Beginner’s Guide to Metal Genres

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BLACK METAL

FREQUENT TRAITS

• Fast tempos
• Shrieked vocals
• Distorted guitars played with tremolo picking
• Blast beat drumming
• Raw recording
• Unconventional song structure
• Anti-Christian themes

HISTORY

• Where it came from
  • First wave came during the 1980s where the prototype of the genre was formed
  • term ‘black metal’ was coined by Venom
  • Second wave came in the early 1990s (largely centered around Norwegian artists)
• Where it is today
  • The genre has expanded globally and has helped to create a number of sub-genres
  • Modern bands have raised production quality and introduce additional instrumentation

BANDS

• VENOM
• SODOM
• BATHORY
• MORBID
• MAYHEM

SUB-GENRES

• Viking Metal (AMON AMARTH)
• War Metal (BLASPHEMY)

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