Rockpedia

Compare

Two genres, side by side. The ratings are editorial judgements on a ten-point scale, not measurements. Where they come out level, the difference is in the prose underneath them.

First genre

Beat / British Invasion1963

Second genre

Black metal1982

Head to headBeat / British Invasion vs Black metal
Beat / British Invasion: heaviness 2, melody 10, speed 5. Black metal: heaviness 9, melody 4, speed 9.Heaviness2 / 9Melody10 / 4Speed5 / 9
Each corner is a ten-point rating. The further out, the higher.

The difference, by ear

Black metal is growled or screamed where Beat / British Invasion is sung cleanly, and much faster: 160 to 280 bpm against 120 to 160. Songs run longer in black metal: usually 4 to 9 minutes, against 2 to 3 minutes in Beat / British Invasion. To hear the difference, play The Beatles next to Bathory. Beat / British Invasion comes from the rock side of the tree and black metal from the metal side, and Beat / British Invasion came first, by nineteen years.

Put together from each genre's vocals, tempo, song length, key acts and place in the tree.

In figures

Heaviness
Beat / British Invasion2
Black metal9
+7
Speed
Beat / British Invasion5
Black metal9
+4
Melody
Beat / British Invasion10
Black metal4
−6

Beat / British Invasion

1963 · Liverpool, UK

Where it sits

Rock › Rock and roll › Beat / British Invasion

In short

The British took American rock and roll, added vocal harmony and shipped it back across the Atlantic. Both hard rock and pop-rock start here.

How it sounds

  • Two- and three-part vocal harmony borrowed from American girl groups and doo-wop.
  • Twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar with a clean, chiming tone.
  • Short songs, near-perfect pop structures, almost no improvisation.

Key acts

  • The Beatles
  • The Kinks
  • The Who
  • The Animals

Start here

The pickThe Kinks - You Really Got Me. The first genuinely distorted riff on record.

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Black metal

1982 · Norway / Sweden · 10 subgenres

Where it sits

Heavy metal › Black metal

In short

Tremolo picking, blast beats, shrieked vocals and deliberately cold production. More an aesthetic than a technique - atmosphere matters more than clean sound.

How it sounds

  • Tremolo picking on open fifth voicings, with vocals in the high register.
  • Deliberately thin, cold production - the missing bass is an aesthetic choice, not an accident.
  • Fast blast beats, drums often mixed back, atmosphere placed above technique.

Key acts

  • Bathory
  • Mayhem
  • Darkthrone
  • Emperor

Start here

The pickDarkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The production is intentional, not a flaw.

Full page →