Atmospheric black metal, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Heavy metal 1970
It split off from hard rock and blues rock when Black Sabbath tuned down and wrote riffs on the tritone. Volume, riff and a code of its own - every branch below starts here.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Black Sabbath - the song Black Sabbath. The first thirty seconds are the genre's birth certificate.
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970) - 2 Then
Black metal 1982
Tremolo picking, blast beats, shrieked vocals and deliberately cold production. More an aesthetic than a technique - atmosphere matters more than clean sound.
Growled or shrieked. Unintelligible without a lyric sheet. The thing most newcomers bounce off.
Put on
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The production is intentional, not a flaw.
Darkthrone, A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) - 3 What you asked about
Atmospheric black metal 1994
Long songs, hypnotic repetition and synth textures. The landscape matters more than the riff.
Growled or shrieked. Unintelligible without a lyric sheet. The thing most newcomers bounce off.
Put on
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters. Four tracks, close to an hour.
Wolves in the Throne Room, Two Hunters (2007) - 4 Where to go next
Cyber metal 1998
Mechanised death metal with cold digital production, dual vocals and science-fiction themes.
Sung and screamed. Clean singing and harsh vocals trade off, often chorus against verse.
Put on
Fear Factory - Demanufacture. The kick drum sounds like a pneumatic hammer, deliberately.
Fear Factory, Demanufacture (1995)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Atmospheric black metal descends from, in order. Atmospheric black metal has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.