Sometimes the most compelling elements of a heavy metal album are the parts that aren’t heavy at all.A soft interlude in the middle, a slow outro tune that wipes away the sweat after 45 minutes of a musical onslaught, and/or an atmospheric beginning that eases you into the maw. Below are four albums (and five songs) that very perfectly introduce themselves with moodiness and mystery, all of which you should be sure to queue up.Between the Buried and Me – Coma Ecliptic – “Node”Between the Buried and Me is somewhat of an anomaly in that they have been around for 25 years and are still cranking out thoughtful music that is forged in sincerity and never sacrifices intensity. Since their self-titled debut album was released in 2022, the band has put out 10 full-length studio albums, with the 11th, The Blue Nowhere, dropping on Sept. 12.The band’s brilliant brand of deathy, experimental prog-metal has evolved to cinematic heights throughout their career, with 2015’s Coma Ecliptic being an excellent example of a metal album with a subtly atmospheric intro, titled “Node.”Opening the iconic album, “Node” begins with the playing of a gentle keyboard sequence and vocalist Tommy Rogers softly singing. Over the next 3+ minutes, the track slowly builds from making you feel like you’re floating through space to ushering in a big crescendo that leads into the album’s (much heavier) title track, which feels like the first chapter of a book after “Node” being such a perfectly written prelude.Isis – In the Absence of Truth – “Wrist of Kings”This is, hands down, one of my favorite metal albums of all time, which may surprise most people, as it’s Isis’s previous effort, Panopticon (2004), which is typically considered to be their greatest record. For me, there’s just something about In the Absence of Truth, though. It’s so heavy and so beautiful and so unpredictable.I distinctly remember the very first time I heard it, I lay on my couch in the dark and listened to the entire album all the way through, and I wasn’t even stoned.Clocking in a over seven minutes, the record’s intro, “Wrist of Kings,” begins with some organized feedback and then shifts into a tribal drum rhythm under a slow, ethereal guitar melody before shifting into a more jazzy space with less aggression as vocalist Aaron Turner begins to sing. It just compels you to keep going from that point on, and the record only grows more interesting.Baroness – Yellow and Green – “Yellow Theme” and “Green Theme”In 2012, the heavy metalists in Georgia’s Baroness dropped Yellow and Green, their (first) cleverly and lovingly crafted double album with two distinctly different beginnings.Opening the entire two-part album is “Yellow Theme,” with wavy tones and leisurely retro riffs. If you close your eyes, the track feels like you’re shroom-tripping on a secluded SoCal beach at dusk. As it creeps along, we’re eventually hit in the face with “Take My Bones Away,” a driving tune that is just pure rock ‘n’ roll.For the “Green Theme,” the band seemingly started by merging a horror movie theme with a gospel melody — it’s a little but haunting and a little bit hallelujah — which is kind of perfect for the southern gothic nature of their homeland. The tune breaks open a couple of times before going into “Board Up the House,” the first proper tune on the second half of the project.Panopticon – Autumn Eternal – “Tamarack’s Gold Returns”While I am a big fan of his 2012 album Kentucky (being that I spent my formative adolescent years in the Western part of the state), it’s only right to include “Tamarack’s Gold Returns,” the opening track on Panopticon’s 2015 album, Autumn Eternal, on this list.Look, this is literally the definition of “atmospheric,” opening with sounds of the wilderness before delivering a gorgeous melody of Appalachian guitar layered with a little bit of fiddle for a few minutes and then closing with a rushing river and what I believe is wood being chopped.After that, it’s just a phenomenal hour of Kentucky-born, one-man, americana-black-metal.The post 4 Metal Albums Known for Their Atmospheric Intros appeared first on VICE.