Baletempest (03.04.2009)
Originality matters a lot to me simply because 90% of the time I like a good band with a unique sound more than a good band who're imitating someone else.
Do you really think Nyktalgia are imitating Burzum? I think not.
From what you've written on the last page, it seems to me that you don't listen to that many different bands because you prefer the "originals".
Baletempest (03.04.2009)
...as with comparing most bands to other bands, the comparison is a good reference point for people who have never heard PN.
Of course, naming another, more famous band that is a bit similar is a good way to describe the music of a band. You can use other, more recent bands than Bathory, Burzum, Darkthrone or Mayhem to describe music, though. 
For my own part, I wouldn't use Bathory as a comparison for Peste Noire, but we're all different.
Baletempest (03.04.2009)
By over-rated I mean just that, too many people act like Nyktalgia are this pillar of excellence and originality when... they're not (if you like them more than me fair plays but you can't honetly tell me they've reinvented Metal like Mayhem or Celtic Frost did). Perhaps it's just me being extremely cynical (and I probably am far too cynical) or the people I know having quite different tastes to me...
Originality in music isn't (just) a subject of facts. People hear different things in music. You hear a Burzum clone, I do not. And you're right, I can't tell you they reinvented metal. But neither can I tell you that Mayhem (because I simply don't agree) or Celtic Frost (because I've never been much into CF) did.