Death-doom (also known as death-doom metal or doom-death)
is a fusion genre of
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
and
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
. It combines the slow
tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep
growling vocals and
double-kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late 1980s and gained a certain amount of popularity during the 1990s, but had become less common by the turn of the 21st century.
In turn, death-doom gave rise to the closely related genre of
funeral doom
Funeral doom is a subgenre of death-doom with heavy influence from Dirge, funeral dirge music. Low-Guitar tunings, tuned Electric guitar, guitars, death growls, instruments that emulate pipe organ sounds and ponderous pace are typical traits of t ...
as well as to the more melodic, gloomy and romantic
gothic metal
Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...
.
History
The first signs of the death/doom genre originated in the mid-1980s when early progenitors like Dream Death began to mix traditional
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
with the sounds of the nascent
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
scene.
[Bardin, Olivier (May 2006). "Forgotten Doom: Raiders of the Lost Art", ''Terrorizer'' #144, p.56] Early records in the 1990s by such bands as
Autopsy
An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...
,
Winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
,
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...
,
My Dying Bride
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 15 studio albums, five EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release.
Along ...
and
Anathema
The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...
combined the doom sound of mid-1980s
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...
and
Candlemass with growling vocals, female vocals,
keyboards and, in the case of My Dying Bride, violins. The influence of these bands has been acknowledged by the likes of gothic metal bands
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other infl ...
,
Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded ten studio albums, two extended plays, two l ...
,
The Gathering, Celestial Season and
Saturnus.
The tag of death/doom seemed to become less popular towards the end of the decade as many of the scene progenitors abandoned their early sound to embrace a more accessible or palatable direction.
However, the style persists in the form of funeral doom, a genre that crosses death-doom with
funeral dirge music.
It is played at a very slow tempo, and places an emphasis on evoking a sense of emptiness and despair.
Typically, electric guitars are heavily distorted and
dark ambient
Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...
aspects such as
keyboards or
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s are often used to create a "dreamlike" atmosphere. Vocals consist of mournful chants or growls and are often in the background. Funeral doom was pioneered by
Mournful Congregation
Mournful Congregation is a funeral doom metal band from Adelaide, South Australia, which was founded in 1993, and has included members of Chalice (band), Chalice, Cauldron Black Ram and Esoteric (band), Esoteric.
History Beginnings (1993– ...
(Australia),
Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...
(United Kingdom),
Evoken
Evoken is an American funeral doom band from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States. Evoken is one of the earliest U.S. death-doom bands that are still active today, along with Novembers Doom and Rigor Sardonicous.
History Founding years
T ...
(United States),
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
(Norway),
Thergothon (Finland)
[Hinchcliffe, James (April 2006). "Funeral Doom / Dron Doom: Hearse Play", ''Terrorizer'' #143, pp.44-45.] and
Skepticism
Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...
(Finland).
[James Minton, Kim Kelly, and Jenn Selby, "Filth Parade", ''Terrorizer'' #188, September 2009, p. 56.]
See also
*
List of death-doom bands
This is a list of bands that play death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal.
List of bands
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Death-Doom Bands, List Of
Lists of doom metal bands
Lists of death metal bands ...
References
External links
{{Goth subculture
20th-century music genres
21st-century music genres
Death metal
Doom metal
Extreme metal