THE BIG QUESTION - Black vs. Death

Which genre do you prefer?? :)

  • Black Metal

    Votes: 39 46.4%
  • Death Metal

    Votes: 45 53.6%

  • Total voters
    84
I tend to prefer the atmosphere associated with black metal, so I'm going with that. Then again, I'm very bias since I've never really been a fan of the death metal scene(apart from Death and Destroyer-666). It all really sounds the same to me, and much like the power metal genre, each new death metal band is doing what hundreds of predecessors have done prior, lacking innovation and possessing the same dull sound that is characteristic of the genre. It just doesn't do it for me.
 
SunlapseVertigo said:
Death by far....

x2

I do enjoy early CoF, Emperor, Mayhem ect. Alot of the best stuff came out in the early 90's.

But 90% of what I listen to is Deathmetal.
 
Easily Black metal. Riffs: I prefer the thin riffs of BM to the thick riffs of DM. Vocals: In general the screetch does more for me than the thick growl of DM. Lyricaly BM definatly does more for me as well. I don't know if this is true or not, but personally I find black metal to be more diverse. Although I do listen to a lot of death metal much of it wouldn't be considered "true" death metal, its all either progressive death (ie Opeth) doom death (Shape of Despair) or melodic death (At the Gates). I can't get into American style DM, it just doesn't do much for me. Anyways that was the redicuoisly long way of saying I like black metal much better, but like death metal as well...
 
Disciple of Plato I totally agree with you, on the whole most Death metal bands are just retreading what a hundred bands have done before. There are exceptions of course.

Then again there are alot of really derivative "raw" black metal bands out there these days.

Still nothing stands into comparision with power metal- where a new riff hasnt been created in ten years, much less a new idea. (symphony X is the one exception to this rule)
 
Disciple of Plato I totally agree with you, on the whole most Death metal bands are just retreading what a hundred bands have done before. There are exceptions of course.

Then again there are alot of really derivative "raw" black metal bands out there these days.

Still nothing stands into comparision with power metal- where a new riff hasnt been created in ten years, much less a new idea. (symphony X is the one exception to this rule)

Yes well, of course there are exceptions, as there are in every genre. To me, the most notable are Death and Destroyer-666, two bands that have broken the boundaries of innovation time and time again with each new release, although I'm sure there are more I haven't stumbled upon. However, innovation isn't all that does it for me, and it's difficult for me to like a death metal band mainly because putting aside innovation, a band must possess certain qualities in order to be considered death, and unfortunately for me, I'm not too fond of these qualities. To be frank, for the most part I can't stand emotionless death growls, nor can I stand redundant heavy-guitar work or intentionally grotesque lyrics, but it's all a matter of opinion.
And yes, like almost any genre, there are plenty of unoriginal, boring black-metal bands that sound exactly like Emperor, but I usually avoid them. Also, some typical elements exemplary of "raw" black metal don't appeal to me either. For example, lyrics "In the Name of Satan"(pun intended) aren't exactly my cup of tea.
As for power metal, I'll go ahead and admit that I'm a closet power-metal geek. While many would argue that it is the least innovative sub-genre and that "it all sounds the same", I still happen to have a soft-spot for old-fashioned power metal that allows me to picture myself on the hills of Medieval Scotland waging a revolutionary war against the king. But that's just me. And I hope you know you were exaggerating when you said that there hasn't been a new power metal riff in a decade. Anyway, yes, I like the soaring, operatic vocals and the cheesy "King-Arthur" lyrics. And isn't Symphony-X considered a prog-metal band?
 
My Dying Bride is a tough one, sience they take elements from Doom, Death, Black and Gothic metal and mix them all together. I think ultimatly they are doom though, and if they had to be put in either death or black (which would be rediculous) they be put in death. That may become harder to say after thier next album which was said to potentialy have more of a BM influence.



I must say that I though DM would run away with this. Im glad BM is making it competitive (only 3 behind rightnow)
 
VoldamaresGollum said:
Black Metal all the way. There's just more to it. More substance. It can hit you in so many ways. Death metals more about brutality and speed/technicallity (which is in itself good, but does get boring rather quickly)

well spoken (or whatever you say)
i can't see myself lying down just listening to death metal, even if some of my favourite bands are in the genre, as i do with some black metal like ulver and negura bunget.
 
I voted for Black, mainly because I left Opeth as prog metal.

I love Burzum and Emperor, and Darkthrone, Ulver, Troll, early Behemoth are growing on me.