The Horsehead NebulaThe Horsehead Blackula

In the spirit of Halloween, The Horsehead is spending this October exploring the various subgenres of HEAVY METAL.  Tonight, we focus on what is probably the darkest of of the brood, BLACK METAL.  Characterized by tremelo-picking, blast beats, and shrieking vocals, Black Metal terrorized the late 80's and 90's before evolving and branching into several different sub-subgenres with themes ranging from radical environmentalism to good ol' black 'n roll.

My friend Nate and I actually once had a conversation regarding the differences between Black and Death, and eventually came up with a pretty fitting analogy:  If Death Metal sounds like somebody killing somebody else, Black Metal sounds like the person BEING KILLED.