Death Metal and Black Metal are quite often confused. I don't know how, but it often is.
Death Metal originated as an extreme version of thrash metal. The genre was pioneered by bands such as Death, Possessed, Venom etc.
Black Metal was originally created as a reaction to death metal. The musicians thought Death metal was becoming too commercial (which is funny, because it was and still is often too extreme for casual music listeners). It was the second wave of black metal when the genre began to really take shape. Bands such as Mayhem, Burzum, Immortal and other early 90s Norwegian metal bands were the main pioneers.
The main audible difference is in the vocals. Whilst Death Metal features the trademarked death "Growl", the vocals in Black Metal are more varied. Some vocals are whispered, some shouted, some screamed, some growled.
Another difference is the lyric themes. The deceased guitarist for Mayhem, Euronymous, stated that black metal is only black metal if it is satanic. This is not really true anymore, but a lot of early black metal bands were satanists. Usually, black metal has religious themes in it, whether it is pagan, christian (though christian themes are extremely rare) and, of course, satanist. Death metal's themes are a bit more wide ranging.
Death metal has branched out a lot more than black metal. Under death metal's umbrella is melodic death metal, Gothenburg death metal (from Sweden, pretty awesome) and deathcore (controversially though), though that list is not definitive. Black metal has spawned . . . more black metal.
Some cool death metal bands:
DEATH (my personal favourite)
Children of Bodom (melodic death metal)
In Flames (Gothenburg death metal)
Possessed (a pioneer)
Some cool black metal bands:
Burzum (my favourite for some reason, though no live shows because it is a one man band. The one man was in jail for 19 years for killing Euronymous, the guitarist mentioned above)
Mayhem (one of the best known pioneers)
Primordial (a newer band, pretty good, but newer stuff is less black metal)
A typical (sort of) death metal song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbp60IX_jFQ
A typical black metal song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EA_8vJO0NM
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Metalcore and Screamo - What is the difference?
Many people wonder what the difference is between metalcore and screamo. Many have the wrong idea.
Metalcore has roots in both hardcore punk and metal. When blended together, a subgenre of metal is created. Well, metalcore being metal is actually quite controversial, but that's not the point.
Screamo is a subgenre of emo, which also has roots in hardcore punk.
Both genres heavily feature screamed vocals. There is, however, quite a big difference. Screamo's riffs are more pop punk and emo based, hence it being a subgenre of emo. Metalcore features breakdowns, where part of the song, usually the chorus, is slowed down, and often clean vocals are featured. Lyrical themes are also quite different. Screamo's lyrics are more emotional, metalcore's are not, and are more diverse.
Of course, some bands just have to break the trend. Bullet For My Valentine are somewhere in between. Their music features a lot of breakdowns, and not a lot of screaming, but their lyrics are quite emo.
I read somewhere that Death is a metalcore band. That can't be further from the truth. Death is a death metal band - something that actually has practically nothing to do with metalcore OR screamo.
Screamo bands:
Bring Me The Horizon
Asking Alexandria (though some songs are metalcore)
Attack Attack! (same as Asking Alexandria though, some songs are more metalcore based)
Falling In Reverse
Atreyu
30 Seconds To Mars (though not all songs feature screaming)
Metalcore bands:
Killswitch Engage
Devil Wears Prada
August Burns Red
Some old AFI songs (for example, many tracks on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes could be called metalcore)
By no means are both lists definitive. They are just a small sample of the more well known bands that fall into the Screamo and Metalcore categories.
A typical screamo song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWggPLXeOkU
A typical metalcore song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rivf9yfRtE
Metalcore has roots in both hardcore punk and metal. When blended together, a subgenre of metal is created. Well, metalcore being metal is actually quite controversial, but that's not the point.
Screamo is a subgenre of emo, which also has roots in hardcore punk.
Both genres heavily feature screamed vocals. There is, however, quite a big difference. Screamo's riffs are more pop punk and emo based, hence it being a subgenre of emo. Metalcore features breakdowns, where part of the song, usually the chorus, is slowed down, and often clean vocals are featured. Lyrical themes are also quite different. Screamo's lyrics are more emotional, metalcore's are not, and are more diverse.
Of course, some bands just have to break the trend. Bullet For My Valentine are somewhere in between. Their music features a lot of breakdowns, and not a lot of screaming, but their lyrics are quite emo.
I read somewhere that Death is a metalcore band. That can't be further from the truth. Death is a death metal band - something that actually has practically nothing to do with metalcore OR screamo.
Screamo bands:
Bring Me The Horizon
Asking Alexandria (though some songs are metalcore)
Attack Attack! (same as Asking Alexandria though, some songs are more metalcore based)
Falling In Reverse
Atreyu
30 Seconds To Mars (though not all songs feature screaming)
Metalcore bands:
Killswitch Engage
Devil Wears Prada
August Burns Red
Some old AFI songs (for example, many tracks on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes could be called metalcore)
By no means are both lists definitive. They are just a small sample of the more well known bands that fall into the Screamo and Metalcore categories.
A typical screamo song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWggPLXeOkU
A typical metalcore song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rivf9yfRtE
Welcome
Hey guys, welcome to my blog!
This blog thing will hopefully help anyone new to punk, metal, metalcore, etc. understand the music better, and understand stuff in general.
Thanks for visiting!
This blog thing will hopefully help anyone new to punk, metal, metalcore, etc. understand the music better, and understand stuff in general.
Thanks for visiting!
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