Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.[6] Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom.[2] The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath,[2] who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s,[2] a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre. Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass have been referred to as "the Big Four of Doom Metal".[7]
Characteristics
Instrumentation
The electric guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit are the most common instruments used to play doom metal (although keyboards are sometimes used), but its structures are rooted in the same scales as in blues.[1] Guitarists and bassists often down tune their instruments to very low notes and make use of large amounts of distortion, thus producing a very "thick" or "heavy" guitar tone, which is one of the defining characteristics of the genre.[8] Along with the usual heavy metal compositional technique of guitars and bass playing the same riff in unison, this creates a loud and bass-heavy wall of sound. Another defining characteristic is the consistent focus on slow tempos,[2] and minor tonality with much use of dissonance (especially in the form of the tritone), employing the usage of repetitive rhythms with little regard to harmonic progression and musical structure.[8]
Vocals
Traditional doom metal vocalists favor clean vocals, which are often performed with a sense of despair, desperation, or pain; imitating the high-tone wails of Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath),[9] Frank Ferrara (Bang), Bobby Liebling (Pentagram),[8] and Zeeb Parkes (Witchfinder General). So-called "epic doom" vocalists often take it a step further, singing in an operatic style. Doom metal bands influenced by other extreme metal genres often use growled or screamed vocals, as is the case of death-doom, black-doom, and funeral doom.
Lyrical themes
Lyrics in doom metal play a key role. Influenced by notable blues musicians like Robert Johnson and Son House,[1] normally they are gloomy and pessimistic,[9] including themes such as suffering, depression, fear, grief, dread, death, and anger. While some bands write lyrics in introspective and personal ways, others convey their themes using symbolism – which may be inspired by occultarts and literature.[1]
Some doom metal bands use religious themes in their music. Trouble, one of the genre's pioneers, were among the first to incorporate Christian imagery. Others have incorporated occult and pagan imagery.[10] For many bands, the use of religious themes is for aesthetic and symbolic purposes only. Examples include lyrics/imagery about the Last Judgment to invoke dread, or the use of crucifixes and cross-shaped headstones to symbolize death.
Furthermore, some doom metal bands write lyrics about drugs or drug addiction. This is most common among stoner doom bands, who often describe hallucinogenic or psychedelic experiences.
History
Origins (late 1960s–1970s)
The first traces of doom in rock music could be heard as far back as the Beatles' 1969 track "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".[11][12]Black Sabbath are generally regarded as the progenitors of doom metal.[2] Black Sabbath's music is (in and of) itself stylistically rooted in blues, but with the deliberately doomy and loud guitar playing of Tony Iommi, and the then-uncommon dark and pessimistic lyrics and atmosphere, they set the standards of early heavy metal and inspired various doom metal bands.[8] In the early 1970s, both Black Sabbath and Pentagram (also as side band "Bedemon") composed and performed this heavy and dark music, which would in the 1980s begin to be known and referred to as doom metal by subsequent musicians, critics and fans.[1] Joe Hasselvander, Pentagram's drummer also cited bands like Black Widow, Toe Fat, Iron Claw, Night Sun, and Zior as pioneers of the doom metal sound.[13]
Aside from Pentagram and Black Sabbath, other groups from the 1970s would heavily influence the genre's development. Blue Cheer is often hailed as one of the first stoner metal bands. Through the use of loud amplifiers and guitar feedback, their debut Vincebus Eruptum created a template for other artists to follow.[14] Though lacking the pessimistic lyrical content of their contemporaries, Welsh heavy metal band Budgie would also produce heavy songs which were amongst the loudest of their day, stylistically influencing various doom metal acts.[15]Led Zeppelin's No Quarter is considered as one of the earliest examples of a doom metal song made by a rock band.[16] Early doom metal was also influenced by Japanese psychedelic rock albums, such as Kuni Kawachi & Friends' Kirikyogen and Flower Travellin' Band's Satori.[17]Bang's 1971 self-titled debut is considered an important forerunner to doom metal.[18][19] Other notable groups include Sir Lord Baltimore,[20]Buffalo,[21]Necromandus,[22]Lucifer's Friend,[22] and Leaf Hound.[23]
Development (1980s)
During the early-mid-1980s, bands from England and the United States[2] contributed much to the formation of doom metal as a distinct genre. In 1982, English pioneers Witchfinder General released their debut album Death Penalty. During 1984, two American pioneers also released their debuts—Saint Vitus released their eponymous album and Trouble released Psalm 9. That same year, American band Cirith Ungol (formed in 1971) released their second studio album, King of the Dead—regarded by many as an early influence on doom.[24][25] The following year, American band Pentagram would go on to release their debut, Relentless. The Swedish Candlemass would also prove influential with their first record Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in 1986, from which epic doom metal takes its name.[26]
Some doom metal bands were also influenced by the underground gothic rock and post-punk scene of the 1980s, showing similarities with the dark themes addressed through lyrics and the atmosphere both music styles deal with. A doom metal band like Mindrot was often described as a cross-over between death metal and gothic rock.
Regional scenes
Like other extreme metal genres, doom metal also has regionally based scenes, with their own particular characteristics:
Finnish doom metal
In one of the greatest doom metal outputs, Finnish groups focus more on the depressive mood of the genre, evoking an intense grieving feeling.[27] The bands play with very slow tempos and melodic tones, creating an atmosphere of darkness and melancholia.[27][28] This scene was kick-started by the band Rigor Mortis (which, due to an older US band with the same name, changed their name to Spiritus Mortis), which originated in 1987.[29][30] Notable bands include Reverend Bizarre,[31]Minotauri,[30]Dolorian,[27]Shape of Despair,[27]Thergothon,[27]Skepticism,[27] and Unholy.[32]
Pioneered by black-doom bands like Ophthalamia, Katatonia, Bethlehem, Forgotten Tomb, and Shining, depressive suicidal black metal, also known as suicidal black metal, depressive black metal, or DSBM, is a style that melds the second wave-style of black metal with doom metal,[74] with lyrics revolving around themes such as depression, self-harm, misanthrophy, suicide, and death.[75][76] DSBM bands draw the lo-fi recording and highly distorted guitars of black metal, while employing the usage of acoustic instruments and non-distorted electric guitar's timbres present in doom metal, interchanging the slower, doom-like, sections with faster tremolo picking.[74] Vocals are usually high-pitched like in black metal, but lacking of energy, simulating feelings like hopelessness, desperation, and plea.[74] The presence of one-man bands is more prominent in this genre compared to others.[74] Examples of bands include Xasthur,[77]Leviathan,[74]Strid,[74]Silencer,[75][76] Make a Change... Kill Yourself,[74] and I Shalt Become.[75][76]
Drone metal (also known as drone doom) is a style of doom metal that is largely defined by drones; notes or chords that are sustained and repeated throughout a piece of music.[90][91][92] Typically, the electric guitar is performed with large amounts of reverb and feedback[90] while lacking the presence of drums and vocals.[63][93] Songs are often very long and lack beat or rhythm in the traditional sense.[63] Drone metal is generally influenced by drone music,[90]noise music,[90] and minimalist music.[90] The style emerged in the early 1990s and was pioneered by Earth,[94]Boris, and Sunn O))).[90]
Gothic-doom, also known as doom-gothic, is a style that combines more traditional elements of doom metal with gothic rock.[101][102] Gothic-doom bands usually play at slow and mid-tempos and employ the usage of instruments that are more related to classical music, alongside traditional doom metal instruments, in order to create darker and meditative atmospheres.[101] Doom-gothic lyrics combines the dramatic and romantic elements of gothic rock with the sorrowness and melancholy present in doom metal, while being more introspective and focused on personal experiences such as love, grief, irreparable loss, loss of faith, etc.[101] Unlike in gothic metal and death-doom, gothic-doom bands prefer the use of cleaner vocals instead of employing death growls,[102] although some of them employ harsher vocals occasionally, and avoid the usage of death metal-like riffage.[101] Bands labelled as gothic-doom include Weeping Silence,[103]the Foreshadowing,[102] Grave Lines,[104]Artrosis,[105]Ava Inferi,[106]Draconian,[107] and Type O Negative.[108]
Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom[8][66]) is a style that combines doom metal and hardcore punk.[8][66][2][93] Many sludge bands compose slow and heavy songs that contain brief hardcore passages.[34][38] However, some bands emphasise fast tempos throughout their music.[114] The string instruments are heavily distorted and are often played with large amounts of feedback to produce an abrasive, sludgy sound.[115][36] Drumming is often performed in typical doom metal fashion,[citation needed] but drummers may employ hardcore d-beat or double-kick drumming during faster passages. Vocals are usually shouted or screamed, and lyrics often focus on suffering, drug abuse, politics and anger towards society. The style was pioneered in the late 1980s by the Melvins, and in the 1990s by bands such as Eyehategod,[34]Crowbar,[38]Buzzov*en,[114]Acid Bath,[116] and Grief.[117]
Sludgecore
Sludgecore further combines sludge metal with hardcore punk, and possesses a slow pace, a low and dark pitch, and a grinding dirge-like feel.[118] Bands regarded as sludgecore include Acid Bath, Eyehategod, Soilent Green,[119][120] Black Sheep Wall, Admiral Angry, and The Abominable Iron Sloth.[121] Crowbar mixed "detuned, lethargic sludged-out metal with hardcore and southern elements".[122]
Influenced by 70s and 80s heavy metal,[138] traditional doom metal bands more commonly use higher guitar tunings, and do not play as slowly as many other doom bands.[63] Traditional doom bands typically play slow to mid-tempo songs with a thick and heavy sound with the electric bass following the melody line, and sometimes employ the usage of keyboards, although assuming a secondary role on traditional doom metal songs.[9] Vocals are usually clean with the occasional growl or scream.[63] The lyrics in traditional doom usually are eerie and dark like other doom metal divisions. Some bands who play traditional doom metal are Orodruin,[139][140]Reverend Bizarre,[141]Witchcraft, Saint Vitus,[9] and Count Raven.[9]