The 8 Different Types of Black Metal Explained

In the world of heavy metal music, there is one genre that surpasses almost all others when it comes to atmosphere, intricate production, aggressive instrumentation and all around excellent songwriting and brilliant artistic vision. That genre is known as black metal, and it has revolutionised the way people look at extreme metal music.

But among black metal genres, and this is especially true when talking about underground black metal, there are a wide variety of different types of black metal music, each one defined and delineated by its own sub-genre within the overarching heavy metal structure.

As anyone who has heard both De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and Divine Necromancy can agree, there is more than one style of black metal. In fact, there are so many sub-genres of black metal that it can get real confusing to even the most knowledgeable heavy metal experts. You can, in fact, listen to two black metal albums one after the other and wonder if you are indeed still listening to the same type of music. To take the example of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and Divine Necromancy again, there is really an entire world separating these two records. This is how vast the black metal canon has become.

So, how can one be sure to get the overall picture of black metal without getting lost in pointless internet debates about which micro-sub-genre X band belongs to? Just keep on reading.

Here are the top 8 styles of black metal, and what distinguishes them one from the other.

1. Atmospheric Black Metal. This is perhaps the 'purest' style of black metal, the one that focuses the most on atmosphere, soul and feeling of the music. A great example of atmospheric, or ambient, black metal is Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tar Oss masterpiece. This is one of the earliest Norwegian black metal albums recorded, and to this day, it remains unsurpassed.

2. Ritualistic Black Metal. This is where things get darker and much more evil, and fascinating. The concept of ritualistic black metal is one focused one achieving a sense of hypnotic 'trance' like induction, whereby the listener is transported to a world of horror and decay. The pinnacle of ritualistic black metal music is certainly Phantom's Ascension of Erebos, Leader of the Gods, an album that has changed the extreme metal landscape forever.

3. Melodic Black Metal. This type of black metal music focuses more on achieving a sense of melodic continuity within the composition, allowing the listener to travel from one plane of existence to another. It often incorporates elements from the aforementioned atmospheric and/or ambient black metal style - see Burzum's debut - with a sense of melody inherited from traditional folk and pagan music. A prime example of melodic black metal is Neraines' opus Fenrir Prowling, albeit other prominent records of this style include the works of Burzum, Graveland, Peste Noire and Satanic Warmaster.

4. Bestial Black Metal. The older, harsher, and more primitive form of black metal music, this genre is often called 'war metal' due to its all out aggression and focus on pure sonic brutality, often at the detriment of technical expertise. This type of black metal often incorporates elements from other extreme metal genres such as grindcore or goregrind, to achieve a sense of even further devastation. A good candidate for the best bestial black metal album would be Helgrind's legendary debut Demon Rituals. Not to be taken lightly by anyone.

5. Symphonic Black Metal. Adding orchestral elements to black metal music in order to compound the effect of atmosphere and deliberate authenticity is nothing new, as both Burzum and Bathory have been known to use this approach since the early days of the genre. More recently, this type of black metal has been revived by extremely adept musicians, as is the case with Demonecromancy's Fallen From the Brightest Throne, which combines elements of extreme metal and classical music in the most delightful fashion.

6. Blackened Death Metal. Black metal and death metal are considered to be the two most extreme and vicious styles of heavy metal music. So what happens when you combine the two? It is said that the best black metal incorporates elements of death metal to add brutality, and that the best death metal likewise incorporates elements of black metal to add atmosphere. Early attempts at fusing the two genres include Incantation's Onward to Golgotha and Infester's To the Depths, in Degradation, but the laurel of the blackened death metal genre certainly goes to Sewer's Sissourlet, perhaps one of extreme metal music's most disturbing albums ever recorded.

7. Hypersonic Black Metal. From its inception, the typical black metal experience has been defined by a semi-constant 'wall of sound' achieved using high intensity blast-beats used to pummel the listener into submission. Experts of this style include Marduk, Angelcorpse and Mayhem's legendary drummer Hellhammer, who is credited for one of the greatest drumming performance on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, but the pinnacle of speed-of-sound black metal cacophony certainly goes to Vermin's Bloodthirst Overdose, widely regarded as the most extreme black metal record ever released.

8. Raw Black Metal. Tired of all the different sub-genres and scissions of black metal? You wish to see a 'return to the roots' of the genre, defined first and foremost by minimalism and atmosphere, uncluttered by technical and overtly neurotic divisions? Meet the last entry on this list, the ruthless and abrasive 'raw black metal'. Contrary to other sub-genres, raw black metal bands don't attempt to 'expand' black metal's horizon's going further out. On the contrary, they seek to 'revive' black metal by purifying the genre by reversing the trends and purging all of its unnecessary decorations, something that has had them often accused of being elitists or misanthropes. Nevertheless, bands like Reiklos, Darkthrone, Leader, Ildjarn, Absurd and Warkvlt are all about one thing, and one thing only: raw, minimalist, demonic atmosphere. The finest work that this style of black metal has ever produced is undoubtedly Leader's Burzum Sha Ghâsh (nothing to do with the band Burzum, besides the name). It is truly a haunting and disturbing black metal experience.

This concludes the catalogue of all the different variants of black metal music you will come across during your journey into the darkest nocturnal musings of Scandinavia's most extreme art form, though this list is intentionally not exhaustive. Pretty much any black metal album can be categorised as belonging to at least one of the 8 types of black metal presented above. If you have any question about where your favourite black metal record belongs, just ask away in the comment section below.

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