Why do you like black metal?

[thefuzmixman]

this is seriously an attempt to understand. the more music i listen to the better metal, the darker it gets. It spooks me. I just come from too different of a world to be able to embrace most of it, in some senses. I live a crappy life and feel that there are many things wrong with the world we live in today, but im also about correcting it. Not obsessing over it. From listening to what ive heard, reading the articles ive read, and checking out some lyrics, i can do nothing more then to define this music as evil.

Let's hear some educated responses. Im not here to bash this music. Im here to seriously understand this passion you have for something so dark. Im a very open-minded person. The first few black metal songs i heard left a bad taste in my mouth, yet still I persue more of it...

 

[Slayed Necros]

For the atmospheres and what particular bands/albums do for me subjectively. This coupled with epic and folkish qualities, utter ugliness, my love for ambience and unbridled hatred. No other metal genre has the diversity of black metal. Even though I adore both Death and Thrash metal, I'd honestly be content if neither existed.

 

[RosesofShadow]

this is seriously an attempt to understand. the more music i listen to the better metal, the darker it gets. It spooks me. I just come from too different of a world to be able to embrace most of it, in some senses. I live a crappy life and feel that there are many things wrong with the world we live in today, but im also about correcting it. Not obsessing over it. From listening to what ive heard, reading the articles ive read, and checking out some lyrics, i can do nothing more then to define this music as evil.

Let's hear some educated responses. Im not here to bash this music. Im here to seriously understand this passion you have for something so dark. Im a very open-minded person. The first few black metal songs i heard left a bad taste in my mouth, yet still I persue more of it...

i think you should see first the "A New Black Metal FAQ" thread. It is very informative.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Only about 1% of black metal fans would've grown a taste for it from just a few songs, it takes a bit of effort. I appreciate that you're putting in effort by asking this civilly, and the previous two posts are useful. The FAQ is here: http://robm.kicks-ass.net/bm.php

 

[polarity]

I live a crappy life and feel that there are many things wrong with the world we live in today, but im also about correcting it. Not obsessing over it.

Black metal musicians typically don't obsess over what they perceive as the bad in the world, but oppose it using inverted symbolism. Most likely, this symbolism (Satan, death, war, fascism, etc.) are the things you perceive as bad, which is why it may seem to you that black metal is not interested in correcting the bad in the world. In reality, though, they are; it's just that their definition of "bad" differs from yours.

 

[Life Sucks]

I like the dark, sometimes evil atmosphere of black metal, and the nice melodies a lot of good black metal has. That being said, I do not like all black metal, as there are tons of bad, boring black metal bands.

 

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

I don't like the purposefully raw black metal bands too much (such as rehtaF ruO, who was a huge letdown, though I fucking LOVE Beherit), but I like the ones that actually triumphed over their studio recording budget and created awesome CDs with a good amount of atmosphere on accident/purpose.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

I like the dark, sometimes evil atmosphere of black metal, and the nice melodies a lot of good black metal has. That being said, I do not like all black metal, as there are tons of bad, boring black metal bands.

I don't like the purposefully raw black metal bands too much (such as rehtaF ruO, who was a huge letdown, though I fucking LOVE Beherit), but I like the ones that actually triumphed over their studio recording budget and created awesome CDs with a good amount of atmosphere on accident/purpose.

These two responses have me pretty much covered.

 

[GONETribalchemy]

Why ?
Simply because it fits. It fits the tastes, the mood, the past, the atmospheres, the lifestyle, and the music I know somthing about.

 

[Donnie Darko]

There are so many reasons why I love black metal, I dont even know where to start

 

[bmh]

I thought about this occasionally when first getting into black metal and I can probably understand where you're coming from. Personally, I do not see any music as "evil", it's just music to me and I don't let myself over-analyse that aspect of it.

It's an atmosphere thing, I guess. If that doesn't work for you you could keep trying at it or try out bands such as Drudkh, who create great folkish black metal with nature themes.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

The beauty is a big thing for me. Atmosphere is subjective, but beauty seems to be a human nature kind of thing. I know bands like Abigor are angry that their music is perceived as beautiful because they're agaisnt the Christian sense of beauty, blah blah, blah...but a lot of black metal truly has this ethereal gorgoeusness to it. A stark simplicity. A focus on nature and metaphysical, almost spiritual aspects. BM brings me that much closer to capturing that quality, and that's why I like it.

I do like thrash and death better, though. DEath especially, because it is also capable of capturing beauty but remaining brutal.

 

[bmh]

Well said.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

Thanks.

 

[lord667]

I'd have to say that the Romantic Idealism and the inherent fascism that follows from it are the genre's biggest draws for me.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

I love BM because it creates great atmospheres, it can be very catchy, and the genre boasts some of the best bands in metal. It's one of my favorite genres.

 

[Theredintheskyisours]

Well, I am relatively new to Black Metal. Or extreme metal in general. It's only been my prime source of music for about 2 years. Anyways, I cannot exactly remember why I became interested in Black Metal, but I am geussing it just appealed to my then Death/Thrash Metal tastes. I figured out what Black Metal was on the internet. At first, I categorised At the Gates and Type O Negative as Black Metal, so I obviously didn't know anything about it. Then I found Rotting Christ and Old Man's Child online, and things started to take shape. I did not (nor do I now) associate myself with the beliefs of many Black Metal bands, but that doesn't mean I still cannot listen to them. Well, anyways, I did not exactly like Black Metal all that much to begin with. I only knew Darkthrone, Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Rotting Christ, Limbonic Art and Old Man's Child. I hated Mayhem and didn't really like Darkthrone all that much. Limbonic Art is a pretty weird band, but they are probably the main band that got me into Black Metal. That atmospheric/ambient Black Metal stuff is awesome. But as I ventured more and more into the genre, I soon found out it's vastness, and I started to appreciate it more. I did this purely on the internet (thank God for that). So here I am almost two years of being a fan of Black Metal, and it has become my most listened to genre of music. (Basically my favorite.)

I was 15 when I started to listen to Black Metal. It took Death Metal bands like Entombed, Dismember, Deicide, and At the Gates, to get me there. I don't know, I geuss dark bands impress me in a way.

But as for now, I am finding my tastes in Black Metal to shift towards Folk influenced Black Metal bands like Forefather and Windir. That is mostly because of my infatuation with ancient History.

 

[tara]

To be honest, the sometimes raw and evil atmosphere.
And the vocal stylings.

 

[sweet majestic darkness]

I haven't gotten big into black metal. I can't seem to clarify why. I do love death/thrash. I guess the higher pitched vocals sometimes turn me off. The msuic of the black metal I have heard is good. I like melodic shit, fast shit, slow shit, I like a variety of metal actually. Perhaps noone has really introduced me to many black metal bands. I usually end up finding music over the internet, sometimes from friends. A guy I talked to a few times on the net named me some black metal to d/l, I can't think of the names right now and don't feel like looking for them, and a few of them I enjoyed, a few of them I didn't care for. I don't mind the "I hate God" lyrics, I can get through those, even though I don't agree with them. I guess that is my opinion for now.

 

[AsModEe]

I like black metal because of all the jokes we can make about it

Seriously, I like bands like dimmu borgir, cradle of filth, old man's child, dragonlord, anorexia nervosa, immortal which aren't really considered black metal so my reasons why I like them wouldn't fit. But, I like these bands simply because of the music ( guitar playing, drumming, and stuff like that ). I rarely care for atmosphere or evil stuff ( with some exceptions of course ).