Darkthrone

Darkthrone began as a death metal band in the Oslo suburb of Kolbotn, and their 1991 debut Soulside Journey is a fine example of the style. Then they tore it all down: A Blaze in the Northern Sky swapped technical precision for buzzing, lo-fi guitars, shrieked vocals and a cold, hypnotic pull that helped define Norwegian black metal.

Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger pushed that rawness further, often little more than tremolo riffs and blasting drums recorded with deliberately primitive, lo-fi production. Since the mid-2000s Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have followed their own enthusiasms instead, folding crust punk, classic heavy metal and doom into records like The Cult Is Alive and Old Star, while famously refusing to tour.