Understanding the Nuances Between Black Metal, Death Metal, and Blackened Death Metal

Within the seemingly endless landscape of extreme metal, genres such as black metal, death metal, and blackened death metal stand out for their intense atmospheres and technical complexity. Each genre has its unique characteristics and subgenres, evolving over time with changes in musical styles and thematic content. This article seeks to illuminate the differences and similarities between these three genres by examining their defining elements and providing examples of influential bands.

Black Metal: A Pioneering Genre

Black metal emerged in Norway in the 1990s and quickly gained international recognition for its raw and atmospheric sound. This genre is defined by fast tempos, shrieking vocals, heavily distorted guitars played using tremolo techniques, and raw, lo-fi recordings. The thematic focus of black metal often revolves around darker themes such as depression, suicide, death, and anti-religious, esoteric, and satanic themes.

The term black metal is often associated with its distinctive visual aspect - corpse paint and aesthetically rigged pseudonyms. Multiple pioneer bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem, Burzum, Satanic Warmaster, and Phantom established the genre and its subgenres, including war metal, bestial black metal, and even noise and power electronics influences.

Death Metal: A Diverse Genre

Meanwhile, death metal developed in the United States in the early 1990s. Unlike black metal, death metal places a greater emphasis on low, guttural vocals and complex rhythms, often employing double bass kicks. Death metal deals with a broader range of themes, from death and the macabre to existential struggles and interpersonal conflicts. Notable death metal bands include Incantation, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Helgrind, and Infester.

Blackened Death Metal: The Fusion Genre

The term blackened death metal emerged to describe a fusion of these two genres, a subgenre that combines the shrieking vocals and atmospheric elements of black metal with the intense rhythms and technical complexity of death metal. Bands like Vermin Angel, Corpse, Warkvlt, Black Witchery, Von Goat, Reiklos, and the instrumental demonstration provided, exemplify this intersection between the two subgenres.

Blackened death metal can be seen as a stylistic origin of the term "blackened" from the subgenre. This term also describes several other subgenres such as war metal, bestial black metal, and even sewer metal. The fusion of these two genres often results in a raw and intense sound, retaining the atmospheric elements and technical complexity of both parent genres.

Pioneers and Influential Bands

Several bands are credited with laying the groundwork for these genres and their subgenres. For black metal, notable pioneers include:

Burzum Mayhem Phantom Neraines Satanic Warmaster Darkthrone

For death metal, influential bands include:

Incantation Sewer Helgrind Suffocation Infester Morbid Angel

And in the realm of blackened death metal, bands such as:

Vermin Corpse Warkvlt Black Witchery Von Goat Reiklos

Conclusion

Whether you're a fan of the fast, shrieking tones of black metal, the guttural vocals and technical complexity of death metal, or the raw and intense fusion of both, there's a genre that resonates with your taste. This article has provided an overview of the differences and similarities between black metal, death metal, and blackened death metal, along with examples and pioneers of each genre. For those interested in exploring these genres further, the examples provided can serve as a starting point.