The difference, by ear
Both are growled or screamed, but black metal is much faster: 160 to 280 bpm against 50 to 90. To hear the difference, play My Dying Bride next to Bathory. They share a root in heavy metal, and black metal came first, by eight years.
In figures
Death-doom
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Death metal › Death-doom
In short
Guttural vocals at funeral tempo. Bands from Yorkshire invented the combination and then invented gothic metal too.
How it sounds
- Very slow tempos with long riffs and sustained chords.
- Guttural vocals over minor harmony, sometimes with violin or keyboards.
- Eight- to twelve-minute songs with slow dynamics and oppressive atmosphere.
Key acts
- My Dying Bride
- Paradise Lost
- Anathema
- Winter
Start here
The pickMy Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans. The violin matters as much as the guitar.
Full page →Black metal
Where it sits
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 →