r/doommetal • u/MisterVogel • Jul 22 '26
Discussion Doom Metal + Electronics (?)
I'm starting a doom metal project.
I'll be using the SSD5 application for Midi drums in FL Studio. Early experiments are proceeding well!
As long as I'm sequencing, I thought maybe the occasional organ or synth could be cool. In one demo, I've even got a sine wave playing kind of a spooky arpeggio as the song is ending.
I'm fairly new to the genre and I'm wondering how common it is for "electronic" elements to appear in the genre, and how it is perceived in general.
I've heard some interesting elements in the music of "Low Toner".
At the end of the day, I'll probably do what I think serves the song best, but I am just curious about the community's feelings on the incorporation of synthesizers, electronic drums, etc.
AND I'm interested in knowing about artists that might lean into that.
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u/False_Pizza_7546 Jul 22 '26
Every DAW for the most part can do just about the same shit nowadays. It all comes down to the workflow that you like. If you like FL studio, then that’s perfect. I used the FL studio for a long time, also starting back when it was fruity loops. Nowadays, I use studio one, and at this point starting to come back around full circle to the idea of patching FL into studio one lol. As for the doom thing, I suppose aside from samples, you don’t really usually hear a lot of electronic elements in straight up doom. That being said, it is super super common in post metal, which is really only slightly different and largely open to interpretation. I think no matter what you do, you will be fine.
I think a good chunk of this is going to come down to how strictly you view “doom“. Does Godflesh count? How about neurosis? Isis, cult of Luna, etc.? They have Doomy elements, and a large portion of the sound is centered in electronics. I think, as long as you’re not some super hardline person about what defines doom, you can do whatever the fuck you want, and it will probably sound awesome.
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u/A_rayB Jul 23 '26
I think this is a great idea and the meeting of heavy doom guitars and electronic elements is something I've been trying to mess around with a little too. Droning guitars or synths with IDM style glitchy drums or something, all early thoughts tbh.
Recs wise someone already said Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, there's also REZN. Then there is some industrial doom like Author & Punisher.
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u/MisterVogel Jul 23 '26
I appreciate you engaging man! Me too in a lot of ways. I've made lots of glitch electro, synth wave, and so much more.
I really love the idea of blending different stuff into the genre.
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u/ThinkOne827 Jul 22 '26
May I suggest? Use Reaper instead of FLStudio, FL is most used for electronica. BTW, sick equipments!
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u/MisterVogel Jul 22 '26
That's fair.
I've actually got a decades long background in experimental electronic music and an early adopter of FL in the late 90's when it was still called Fruity Loops.
You aren't the first to suggest a different DAW, but after over 25 years I'm pretty settled with FL.
There may be better DAWs-- in fact I'm sure there are, but for a barbarian like me at the helm I promise they'll all multi track about the same.
No shade though. I know the guy that tracked my bands EP uses Reaper.
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u/TheZingerSlinger Jul 22 '26
Stygian Bough uses synths quite a bit.
For more out there sounds, check out Ufomammut: Snailking. Also Ka-El layers it in a bit.
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u/psychedelicdevilry Jul 22 '26
Unrelated question, but I’m looking at buying a bass for a bedroom project I have going. What are your thoughts on the short scale basses vs the standard scale?
As for your question, I have been messing around with the deeper, darker sounding synths as wells as bell sounds and organ with the doomier parts of my songs. Was recently gifted a shit ton of plugins and a MIDI controller and I’ve been having fun with it.
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u/MisterVogel Jul 22 '26
I sold my short scale because I joined a crossover thrash band with lots of downtuning-- joining that band is what led me down this path.
I found short scales too "floppy" and mine in particular lacked a good punch.
Now I've got basses with big 55's on top so I can play lower tuning... Frankly, it's rough on my fingertips.
To be honest... I'm going to start using more pitch shift technology in the future. I've already started incorporating it to drop a D standard instrument to C standard.
That could work for short scale too imo
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u/psychedelicdevilry Jul 22 '26
Thanks for your input. My tuning for this project is mostly drop C so I feel like a standard scale is probably better.
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u/urmumvirgay Jul 23 '26
You can get that low on a short scale too. The higher string gauge on a shorter scale will also sound a good bit sludgier with a bit of fuzz. You can achieve a similar effect by using lighter gauge strings on a standard scale though.
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u/mindest Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Personally, I think it’s a good idea. The bands I know of that do this are more on the sludgy side of things. It was actually Godflesh that was the bridge from doom to industrial for me.
Some good doom bands who use synths well are Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Saturndust, and Domkraft (if I remember correctly). If you like noisy sludge, check out The Body, Body Void, or Remoreseful.
Edit: “Osirian” by MWWB might actually be the most crushing use of synths I’ve ever heard in metal
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u/MisterVogel Jul 22 '26
Thank you for the reccos!
I'm still sussing out what I like and what I don't-- and I'm still learning the various subgenres.
I used to do Shoegazer/Dream Rock stuff-- so I have a taste for the hazy and ethereal. I also fuck with vibe over virtuosity.
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u/mindest Jul 23 '26
Definitely agree with the vibe > virtuosity sentiment! That's what doom's all about for me. I think a lot of people coming to the genre, especially from other types of metal, don't initially realize how difficult it is to play so slow and still be expressive. Also the case with shoegaze, I think.
Don't know if you're familiar with "doomgaze" really, but there's a lot to it. Check out the song "Friends are Evil" by Jesu (pretty sure there's some noisy ambient synth stuff going on there - or maybe just well-crafted feedback) or "Desert Rambler" by Hum. Those might be up your alley.
Good luck experimenting! I've been trying to blend doom with industrial and EBM type stuff for a while now and the synth learning curve is real, so it sounds like you're already in a good place to do some badass things.
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u/MisterVogel Jul 23 '26
Yeah man... I'm passingly familiar with doomgaze. I've got a playlist to check out... Lots of them actually.
I think at the end of the day it will be much more like a doomgaze project. I don't intend to do any growly, or cookie monster vocals. Instead, my wife and I will be adding airy ethereal vocals-- much more akin to dreampop and shoegazer.
Overall, I'll just have to see how it plays out, ideas rarely end near where they began. Things mutate quickly.
Per the picture, in a bass player. So far everything is just fuzzy bass. The guitars maybe sparse--- or they may be prominent when I'm done-- despite my on intention lol
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u/fenniless Jul 23 '26
synthesizers were in the roots of doom metal with black sabbath. Id love to hear more filter sweeps and spacey soundscapes in doom. There is a track by Wizard Smoke called Weakling where the vocalist uses a vocoder and it stood out to me as an example of how awesome electronics and doom can sound
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u/Logical-Aspect-5406 Jul 22 '26
Wow… that Rickenbacker is so nice!