Notus-glad we haven't scared you away from music.
Xaris-Oh well, no harm done. I guess I will finish it.
Black metal- Black metal is one of the more extreme forms of metal, and is characterized by blastbeat drumming, tremolo riffing, an 'evil' sound, an overall lacking amount of bass and lots of elitist fans. And, unfortunately, bad production. Good bands include Gorgoroth, Burzum, Darkthrone, and (for beginners perhaps?) Dimmu Borgir.
Doom metal- Doom metal is one of the more extreme but also varied subgenres. I believe this short piece here sums up most doom subgenres, but feel free to argue and correct me.
Doom Metal
Doom Metal is a form of metal which can be split into lots of different (sub)subgenres. Doom metal started out by bands taking influences from the slow tempos of early black sabbath and pentagram. Doom metal recieves a lot of criticism, mainly because it is so slow, and also because lots of the more fringe subgenres (sludge, drone, funeral) are not easy listening. I myself often enjoy listening to funeral and drone doom, with the occasional bit of sludge.
The types of doom metal are:
Traditional-traditional doom includes band likes candlemass, pentagram and saint vitus. It was basically slowed down heavy metal, and some bands in this category are 'epic doom'-bands that create an epic atmosphere through concept albums and fantasy lyrics.
stoner- stoner doom is close to traditional doom but with a psychedelic rock influence, and obviously a drugs influence. Music tends be very hypnotic. Bands include sleep, high on fire and electric wizard (who sometimes cross into sludge doom).
Sludge- Sludge is a type of doom that sometimes crosses into hardcore. The point of sludge is to combine slow (sometimes dissonant and abrasive) riffing with hardcore-esque vocals (sometimes). Lots of the pioneering sludge bands had a stoner attitude and influence in the music, but without the positivity and with a heavy dose of nihilism. Bands include Grief, MOSS, Monarch! and fleshpress.
Death/doom- This is a crossover of death and doom. It has spawned hundreds of bands, proving to be quite popular. Bands such as my dying bride, and dISEMBOWLMENT.
Funeral doom-Funeral doom is the second slowest of all doom subgenres. Doom puts a great deal of emphasis on the atmosphere of the music, trying to create an oppressive and despairing atmosphere. I did some bpm (beats per minute) on some funeral doom songs, and they range from 30bpm to 60bpm (normally songs range from 120-180). Its songs are quite long, often stretching above ten minutes. Funeral doom bands include pantheist, ahab, skepticism, and thergothon.
Drone doom- Drone doom is the slowest type of doom. It is even less easy listening that funeral doom, practically removing vocals, drums, and anything that makes a beat discernable. If vocals are there they are in a screaming manner, and drone doom relies a lot on the ambience and atmosphere of the music. There is no actual beat behind most of the music, so I could not try to measure the bpm. Notable bands include earth, Sunn O))), (early) Boris, and khanate.
Black/doom (dark metal) - This is a small but good subgenre of doom. It is the combination of black metal (the most emotional genre) and doom (the most atmospheric) and can create excellent results. The lyrical themes often include sadness and despair, as does the general ambience of the music, and may use black metal riffs as well as distorted doom and slow sad clean riffs. Bands include bethlehem, dolorian and (some) barathrum.
