Romantic Black Metal
Some Sexy, Soothing Walls-of-Sound for Serenading that Significant Someone
Black metal is not usually going to be the first genre to pop into one’s mind when discussing romantic albums. That is, unless you’re a woman who hates themself. If that’s the case, Nattefrost and Archgoat have plenty of songs for you. However, any wizard worth their salt doesn’t want a powerless witch alongside them. Thankfully, there’s some earnestly written black metal out there that doesn’t carry all the overly-postured, machismo-laden insecurity of the Second Wave.
Some would argue that romance is no place for black metal; those people can go fuck themselves. In all likelihood, they don’t have any other choice.
Occasionally, a black metal artist so bold will assemble an album overflowing with heroic ballads, trumpet fanfare, soothing woodwinds, and uh… galloping cadences (wink wink). To reward such an earnest leap, here’s some romantic black metal recommendations for the impending holiday.
Unreqvited - Beautiful Ghosts
Unreqvited has always kept a romantic bent about their sound, though touting more depressive and broadly emotional themes. Beautiful Ghosts is a great demonstration of such while not pulling back on the DSBM and post-black metal styles that the one-man acts draws so much inspiration from. Unapologetically emotive and solidly-composed, this release stands as a fantastic romantic black metal album and a great entry point into Unreqvited’s catalog overall.
Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman
I’d be amiss to discuss romantic black metal without mentioning everybody’s favorite Ukrainian sad boy, Crying Orc. This is the most intentionally romantic album on this list, though not the only one. One area this album stands out is in its very lo-fi production, which struck a chord for a lot of traditional black metal fans. Despite the classic washed-out style, it still does a great job at hitting all the romantic notes (beyond its hilarious album cover, of course.)
Summoning - Oath Bound
If Pale Swordsman is the most intentionally romantic album on this list, Summoning’s Oath Bound is arguably the least intentional. Summoning has been making Tolkien-inspired music long before Peter Jackson ever had an orange twinkle in his eye, and there isn’t a single album in their catalog that breaks from this mission. Oath Bound tells the story of the King of the Dead, who broke his oath to Isildur and was henceforth cursed to an undead existence until fulfilling the oath made to the King of Gondor.1
While not the most romantic of topics, the overall sound of the album fits perfectly with the romantic aesthetic. The closing track, Land of the Dead, may very well be the most beautifully written song of any album on this list.
Cult of Fire - Life, Sex And Death
While this release is only an EP, it’d be hard to talk about romantic black metal without at least mentioning Cult of Fire. There’s plenty of romantic moments scattered throughout their discography; one example being the spectacular one-two punch closing their release Ascetic Meditation of Death: Khanda Manda Yoga and Burned By the Flame of Divine Love. However, none of these moments are so poignantly focused towards love-making as Life, Sex and Death. Moving back-and-forth between powerful walls-of-sound and Hindu-inspired chanting, this is a very easy album to melt into, even if only clocking in at 20 minutes in length. As many an insecure man will tell you, it’s not about the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean.2
Alcest - Kodama
Listing any blackgaze band is almost too easy for this list. However, Alcest has always led the charge in developing the style beyond the clichés, and Kodama carries with it a distinctly calming style that can make for quite the emotional experience. Even when it crescendos into shrieks over walls-of-sound, it does so in a uniquely powerful way. Similar to Unreqvited, it’s hard to find an album in Alcest’s catalog that doesn’t have romantic tones. However, Kodama is a masterclass of romantic black metal, as well as blackgaze overall.
Stangarigel - Na Severe Srdca
This is my personal favorite on this list. Anyone familiar with Adam Sičák’s other project, Malokarpatan, is likely hungry for more. Malokarpatan’s Vertumnus Caesar found its way onto several Best Of 2023 lists (mine included - it was my Album of the Year). However, Stangarigel’s release from the year prior appears to have flown under the radar for many. Unlike Malokarpatan’s high-energy Motörhead-inspired riffing, Stangarigel is much more atmospheric and overflowing with ballad-inspired instrumentation. All the while, the style is uncompromising and carries all the power a traditional black metal fan would want. One can only hope that the success of Malokarpatan doesn’t detract from future Stangarigel releases.
There you have it. If you can believe it, there’s many more artists and albums that could be mentioned here, but for simplicity’s sake, I think you’ll find all these albums great starting points. Odds are, clicking through the related artists of each will only yield more options. Feel free to chime in with your personal favorites in the comments below.
Nothing nets the ladies quite like spouting off the history of Middle Earth.
I’m sorry. I’ll show myself out.