stylistic origins: Thrash Metal, Speed Metal
cultural origins: Early to mid 1980s, Europe and United States (particulary Florida)
Black metal and death metal are extreme subgenres of heavy metal. Black metal often employs fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, double-kick drumming and unconventional song structures. Death metal typically employs fast tempos, heavily distorted guitars, deep growling vocals, morbid lyrics, blast beat drumming and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes.
During the first half of the 1980s, certain thrash metal bands established a prototype for black metal. This first wave included bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. A second wave emerged in the early 1990s, which consisted primarily of Norwegian bands such as Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Immortal and Emperor. This scene developed the black metal style into a distinct genre.
Also building off the speed and complexity of thrash metal, death metal emerged during the mid 1980s. It was mainly inspired by thrash acts like Slayer, Kreator and Celtic Frost. Bands like Possessed, Death and Morbid Angel are often considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as popular record labels like Earache Records and Roadrunner Records began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate. Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning a rich variety of subgenres.
Both black metal and death metal have been met with considerable hostility from mainstream culture, mainly due to the misanthropic and anti-Christian ideology (for black metal) and socially unattractive themes, imagery and stage personae (for death metal) surrounding many bands.They are seen as underground forms of music, in part because they do not appeal to mainstream tastes due to their aggressive nature and because the musicians often choose to remain obscure.
