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blackened death metal

Blackened Death Metal

Sweden · 1990s
DarkIntenseEpicSad
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Description

Blackened death metal fuses the ferocity, low‑tuned heft, and technical riffing of death metal with the icy tremolo lines, blast‑driven urgency, and occult atmosphere of black metal. The result is a dense, aggressive sound marked by relentless speed, layered guitars, and a stark, often ritualistic mood.

Vocals typically alternate between cavernous death growls and rasping black‑metal shrieks. Drums emphasize blast beats, double‑kick barrages, and sudden tempo pivots, while guitars move between chromatic death‑metal riffing and long, minor‑key tremolo phrases. Lyrical themes commonly draw on Satanism, occultism, anti‑cosmic or apocalyptic narratives, and blasphemous or esoteric imagery. Production ranges from raw and abrasive to highly polished and symphonic, depending on the artistic intent.

History
Origins (late 1980s–early 1990s)

Blackened death metal emerged as scenes for death metal and second‑wave black metal converged. Early death/black cross‑currents in Scandinavia and Central/Eastern Europe laid the groundwork, with musicians borrowing blast‑centric drumming, tremolo riffing, and occult aesthetics from black metal while retaining the weight and rhythmic punch of death metal.

1990s consolidation

In Sweden, bands such as Dissection and Necrophobic helped codify a cold, melodic but vicious hybrid that felt darker and faster than contemporaneous death metal. Parallel developments occurred across Europe and North America, with artists intensifying tempos, adopting harsher vocal blends, and embracing explicitly satanic/occult imagery. The term “blackened death metal” became a convenient shorthand for this escalating fusion.

2000s–global expansion

The 2000s saw international consolidation and professionalized production. Polish groups (e.g., Behemoth, Hate) and Austrian acts (e.g., Belphegor) pushed a grandiose, ritual atmosphere, sometimes adding choirs, synths, and ceremonial percussion. Norwegian and Dutch projects (e.g., Zyklon, God Dethroned) emphasized precision and modern extremity. The style spread widely, influencing festival lineups and inspiring regional scenes around the world.

2010s–present

Contemporary blackened death metal spans raw, bestial variants and sleek, arena‑sized productions. Some bands incorporate dissonant harmony, ritual ambient textures, or symphonic layers; others strip back to primitive, warlike aggression. Despite aesthetic diversity, the defining traits—death‑metal heaviness fused with black‑metal speed, atmosphere, and sacrilegious thematics—remain intact.

How to make a track in this genre
Instrumentation and tuning
•   Guitars: high‑gain amps or pedals; down‑tune (D standard, C standard, or lower). Use tight noise gates and fast‑tracking picks. Consider blending one rhythm tone (thicker, mid‑forward) with a second, icier tone for tremolos. •   Bass: pick attack with mild overdrive; lock to kick double‑strokes and outline root movement under tremolo passages. •   Drums: prioritize blast beats (traditional, bomb‑blast, and hyper‑blast), fast double‑kick (190–240 BPM), and quick fills to pivot sections.
Riffing, harmony, and melody
•   Alternate between chromatic death‑metal riffs and black‑metal tremolo lines in minor or Phrygian; inject tritones and minor seconds for malign color. •   Use pedal tones and contrary motion in harmonized tremolos; punctuate with palm‑muted, syncopated accents to reintroduce death‑metal weight. •   Write transitions with drum figures (ceaseless blasts into halftime stomps) rather than classic verse/chorus markers; through‑compose to maintain momentum.
Vocals and lyrics
•   Layer low growls with harsh rasps; vary phrasing (sustained roars vs. rapid syllabic bursts) to follow riff shapes. •   Themes: occult ritual, esotericism, apocalyptic imagery, anti‑cosmic nihilism; employ vivid, ceremonial language and mythic references.
Arrangement and atmosphere
•   Intro ideas: ritual drones, choral pads, or tolling bells before the first blast. •   Mid‑song dynamics: drop to sparse, reverb‑soaked tremolo with ride‑cymbal washes, then slam back with chromatic chugs. •   Optional textures: subtle choir/synth pads or auxiliary percussion (floor tom patterns, taiko‑like hits) to deepen the ritual aura.
Production and mix
•   Two viable aesthetics: raw/abrasive (narrow stereo, less polish) or modern/monolithic (tight editing, wider imaging, cinematic lows). •   Emphasize kick clarity during blasts; carve mids so tremolo lines remain articulated. Add plate/hall reverb to vocals and selective guitars to evoke space without losing impact.
Performance practice
•   Maintain endurance: practice blasts with a metronome, alternating minutes of blasts and rests. •   Tighten right‑hand picking with economy strokes for sustained tremolo at tempo; rehearse section pivots to keep transitions violent yet precise.
Main artists
Influenced by
Black Metal
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.
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.
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.
Old School Death Metal
Old school death metal (OSDM) is the formative, raw strain of death metal that took shape in the mid-to-late 1980s. It emphasizes downtuned, palm-muted riffing, tremolo-picked lines, and thunderous drums that shift between blast beats, skank beats, and mid-tempo stomps. Vocals are guttural and cavernous, projecting themes of mortality, horror, occultism, and decay. Production is intentionally unvarnished: guitars are thick and abrasive, drums are natural and roomy, and mixes privilege heaviness and atmosphere over precision. US bands typically favored tight, chug-heavy riff chains and chromatic menace, while the Swedish branch popularized the infamous “buzzsaw” guitar tone driven by the Boss HM-2 pedal. Song structures often unfold as riff-suites rather than strict verse–chorus forms, creating an inexorable, subterranean momentum.
Dissonant Black Metal
Dissonant black metal is a branch of black metal that centers its identity on harsh, non‑functional harmony, angular riff construction, and an atmosphere of spiritual disorientation. Instead of the genre’s traditional triadic tremolo riffs, it favors interval clusters (minor seconds, tritones, and major seconds), chromatic voice-leading, and chord shapes that refuse resolution. The result is a sound that feels unstable and vertiginous: guitars braid together in contrary motion, drums alternate between blasting barrages and fractured, off‑kilter patterns, and vocals are typically caustic, ritualistic, or liturgical in tone. Production tends toward cavernous space and grainy saturation, emphasizing density and obscurity over polish. Many artists draw on modernist classical ideas (serialism, post-tonal harmony) to intensify the sense of unease.
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.
Melodic Black Metal
Melodic black metal blends the cold, tremolo-picked fury of second‑wave black metal with the twin‑guitar harmonies, lead motifs, and songcraft associated with melodic death metal. It retains rasped vocals, blast beats, and a bleak atmosphere, but favors clearer production, memorable guitar themes, and dramatic minor‑key progressions over lo‑fi abrasion. The result is a sound that is simultaneously aggressive and epic, often evoking wintery landscapes, nihilism, myth, and existential grandeur.
War Metal
War metal is an extremely aggressive fusion of black metal and death metal known for its chaotic, bestial sound. It emphasizes relentless speed, blast-beat drumming, heavily distorted low-tuned guitars, and raw, clipping production that borders on noise. Rather than melody or intricate harmony, war metal prioritizes density, abrasion, and overwhelming intensity. Vocals are guttural, barking, or cavernous roars, often layered or doubled to create a wall of sound. Lyrical themes center on war, desecration, blasphemy, and apocalyptic imagery, matching the music’s scorched‑earth aesthetics. Tracks are typically short, violent bursts with minimal dynamic relief, frequent tremolo-picked barrages, and chaotic solos. The overall aesthetic is primitive and deliberately unrefined, evoking the feel of a battlefield bombardment translated into sound.
Dissonant Death Metal
Dissonant death metal is a branch of death metal that foregrounds atonality, angular riffing, and tense, unstable harmonies. Instead of traditional power‑chord grooves or neoclassical lead work, it relies on clusters, tritones, seconds, and chromatic voice‑leading to create a nauseating, labyrinthine atmosphere. Rhythmically, the style favors jagged phrasing, polymeters, and sudden tempo shifts, while vocals remain predominantly deep growls that enhance the sense of dread. Production often balances clarity and claustrophobia: drums are articulate yet cavernous, and guitars are dense but deliberately abrasive. The aesthetic draws from modern classical dissonance as much as from early 1990s death metal, channeling existential unease and surreal or cosmic horror rather than gore alone.
Symphonic Black Metal
Symphonic black metal fuses the speed, tremolo-picked riffing, and shrieked vocals of black metal with orchestral writing, choirs, and cinematic arrangements. It expands the genre’s raw ferocity into a grand, theatrical sound that can feel both infernal and majestic. Keyboards or full orchestras handle strings, brass, and choral parts that support or counterpoint the guitars, while blast beats and double‑kick patterns drive the intensity. Harmonically, it leans on minor modes, chromatic motion, and diminished sonorities, often evoking Romantic and late‑Romantic classical drama. Lyrical themes tend toward the occult, mythology, Gothic romance, and horror, and productions range from deliberately grim to highly polished, integrating extreme metal power with film‑score scale.
Avant-Garde Metal
Avant-garde metal is a branch of metal that embraces experimentation as a core principle. It extends the genre’s sonic vocabulary through unusual song forms, dissonant harmony, non-standard instrumentation, and an eagerness to fuse styles that traditionally sit outside heavy music. Where conventional metal often relies on riff-driven structures, avant-garde metal frequently employs through-composed forms, asymmetrical rhythms, and abrupt dynamic shifts. Its palette can include strings, woodwinds, brass, electronics, prepared instruments, and extended vocal techniques alongside distorted guitars and aggressive drums. Lyrically and conceptually, the style leans toward the surreal, the philosophical, and the theatrical. The result is a deliberately challenging, exploratory music that values atmosphere, texture, and surprise as much as impact and heaviness.
Has influenced
War Metal
War metal is an extremely aggressive fusion of black metal and death metal known for its chaotic, bestial sound. It emphasizes relentless speed, blast-beat drumming, heavily distorted low-tuned guitars, and raw, clipping production that borders on noise. Rather than melody or intricate harmony, war metal prioritizes density, abrasion, and overwhelming intensity. Vocals are guttural, barking, or cavernous roars, often layered or doubled to create a wall of sound. Lyrical themes center on war, desecration, blasphemy, and apocalyptic imagery, matching the music’s scorched‑earth aesthetics. Tracks are typically short, violent bursts with minimal dynamic relief, frequent tremolo-picked barrages, and chaotic solos. The overall aesthetic is primitive and deliberately unrefined, evoking the feel of a battlefield bombardment translated into sound.
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