The difference, by ear
Both are growled or screamed, but black metal keeps to a narrower band: 160 to 280 bpm against 60 to 320. Songs run longer in black metal: usually 4 to 9 minutes, against under a minute to 1½ minutes in powerviolence. To hear the difference, play Infest next to Bathory. Powerviolence comes from the rock side of the tree and black metal from the metal side, and black metal came first, by five years.
In figures
Powerviolence
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Powerviolence
In short
Hardcore taken to the limit: abrupt tempo shifts, twenty-second songs, blast beats cut with parts as slow as tar.
How it sounds
- Abrupt switches between blast beats and slow passages, with no transition.
- Songs of ten to forty seconds, albums with twenty-five tracks.
- Deliberately ugly sound, with distorted vocals and clipping bass.
Key acts
- Infest
- Man Is the Bastard
- Spazz
Start here
The pickInfest - Slave. Twenty minutes that feel longer than a doom album.
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 →