I took part in an AFD on Dark Metal. Dark Metal seems to mean many things to many people. I need a reference guide, so here is a detailed list of my research into dark metal:
Work | Authors | What is Dark Metal? | Bands | Year |
New York Times | Robert Palmer (writer) | themes of horror;[1] any heavy metal in the "horror" genre. | Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and Danzig | 1990 |
Billboard (magazine) | Bryan Reesman, also Odin Thompson (Napalm Records president) | A particular style of goth music[2] - synonym for goth metal? | Evergrey Implied: Evanescence, Cradle of Filth, Type O Negative, Switchblade Symphony, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, Moonspell, The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy, Tiamat, Lacuna Coil, Paradise Lost, Zeromancer, Deadsy, H.I.M | 2003 |
SPIN Magazine | Scott Burns (producer) | The precursor of Death Metal[3] | none mentioned | 1991 |
St. James encyclopedia of popular culture, Volume 2 | Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast | a subgenre of heavy metal[4] | Judas Priest and Iron Maiden | 2000 |
Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music | Robert Walser (musicologist) | "music oriented towards the occult"[5] | Black Sabbath | 1993 |
The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization | Jeffrey Kaplan (academic), Heléne Lööw | Genre with Gothic themes[6] | none mentioned | 2002 |
Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism | Chuck Eddy | Genre[7] - a subgenre of heavy metal with more melody than "extreme" trends. | The Gathering and Tiamat | 2011 |
Death Metal music: the passion and politics of a subculture | Natalie J Purcell and King Fowley (drummer & vocalist Deceased (band) | precursor of Death Metal; Also, "sorrowful and haunting" metal, "gloomy" metal | Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, My Dying Bride, Cathedral (band)[8] | 2003 |
Rolling Stone | J Edward Keyes | Genre | Tool[9] | 2009 |
Deutschland Today | not listed | Genre, a subgenre of -metal | Eisregen[10] | 2012 |
CMJ New Music Monthly | Ian Christe | Genre: "a fusion of ancient music expression with post-modernist metal" | Orphaned Land[11] Sepultura, Darkthrone | 1998 |
CMJ New Music Monthly | Matthew "Bucket" Boam, Rock Director of KFSR, Fresno | Genre: a subgenre of heavy metal[12] | Living Sacrifice | 2002 |
Controversies of the music industry | Richard D. Barnet, Larry L. Burriss | Example of occult subgenre of music: dark metal;[13] other examples are death metal and black metal | none mentioned | 2001 |
Extreme Metal II | Joel McIver | Label[14] note to self: Omnibus Press | Rotting Christ | |
CMJ New Music Monthly | Jenni Glenn | Genre[15] | Celtic Frost | 2002 |
Goths: A Guide to an American Subculture | Micah L. Issitt | genre of music, one of two (dark metal and death rock) that inspired Japanese goth music in the 1990s[16]
|
none mentioned | 2001 |
Billboard magazine | Katherine Turman | Genre[17] | Lacuna Coil | 2003 |
CDN Records | Specialized Record label, online only, three notable bands | Genre[18]- new, mostly non-notable metal bands | Agalloch, Argath, Blood of Christ, Crusader, Dagorlad, Genghis Tron, Hyperial, Luna Mortis, Promethean, S.C.A.L.P., Sixx, Soul Forsaken, Symphony in Acrimony, Templar | |
Massacre Records | Torsten Hartmann | Metal Genre[19] | Agathodaimon, Siebenbürgen | |
Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal | Jeff Wagner, Steven Wilson | Genre[20] "broody" | Amorphis, Drawn (band) Dark progressive metal: Agalloch, Sculptured, Umbra Nihil |
2010 |
Allmusic | Eduardo Rivadavia | "metallic subgenre"[21] | Insomnium | |
The Boston Globe | Jim Sullivan | "the latest" subgenre (1991) of heavy metal;[22] same as thrash metal and death metal. | Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Dark Angel, Mordred, Carcass, Celtic Frost, GWAR, Annihilator, Overkill, Exodus, Sepultura, Testament, Sacred Reich, Danzig, Napalm Death, Type O Negative and Voivoid. | 1991 |
The New York Beacon | Stancell, Steven | hard metal with satanic lyrics[23] | Deftones | 2000 |
Prior to 1994, journalists and writers were using the term dark metal to describe a style of metal or classify the somber or negatively-themed music of certain bands. For instance, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath attracted the label due to their horror and occult-themed lyrics and imagery. The thing that solidified dark metal into a recognized genre is the release of Bethlehem's album of the same name. After that release in 1994, any band with a style of metal similar to that of Bethlehem might be placed into the genre of dark metal, and many writers consider the band Bethlehem to be the originators of the dark metal genre.
I decided to search using "musik" instead of "music" on the hunch that there might be German sources. I was right.
This is a list of bands described as dark metal.