The difference, by ear
Black metal is growled or screamed where rock is sung cleanly. To hear the difference, play Chuck Berry next to Bathory. Rock comes from the rock side of the tree and black metal from the metal side, and rock came first, by 28 years.
In figures
Rock
Where it sits
In short
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
How it sounds
- The core trio: electric guitar, bass and drums with vocals on top. Everything follows from the blues twelve-bar and the backbeat on two and four.
- The default format is a three-minute verse-chorus song, though every branch has broken that rule in its own way.
- Guitar distortion - originally the accident of a broken amp - became the genre's signature sound.
Key acts
- Chuck Berry
- The Beatles
- The Rolling Stones
- Led Zeppelin
Start here
The pickThe Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
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.
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