The difference, by ear
Black metal is growled or screamed where emo revival is sung cleanly, and much faster: 160 to 280 bpm against 110 to 160. Songs run longer in black metal: usually 4 to 9 minutes, against 3 to 5 minutes in emo revival. To hear the difference, play The World Is a Beautiful Place... next to Bathory. Emo revival comes from the rock side of the tree and black metal from the metal side, and black metal came first, by 28 years.
In figures
Emo revival
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Post-hardcore › Emo › Emo revival
In short
A new generation rediscovers the Midwest sound, this time with Bandcamp instead of fanzines.
How it sounds
- Home-recorded production with clean guitars and unprocessed vocals.
- Structures borrowed from Midwest emo, with tapping and open tunings.
- Long, nearly prose-like lyrics about anxiety and small towns.
Key acts
- The World Is a Beautiful Place...
- Modern Baseball
- Algernon Cadwallader
Start here
The pickAlgernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader. Cap'n Jazz reincarnated, unapologetically.
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 →