What are the characteristics of doom metal music?

Answer 1

heavy metal music has many unique qualities.

Guitars: metal guitars usually consist of many notes being played, rather than power chords, and are played very fast compared to other genres. the solos are generally fast paced and feature many difficult-to-play techniques, like arpeggios/sweeping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and basic scales played very fast. In many metal acts there are 2 Guitarists, in this guitar 'teams' there is a strong focus on harmonization. During solo sections it is not uncommon for guitarists to trade off and on between one another. The sound of metal guitars usually have very high gain and distortion, and generally are played in dropped tunings.

Bass: Some bassists play using a pick and some use bass' with added guitar strings to act as another guitar(Manowar). Other bassists use a 2 finger galloping technique(made famous by Steve Harris of Iron Maiden). Many bassists have performed solos such as Billy Sheenan utilizing techniques generally used for guitars such as tapping.

Drums: Metal drums are played at a very fast pace, and are famous for "double bass" and "blast beats". double bass is when the drummer uses a double-bass-pedal and hits the kick drum head at a very fast pace, while blast beats happen when the drummer rapidly hits the snare drum. the bass drum of a metal drum set are usually mic ed so the sound of the kick drum sounds more like a deep, short "click" rather than a thud. some drummers use "triggers", which make any drum head sound like a kick drum.

Keyboards: Some branches of heavy metal music feature keyboards. This instrument is widely used in black, Power(Symphonic), and Progressive metal. The keyboards at times can act as another guitar, or can be applied in ballads or interludes. It is not uncommon to hear a keyboardist solo during a song and at times may trade solos with a guitar(Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force).

Vocals: Metal music as a whole is most known for its unique style of vocals. It comes down to two types of vocals, clean singing and screaming. The singers in Metal music(such as bands in Power and Progressive band as well as you classic metal acts such as Iron Maiden) utilize vocals that involve years of hard work and study. The best vocalists in metal utilize a range of voice known as the head range. The head range is a head tone that, while being far higher than their natural chest range, it is not falsetto. Vocalists who utilize this approach are known for their dynamic performances, amazing ranges and great pitch control(Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson). Between the two types of vocals this style takes far more time and dedication to master. Many vocalists(or people who claim to be vocalists) often believe these singers have such high ranges at birth, this is untrue, head range is a range that is accessed through years of hard work and practice.

Next there is 'screaming'. A metal scream consists of the vocalist screaming the lyrics, rather than sing them. this is done in many different methods. the most practiced methods are known as the "Fry", "False chord" and the "Death" scream. The most common misconceptions about screaming are that it is talentless yelling, and that it will permanently damage your throat. While this doesn't take very long to master when compared to their singer counterparts, screaming is an art that takes some paitence to master. The "talentless yelling" is true in some cases, which brings me to my next point. screaming can easily cause permanent throat damage, if the screamer uses incorrect methods to scream. simple yelling, or screaming like you would scream at someone your angry at for hours at a time, for an entire tour is terrible for your throat and will cause damage. if you hear of any famous screamers having to get throat surgery from screaming, they injured their throats from using improper screaming techniques. some less talented screamers, or those who's notorious screams make them famous, such as Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence, use vocal mic distortion to achieve a more 'brutal' sound. Enunciation also varies between screamers.

Answer 2

Doom metal is similar to heavy metal, and typically has very slow tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much darker and gloomier sound than other metal genres. In context of the word "doom", the music usually represents dread, despair, and, you guessed it doom. This music started with bands like Black Sabbath, and now has many sub-categories.

Answer 3

Extremely heavy-set metal-music, often containing artistic and melodic elements to complement the heavier segments. Much as in many other heavier metal-types, Doom-metal vocals are ofter barely recognizable as language.