If you had a chuckle at Immortal's Battles in the North album cover, please watch the video for The Call of the Wintermoon [0], which was on their first album, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. I'm convinced they knew it was hilarious
Immortal very much was doing the whole black metal imagery thing with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Not parody, but absolutely having fun with it and not taking anything seriously.