Blackgaze is a fusion genre combining elements of

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

. The word is a blend of the names of the two genres, described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "the buzz term for a new school of bands taking black metal out of the shadows and melding its

blast beat A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...

s, dungeon wailing and razorwire guitars with the more reflective melodies of

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

, shoegaze and

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

." According to ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', blackgaze "marries the harsh, alien instrumentation of black metal with the mellower, dreamy soundscapes of shoegaze." Influenced by

atmospheric black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

bands like

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

and Summoning, the genre was pioneered by French musician Neige around 2005 through the projects

Alcest Alcest is a French post-black metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (Stéphane Paut). It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, soon a trio, but following the release of their first demo in 2001, band membe ...

and

Amesoeurs Amesoeurs was a French post-punk/post-black metal band. A side project of Neige of Alcest, the group was formed in the summer of 2004 in Bagnols-sur-Cèze with the purpose of creating music that "reflects the dark side of the industrial era and ...

and has risen to prominence with the success of American group

Deafheaven Deafheaven is an American post-metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following i ...

. ''The Guardian'' named Deafheaven "blackgaze's de facto poster boys, the most likely to open up black metal to an even wider audience", and ''Exclaim!'' described their second album ''

Sunbather Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby Human skin color, skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a ta ...

'' – the most critically acclaimed album of 2013 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

– as seminal to blackgaze.

Development

Michael Nelson of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' tracks the origins of blackgaze to the early work of French musician Neige, who pioneered the fusion through projects including

and Lantlôs. According to Nelson, Alcest's 2005 EP '' Le Secret'' was "the birth of blackgaze"; he noted that it sounded "like a

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

collaborative split" and that " ughly half the time, vocals were delivered in an angelic coo; the other half, they were a raw, distant shriek". Natalie Zina Walschots of ''

'' also credits Neige with pioneering the style, while noting that American band

has pushed the genre to "greater prominence". Deafheaven's vocalist George Clarke himself cites the work of Alcest as "the blueprint" for the band's musical direction.

Reception

Some fans of traditional black metal and heavy metal more generally have criticized the genre for its success among those outside of the

metal community Fans of heavy metal music have created their own subculture that encompasses more than just appreciation of the style of music. Fans affirm their membership in the subculture or scene by attending metal concerts (an activity seen as central to th ...

, most prominently after the release of Deafheaven's 2013 album ''

''. However, this reaction was vastly overshadowed by critical acclaim for the album, which became one of the defining releases of blackgaze. Deafheaven have also managed to gather widespread appeal by way of playing mainstream music festivals, often being one of the sole metal-related acts performing.

References

{{Extreme metal Heavy metal genres Black metal subgenres Shoegaze 21st-century music genres

Development

Reception

See also

References