The difference, by ear
Black metal is growled or screamed where rock and roll is sung cleanly, and much faster: 160 to 280 bpm against 140 to 180. Songs run longer in black metal: usually 4 to 9 minutes, against 2 to 2½ minutes in rock and roll. To hear the difference, play Chuck Berry next to Bathory. Rock and roll comes from the rock side of the tree and black metal from the metal side, and rock and roll came first, by 28 years.
In figures
Rock and roll
Where it sits
In short
Ground zero: twelve-bar blues sped up, piano hammered hard, lyrics about cars and girls. It made the electric guitar the defining instrument of the century.
How it sounds
- Twelve-bar blues sped up, with piano pounded in eighths and saxophone where the guitar solo would later go.
- The guitar plays short repeating riffs rather than long solos - Chuck Berry essentially wrote the vocabulary.
- Mono production, one room, dance-hall energy.
Key acts
- Chuck Berry
- Little Richard
- Elvis Presley
- Bo Diddley
Start here
The pickChuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode. That opening riff is the DNA of the entire tree.
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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