I was wondering if there are particular parts of music theory that apply especially well to metal, maybe people could post a few tips?. I don't know much theory myself but I think these could be candidates...

Our old friend the tritone/augmented fourth interval: E-A#

This pattern seems to come up a lot: E-G-A#-B

eg. Metallica - Blackened: EEEEEEA#EEBA#G
or Call Of Ktulu: EEEEGEGBA#A#A#A#A#B
(or maybe its just Metallica?)

I mostly listen to DM and apart from the above the main rule seems to be 'no rules', is this correct?

I don't really know what you're trying to get at but yeah that augmented 4th interval was known as the 'Devil's Interval' to medieval monks and is used to attain a somewhat darker sound to a progression. Hence it's propensity in metal.

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I mean, are there particular methods of getting a metal sound... e.g. is there a scale that sounds particularly dark/metal? Other common intervals? etc. etc. Interesting about that devil's interval, by the way.

Yeah, the "Devils Interval" was strickly forbiddon from all church compositions for a very long time.

You'll find most of your dark sounds in Minor and Harmonic Minor scales, chords, and keys. You can get some pretty wicked sounds from certain Polly Chords too.

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dissonant intervals like tritones, minor seconds, major and minor 7th's... are all pretty common in metal-ish music for the "displeasing" or uncomfortable sound they tend to have.
usually minor like scales and arppeggios are applied as well... basically for the darker/sadder/eviler sounds that come from them.

hammer ons,pull offs, pinch harmonics, palmutes, ect. are all pretty common techniques too.

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im not a big fan of disonit chords just play as chords

they can be cool when they are played just one not at a time

Diminished arpeggios, and spanish scale is often used in metal

According to Wikipedia, in Latin it's referred to as 'diabolus in musica'... sound familiar?

Yes. "The Devil in music"

Also a Slayer album

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Minor and Harmonic Minor stuff, Diminished stuff, Chromatic stuff, and symettrical stuff.

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half steps, i dont know why, but ive heard half steps referred to as the "evil interval" on occasion, im probably wrong though

Yeah, half steps are widely used and are definatley one of the most dissonant intervals found.

explain what a symmetrical scale would be please

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A symmetrical scale is any scale (not always eight notes) that has a set pattern to it, whether that pattern repeats itself at the octave or not. Take the diminished scale. This scale is symmetrical because if you take 1/2, 1, 1/2, 1, 1/2 etc the pattern repeats itself each (1/2, 1) This means that there are 3 roots by the way since the pattern has only 3 notes in it. (not the whole scale just itself)

Its hard to explain over a forum, feel free to message me if you need help.

-amerok

From my experiences, all music theory works well with metal, and the most important things are good distortion, and attitude. Certain things do lend better to a metal attitude, but they have pretty much all been covered so far.

Attitude!!!!

Agreed. Nowadays, pretty much everything is open territory when it comes to metal. And, like you said, with 95% of metal, unless you have the attitude, how you apply theory probably won't mean shit.

That I know of,there was only one forbidden interval which was from an F to a B which is,a #4 or b5 and they wouldn't let composers use(or so I believe)but Bach did,he didn't give a shit and used the b5.Rebel all the way.

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A lot of metal bands use Harmonic Minor scales which is just regular minor scales with a raised 7th. You should try it.

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Any bands use Melodic Minor scales? I keep hearing people talking about Minor and Harmonic but I rarely saw anyone talking about the Melodic minor scale. I know of the major and minor scales. But are there Diminished and Chromatic scales?

I believe the natural minor is also referred to as the descending melodic minor. The ascending melodic minor (different scale then the above) is commonly used in jazz. I don't know much about it's use in metal. And yes, there are diminished and chromatic scales as well. Just check out http://www.looknohands.com/chordhou...r/index_rb.html They have every scale!!

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if you're looking for dark sounding scales try the locrian mode, thats about the most dissonant, I think.

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if youre not into harmonic/melodic shit - as mentioned, locrian. also, mixolydian may be considered a 'badass' version of the major scale, dont underestimate major sounds. but the cool thing about mixolydian is that its not used so much in metal, so you can get some really unique sounds by using it. Phyrgian can also sound dark if you use it the right way. if those dont work out you could always try regular minor, which would be the easiest to get the feel out.

most importantly, make sure your rhythm section is in whatever mode you want before even fucking with lead. cause if you are writing in a different key it might sound a bit off