What Austrian black metal band influenced the Blackgaze genre?
Blackgaze Blackgaze is a fusion genre combining elements of black metal and shoegazing. 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." Influenced by atmospheric black metal bands like Ulver and Summoning, the genre was pioneered by French musician Neige around 2005 through the projects Alcest and Amesoeurs and has risen to prominence with the success of American group Deafheaven. "The Guardian" named Deafheaven "blackgaze's de facto poster boys, the most likely to open up black metal to an even wider audience", and "Exclaim!" described their second album "Sunbather" – the most critically acclaimed album of 2013 on Metacritic – as seminal to blackgaze.
Metalfest Metalfest is a metal music festival. Since its introduction in Austria in 2007, Metalfest has spread to various European countries.