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Heavy Metal Thunder Polish Black Metal

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

Polish Black Metal

The modern standard-bearer: cold, disciplined and superbly made, with none of the amateurism the genre once wore as a badge of honour.

Active years
1994 – present
Origin
Poland (Warsaw / Wrocław)
Family
Black Metal
Bands here
12

Before you press play

Extremist politics in the scene

Poland has a genuine NSBM fringe and Infernal War sit near it. Mgła, Batushka, Furia and Cultes des Ghoules do not — they are the reason this scene is internationally respected, and lumping them in with it would be both lazy and wrong.

Start here

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

  1. Exercises in Futility Mgła, 2015 The landmark

    Widely held to be the best black metal record of the last twenty years and, unusually, also the easiest to listen to. Six untitled tracks, immaculate drumming, and a bleakness that is philosophical rather than theatrical.

    Listen to Exercises in Futility

  2. Litourgiya Batushka, 2015

    Orthodox liturgy set to black metal, sung in Church Slavonic by a band in bishops' vestments. Released as Литоургиiа before a bitter split left two bands using the name — the 2015 record predates all of that.

    Listen to Litourgiya

  3. Henbane Cultes des Ghoules, 2013

    Full title Henbane, ...or Sonic Compendium of the Black Arts, which tells you the register. Ritualistic, theatrical and very long, closer to a horror radio play than to a metal album.

    Listen to Henbane

What it sounds like

Cold, disciplined and superbly made. Poland arrived late and treated the genre as a craft: the riffs are tightly written, the drumming is precise and inventive rather than merely fast, the production is clear, and the songs are structured. Vocals are a controlled rasp. There is no amateurism here at all — Mgła's records are as well constructed as anything in metal. Compared with the Norwegian second wave it has kept the atmosphere and dropped the deliberate incompetence, which purists occasionally hold against it. The mood is bleak in a resigned, philosophical way rather than a theatrical one, and that restraint is what makes it land.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 4 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

Poland emerged as one of Europe's most distinctive black metal scenes in the 1990s and 2000s, centred partly on Warsaw and Wrocław underground circles. The Polish scene spans raw black metal (Mgła, Cultes des Ghoules) through to atmospheric and depressive variants. Mgła's M I (2015) is widely regarded as a landmark of the entire modern genre.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Mgła Poland
  • Batushka Poland
  • Furia Poland
  • Cultes des Ghoules Poland
  • Plaga Poland

And 7 more

  • Witchmaster Poland
  • Infernal War Poland
  • Morowe Poland
  • Pandemonium Poland
  • Thunderbolt Poland
  • Infernum Poland
  • Veles Poland

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Poland Polish Black & Death Metal 8 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.