Magick Metal is a musical subgenre that evolved from Psychedelic Rock, Occult Rock and Heavy Metal. It typically combines Black Metal-style vocals with a diverse blend of other influences, which can include elements of Disco, New Wave, Synthpop, and more.
Magick Metal songs typically follow a distinctive structure, featuring harsh vocals during the verses and bridges, while switching to clean vocals in the choruses. However, this is not a strict rule.
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Magick Metal is a musical subgenre that evolved from Psychedelic Rock, Occult Rock and Heavy Metal. It typically combines Black Metal-style vocals with a diverse blend of other influences, which can include elements of Disco, New Wave, Synthpop, and more.
Magick Metal songs typically follow a distinctive structure, featuring harsh vocals during the verses and bridges, while switching to clean vocals in the choruses. However, this is not a strict rule. For example, in “The Power” by Black Magick SS, the pattern is reversed, with clean vocals on the verses and harsh vocals in the chorus. Some tracks, like “Joyful Brothers” by In The Circle, forgo harsh vocals entirely, while others, such as “Шабаш На Базилевській Горі” by Funeral Candies, consist solely of harsh vocals with no clean singing at all.
The band most often credited with pioneering the genre is Black Magick SS. Their early work was heavily rooted in Occult Rock, but over time, they began to incorporate a wider range of styles. This evolution is evident in releases such as Hidden in Plain Sight (Doom Metal), Kaleidoscope Dreams (Psychedelic Rock), and Spectral Ecstasy (Heavy Metal). Their later albums, Rainbow Nights (New Wave) and Burning Bridges (Synthpop), further expanded the genre’s stylistic boundaries and helped solidify Magick Metal’s eclectic nature.
Other notable examples of Magick Metal bands include The Gates, whose debut album drew heavily from Occult Rock and Heavy Metal, while their second album explored Gothic Rock and Disco. Another example is Behrosth, who in 2021 released Культ Вещих Снов, an album grounded in Psychedelic Rock, Funk, and New Wave.
Magick Metal is often mistakenly associated with NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal), largely due to the presence of Nazi imagery on some Black Magick SS album covers. However, unlike NSBM, Magick Metal does not focus on National Socialist ideology in its lyrics. In fact, such themes are extremely rare within the subgenre.
The use of Nazi symbols by some bands in the Magick Metal scene is more likely influenced by a tradition within Occult Rock and Psychedelic music, where such imagery is employed for nazisploitation—a provocative aesthetic tactic used by bands like Death SS and Electric Wizard, rather than an endorsement of the ideology itself.
