here to tell you about some bands that are my favorites that should help you discover music that most people will never hear because of imagery, sound, or obscurity.

1. Tetragrammacide (India) – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms from the Arachneophidian Qur’an

(Blackened death metal/War noise)
Tetragrammacide is one of the heaviest bands I know; no other band does it like them. If you like extreme metal, you will love this album. Coming from Kolkata, India. Tetragrammacide is one of my favorite bands. Their music uniquely differs from other bands in the genre; they bring pure esoteric chaos and insane drumming. This album differs from their previous albums, giving it the title of “blackened death metal” rather than “War Noise.” But if you want to dive into even heavier and noisier music, check out their 2019 compilation album “Third World Esoterrorism,” which is one of my favorite albums by Tetragrammacide.

2. Imprecation (USA) – Theurgia Goetia Summa

(Blackened death metal/Death metal)

Originating from Houston, Texas, Imprecation stands out as the best in their scene, in my opinion. Imprecation is a death metal band formed in 1991 and is still active, while currently being signed to “Nuclear War Now! Productions”, a well-known record shop/label here in Austin. This album is a great starting point for new listeners wanting to get into heavier music. Another good thing is that their music isn’t insanely fast 100% of the time; there are a lot of slower, ominous, and groovy songs on the album featuring synth. They are also playing in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 20 with Beherit, Morbosidad, Unholier, and True Iron Will.

3. Mgła (Poland) – Exercises In Futility

(Atmospheric black metal/Black metal)

Mgła, pronounced “Mgwa,” meaning “Fog” in Polish, is one of those bands that, to this day, still impresses me with their music. Mgła was formed in Kraków, Lesser Poland, in the year 2000. Mgła is an almost theatrical experience, with their first words on this album being “The great truth is that there isn’t one, and it only gets worse since that conclusion.” This shows where the album can go with nihilistic and misanthropic lyric styles, with guitar playing using all six strings and very skilled cymbal work by the drummer. I highly recommend listening to this album and the band, in general, more than anyone on the list if you enjoy this style of metal. Listen to their 2008 album “Groza,” which is just as good as Exercises in Futility.

4. Acid Bath (USA) – When the Kite String Pops

(Sludge metal)

Formed in 1991 in Houma, Louisiana, Acid Bath has made a name for itself in the general metal scene as THE sludge metal band. For a while, this was my #1 album because of their unique writing style and darkly poetic lyrics from lead singer Dax Riggs. In 1997, the band disbanded shortly after bassist Audie Pitre’s passing. However, at the end of 2024, they announced a comeback after almost 30 years. They will be playing at select upcoming festivals/concerts this year. Many people love Acid Bath for their sound, but not a lot of people realize how dark the songs are if you study Dax’s lyrics. I recommend this album to anyone who’s first getting into metal and doesn’t like a lot of screaming at times, and if you like this album, check out their second and final album, “Paegan Terrorism Tactics.”

5. Burzum (Norway) – Filosofem

(Black metal/Second wave black metal)

Depending on who you ask, some people love and hate Burzum, mainly because of frontman Kristian Vikernes (better known as Varg Vikernes). Burzum is a one-man band formed in 1991 in Bergen, Norway. Burzum, in my opinion, is a very influential and essential band in the black metal genre despite the frontman’s violent history with arson on religious buildings, murder, and neo-nazism. However, Vikernes’ political beliefs are not present in the music.

This album alone got me into black metal and made me eager to find more heavy music with the atmosphere of black metal. Burzum is also closely associated with the popular black metal band Mayhem, which you may have heard of due to guitarist Oystein Aarseth walking in on vocalist Pelle Ohlin’s suicide and photographing it rather than calling for emergency services first. That photograph was later used for Mayhem’s album cover for “The Dawn of the Black Hearts.”

Some years later, Varg and Oystin would become friends, even allowing Varg to be the bassist for Mayhem for quite some time. But all of that changed, and on August 10th, 1993, Varg met Oystin at his apartment, conflict arose, and Varg ended up stabbing Oystin to death 23 times. Varg claims it was “Self-Defense.” Shortly after, Varg was found, caught, and sentenced to 21 years for murder and arson, but instead was released after only serving 15 years.

Varg has been out of prison for quite some time now and has posted YouTube videos talking about Burzum and the events that happened with him and Oystin. Since then, the YouTube channel has been taken down but reuploaded by some people across YouTube.

Besides the controversy around this band, this album has excellent, raw-sounding, and atmospheric tracks worth listening to. I also recommend learning the lore behind these two bands. A book and film called “Lords of Chaos” talk about the story of Mayhem and Burzum, but some metal listeners discredit it due to historical inaccuracies. There is also another documentary-style film named “Until the Light Takes Us,” that has real interviews with Varg.