Black Metal (Part 1)

Over the past couple of weeks, “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” has casually mentioned the black metal subgenre when talking about the band, Venom. For the next two weeks, we are going to take an in-depth look at the subgenre and its dark history. This week we will focus on the first wave of black metal bands to arise.

The black metal subgenre really did all begin with Venom. Their album titled Black Metal is where the genre received its name. Venom was a large mixture of subgenres though, and later bands would further cement the genre into existence.

Black metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is primarily characterized by high-pitched guitar tones that feature strong distortion. The music is usually very fast, using dissonance to create dark and "scary"-sounding tones. Bass is usually very minimal within black metal music, and drumming is characterized as being very fast and using blast-beats. Black metal vocals usually consist of shrieking, growling, and other experimental styles. The production of black metal music is also commonly very raw and lo-fi.

Black metal also contains unique and dark imagery. Many black metal bands have very theatrically vicious stage performances. Throughout the history of black metal, many extremely controversial and disturbing acts have occurred during concerts, particularly by the musicians themselves. Impaled animal heads, mock crucifixions and the covering of the musicians in animal blood have all been parts of black metal performances in the past, particularly during the second wave of black metal in Norway. Today, black metal performances are much tamer and less controversial than they used to be.

It is also common for black metal performances to be very atmospheric and grim. Corpse paint is commonly worn to try to make the musicians seem more cold and emotionless. Many black metal musicians furthermore choose to create pseudonyms in order to appear mysterious.

One of the earliest pioneers of the black metal genre was a band called Bathory. Bathory was essentially the one man project of Tomas Forsberg, more commonly known as, Quorthon. Bathory had a revolving line-up of other musicians until its demise in 2004 that coincided with Quorthon’s death.



Bathory’s debut self-titled album is known by many as the first true black metal album. However, Bathory’s most famous album is undeniably Under the Sign of the Black Mark, which would become a massively influential record on all subsequent albums within the black metal genre. Bathory eventually started to dabble heavily in viking metal, and never managed to return to their black metal roots.



Hellhammer is also an important early black metal band. Hellhammer only released one EP, but that EP titled Apocalyptic Raids would prove to be influential in the development of black metal.



After Hellhammer disbanded, several of the members went on to form Celtic Frost, which would prove to be an influential and successful black metal band as well. Albums such as Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion are considered very significant black metal records.



Recently, Celtic Frost permanently disbanded while frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer went on to start a new band known as Triptykon.

Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, and Celtic Frost were the most noteworthy bands of this first wave of black metal.

Next week will be the darkest and most disturbing post on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog;” as, we will discuss the second wave of black metal. Stay tuned!

Death metal

Throughout the history of heavy metal, new bands have always tried to become heavier than those that preceded them. Venom succeeded when they released Welcome to Hell which was more raw and vicious than anything that had come before it. Slayer then entered the scene, and with the release of their first three albums, they proved to be the heaviest band that had ever existed to that point.

Two years before Slayer released their legendary third album, Reign in Blood, though, the term “death metal” was coined by a band called, Possessed. Possessed released their debut demo simply called, Death Metal, and they instantly attracted the attention the band, Exodus, who then sent the demo to Metal Blade Records.

After Metal Blade decided to release one of their songs on a Metal Massacre compilation, they were soon signed to another label and they released their debut album a year later. This record called Seven Churches would end up being one the first real death metal record. Possessed only released one more album before disbanding, but it is important to note that they were the first true pioneer of death metal.

The members of Possessed didn’t go on to have much success with other projects, with the exception of Larry LaLonde, who soon went on to found the very famous funk metal band, Primus. The members of Possessed did list Venom, Motörhead, and Slayer among their main influences however, which is a testament to how much the more aggressive thrash and speed metal acts impacted death metal.

At this point, it is important that we specify what the musical qualities of death metal are. The subgenre is usually characterized by fast, highly distorted and drop-tuned guitars that use palm muting and tremolo picking techniques. Drum patterns in death metal are usually particularly fast and technical, making use of blast beats. There are also abrupt key, tempo and time signature changes that compliment varied song structures. Death metal vocals usually consist of guttural roars, grunts, snarls, and death growls.

Around the same time that Possessed was active, a new death metal band made its way on to the scene. This band was simply known as, Death. Death would soon go on to become the best-selling death metal band worldwide. Chuck Schuldiner was the only constant member of Death until his death in 2001. Schuldiner is also known as “Father of Death Metal.”

Death’s debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, is a legendary death metal album, and some critics consider it to be the first actual death metal album, claiming Possessed was more of a transitional band between thrash and death metal. Personally though, I think Possessed’s debut is the first death metal record, but there is no denying Scream Bloody Gore’s immense impact and legacy.

Death would go on to change their style in the future. The first few records were very straight-up death metal, however on their landmark record, Human, they began to become even more technically complex, and they started to incorporate progressive metal elements to their music. Human is Death’s best-selling record, and after it was released all following albums would incorporate more and more progressive influences.

There were a few other death metal bands that helped to popularize the genre that helped to popularize the subgenre during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along with Death, bands such as Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Obituary were from Florida, and were labeled as “Florida death metal” because of the popularity of the subgeenre in that area. Other important death metal bands of the era are Suffocation, Necrophagia, Master, Entombed, Immolation and Autopsy.

Morbid Angel particularly put out several extremely important releases during their extensive history. Their first two records, Altars of Madness and Blessed Are the Sick are considered to be two of the best and most influential death metal records of all time. Their third album, Covenant, is the best-selling death metal album in the U.S, and is also a legendary death metal record.

Two other very important death metal bands are Obituary and Deicide. Obituary released several important records such as Slow We Rot and The End Complete that greatly contributed to the development of death metal.

Deicide also greatly contributed to the development of death metal with such releases as their self-titled record and Legion. Those two albums also were the second and third best-selling death metal albums in the during the Soundscan era. Deicide is also notable for being one of the first very directly anti-Chrisitan metal bands. This led to them being banned from playing at many venues, and caused controversy within the media.

The best-selling death metal band of all time in the U.S is Cannibal Corpse. With seminal records such as Butchered at Birth and Tomb of the Mutilated, they have established an extremely devoted cult following. Both of those records have also reached over a million sales worldwide. Cannibal Corpse is considered to be a very violently themed band, and have often caused controversy to due to the extreme and gory nature of their lyrics and artwork.

Death metal reached its peak in popularity from 1992 to 1993. Afterward death metal started to be divided into various types, each of which would achieve its own degree of popularity. These types consist of melodic death metal, technical death metal, brutal death metal, progressive death metal, blackened death metal, etc. and we will discuss them in more depth at a later date.

Death metal still remains a fairly popular genre today however, and there are many active and newly formed death metal bands who continue to put on shows around the world.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal

In the late 1970s, heavy metal records were not selling as well as they did earlier in the decade because of the rise of punk, disco and mainstream rock acts. Therefore, the popularity of early traditional heavy metal bands had begun to decline. However a new heavy metal movement was on the horizon. This movement would forever change the world of rock music and be known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).

The NWOBHM was musically characterized as having toned down the blues influences of early heavy metal groups while incorporating punk elements into the music: having faster tempos, and adopting a tougher sound. Most NWOBHM bands also more heavily utilized power chords, soaring vocals, and fast guitar solos.

NWOBHM bands reached the peak of their popularity during the 1980s. Some of the most famous NWOBHM bands were Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Def Leppard, Venom, Saxon, and Angel Witch.



We discussed Motörhead in depth last week; however, we did not talk very much about the major significance of Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden is quite frankly one of the most important and successful heavy metal bands of all time. The band has sold over 85 million records to date despite their having received little radio support. Iron Maiden has an iconic image that is represented through their mascot, "Eddie the Head."

Furthermore, they broke many boundaries through their landmark album, The Number of the Beast. That classic heavy metal album contained artwork and other evil references that made many accuse the band of being satanic.

Of course, the band was not actually satanic, but the release of the album still fueled the fire behind those who claimed that heavy metal was a sinister genre of music.



Another extremely important NWOBHM band was Diamond Head. Diamond Head never had much success; however they are notable for having influenced famous thrash metal acts such as Metallica and Megadeth. Metallica would go on to cover many songs from Diamond Head’s debut, Lightning to the Nations.



Similarly, Venom influenced many more extreme heavy metal acts. Venom came along late into the era of NWOBHM, but they were very important; as, they particularly influenced the onset of black metal, thrash metal and death metal. Venom was not the stereotypical NWOBHM band, and their genre is actually pretty heavily debated among critics.

Nevertheless, their first two albums Welcome to Hell and Black Metal influenced millions of heavy metal bands around the world.

It is important to note, however, that Venom has always been criticized for their lack of musical skill. Many claim that Venom chose to play their faster music because they did not have the musical technicality of the other bands around them. Most critics do note though that their musical skills have gotten better with age.



The final NWOBHM band that we must discuss is Def Leppard. The band had major worldwide success throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. They have sold over 100 million albums to date, and their song “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” would become one of the first heavy metal videos to be featured on MTV. Def Leppard has made the lists of many critics who consider them to be one of the most notable hard rock and heavy metal acts of all time.



In the 1990s, NWOBHM began to decline. Many of the bands went through musical shifts because the interest in NWOBHM was simply not as strong as it was in the 1980s.

Def Leppard notably had the most success with their musical shift which targeted the American hard rock audience and achieved renewed popularity. Some other major NWOBHM acts such as Iron Maiden and Motörhead just drifted towards traditional heavy metal, which wasn’t an extremely far leap for both of the bands, but they still did not receive the success or the acclaim that they did in the earlier part of their career.

In the 2000s however, NWOBHM bands received renewed popularity. Many bands have since reformed with classic line-ups and have reverted to old musical habits. The NWOBHM revival continues today with many bands touring and performing around the world.