First-wave black metal

The first wave of black metal was a musical movement of black metal which lasted from around 1982 until 1991. Stylistically distinct from the genre's quintessential later sound, the earliest bands in this first wave played a primordial form of extreme metal that was still indebted to traditional heavy metal. As well as being the origin of modern black metal, the movement also influenced thrash metal, crust punk, death metal and war metal.

Venom initiated the movement, with their second album Black Metal (1982) giving it its name. In the following years, the style was developed by Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. The early works of thrash metal bands Sodom, Kreator, Destruction and Slayer are considered part of the first wave of black metal, as is the early work of death metal pioneers Possessed and Death. By 1987, this wave had largely declined, but influential releases continued to be issued by Tormentor, Parabellum, Samael and Rotting Christ. At this time, the works of Sarcófago and Blasphemy pioneered war metal, while in the early Norwegian black metal scene, Mayhem and Thorns developed the style which came to define the subsequent waves of black metal.