Depressive Suicidal Black Metal or DSBM is a sub-genre of Black Metal which features an overall monotonous sound, repetitive and frequently droning guitars, apathetic drums, occasional minimalistic keyboards and atmospheric ambient passages. The music is made with a purpose to create a hypnotic and depressive atmosphere and plunge the listener into the feeling of despair and hopelessness. Most artists usually employ slow or mid-tempo sound, generally devoid of any abrupt changes, with a few exceptions being more standard Black Metal oriented, and therefore faster sounding bands, such as Abyssic Hate, Malvery and Silencer. The vocals utilized are usually expressive shrieking and inhaling. The subject matter concerns a range of pessimistic topics, including suicide, nihilism, hatred, self-mutilation. The genre is often mixed with other genres such as Atmospheric Black Metal, Ambient, Doom Metal and more recently Post-Punk and Shoegaze. The most noticeable acts, apart from those mentioned above, include Leviathan, Xasthur, Strid, I Shalt Become, Shining, Nyktalgia, Trist, Gris and Make a Change... Kill Yourself.
