Thy Catafalque : A very special band from Hungary. The lyrics are in Hungarian, so translation will be needed. Black/folk metal guitars, galloping bass and drums with folkish vocals and electronic/symphonic elements in the background. Has a very emotional or uplifting atmosphere.
Transcending Bizarre : This is what symphonic
Black Metal should be. Menacing, good symphonic elements, unique song structures, amazing keyboards... but still catchy. All of this along with many odd things added on. For those who want catchy
Black Metal that doesn't suck, look no further.
Sigh : Very experimental, and very strange Japanese black metal. They use a saxophone. Hard to describe.
Winds : Neoclassical metal. Not the kind with all of the wankery solos and such, but
Heavy Metal merged with neoclassical elements (orchestra, piano, violin, etc.). Yes, obviously there are solos, but these solos are beautiful, being some of the most beautiful solos I have heard ever. The lyrics are fantastic too.
Damned Spirits' Dance : Melodic
Black Metal merged with... pop music. A dangerous combination this is, but it does not fail. Songs such as Fake show that though they include the pop elements, they can find a way to make them not suck. Very groovy at times too.
Kadenzza : Extremely high quality symphonic black metal. One of the only bands that I have found to have some similarity with Mirrorthrone. The symphonic elements are excellent and the metal work is amazing.
maudlin of the well : The precursor to Kayo
Dot. These guys produced the album Bath, which is both calming and menacing. They will jump from an ambient/post-rock kind of deal over to a experimental
Death Metal style in songs. Sometimes, they'll include both styles.
Gigantic Brain : Now this will be confusing. Their older stuff is basic cybergrind. But their newest album (World)... it is ambient and grindcore. The atmosphere is calm, then it goes to
Relentless Rage, all to fade back into a calm sound. The cybergrind elements on World are also special, they are more oriented to the ambient feel.
Last.fm: Mercenarion