Blackgaze Archive

So - for the unitiated. What is Blackgaze?

Blackgaze is a descendent of Atmospheric Black Metal, disgarding the unending brashness of black metal for an ethereal and drowning wall of sound akin the the British Shoegaze movement of the late 90's. Thus the name Blackgaze was coined.

Black Metal was a style of extreme metal born out of Thrash in the late 80's, with bands like Bathory, Venom, and Celtic Frost - thus creating the First Wave of Black Metal. It was lo-fi, focused on fast riffs and heavy emphasis on Satanism. However, more importantly, in the 90's Black Metal would be reborn in what's known as the Second Wave of Black Metal. Spearheaded by bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Burzum, 2nd Wave Black Metal was faster, even more lo-fi, disregarding the Thrash influence with even more focus on atmosphere and much darker. Burzum, more importantly, was the leading mind behind Atmospheric Black Metal. It was Black Metal played at a slower pace with much more focus on repetition and synthesizer use to create a dark atmosphere. Then, what feels like on the other side of the music spectrum, we have Shoegaze. Shoegaze was born out of Britian in the early 90's. With influence from Post-Punk and Dream Pop, Shoegaze used experimental production techniques and a notorious overuse of effect pedals to create washing walls of sound with ethereal vocals. Notable bands from this scene are My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride.

However, Blackgaze is not a direct mix of Shoegaze and Black Metal. The genre is way more rooted in Black Metal than anything else. In fact, the sole mind behind the genre, Neige didn't even know what Shoegaze was when making the first widely accepted Blackgaze release, Le Secret by Alcest. Instead, think of it as ethereal Atmospheric Black Metal, using major chords (VERY uncommon in traditional black metal) to create a more melancholic atmosphere. It also features a healthy mix of both clean, ethereal vocals along with Black Metal's signature wails.