Black metal

History and character

Black metal arose in two waves. The first (early to mid-1980s): Venom's album Black Metal (1982) gave it its name and imagery; Bathory (who, according to Wikipedia, created “the template for Scandinavian black metal”), Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost developed the sound; the wave ran out around 1987. The second (early 1990s, Norway): Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Immortal, Gorgoroth and Satyricon defined black metal as a distinct genre, popularized a guitar style derived from Bathory and the corpse paint; the Norwegian scene drew worldwide attention also for the church burnings and the murder of Euronymous in 1993.

Characteristics: fast tempos with blast beats and double kick, screamed, raspy, high-pitched vocals (shriek), distorted, trebly guitars played with tremolo picking and power chords, dissonances and tritones, rare solos, often deliberately lo-fi recording, unconventional structures and a strong emphasis on atmosphere; some bands use background keyboards (Dimmu Borgir).

Later developments: atmospheric/ambient black metal (slower and dreamier, with synths or classical instruments: Burzum, Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch), symphonic black metal (more polished production, synths and orchestras: Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth), blackgaze or post-black metal (shoegaze and post-rock: Alcest, Deafheaven), black-doom and DSBM (depressive suicidal black metal), blackened crust/death, and the modern “dissonant” scene (Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Mgła).

Scales and keys

Natural minor (Aeolian) in tremolo

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (W H W W H W W).
• Example in E: E F# G A B C D.
• Characteristic note: b6 (C), which gives the melancholic, “epic-frozen” color.
• Chords: i Em, ii° F#dim, III G, iv Am, v Bm, VI C, VII D.
• Use: tremolo-picked melodies on the middle-to-high strings, i–VI–VII–i and i–iv–VI–V progressions.
• Real example: Darkthrone — Transilvanian Hunger (hypnotic tremolo riffs over minor progressions); Emperor — I Am the Black Wizards.
• Common mistakes: playing the melody palm-muted as in death metal: black metal wants “open,” resonant notes.

Phrygian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In E: E F G A B C D.
• Characteristic note: b2 (F).
• Use: menacing passages, minor chords rising by a semitone (Em–Fm).

Harmonic minor

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. In E: E F# G A B C D#.
• Characteristic note: D# (leading tone) → major V chord B, a “gothic” and symphonic sound.
• Use: symphonic black (Emperor, Dimmu Borgir), dramatic V–i cadences.

Locrian, tritone and dissonance

• Locrian: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 (in E: E F G A Bb C D).
• Use: tritone dissonances (E–Bb) and minor seconds in the chords; modern “dissonant” black uses chords with b5 and b2 on open strings.
• Real example: Mayhem — Freezing Moon (chromatic and dissonant atmosphere; transcriptions vary).

“Black metal” chords

• Open minor chords (root, fifth, octave and minor third on the middle strings, with the index finger barring and the pinky adding the b3 or b6), moved in parallel by whole steps and half steps; the minor third on the high strings makes the sound “icy.”

Major and Lydian (blackgaze)

• Use: bright major progressions under the tremolo (Deafheaven — Dream House: a major key with open chords and blasts).

How to choose

• Old school and Norwegian: Aeolian and Phrygian in tremolo, parallel minor chords. Symphonic: harmonic minor with a major V. Dissonant: Locrian, tritones, minor seconds. Blackgaze: major/Lydian with open chords and reverb.

Harmony

Function

Modal minor and hypnotic harmony: tremolo-picked riffs that outline minor chords (often in i–VI–VII, i–iv progressions, or parallel minor chords a semitone or whole tone apart), repeated for a long time; dissonances and tritones. The harmonic rhythm is slow relative to the drum speed: one chord per bar or per two bars over a very fast blast.

Tremolo and resonance

• The tremolo notes and resonating open strings create a harmonic “veil”; the treble-heavy distortion without lows leaves the low register almost empty (part of the lo-fi aesthetic).

Keyboards

• Background synth or organ pads (Dimmu Borgir, Emperor), orchestra in symphonic.

Tunings

• Standard, Eb, D standard; rarely very low (black metal is higher-pitched than death).

Voicing

• Power chords, open minor chords, tremolo triads, dissonant dyads (diminished fifth), open strings as a high pedal.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Fast tempos with blast beats (traditional, hammer, skank) and double kick; “marching” mid-tempo passages (Bathory, Immortal); slow atmospheric sections; the D-beat appears in black/crust (Darkthrone from the 2000s). The tremolo guitar grid is independent of the slow harmonic rhythm: the result is a “static yet fast” wall. The feel is mechanical and hypnotic; in the old school the timing is rough.

Drums

Role

The drums create the rhythmic wall on which the tremolo floats. Models: Hellhammer (Mayhem), Fenriz (Darkthrone: simple blasts and d-beat), Trym and Faust (Emperor), Frost (Satyricon, 1349), Daniel Tracy (Deafheaven).

Kick

• Traditional blast: alternating with the snare in sixteenth notes; continuous double kick in the passages; in the mid-tempo, eighth-note kick.
• Sound: in the old school the kick is almost inaudible (lo-fi); in the modern style, a defined click.

Snare

• Blast (alternating), skank (on the offbeat), mid-tempo on 2 and 4. Often a dry, “flat” sound.

Cymbals

• Ride or crash in unison with the kick in the blasts; china; crashes left to ring in the atmospheric parts.

Interaction

• Blast + tremolo + slow chords = wall; the drums change feel to change section (blast → mid-tempo → blast).

Sections

• Atmospheric intro (synth, wind, clean guitar) → blast with tremolo → epic mid-tempo → blast → slow part → final blast → ambient outro.

Fills

• Few; short snare rolls; tom fills in the transitions.

Sounds

• Old school: kit recorded with few microphones, thin, with lots of cymbal; modern (atmospheric/blackgaze): more natural kit with lots of room; symphonic: triggered and precise.

Typical mistakes

• Drums too “death metal” (huge kick and exaggerated click); blasts without cymbals; no change of feel.

Bass

Sound

Bass often barely audible in the old school (an aesthetic and lo-fi choice); in the modern style present and distorted, following the root notes.

Role

• Root under the tremolo, long notes or eighth notes; in the atmospheric parts, simple melodic lines.

Examples

• Emperor — I Am the Black Wizards; Mgła — Exercises in Futility (defined bass in modern black); Deafheaven — Dream House.

Harmonic instruments

Guitars

• Treble-heavy, fizzy and “cold” distortion: little low end, lots of upper mids and highs (transistor amps, pedals like the Boss HM-2 or DS-1; Euronymous and Fenriz with raw sounds); in the modern style, tube amps with a fuller tone.
• Techniques: tremolo picking of single notes and chords, power chords and open minor chords, resonating open strings, clean arpeggios in the intros.
• Layering: old school often 1–2 guitars (even a single take with one microphone, panned center or to one side, sometimes doubled L/R), modern 2–4 rhythm tracks L/R with tremolo in unison; clean guitars with long reverb in the atmospheric parts; in blackgaze, layers of guitars with reverb and delay (shoegaze).
• Standard tuning, Eb or D standard.

Keyboards

• Synth pads and background organs (Burzum, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir), orchestras in symphonic, folk instruments in pagan/folk black.

Voicing

• Open minor chords in tremolo, dissonances, octaves.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• High, raspy, scratchy shriek (Dead, Attila Csihar more theatrical and guttural, Ihsahn, Abbath, Nocturno Culto), sometimes spoken or declaimed; “epic” clean vocals (Ihsahn, Bathory of Hammerheart, Garm) or choral in the epic parts.
• The voice is part of the wall, often with reverb.

Backing vocals

• Epic, liturgical male choirs (Emperor, Bathory, Batushka with Orthodox chant), clean vocals in octaves.

Effects

• Long reverb (hall or cathedral) and delay on the screamed vocal (much more than in death), distortion, sometimes pitch shift.

Instruments

• Electric guitars with treble-heavy distortion (tremolo picking).
• Bass.
• Drums with double kick (blast).
• Screamed vocals (shriek), choirs.
• Synth, organ, piano, orchestra (symphonic), folk instruments (pagan).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Augmented Strings — Orchestra: Symphonic black metal: strings in octaves and string tremolo, simulated brass in minor chords.
• Augmented Voices — Liturgical choirs: Male and female choirs for intros and epic passages.
• Mellotron V — Choirs and flutes: Old-school atmospheres (Burzum, Ulver): Mellotron choirs on long chords.
• Solina V — String machine: Cold background pads ('dungeon synth' style).
• Prophet-5 V — Pad and lead: Atmospheric synths and leads (Dimmu Borgir, Emperor).
• B-3 V — Church/rock organ: Mournful organ for intros and passages (use full registers without Leslie for a more 'liturgical' sound).

Song structure

Form (5:00–10:00)

Black metal is based on the repetition of long riffs (16–32 bars each) rather than on song form.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Depends on the aesthetic. Old school/raw: lo-fi, high-pitched, with little low end, guitars and cymbals up front, the vocal with reverb, the kick almost absent: a “cold wall.” Modern/atmospheric: full and spacious, with definition, long reverbs and a minimum of weight. References: Darkthrone — Transilvanian Hunger (1994), Mayhem — De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994), Emperor — In the Nightside Eclipse (1994), Mgła — Exercises in Futility (2015), Deafheaven — Sunbather (2013).

Kick

• Modern: EQ HP 35 Hz; +2 dB at 60 Hz; −6 dB at 350 Hz; +5 dB at 4–6 kHz; short sample. Raw: keep it low with little low end (an aesthetic choice).

Snare

• EQ: +2 dB at 200 Hz; +3 dB at 5 kHz; hall or medium room reverb (1–1.5 s) for atmosphere.

Cymbals

• Very present (they are half the wall): overheads HP 300 Hz, −2 dB at 3–4 kHz if too harsh.
• Drum bus: compression 3 dB.

Bass

• Modern: HP 40 Hz, +2 dB at 100 Hz, +2 dB at 800 Hz, compression 6 dB. Raw: low and distant.

Guitars

• Modern: 2–4 rhythm tracks L100/R100 (+L80/R80), HP 100–120 Hz, −3 dB at 300 Hz, +2 dB at 2–3 kHz, LP 10–12 kHz; a bit of reverb (room or plate) for atmosphere.
• Raw: HP 150–200 Hz, lots of presence at 3–5 kHz, no limit on the hiss; mono or simple L/R.
• Clean and blackgaze: wide L/R with long reverb (3–6 s) and delay.

Screamed vocals

• Chain: HP 150 Hz; −3 dB at 400 Hz; +3 dB at 2–4 kHz; compression 8–10 dB; saturation.
• Long reverb (hall or cathedral 2–4 s, pre-delay 40–80 ms) and 1/4 or dotted 1/8 delay: the black metal vocal “lives” in a large space.

Choirs and synths

• Choirs wide L/R, long hall; synth pads under the guitars (HP 200 Hz, LP 6–8 kHz).

FX

• Very long reverbs, delays, noises (wind, fire) in the intros.

Buses and groups

• Guitar bus with light compression; in the modern style, a “wall” bus (guitars + synths) with 2 dB of compression.

Sidechain

• Modern: guitars from the kick with dynamic EQ (80–150 Hz) only if the low end builds up.

Master

• Raw: −10/−8 LUFS with little limiting. Modern: −9/−7 LUFS. True peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Mixing black metal like death metal (too much low end, huge kick): it loses its character. Conversely, in the modern style, reverbs that turn the blast into mud. Screamed vocal too dry.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Bathory — A Fine Day to Die (1988); Mayhem — Freezing Moon (1994); Darkthrone — Transilvanian Hunger (1994); Emperor — I Am the Black Wizards (1994); Burzum — Dunkelheit (1996); Mgła — Exercises in Futility I (2015); Deafheaven — Dream House (2013).

Reference listening

• Venom — Black Metal (1982)
• Bathory — A Fine Day to Die (1988)
• Mayhem — Freezing Moon (1994)
• Darkthrone — Transilvanian Hunger (1994)
• Emperor — I Am the Black Wizards (1994)
• Burzum — Dunkelheit (1996)
• Dimmu Borgir — Progenies of the Great Apocalypse (2003)
• Deafheaven — Dream House (2013)
• Mgła — Exercises in Futility I (2015)