Genre story · Metal
Avant-Garde Metal
Metal that puts its own musical assumptions under pressure, borrowing forms and techniques from unlikely places.
Avant-garde metal became a useful description as extreme-metal musicians pushed beyond the arrangements, timbres and vocal methods expected of their scenes. Celtic Frost took an especially unsettling turn with Into the Pandemonium in 1987, placing orchestral passages and electronic elements beside heavy riffs. In Norway, Arcturus and Ved Buens Ende developed very different, sometimes theatrical approaches during the 1990s. Japan's Sigh later approached the collision through psychedelic, jazz and electronic materials. There was no one movement or agreed manifesto that made this a genre overnight.
The surprise has a structure
An unfamiliar voice, abrupt change in harmony or unexpected instrument can alter an entire composition. Some recordings still use harsh Metal drumming and guitar distortion; others move through long non-metal sections. The point is what happens when contrasting musical practices are made central rather than appended as a short introduction.
Distinct from all experimental metal
Avant-Garde Metal overlaps with Experimental Metal, and a perfectly strict boundary may not exist. It is often applied to especially unconventional or theatrical results, not merely to technical proficiency.
Essential recordings
- 1987Celtic FrostInto the PandemoniumA major early expansion beyond extreme-metal norms.
- 1995Ved Buens EndeWritten in WatersDissonant and restless Norwegian extreme metal.
- 1997ArcturusLa Masquerade InfernaleOperatic voices and elaborately constructed arrangements.