Decayed - The Conjuration of the Southern Circle (1993)

   By the second wave of black metal, new bands started to form in Europe in a wide region scarcely. No independent scenes were formed, like in Northern countries (not even if some groups claimed to form a circle by imitating the Norwegians), partly because there haven't been many active bands by regions, and partly because death metal was still more in focus until the middle of the decade. Even by the lack of a seperated black metal scenes, the regional differences between the mainly influential Norwegian black metal and the newly formed bands were kinda spectacular. 

   Decayed as one of the earliest black metal band outside the North was formed in 1990, and debuted with a quite strong debut. Maybe by this early formation they were able to show an alternate direction of black metal, that definitely had the influence of Norwegian bands, but the same time also showed more analogy with Bathory. Meanwhile the traditional sound of black metal was defined by bands like Darkthrone and Burzum, but Decayed seemed to prefer a more aggressive approach, way better sound and bigger freedom to operate with diverse themes. The other remarkable factor about Decayed was their productiveness, that definitely didn't resemble Northern bands. Their songs were more complex, they were not aware of turning slightly more technical  than how it was usual from black metal bands. Their music somehow more resembled to the South American scene, though they always stayed between the borders of black metal. Or from another perspective: they opened new perspectives for the genre by widening it's borders. In their music the role of atmospheric sound and catchy riffs had complete balance. The first was occasionally assisted by keyboards with slightly symphonic touch, while the epic melodies and heavy metal influenced riffs supported the second. "The Conjuration of the Southern Circle" is one of the most underrated early masterpieces of the genre. And the band kept their trvely compromise-less genuine approach and insane productiveness later on.