Dragged Into Sunlight's Top 5 Black Metal Albums

Dragged Into Sunlight

Mysterious extreme metallers Dragged Into Sunlight currently touring with black metal royalty Mayhem for what might be the nastiest double-bill of the year. Seriously, how are venues going to cope with the sheer volume of terror and evil oozing from the stage each night?

On the tour, Mayhem will be performing their landmark record De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full, an album widely-regarded as one of the best and most influential black metal records of all time. But what other extreme albums do you need to know about? We asked Dragged Into Sunlight to pick their five favourite black metal records, which you should listen to immediately.

Unless you’re scared, of course.

Blasphemy – Fallen Angel Of Doom

“30 minutes of non-stop, relentless, vomit-inducing, blackened war metal. One round with this album will have you feeling like you’ve taken a shot put to the temple.”

Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky

“Darkthrone’s second album, and their first black metal release, from way back in 1992. Its raw and cold aura, combined with thrash riffs and d-beats, make for a must-have second-wave album.”

Austere – To Lay Like Old Ashes

“Bleakness at its bleakest. Very few bands manage to convey such a sense of despair and emptiness as Austere do on their third and final album. Misery forever.”

Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales

“A record that continues to influence Dragged Into Sunlight’s sound to this day. An incredibly important release in black metal history, and proof that tone is as much in the hands of the player as the amp he uses.”

Deathspell Omega – Paracletus

“This album raised the bar several notches in terms of thinking outside the limitations of black metal when it was released back in 2010. Dissonant, technical, atmospheric; Paracletus is nothing short of a modern black metal masterpiece.”

Dragged Into Sunlight heading out across Europe and the UK. All dates are with Mayhem unless otherwise stated.

Mar 27: Aarhus Train, Denmark
Mar 29: London Electric Ballroom, UK
Mar 30: Manchester Club Academy, UK
Mar 31: Dublin Academy, Ireland
Apr 01: Glasgow Lords Of The Land, UK
Apr 02: Nottingham, The Angel Microbrewery, UK (with Venom Prison, Dawn Ray’d and Let It Die)
Apr 03: Savigny-le-Temple, L’Empreinte, France
Apr 04: Lyon, CCO Villeurbanne, France
Apr 05: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland
Apr 06: Milan Live Club, Italy
Apr 07: Nova Gorica Mostovna, Slovenia
Apr 08: Vienna Metal Meeting, Austria
Apr 09: Prague Mayapur Pokojíček, Czech Republic (with Monarch and Birushanah)
Apr 10: Frankfurt SelberKellerWieImmer, Germany (with Pripjat)

20 of the best black metal albums from the 1990s

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.