It’s a bold and brave statement but a very personal one, one from experience: the best produced and most ground breaking releases that are filed under Second Wave of Black Metal and/or Scandinavian Black Metal happened in the period of 1995 to 1997.

Sure there are a handful of classic releases before – and they are classics for me too, specially by Bathory and Darkthrone – but these 2-3 years will be remembered as the quintessential period marking the sensational rise of the bands featured in this mix, and in most cases considered by many to be coincident with the release of their magnum opus.

Black Metal 2nd Wave – The Origins

By the late 80’s I was done with UK post-punk and was looking towards US bands for inspiration.

Sonic Youth and Pixies were a mighty reference but also The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Buthole Surfers or Faith No More, to name a few. Then, in some house party somebody played a truly screamer of a track. It was from The Young God’s 1989 album ‘L’Eau Rouge’ and I was floored. I felt like the first time I listened to Sex gang Children or Swans, it was exhilarating and the most exciting sound I had heard for a long time. Little did I know that would be my gateway to Metal.

But first, enter Ministry. Till then I was oblivious to Metal, I despised hard rock and glam and wouldn’t go anywhere near Iron Maiden or Judas Priest but listening to Ministry’s 1989 album ‘The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste’ open the floodgates to a new sound that I wanted to investigate. Through subsequent releases by Ministry, Swans, Godflesh, Fudge Tunel or Prong, I dug deeper into their industrial and trash influences and through a little bit of Metallica I got myself straight into Death and Doom-Metal.

Early education from Paradise Lost, Slayer and Sepultura gave way to more extreme acts such as Morbid Angel, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death. This happens between 1990-92 and the whole Grunge phenomenon (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains…) and Rap-Metal abuse (Rage against The Machine, Red Hot Chilly Peppers…) is starting to really blow in Europe. I am paying attention. Reading an article about Nirvana on some zine ahead of the release of ‘Nevermind’ I decide to place an oder for the record in my local record store. Three weeks later my mother gets the call. I was the first guy with a copy in my town. I lend it to the local live music venue, kids go nuts. It is a good record but my mind is already somewhere else.

It’s sometime in 1993. Another lazy Saturday afternoon at a friend’s house. Somebody plays a very unique record. It’s Bathory’s 1988 ‘Blood Fire Death’.

I had listened to inspired intros, from classical to Vangelis, but ‘Oden Ride over Nordland’ coupled with the cover of the album sent chills down my spine. The front cover comes from ‘The Wild Hunt of Odin’, a painting dated from 1872 by Peter Nicolai Arbo. The Wild Hunt motif is taken from Viking era folklore, an image that has since become popular with a number of the Second Wave of Black Metal bands, particularly from Scandinavia.

The first track blends into ‘A Fine day to Die’. The acoustic part turns into the first ever pagan/black metal track I have ever listened to.

This is unlike anything Metal I had experienced before. It’s cold but beautiful. It’s production is raw but you can hear everything. Again, the acoustic guitar and choir chants come in to soothe things, tempo and mood changing. The guitar work/solo that follows is absolutely on point, screaming atmosphere and intent, and I DON’T like solos.

The highlight of the album though is the title track ‘Blood Fire Death’, which is still my favorite 10 minute metal track ever in my book.

There’s no words to describe the intensity and emotion radiating from this track. This is a special record, not the first or highest ranked by Bathory but acknowledged as quintessential and a mandatory listen for any serious extreme metal fan.It is important to note that at the time of its recording Bathory was essentially a solo project, with its founder Quorthon arranging every bit of music, writing every lyric, singing all vocals, and playing every instrument. Bathory may never get the recognition it deserves, but considering Quorthon’s incredibly influential body of work, most of which he did on his own from this album on, it would be fair to call him one of contemporary music’s truly underappreciated geniuses.

RIP Quorthon (1966-2004). Gone too soon.

By now, in Norway another music revolution is taking place. Enter the Second Wave of Black Metal, or True Norwegian Black Metal as you prefer.

It is known as Second Wave because there had been a First wave, emerging in the early 80’s and headed by bands such as Venom, Hellhammer, Mercyful Fate and Celtic Frost, but I didn’t pay attention then and even after revisiting key releases for context I was not hooked. I read about it, I understand the influence those bands left in that scene but I didn’t belong and I don’t really do well with music catch up.

Much has been written about the origins and rise of the scene, but let’s just say that a band called Mayhem played the biggest role in the development of that second wave, influencing bands through their live shows all over Europe and with their EP “Deathcrush”, which became one of the most legendary and sought after records in the metal underground.

There are pivotal moments in music such as the first known Kraftwerk live performance in Berlin in 1970, or the Sex Pistols gig in Manchester in 1976, that transformed the English music scene forever and this is another of those moments. If Bathory were an undeniable influence of the second coming of Black Metal, Mayhem were the instigators of the scene that would follow, through their sound – a blend of early Morbid Angel, Entombed, Slayer and Bathory resulting in the most extreme music being played at the time – and their cathartic presence and image.

What followed is a phenomenon. On the heels of Mayhem, the Norwegian scene rapidly spawns bands such as Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor, Gorgoroth and Immortal whose members were only but a bunch of teens and already they showed touches of genius.

I am not putting this forward lightly. These Swedish and Norwegian kids have recorded some seriously original and influential music. It’s not by chance.

The amount of impact these bands have had was felt almost immediately, as outside Norway bands like Impaled Nazarene, Marduk, Beherit, Dissection and Cradle Of Filth soon released records in the similar style.

Splits and albums are being released at a relentless pace between 1992-94 with the most notorious bands honing their skills and showing promise. This is more than just a fad! The bands can play and the scene is attracting a lot of attention.

By 1995 the True Norwegian Black Metal institution rules. The godfathers of the movement are well known: Emperor, Immortal, Satyricon, Gorgoroth and Dimmu Borgir, but bands are forming everywhere from Chile to Japan spreading like a virus.

Its 1994. Enter a very special Open Air Festival. In a rather small town East of Porto called Penafiel some guy is organising the 4th edition of the ‘Ultrabrutal Festival Penafiel’. The lineup consists of Hipocrisy, Grave, Gorefest and… Cradle of Filth.

This is COF’s first appearance in Portugal and one of their first gigs supporting the release of their debut ‘The Principle of Evil Made Flesh’. I wanted to see the band live. The setting is not favourable: its July and temperatures reach 34 degrees. They’re playing sometime around 4pm and the blackest of blacks looks like a lame grey under the sun and your typical corpse paint just look silly (it still does).

The band play flawlessly, the sound is huge and they win the crowd. I mean, they sounded absolutely unique.

Credit to the PA and sound guys, the sound really is massive and crushing, its tons heavier than the somewhat thin production of the debut. As a drummer myself I can’t but stare in awe at Nick Barker’s performance on drums. He is a beast and would justify all the hype (once named the fastest drummer on Earth) and his prolific career as a session and live drummer with many other bands (as of 2022 he plays with Shining).

A stream of new releases happen in the coming years. Producers take rounds in stints with the up and coming bands and some masterful works are released.