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It has been suggested that Pakistani black metal be merged into this article. (Discuss)

Template:Blackmetal Black metal is a musical genre which emerged in the early 1980s predating the great expansion of heavy metal 'extreme' genres. Black metal evolved from thrash metal, as did its sister genre death metal.

There are two views on the genre. One views black metal as a very specific form of music that must adhere to a particular 'style' in order for it to be a part of the genre; while the second considers the lyrical and philosophical/political ideology of the music to take more precedence in defining the genre itself, rather than 'style'.

The main originators of black metal are considered to be the bands Venom (who coined the term in 1981 and named their second album Black Metal in 1982), Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Hellhammer, Bulldozer, Celtic Frost and Mayhem. Albums that first sounded like what is generally considered to be black metal today are considered to be the recordings of Bathory in the mid 1980s, most notably Under the Sign of the Black Mark.

Black metal congealed in its current form (known as the second wave of black metal, which is rooted much more heavily in classical musical theory) through the influence of Norwegian bands such as Darkthrone, Enslaved, Burzum, Mayhem, Immortal, and Emperor, who began with the earlier style and introduced elements from mainstream heavy metal, classical music and popularised the style to a growing underground audience. Their influence is most apparent in the Satanic or pagan imagery, anti-Christian lyrics and occult themes.

Characteristics

Black metal may, but is not obliged to, have the following characteristics:

• Fast guitars with tremolo picking
• Lyrics that take the form of Satanic, Pagan, or occult themes which blaspheme Christianity. Bands such as Slayer, Deicide, and Immolation overlap lyrically with black metal somewhat, but are musically defined as death metal (Immolation, Deicide), thrash metal (Slayer)
• Relatively thin guitar sound or relatively thick guitar sound, usually not in the middle.
• Limited production used intentionally as a statement against mainstream music and/or to reflect the mood of the music, to create atmosphere. This 'underproduced' effect is often achieved by cutting out low and high frequencies, leaving just the mid frequency range. Very few of the black metal pioneers still do this, since their original limited production only was due to a minimal budget.
• Fast, aggressive drums, often with blast beats. At other times, the drums can take a slower role usually accompanied by a very dry and empty tone —especially for the effect of the atmosphere of the music.
• Occasional electronic keyboard use. The harpsichord, violin, organ, and choir settings are most common, which gives the music an orchestral feel or a cathedral-like setting. Some bands tend to use keyboards very frequently, whether it be as an instrument or even as the basis of their entire sound. They are generally placed under the symphonic black metal label.
• High-pitched/distorted screeching vocals. Contrary to popular belief, these are not essential as there have been many black metal bands old and new employing different vocal styles.
• Swift percussion.
• Cold, dark, sad, melancholy, or gloomy atmosphere.

An abraded, very low fidelity recording style is common in most black metal. Modern evolution of many of the older 'genre leading' bands have had a vast change in sound, and by many - and most of the times, even the band - are no longer considered black metal. Such examples include Mayhem's career that began mostly in the death/black roots, moved to almost pure black, then towards death again in their later career. Also, Satyricon who started off as black metal but now play a very industrial heavy hybrid of the music. Modern offshoots of this original black metal sound have incorporated atmospheric elements using ambient guitar and keyboard passages such as organ sounds or other miscellaneous instruments.

A distinct (but not intrinsic) feature of the black metal is the use of corpse paint, a special kind of black and white make-up which was used to make the wearer look like a decomposing corpse or plague victim. It should be noted that Immortal referred to their make-up as "war paint", not carrying the same connotation as corpse paint. Another distinct feature of black metal is the use of dark or Satanic monikers pioneered by Venom (the original line up being Cronos, Mantas & Abbadon). Examples of this are: Quorthon (Bathory), Darken (Graveland), Euronymous (Mayhem), Goat, Count Grishnackh (Burzum), Fenriz (Darkthrone), Nergal, Inferno (Behemoth), Zephyrous (Darkthrone), Frost (1349), Abbath (Immortal), Demonaz (Immortal), Horgh (Immortal), Iscariah, Hellhammer (Mayhem), Maniac (Mayhem), Necrobutcher (Mayhem), Blasphemer (Mayhem), Dead (Mayhem), Hoest, Ihsahn (Emperor), Samoth (Emperor), Faust (Emperor), Trym (Emperor), Nattefrost (Carpathian Forest), Nordavind and Tchort (Emperor), Malefic (Xasthur), Wrest (Leviathan) to name a few.

Earlier bands tended to dwell on themes of fantasy, mythology, and folklore in their songs, as well as Satanism, darkness, evil, and so on as many of their direct musical and cultural roots included these topics.

History

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, one of the most prominent figures of the Norwegian scene was Øystein Aarseth, better known as Euronymous, the guitarist in Mayhem.

The scene was deeply anti-Christian: it had a stated goal of removing the influence of Christianity and other non-Scandinavian religions from Norwegian culture and effecting a return to the nation's Norse roots. One minority current, associated with NSBM, included an element of unashamed anti-Semitism. The movement was largely directed by an 'Inner Circle', made up of Aarseth and a few close friends, from the basement of Aarseth's record store, Helvete (Hell). That location also housed a recording studio, where records were made by Mayhem and a number of other bands that were signed to Aarseth's independent label, Deathlike Silence Productions. Deathlike Silence's stated goal was to release records by bands "that incarnated evil in its most pure state."

Also around this time, there was a rash of arsons directed at Christian churches in Norway—many of the buildings were hundreds of years old, and widely regarded as important historical landmarks—that Aarseth's circle claimed responsibility for inspiring, if not necessarily perpetrating. The most notable church was Norway's Fantoft stave church, which was burned by a member of Euronymous's inner circle; the man behind the one-man band Burzum, Varg Vikernes, aka "Count Grishnackh", who also played bass guitar for Mayhem. Black metal enthusiasts also started to terrorize other notable "death metal" bands that were touring their country or in neighboring countries, on the basis of their lack of apparent "evilness". Many recall a strong Swedish death metal and Norwegian black metal rivalry.

The black metal scene gained some unsought mass media attention in 1991 when Mayhem's frontman Dead committed suicide by a shotgun blast to his head. His note simply read "Excuse all the blood". The ammunition was supplied by Varg Vikernes.

His body was discovered by Aarseth who, instead of calling the police, ran to a nearby convenience store and bought a disposable camera which he used to photograph the corpse for a future Mayhem album cover (Dawn of the Black Hearts). Apocryphal reports also claim that he then took some pieces of Dead's splattered brains and made a stew out of them and/or members of the band took bone fragments from their friend's skull and made necklaces out of them.

The 'Inner Circle' received even more exposure in 1993, when Vikernes killed Aarseth in Aarseth's home, stabbing him 23 times, although Vikernes claims that Aarseth fell on broken glass while running from him and that he really stabbed him only 4 or 5 times. The circumstances surrounding the reason for the murder are not entirely clear, but have mainly been attributed to ideological differences and a power struggle between Vikernes and Aarseth. Vikernes claimed that Aarseth had plotted to kill him and that the killing was committed in partial self-defence. Vikernes also claimed that there was a financial dispute over the profits from Burzum's first two full-length records (Burzum and Det Som Engang Var) as well as the first Burzum EP (Aske) that were released through Aarseth's record label, Deathlike Silence Records. Some sources say that Aarseth intentionally delayed the release of Burzum's records, because Burzum was getting more attention than Mayhem. Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison and has since distanced himself from the black metal movement, becoming involved in the Neo-Nazi movement and writing extensively on the subject. Many credit Vikernes' professed beliefs as contributing to the rise of National Socialist black metal, a variant that employs the genre's typically Nordic, Pagan, and anti-Christian themes as an expression of White Power ideology. While in prison, Vikernes has released two albums of a much more ambient and electronic kind of music, Dauði Baldrs in 1997 and Hliðskjálf in 1999, although he implied in a recent interview that he would write material similar to his older works upon his release from prison.

By the last few years of the 1990s, the black metal scene had lost much of the violence that seemed to be attached to it in the early days of the scene. Also, bands begun to make records with higher production-quality.

However, since the mid-90s, an Eastern European black metal scene has been developing. Bands from these former Iron Curtain lands are recording albums more in keeping with the primitive nature of the early Norwegian artists. Many of these bands' lyrics glorify the pagan roots of their home countries, occasionally injecting elements of indigenous folk music into their arrangements. The Latvian band Skyforger is a prime example of this new aesthetic. The black metal scene in Russia and Ukraine has produced many bands more in keeping with the carefully arranged sounds coming from Scandinavia, but with more appreciation for the low fidelity aesthetic of early black metal. The Czech band Trollech are a perfect example of the "old-school" Pagan black metal band. The Ukrainian neo-Nazi Nokturnal Mortum has achieved very large recognition in the west; their earlier albums relied heavily on synthesizers, but their current work has a grimmer, more abrasive feel flavored with Slavic folk instruments. Poland's neo-Nazi band Graveland has, in recent albums, striven for a 'medieval' feel, much like a much more developed version of later 'viking' Bathory albums, but in the past made much rawer music which still held a certain intangible folk flavor. From Romania, Negură Bunget is a prime example of traditional black metal, injecting their own indigenous mix of Dacian and Latin elements, along with a Scandinavian sound. Also, notable are Serbian elite bands - The Stone and May Result. There is also a growing number of American bands playing black metal (sometimes called USBM bands). This movement has not taken a particularly clear form, but better-known groups are Typhus, Fog, Judas Iscariot, Absu, Krieg, Grand Belial's Key, Goatwhore, Kult ov Azazel, Choronzon (Music project), Xasthur, Leviathan, and the death metal-influenced Acheron and Averse Sefira.

Literature

• Michael Moynihan, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground (Feral House) ISBN 0922915482

Subforms

Faggoth

Faggoth is supposedly a musical genre that is similar to, but distinct from, black metal. In reality, faggoth is not a real genre, but a derogatory term (a portmanteau of the words "faggot" and "goth") used by some black metal fans to insult bands from various other musical genres, marking them as inferior to black metal. The term faggoth is rarely used, and it appears that no bands or musicians actually categorize themselves as faggoth.

National Socialist black metal

Black metal movement that deals with Neo-Nazi ideologies, often mixed in with topics pertaining to European pagan religions. NSBM is more interpreted as an ideology than a sub-genre as there is not any developed "style" to play black metal in a National Socialist way. However, the term has stuck around not only because there are traceable movements and labels that sell NSBM exclusively, but also because it is such a hotly debated topic; giving rise to questions like whether it does or does not coincide with traditional black metal characteristics, or whether it should even be a subform as most black metal bands do not adhere to the ideology.

Troll metal

Troll metal is a term used to group black metal bands, and bands rooted in black metal, that deal with lyrical themes and imagery about trolls, goblins and other related subjects that are closely related to those of power metal.

There are three important bands of this form of black metal: Finntroll, Mortiis, and Arckanum. Whilst serving as a good form of black metal for these bands to expand their musical style, they usually try to stay close to their usual lyrics. It is for the aforementioned reason that the three major bands sound so different: Mortiis, with a medieval ambient sound (no longer as current); Arckanum, with a pretty simple black metal sound, only with troll themed lyrics; and Finntroll with mixture of black metal and polka.

In most songs of Finntroll, trolls relate their hate of humans, especially Christians, which is for them a plague to eradicate, usually by eating them. They relate how they prepare for battles without fear, arming themselves with axes and subsequently how much humans should fear them. They also tell about their rites and beliefs, and thematically live in the north and humans in the south (as trolls come from the Scandinavian folklore and most troll metal bands are from Nordic countries). Trolls also seem to have a 'King' and a 'Lord' called Rivfader (the name of their first album) that is referenced in lyrics.

Finntroll's album covers represent trolls with very different physical appearances. One is green and looks strong and tall, one's skin is gray-blue and has a pointy nose and ears, making him look elven, one looks like a dwarf, and others are smaller, strong, green, with big noses and pointy and hairy ears.

Troll metal is sometimes called forest metal, since trolls live in forests and sounds of forests are common place in songs.

Notable troll metal bands include (early) Ancient, Arckanum, Finntroll, Gotmoor, Mortiis, Mystifier, Taur Nu Fuin, Troll, Trollheims Grott, Trollfest.

War metal

War metal is a black metal offshoot sub-genre that, since the release of a now infamous split between the bands Black Witchery and Conqueror, has been used to describe a certain sound; although the title was first coined by Bestial Warlust on their 1994 debut Vengeance War 'Till Death (wherein they describe themselves as Satanic war metal). The style picks out a unique mixture of black metal,death metal, and grindcore. The prime aesthetic of war metal is to present an audial image of war, using buzzsaw guitars, brutal blasting drums, and screeched vocals reminiscent of a war command. Musically, the dubious sub-genre differs much from most other metal stylings, as the guitar riffing is intended more to present a noisy brutal ambiance (often there will not be any 'real' riffing).

Lyrically, war metal bands almost always leans towards Satanic or anti-Christian ideals, and without fail always refer to war; with topics including genocide, nuclear warfare, holocaust, death, ending humanity and/or life, tanks, and related topics. The visual aesthetics are similar.

Many prefer not to use the genre name because they consider it superfluous; some war metal bands can be considered blackened death metal. Moreover, it is contended that it is a very minimalistic and non-expansive style, and given the small amount of bands that play it, it therefore ought not have its own distinct genre-name. Still, others consider it as relevant a sub-genre of black metal as National Socialist Black Metal or pagan metal, and there is no doubt that many of the bands indeed separate themselves from broader black metal as such.

Although the phrase was coined by Bestial Warlust, most look towards Blasphemy and Sarcofago as the roots of the sub-genre. The latter is considered proto-war metal, or a step into the direction; they themselves played an early form of blackened death metal. Blasphemy, however, was the first to play it as it is known today. They dubbed themselves Black Metal Skinheads, opting for a more warlike image than the corpsepainted black metal bands of their age. Blasphemy also wrote music in the stylings as described above, and their 1990 debut album Fallen Angel of Doom is to war metal as Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is to black metal.

War metal is often associated with Canada because of native bands Blasphemy and Conqueror; and many others that originated there.

Ambient black metal

Dark ambient has always found a certain link with black metal. Both genres rely on dark atmospheres and melodies which function more as a chordprogression than as a rhitmic function. Ambient black metal is black metal on which dark ambient is overlayed to increase the atmospheres. Pioneered by the one man band Burzum, now a well respected subgenre of black metal. Many ambient black metal projects also have sideprojects on which they make plain dark ambient.

Black metal controversy in Malaysia

In Malaysia, the government blames black metal music for a number of social problems, such as anti-social behavior. The government believes the music causes teens to become disrespectful to parents and elderly, as well as lowering their respect for religion. The music was also deemed to be responsible for crime-related cases such as gang fights. As a result, the government has announced that it will ban black metal, and now does not provide permits to foreign bands.

A sound clip of a well known black metal band, Immortal is Media:Immortal - Grim and frostbitten kingdoms.ogg.