Songwriting Advice
How to Write Blackgaze Songs
If black metal and shoegaze hooked up, what would their love child sound like? That child is blackgaze. It is loud and tender. It is abrasive and soft. It is the kind of music that makes you cry in a parking lot at two AM while your friends call you dramatic and also correct. This guide shows you how to write blackgaze songs that hit like a thundercloud and cuddle like an old sweater.
Quick Links to Useful Sections
- What Is Blackgaze
- Key Ingredients of Blackgaze
- How to Start Writing a Blackgaze Song
- Song Structure That Works for Blackgaze
- Structure A: Ambient Crescendo
- Structure B: Blast to Bloom
- Structure C: Movements
- Melody and Harmony Choices
- Guitar Parts and Textures
- Tremolo Picking
- Chord Layers
- Rhythm and Drums
- Vocals
- Harsh Vocal Techniques Explained
- Clean Vocals
- Lyrics and Themes
- Production Techniques That Make Blackgaze Shine
- Guitar Effects and Signal Chains
- Vocal Processing
- Mixing for Dynamic Contrast
- Arrangement Ideas That Work
- Practical Bedroom Producer Recipes
- Troubleshooting Common Problems
- The quiet parts have no energy
- The loud parts sound muddy
- Vocals disappear in the wash
- Everything sounds the same
- Real Life Scenarios and How to Handle Them
- Songwriting Exercises to Build Blackgaze Skill
- Texture First Drill
- Contrast Swap Drill
- One Word Chorus Drill
- Examples You Can Model
- Marketing Tips for Blackgaze Bands
- Frequently Asked Questions
Everything here is written for musicians who want to make something huge without sounding like a photocopy of someone famous. You will get songwriting workflows, concrete musical examples, vocal safety tips, production recipes, and troubleshooting for common problems. All technical terms and acronyms are explained so you can sound smart in band chats and in producer DMs.
What Is Blackgaze
Blackgaze blends elements of black metal and shoegaze. Black metal brings tremolo picked guitars, high pitched or snarled vocals, raw drums, and a focus on atmosphere. Shoegaze brings lush reverb, dreamy chord textures, and vocals that sit inside a wash of sound instead of on top. Put those together and you get songs that can blast into chaos and then fold into a wash of sustained guitar chords and delicate vocals.
Blackgaze songs tend to focus on mood and contrast rather than technical showmanship. They use dynamics as a storytelling tool. In practice that means quiet ambient sections next to crashing, dense arrangements. The result is emotional weight with a lot of sonics to carry it.
Key Ingredients of Blackgaze
- Textural guitars that create walls of sound with reverb, delay, chorus, and fuzz.
- Tremolo picking which is rapid repeated picking of a single note or chord to create a shimmering tone.
- Harsh vocals and clean singing often used in conversation with one another. Harsh vocals are the screams or screams sung in a way that shrieks rather than croons. Clean vocals are breathy and intimate. Use both to create tension and release.
- Dynamic contrast where quiet ambient parts and loud intense parts are part of every song.
- Reverb and delay used as compositional tools, not just effects. They shape the sense of space in the song.
- Melodic minor and modal colors borrowed from black metal plus lush extended chords from shoegaze.
How to Start Writing a Blackgaze Song
Start with mood. If you try to begin with a technical riff you will end up with a speed metal clone or a poor man sound alike. Pick a single emotional idea. Make it specific. The emotional idea is a sentence that sounds like a text you would send while crying and laughing at the same time.
Examples
- I am wandering through a frozen city looking for my voice.
- The ocean swallowed the map and left the moon as my compass.
- I keep replaying the last goodbye because the cold makes it clearer.
Turn that sentence into at least one image you can describe with sound. What instrument will represent the voice in the sentence? Maybe a heavily reverbed clean guitar. Maybe a glimmering pad. Maybe a dissonant arp. That becomes the core idea you will write around.
Song Structure That Works for Blackgaze
Blackgaze can take many forms. The important thing is to allow space for gradual build and sudden collapse. Here are three reliable structures to use as templates. Use them as frameworks to get through writer block.
Structure A: Ambient Crescendo
- Intro with ambient guitar or pad
- Verse with clean vocals and sparse drums
- Pre chorus that adds a rhythm guitar and gentle percussion
- Chorus that explodes into walls of distorted guitars and screamed vocals
- Bridge that strips to atmosphere then rebuilds
- Final chorus with more layers and a long ambient outro
Structure B: Blast to Bloom
- Cold open blast passage with tremolo guitars and blast beats
- Ambient interlude with clean guitar and distant vocals
- Verse with mixed vocal textures
- Chorus sits in a wide reverb field with heavy guitars reduced to a rhythmic role
- Reprise of initial blast to close or fade into reverb
Structure C: Movements
- Intro movement that establishes tone
- Developing movement with narrative lyrical content
- Climax movement that combines all textures
- Resolution movement that leaves ambiguity
Melody and Harmony Choices
Blackgaze borrows harmonic language from both parents of the genre. Use minor keys often. Modal work like Phrygian and Aeolian can add darkness while Lydian or suspended colors can make moments feel ethereal.
Common starting points
- Natural minor scales such as E minor to get melancholic clarity.
- Harmonic minor for a slightly exotic dark edge.
- Modal mixtures where you borrow a chord from the parallel major to create lift.
- Use open fifths to create a hollow black metal tone. Then layer big open chords with reverb for shoegaze effect.
Chord recipes
Try these progressions as starting points. Commas separate chords.
- Em, Cmaj7, Gadd9, D — start in minor then add open sounding major color
- Bm, A, G, F sharp minor — darker movement with descending bass motion
- Em, Em over D bass, Cmaj7, G — bass motion creates momentum under a static top layer
- Use suspended chords such as Csus2 or Asus4 for dreamy resolution
Tip about voicing. Put the dissonant or tense notes higher in the register so the wash of sound covers them without sounding harsh. In other words, do not shove a tritone into the bass unless you want the whole track to feel like a punch in the ribs.
Guitar Parts and Textures
Guitar work is the heart of blackgaze. You will often combine tremolo picked arpeggios with big sustaining chords. Think like a painter. One guitar draws lines. Another paints clouds.
Tremolo Picking
Tremolo picking is fast repeated picking of one note or chord to create a sustained shimmering texture. It is common in black metal. To write with it, pick a single note or chord and play rapid down up strokes. The rhythm often sits on 16th notes when the tempo is brisk but you can slow it down to create a hypnotic shimmer.
Writing tip. Create a long phrase based on a single chord tone. Add a second guitar that plays a slow descending or ascending chord shape with heavy reverb. The contrast between shimmer and slow motion is classic blackgaze.
Chord Layers
Layer at least three guitar parts. One plays tremolo patterns. One holds wide open chords with reverb and chorus. One adds textural noise such as feedback, pick scrapes, or harmonic squeaks. The key is frequency carving. Let one guitar dominate the midrange. Let another live in high shimmer. Let a third fill the low mids but leave space for bass.
Example chain for one guitar. Play a clean amp with reverb and light chorus for the chordal part. Use an overdriven or fuzzy amp for one of the distorted layers. Then add a shimmer or reverb only track for high end sparkle.
Rhythm and Drums
Drums in blackgaze can be versatile. You can use blast beats when you need raw aggression. A blast beat is a fast drum pattern where the snare and bass drum alternate rapidly, often with the ride cymbal or hi hat playing steady 16th or 32nd notes. If you are programming drums or playing them live, use blasts sparingly to avoid fatigue. Contrasting blasts with sparse drum beats makes them land harder.
Many blackgaze songs prefer mid tempo grooves where the drums hit hard but leave space. Think big roomy drum sounds with long reverb and a punchy kick. Use tom fills to create a cavernous feeling.
Tempo tips. Start with a tempo between 90 and 140 beats per minute for most of the track. Use faster sections in the 170 to 220 range when you want full black metal energy. If you use BPM that stands for beats per minute, you are measuring how many beats occur in one minute of music. A BPM of 120 means two beats per second.
Vocals
Vocals are often the emotional centerpiece. Blackgaze uses both harsh and clean vocals. The trick is to treat the voice like an instrument that changes role. Use harsh vocals on climactic passages and clean breathy vocals for intimate sections.
Harsh Vocal Techniques Explained
Harsh vocals can mean several things. Screaming, shrieking, rasp, fry screams, and false cord screams are common techniques. If you are new to them, here are short descriptions.
- Fry scream uses vocal fry with controlled airflow to create a rough tone without straining the true vocal folds.
- False cord scream uses the false vocal folds above the true folds to create a deeper distorted scream sound.
- Shriek is a very high pitched scream often used in black metal for an anguished tone.
Safety note. Learn these techniques with a vocal coach or an experienced singer. Misuse can damage your voice. Warm up, hydrate, and rest your voice after intense sessions. If your throat hurts in a way that feels sharp, stop and consult a professional.
Clean Vocals
Clean singing in blackgaze often sits back in the mix. Use breathy tones, close mic technique, and delay or reverb to make the voice sit inside the guitar wash. Doubling the clean vocal and panning the doubles can create that lush shoegaze feel. Keep the lead slightly forward and the doubles as atmosphere.
Lyrics and Themes
Blackgaze lyrics favor poetic imagery, introspection, nature, and existential dread. Keep your language specific. Concrete images anchor a song. A single strong image can carry an entire chorus.
Relatable scene. Imagine sitting on a busted bus at three AM, city lights smeared across rain slick windows, thinking about whether moving away from your hometown will finally stop the ache. That is a blackgaze lyric waiting to happen. Use senses. Smell, cold, taste, and small objects create intimacy.
Line writing tips
- Use one unusual image per verse. The listener remembers the odd thing and fills the rest with emotion.
- Use repetition for mantras. Repeat a short phrase in the chorus to anchor the song.
- Balance the abstract and the specific. Too abstract and the song floats away. Too specific and it becomes a diary entry no one wants to read. Aim for a private text that could belong to anyone who has been lonely in a city at night.
Production Techniques That Make Blackgaze Shine
Production is where blackgaze becomes a living thing. Effects are instruments. Use them creatively rather than as polish. Below are practical recipes you can try in your DAW which stands for Digital Audio Workstation. A DAW is the software you use to record and arrange music. Popular DAWs include Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, and Reaper.
Guitar Effects and Signal Chains
Simple chains work best. A typical guitar track could be DI recorded from the amp mic plus a reamped or amp sim track. DI stands for direct input. It is the clean signal recorded from the guitar before any amp color. Recording DI lets you change amp tone later with amp sim plugins which are software that emulate guitar amplifiers.
Suggested chains
- Clean chord track: guitar into amp sim set to clean, then a chorus plugin, then big hall reverb, then stereo delay with ping pong set to be subtle.
- Distorted wall: guitar into amp sim set to high gain, then fuzz pedal emulation, then cab sim, then parallel multiband compression to glue low end while letting the high end breathe.
- Shimmer track: single coil guitar with reverb and shimmer algorithm. Keep level low to add air.
Tip about reverb. Use different reverb sizes to separate layers. A small room reverb keeps the rhythm guitar tight. A huge hall reverb puts the shimmer track in the back of the mix. Avoid using the exact same reverb on every guitar or the mix will sound like a swimming pool fight.
Vocal Processing
Process clean vocals with light compression, EQ to remove mud, and a repeatable reverb. For intimate breathy vocals, use a plate or small hall reverb and a short delay to thicken without blurring the words. For harsh vocals, keep the chain cleaner. Use a de esser if the sibilance gets wild. Slight saturation can make screams cut through without increasing level.
Mixing for Dynamic Contrast
The main challenge is preserving the quiet parts while keeping the loud parts impactful. Use automation. Automate the reverb send so the reverb swells when the guitars expand. Automate EQ to carve out space for the vocal when the chorus hits. Use sidechain compression in subtle ways. For example, sidechain the reverb return to the dry vocal so the clarity returns when the vocal is loud.
Arrangement Ideas That Work
Think cinematic. Let ideas breathe. Do not feel forced to return to chorus after every verse. Blackgaze listeners expect movement.
- Start with a motif that reappears as a memory in the chorus
- Use a mid song breakdown that strips everything to one delayed arpeggio and a haunting vocal line
- Explode into the climax with layered guitars and a double vocal of harsh and clean at the same time
- Finish with a long reverb fade that reintroduces a melody from the intro in a distant register
Practical Bedroom Producer Recipes
Not all of us record in fancy studios. Here is a practical approach you can do with minimal gear.
Gear checklist for a small budget
- Audio interface with at least two inputs
- Condenser microphone for clean vocals
- Dynamic microphone such as a Shure SM57 for guitar amp or distorted vocals
- DAW such as Reaper which is affordable and powerful
- One amp sim plugin or a free amp sim. Many good amp sims exist that can emulate classic high gain tones.
- Reverb and delay plugins. Many DAWs have competent built in versions
Workflow
- Record a DI guitar track for flexibility
- Record a rhythm part with a clean amp sim and heavy reverb for the chorus scratch
- Record a distorted rhythm track to sit under the chorus
- Record vocal scratch tracks to find placement
- Replace rough guitar takes with polished reamped or amp sim takes once the arrangement feels right
- Mix with attention to automation and dynamic range
Troubleshooting Common Problems
The quiet parts have no energy
Add details that move the listener even when the volume drops. A little arpeggiated delay, a soft pad, or a whispered vocal line can make the quiet parts feel like a decision rather than a mistake.
The loud parts sound muddy
Use EQ to carve space. Cut midrange build up around two to five kilohertz on the guitars if they clash. Use multiband compression or dynamic EQ to control the low mids when everything gets heavy.
Vocals disappear in the wash
Automate a short mid boost during vocal phrases. Double the vocal in the chorus and pan the doubles. Use sidechain compression where the guitars duck slightly when vocals are present.
Everything sounds the same
Introduce one new element every time you repeat a section. Add a pad. Add a countermelody. Add background vocals. The idea is to reward repeat listens.
Real Life Scenarios and How to Handle Them
Scenario one. You are writing in a small apartment and practicing blast beats wakes the neighbor with a baby who thinks you are summoning rain. Solution. Program drum blasts on headphones. Use a low volume electronic kick or a damped practice pad when practicing live. Then record the real drums in a rehearsal room or with a drum programmer for the demo.
Scenario two. Your singer cannot perform harsh vocals yet and you need that aggressive edge for the demo. Solution. Balance the harsh part with shouted or raspy spoken word. Layer clean vocals with distortion through saturation plugins. In the demo stage you can use processed screams that you replace later with a trained vocalist.
Scenario three. Your guitars sound thin on smaller speakers. Solution. Add an octave lower synth or an E string doubled under the guitar to fatten the low end. Use a parallel compression bus to glue the rhythm guitars without making them boomy.
Songwriting Exercises to Build Blackgaze Skill
Texture First Drill
Make a five minute loop with one tremolo guitar and one washed clean guitar only. Do not add drums. Write a vocal melody over the loop. This forces melody to do heavy lifting while you get comfortable hearing how the textures interact.
Contrast Swap Drill
Write a 60 second section that feels like collapse. Then write a second 60 second section that feels like expansion. Practice transitioning between the two in different ways. This builds an instinct for dynamic control.
One Word Chorus Drill
Write a chorus that uses a single word repeated three to five times. Work on making the word mean different things through dynamics and arrangement. This is how you make simple mantras that haunt the listener.
Examples You Can Model
Idea one. Theme: Someone leaving a familiar place because it feels too small. Verse image: The neon sign that used to say open now blinks like a memory. Pre chorus motion: A drum pattern begins to march then dissolves into a tremolo picked E note. Chorus: The singer repeats the title line with increasing layers until it becomes a howl and a lullaby at once.
Idea two. Theme: Winter loneliness. Verse image: Steam from the kettle captures a rumor of your voice. Chorus image: The city collapses into a single light that refuses to go out. Use a clean chorus vocal doubled with distant screams to create an argument inside the chorus.
Marketing Tips for Blackgaze Bands
Blackgaze bands often connect deeply with niche audiences. Use visuals that match the music. Film lo fi nature footage, rainy windows, or distant cityscapes. Fans want to feel like they are inside an atmosphere. Release a live video of the quiet intro and the first loud drop as a teaser. People share moments that make them feel seen.
Also collaborate with photographers, painters, or filmmakers who work in moody palettes. Your music will pair with their visuals and help both communities grow.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tempo should a blackgaze song have
There is no single tempo. Blackgaze uses a wide range. Many tracks live between 90 and 140 beats per minute for a balanced feel. Faster sections can go into the 170 to 220 BPM range when you want blast beats and intensity. Choose tempo based on mood. Slower tempos invite space. Faster tempos invite panic.
Do I need a screaming vocalist to make blackgaze
No. You can emulate the intensity with vocal textures, distortion, and arrangement. Clean vocals layered with saturation and aggressive backing vocals can create a similar emotional effect. That said, trained harsh vocals add a specific visceral quality that many fans expect. Safety first. Train or hire.
What tuning should I use
Common tunings are standard dropped down by two or three semitones such as C standard or D standard. Dropping tuning increases low end which helps the wall of sound. Open tunings can create rich drones and are useful for tremolo picking. Experiment. Use what fits the singer and the feel.
How do I make quiet parts hold attention
Add small moving elements such as a delayed guitar line, a vocal whisper, or an evolving filter sweep. Automation can slowly introduce brightness or a new harmonic layer. The goal is to make the quiet part feel like an intentional rest not a hole.
What plugins are essential
Hall reverb, plate reverb, tempo synced delay, chorus, tape saturation, and an amp sim cover most needs. A convolution reverb with impulse responses of big spaces can add realism. A good multiband compressor helps control density while a saturation plugin brings character.
