# Blackened/black stuff I don't listen to a lot of black metal stuff outside of Møl and Deafheaven, so this section is going to be a bit lighter. ## Xanthochroid This is maybe my favorite band of all time. They're a blackened metal band for sure, they are very cinematic and symphonic, but it is difficult to pin down an exact genre that they belong to. Their music has a lot of layers and rewards you for listening over and over. ## Gaahls WYRD I haven't really gotten into this band a lot, but it is in my playlist. They have a couple interesting songs. ## Conjurer and Pijn These two bands are on my list because they did a collaboration album together. This collaboration EP is great from beginning to end, and is, in my opinion, better than their individual albums. "Sunday" is my favorite, with the melody that ends the second half of the song (from 6:40 to the end) is one of my favorite melodies of all time. ## Omega Point This is a band by some youtube guy I follow. Not a lot of listens on Spotify, but good black-ish metal. # Death Metal ## Ovid's Withering This band only released one good album, but it's a great concept album about Greek mythology. Really awesome straight forward death metal, with a lot of orchestral and symphonic components. ## Mental Cruelty A newer band that also incorporates symphonic elements. A lot more up-tempo and traditional metal riffs, but still death metal. ## Slice the Cake This band released a very long concept album with a lot of spoken word poetry after some drama around the band breaking up. That album, *Odyssey to the West*, remains up top as one of the great albums for me. ## Mirar This band is *chaotic*. The song Hestehov has an absolutely wild melody at around 1:55 that got me into the band. If you don't like this, you probably won't like this band. It's a newer type of death metal inspired by bands like Humanity's Last Breath and Vildjharta that uses a lot of pitch shifting.