Doom metal

Doom metal is a form of heavy metal music that emerged as a recognized genre in the mid 1980s. The sound is slow and heavy and intended to evoke an atmosphere of darkness, despair, tension and doom. It is influenced particularly by the early work of Black Sabbath, generally considered the genre's progenitors. Closely related are Stoner metal and Sludge metal.

Doom metal has proven somewhat difficult to categorise. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorisation as limiting or useless. There is often significant crossover from one metal category to another, and often the influence of non-metal music is present.

When the sound developed, bands like Trouble and Candlemass were critically acclaimed for their return to the old school sounds of Black Sabbath and *Witchfinder General, though sales were slim; metal audiences at the time were listening to thrash metal or hair metal, both of which were fast and energetic, very unlike doom metal.

In the early 1990s, the popularity of doom metal grew greatly, and two unique styles developed. The old school imitation of 1970s bands was picked up by stoner metal groups, while a New Orleans metal scene developed a hardcore punk/doom metal hybrid that came to be known as sludge metal.

Two main sub-sub-generes are sometimes cited: Doomdeath and Gothic Metal. Doomdeath metal is a mixture of slow creepy doom riffing with death-metal-like grunts and screams instead of using clean vocals. Goth metal, originally evolved from doom metal and is now a genre in its own right. It takes the slow riffing of doom and mixes it with melodic/gothic elements such as female vocals, melodic keyboards and Gregorian chants. Gothic doom metal is usually quieter and slower than Scandinavian Goth metal and uses fewer special elements. It focuses more on atmosphere than on technique and lyrics and, to many, is more 'feminine' sounding than 'true' doom metal. Representative bands of gothic doom metal are Tristita, Ashes You Leave and Paradise Lost, often classified as Gothic Metal bands. It can be now argued that doom metal and gothic are completely separate forms of rock music.

There are several other sub-genres within doom metal, including:

Funeral Doom, which is an even more extreme version of doomdeath, often with torturously slow tempo
Atmospheric Doom, which is subdued and more ambient than most metal
Drone Doom, which is often influenced by noise. Vocals and drums are not always employed, and feedback is often used for long periods

Bands

External Link

Doom-metal.com