Black metal has always been about individualism and not being "one of the sheep, " yet more and more albums seem to be coming out of the woodwork with the obligatory forest scene artwork, indecipherable band name, buzzing lo-fi guitars and tortured screams. Sweden's Bergraven -- aka sole band member and multi-instrumentalist Par Gustaffssons -- has shunned such cliches to make some of the most evolved, compelling and expressive extreme music we've heard in a while. In a sea of misanthropic music makers, Bergraven stands alone as a band that truly adheres to the black metal ideology. Ironically, Par rejects the black metal tag entirely.

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