Is it just me or does a large majority of black metal suck?

[PrincessHades]

Most of us can agree that Mayhem and Darkthrone are musically good, or at the very least those bands have an appealing mystique. But, a few years ago I was hugely into black metal and there are thousands upon thousands of bands that sound like Darkthrone minus the elements that made Darkthrone good.

Am I the only one that feels like a lot of black metal's appeal comes from the idea of appreciating something not worthy of appreciating (it makes listeners feel sophisticated, classy, or above average because its an "acquired taste" that most cant enjoy)

There are plenty of good black metal bands out there and I am not bashing all black metal, but sometimes it seems like its appeal isn't always in the music itself.

Good black metal bands-Bathory, Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Immortal, Moonblood, Mgla etc

Bad BM bands: ColdWorld, Xasthur, Leviathan, Satanic Warmaster, and plenty of practically nameless Darkthrone and Burzum clones

When black METAL loses its metalness I draw the line

 

[Phylactery]

This is a common complaint levelled against black metal, but it’s rarely backed up with any evidence. I’ve heard the argument about the supposed thousands of bedroom black metal bands that are ripping off Burzum and Darkthrone hundreds of times, but I’ve personally never actually heard many of them. I’m sure quite a few exist, but this point seems to be exaggerated.

There are thousands of generic/clone bands in all metal genres so it seems unfair to single out black metal for this. I remember doing a Metal-Archives search and there are more death metal bands than black metal bands on the database for example.

Mediocrity is unfortunately the reality for a huge portion of any music genre - in my experience this isn’t any more apparent with black metal than any other genre of music.

Xasthur and Leviathan are easy targets btw and I don’t think it’s fair to call them outright bad. I’m not a fan of either band and never have been, but they are far from being awful or the worst things in black metal.

 

[CiG]

Seems to me the main difference between black metal and the rest of metal is the extremely low skill level required to play it in contrast to other genres and so more black metal bands are started by musicians with a much lower skill level. Meanwhile death metal as a genre may offer more bands than black metal overall, it's also a much more popular, mainstream genre than black metal and likely contains a smaller amount of very low talent bands than black metal.

This same thing exists with grindcore. Doesn't require much talent to play so it feels like the genre is saturated with low-tier bands. Difference though is that while black metal has some of the lowest lows of all the metal genres, it also has some of the highest highs.

In death metal there doesn't seem to be anything comparable to black metal's A Blaze in the Northern Sky vs. NSBMbandnumber6723452743 regarding a contrast in quality.

 

[The Ozzman]

I like black metal but DMDS is probably the worst black metal album I've heard

 

[Krow]

There’s thousands of shit death metal bands. Check Sevared Records, he has most of them in stock.

 

[CiG]

There’s thousands of shit death metal bands. Check Sevared Records, he has most of them in stock.

They're brilliant compared to all the blacknoise/bedroom black/nameless NSBM bands out there, at least in terms of actual musical talent.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

No shit. Black metal is nearly musically-unrestricted as long as it shares a handful of aesthetic values, so anyone can crap out any riffless garbage in a basement with a drum machine and call it metal. It's barely even a real metal genre, let alone good.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Every genre fucking sucks TBH

 

[Matt]

I just wish that people could actually learn how to produce music. I want to actually be able to hear whats going on instead of distortion.

But yeah, most music in general is of poor quality.

 

[CiG]

Sometimes the distortion is what's going on.

 

[The Ozzman]

Noise is the only real genre (miss you V5)

 

[no country for old wainds]

Seems to me the main difference between black metal and the rest of metal is the extremely low skill level required to play it in contrast to other genres and so more black metal bands are started by musicians with a much lower skill level.

this is also its charm though. you get some really weird, otherworldly shit out of that genre precisely because the musicians have so little training or knowledge of musical history. you also get some total garbage, that's the nature of the game, but when it's good, it's the metal genre that comes closest to seeming to exist in a bubble far removed from civilisation, and that's always been what i've loved about it. seems to me most non-BM heads, most mainstream publications etc have requirements of the genre that i personally feel would completely sap it of its appeal. it's the music of retards, inbreds and sociopaths, and i wouldn't have it any other way.

nb. it doesn't help that the vast majority of stuff that gets attention is 'atmospheric black metal', which is just a term for tired variations on the burzum-->drudkh-->alcest lineage as far as i can tell. if that was the stuff i'd mostly been exposed to i'd probably think the genre sucked as well.

 

[Phylactery]

In death metal there doesn't seem to be anything comparable to black metal's A Blaze in the Northern Sky vs. NSBMbandnumber6723452743 regarding a contrast in quality.

Blessed are the Sick vs Graveyard Classics

I like black metal but DMDS is probably the worst black metal album I've heard

DMDS is brilliant and masterful. It took me the longest out of all the Norwegian classics to fully appreciate - I used to think it was somewhat overrated. Last two songs are two of the best black metal songs ever imo.

 

[CiG]

this is also its charm though. you get some really weird, otherworldly shit out of that genre precisely because the musicians have so little training or knowledge of musical history. you also get some total garbage, that's the nature of the game, but when it's good, it's the metal genre that comes closest to seeming to exist in a bubble far removed from civilisation, and that's always been what i've loved about it.

Yeah I definitely agree with this. Like I said before, black metal may have some of the very lowest lows of any metal subgenre but it also has some of the highest highs.

Blessed are the Sick vs Graveyard Classics

SFU at least know how to play their instruments. Screeching over riffless heavy distortion and a drum machine is fucking gay.

DMDS is probably the worst black metal album I've heard

 

[PrincessHades]

DMDS is brilliant and masterful. It took me the longest out of all the Norwegian classics to fully appreciate - I used to think it was somewhat overrated. Last two songs are two of the best black metal songs ever imo.

I listened to it a few years ago and liked a few of the songs but now I think its monotonous and boring. For me it had some charm to it but it quickly wore off after a few listens.

I think A Blaze in the Northern Sky was fucking cool because it had some 80s metal elements (catchy riffs, more structural variations, Bathory-style production with plenty of heavieness). After that album they pretty much got rid of all of that in favor of a thin, one dimensional sound. Their only other album that comes close is Panzerfaust.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

I think A Blaze in the Northern Sky was fucking cool because it had some 80s metal elements (catchy riffs, more structural variations, Bathory-style production with plenty of heavieness). After that album they pretty much got rid of all of that in favor of a thin, one dimensional sound. Their only other album that comes close is Panzerfaust.

I'd say Total Death's up there for many of the reasons you stated regarding A Blaze. That said, I do kind of agree with a lot of what's said here. I'd put several other metal subgenres above black metal despite there being a good amount of albums in it that I like.

 

[The Ozzman]

The amount of in crowd support for a black metal band is inversely proportional to the quality of music the band provides

 

[The Ozzman]

Which is worse overall?: NSBM or DSBM

 

[no country for old wainds]

the amount of flab on a person’s body is inversely proportional to the quality of post that person provides

 

[The Ozzman]

the amount of flab on a person’s body is inversely proportional to the quality of post that person provides

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