f The aesthetic-sonic shift of melodic death metal

This article examines the shift in aesthetics and sound that occurred during the development of what came to be called melodic death metal, a sub-genre of metal that developed in the 1990s in Gothenburg, Sweden. I consider the musical aesthetics such as instrumentation, production style and timbre alongside extra-musical aesthetics such as lyrics, cover art and band logos. Thus, I demonstrate how melodic death metal develops its aesthetics and sound in order to differentiate itself from its main influences of Swedish death metal and the New Wave of European Heavy Metal. This article aims to contribute to a growing body of works that is focused on analysing the music at the core of popular music, in particular metal, and develop methods of analysis that deal with musical aesthetics on an equal ground with extra-musical aesthetics. Furthermore, this article aims to discuss in detail specific features of melodic death metal and establish a basis for further examination of the developments of the genre.