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Heavy Metal Thunder Icelandic Black Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Black Metal (First Wave) Second Wave (Norwegian) Icelandic Black Metal

Icelandic Black Metal

A few dozen people on a small island making some of the most dissonant and disorientating black metal of the past twenty years.

Active years
2007 – present
Origin
Iceland (Reykjavík)
Family
Black Metal
Bands here
11

Start here

Three records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Ótta Sólstafir, 2014

    Barely black metal any more, which is exactly why it is first. Icelandic country-rock played by people who used to be a black metal band, and the widest door into this scene by a long way.

    Listen to Ótta

  2. Söngvar elds og óreiðu Misþyrming, 2015

    The scene's calling card. Furious and melodic at the same time, with riffs that resolve where Svartidauði's refuse to — the bridge between the two.

    Listen to Söngvar elds og óreiðu

  3. Flesh Cathedral Svartidauði, 2012 The landmark

    The record that made anyone outside Iceland pay attention, and the most dissonant thing here — four long pieces that seem to be collapsing inwards. Worth arriving at rather than starting on.

    Listen to Flesh Cathedral

What it sounds like

Dissonance used as the primary material. The Reykjavík bands write riffs from intervals that refuse to resolve, so nothing settles and the listener never finds a foothold — the effect is disorientation rather than aggression. Production is spacious and modern, with reverb used for depth rather than murk. Tempos shift constantly. Compared with the second wave it is far more sophisticated and much less concerned with sounding raw; compared with French black metal it is immaculately recorded. A remarkably small number of musicians make almost all of it, playing in each other's bands, which is why an entire national scene has one recognisable character.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 3 out of 5
  • Aggression 5 out of 5
  • Technicality 3 out of 5
  • Darkness 5 out of 5
  • Melody 2 out of 5

Where the name came from

A term coined by metal journalists in the late 2000s to describe the cluster of innovative black metal bands emerging from Iceland's small but fiercely creative music scene. Centred around labels like Terratur Possessions and the band Svartidauði, the Icelandic scene is notable for its raw, dissonant approach and tightly collaborative community.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Svartidauði Iceland
  • Misþyrming Iceland
  • Sinmara Iceland
  • Sólstafir Iceland
  • Zhrine Iceland

And 6 more

  • Almyrkvi Iceland
  • Naðra Iceland
  • NYIÞ Iceland
  • Wormlust Iceland
  • Auðn Iceland
  • Carpe Noctem Iceland

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Iceland Icelandic Black & Post-Metal 5 bands

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.