logoMelodigging
black metal

Black Metal

Norway · 1980s
DarkIntenseSadEpicDreamy
Your level
0/5
🏆
Listen to this genre to level up
Description

Black metal is a form of extreme metal defined by fast tempos, tremolo‑picked guitar lines, blast‑beat drumming, shrieked or rasped vocals, and a deliberately raw, icy production aesthetic.

Harmonically, it favors minor and modal collections (especially Aeolian and Phrygian), open-string drones, parallel fifths and fourths, tritones, and sparse or suspended chord voicings over blues-derived harmony. Arrangements often employ layered guitars, long-form song structures, and enveloping reverb to create a bleak, otherworldly atmosphere.

The genre’s visual and thematic language is equally distinctive: corpse paint, monochrome artwork, and lyrics exploring anti-dogma, nature, pagan myth, cosmic nihilism, and misanthropy. While some scenes have been associated with controversy and extremism, the musical identity centers on sound, atmosphere, and aesthetics rather than any single ideology.

History
First wave (1980s): name and sonic blueprint

The term “black metal” was popularized by Venom’s 1982 album Black Metal, whose speed-driven, occult-tinged approach influenced a cluster of bands that formed the style’s first wave. Sweden’s Bathory refined the sound with colder production, tremolo-picked riffs, and a stark, pagan atmosphere, particularly on albums like Under the Sign of the Black Mark. Switzerland’s Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Denmark’s Mercyful Fate also contributed, mixing thrash, speed, and proto-extreme metal with darker themes and more abrasive timbres.

Second wave (early 1990s, Norway): codification and global attention

In the early 1990s, Norwegian bands such as Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Immortal, and Gorgoroth codified the genre’s core traits: shrieked vocals, relentless blast beats, tremolo riffing in minor/modal tonalities, and intentionally raw, lo-fi production. A stark rejection of mainstream polish and death metal’s technical tropes defined the aesthetic. The scene drew intense media attention—both for its groundbreaking music and for criminal incidents (including church arsons and a notorious murder)—which, while not representative of all artists, indelibly shaped public perception.

Diversification and international spread (mid‑1990s–2000s)

As the sound traveled, regional scenes flourished. Sweden (e.g., Marduk, Dissection) emphasized speed or melody; symphonic black metal (e.g., Emperor, later Dimmu Borgir) added orchestration and keyboards; atmospheric strains (e.g., early Burzum, Ulver) explored ambiance and folk elements; bestial/war metal took a more chaotic, noise-suffused path; depressive/suicidal black metal (DSBM) foregrounded bleak, hypnotic minimalism; and blackgaze fused black metal textures with shoegaze’s lush harmonies.

Contemporary era

From the 2010s onward, black metal became a global, highly modular language—interfacing with post-rock, folk traditions, avant-garde composition, and electronic sound design. Production ranges from intentionally primitive to high-fidelity. Festivals, labels, and online communities have sustained an international ecosystem, while many artists explicitly distance the music from extremist politics, emphasizing atmosphere, craft, and artistic autonomy.

How to make a track in this genre
Core instrumentation and tone
•   Guitars: Two guitars (lead and rhythm) with high-gain amps emphasizing upper mids and treble. Use minimal noise gating to retain the harsh edge. Standard E or D-standard tunings are common to keep brightness; avoid excessive low-end saturation. •   Bass: Follow root motion or pedal drones; keep a tight, pick-driven attack to cut through dense guitars. •   Drums: Fast blast beats (180–220+ BPM), alternating blasts, and double-kick runs. Use skank beats and d‑beat-derived patterns for contrast.
Riffs, harmony, and texture
•   Compose tremolo-picked single-note lines outlining Aeolian or Phrygian modes; introduce tritones, minor seconds, and chromatic approaches for tension. •   Favor open strings and parallel fourths/fifths to create “icy” drones. Use suspended (sus2/sus4) and add2 shapes rather than full triadic movement. •   Write long, hypnotic phrases and through-composed structures; avoid blues licks and frequent cadences. Layer two guitars in contrary motion for a blizzard-like wall of sound.
Vocals and lyrics
•   Employ high, rasped shrieks or witchy whispers; drench in plate/room reverb. Choir-like backing or chants can add ritual gravitas. •   Lyrical themes often address nature, pagan myth, metaphysics, cosmic emptiness, and critiques of dogma. Steer clear of hateful or violent content; focus on atmosphere and storytelling.
Arrangement and dynamics
•   Contrast relentless blasts with mid-tempo, stomping sections and sparse ambient interludes (clean guitars, synth pads, field recordings like wind or bells). •   Introduce motif recalls and textural swells instead of conventional verse–chorus forms. Let transitions pivot on drum figures or abrupt textural cuts.
Production aesthetics
•   Lo-fi path: narrow bandwidth guitars, roomy overhead-focused drums, and saturated cassette/2-track mixes to emphasize frostbitten rawness. •   Modern path: precise multi-tracking, tight low end, and wide stereo guitars—yet keep transient aggression and avoid over-quantization. Add subtle synths (choir/strings) for symphonic or atmospheric flavors.
Performance tips
•   Maintain consistent tremolo stamina; economy of fretting-hand motion helps at high tempos. •   Use click practice at escalating BPMs for blast-beat endurance and clarity. •   Prioritize mood—every choice (tone, harmony, reverb) should serve the intended atmosphere.
Main artists
Influenced by
Heavy Metal
Heavy metal is a loud, guitar-driven style of rock defined by heavily distorted riffs, thunderous drums, and powerful vocals. Its musical language emphasizes minor modes, modal (Aeolian, Phrygian) riffing, and energy over groove, often featuring virtuosic guitar solos and dramatic dynamic contrasts. Emerging from late-1960s blues rock and psychedelic experimentation, heavy metal codified a darker, heavier sound with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. The genre values weight, intensity, and grandeur—whether through plodding, doom-laden tempos or galloping, high-energy rhythms—paired with themes that range from personal struggle and social critique to fantasy, mythology, and the occult.
Speed Metal
Speed metal is a fast, precision-driven branch of heavy metal that crystallized at the turn of the 1980s. It emphasizes aggressive tempos, tightly synchronized riffing, and virtuosic lead guitar work, while generally retaining melodic, often clean or strident vocals. Compared with thrash metal, speed metal tends to be less percussive and more melodic, favoring galloping rhythms, twin-guitar harmonies, and classic verse–chorus structures. Drums often employ rapid double-time feels and double-bass patterns, while bass frequently mirrors the rhythm guitar to reinforce propulsion. Lyrical themes range from rebellion and street realism to fantasy, warfare, and sci‑fi.
Thrash Metal
Thrash metal is a fast, aggressive, and riff‑driven style of metal characterized by high-tempo, palm‑muted downpicking; tightly synchronized rhythm sections; and abrasive, shouted or barked vocals. Songs typically sit in the 180–220+ BPM range, with rapid alternate picking, chugging power‑chord riffs, and precise double‑bass drumming. Harmonically, thrash favors minor tonalities, chromatic movement, tritone tension, and modal flavors such as Phrygian and Aeolian. Structures are riff-centric and often feature brisk tempo changes, sharp stops/starts, and technically demanding solos that draw on pentatonic, natural/harmonic minor, and modal runs. Lyrically, thrash is frequently anti‑authoritarian and socio‑political, addressing war, corruption, media manipulation, and personal alienation. Compared to speed metal, thrash is more percussive, staccato, and palm‑mute heavy; compared to death metal, vocals are generally less guttural and the riffing slightly less dissonant, but the intensity and precision remain core to the style.
Punk
Punk is a fast, abrasive, and minimalist form of rock music built around short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and confrontational, anti-establishment lyrics. It emphasizes DIY ethics, raw energy, and immediacy over virtuosity, often featuring distorted guitars, shouted or sneered vocals, and simple, catchy melodies. Typical songs run 1–3 minutes, sit around 140–200 BPM, use power chords and basic progressions (often I–IV–V), and favor live, unpolished production. Beyond sound, punk is a cultural movement encompassing zines, independent labels, political activism, and a fashion vocabulary of ripped clothes, leather, and safety pins.
Hardcore Punk
Hardcore punk is a faster, louder, and more abrasive offshoot of late-1970s punk rock. Songs are typically short (often under two minutes), propelled by rapid tempos, aggressive down‑stroked guitar riffs, and shouted or barked vocals. The style prioritizes raw energy over technical ornamentation: power‑chord harmony, minimal guitar solos, and tightly locked rhythm sections dominate. Lyrically, hardcore punk is intensely direct—often political, anti‑authoritarian, and socially critical—reflecting a DIY ethic that values independent labels, self‑organized shows, and community‑run spaces. The genre coalesced in U.S. scenes such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and soon spread internationally. Its velocity, attitude, and grassroots infrastructure profoundly shaped underground music and paved the way for numerous metal, punk, and alternative subgenres.
Doom Metal
Doom metal is a heavy metal subgenre defined by slow to mid-tempo grooves, down-tuned, highly distorted guitars, and an atmosphere of dread, melancholy, and weight. It emphasizes ominous, minor-key riffs and sustained tones over speed or virtuosity, creating a crushing sense of space and inevitability. Vocals range from plaintive and theatrical (epic/traditional doom) to anguished wails or harsh growls (death-doom), and lyrics often explore themes of suffering, mortality, the occult, apocalyptic visions, and existential despair. Song structures are typically riff-centric and long-form, with repetition and gradual dynamic shifts producing a hypnotic, ritualistic feel.
Death Metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal defined by heavily distorted, low‑tuned guitars, rapid and complex riffing, blast beat drumming, and harsh guttural vocals. Its harmonic language favors chromaticism, dissonance, and tremolo-picked lines that create an ominous, abrasive atmosphere. Lyrically, death metal often explores dark or transgressive themes—mortality, mythology, anti-religion, psychological horror, and the macabre—sometimes with philosophical or social commentary. Production ranges from raw and cavernous to hyper-precise and technical, reflecting the genre’s many regional scenes and substyles. From the mid‑1980s Florida scene (Tampa) and parallel developments in the US, UK, and Sweden, death metal evolved into numerous branches including brutal death metal, technical death metal, melodic death metal, and death‑doom, each emphasizing different aspects of speed, complexity, melody, or heaviness.
Occult Rock
Occult rock is a dark, vintage-leaning strain of hard and psychedelic rock that centers on esoteric, witchcraft, and ceremonial themes. It pairs heavy, riff-led songwriting with theatrical vocals and ritualistic imagery—candles, robes, sigils—evoking a sense of mystery and forbidden knowledge. Musically it draws on late-1960s/early-1970s hard rock and acid-drenched psychedelia: overdriven guitars, warm tube tones, analog organs (Hammond, Mellotron), fuzz bass, and dry, punchy drums. Songs are typically mid‑tempo, minor‑key, and hooky, favoring modal turns (Aeolian, Phrygian) and occasional tritone or chromatic color to heighten the ominous atmosphere. Lyrically, it references grimoires, folklore, and occult philosophy, often balancing narrative storytelling with chant-like choruses. Modern revivals preserve the 70s aesthetic—tape-saturated mixes and retro gear—while refining arrangements and production for contemporary audiences.
Nwobhm
NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) is a late-1970s British movement that revitalized heavy metal with faster tempos, twin‑lead guitar harmonies, and a gritty, working‑class intensity. It fused the muscular riffing of 1970s hard rock and early heavy metal with the urgency and DIY ethos of punk, producing anthemic choruses, memorable riffs, and high‑register vocals. The scene was propelled by independent labels, fanzines, and grassroots gig circuits, and it provided the template for much of 1980s metal worldwide.
Metal
Metal (often used to mean heavy metal in its broad, umbrella sense) is a loud, guitar-driven style of rock defined by high-gain distortion, emphatic and often martial rhythms, and a dense, powerful low end. It foregrounds riff-based songwriting, dramatic dynamics, virtuosic guitar solos, and commanding vocals that range from melodic wails to aggressive snarls and growls. Harmonically, metal favors minor modes, modal color (Aeolian, Phrygian), chromaticism, and tritone-inflected tension, while thematically it explores power, mythology, the occult, social critique, fantasy, and existential subjects. While adjacent to hard rock, metal typically pushes amplification, distortion, precision, and thematic intensity further, forming a foundation for many specialized subgenres.
Norwegian Folk Music
Norwegian folk music is a regional tradition centered on the Hardanger fiddle (Hardingfele), kveding (traditional solo song), and a family of couple- and solo-dances such as springar, gangar, halling, and pols. It uses modal melodies (often Dorian and Mixolydian), drones, and distinctive asymmetric triple meters in which the three beats are of unequal length. Characteristic instruments include the Hardanger fiddle with sympathetic strings and scordatura tunings, standard fiddle, langeleik (zither), seljefløyte (willow flute), wooden lur, bukkehorn (goat horn), munnharpe (jaw harp), and later accordion. Vocal genres range from short, epigrammatic stev to medieval ballads and free, ornamented kveding styles. Ornamentation, double-stops, drones, and dance-driven bowing patterns are core to the sound. The repertoire is organized into slåtter (tunes) linked to particular dances and regions, carrying strong local identities (bygdedans). While deeply rooted in rural tradition, it has continually evolved through collectors, revivals, and collaborations with jazz, classical, and contemporary folk scenes.
Has influenced
No genres found
© 2025 Melodigging
Legal
Melodding was created as a tribute to Every Noise at Once, which inspired us to help curious minds keep digging into music's ever-evolving genres.