What are the most popular metal albums? (North edition)

Inspired by Sonny sharing with us the top 20 most popular metal releases on RYM, I thought, what if we shared the most popular albums in each clan and judge which ones deserve their right in the list? So that's what I'm doing, this time with a different clan, The North. Even though The North is not a clan I would ever join, I know some of the more active Metal Academy members are in that clan and have good passion for its genres, so this could be easy to discuss. There are those "top black metal releases" lists on other sites, so I shortened this list to Bruno Terrosa's 55 see what are indeed the most popular 55 in RYM. So here they are, with the number of ratings and average score:

#1 Deafheaven - Sunbather (17834 / 3.68)

#2 Burzum - Filosofem (17016 / 3.90)

#3 Agalloch - The Mantle (11893 / 3.84)

#4 Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (11244 / 3.88)

#5 Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss (11089 / 3.85)

#6 Mayhem - De mysteriis dom Sathanas (10000 / 3.83)

#7 Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde (9872 / 3.64)

#8 Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky (9491 / 3.90)

#9 Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse (9309 / 3.90)

#10 Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger (8707 / 3.83)

#11 Bathory - Blood Fire Death (7651 / 3.86)

#12 Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane (7636 / 3.93)

#13 Alcest - Écailles de lune (7509 / 3.64)

#14 Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (7154 / 3.50)

#15 Deafheaven - New Bermuda (7045 / 3.51)

#16 Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (6918 / 3.92)

#17 Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark (6497 / 3.86)

#18 Deathspell Omega - Paracletus (6492 / 3.84)

#19 Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon (6331 / 3.82)

#20 Bathory - Bathory (6311 / 3.59)

#21 Behemoth - The Satanist (6266 / 3.71)

#22 Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi (6215 / 3.71)

#23 Burzum - Burzum (6170 / 3.59)

#24 Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit (5835 / 3.68)

#25 Mgła - Exercises in Futility (5803 / 3.80)

#26 Immortal - At the Heart of Winter (5801 / 3.88)

#27 Agalloch - Pale Folklore (5792 / 3.74)

#28 Ulver - Nattens madrigal: Aatte hymne til ulven i manden (5778 / 3.71)

#29 Burzum - Det som engang var (5670 / 3.59)

#30 Батюшка [Batushka] - Литоургиiа (Litourgiya) (5437 / 3.72)

#31 Bathory - Hammerheart (5393 / 3.83)

#32 Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage d'Hiver (5265 / 3.85)

#33 Liturgy - H.A.Q.Q. (5188 / 3.61)

#34 Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (4956 / 3.76)

#35 Darkthrone - Panzerfaust (4824 / 3.77)

#36 Deafheaven - Roads to Judah (4388 / 3.45)

#37 Alcest - Kodama (4310 / 3.57)

#38 Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (4293 / 3.74)

#39 Immortal - Pure Holocaust (4287 / 3.76)

#40 Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme (4278 / 3.41)

#41 Deathspell Omega - Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum (4094 / 3.83)

#42 Dissection - The Somberlain (3930 / 3.84)

#43 Liturgy - Aesthetica (3928 / 3.30)

#44 Murmuüre - Murmuüre (3863 / 3.76)

#45 Kvelertak - Kvelertak (3797 / 3.61)

#46 Paysage d'Hiver - Im Wald (3795 / 3.63)

#47 Weakling - Dead as Dreams (3794 / 3.90)

#48 Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury (3794 / 3.66)

#49 Deathspell Omega - Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice (3743 / 3.73)

#50 Bathory - The Return...... (3724 / 3.57)

#51 Negură Bunget - OM (3709 / 3.70)

#52 Drudkh - Кров у наших криницях (Blood in Our Wells) (3590 / 3.76)

#53 Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä (3575 / 3.68)

#54 Wolves in the Throne Room - Diadem of 12 Stars (3526 / 3.67)

#55 Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness (3445 / 3.75)

I am quite stunned by Alcest's non-metal albums appearing on the list, but I can't say what I think of the other albums because I'm not into this clan's genres. So what do all you black metal listeners think?

I am quite stunned by Alcest's non-metal albums and Katatonia's death-doom debut appearing on the list

It's hardly surprising really. RYM's genre-tagging is pretty terrible these days. I've been finding myself submitting Hall entries for roughly one in every three or four releases lately. The list indicates that the more accessible releases (i.e. Deafheaven, Agalloch, Alcest, etc.) will always be the more popular on a website that's not specifically catering for the extreme metal market.