Music Poll

This is how I would describe black metal in as short and unbiased way as possible:

Black metal is a rather obscure genre of metal inspired by eighties bands playing what I call 'proto-black metal', like Venom, Sarcofago, Celtic Frost, Possessed and Bathory. Its typical sound was pioneered from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties, especially by the notorious Norwegian scene consisting of bands like (The True) Mayhem, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Emperor, Satyricon and Burzum. To keep it short, many church arsons, suicides and murders and resulting prison sentences ensued. The scene has lost extremity since then (though not musically), and a lot of different approaches to the genre makes nowadays black metal into a very varied style of music, although there are quite a few puritans that think black metal should have stayed 'true', meaning how it sounded in the early nineties.

The typical 'true' black metal song has a simple structure with only a few riffs and deliberate repetitiveness (single-riff songs of ten minutes are not unique). Shrill, vicious-yet-epic guitars, pounding drums (often on high speeds but also mid-tempo) and screeched vocals dominate the sound. Sometimes keyboards are used to create a haunting orchestral background, but most bands relying on keyboards tend to make more complex songs. Often the recording is purposefully primitive, adding to the obscureness of the sound. The purpose is not to create an as brutal sound as possible (that's where death metal and grindcore are for), but a desolate, cold, evil atmosphere. This is also reflected in the lyrics, always dealing with darkness in one way or another, often incorporating satanism or at least an aversion against christianity, sometimes in the form of revering the pagan past. But, like I said, over time there are a lot of bands that have found their own ideology or way of playing, leading to a lot of sub-sub-subgenres like national-socialist black metal, symphonic black metal, war metal, viking metal and other stuff lacking a suitable description. The keywords remain the grim atmosphere.

I'll recommend a few songs for further reference:

"The return of darkness and evil" by Bathory, not really black metal yet but certainly fixed in a transcending state between thrash and black metal, also a great inspiration for what was to come.
"Begrafelsesnatt" by Gorgoroth niftily showcases the true Norwegian early nineties black metal sound.
"Det som engang var" or "Erblicket die Töchter des Firmaments" by Burzum, the epitome of minimalisticness, but oh so effective.
"Ye entrancemperium" by Emperor, one of the first and most succesful bands to stray from the minimalistic, primitive interpretation. Intense stuff.
"An apprentice of satan" by Dark Funeral displays the Swedish, more aggressive approach. DF is, in my opinion, slightly ridiculous.

Have fun.

By the way, black metal ist krieg.

 

yea...i still dont understand what black metal is can someone explain it to me in smaller terms.

thanks hah

lisa

 

haha yeah, i don't really get it either..

 

yo wheres ska? reggae?! CMON!!!

 

Sound Tribe Sector 9 Is Amazing

 

Okay, simply put, black metal is an extreme, strongly antireligious form of metal that relies on a dark and harsh sound, and they all look like this:


(That must be the 500th time I post this picture...)

 

i said rock because it's the closest... really, indie.

 

I sooooo agree!

 

anyone here dig any ska?! any reggae?!

 

I listen to grateful dead, jimi hendrix and led zeppelin but i also listen to bob marley and a whole lot of other reggae and besides that i also enjoy listening to some hip hop.
Folk music i enjoy. Blues and jazz i sometimes listen to as well.

 

I listen almost everything... from classic to punk and from rock to disco... hiphop and r´n´b are maybe the genre´s that i don´t listen. :sunglasse