Black/doom metal is a style of music that combines black metal and doom metal. The black/doom metal genre spectrum is that one that’s often combined with other genres and subgenres like death/doom metal, depressive black metal, atmospheric black metal and blackgaze. Shining and Forgotten Tomb are two obvious bands to mention, as well as early 90’s Katatonia.
Mandatory black/doom metal bands
If you’re too lazy to read the whole thing, just hit up these bands instead:
- Altars of Grief
- Forgotten Tomb
- Katatonia (early)
- Shining
- The Ruins of Beverast
Essential and important black/doom metal bands
This is a list of the most popular black/doom metal bands, as well as some my personal favorites. Genre borders in these subgenres are sketchy, but be sure these bands have elements of both doom metal and black metal.
Altars of Grief
Altars of Grief is somewhere in between death/doom and black/doom. The 2018 release “Iris” is one of my top releases of the year and that’s probably only the beginning.
Darkflight
Long-running Bulgarian black/doom metal project. Has a symphonic, almost Summoning-inspired edge, which I find quite interesting.
Faustcoven
Norwegian crossover between black metal and doom metal. Combines traditional heavy metal influences with extreme tendencies.
Forgotten Tomb
Forgotten Tomb’s first album “Songs to Leave” is probably my favorite black/doom metal album. It takes the desperation and melodicism from Katatonia’s debut to a whole new level. It’s an absolute outburst of sorrow, while also featuring catchy and memorable songwriting.
Katatonia (early)
Katatonia’s early 90’s style was somewhere between death/doom and black/doom. The desperate, yet melodic sound of the debut album “Dance of December Souls” shaped a lot of what was to come in future black/doom metal bands.
10 best Katatonia songs ->
Countdown of the best Katatonia albums ->
“The Fall of Hearts” review and track-by-track analysis ->
Nonexistence
Austrian band that combines death/doom metal with atmospheric black metal. Funny enough described as “cosmic doom black metal”.
Shining
Shining is the most famous depressive black metal band (DSBM), and carry enough of doom metal aesthetic to fall under black/doom. It took me a long time to warm up to them but “V – Halmstad”, especially, is undeniably good.
The Ruins of Beverast
I’m not a fan of super-long songs but The Ruins of Beverast still managed to lure me in with 2017’s “Exuvia”. A truly dark record, somewhere between atmospheric black metal, black/doom and death/doom.
Read more:
Full doom metal genre guide ->
10 essential death/doom metal albums ->
Gothic doom metal ->
Funeral doom metal ->
Soliloquium, Swedish doom metal ->
