Doom Metal

Doom metal is a form of heavy metal music that typically employs very slow tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much 'thicker' or 'heavier' sound than other metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair dread, and impending doom.

The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal with songs such as "Black Sabbath" and "Into the Void". During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands from England (Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General) and the United States (Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble) defined doom metal as a distinct genre.

Lyrics in doom metal play a very important role. Often, they are pessimistic in nature, and include themes such as suffering, depression, fear, grief, death and anger. While some bands write lyrics in introspective and personal ways, others convey their themes using symbolism, which may be inspired by various types of literature.

Some doom metal bands use religious themes in their music, perhaps more so than other heavy metal bands. Trouble, one of the genre's pioneers, was among the first to incorporate Christian imagery. Others have incorporated occult and pagan imageries. For many bands, the use of religious themes is for aesthetic and symbolic purposes only.

Political themes have always been present in the genre, and are most common among sludge doom bands. This is largely due to their connection with hardcore punk. Such bands often harbour a certain degree of resentment towards society and may write about social injustice, corruption and conflict.

Additionally, some doom bands write lyrics about drugs or drug addiction. This is most common among stoner doom bands, who often describe hallucinogenic or psychedelic experiences.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Doom metal".