Menschheitsdämmerung: "Cleaver of Skies and Tenets"

With an instinct for majestic riffs and compelling material, the Belgian one-man army conquers most rivals

In an attempt to achieve unparalleled atmosphere in the name of depression and deep, dark forests, many modern black metal groups have taken to ridiculous amounts of distortion in what seems to be an almost deliberate attempt to obscure their own inability to write compelling material. Classics like Burzum's Filosofem had clear production with every instrument standing out, the compositions themselves easily holding their own regardless of sound. Xasthur's Telepathic with the Deceased may well be the album that for many people has incited this infatuation with thick shrouds of noise and an abundance of effects on vocals as well as strings, but even this modern classic has its obvious hooks and captivating passages.

Tormentstorm: "Into the Ominous Door"

Huge improvements that ultimately end up stranded in shallow waters

Most would probably agree that Tormentstorm's earlier outing, the Up From the Grave demo from 2012, was a misbegotten mess of black-thrash instrumentation. The demo was poorly received because it was poorly conceived. Tormentstorm's driving force, Malice, however, does not let himself sway easily, and as such returned the year after with a full length album.