Melodic black metal is a sub-genre of black metal. Melodic black metal is a style of music that is classified according to several key aspects. The style encompasses typical black metal characteristics, such as growled or shrieked vocals, blast beats, and heavily distorted guitars. The music style, however, differs from traditional black metal in several ways. Melodic black metal is usually slower, and the songs, even though they generally have no choruses, have a more defined structure. Heavy guitar riffs are used throughout the songs even though clean guitar sections are generally incorporated, and the appearance of guitar solos is not uncommon. Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... Melodic death metal, (also referred to as Gothenburg metal, melodeath, and post-death) is a subgenre of death metal. ... Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Symphonic metal is a term used to describe metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that sound similar to a classical symphony. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, which is then amplified. ... The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is a bass string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping,popping or using a pick. ... A drum kit (or drum set or trap set - the latter an old-fashioned term) is a collection of drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a sole percussionist (drummer), usually for jazz, rock, or other types of contemporary music. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... Blast beats are drum beats consisting of torrents of alternating snare and bass drums which increase the speed, density, and percussiveness of death metal, black metal and grindcore. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, which is then amplified. ...

The genre reputably draws its roots from black metal and melodic death metal. Melodic black metal is sometimes confused with gothic metal, doom metal, and symphonic black metal due to similarities in the styles (slow tempos, occasional death screams, clean guitars, defined structures), which results in the erroneous genre classification and overlapping for many bands and albums (in particular, with symphonic black metal). This article is about the musical genre. ... Melodic death metal, (also referred to as Gothenburg metal, melodeath, and post-death) is a subgenre of death metal. ... Gothic metal is a genre of heavy metal music that originated during the mid 1990s in Europe as an outgrowth of doom-death, a fusion genre of doom metal and death metal. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Symphonic Black Metal is a fusion genre, combining elements of black metal and symphonic metal. ...

Melodic black metal songs usually have typical structures and characteristics. A song typically consists of harmonic minor scales, often modulating violently between minor chords by thirds (e.g., F♯m-Am-Cm, etc.) Many of the songs incorporate heavy guitar power chords, but unlike traditional black metal, the songs have at least some control on the volume, allowing the music to blend instead of sounding too "noisy". The songs usually begin with a melodic introduction, be it clean guitar or keyboards and usually move on to a more aggressive and distorted sound as the piece advances. Unlike typical black metal songs, melodic black metal compositions have, on the most part, very clearly defined bridges. Songs generally go from introduction to verse to a prechorus to chorus to verse to prechorus to chorus and then to a bridge. In a bridge the music can turn quite mellow, unlike black metal. The bridge, however, turns back into the verse or the black metal sound with a very swift and unexpected turn (usually a loud death grunt). A minor scale in musical theory can be viewed as the sixth mode of the major scale. ... In popular music, especially occidental, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section. ...

Unlike traditional black metal, melodic black metal usually revolves around deep structure and accessibility. The lyrical themes and main attributes, however, still come from black metal, with melodic black metal's lyrical subjects usually remaining the same (although many melodic black metal bands are not as aggressively anti-Christian). Like most black metal bands, the lyrics are usually quite aggressive, whether added intentionally or bearing the aggression of the lyricist. Heavy drumming and highly structured guitar riffs (usually played with what some call reverse, or inverted, power chords and tremolo picking) are the most prominent feature of the genre, entailing melodic structure deep within the composition and sound. Anti-Christian prejudice is a negative categorical bias against Christians — both individually and collectively — or against Christianity as a whole. ...

Melodic black metal has remained, on the most part, uniquely an underground phenomena. The genre's most popular bands are relatively obscure, one notable exceptions being Dimmu Borgir. Dimmu Borgir (pronounced Dim-moo-bore-gear ) is a symphonic black metal band from Norway. ...

The physical appearance of melodic black metal musicians has remained very close to that of traditional black metal bands. Band members use corpse paint for live performances, spikes, and black clothing. They generally use pseudonyms or stage names and choose to remain unknown in mainstream circles. Abbath and Horgh of Immortal Corpse paint (sometimes a single word, corpsepaint) is a style of black-and-white makeup used extensively by black metal bands during live concerts and photo shoots. ...

List of notable melodic black metal bands

• Agathodaimon
• Ancient
• Borknagar (early works)
• Catamenia
• Chthonic
• Cradle of Filth (early albums; later ones are debated)
• Children of Bodom (first two albums only)
• Dark Fortress
• Dissection
• Dimmu Borgir (late albums)
• Graveworm
• Hecate Enthroned
• Illnath
• Lord Belial
• Morgul
• Moonshine
• Mörk Gryning
• Naglfar
• Nokturnal Mortum
• Old Man's Child
• Rotting Christ
• Tvangeste