Too bad Valfar died right when he started making decent music. If he had made another album it might have been comparable to other well known black metal bands. Still, I prefer a little bit more of the symphonic and/or viking metal sound over the harsh black. A good mix of all of the above is ideal, but difficult to pull off well.
Amon Amarth, Folkearth, Finntroll, Tyr... they're all pretty decent. I could blabber on for hours about metal. My top three are Ensiferum, Vesania and Bloodbath though.
