Well this has certainly been a strange week for this community. Here are some updates to how the subreddit will be run and what is expected of users starting immediately.

Memes

Memes have always been allowed, but avoid posting low-effort stuff. The vast majority of "cutting p****" content should be posted in /r/cpbm. I'm leaving the original post and a few higher-effort posts up as they are pretty much historic here now, but most others have been removed.

Most other memes are better suited for /r/blackmetalmemes or /r/metalmemes, but if it is clever and relevant specifically to DSBM, it is still welcome here.

Rule 1 Expansion

Images with self-harm scars, even when they aren't the focus, will now be removed. If it is artwork tied to an actual release, the post must be marked NSFW.

There are many users here who struggle with their mental health, and seeing images like these without warning can be harmful. This isn't the place for that content.

The rest of Rule 1 is as valid as ever. We take posts and comments about SH seriously. Never glorify, encourage, or seek out SH here. Normal discussion about it isn't necessarily banned, but we are a music subreddit, not a support subreddit. If you need help and don't know where to go, reach out to the mods and we will try our best to connect you with someone who is more qualified to help you.

Post Flair

To help with low-effort posts and to more easily parse the type of content you want to see, every new post is required to have flair. So far, there are 7 categories, but feel free to recommend changes or new ones:

• Music: Links to listen to songs, albums, etc.
• Discussion: Topics like news about bands, musical techniques, open-ended questions to the community, etc. Things that, you know, generate discussion and dialogue.
• Recommendations: Do you want more music like a certain song/album/band, or do you have a suggestion for others? Use this.
• Self-Promotion & Fanart: When promoting your own music, use this tag. Also use this when asking for feedback for a work-in-progress or for any kind of fanart.
• Collection & Merch: Post your hauls, collections, shirts, patches, etc. with this flair.
• Humor: Some of us love DSBM memes and jokes, and some of us hate them, so having its own category will help people seek or ignore them.
• Other: For anything that doesn't fit in other categories.

I understand there may be miscommunication between dialects and languages regarding flairs, so please don't be surprised or offended if your flair is changed by mods. If you disagree, feel free to comment here or message the mods about it.

AI-generated Music

New rule: Absolutely no AI music. Not even for the sake of humor.

With generative AI services now able to produce full songs with a prompt, many people have been trying to sneak their fake music onto streaming platforms, music subreddits, YouTube, and other communities.

Time spent streaming AI-generated music as if it were real music is time that could have been spent listening to real artists, and in niche metal sub-subgenres such as DSBM, most artists are already not making much revenue on their art. There is also the ethical issue of these types of AI being trained on already existing works without the artists' permission, so I feel like allowing AI music would be disrespectful to the classic DSBM bands.

Reminder:

I want to also use this post as a reminder that if you tell a user "kys" or anything similar, you will be greeted with an instant ban, even if it was a joke. Pretty much the only time you should use that phrase here is when referring to the band "Make a Change...".

And please continue to use the report function if you see a rule violation. The mods don't sit staring at the new tab all day, so this is the fastest way to clean up the subreddit.

EDIT 8/30: Separated Discussion and Recommendation flairs.