Founded by the incredible Erik Unsgaard, Norway’s Sarkom never cease to astound us with their “Bestial Supremacy.” They unleashed a brilliant new scorcher, Exceed in2Chaos, in 2025. with yet another one of the genre’s finest pieces of artillery, Dominator, on drums.

Over the years, Sarkom have collaborated with an astounding pool of talents, and the guests on the wild Anti-Cosmic Art (2016), which ranks among the most memorable black metal experiences available to ears, include TNT’s Ronni Le Tekrø.

As a special vinyl-edition bonus track for this album, Sarkom recorded an amazing reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe.” It hits us both like a shot of pure adrenaline and a crowbar with its unbounded energy.

The ridiculously charismatic Unsgaard demonstrates his brutal vocal prowess; Paradigma and ex-Dødheimsgard’s Tom Kvålsvoll, who doubles as an exceptionally accomplished engineer, blows us away with his mastery on guitar; and drummer Defest and bassist Sgt. V, formerly of Magister Templi and Svarttjern, likewise slay us with their performances.

A wicked new take on Sodom’s “Sodomy and Lust” can be found on Anti-Cosmic Art as well, and if you have not experienced that and Sarkom’s other excellent covers — “Breathe” (The Prodigy) and “Goatcraft Torment” (Urgehal) — we urge you to do so immediately.

It is safe to conclude that the lethally honest and ever-sassy Xasthur was America’s most legendary one-man black metal institution, a much-needed breath of fresh, frostbitten air arising from the oppressively hot land of California.

Although Xasthur have moved on from the genre but not from music, the band daringly conquered Black Sabbath’s “A National Acrobat,” which appears on the Nightmares at Dawn (2012) compilation, during their black metal era.

Xasthur’s enigmatic mastermind, Scott Conner, cast the groovy, hallucinatory trip that is “A National Acrobat” in a shocking new light; the songwriting and lyrics (“Just remember love is life…”) stand in wonderful contrast to his ruthless vocals, thus providing the fuel for cognitive dissonance.

Conner has wisely taken on so many stellar groups from Manes to Katatonia, but what we really need now is for him to either cover or arrange some sort of duet with his beloved Chaka Khan!

Within the pantheon of Greek black metal, Rotting Christ certainly seem to dominate, though their additional impact on gothic music and continued innovation cannot be underplayed.

Rotting Christ’s surprising cover of “Black Sabbath” premiered as the opening track on Sabbath Cadabra — A Greek Tribute to Black Sabbath (2013), which came with issue No. 340 of Metal Hammer Greece.

This offering envelops us in the nightmarish atmosphere of a clandestine dungeon ritual. The various types of vocals, ranging from incinerating growls to menacing whispers, conjure the presence of Satan himself.

Ozzy’s fellow countrymen Venom, the creators of the groundbreaking Black Metal (1982), are revered as one of the most important architects of the darkest genre of them all.

On Prime Evil (1989), not Venom’s blackest album but still an extremely sinister one, the powerhouse opted to reinterpret Black Sabbath’s “Megalomania.” If this remarkably heavy and electrifying cover doesn’t leave you feeling utterly obliterated, you haven’t listened properly.

Vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, who made his debut with Venom on Prime Evil and currently leads Venom Inc., actually conceived the Black Sabbath tribute project Sabbatonero.

There are those whom this pick may trigger, but we must nevertheless bravely and objectively acknowledge Cradle of Filth’s place within the history of black metal; and, indeed, their music remains linked to the genre.

Cradle of Filth’s interpretation of Ozzy’s “Mr. Crowley” first reared its ghastly, spectral head as a bonus track on most 2005 versions of Nymphetamine (2004). These Ozzfest alumni imbued the classic with their special brand of highly disturbing yet entertaining magic, symphonic pomp and other individualistic touches.

Of course, we celebrate the legacy of the late guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads, who helped make this hit from Blizzard of Ozz (1980) immortal.

Although Ulver put their magnificent spin on “Solitude,” as featured on Shadows of the Sun (2007), after leaving black metal behind, this cover is still very black metal in spirit. It seems that only one of the movement’s pioneers could have supersaturated the composition’s soundscape with such crushing, epic darkness, granted guest jazz musician Mathias Eick adds wonders on trumpet here (in place of Tony Iommi’s flute).

Mournful as both the original track and Ulver’s version prove, Iommi described “Solitude” in his autobiography as “maybe the first love song we ever recorded.”

“Solitude” has also been brilliantly re-envisioned by the True Norwegian Progressive Metal heavyweights Green Carnation — an act that began their journey as death metallers and still boast members who have been part of some of black metal’s best bands, such as In the Woods…, Emperor and the wonderful miscreants dubbed Carpathian Forest.