Your way in
Atmospheric black metal 1994
Long songs, hypnotic repetition and synth textures. The landscape matters more than the riff.
- Heaviness
- 8
- Speed
- 7
- Melody
- 6
- Where from
- Global
- Tempo
- 90-200 bpm
- Song length
- 7-15 min
- Written about
- Landscape, Seasons and deep time, Grief, Ecology, on the American side
- Vocals
- Growled or shrieked
Why this one
| You said | Atmospheric black metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| A growl or a shriek When someone is singing, what should come out? | harsh | 100% | ×3 |
| Quick and driving What pace? | 7 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| Somewhere else entirely What should the words be about? | Landscape, Seasons and deep time, Grief, Ecology, on the American side | 50% | ×1 |
| Something to hold on to Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 6 out of 10 | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 93% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 4 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, pace 2, about 1, melody 1 out of 7. Atmospheric black metal ties with the next, and won on being the broader of the two. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Darkthrone, A Blaze in the Northern Sky 1992
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The production is intentional, not a flaw.
- 2The one to put on first
Wolves in the Throne Room, Two Hunters 2007
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters. Four tracks, close to an hour.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Black metal, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Atmospheric black metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Melodic death metal 93%
Iron Maiden-style guitar harmonies over screamed vocals. The Gothenburg scene later became the foundation of American metalcore.
4 steps from Atmospheric black metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Melodic death metal -
Celtic metal 86%
Irish melodies and traditional instruments over black or heavy metal.
4 steps from Atmospheric black metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Celtic metal
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- A growl or a shriek put 78 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Blues rock, Doom metal. Worth 3 of 7.
- Somewhere else entirely put 106 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Alternative rock. Worth 1 of 7.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.