Black Metal.

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Most black metal is melodic.

 

[cookiecutter]

I understand your sentiments here, but it seems like 99 percent of the time "training my ear" for black metal involves training myself to overlook the consistent lack of compelling melodies. That's really what puts me off to the genre most of the time, and not the actual harshness of the sound.

If I seem grossly misguided in this assumption, feel free to list for me some BM bands/albums/songs that you think meet a high standard of melodic quality.

http://www.myspace.com/blutklinge I have been whoring them all day

 

[Bothering]

http://www.myspace.com/blutklinge I have been whoring them all day

Nice.

Your whoring is much appriciated.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Damn straight it is, what a great fucking band!

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Um...well what have you been exposed to?

Well, I've listened to pretty much all of the big names (i.e. Emperor, Satyricon, Immortal, etc.), but a lot of them were a long time ago, and I didn't really give them much of a chance. I'll list the albums I've heard very recently:

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora
Drudkh - Blood in Our Wells
Mayhem - Dawn of the Black Hearts
Mayhem - De Mysteriis dom Sathanas
Nokturnal Mortum - Lunar Poetry
Darkthrone - Soulside Journey
Darkthrone - Goatlord
Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon
and, of course, the Dimmu Borgir discog

Besides the Dimmu albums, which seem to me leagues above the others in terms of melody, I do enjoy the Darkthrone ones - though there are very few songs from them which really stick in my head. Of those, "Cromlech" is by far the best. The rest of Soulside Journey just doesn't seem to hold up to that song.

The Mayhem albums I can't remember a single melody from. The Nokturnal Mortum album actually had some memorable riffs (the main one from "Perun's Celestial Silver" comes to mind), but on the whole it was still pretty hit-and-miss.

I did enjoy Drudkh's Autumn Aurora, and have listened to it a number of times. The melodies are tolerable, but they all seem to have a similar dreary quality to them which isn't really all that catchy.

My favorite riffs on the album are the two that are used in the closing song, "The First Snow". I think they're both fantastic, as well as the blurry guitar tone with which they are played. Except there are only two of them, and they're both repeated about 96 fucking times throughout the song, with no variations and no lead guitar embellishments.

So that's basically been my experience with black metal as of late. As I said, if you think I'm missing any bands in the genre with particularly great melodies, do let me know.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

http://www.myspace.com/blutklinge I have been whoring them all day

Listening now. Will report my findings when finished.

edit: "Night I" is pretty sweet. The major chords at ~3m were a pleasant surprise.

 

[cookiecutter]

I remember finding Dimmu overwhelming and boring. Certainly not a band I think of when I think of when I think memorable melodies. There are certainly far better bands including Burzum and most the bands derivative there from.

 

[skeptik]

Well I think that you are expecting the wrong things out of your listening experiences with these releases, but that's an entirely different matter. You may be interested in these releases:

Dissection - The Somberlain
Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane
Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun
Abigor - Nachthymnen
Varathron - His Majesty At The Swamp
Swordmaster - Wraths Of Time
Setherial - Nord
Gehenna - First Spell
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Countess - Blazing Flames Of War

 

[zabu of nΩd]

And as far as whether what I'm expecting is "right" or "wrong", that really isn't the question since I've emphasised pretty clearly how important melody is to me. I'm not trying to say it's not important for a band to have a compelling sound, but to me sound without melody is like image without substance.

I should probably add that rhythmic variety and dynamics are also a factor. Obviously those qualities aren't really commonly found in black metal.

edit: Fuck - I meant to quote this post, and now I've overwritten it. Now I've got to go and remember what I fucking wrote... Do you have a copy of the previous edit, Nec?

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Vihris: Soulside Journey is NOT black metal!

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Vihris: Soulside Journey is NOT black metal!

Well excuse me! I just listed it since Darkthrone is primarily a black metal band. I probably should have left it out in this context; but I will say that I generally like Darkthrone's pre-BM stuff better.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Cookie:

The Blutklinge was pretty good. A little simplistic at times (especially "Reflection", which seemed like a pretty generic dark ambient track), but definitely moving. I'd love to hear those songs done with some real vocal backing - they're all a bit empty-sounding without that. Is that just demo material, or is that from one of their proper albums?

Also, which Dimmu albums have you heard? If you were referring to one of their post-'90s albums, I would agree with you on them being boring. But I think the first four are all fantastic.

 

[tagradh]

Listening now. Will report my findings when finished.

edit: "Night I" is pretty sweet. The major chords at ~3m were a pleasant surprise.

It's a good song but it doesn't really sound very major to me. oO

 

[Zephyrus]

Also, which Dimmu albums have you heard? If you were referring to one of their post-'90s albums, I would agree with you on them being boring. But I think the first four are all fantastic.

I believe I had him listen to Stormblast MMV and he was not too fond of it, though he did like "Sorgens Kammer Del II". If he was weary of that album I can't imagine he'll take a liking to anything else the band has written.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

I'm not a Dimmu fan either, even of For All Tid and Stormblast. Oh well.

 

[unknown]

so I guess vihris should stay away from minimalist black metal judging by his response to Drudkh

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Drudkh is hardly minimalistic.

 

[cookiecutter]

vihris that is from their full length, but it's not much different than the demos. I think the vocals are pretty good. Reflections is just an intro or outro so it doesn't really count as a black metal track.

 

[unknown]

V5: You do know what "minimalism" is in music, right? Repetition, one harmony, hypnotism that sort of thing...

I think they're both fantastic, as well as the blurry guitar tone with which they are played. Except there are only two of them, and they're both repeated about 96 fucking times throughout the song, with no variations and no lead guitar embellishments.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

I suppose that's minimalistic to an extent, but my point is that there are BM bands that make Drudkh seem like Dragonforce. And as far as I'm aware, Drudkh plays solos and switches riffs and tempos quite often, esp. recently in their discography. It's not my fault v-g can't pick up on these things