6. Rotting Christ – “The Heretics”

Our last slice of Black and this is an utterly incredible record. It is powerful, punchy and huge in its sound. In places, it is positively Wagnerian in its epic nature. This is Black Metal designed to fill stadiums, not tiny clubs in provincial back waters. It retains Black Metal’s atmospherics and swagger, but it has replaced the coarse under-produced guitars with a wonderful strident solid walls of pulsating riffs that pound out of the speakers. It is in your face, big and bold. Every track here is an anthem, massive choruses and catchy hooks. It is just stunning how far they have managed to push Black Metal’s envelope, but still retain the aesthetics of the genre. An utter game changer of an album.