This article is about the musical genre. For the albums, see Black Metal (Venom album) and Black Metal (Dean Blunt album). For other uses, see Black Metal (disambiguation).
Black metal
Stylistic origins
Thrash metal[1]
death metal[2]
hardcore punk[3][4]
Cultural origins
Early to mid-1980s,
England
Scandinavia
Derivative forms
Dungeon synth[5]
Subgenres
Ambient black metal
folk black metal
industrial black metal
post-black metal (blackgaze)
psychedelic black metal
raw black metal
symphonic black metal
Fusion genres
Black 'n' roll
black-doom (depressive suicidal black metal)
blackened crust (red and anarchist black metal)
blackened death-doom
blackened death metal (melodic black-death
war metal)
blackened grindcore
blackened thrash metal
pagan metal
Viking metal
Regional scenes
France
Finland[6][7][8]
Greece[6][9][10]
Norway
Poland
United States[11][12]
Sweden
Local scenes
Les Légions Noires
Early Norwegian scene
Other topics
Shrieking
National Socialist black metal
unblack metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style,[13][14][15] heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.
During the 1980s, several thrash metal and death metal bands formed a prototype for black metal.[2] This "first wave" included bands such as Venom, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost.[16] A second wave arose in the early 1990s, spearheaded by Norwegian bands such as Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Emperor, Satyricon and Gorgoroth. The early Norwegian black metal scene developed the style of their forebears into a distinct genre. Norwegian-inspired black metal scenes emerged throughout Europe and North America, although some other scenes developed their own styles independently. Some prominent Swedish bands spawned during this second wave, the second generation in Sweden being led by Dissection,[17] Abruptum,[17][18] Marduk,[17][19][20] and Nifelheim.[17]
Initially a synonym for "Satanic metal",[21] black metal has often sparked controversy, due to the actions and ideologies associated with the genre. Some artists express misanthropic views, and others advocate various forms of extreme anti-Christian sentiment, Satanism, or ethnic paganism. In the 1990s, members of the scene were responsible for a spate of church burnings and murders.[22][23] There is also a small neo-Nazi movement within black metal, although it has been shunned by many prominent artists.[6][24][25] Generally, black metal strives to remain an underground phenomenon.[26]
^Bowar, Chad. "Black Metal 101". About.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
^ abLee, Cosmo; Voegtlin, Stewart. "Into the void: Stylus Magazine's Beginner's Guide to Metal". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^Weisbard, Eric, ed. (2012). Pop When the World Falls Apart: Music in the Shadow of Doubt. Duke University Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0822351085.
^Phillips, William & Cogan, Brian (2009). Encyclopedia of heavy metal music. Greenwood Press. pp. 109, 234. ISBN 978-0313348006.
^Stuart Maconie (24 May 2020). "Dungeon Synth". BBC Radio 6 Music. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ abcDebub, Bill (2007). Black Metal: A Documentary (motion picture). Bill Zebub Productions.
^The End of a Legend? Isten smokes Holocaust Vengeance out of BEHERIT. In: Isten, no. 6, 1995, pp. 44f.
^"The Oath of the Goat's Black Blood". Sinister Flame. 1: 28–32. 2003.
^Chad Bowar: Retro Recommendation: Rotting Christ – Thy Mighty Contract Archived 13 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 24 June 2011, accessed on 13 December 2012.
^Stefan Glas: Rotting Christ. Passage to Arcturo. In: Metal Hammer, March 1992, pp. 70f.
^"Vattnet Viskar's Settler Has Nearly Arrived Home". MetalSucks. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^Dick, Jonathan K. (18 June 2015). "False – Untitled". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^O'Hagar, Sammy (8 November 2012). "Von's Satanic Blood: Black Black Black Black No. 1". MetalSucks. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
^Rivadavia, Eduardo. "I.N.R.I. Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
^Freeman, Channing (18 January 2013). "Album Review – Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
^Dunn, Sam (2005). Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (motion picture). Seville Pictures.
^ abcdPatterson, Dayal (2013). Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult. Feral House. p. 342. ISBN 9781936239764. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^Ekeroth, Daniel (2009). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 255. ISBN 9780979616310. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^Ekeroth, Daniel (2009). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 225. ISBN 9780979616310. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^Ekeroth, Daniel (2009). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 253. ISBN 9780979616310. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^McIver, Joel (2009). Justice for All – The Truth About Metallica (updated ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120090. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
^Smith, Peter (22 April 2019). "How the black metal scene in Norway led to the arson of over 50 churches". Mapped. Daily Hive. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
^Godfrey, Alex (22 March 2019). "'Before you know it, it's not a big deal to kill a man': Norwegian black metal's murderous past". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
^Škot, Mladen. "Interview with Jotunspor". Maelstrom. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
^"Gorgoroth Guitarist Infernus: 'I Personally Am Against Racism in Both Thought and Practice'". Blabbermouth.net. 15 March 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
Blackmetal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played...
National Socialist blackmetal (also known as NSBM, Nazi blackmetal or radical blackmetal ) is a political movement within the blackmetal music scene that...
fiction. Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early blackmetal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s. Bands such as Venom, Celtic...
Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of blackmetal and death metal. The genre...
The lists of blackmetal bands that have articles available on Wikipedia can be found at: List of blackmetal bands, 0–K, for bands beginning with 0–9...
MetalBlack is the eleventh studio album by heavy metal band Venom. It was released in 2006 through Castle/Sanctuary. It is the last to feature Mykvs...
genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of...
The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. Blackmetal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands...
Unblack metal (also known as Christian blackmetal or White metal) is a religious philosophy and subgenre within blackmetal, inheriting several characteristics...
however, most blackmetal fans and most prominent blackmetal musicians reject Nazi ideology and oppose its influence on the blackmetal subculture. NSBM...
Symphonic blackmetal is a subgenre of blackmetal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. The first extreme metal bands...
Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal or prog) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression"...
BlackMetal 2 is an album by Dean Blunt, released on Rough Trade Records on 11 June 2021. The album was only formally announced on 8 June 2021, following...
Socialist blackmetal scene. National Socialist blackmetal (usually shortened to NSBM, and also known as neo-Nazi blackmetal or Aryan blackmetal) is a...
released. Blackmetal Death metal Doom metal Speed metal Thrash metal Subgenres of blackmetal Ambient blackmetal Folk blackmetal Industrial blackmetal National...
Blackgaze is a fusion genre combining elements of blackmetal and shoegaze. The word is a blend of the names of the two genres, described by The Guardian...
The Dawn of the Black Hearts (subtitled Live in Sarpsborg, Norway 28/2, 1990) is a bootleg live album by the Norwegian blackmetal band Mayhem. The title...
associated with industrial metal such as Ministry, Godflesh, and Nine Inch Nails. Another pioneer industrial rock group, Big Black, also impacted some later...
symphonic bands are gothic metal, power metal, blackmetal, death metal and classic heavy metal. As with many other metal bands, those adopting a symphonic...
Pawlik, Adam Makowicz, Leszek Możdżer, and Michał Urbaniak; death and blackmetal music bands Behemoth, Vader, and Decapitated; and film and contemporary...
atmospheric effect. Viking metal emerged from blackmetal during the late 1980s and early 1990s, sharing with blackmetal an opposition to Christianity...
referring to folk metal or blackmetal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal. Metal Hammer author...
anarcho-punk of Crass and Discharge and the heavy metal of bands like Venom, Trouble, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Black Sabbath and Motörhead. While the term was...
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots. It is described...
Global Information