Black Metal

Black metal is a form of extreme heavy metal defined by high pitched screechy vocals mixed with low death growls, really fast riffs and tempos, long and strange song structures with long instrumental sections, and single notes played quickly and repeatedly, making the note sound long and drawn out.  Unlike many other extreme subgenres, black metal bands favour higher pitched guitars.

Black metal bands also have a very distinct style.  Most bands wear black and white face paint, spikes, leather outfits, and large military or platform boots. Theatrical blood and horror movie type props are common in live performances.

The band that gets the most credit for starting the black metal movement is the English speed metal band Venom.  The name of the subgenre was taken directly from their second album released in 1982 entitled Black Metal.  Venom is also responsible for the black metal look as they wore leather outfits with spikes, and boots.  Other bands that used this type of imagery and content that helped to create the first wave of black metal in the 1980’s, include Mercyful Fate and Bathory.

In the early 1990s the subgenre would be revived by the birth of the Norwegian black metal scene.  The pioneers of this second wave include Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Emperor, and Dimmu Borgir.  These bands would take black metal even further away from their thrash and speed metal forefathers.  Mayhem created the sound and riffs that would define the black metal sound in the ’90s.  The music became so popular that black metal bands began popping up all over Europe in places like Poland, Greece, and France.  Black metal bands would even begin to rise in the United States.

The second wave was not without its controversy.  There were a string of church burnings in Norway that landed artists from Emperor and Mayhem in jail.  There was also an outbreak of violence and suicide.  Dead, the lead singer of Mayhem, shot himself and there were two other suicides from black metal musicians in 1999 and 2001.

In the mid to late 1990s innovative black metal bands began to pop up.  These bands wanted to distance themselves from the outbreak of violence and bring the focus back to the music.  Many black metal artists stay true to the subgenre and do not believe in innovation - they see it as insult to black metal. Progressive elements are often looked down upon and not considered to be true black metal.  The new more progressive bands believed that black metal was too narrow and they began to expand on the sound.  These new sounds helped to reinvigorate the scene and bring in new fans.  Black metal continues to be one of the most popular forms of extreme metal worldwide.