This list should only include notable bands with existing Wikipedia articles. Do not add bands if they do not have a Wikipedia entry.
For the main article, please see Blackgaze.
Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way similar to the predecessor genres post-rock and post-hardcore, post-metal offsets the darkness and intensity of extreme metal with an emphasis on atmosphere, emotion, and even "revelation", developing an expansive but introspective sound variously imbued with elements of ambient, noise, psychedelic, progressive, and classical music, and often shoegaze and art rock. Songs are typically long, with loose and layered structures that discard the verse–chorus form in favor of crescendos and repeating themes. The sound centres on guitars and drums, while any vocals are often but not always screamed or growled and resemble an additional instrument.
Alcest is a French post-black metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige. It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, then became a trio, but members Aegnor and Argoth left the band following the 2001 release of their first demo, leaving Neige as the sole member. Neige began incorporating elements of shoegaze and post-metal into the project's sound from 2005 onwards and is largely credited with pioneering the fusion genre known as blackgaze. In 2009, drummer Winterhalter from Les Discrets joined Alcest, after eight years with Neige as its sole full-time member.
Le secret is an extended play by French blackgaze band Alcest, released in 1 May 2005 through Drakkar Productions. It is Alcest's first release with creator Neige as sole member, as former members Aegnor and Argoth both left after the 2001 demo Tristesse hivernale, and the only release with Neige as sole performer.
Souvenirs d'un autre monde is the first full-length album by French band Alcest, released in August 2007. The title refers to the meaning behind the music of Alcest, as its leader and songwriter, Neige, sees it as a journey through his memories of a distant world he has been in contact with.
Deafheaven is an American post-metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following its release, Deafheaven recruited three new members and began to tour. Before the end of 2010, the band signed to Deathwish Inc. and later released their debut album Roads to Judah, in April 2011. They popularized a unique style blending black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock, among other influences, later called "blackgaze" by reviewers.
Stéphane Hugues Norbert Paut, known professionally as Neige, is a French songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist musician, and record producer from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, now relocated to Paris. He is the primary songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist of the post-black metal band Alcest and is the former guitarist, bass guitarist, and drummer of the post-punk/post-black metal band Amesoeurs.
Fursy Teyssier is a French songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, animator, and graphic designer. He is most known for being the creator, leader, guitarist, bass guitarist, and lead vocalist of shoegazing band Les Discrets. He is currently the live bass guitarist for Empyrium. He is also the former guitarist and bass guitarist of Amesoeurs, and the former live bassist of Alcest. Since 27 December 2015 he is a live member of German gothic metal band The Vision Bleak; he previously directed the music video for their song "The Wood Hag".
Sunbather is the second studio album by the American metal band Deafheaven. After the release of their debut record Roads to Judah, the then two piece group consisting of George Clarke and Kerry McCoy began work on Sunbather under the label Deathwish and recorded in several days in January 2013. The recording process brought a third member into the fold with drummer Dan Tracy who would go on to become a permanent fixture of the band. The album was recorded in The Atomic Garden Recording Studio, owned by Jack Shirley who had been a long time producer of the band.
Kerry Dylan McCoy is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of San Francisco–based blackgaze band Deafheaven.
Shelter is the fourth studio album by French shoegaze band Alcest. It was released on 17 January 2014 via Prophecy Productions. The album's title is related to its overall concept of shelter, "a safe place to escape, this secret thing we all have when life is going too fast and you are full of anxiety." Shelter marks a significant stylistic shift for the band, fully embracing the band's shoegaze and dream pop influences while departing from their previous black metal influences, with Rolling Stone writing that the album has "more in common genetically with Sigur Rós than Satyricon."
Ghost Bath is an American post-metal band from Minot, North Dakota, formed in 2012 and fronted by Dennis Mikula. They have released four studio albums and one EP to date, melding black metal and post-rock music. They initially gained notoriety for marketing themselves as being from China.
Blackgaze is a fusion genre combining elements of black metal and shoegaze. The word is a blend of the names of the two genres, described by The Guardian as "the buzz term for a new school of bands taking black metal out of the shadows and melding its blast beats, dungeon wailing and razorwire guitars with the more reflective melodies of post-rock, shoegaze and post-hardcore." According to Exclaim!, blackgaze "marries the harsh, alien instrumentation of black metal with the mellower, dreamy soundscapes of shoegaze."
New Bermuda is the third studio album by American blackgaze band Deafheaven. It was released on October 2, 2015 through the Anti- record label.
Oathbreaker is a Belgian band from Flanders, formed in 2008 and currently signed to Deathwish Inc. The band consists of guitarists Lennart Bossu and Gilles Demolder, drummer Wim Coppers, and vocalist Caro Tanghe who performs both screamed and sung vocals. They are a part of Church of Ra, an artistic collective started by Amenra, a band of which Lennart and Caro are also members. Like Amenra, Oathbreaker emerged from the Belgian underground hardcore punk scene but integrated extreme metal and art music aesthetics.
Bosse-de-Nage is an American band from San Francisco, California, United States, composed of four anonymous members. Considered a part of the blackgaze scene, the band performs an experimental black metal style that draws from post-rock, shoegaze, post-hardcore, screamo, and indie rock, with influences from Slint, Mogwai, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. AllMusic critic Gregory Heaney wrote that the band "crafts a sound that's as comfortable expanding outward as it is contracting into a suffocating mass of needling guitars and frantic drumming." The band's lyrics touch upon various subjects, such as sex, filth, bodies, perversion, and death. Their name is taken from French symbolist Alfred Jarry's book Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician; it is the name of a monkey which may or may not have been a hallucination of the narrator.
Moonlover is the second studio album by American post-metal band Ghost Bath. Recorded by producer Joshua Schroeder in Michigan, it was released on April 10, 2015 through, Northern Silence Productions. The album is the first Ghost Bath release after the band was revealed to be from North Dakota.
Kodama is the fifth studio album by French post-metal band Alcest. It was released on September 30, 2016 via Prophecy Productions. It is a concept album about "the confrontation of the natural world and the human world", inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke. Musically the album is a return to the band's earlier blackgaze style, due to Neige's feeling that he "needed to go for something more punchy, darker, and more personal." Kodama is also the first Alcest album to feature bassist Indria Saray, though he has performed live with the band since 2010.
Rheia is the third studio album by Belgian metal band Oathbreaker. The album was produced by Jack Shirley and released through independent record label Deathwish Inc. on September 30, 2016. Oathbreaker toured internationally in support of Rheia from September until December with Skeletonwitch and Iron Reagan. The title references Rhea, mother goddess in Greek mythology.
Asunojokei is a Japanese post-black metal/blackgaze group formed in Taitō ward, Tokyo, Japan, in 2014.
Seaweed Mustache is a South Korean blackgaze band. The band currently consists of Choi Jihoon, Jeong Jooyi, Lee Wanki and Ban Jaehyeon. Since their formation in 2014, the band has released an EP The Whistle (2016) and a studio album Bombora (2022).