The difference, by ear
The second wave is fast, thin and hostile. This is slow, layered and ceremonial, and the purists regard it as a different thing entirely.
Both are growled or screamed, but second wave is much faster: 180 to 280 bpm against 120 to 190. To hear the difference, play Bathory next to Mayhem. Both grew out of black metal, Pagan / Viking black metal first and second wave a year after.
In figures
Pagan / Viking black metal
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Black metal › Pagan / Viking black metal
In short
Black metal with Norse mythology and folk melodies. Bathory's later albums are the starting point.
How it sounds
- Modal melodies drawn from Nordic folk music, played on distorted guitars.
- Male choirs and marching drum patterns.
- Epic structures with long songs and dynamics running from silence to storm.
Key acts
- Bathory
- Enslaved
- Windir
Start here
The pickBathory - Hammerheart. Quorthon played nearly all of it himself.
Full page →Second wave
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Black metal › Second wave
In short
The Norwegian scene that fixed the definitive sound: thin guitars, demo-tape production as an ideal, corpse paint.
How it sounds
- Guitars with the mids scooped out entirely - thin and cutting, with no audible bass.
- The production ideal is a demo tape recorded in a bedroom, not a studio session.
- Rasping high vocals with reverb, and fast, deliberately monotonous blast beats.
Key acts
- Mayhem
- Darkthrone
- Burzum
- Immortal
Start here
The pickImmortal - Pure Holocaust. The scene's best album without the troubling baggage.
Full page →