Can someone explain Black Metal to me?

[The Heavy Metal Nerd]

I've tried...but I just can't seem to get into Black Metal. I think it's mainly because I don't know what I'm supposed to be LISTENING for...

With Power Metal, it's the dragons, templars, pirates, soaring guitar riffs and keyboards. With Death Metal, it's the relentless, crushing, all consuming, wall of sound. But Black Metal...I'm at a loss. I've listened to some Immortal and an Emperor song or two...but...I don't know. I just don't 'get' Black Metal. When I listen to it, all I seem to hear is the bastard child of Death Metal and Thrash Metal...and I can't decide which one I'm supposed to like.

So...yeah. Explain Black Metal to me. What should I be focusing on? What makes a 'good' Black Metal song?

 

[Trololo Punk]

I can't really explain it, but a black metal band that I've always liked was enslaved.

 

[loc978]

Eh, it's hardly for everyone... It's usually got that quasi-satanist aesthetic that old heavy metal had combined with double picking and a flavoring of death metal vocals added onto the classic "King Diamond shriek". Sort of an amalgamation of styles... but an interesting one, at least to me.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I don't get black metal or death metal, so I can't help you.

 

[zombie goat fetish]

Don't worry about it Black Metal isn't for everyone, you either get it or you don't.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

Pretention and obscurity. Okay, to be honest there are very few BM bands that I have the time for due to the usually god awful sound quality that makes me think there's a wasp nest inside the amps. But still, I think what people look for in a 'good' BM song is high-pitched guitars producing buzzsaw riffs, insanely fast double bass drumming, shrieking vocals, melancholic keyboards and a overall sense of dread. Either that or it's about pretentious assholes lowering the quality of their own music so they can appear more 'kvlt', rather than produce something of substance, but whatever. Well you've already mentioned Emperor, so maybe give Bathory a try. Also this:

 

[thtool]

I'm not a fan of extreme metal but it seems to me that black metal is supposed to be atmospheric, progressive and doomy. Like doom metal but harsher.

And satanists/burning churchers/forest aesthetics.

 

[KefkaCultist]

Upon thinking about it, I couldn't really come up with any specific explanation of what black metal is and the difference from deth metal so I turned to wikipedia

Instrumentation

Black metal guitarists usually favor high-pitched guitar tones and a great deal of distortion. The guitar is usually played with much use of fast tremolo picking and dissonance.Guitarists often use scales, intervals and chord progressions that yield the most fear inducing and ominous sounds. Guitar solos and low guitar tunings are rare in black metal.

The bass guitar is rarely used to perform stand-alone melodies. It is not uncommon for the bass guitar to be inaudible or to homophonically follow the bass lines of the electric guitar. Typically, drumming is fast-paced and uses double-bass and or blast beat techniques.

Black metal songs often stray from conventional song structure and often lack clear verse-chorus sections. Instead, many black metal songs contain lengthy and repetitive instrumental sections.

Instrumentation

The setup most frequently used within the death metal genre is two guitarists, a bass player, a vocalist and a drummer often using "double bass blast beats". Although this is the standard setup, bands have been known to occasionally incorporate other instruments such as electronic keyboards.

The genre is often identified by fast, highly distorted and down tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking. The percussion is usually aggressive, and powerful; blast beats, double bass and exceedingly fast drum patterns frequently add to the complexity of the genre.

Death metal is known for its abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, as well as fast and complex guitar and drum work. Death metal may include chromatic chord progressions and a varied song structure, rarely employing the standard verse-chorus arrangement. These compositions tend to emphasize an ongoing development of themes and motifs.

Also, for a recommendation, try Graveworm. I've only just started listening to them myself and really like them. They're more symphonic than most other black metal bands.

Spoiler: A few Graveworm songs

 

[BlumiereBleck]

All metal is just silly to me, I can't even listen to a metal song for more then a minute with out saying "DONE! I've heard it before"

 

[Zeroandx]

Wait, you mean to say there are diffrent kinds of metal?

 

[KefkaCultist]

Wait, you mean to say there are diffrent kinds of metal?

Oh you have no idea... (or you do and I didn't pick out the sarcasm), but here's a small chart I like to share with people who don't realize all the subgenres that exist in Metal.

I could probably add to that too. Progressive Death Metal, Doom Metal, Symphonic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, and Deathcore right off the top of my head.

 

[blaqknoise]

I only like a few select black metal bands. I find most of it hard to listen to, but there are still a few good ones.

Wolven Ancestry is my favourite black metal band.

 

[M0rp43vs]

From what i can tell, Black metal originated as satanic in order to add some shock value to their music but some people took the satanism in the genre seriously.
I'm not into the genre really but I just wanted a chance to post this
http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/fun_comments.php?fun_id=2
enjoy this fun list, I suggest checking out the other rules of metal on the site

 

[DanielBrown]

No need to get it, apart from that it was made to make the posers get the hell away. Just listen, enjoy and try to avoid laughter.

Recorded a black metal song myself, just for shits and giggles!
http://www.myspace.com/corpsenail

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

I find you kind of like Black Metal or you don't and you usually know right away. But I could be wrong, what you should be listening for in good black metal is atmosphere and composition skill. Listen to some stuff by Ulver, Ihsahn, Arcturus, Emperor(just listen closely), and then figure out whether or not you like it.

 

[Vonnis]

Black metal is about creating atmosphere. It can sound fast and hateful, or slow and mournful, but black metal done right is about evoking a certain feeling. Some don't get this at all, and some love it, it's kind of hard to explain. Black metal is not so much about the music itself as it is about the atmosphere and emotion it creates with its often ugly sound.

 

[Jiefu]

Well, mostly it's about burning down churches and murdering people.

Which is to say it's just like the rest of metal.

 

[MysticToast]

If that song was written to make me laugh, it did its job well

 

[Baneat]

Well, mostly it's about burning down churches and murdering people.

Which is to say it's just like the rest of metal.

Metallica?

*And don't gimme some bull like "It's not real metal" - it has metal in the name!"

 

[Arsen]

All metal is just silly to me, I can't even listen to a metal song for more then a minute with out saying "DONE! I've heard it before"

That's exactly how I feel about Hip Hop and Indie Rock.

OT - It's an acquired taste. Most people can't get into metal because they can't relate to anything it says. You have to be a certain kind of person to overall understand the unique levels of aesthetical merit this genre offers. Personally how anyone can like the following bands...boggles my mind: Radiohead, Phish, Rage Against the Machine, and so on...

Metal has passion, energy, intelligent lyrics which are thought provoking, challenging music structures, LAYERS upon sublayers of sound, numerous categories that fit into any kind of style, the actual legacy of rock and roll handed down from The Beatles and Chuck Berry...and they do one thing I will forever love metal for...

They don't sing about the psuedo-problems or the things in reality which are irrelevant. They focus on the abuse of authority, the worlds of fantasy, ancient mythology, in depth theology, philosophical studies, history, warfare, carnage, pain, horror, salvation, death, metaphysics, the universe, the human condition, the afterlife...the soul. It is the truest, reality filled, most intellectual genre of music we have in the world. Damnit.