10 Best Metal Bands Of The Last 10 Years
6. Oathbreaker
In the storied history of black metal music, you have two distinct eras: you have the first and second waves of the genre (comprised of violent and outspoken bands like Bathory, Venom, Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor and Celtic Frost) and you have post-black metal (Wolves in the Throne Room, Deafheaven, Alcest, etc.). Through their mix of direct, aural heaviness and lengthy song structuring, Oathbreaker land right on the border between these two approaches.
Uniting two points of black metal history (and thus also opening up the doors for names like Wiegedood and Møl to do the same in 2017 and beyond), Oathbreaker are manic but also sophisticated, adding new dimensions to their music by invoking the imagery of contemporary post-hardcore. As a result, they craft the aura of a band that is above cliché, refusing to pander to their audience by donning cartoonish levels of corpse paint and frolicking around in snowy, Scandinavian woodland.
The approach and iconography of Oathbreaker makes their individual brand of powerful black metal more contemporary and down to Earth, but its stoic minimalism also renders them bizarrely timeless, while also complementing the sheer technical bonanza that is their expressive music. For anyone that wants to see black metal breaks its petulant mould, Oathbreaker is destined to be your favourite band.