Death Metal vs Black Metal
There is hardly a soul that does not like rock music. Heavy metal or simply metal is a type of rock music that evolved in the 60’s and 70’s in UK and US and continued to develop to have many subgenres such as Black metal, Death metal, glam metal, thrash metal, speed metal, and so on. Out of all the subgenres of heavy metal, music lovers remain confused between Death metal and Black metal because of their similarities like distortion of sounds and growling vocals. However, there are differences between Black metal and Death metal that will be outlined in this article, to enable readers to enjoy these two distinct subgenres of heavy metal.
Black Metal
Black Metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that resulted when a group of thrash metal bands came together in the 80’s to create this music style. The leading bands in this endeavor were Celtic Frost, Venom, and Bathroy. The movement garnered momentum and during the 90’s it was spearheaded by many more bands, especially some bands from Norway that threatened to be creating an almost separate Black Metal genre. Black metal has always been characterized by distorted electric guitars, growling and shrieking vocals and fast tempo of songs that have unconventional structures. These bands also exhibited antichrist sentiments that was resented by mainstream heavy metal bands and also criticized by some music lovers. This was also the reason why many people referred to this kind of music as satanic music or satanic metal.
Death Metal
Some of the proponents of thrash metal and early black metal converged to give rise to an altogether subgenre of heavy metal referred to as Death metal. Bands like Venom and Celtic Frost that led to the development of Black metal were a great influence on the creators of Death metal. The early times of death metal were the times of bands like Obituary, Carcass, and Morbid Angel, while the movement gained strength from bands like Roadrunner and Combat during the 90’s. Death metal rose to a kind of popularity unheard of in heavy metal music. It has been patronized by so many bands that it diversified and led to the development of many different subgenres of its own. Harsh and blistering sounds, almost terrorizing vocals, unconventional guitar playing and drumming are some of the characteristics of death metal.
What is the difference between Death Metal and Black Metal?
• Death metal’s evolution and popularity owe a great to Black metal that also evolved from a separate subgenre called thrash metal of heavy metal genre.
• There is a wide variety in the case of Death metal and different bands playing death metal look like playing a distinct subgenre. On the other hand, there seems to be a common ground in the case of bands playing Black metal.
• The vocals in Death Metal have a characteristic growling sound that is not seen in Black metal vocals.
• Black metal has a lot of influence from other Scandinavian countries and at times looks outlandish to many Americans while Death metal seems like their own home grown music.