--- title: "Doom Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/doom-metal" parent: "Doom Metal" bands: 2829 era: "early 1980s" --- # Doom Metal **Doom Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the early 1980s. TheMetalNet maps 2,829 bands and 6,445 albums under it. Doom metal is the slowest and heaviest of the foundational styles, built on thick, downtuned, Black Sabbath-derived riffs, crawling-to-mid tempos, and an atmosphere of gloom and dread. Black Sabbath created the blueprint in the early 1970s, and 1980s bands like Saint Vitus, Pentagram, and Trouble kept it raw while Sweden’s Candlemass added epic, operatic grandeur. Vocals are usually clean and mournful, though many offshoots use growls. It prizes weight, space, and foreboding over speed. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Doom Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Doom Metal | | Formative era | early 1980s | | Bands | 2,829 | | Albums | 6,445 | | Formation span | 1960 to 2025 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Anathema](https://themetalnet.com/band/anathema-20aa23e3) (United Kingdom, 1990) - [Katatonia](https://themetalnet.com/band/katatonia) (Sweden, 1991) - [Boris](https://themetalnet.com/band/boris) (Japan, 1992) - [My Dying Bride](https://themetalnet.com/band/my-dying-bride) (United Kingdom, 1990) - [The Gathering](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-gathering) (Netherlands, 1989) - [Electric Wizard](https://themetalnet.com/band/electric-wizard) (United Kingdom, 1993) - [Candlemass](https://themetalnet.com/band/candlemass) (Sweden, 1984) - [Novembers Doom](https://themetalnet.com/band/novembers-doom) (United States, 1992) - [Cathedral](https://themetalnet.com/band/cathedral) (United Kingdom, 1989) - [Pentagram](https://themetalnet.com/band/pentagram) (United States, 1971) - [Saint Vitus](https://themetalnet.com/band/saint-vitus) (United States, 1980) - [Draconian](https://themetalnet.com/band/draconian) (Sweden, 1995) - [Old Man Gloom](https://themetalnet.com/band/old-man-gloom) (United States, 1999) - [Swallow the Sun](https://themetalnet.com/band/swallow-the-sun) (Finland, 2000) - [Today Is the Day](https://themetalnet.com/band/today-is-the-day) (1992) - [Church of Misery](https://themetalnet.com/band/church-of-misery) (Japan, 1995) - [Sleep](https://themetalnet.com/band/sleep) (United States, 1990) - [Grand Magus](https://themetalnet.com/band/grand-magus) (1996) - [Novembre](https://themetalnet.com/band/novembre) (Italy, 1990) - [The Sword](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-sword) (United States, 2003) - [Trouble](https://themetalnet.com/band/trouble) (United States, 1979) - [Empyrium](https://themetalnet.com/band/empyrium) (Germany, 1994) - [Witchcraft](https://themetalnet.com/band/witchcraft) (Sweden, 2000) - [YOB](https://themetalnet.com/band/yob) (1996) - [Catharsis](https://themetalnet.com/band/catharsis) (Russia, 1996) - [Goatsnake](https://themetalnet.com/band/goatsnake) (United States, 1996) - [On Thorns I Lay](https://themetalnet.com/band/on-thorns-i-lay) (Greece, 1992) - [Saturnus](https://themetalnet.com/band/saturnus) (Denmark, 1993) - [Wyrd](https://themetalnet.com/band/wyrd) (Finland, 1998) - [Pyogenesis](https://themetalnet.com/band/pyogenesis) (Germany, 1990) - [Butterfly Temple](https://themetalnet.com/band/butterfly-temple) (Russia, 1995) - [Celestial Season](https://themetalnet.com/band/celestial-season) (Netherlands, 1991) - [Sons of Otis](https://themetalnet.com/band/sons-of-otis) (Canada, 1992) - [Thou](https://themetalnet.com/band/thou) (United States, 2005) - [Unearthly Trance](https://themetalnet.com/band/unearthly-trance) (United States, 2000) - [Evoken](https://themetalnet.com/band/evoken) (United States, 1992) - [Skepticism](https://themetalnet.com/band/skepticism) (Finland, 1991) - [The Gates of Slumber](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-gates-of-slumber) (United States, 1998) - [Bongripper](https://themetalnet.com/band/bongripper) (United States, 2005) - [Floor](https://themetalnet.com/band/floor) (United States, 1992) - [Klimt 1918](https://themetalnet.com/band/klimt-1918) (Italy, 1999) - [Mourning Beloveth](https://themetalnet.com/band/mourning-beloveth) (Ireland, 1992) - [Noothgrush](https://themetalnet.com/band/noothgrush) (1994) - [Officium Triste](https://themetalnet.com/band/officium-triste) (Netherlands, 1994) - [Virgin Black](https://themetalnet.com/band/virgin-black) (Australia, 1993) - [Acid Witch](https://themetalnet.com/band/acid-witch) (United States, 2007) - [Autumnblaze](https://themetalnet.com/band/autumnblaze) (Germany, 1996) - [Black Cobra](https://themetalnet.com/band/black-cobra) (United States, 2002) - [Fistula](https://themetalnet.com/band/fistula) (1998) - [Funeral](https://themetalnet.com/band/funeral-6ab7de0d) (Norway, 1991) - [Hanging Garden](https://themetalnet.com/band/hanging-garden-2920ec0c) (Finland, 2004) - [KAUAN](https://themetalnet.com/band/kauan) (2005) - [Nortt](https://themetalnet.com/band/nortt) (Denmark, 1995) - [Reverend Bizarre](https://themetalnet.com/band/reverend-bizarre) (Finland, 1995) - [Solitude Aeturnus](https://themetalnet.com/band/solitude-aeturnus) (United States, 1987) - [The Obsessed](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-obsessed) (United States, 1979) - [Tragedy](https://themetalnet.com/band/tragedy-efa0c09f) (United States, 1999) - [Conan](https://themetalnet.com/band/conan) (United Kingdom, 2006) - [Dark Suns](https://themetalnet.com/band/dark-suns) (Germany, 1997) - [Fleshpress](https://themetalnet.com/band/fleshpress) (Finland, 1998) ## Where it is played - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 339 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 93 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 93 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 83 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 82 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 76 bands - [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 73 bands - [Netherlands](https://themetalnet.com/country/nl): 52 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 6 | | 1970s | 10 | | 1980s | 64 | | 1990s | 296 | | 2000s | 449 | | 2010s | 824 | | 2020s | 152 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/doom-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/doom-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt