Black Metal

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Black Metal Bands on Metal(z):

Agalloch Agathodaimon Ajattara Arcturus ArkonaBehemoth Belphegor Borknagar Carpathian ForestCatamenia Cradle Of Filth Dark FortressDark Funeral Darkthrone Descending DevianDimmu Borgir DissectionEmperor Enslaved Equilibrium Fairytale Abuse FinntrollGallhammer Goatwhore Gorgoroth Immortal InfernaeonKeep of Kalessin Loits Mayhem MoonsorrowMoonspell Naer Mataron Naglfar Nocturno CultoRotting Christ Samael Satyricon Shade EmpireSodom Soulfallen Tsjuder Tvangeste Wintersun

Black Metal Bands

1. Absu Buy: CDs || DVDs
2. Arcturus Buy: CDs || DVDs
3. Bal-Sagoth Buy: CDs
4. Celtic Frost Buy: CDs
   
5. Children of Bodom Buy: CDs || DVDs
6. Cradle of filth Buy: CDs || DVDs
7. Dark Funeral Buy: CDs
8. Darkthrone Buy: CDs
   
9. Dimmu Borgir Buy: CDs || DVDs
10. Dissection Buy: CDs||DVDs
    
11. Emperor Buy: CDs || DVDs
    
12. Enslaved Buy: CDs || DVDs
13. Finntroll Buy: CDs
    
14. Graveworm Buy: CDs
15. Immortal Buy: CDs
    
16. Impaled Nazarene Buy: CDs
    
17. Marduk Buy: CDs || DVDs
18. Mayhem Buy: CDs || DVDs
19. Mercyful Fate Buy: CDs
20. Naglfar Buy: CDs
    
21. Negura Bunget Buy: CDs
22. Opera IX Buy: CDs
    
23. Rotting Christ Buy: CDs || DVDs
    
24. Samael Buy: CDs || DVDs
25. Satyricon Buy: CDs
26. Venom Buy: CDs || DVDs
27. (NEW!) Wintersun Buy: CDs

Others

1. Black Metal Documentary

Black Metal Description

Black metal started in the early 1980s with bands such as Bathory, Sodom, Mayhem, Mercyful Fate, and Hellhammer/Celtic Frost; and with asthetic and lyrical influences from Venom. These bands were Thrash metal bands that formed the prototype for the later second generation of black metal. The second wave of black metal, an essentially Scandinavian movement, started in the late 1980s and early 1990s, primarily in Norway. Black metal has gathered intense criticism from many sectors of society, for its brutal aesthetic, its misanthropic spirit, and the extreme ideology displayed by some musicians working in the National Socialist Black Metal subgenre. However, at the same time it experienced a meteoric rise in popularity among metal fans during the 1990s.

Black metal can display, but is not limited to, the following characteristics:

Guitars

• Fast, overdriven, often vaguely melodic guitars played using alternate picking or tremolo picking.
• Highly distorted and drawn out power chords.
• Standard tuned guitars — in contrast to death metal, which typically has guitars downtuned to D standard, C standard, or lower.
• Relatively thin or thick guitar tone — usually not in the middle (mid frequencies are thus scooped out, leaving solely the treble and bass; sometimes with the bass also removed).
• Occasionally, some bands will use a clean amplifier channel (for example, Emperor or Dimmu Borgir).
• Tremolo picking may be applied to fully voiced chords (usually minor) in a denser portion of a piece.
• Frequent use of chromatics, shifted up and down from a central tonal point to create an uneasy atmosphere.
  

Drums

• Double bass, blast beat, and D-beat drumming
• Fast, repetitive, aggressive drums, often with blast beats. At other times, the drums can take a slower role usually accompanied by a very dry and empty tone — especially for the effect of the atmosphere of the music. On occasion, some groups such as Burzum and Xasthur will dispense with drums altogether in certain song segments.
  

Lyrics and vocals

• A distinct 'rasped' vocal style, a very guttural rasp or a high-pitched shriek, which is reminiscent of torture. This is one of the more obvious categories that sets it the genre apart from death metal, which often uses a very deep style of growl or roar. This is basically standard in all black metal bands, although there are exceptions. For example, Primordial, are still classified as black metal though they do not use raspy vocals. Some bands, particularly symphonic black metal bands, incorporate clean vocals mainly for atmospheric purposes.
• Some black metal songs are complemented with choir-like vocals by males or females, much like a Gregorian chant.
• Oftentimes there is a reverb effect on vocals, to make them sound more cavernous and atmospheric.
• Lyrics that often take the form of Satanic, Pagan, or occult themes which blaspheme Christianity.
• Lyrics that celebrate the cold, darkness, forests, and other natural surroundings of northern European countries, reflecting modern black metal's origins in Scandinavia.
• Increasingly lyrics are being penned with themes of war, misanthropy, and desolation, sometimes apocalyptic, whose causes are rooted in human nature and actions. However, there are some exceptions (although they usually incorporate the previous themes as well).
• Lyrics are commonly inspired by fantasy, in particular the works of Tolkien set in Middle-earth. For example, the Austrian band Summoning focuses almost exclusively on Middle-earth for their themes and content. Other bands create their own fictional realms, for instance the lyrics of Immortal depict an imaginary kingdom called Blashyrkh (Blash-eerk), which is ruled by a raven king named Ravendark.
  

Atmospheric and structural elements

• Unconventional song structures that are devoid of verse and chorus segments, and contain extended and repetitive instrumental passages, with less use of vocals than other styles of metal.
• Less focus on dynamic rhythm than death metal. Very few black metal bands exhibit the rhythmic complexity inherent in death metal, and even if they do, they usually exhibit at least a few of the above-listed criteria if they are still generally classified as black metal.
• Occasional electronic keyboard use. The harpsichord, violin, organ, and choir settings are most common, which gives the music an orchestral feel or a cathedral-like setting. Some bands tend to use keyboards very frequently, whether it be as an instrument or even as the basis of their entire sound. They are generally placed under the symphonic black metal label.
• Certain bands have taken to recording with full symphony orchestras, but these bands are regarded by more austere black metal fans as not being 'true', i.e. Dimmu Borgir (however this has nothing to do with the use of the orchestra but how the band now conduct themselves seemingly out of the black metal genre).
• Limited production used intentionally as a statement against mainstream music and/or to reflect the mood of the music by creating a certain atmosphere. As mentioned earlier, this 'underproduced' effect is often achieved by cutting out mid frequencies, leaving just the treble and/or bass frequency range. It is often said that this was due to a low budget, but this often wasn't the case. This production style is often considered an essential element of 'true' black metal, with Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger album being a highly influential example of this production style.
  

Performance

• Unlike other musical genres where live musical performances are an essential component of the genre, many black metal bands do not play live. Some bands, like Darkthrone, refuse to play live. Other bands, such as Clandestine Blaze, Leviathan and Xasthur are not live bands because they consist of one member. However, some one-member bands, such as Satanic Warmaster, perform live with extra musicians specifically signed for live performance purposes. A significant number of bands with a full line-up, like Gorgoroth and Dark Funeral do play live concerts. Bands such as the aforementioned involve theatrics that are coherent with the nature of the music (generally perceived as gruesome).
• Some black metal bands employ drum machines, complex layering, and ambient noises, which are often not suitable for the stage.
  

Aesthetics

• Black metal traditionally aims to be cold, grim, primitive, hateful, misanthropic, melancholic and dark in all respects.
• Many black metal musicians adopt a 'neo-medieval' costume style that may include leather, spikes, bondage gear, "archaic" armor and weaponry, and facial corpse paint.
• Many black metal musicians choose to adopt stage names, typically patterned after occult and/or fantasy characters; however, this practice is not universal.