Blackgaze

Introduction

The 2010s have been an interesting year for music as a whole, and metal especially. We have seen many trends all throughout the various subgenres, but one has been talked about much more frequently than its peers. A genre that is as loved as much as it is hated, this is the genre of blackgaze. First taking roots in the later years of the 2000s it grew to immense popularity in the 2010s and has grown to its own international scene, with pioneers of the style coming from all over the globe rather than just a single location. The scene is vast and can feel a bit daunting to newcomers who don't know where to start, combined with some confusion as to what the genre actually is even among veterans. So here I hope to clear up some misconceptions and explain what it is and the interesting history of the scene, as well as being a guide on where to dive into the genre.

What's the difference between atmospheric black metal, post-black metal and blackgaze?

This is an issue I see very commonly with people attempting to get into the genre. The terminologies can get confusing at times, there isn't even conclusiveness from blackgaze veterans. So here is a brief summary of what I've personally come to understand from the conversations and articles I've read on the topic as well as my own personal listening experiences, but know that I am not claiming to be an authority on it and other people may draw similar or different conclusions than I did because it's still an ongoing debate.

ATMOSPHERIC BLACK METAL: Atmsopheric black metal is an umbrella term that encompasses any kind of black metal that moves black metal away from its parent genre towards a less aggressive tone, utilizing softer textures, reverb and sometimes using synthesizers, classical or folk instrumentation. Black metal bands that have ambient/dark ambient elements in their music can also be included under the umbrella of atmospheric black metal.

POST-BLACK METAL: The definition of post-black metal is complicated in its origins, because it has changed around quite a bit over the years. To pull from the last.fm definition of the term

The most appropriate definition of the term would be music in which the core elements of black metal are the subjects of experimentation. Alternatively, to paraphrase music critic Simon Reynolds' early definition of post-rock, ''post-black metal is music in which elements of black metal are used for non-black metal purposes.''

Over time, however, it has come to mean colloquially the black metal bands that take major influence from the various post- genres or is used interchangeably with blackgaze (an example of this is how RYM doesn't even have a post-black metal section instead just a blackgaze section that mentions post-black as a commonly used term)

BLACKGAZE: Blackgaze at its very core is not just "black metal mixed with shoegaze". To pull from last.fm again

The blackgaze sound is a mixture of black metal aesthetics with more dreamy and mellow textures. One of the main characteristics of the genre are tremolo picking riffs creating an ethereal wall of sound, which is softer than usual black metal and resembling Shoegaze (hence the name). Other common features are rapid blast beats and shrieking vocals, often interchanging with slower sections, clean singing and acoustic or Post-Rock-like instrumental breaks.

That is what makes it different from even the colloquial version of post-black metal. Lots of blackgaze bands will draw upon post- influences, but simply because you have post- influences does not mean that it is a blackgaze band. To be blackgaze it still has to have that aforementioned "dreamy and mellow texture" paired with the aesthetics of black metal. Therefore, bands like Altar of Plagues and Agalloch, while do have post- influence in their music, are generally not considered to be blackgaze.

What is shoegaze?

This is best handled by the lovely folks over at r/shoegaze who have a wonderful explanation on their wiki which states

Shoegaze, for the most part, is a subgenre of Alternative Rock characterised by heavy guitar distortion through effects pedals, used to create a wall of sound.

It of course left an impression during the formative years of the blackgaze pioneers and that impression later lead to its fusion with black metal aesthetics. For those interested in listening to more shoegaze, their wiki has a very comprehensive list of bands to check out.

Primary Influences

Before getting into the genre at hand, a brief history is in order. Though blackgaze was only developed after the turn of the 21st century, it's origins can be traced back to the original atmospheric black metal bands that appeared in the Scandinavian scene. Black metal itself of course has its roots set with the first wave of black metal which generally were found in other subgenres such as thrash, speed, doom or plain heavy metal. There were many influential bands in the first wave but the one that helped plant the seeds of atmospheric black metal is Bathory with their "Viking Metal" era, first beginning with the album Blood Fire Death, though it is still merely the seed of the later atmospheric scene and is not representative of what they became.

The crop from that atmospheric seed was sown within the second wave of black metal, beginning with the ever controversial one man band Burzum fronted by Varg Vikernes. With Burzum's early discography, prior to Varg's arrest, was the first example of atmospheric black metal where he took in influence from ambient music and popularized the custom of using synthesizers to produce that ever lovely atmosphere.

Following Burzum's example many other bands took up the mantle of atmospheric black metal, expanding it in many different ways. These bands as well as many others set the stage for the following years, ushering in the Atmospheric Black Metal genre.

It is from there that we move onto the beginning of a little project called Alcest, formed by Neige in the early 2000s while he was still in Peste Noire. It was then in 2001 that he and his fellow members released the demo Tristesse Hivernale which was pretty standard raw black metal. Nary a trace of what was to come. Next in the saga of Alcest was the 2005 EP Le Secret, here is where we start to see the foundation. Though still dark, this record is where Neige begins to experiment with his sound. This culminates with the release of their first full length album in 2007, Souvenirs d'un autre monde. Here is where we see the true Alcest and what Neige hoped to accomplish. Gone were the melancholic sounds of Le Secret, instead replaced by this cheerfulness and innocence which is a stark contrast from the other black metal bands at that time. It was a kind of style that nobody really saw coming, even in the atmospheric black metal scene there was never any glimpses of what Neige brought to the genre and his influence cannot be understated.

While of course there were other early pioneers of the genre (listed below in the Blackgaze Pioneers and Popular Bands section) I'm going to move the story to the early 2010s, more specifically 2013. This marked a big shift in the attention of the genre, for this was the year that Deafheaven released their sophomore album Sunbather. Up until this point blackgaze enjoyed decent success and it was blossoming into its own scene, with the release of Sunbather the genre of blackgaze blasted onto the mainstream. Sunbather was critically successful and many reviewers at the time were heaping tons of praise upon the record, subsequently it then started to bring in a crowd of listeners from even outside the metal community.

Still, Deafheaven was controversial. By their own admission they do not consider themselves to be a black metal band stating on the second slide

“It’s the reason we don’t call ourselves a black metal band, because we’re not. We’re influenced by it, but we don’t have the ethos, the aesthetic or really the sound of one at this point, because there are way too many other influences in our sound. And that’s not just from the post-rock thing either, we have influences from alternative rock, Slayer and early Metallica."

Despite all that they very much are a blackgaze band and remain an important part of the scene, helping launch the genre to the success that it had. In the coming years we saw many, many articles and opinions pop up about the genre. Many articles defending Deafheaven and many articles bashing them. People saying that blackgaze was the future of metal, and others saying that it was the end of it.

What happened since then? Nothing really. Metal of course isn't dead and blackgaze continues to produce great bands and music. It has found its own niche. With the exception of Deafheaven blackgaze isn't getting the same mainstream attention that it got early on. Blackgaze is in its own little corner, bands producing the music that they want rather than simply copy-pasting the Deafheaven formula and it's done wonders for the genre at large.

Blackgaze Pioneers and Popular Bands

These are the big boys, the bands that pioneered the genre and brought it to the state that it is today as well as the bigger names that most people are aware of. Consider this a "blackgaze starter guide".

Alcest (France) - Of course Alcest needs no introduction. The entire discography is worth a listen but I recommend starting with Écailles de lune, because this is where there is more of a prominent black metal sound than on Souvenirs d'un autre monde. But really you can pick any album of theirs (as a heads up their album Shelter has about zero traces of metal in it and is mostly a shoegaze/dream pop album) and it'll be a good starting point.
Amesoeurs (France) - Also of interest is Neige's other project Amesoeurs, which is a lot darker than Alcest's usual sound. The clean vocals are all done by Audrey Sylvain (unrelated to the band Sylvaine). The project disbanded in 2009 and have only released an EP, a split with Valfunde and a single self titled album.
Lântlos (Germany) - This is yet another project graced by Neige's touch. After the release of their self titled debut the band found themselves short a vocalist and Neige stepped in, helping usher in the fabulous 2010 record .neon. Lantlôs does take a lot of cues from the shoegazier elements of Alcest but it still is very different, in Alcest it's that cheerful kind of innocence whereas Lantlôs is far more emotionally draining. Later though Neige left the group and Markus was left to pick up vocal duties.
Deafheaven (United States) - Also needing no introduction, Deafheaven plays a style of blackgaze distinctly different from the other peers due to the introduction of elements from pop and other alt rock genres and it makes for a much brighter and shriller sound. It's also what most people think of when they think of the "blackgaze sound". A good place to start is Sunbather, but I personally believe that New Bermuda is their best record because it sounds much heavier than Sunbather.
Heretoir (Germany) - Heretoir was an early adopter of blackgaze with prominent DSBM influence style, releasing the demo Existenz in 2008, the EP .Existenz. in 2009 which followed into the a split album with Thränenkind and then their debut self titled album. Here they take on much more of a post-rock influence and at times have acoustic passages that eerily sounds like something you'd hear on early Agalloch. They released Existenz and .Existenz. in the compilation album Substanz. Then came 2017's The Circle which is almost entirely different from anything Heretoir has put out in the past. I wouldn't say it's a bad different per se but if you just came off of the self titled record it'd give you a shock of how different it is. Where Heretoir's earlier work was depressing and melancholic, this one remains melancholic but feels much more spacey, atmospheric and clean. That being said, I do think the self titled is the best place to start.
An Autumn for Crippled Children (Netherlands) - Their debut album Lost takes a much rawer approach to things with only a little of their later sound peering through. It is far more darker and melancholic than the other pioneers. This changed though on the subsequent albums. You can see a gradual shift in tonality on each record as it grows dreamier and brighter. Lost, is what I feel is their most solid record but in terms of their later sound Try Not to Destroy Everything You Love is good choice.
Woods of Desolation (Australia) - Though they were making music around the same time as the pioneers, they originally were pure raw black metal in their early demos and splits, only adding atmosphere to their debut record Toward the Depths. This changed with the release of Torn Beyond Reason where there is a very visible lean towards post-rock and shoegaze along with a much cleaner and polished production style. Their early records are still solid but for the blackgaze sound I recommend Torn Beyond Reason
Harakiri for the Sky (Austria) - Harakiri for the Sky I feel is the best band for people that want to get into blackgaze but don't like the overtly dreamy textures and brighter atmospheres that bands like Alcest and Deafheaven have to offer. They are far more direct and actually have riffs at their disposal. Throughout their entire discography they've gone with this approach and it's very much a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude, some may not like that they don't experiment much but they've come up with a very solid formula that makes them stand out in post-rock leaning blackgaze ocean for good reason. The entire discography is solid but I recommend Aokigahara to begin.
Bosse-de-Nage (United States) - Bosse-de-Nage always had decent success from their inception but with the release of All Fours in 2015 and Further Still in 2018 they quickly became a well known band in the scene. Musically they play a style of blackgaze mostly influenced by post-hardcore and post-rock, almost reminiscent of Deafheaven but not quite as cheerful sounding. I recommend All Fours and Further Still to start.
Astronoid (United States) - Astronoid is cut from the same cloth as Deafheaven taking a far greater alt rock (also a healthy dose of prog) influence to their music and is arguably even brighter and more cheerful than Deafheaven. They also do not have any unclean vocals whatsoever and the clean vocals they sound very reminiscent of the pop punk/emo stylings of the 2000s. So obviously it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea. To start I'd recommend 2016's Air. Their self titled album they released this year is also very good. (edit - Note: The self titled may not be blackgaze, at the very least it is different from Air.)
Ghost Bath (China) - This totally 100% Chinese band that is not actually from North Dakota and lied about being Chinese has had an interesting history. Their first EP and full length album leaned HARD on the DSBM influence with wails that sounded like a banshee and an overall depressing melancholic atmosphere. Once they released the album Moonlover though, the tone shifted drastically and took a much brighter approach to their production. Where Funeral was depressing, Moonlover instead was happy and cheerful. To begin I recommend Funeral, I think it's a fantastic record.
Møl (Denmark) - Møl is the new blackgaze darling that most of the community is gushing over due to the release of their 2018 album Jord. Other than 2 EPs this is their debut making music and they bring a fierce energy to their sound that almost sounds like you're hearing a hardcore band make blackgaze. Rather than the melancholy that you usually get with blackgaze you instead get this upbeat crazy energy that is hard to dislike. Of course, check out Jord and keep an eye out for any future releases of theirs because it'll be interesting to see where they go and how they grow as a band.

Lesser Known Bands

Here are the little boys, the lesser known ones that deserve your attention and take the genre to stylistically interesting places. These bands are some of my personal favorites.

N R C S S S T (Lithuania) - The best way to describe N R C S S S T is with their own words from their bandcamp page. "A five-piece emerging from the shores of Baltic Sea. N R C S S S T - A combination of melody driven shoegaze and the raw aggression of modern black metal art." They only have one record under their belt so far, 2015's Schizophrenic Arts, but it's an awesome record regardless and very addicting.
Thränenkind/King Apathy (Germany) Thränenkind has a pretty interesting history. They're an early adopter of the style but never quite got the same acclaim and attention as the other bands here. They don't even have a MA page to their names. First formed in 2007, they released their demo Eine Momentaufnahme - Der Rest ist nur Einsamkeit in 2008 which has an interesting combination of elements from DSBM with post-rock. Then brought that post-rock influence to blackgaze pioneers Heretoir in their aforementioned split album. These two bands would be very close in the coming years, with members of both bands joining each other for albums. Like with Matthias Settele (Nathaneal) and Nils Groth joining Heretoir as a backing vocalist/bassist and drummer respectively. After the split album, they released two other fantastic records before changing the band name to King Apathy (also the name of their 2016 record) in 2017, releasing a split with Ancst in 2017 and finally their "debut album" Wounds in February earlier this year. Musically they continued with their stylings of very depressive black metal with post-rock and acoustic flourishes, though with The Elk, King Apathy and Wounds the vocals leaned more towards a hardcore style due to Nils Groth taking over vocal duties. The entire discography is solid but I think King Apathy is a good place to start.
Grauzeit (Germany) - Grauzeit is one of my personal favorites. They play a style of blackgaze very similar to Harakiri for the Sky, very direct and forward and they actually use riffs rather than overly relying on tremolos. They only have one full length album that was released in 2017 titled Symbiose. Their early EPs have a greater post rock influence and they have a single remixed album that's a bit hard to characterize because each song was remixed by a different person so they all sound radically different.
Vaura (United States) - This is a weird band. It has Kevin Hufnagel from fucking Gorguts and Toby Driver from Kayo Dot, they play a style of blackgaze with heavy influence from psychedelic rock and post-punk as well as some prog flourishes. Throughout both of their currently released albums they craft an atmosphere that sounds esoteric and ethereal. Either one is a good jumping point but the second one, The Missing, has more of a post-punk influence, while the first one Selenelion has a less polished production and doesn't have too pronounced of a post-punk influence.
Karg (Austria) - Originally I thought that Karg was just a sideproject from J.J (V. Wahntraum) of Harakiri for the Sky fame, but to my discovery Karg was in fact a band before Harakiri for the Sky ever existed. Here V. Wahntraum is the sole member and first began making music with the release of the 2008 record Von den Winden der Sehnsucht. This is an ambient black metal record with a tinge of folk influence along with a much more raw production. Over the years you could then see the post-rock slowly creep its way in, especially in the records released around the same time that Harakiri for the Sky began releasing their own music. The key difference between Karg and Harakiri is the fact that Karg has this kind of icey lo-fi tinge to the production, up until the release of the album Weltenas in 2016 where the production aligns more with Harakiri. The entire discography is fantastic, even the ambient BM era, so there isn't really a bad starting point for them but I'll personally recommend Apathie for the more lo-fi sound and Dornenvögel for the newer sound.
Sun Devoured Earth (Latvia) - The word to describe Sun Devoured Earth is "minimalist". This one man band alternates between incredibly lo-fi blackgaze, lo-fi shoegaze (with and without vocals), post-rock instrumentals, ambient music and with his first records it was arguably a drone and noise project. The only common thread between them is the simplicity of it, it's all slow and drone-esque with a thick layer of grime laden on top of it. Without a doubt the blackgaze that he does make is probably the most lo-fi blackgaze I've personally ever listened to. One word of warning though, he does use a drum machine. To start I recommend the EP Winter Songs.
Love // Paranoia (United States) - They play the same style of post-hardcore and post-rock influenced blackgaze as Deafheaven and Boss-de-Nage but don't feel as bright in their production (still is more bright than some other blackgaze bands). So far they only have a single album released from last year, Kanashi but it's a very good record and I even like it a little more than the former bands.
Show Me A Dinosaur (Russia) - Yeah, the name is shit but the music is not. Originally they were purely an instrumental band (except for the songs Dust and Rain on the 2014 record Dust). Early on their music leaned more towards the post-rock and shoegaze side of things with a little bit of BM influence. Then it became far more prominent on Dust (along with some post-metal influence), culminating in 2016 with their self titled record where there was nary an instrumental track in sight. Start with Dust for their instrumental stuff or the self titled album for their material with vocals. Also of interest is another instrumental band featuring Anton, the bassist, called Trna. They lean more towards black metal rather than shoegaze and post-rock but are still undeniably blackgaze and very good.
Bonjour Tristesse (Germany) - Solo project of Nathanael from Thränenkind/King Apathy and Heretoir. His first record was released back in 2010 and it is pretty much pure DSBM with a bit of post-rock influence here and there. The next album would only be released way later in 2018 titled Your Ultimate Urban Nightmare, with a vastly different sound, fitting squarely in the blackgaze umbrella with a cleaner style of production as well as Nathanael's vocals no longer being so reminiscent of DSBM.
So Hideous (United States) - First beginning in 2008 under the name So Hideous, My Love... This band takes the blackgaze formula and adds post-hardcore and, strangely enough, orchestral and neo-classical music. Now, this isn't like typical symphonic metal. It instead creates these sweeping soundscapes that mixes perfectly with the dreamy blackgaze sound. To date they have 2 EPs (released under So Hideous, My Love...) and 3 albums, one of which is a purely orchestral version of another album of theirs. I believe their album Laurestine is the best place to begin. Their other full length Last Poem/First Light is slightly different in that the orchestral elements aren't so front and center and it feels like it has more of a punch than Laurestine. Both are fantastic records though and either one is worth a listen.
Dystopia Nå! (Norway) - Dystopia Nå! is what happens when you take a base of progressive black metal and add post-rock, shoegaze and a little post-metal to the mix. Currently they have 2 albums released and both are very enjoyable listens, either one is a good starting point. So check out Dweller on the Threshold or Syklus.
Ingrain (Israel) - This band takes influences from all over the place and adds it to a very melodic and riff centric style of blackgaze. On their debut album Slough, you can hear influence from melodic black metal, punk, shoegaze, post-rock, doom metal (on seperate tracks, not all at once) and it's a very unique sound that I haven't seen in other blackgaze bands. Their EP Aembers is also a very good record.

Thank you all for the patience and support you've given me throughout this writing process, it's been a wild journey and this was so much fun to write.

But here are some extra bits. This is blackgaze that I feel do the style very well, but couldn't find much place for them in the list proper.

Violet Cold (as a heads up this isn't the only style of music Violet Cold plays, to the point that his genre on MA is "Various")

Sylvaine

Botanist

Černá (instrumental blackgaze)

Apocynthion

Unreqvited

Dopamine

There are of course many other blackgaze bands that I've looked over or missed entirely but I think this is a pretty good starting place for all those interested in the genre :)