Cursor from Crazyprofile.com Doom Metal: Doom Metal really comes from Black Sabbath's first three albums: the slow, evil riffs, the heavy groove and the bleak lyrics. But then a lot of metal is derived from Sabbath, so this particular facet of their sound just kind of lay around until St. Vitus and then Candlemass came along and did something with it. Candlemass are really the fathers of Doom Metal, and pretty much every Doom band today has either been inspired by them or compared to them at some point. The essence of Doom is slow, crushing riffs, long epic songs, and a general atmosphere of bleakness and despair. Doom bands sing about death, mourning, ruin and tragedy—sometimes all at once. Exact lyrical focus varies a bit, with some bands being more reality based, and some writing fantastical lyrics about ruined kingdoms and lost races. There are now two real schools of doom. One is the traditional style with a melodic vocal approach that generally follows in the footsteps of Candlemass. Modern examples include While Heaven Wept, Solitude Aeturnus, and Doomsword. In the early 90's bands emerged that combined the musical approach of classical doom with a Death Metal vocal style. Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride were the pioneers of this style, which now has quite a tradition of its own. Runemagick and Morgion would be two bands of this school. You will sometimes hear mention of a subset called ‘Funeral Doom', which is championed by bands like Pantheist and Tyranny. Funeral Doom is essentially Doom with death vocals played even slower than is usual in Doom Metal: in other words, unbelievably frigging slow. Pioneers: Black Sabbath, Candlemass, St. Vitus. Notable Bands: Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Doomsword, Morgion, Solitude Aeturnus, While Heaven Wept, Pantheist.