What is black metal?

[Necro Joe]

[Warning: I know this topic has been done to death on every message board, in every far reaching corner of the net, but if you don't like it, don't read it.]

Clearly (like on most BB boards) there are a lot of morons who post here but I'm also pretty sure there are quite a few who know their stuff, so I'm just looking for personal takes on what consitutes black metal.

Most places I've been the commonly held belife is that to be BM you must have both the BM sound and the BM ideology, so if you have one without the other it isn't black metal. In my experiance this ideology seems to be a rejection of Judeo-christian values and morals, an outright hatred of religions who follow these humanistic characteristics and a wish to replace them with a new system, be it paganism, satanism (strong atheism?), national socialism or some other ideology which is directly at odds with modern western society. Ok fine, this is easy enough to spot but what about the BM sound?

From Venom to Burzum to Necromantia to Grand Belial's Key to Anaal Nathrakh what is the common BM sound? Because I can see very few musical ties between these bands, lyricly or in their styles. Can anyone provide a description of what it means to be black metal in sound. Riffs, vox, drumming etc. I'm not a musician so I don't know enough about theory to find links between the bands I listed but that doesn't mean there isn't one......

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Black metal bands tend to have plenty of similarities between each other. One of the easiest thing you could notice in a black metal band is the use of tremolo picking on the riffs (tremolo is the fast repetition of one or two notes, or tones) an example of this would be the opening riff of Satyricon's Forhekset. The vocals are usually constituted of screeches and screams. Most black metal bands also have atrocious production and the black metal bands seem to have a distinct drum sound that's easy to notice.

(note: I'm only talking about troo black metal bands, i'm not taking into consideration symphonic black metal)

Bands you should check out (so you can compare each others sound)

Satyricon - Nemesis Divina
Ulver - Nattens Madrigal
Astriaal - Renascent Misanthropy
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
Absu - Tara
Taake - Nattestid Ser Porten Vid
Aeternus - ...And So The Night Became (this is not really black metal, but listen to the drums. That's the drum sound i'm talking about)

 

[CONCLAVE OBSCURUM]

Black metal...

I'm not a big black metal fan, so i'll give you a personal definition of what Black metal is IMO.

Its really fast music.. really fast and loud, satanic. If its not Satanic, then its not black metal. The singer and all the members of the band, have to be painted in some sort, black and white paint in the face its a must have. The members of the band have to be trolls, they all hate interviews, and have long hair.

Thight clothes, spikes and STD. oh yeah!! and it has to be satanic, devil worship and darkness all over their scary asses.

cool music.

 

[Life Sucks]

Typical black metal characteristics:

a thin, trebly guitar sound
lots of termelo picking
very little palm muting (unlike death metal and thrash)
high pitched, screeching vocals (though there are some exceptions)
pagan or satanic lyrical stance
doesn't sound polished, often the production is bad

 

[no country for old wainds]

Its really fast music.. really fast and loud, satanic. If its not Satanic, then its not black metal. The singer and all the members of the band, have to be painted in some sort, black and white paint in the face its a must have. The members of the band have to be trolls, they all hate interviews, and have long hair.

Thight clothes, spikes and STD. oh yeah!! and it has to be satanic, devil worship and darkness all over their scary asses.

If I wasn't so sure you were joking, I'd be annoyed.

I'm tired now, I'll reply to this tomorrow.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Okay...disregard the last post.

Here's a list of great bands I have compiled (you'll be aware that some of these bands will have only released one or two 'true' BM albums):
Abominator, Absu, Absurd, Abyssic Hate, Adhur, Aiumeen Basoa, Angelcorpse, Antaeus, Arckanum, Arkona, Armagedda, Astrofaes, Averse Sefira, Axis of Advance, Bahimiron, Bathory, Beherit, Belenos, Belketre, Bergthron, Bilskirnir, Blodsrit, Bloodthorn, Burzum, Countess, Craft, Darkthrone, December Wolves, Demoncy, Destroyer 666, Deviant, Dornenreich, Emperor, Enslaved, Eternal Majesty, Ezurate, Forest, Forest of Impaled, Fullmoon, Funeral Mist, Gorgoroth, Grand Belial's Key, Graveland, Hades, Hate Forest, Havohej, Hegemoon, Hellhammer, Immortal, Ilbeltz, Ildjarn, Judas Iscariot, Katharsis, Krieg, Kvist, Leviathan, Malus, Mayhem, May Result, Megiddo, Moonblood, Morrigan, Mutiilation, Nachtmystium, Nargaroth, Necromantia, Nehemah, Nokturnal Mortum, Obtest, Ohtar, Opthalamia, Ornaments of Sin, Pentagram, Profanatica, rehtaF ruO, Rotting Christ, Summoning, Sacramentum, Saltus, Sarcophagus, Satanic Warmaster, Seigneur Voland, Setherial, Sodom, Sorcier des Glaces, Stutthof, Thallium, The Shadow Order, The Stone, Thesyre, Thorns, Torgeist, Unquintessence, Varathron, Vargsang, Veles, Vilkates, Vlad Tepes, Warlust, Watain, Winterblut, Winter Night Overture, Wolfnacht, Xasthur, Zemial

Enjoy.

 

[no country for old wainds]

In terms of the musical technique involved with black metal, there's certainly people who know far more than I do.

 

[Hell Mike]

The criteria people listed in earlier threads are often found but there are quite mahy exceptions. Personally I define black metal by feeling, and very loosly. I don't think that the band has to have a satanic message for the music to be black metal, though I understand the people who think so.

 

[Slayed Necros]

Okay...disregard the last post.

Here's a list of great bands I have compiled (you'll be aware that some of these bands will have only released one or two 'true' BM albums):
Abominator, Absu, Absurd, Abyssic Hate, Adhur, Aiumeen Basoa, Angelcorpse, Antaeus, Arckanum, Arkona, Armagedda, Astrofaes, Averse Sefira, Axis of Advance, Bahimiron, Bathory, Beherit, Belenos, Belketre, Bergthron, Bilskirnir, Blodsrit, Bloodthorn, Burzum, Countess, Craft, Darkthrone, December Wolves, Demoncy, Destroyer 666, Deviant, Dornenreich, Emperor, Enslaved, Eternal Majesty, Ezurate, Forest, Forest of Impaled, Fullmoon, Funeral Mist, Gorgoroth, Grand Belial's Key, Graveland, Hades, Hate Forest, Havohej, Hegemoon, Hellhammer, Immortal, Ilbeltz, Ildjarn, Judas Iscariot, Katharsis, Krieg, Kvist, Leviathan, Malus, Mayhem, May Result, Megiddo, Moonblood, Morrigan, Mutiilation, Nachtmystium, Nargaroth, Necromantia, Nehemah, Nokturnal Mortum, Obtest, Ohtar, Opthalamia, Ornaments of Sin, Pentagram, Profanatica, rehtaF ruO, Rotting Christ, Summoning, Sacramentum, Saltus, Sarcophagus, Satanic Warmaster, Seigneur Voland, Setherial, Sodom, Sorcier des Glaces, Stutthof, Thallium, The Shadow Order, The Stone, Thesyre, Thorns, Torgeist, Unquintessence, Varathron, Vargsang, Veles, Vilkates, Vlad Tepes, Warlust, Watain, Winterblut, Winter Night Overture, Wolfnacht, Xasthur, Zemial

Enjoy.

Excellent list.

 

[SLAYER85]

Typical black metal characteristics:

a thin, trebly guitar sound
lots of termelo picking
very little palm muting (unlike death metal and thrash)
high pitched, screeching vocals (though there are some exceptions)
pagan or satanic lyrical stance
doesn't sound polished, often the production is bad

yep yep, preferred recording method is in the middle of the woods with an answering machine.

 

[Necro Joe]

Oh how funny and original, well done for proving why dipshits brought up on super duper studio fredman production jobs aren't taken seriously by metal fans with brains.