Dark metal

Dark metal is a subjective term used to describe metal bands from various genres that have combined traits from gothic metal, doom metal, death metal

Dark metal is a subjective term used to describe metal bands from various genres that have combined traits from gothic metal, doom metal, death metal and black metal such as synthesizer use, acoustic guitar experimentation and/or operatic female vocals. The music can be described as a melodic, more sophisticated sound within the metal genre. The lyrics are often introspective and poetic.

The term is thought to have been coined by German Band Bethlehem, with their album Dark Metal from 1994.