10 Best Black Metal Love Songs

Here are the 10 best black metal love songs!

Musical bigots have claimed that black metal is the least romantic genre of them all, the ideal repellent to potential love interests. Yet, with all the bedroom projects, there must be something pretty sexy about black metal, right?!

The scene is swarming with so many paragons of charm and refinement, such as gallery owner Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal of Trelldom (ex-Gorgoroth) and racecar driver Sigurd “Satyr” Wongraven of Satyricon, both winemakers.

What could be more erotic than a movement promising “Black Shining Leather,” spikes, “Goat Vulva[s],” and hearts that are literally willing to bleed for their art and perhaps use it to color their album covers, as is the case with French-born Renaissance man Maxime Taccardi?!

What sane individual could resist getting down and dirty with Dødsengel’s “Stellar Masturbation,” Ritual Death’s “Salomes Dance,” or “My Blackhearted Flower” by Manes of Askim?!

Black metal furthermore offers reinterpretations of the likes of Shakespeare, Novalis, and Baudelaire.

Verily, nothing is as attractive as the magical and often mystical combination of unharnessed passion and darkness with which the art form enamors us. So, take those memes literally, go ahead and buy your partner a reissue of your favorite old Xasthur album instead of roses.

Wage war to these 10 love songs that, in true black metal fashion, are bound to kill.

“In the immortal words of Haddaway: ‘What is love?’” ~ Kark of Dødsengel

Vondur, “Love Me Tender” (Elvis Presley)

Along with Mütiilation’s “My Way,” Vondur’s “Love Me Tender” arguably ranks among the most amusing black metal covers of all time.

Vondur’s take on Elvis Presley ironically epitomizes the very essence of black metal, thanks to its militant attitude and delightfully naughty added lines that will hopefully turn on your kinky drives.

This gem first appeared on The Galactic Rock N’ Roll Empire (1998), which includes other cover songs and outrageous photos paying homage to the likes of, yes, Mr. Presley and Motley Crue. Produced by Hypocrisy and Pain’s Peter Tägtgren, the EP showcases the titillating talents of Jim “All” Berger on vocals and Tony “It” Särkkä on guitar and bass.

We send our love to It, who art not in Heaven but will always be in our frostbitten hearts.

Nargaroth, “Rasluka” / “Farewell”

Impregnated with the lofty yet dolorous spirit of German Romanticism, this irresistible composition could be described as a platonic love song and expression of the most abysmal sorrow.

In other words, “Rasluka” represents a profoundly moving tribute to the dead friend and collaborator of Nargaroth’s René “Ash” Wagner. “Rasluka” amounts to one of those rare, epic works that, from a black metal perspective, is flawless in every respect.

Please note that plenty of other numbers by Nargaroth are suitable for today’s purposes, whether you choose “Sommer” or “Manchmal wenn Sie schläft” / “Sometimes When She Sleeps” for good relationship days or “Love Is a Dog from Hell” for bad times.

Ved Buens Ende, “The Plunderer”

Ved Buens Ende’s first burning offering, Those Caress the Pale, initially unveiled as a demo in 1994 and taking its cover from Edvard Munch’s “Dødsdans” / “Dance of Death,” stands as one of the genre’s greatest, though most underrated, moments.

Indeed, the ingenious Ved Buens Ende may just be the most darkly romantic black metal institution of them all. Their material is poetic, wistful, mercurial and mind-bending. Accordingly, beauty, brutality and insanity entwine on “The Plunderer,” which encourages the belief that love engenders weakness: “Return with the heart I gave you…..”

Lifelover, “I Love (to Hurt You)”

The all too tempting “I Love (to Hurt) You” serves as one of the twelve sinfully pleasurable songs on Lifelover’s classic sophomore album, the inventive masterpiece that is Erotik (2007).

This catchy, eargasmic and heartrending track worms its way under your skin like a dirty needle, promising “kontinuerligt elände” / “continuous misery” hand-in-hand with an indescribable form of bliss. The impossibly intoxicating atmospheres throughout Erotik will wrap you in their all-encompassing narcotic embrace for all time.

For good reason, “I Love (to Hurt) You” is one of the favorites, if not the very favorite, Lifelover song of the mother of the tragically departed luminary Jonas “B” Bergqvist, who co-founded Lifelover in 2005 with the equally brilliant Kim “( )” Carlsson.

Shining, “For the God Below”

Featuring King Diamond’s legendary guitarist and Shining’s longtime producer, Andy La Rocque, “For the God Below,” is a love letter to Satan. It was written by the band’s evil genius of a mastermind, Niklas Kvarforth, in part during an argument with his then partner.

The demo version will be unleashed in 2024 on Shining’s anticipated The Helsinki Tapes. Pair this pick with “Tillsammans är vi allt” / “Together We Are Everything,” Shining’s successful single about a sick love dubbed irreplaceable — heroin.

Kvarforth, a former child model who has bared his tantalizing physique for an adult magazine, may just be the genre’s biggest sex symbol, as Season of Mist’s Michael Berberian has confirmed: “I’ve never seen so many women lined up outside dressing rooms as for Niklas of Shining.”

So Much for Nothing, “Suffer in Silence”

This nearly 12 minutes of lament bursting with an overpowering dose of sinister intent hails from the warped mind of Sarkom’s Erik Unsgaard.

Mr. Unsgaard invited the lethally lovable Sir Kvarforth to sing with him on this composition, into the fabric of which the former had already injected enough Shining worship to cause the necessary number of casualties to pump up obituary sections everywhere and make the evening news a whole lot more entertaining.

Thus, as a homage to himself, the one and only Niklas acted upon the divine inspiration to artfully scream the name of one of his most popular hits, “Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra” / “Take Everything from Each Other,” into the mic, thereby yielding some of his best vocals to date, by the master’s own admission.

Verily, “Suffer in Silence” provides the perfect soundtrack to a relationship that has literally placed both participants at the end of their respective ropes.

READ MORE: The 15 Catchiest Black Metal Songs

Dødheimsgard, “Requiem Aeternum”

Dødheimsgard’s Black Medium Current is believed by many to equate to one of the movement’s crowning achievements and it certainly seduces us with songs such as “It Does Not Follow.”

Therefore, by the time the intimate and enchanting piano piece of a finale, “Requiem Aeternum,” arrives to proclaim love to be a curse of the very worst order, perfectly summarizing how many of us are forced to feel sometimes, our black hearts are fully in Dødheimsgard’s hands.

Verily, Dødheimsgard sweeps us off our feet with their sophistication, theatricality, cerebral touches and exquisite way with words. The band’s driving force, Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez, is not only one of the genre’s very top frontmen and innovators, but he also has a winning fashion sense with a range of blazers and accessories meant to impress.

Apati, “Kemisk kärlek” / “Chemical Love”

The defunct Apati, which boasted a cast of gifted musicians, including the sadly deceased Obehag, immortalized their infatuation with drugs on the uniquely depressive, languorous, post-rock-influenced trip that is “Kemisk kärlek.”

With its enticingly low spoken lines, the unshakeable allure of “Kemisk kärkek” might just rouse your lust for easily inhaled substances, if you have ever had a fling with them.

Not all affections are meant to last, however, and one of the group’s voices, C9H13N, is now a nature-loving wellness advocate, sometimes going by the moniker “Nordic Nomad.” In any case, also be aware that Apati’s “Jag älskar dig” / “I Love You” flaunts marvelously twisted lyrics and their cover of Lars Damian’s “Alkohol” sets the right mood for an evening spent in holy matrimony with the bottle.

Sorhin, “Blomman af mitt hjärta, blomman på din grav” / “The Flower of My Heart, The Flower on Your Grave”

One of the genre’s greatest outfits, Sorhin does not receive the mass-scale adoration that they are due. But, noisy as Sorhin proves, the fact that they have chosen to keep their musical crusades a somewhat clandestine affair actually helps fuel the flame of our devotion to them.

Sorhin assaults listeners with unadulterated black metal just as it should be. The raw yet energizing “Blomman af mitt hjärta, blomman på din grav” delivers gorgeous yet misanthropic lines that are sure to please the intellect and also rouse necrophiliac instincts with their expressed desire for the dead.

“Apokalypsens ängel” / “Angel of the Apocalypse,” the title track from the same album, is another must-hear, which offers some haunting words about that terrible and wonderful four-letter word.

Livsnekad, “En fägrad kärlek; en vissnad begivenhet” / “A Blooming Love, a Withered Inclination”

Yet again, Sweden takes the gold for their ability to craft doleful hymns of love, loss and hate.

The thoroughly bleak and doomy “En fägrad kärlek; en vissnad begivenhet” warns of the dangers of commitment, advising against making promises to one’s other half. This pick concludes Livsnekad’s first EP, Köttets och sinnets biografi, which was recorded by Ulf Nylin and now ex-Shining’s Andreas Larsen. Two additional now former Shining members, Richard Schill and the truly talented Christian Larsson, also known for Apati, would likewise join the band, which eventually became Acacia.