Dark metal

Dark metal is a subgenre of heavy metal with stylistic origins coming from both gothic and extreme metal.

Dark themes

Although some authors argue that dark metal is a genre of heavy metal, there is a wide variety of opinions as to what elements, styles, or themes make metal dark.

Robert Palmer, rock critic for the New York Times, calls metal with themes of horror and violence dark, using the bands Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and Danzig as examples. In their books, Robert Walser and Richard D. Barnet agree that dark metal is music oriented towards the occult. Micah L. Issitt, Jeffrey Kaplan, Bryan Reesman, Joel MacIver, and Chuck Eddy all write that dark metal has gothic themes.

Musical characteristics

Many writers, including Ian Christe, music journalist Chuck Eddy, Sara Pendergast, Tom Pendergast, Natalie J Purcell, Brian Reesman, Jeff Wagner, and Steven Wilson, find that there is a melancholy tone that distinguishes dark metal bands from their contemporaries. This tone has been variously described as "morose beauty", "broody", "beautiful and romantic", "sorrowful and haunting", "goth-tinged", and "gloomy".

Dark Metal

Dark Metal is the first full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem. It was re-released in 1999 by Solid Recs./Selbstmord Services on LP format, after being re-released on MC format on Morbid Noize Records. Each re-release has a slightly modified cover. The cover shown here is the original one.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Bethlehem. 

References

External links

The Dark

The Dark may refer to:

Film and television

Literature

Music

Other uses

Lacuna Coil

Lacuna Coil is an Italian 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. Inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music, the members have been known, musically, for composing mid-tempo songs consisting of prominent guitar lines and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies to help create a melodic, detached sound. Much of the band's recent material, however, sees a heavier and more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of the guitars within the songs. The band's 2012 release, Dark Adrenaline, peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200. They have toured internationally and were nominated for a MTV Music Award.

History

Formation and debut EP (1994–98)

Vocalist Andrea Ferro and bassist/composer Marco Coti Zelati formed Sleep of Right in Milan, Italy, 1994, and recruited Raffaele Zagaria on guitars, and Michaelangelo Algardi on the drums. After releasing two demos, Bleeding Souls and Noise of Bolgia, Claudio Leo became the band's second guitarist, and Leonardo Forti replaced Michaelangelo on the drums after his departure. The band asked Cristina Scabbia, a friend, to sing background vocals briefly, which led to her officially joining the band. Soon after, the band changed their name to "Ethereal", and signed to Century Media at the end of 1997. Finding that the name Ethereal was already taken by a Greek band, they changed their name to Lacuna Coil, meaning "empty spiral".

Darkness

Darkness, the polar opposite to brightness, is understood to be an absence of visible light. It is also the appearance of black in a colored space.

Humans are unable to distinguish color when either light or darkness predominate. In conditions of insufficient light, perception is achromatic and ultimately, black.

The emotional response to darkness has generated metaphorical usages of the term in many cultures.

Scientific

Perception

The perception of darkness differs from the mere absence of light due to the effects of after images on perception. In perceiving, the eye is active, and that part of the retina that is unstimulated produces a complementary afterimage.

Physics

In terms of physics, an object is said to be dark when it absorbs photons, causing it to appear dim compared to other objects. For example, a matte black paint does not reflect much visible light and appears dark, whereas white paint reflects much light and appears bright. For more information see color.

Light cannot be absorbed without limit. According to the principle of the conservation of Energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be converted from one type to another. Consequently, most objects that absorb visible light reemit it as heat. So, although an object may appear dark, it is likely bright at a frequency that humans cannot perceive. For more information see thermodynamics.