Black metal with major chords?

[zabu of nΩd]

It just occurred to me that one of my favorite bm songs, Sunwheel by Drudkh, makes prominent use of major chords. Despite the poppish/accessible association with major chords, they can sound kvlt as fvck in the right context. I'd love to find more bands with that vibe.

Recommendations?

 

[Baroque]

Not into black metal but that sounds like a good idea for a metal song. Happy.. for the wrong reasons. Happy.. because I’m insane. Or a cult of fake/chemical happiness. Twisted.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Nocturnal Depression - Fjaer:


A few examples from Nagelfar, such as Srontgorrth:


as well as Schwanengesang, at 6:47 in, as well as other parts later on:


Ulver - VI:


And lastly, for something highly reminiscent of the aforementioned Sunwheel song, Primordial - No Nation on This Earth:

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Great finds, thanks man! My favorite out of these is the Nagelfar - I'm checking out the full album now. Good track by Primordial too - I like some of their stuff, though I guess they tend to be more epic than I'm in the mood for.

Some of these tracks strike me as almost a crossover between bm and something else like shoegaze. Major chords really are weird in bm, but I definitely have a thing for it.

 

[Einherjar86]

Do you just want major chords, or songs in a major key? For the former, some Summoning fits the bill--for example. the chorus on "South Away":

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Not sure I can tell if something's in a major key... I can hear the major chords in it though.

In terms of the overall vibe, Summoning's not quite what I have in mind. They're so steeped in traditional folk music that it feels like their major chords come right out of that familiar playbook. Seems more unexpected in Drudkh's case.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Rediscovering Nokturnal Mortum over the past few days, a good addition to this thread:



After criticizing Summoning for the style of folk they use, I see I have a distinction to make. I guess the difference for me is Nokturnal Mortum's folkish passages are a supplement rather than the focus, and less heavy-handed. With these passages they create a cool rift in the music now and then where a window opens up onto a sort of ecstatic scene of dancing villagers.