Modern doom metal is slow and dark, depressed and atmospheric. Heavy guitars, heavy pounding drums, and at times use of guttural death vocals. Typical examples of this genre are My Dying Bride, older Paradise Lost and Esoteric. Classic doom metal is what bands like Black Sabbath play. Although the atmosperic and dark notes are already audible here, these bands are far less extreme in their sound, also using more 'normal' vocals. Gothic doom metal (or simply gothic metal) is an atmospheric, romantically oriented type of music where often duets between a male death voice and a female soprano are used. Examples are Theatre of Tragedy and Tristania.
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