Rock

Rock

Later styles of heavy rock music in the 1990s, such as grunge (the typical example being Seattle's Nirvana), show influences of heavy metal but are typically not labelled sub-genres of heavy metal, as opposed to thrash metal and hair metal. The general absence of virtuosic guitar solos is perhaps one reason grunge bands haven't been considered heavy metal bands. Another key artist during this time was Megadeth, which combined the relentless, speedy thrash metal riffs with the fancy guitar soloing of speed metal ala Judas Priest.

Norwegian Black Metal

Since the late '80s, the Norwegian

scene has been characterized by paganism, violence, and some of the

best heavy metal ever recorded.

The scene was largely influenced by a trio of non-Norwegian bands in

the 80s - Venom, Celtic Frost, and Bathory. England's Venom is widely

considered to be the first black metal band, and their campy satanic

posturing was a huge influence on Europe's extreme metal scenes. Their

second album, "Black Metal", gave the new genre its name.

the band that had the most

direct influence on Norway's extreme metal scene was a one-man studio

project from Sweden called Bathory. Bathory's album "Under the Sign:

The Sign of the Black Mark" pretty much defines the typical black

metal sound - loud, fast, and poorly recorded. However, the Viking

Trilogy, consisting of the albums "Blood, Fire, Death", "Hammerheart",

and "The Twilight of the Gods", is what really kicked off the

explosion of Scandinavian metal.

The early 90s saw the Norwegian metal scene rise in prominence on the

world stage as bands constantly tried to "out-evil" one another. Three

main bands emerged - Mayhem, Burzum, and Emperor.

(Especially Emperor, IMHO) Mayhem became the musical leader of the

scene, while Varg Vikernes of Burzum became the centerpoint of the

Black Metal "movement", for lack of a better word. Emperor, meanwhile,

garnered the most critical acclaim. Varg (aka "Count Grishnakh") was

responsible for starting a wave of church-burnings and grave

desecrations and eventually murdered Mayhem guitarist Euronymous.

Emperor has probably had the most lasting influence on

the scene, as the sound that they created has been the blueprint for

many bands such as Norwegian metal superstars Dimmu Borgir, as well as

a large number of non-Norwegian bands.

DIMMU BORGIR

Dimmu Borgir is a melodic black metal band hailing from Norway. Shagrath, Silenoz and Tjodalv initiated the band in 1993. Shortly after, Brynjard Tristan joined to play bass, and Stian Aarstad joined for keyboard duties. Dimmu Borgir was born. They are a band which success is measured with such bands as Emperor, Kreator and Cradle of Filth. I will without a doubt say that Dimmu Borgir is the best black metal band in the world today (webmaster's comment).

Haunting keyboard melodies, aggressive guitar work, destructive drums, grim/raw vocals and a touch of melodic/operatic vocals characterize Dimmu Borgir's sound. They are musically inspired by 80's black metal and heavy metal. Classic composers, like Wagner and Dvorak, also inspire them.

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