Thank you! I am

Just be warned, some of the black metal bands are pretty racist (not the ones I mentioned to you, but one that I posted in OT, Burzum, doesn't even play guitar any more because he sees it as an invention by blacks).

Lmao, thankfully I'm pretty good at separating the art from the artist.

I recall reading about that of Varg not playing guitar anymore but I don't recall the source or how legit this info was.

However, what I do recall is reading this before he got out of prison and before he returned to music and before he released albums that do contain guitar works.

I am not sure if this not-playing-guitar thing was a hoax or a 180 Varg did, but the evidence points out to him using guitars after he got out of prison.

Honestly I am quite lazy and busy to look for this info right now. lmao Maybe later I will.

But yeah, lot of National Socialist Black Metal around.

Well, whether or not that individual story was true, all you have to do is watch his YouTube videos to know that he's a racist. However, he hasn't made a metal album in a while, so maybe he decided that later on?

My country's best metal export product Skyforger:

Chances are he is a racist, but the claim about him saying he would not use guitars anymore needs more evidence I can't find, but I do remember reading about it just like you.

I remember that this assertion about Burzum not using guitars anymore came during his incarceration and I remember that this assertion was the explanation why Varg released those albums using MIDI and not instruments.

But then I remember an interview several years ago after he was out where Varg said he didn't make those MIDI albums for no other reason apart from him having no access to other musical instruments during his years in prison.

Then he came out of prison and released those albums with guitars.

When it comes to black metal, I'm mostly into bands like Emperor, early Dimmu, early Borknagar, early Samael, Rotting Christ, etc. Not really into stuff like Burzum, Mayhem, etc.

Samael - Ceremony of Opposites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKpWgxCZqNM

Samael - Passage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STE8CNpjGhM <--- Not black metal, but a transition album for them into a more electronic/black-ish sound

Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzeh7HFK-GM

Rotting Christ - A Dead Poem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcg6RgWJDrQ <-- Not black metal, but boy do I love this album.

Borknagar - s/t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjFqjsnVUUs <--- About as grim and frostbitten as I go...and that album cover embodies black metal.

Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUDo1kGbniE  <-- Little known fact, but that awesome piano bit at the beginning was totally plagiarized.

And I love the shit out of Blackened Death metal:

Dissection - The Somberlain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlAcZjv9lno

Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOGFXD7Z9WE

Naglfar - Vittra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUiS2YzFS70

Naglfar - Diabolical https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmNYbbmgdbI 

Zyklon - World ov Worms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56mNeRF0YBI&list=PL_6zMxOLQGxBBMUiRSAZoy_KMBab8Fcxb

And a little death metal:

Hypocrisy - Virus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw_af-SxtH8&list=PL8C00C8C50E91355E

Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njB4CDHElUQ <--Featuring the vocalist from Hypocrisy

Bloodbath - Breeding Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4BUhwHRUU <--Featuring the vocalist from Opeth

Zyklon - Aeon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oZr8ai1Nzo <--the band pretty much dropped any of their "blackened" sound on this one.

Yep, I remember hearing that back in the day too.  I think it was just an excuse because he only had access to synthesizers in jail.

My single favorite album related to anything death metal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbf3DI7wtYg