Heavy-Metal.Info

Death metal is a more extreme offshoot of thrash metal. The lyrics of this type of heavy metal music focus on dark, violent themes. The vocals are usually deep growls or high pitched screams. Thus, the lyrics are sometimes nearly unintelligible. This genre is also characterized by the use of highly distorted guitars.

Death metal and black metal are kinds of heavy metal music. The heavy metal genre began in Britain in the early 1970's as a combination of variations on American blues and psychedelic rock elements. In the late 1970's, the New Wave of British Heavy metal began when bands replaced much of the blues influence with tempos inspired by the new punk rock genre. The thrash metal genre took much of its inspiration from hardcore punk music. It is characterized by fast, complex guitar work.

Death metal branched off of the thrash metal genre. death metal songs particularly emphasize the guitar and drums. The guitars are usually distorted, and the drum work is very fast. The guitar work is sometimes fast as well. The themes of death metal lyrics are usually dark and gory. death metal vocals are very harsh and aggressive. The vocalists do not sing the lyrics in a tradition sense. Instead, they use deep growls and snarls which make the lyrics very difficult to decipher. The structure of the songs often diverge from the traditional verse and chorus structure. Death metal has been divided into a number of subgenres including melodic death metal, Scandinavian death metal, death/doom, and brutal death metal.

Like death metal, black metal is an offshoot of the thrash metal genre. It is influenced by thrash metal in its fast, highly distorted guitar work. Black metal songs also do not follow traditional song structures. Black metal lyrics usually reflect anti-Christian, pagan, or Satanic themes. However, some black metal songs have lyrics based on fantasy or European fokelore. Black metal contains raspy vocals and high pitched shrieks which do not resemble traditional singing or death metal's deep growls.

Blackened death metal, a subgenre of death metal, combines elements of black metal with the death metal genre. The vocals of blackened death metal resemble the death metal grunts and growls, but they are raspy and high pitched like black metal vocals.