Heres my essay for your reading pleasure, note this is only a rough draft and I have ommited a conclusion paragraph because I am sick of writing, and I am not as good of a reviewer as zeph. Enjoy, and I would really like feedback.
Death Metal, Black Metal
Back in the eighties, everybody listened to heavy metal. Most people listened to hair metal like Motley Crue or Twisted Sister; others listened to Metallica or Megadeth, the heavy stuff. They were the heaviest thing around, right? Wrong. Beneath the glam and glory of the mainstream, more sinister and darker forms of music were forming, pushing the envelope of extremity to the breaking point. These were the pioneers of death metal and black metal, striving to create the heaviest music on the planet. They formed near around the same time, between 1982 and 1984 was when they basically took shape. Some people hear any metal band that doesnt have a hit on the radio and say, Eww thats just noise, thats not music. I beg the differ. Even somebody relatively well versed in heavy metal may not notice a difference between the more extreme genres. There are many differences, and similarities; but this will focus on a couple of the basic qualities of death and black metal, namely lyrical content/vocal style, the style of playing, as well as some essential albums from each that really represent the genre.
Cookie monster vocals is a popular way to describe the deep vocals used in death metal. The proper terms would be growling, grunting, or gutturals. There are basically two types of vocals of this style, guttural bellowing, which focuses on enunciating the lyrics; and the deeper grunting vocals, where the words are nearly indecipherable unless you follow along with a copy of the lyrics the whole time. A common misconception is that death metal vocalists just yell. Sorry, but no. If thats what youre looking for, listen to some hardcore or some old school punk rock. Growls require skill, stamina, and technique to pull off correctly, and the technique is similar to normal singing. It takes quite some time to master the growl. I will give a brief explanation of the technique. The diaphragm and stomach are used to push the air out from the gut, hence the term gutturals; the throat is not used very much at all. The throat and mouth are used to shape the sound of the growl. If performed incorrectly for extended periods of time, i.e. using the throat too much, the vocalist could suffer damage to their vocal chords. Death metal vocals are easily the most aggressive and brutal of any style. The lyrics of death metal are quite varied, as in any genre, but they commonly emphasize death, gore, zombies, apocalyptic or antichristian themes, and brutality. An excellent example would be this excerpt from the song Buried by the Dead, found on the album Resurrection Through Carnage by the band Bloodbath:
Coming through me
Souls imprisoned in gore
Malignant anguish never seen before
Victims drag their limbs across the halls of the dead
Funeral bell rings to celebrate the dread
Deteriorating
All my flesh and my bones
Are ready to explode in a gush of read foam
Virulent infectious death-disease is spread
Rush of thoughts vanish as I die undead
The vocals and lyrics of death metal are hard for some people to get into, which is understandable. Not everyone enjoys listening to demonic roars of bloodlust, but it is simply a part of the music.
The vocals in black metal commonly feature some sort of shrieked or screamed vocals. The vast majority of screams in black metal arent just random screaming, however, they also have their own technique. The screams are performed similar to a growl, but more high pitched. They are often have a course raspy, gritty, grainy, or gurgley sound to them. Shrieks are performed very sharp and high pitched. Lyrics in black metal were began with Satanic and antichristian themes, but soon expanded to often focus on the occult, paganism, death, and nature. An excerpt from the song In Mourning Mystique is a good example, found on the album Moon in the Scorpio by the band Limbonic Art.
Darkness
I seek the silence that you bring
Grant me thy sacred gifts
Bestow my soul thy offerings
I kneel in front of thy altar black
Let the ancient forces of nature rule
Take my blood as the sacrifice
A symbolic faithful bond of truth
When you look into an abyss, the abyss also look into you
Tonight I enter into obscure dreams
The Satanic themes prevalent throughout much of black metal makes is a rather controversial genre, and its history is fraught with antichristian sentiments.
Death metal musicians are among the most proficient musicians in the music scene. Death metal songs are characterized with heavy, down tuned guitars, and fast drumming. Songs can be either slow or fast. Timing is key in fast songs, everything must be extremely precise. Drummers in death metal often utilize the double bass pedal and blast beats to keep the high speed tempos. Double bass is such a versatile technique, it can make a slow song more dynamic, and it can make a fast song seem faster. Riffs are often complex combinations of chords and single notes, and palm muting is used frequently. Shredding guitar solos are often found in death metal. Death metal songs focus on creating an aura of darkness and brutality. They seldom have a rigid song structure like that found in more popular music, instead songs tend to be more chaotic in nature, often with riffs changing and morphing several times in one song. Combine these heavy riffs, lightning fast drums and the demonic snarling vocals and you have some very brutal music.
Black metal is all about the atmosphere. Guitarists use tremolo picking a lot. The riffs and songs are often much more simplistic than death metal, the focus here isnt to be complicated and widly-woo. Solos are not a frequently used feature in black metal. Drumming in black metal is very much like that of death metal, almost identical much of the time. The bands often make their albums poorly produced with grainy sound. It may sound like a stupid idea, but there is reason behind it. Black metal originally was meant to be a sound that was completely un-commercial, no bells and whistles attached. This type of production really helps to create a desolate and mysterious atmosphere. The raw sound of black metal makes it a very inaccessible type of music to many.
There are so many albums that qualify as essentials in both genres, the list is huge. But I will pick 5 from each and briefly describe how they represent the genre, and how they influenced other bands. I focus here on albums I either own or can listen to on the internet. The first essential death metal album must be Scream Bloody Gore, released by the band Death in 1987, one of the very first death metal albums ever released. It is widely considered to be one of the great pioneering death metal albums. The front man of Death, Chuck Schuldiner is often referred to as the Godfather of Death Metal. This album set the stage for what death metal was supposed to sound like and influenced basically every death metal band that came after. The second album is Altars of Madness, released by Morbid Angel in 1989. Morbid Angel is possibly one of the most influential death metal bands of all time, they are THE band. This album is heavily influenced by black metal and the ideas of anti-Christianity and individual thought. This album never lets up, it is intense all the way through. This album is full of both brutal riffs and some of the most insane shredding solos you will ever hear. The next choice is the album Tomb of the Mutilated, released by the band Cannibal Corpse in 1992. It was the bands third release, but arguably is their masterpiece. Cannibal Corpse embodies the gore and violence aspects of death metal, and this album is no exception; tracks like Hammer Smashed Face, The Cryptic Stench, and I Cum Blood are perfect examples. The song Hammer Smashed Face features a lightning fast bass guitar solo near the beginning, testament to the skill of musicians in death metal. The bands vocalist at the time, Chris Barnes, did a lot to develop the modern death metal growl, and this album is a perfect specimen of him at his best. A top notch album from one of the most controversial bands in the scene. The fourth album is Effigy of the Forgotten, released by Suffocation in 1991. This album is the first of its kind, predecessor to the offshoot of death metal known as slam death metal. It is more chuggy than average death metal, with a distinct heaviness and groove. This album was very innovative with the way the songs were written. It is hard to describe unless you have heard it. The final death metal album is Considered Dead, released by Gorguts in 1991. This album is nothing really innovative, other than helping pave the way for what would later become another subgenre of death metal known as technical death metal, but it is perhaps a perfect death metal album. Everything fits. It is well written, it flows perfectly, it basically embodies pure death metal. It is a true classic of the genre.
And now for black metals essential albums. The first will be Bathorys 1987 album Under the Sign of the Black Mark. Any of Bathorys early records could qualify here, as they were among the first ever released for the genre, and thus are defining in the sound of black metal. The grainy production, the raspy screams, everything is represented here. This album is evil, it is epic, it is black metal. The second album is De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, released by the band Mayhem in 1994. Mayhem is a band with perhaps a more colorful history than any other, and are very influential band in the black metal scene. This is perhaps their defining album. The next album is Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone, also released in 1994. This album truly embodies the sound of black metal; haunting, simplistic, repetitive songs, it is an album with a sound perhaps more sought after among later black metal bands than any other. Many have tried to emulate it, few have succeeded; it is an immense milestone in black metal by any standard. The fourth album is Pure Holocaust, released by the band Immortal in 1993. Immortal is a prime specimen of black metals focus on nature, on this album most notably. This album pushed black metal in a faster direction, with chaotically fast guitars and drums. Pure Holocaust does not refer to the Holocaust of World War ll, rather the raw power of nature, and of the woods, of the north. The lyrics focus mainly on winter, and the cold and barren landscapes found in Norway, their homeland. Immortal embodies the grimness of black metal. The final album is In the Nightside Eclipse, released by the band Emperor in 1994. This album is a perfect representation of everything black metal is about. The songs are more complex and intricate than those of a typical black metal album. Emperor also employed keyboards to help create the haunting atmosphere that is prevalent throughout the album, something many bands after would imitate. The lyrics are full of mystery, nature, and darkness. Truly, this album is a masterpiece.
