[Please be aware that most of my album impressions are from first listen. This is not so much an in-depth critique, as it is my initial thoughts of an album]

From what I can tell, repetition is at the heart of traditional Black Metal. In many cases, it is what drives the hypnotic atmosphere forward on many of the most famous Black Metal releases. After gradually warming up to Extreme Metal, I could never fully grasp the appeal of it's (arguably) most bleak sub-genre. Thankfully, I can say that I've finally been able to break through the surface with Darkthrone's Under a Funeral Moon. For the most part the entire album follows the aforementioned framework. While I can't say I was incorrect in saying Black Metal is fairly repetitive, I was completely missing the point. Death Metal is able to fulfill my desire for long, intricate guitar riffs, while Black Metal is much more atmosphere focussed. I couldn't imagine listening to this music in the Summer, but right now, as rain pours outside, this album fits perfectly.

I can't say Under a Funeral Moon got me into Black Metal because it's particularily different form other early Black Metal releases. The grimy production characteristic of the genre is present, and it only works to further intenify an overall feeling of ever increasing darkness. Sure, the framework of many of these tracks are fairly simplistic, but the feeling they create is definitely not. Take "Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust" for example, a track which has perhaps one of my favorite riffs on the entire album. The mood never lets up, baraging the listener with intense blastbeats and tortured vocals. The way that all the elements of a great Black Metal track melt together is something that I found unappealing at first. But once I realized the true purpose of this wall of sound, I was hooked, and this track was the catalyst.

Darkthrone also uses a deep, pounding drum at certain points on the album. I can't say I know what kind of drum it is, but everytime it's used it places itself at the forefront. I loved this aspect of the album, and it was used sparingly enough that it didn't grow uninteresting. I'm having trouble finding much else to say about the album because, in all honesty, words don't do it justice. Many of the tracks sound fairly similar on first listen, but I would say this album definitely gets better with successive listens. It epitomizes Black Metal as a genre, but I can't say it's the best choice for a first time listener.

That being said I really can't pick out any Black Metal album that works as a "gateway drug" so to speak. Pretty much all Black Metal I've heard is damn close to impenetrable on first listen, especially if you don't have any affinity for Metal in general. If I could give one suggestion though, it would be to try and avoid listening to Black Metal on a sunny day. More than any other genre I've listened to, Black Metal benefits from the listener's surroudings. Wait for a day when the weather is particularily drab, and go for a walk if possible. Being surrounded by nature heightens the atmosphere of these albums, especially when accompanied by fog or (best of all) torrential rain. Now, I'm not going to say you aren't allowed to listen to Black Metal if you live somewhere where this bleak weather is extremely rare, but it helps to introduce yourself to the ideologies of the genre.

I've gotten a bit off track here, so I'll finish by declaring once and for all, that I have gotten into Black Metal. Darkthrone has dragged me down into an abyss filled with blast-beats and corpse paint, and I couldn't be happier.