ДЄside from Pentagram and Black Sabbath, other groups from the 1970s would heavily influence the genre's development. In the early 1970s, both Black Sabbath and Pentagram (also as side band 'Bedemon') composed and performed this heavy and dark music, which would in the 1980s begin to be known and referred to as doom metal by subsequent musicians, critics and fans. Black Sabbath's music is (in and of) itself stylistically rooted in blues, but with the deliberately doomy and loud guitar playing of Tony Iommi, and the then-uncommon dark and pessimistic lyrics and atmosphere, they set the standards of early heavy metal and inspired various doom metal bands. Black Sabbath is generally regarded as being the progenitors of doom metal. The first traces of doom in rock music could be heard as far back as The Beatles' 1969 track ' I Want You (She's So Heavy)'. Tony Iommi's guitar style greatly influenced and defined doom metal. This is most common among stoner doom bands, who often describe hallucinogenic or psychedelic experiences. Examples include lyrics/imagery about the Last Judgment to invoke dread, or the use of crucifixes and cross-shaped headstones to symbolize death.ДЇurthermore, some doom metal bands write lyrics about drugs or drug addiction. For many bands, the use of religious themes is for aesthetic and symbolic purposes only.

Others have incorporated occult and pagan imagery. Trouble, one of the genre's pioneers, were among the first to incorporate Christian imagery. Some doom metal bands use religious themes in their music. While some bands write lyrics in introspective and personal ways, others convey their themes using symbolism вЂ“ which may be inspired by occult arts and literature.

Influenced by notable blues musicians like Robert Johnson and Son House, normally they are gloomy and pessimistic, including themes such as suffering, depression, fear, grief, dread, death, and anger. Doom metal bands influenced by other extreme metal genres often use growled or screamed vocals, as is the case of death-doom, black-doom, and funeral doom.

So-called 'epic doom' vocalists often take it a step further, singing in an operatic style. Traditional doom metal vocalists favor clean vocals, which are often performed with a sense of despair, desperation, or pain imitating the high-tone wails of Ozzy Osbourne ( Black Sabbath), Frank Ferrara ( Bang), Bobby Liebling ( Pentagram), and Zeeb Parkes ( Witchfinder General). Another defining characteristic is the consistent focus on slow tempos, and minor tonality with much use of dissonance (especially in the form of the tritone), employing the usage of repetitive rhythms with little regard to harmonic progression and musical structure. Along with the usual heavy metal compositional technique of guitars and bass playing the same riff in unison, this creates a loud and bass-heavy wall of sound. Guitarists and bassists often down tune their instruments to very low notes and make use of large amounts of distortion, thus producing a very 'thick' or 'heavy' guitar tone, which is one of the defining characteristics of the genre. The electric guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit are the most common instruments used to play doom metal (although keyboards are sometimes used), but its structures are rooted in the same scales as in blues. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre.Д¬haracteristics Instrumentation The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. Black-doom (depressive suicidal black metal)Дoom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much 'thicker' or 'heavier' sound than other heavy metal genres.Early to mid 1970s, United Kingdom and United States

Doom gothic metal