Metal
While the exact origins of heavy metal music are unknown, it can be estimated that the genre had been in the early stages of development throughout the late 1960s. Heavy metal borrows much of its influence from legendary Blues Rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. It is a widely debated topic as to which band was actually the first to make the leap from rock to metal, but the main contenders are generally Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and Black Widow. Regardless of which band is labeled the first in the genre, the music itself developed immense popularity in the early 1970s due in no small part to the aforementioned bands. The United Kingdom and the United States alike saw a drastic influx of new bands, many now legendary acts such as AC/DC, Judas Priest, Motörhead and Thin Lizzy.
Early metal music was characterized by driving and distorted riffs, aggressive drumming, vigorous vocals, and an all around show of brute force. Fashion played a major role in the scene as well, with the predominant color of choice being black to signify individualism, and the most popular clothing style being tight leather. Most band members grew down-the-back long hair, adopted from the hippie culture of the 1960s. Lyrical themes were often used as weapons of shock value towards the mainstream music culture, often emphasizing dark and depressing subjects such as anti-religion, drugs, war, death, and suicide. The fallen angel Satan would become a prime symbol for the genre, embodying the messages of individuality and anti-conformity that heavy metal music strived to create.
Since its birth in the early 1970s, metal has since branched out into dozens of subgenres, each incorporating a unique style or theme. Death Metal, for example, is an aggressive subgenre that tends to emphasize deep, guttural growls, fast tempos, blast beat drumming, complex song structures, and a general emphasis on gory lyrical content. Black Metal on the other hand, is a subgenre that tends to focus more on lo-fi production to enhance atmosphere while employing tremolo picking, shrieked vocals, unconventional song structures, and generally Satanic or anti-Christian lyrics. While each subgenre is inherently different, it is clear that the original message of individualism found in the early heavy metal music is still alive today.
Alternative Metal
Alternative Metal is a loosely defined sub-genre of Metal music that began in the late 1980s and reached its peak in the 1990s. It is characterized by mixing metal (most notably heavy riffs) with other styles such as Hip Hop (Rage Against the Machine), Funk (Primus), Post-Hardcore (Helmet), Grunge (Soundgarden), and other genres not traditionally associated with metal. Bands including Faith No More incorporate a vocal style that alternates between clean, melodic singing and Hardcore Punk-influenced screams.
By the mid 1990s alternative metal's sound became more standardized, thus resulting in what is now called Nu Metal, however, some bands are still classified as alternative metal today (such as System of a Down). This is typically due to them being closer in sound to Alternative Rock or their lack of the hip hop influences associated with nu metal.
Atmospheric Black Metal
Atmospheric Black Metal is a sub-genre of Black Metal which relies on heavy incorporation of atmospheric, sometimes even dreamy textures, therefore moving away from its parent into a less aggressive direction. Atmospheric Black Metal often features synthesizers or classical instrumentation, typically for melody or ethereal "shimmering" over the wall of sound provided by the guitars. The music is usually slow to mid paced with rare blast beat usage, without any abrupt changes and generally features slowly developing, sometimes repetitive melodies and riffs, thus providing another notable distinction from its parent and other Black Metal sub-genres. Subject matter usually concerns nature, folklore, mythology, and personal introspection.
Atmospheric Sludge Metal
Sludge Metal performed with an emphasis on atmospheric and textured riffs. Pioneered by bands such as Neurosis, Isis and Pelican, the style is characterised by heavy distorted riffs slowly building on the crescendos often associated with Post-Rock.
Avant-Garde Metal
(also known as Experimental Metal, Avant-Metal)
Avant-Garde Metal, also referred to as Experimental Metal, is a subgenre of Metal music that first appeared in central Europe in the mid 1980s. The English translation of the French word Avant-Garde is literally vanguard, meaning the forefront of a movement or activity. As such, the genre incorporates a plethora of irregular and nonconventional sounds, song structures, and instrumentation, characterizing a vastly experimental sound that often integrates several genres into one.
It is important to note, however, that as the Metal genre as a whole progresses, certain bands that are currently deemed "avant-garde" may not be considered so in the future, and may even be setting a precedent for a new sound altogether. The application of the term "avant-garde" is relative to time period and context, such that modern "avant-garde" bands may not be categorized as "avant-garde" in the future. For example, Celtic Frost's earlier works were originally considered experimental and avant-garde for the time period, but two decades later we now consider the albums as simply Blackened Thrash Metal. It should be clear that Avant-Garde Metal bands of today may not always be described as such in the future, and in certain cases may even be described as something more specific in the future if their sound is influential enough to generate a new genre or subgenre.
Black Metal
Black Metal is a sub-genre of Metal typified by its usually raw or under-produced sound and Satanic/rebellious aesthetic, as well as simplistic guitar phrases and under-accentuated rhythmic dimensions which allow more power for the atmospheric, detached and wandering riffs. Vocals are often higher pitched than Death Metal (or, screams rather than Death Metal's grunts) and can sound detached or unnervingly direct.
The genre began in the early/mid-1980s as an offshoot of the popular Heavy Metal style emerging in Britain during this time, with bands (most notably, Venom with their extremely important Black Metal album in 1982, which most people consider the beginning of the term itself) from this area utilizing powerful occult imagery and a rawer, more stripped-down sound than was usual for typical bands of the times, but other factions of influential bands occurred sporadically in other countries in Europe, including Switzerland, where Hellhammer were concocting their own sinister combination of (what would come to be known as) Black/Doom Metal/Death/Thrash Metal, possibly one of the world's first "extreme Metal" bands (a term for Metal that is not overtly/intentionally melodic in a traditional sense). Over time, the influences culminated in Norway and the other Scandinavian countries where "Black Metal" would come into its own and develop a following greater than when it was in its embryonic stages. It was in Norway and Sweden, with bands the likes of Mayhem, Bathory and Burzum, where "northern", cold, isolated sounds originated and became a staple sound of the "second wave" which extended until the mid-1990s.
Modern Black Metal has diverged quite a bit from its original path. The genre is very much a worldwide phenomenon currently, with prominent acts located in Germany, France, Poland, Russia and even the United States. Sub-styles of Black Metal have been designed around expanding the aesthetic of the genre into Industrial, Psychedelic Rock, Ambient, or Folk sectors of music.
Blackgaze
A style emerging around the turn of the 21st century that became increasingly popular during the latter part of the aughts. Blackgaze was pioneered by bands associated with a French musician Neige (most notably Alcest and Amesoeurs). They were influenced by Atmospheric Black Metal classics such as Ulver, Burzum and Summoning, as well as non-metal genres like Post-Punk and Neoclassical Darkwave.
The blackgaze sound is a mixture of black metal aesthetics with more dreamy and mellow textures. One of the main characteristics of the genre are tremolo picking riffs creating an ethereal wall of sound, which is softer than usual black metal and resembling Shoegaze (hence the name). Other common features are rapid blast beats and shrieking vocals, often interchanging with slower sections, clean singing and acoustic or Post-Rock-like instrumental breaks.
Other important blackgaze performers include Lantlôs, Woods of Desolation, and Deafheaven, whose critically acclaimed album Sunbather is one of the most successful and popular records representing the genre.
Because of its post-rock leanings, the genre is commonly referred to as "post-black metal". However, that term can also mean several different styles, e.g. the Norwegian scene of Avant-Garde Metal artists rooted in black metal (Solefald, Arcturus, Ved Buens Ende....., etc.).
Black 'n' Roll
Black 'n' roll is a style of Black Metal that incorporates elements of Hard Rock, Glam Rock, and Heavy Metal. Similar to its Death 'n' Roll counterpart, it retains most aspects of its black metal roots whilst being generally "lighter" and closer to a hard rock or 1970s heavy metal sound. Vocals are generally a mix of black metal shrieks and screams, but often mix in clean vocals as well. A use of Rock & Roll inspired rhythms, catchy or "groovy" melodies, and less abrasive instrumentation are also common factors.
The genre's primary influences are split between the sound pioneered by first-wave black metal bands such as Venom and Hellhammer and a variety of rock and punk music of the 1970s and 1980s. Bands often incorporate a visual aesthetic to their appearance on stage, utilising corpsepaint and leather to harken to both the black metal and the glam roots of the genre. The blackened Crust Punk sound of the 2000s is also an influence on the sound of black 'n' roll bands. Lyrically the music is also a mixture of black metal's darker themes (satanism, occultism, etc.) and themes found in "cock rock" such as sex, drugs, and alcohol.
Like black metal, the style is predominantly found in Scandinavia (specifically Norway), with artists such as I, Khold, and Kvelertak forming in the 2000s and developing the sound. Like modern black metal, there is also a substantial North American scene, with bands such as Midnight and Chapel bringing the style local attention therein.
Brutal Death Metal
An overarching style of Death Metal with a few separate sub-styles within it. Overall, though, the music can be defined wholly as death metal with the extremity factor turned up in multiple ways. Triggered blastbeats, Grindcore influences and chunky, fast riffing characterize a good number of bands playing brutal death metal, but there are some bands, as early as Suffocation who emphasize "slam" riffs which are often featured in breakdowns. This type of riff is often noted as being almost purely rhythmic, syncopated with the drumming or general pattern of the song and muted for maximum heaviness, though these elements don't control the majority of the music like in Slam Death Metal. Bands playing brutal death metal are often known to write shorter songs, emphasizing how much damage can be done in a brief period of time, though some also write longer, complex songs with a multitude of different, often slow, breakdowns and compositional techniques.
The two main styles seem to be a technical death style with slam-sounding breakdowns and grinding riffs as the aforementioned Suffocation did on their earliest material and a complex, chaotic and constantly shifting yet unwaveringly fast and oppressive style like Deeds of Flesh. Most bands play in one of these styles or combine them with their own variegated influences to produce their own sound.
Celtic Metal
Subgenre of Folk Metal that features Celtic Folk Music elements. Common additional instruments are bagpipe, whistle, fiddle, flute, bodhrán or hurdy gurdy, among many others. The origins of the genre can be traced to Skyclad, the first Folk Metal band, who added Celtic Folk influences into some songs among other forms of folk, being "The Widdershins Jig" the first song that included Celtic Folk elements in 1990. At the same time, in Ireland, bands like Cruachan and Waylander evolved from Black Metal adding typical Irish Folk Music instruments, while in Spain, Mägo de Oz evolved from the popular Celtic Rock into a more metallic sound. Celtic Metal is localized on regions with celtic roots like the British Islands, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany, but in the last years the genre has expanded worldwide, for such different countries like Argentina, Brazil, Russia, or Japan. Other famous bands include Eluveitie, Suidakra, and Tuatha de Danann.
Crossover Thrash
Crossover Thrash is a fusion of Thrash Metal and Hardcore Punk which started in the 1980s. Even though thrash metal itself is already influenced by hardcore punk, crossover thrash bands employ elements from hardcore punk much more overtly, especially in the shouted vocals. The recordings are also often sloppier than that of thrash metal. On the other hand, typical thrash metal elements are also present, most notably in the riffs. Some notable crossover thrash bands are S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies and D.R.I.
This genre should not be confused with Thrashcore, even though bands like D.R.I. started as thrashcore. Crossover thrash however is different because of the lack of blastbeats and extremely high tempos. It also leans more towards thrash metal, resulting in generally longer song durations.
Cyber Metal
(also known as Futuristic Metal)
Cyber metal is a sub-genre of Industrial Metal that began around 1999 with bands like The Kovenant. The genre incorporates numerous elements found predominantly in EBM and Aggrotech. Characteristics of the genre include the use of more melodic and less repetitive riffs, in opposition to mostly metallic and mechanical sound of Industrial. Electronic layers sound like vast and "cosmic" feeling, symphonic structures incorporated from EBM genre. The vocals are harsh, ranging from singing techniques typical for aggrotech to Black Metal shrieks and Death Metal growls. Guitar melodies are played in a similar way to Melodic Death Metal, and keyboards specific to Symphonic Black Metal are frequent as well. Some bands like Deathstars, fascinated by the symbolism of totalitarianism, using it as part of the image also incorporated same aesthetic to their sound. In 1990s, the name cyber metal was used to describe bands like Fear Factory, however they still stay close to Industrial Metal aesthetics.
Cybergrind
Cybergrind is the combination of the standard conventions of Grindcore taken to an even more discordant and rapidfire extreme, with the added Electronic dimensions of computer generated noises and drum machines. Generated sounds are created through the use of programmed synthesizers or MIDI files. Cybergrind began in the US of the late 90s. Agoraphobic Nosebleed is its most well-known practitioner, though the style is a decidedly underground phenomenon.
Death Doom Metal
Death doom metal is a sub-genre of Doom Metal which incorporates numerous Death Metal elements into its originally thick and heavy sound and therefore aims to bring its distinctive features to more extreme levels. Slow to medium tempos are still usually employed, as is typical for doom metal's dark atmosphere; plodding tempos are greatly emphasized and maintain a very strong presence. Often, two-step down-tuned guitar chords are used with typical death metal rhythms and, at times, more accelerated chord progressions and riffs. Moreover, the lead guitar usually makes heavy use of the natural minor scale, thus resulting in a very distinct sound that is dark, haunting and cold that conveys a feeling of despair but is rhythmically heavy, thick and harsh at the same time. Also, when compared to doom metal and its other sub-genres, more aggressive double kick drumming is used to contribute to the overall harshness of the sound. This applies as well to the deep growling vocals that are normally employed, which are sometimes complemented with clean, usually male, vocals. The bass guitar remains as prominent and important as it is in doom metal in general and keyboards or synthesizers can be used to emphasize the bleak and desperate atmosphere that the artists intend to deliver. Lyrics are narrative in some cases and subject matter usually concerns a range of topics including death, pain, loss, depression and despair, with (anti-)religious themes being quite common as well.
The genre first emerged as a fusion of death and doom metal between the late 1980s and the early 1990s with the bands like Dream Death, Sempiternal Deathreign, Winter and diSEMBOWELMENT, all of which are considered old-school death doom metal nowadays, as well as Paradise Lost, who played an especially important role not only in pioneering but also in popularizing and uniquely defining death doom metal as a separate doom metal sub-genre with its own set of characteristics and its trademark sound in the early- to mid-1990s together with My Dying Bride, Anathema, and Katatonia, all of which have made a huge impact on the development of this genre and influenced a lot of its bands.
Elements of the genre have been used in and mixed with other genres by some bands; examples of these fusions include Draconian and My Dying Bride in the genre of Gothic Metal, and Evoken and Ataraxie in the genre of Funeral Doom Metal.
Death Metal
Death Metal is a Metal sub-genre that began in the United States in the mid 1980s and was heavily influenced by Thrash Metal (particularly bands like Slayer and Kreator). Pioneers of the genre include bands such as Possessed, Death, and Morbid Angel.
This genre often utilizes abrupt changes in tempo, key, and time signature, although this is not present in all forms of this music. Guitars are heavily distorted and down-tuned, and are often played using techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking. Chromatic chord progressions are often featured in Death Metal songs. Death Metal drummers typically play in very fast patterns and often employ double bass drum techniques and the use of blast beats to create a highly aggressive sound. Vocally, Death Metal uses a style consisting largely of guttural growls, grunts, and gurgles. Lyrics are bleak and often violent or anti-religious.
Even today, this style is considered a largely underground form of music.
Death 'n' Roll
Death 'n' Roll is a subgenre of Death Metal which began in the early 1990s and was popularized by Entombed. The genre incorporates elements of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Blues Rock. As a Death Metal subgenre, it retains the heavily distorted rhythm guitars and gruff vocals, while the song structure and arrangement are in a manner more reminiscent of Rock & Roll and Heavy Metal of the 1970s.
Deathcore
A fusion of Death Metal and Metalcore. A notable characteristic is the general focus on breakdowns and blast beats, along with growled or screamed vocals, sometimes shifting between one or the other. The 'pig squeal' vocal style, as popularized by bands such as Despised Icon, is also frequently employed. Deathcore players usually utilize simplistic chord progressions, relying on power chords, open strings, and palm mutes. Deathcore bands employ a variety of styles, such as bands who play a more melodic style, like As Blood Runs Black and All Shall Perish, bands whom play a heavier, more "brutal" deathcore, like Thy Art Is Murder, and Suicide Silence. Some bands are also known to merge the "melodic" and the "brutal" styles, like Carnifex and Hester Prynne. Other bands merge Metalcore with Grindcore, like The Red Chord and Animosity. Bands are also known to merge deathcore with Djent (The Contortionist, Veil of Maya) or Mathcore (See You Next Tuesday, Dysphoria).
Deathgrind
Deathgrind fuses Death Metal with Grindcore. The genre was originated in the late 1980s with bands like Terrorizer and Macabre. Other well known bands are Brutal Truth, later-Napalm Death, Exhumed and Misery Index. Deathgrind often uses both low guttural vocals from death metal and high pitched screams from grindcore, whilst also possessing the technicality of death metal and the intensity of grindcore. The song structures often have breakdowns unlike most grindcore bands and the songs are in general quite short, but not as extremely short as in grindcore.
Depressive Black Metal
(also known as Suicidal Black Metal)
Depressive Black Metal is a sub-genre of Black Metal which features an overall monotonous sound, repetitive and frequently droning guitars, apathetic drums, occasional minimalistic keyboards and atmospheric ambient passages. The music is made with a purpose to create a hypnotic and depressive atmosphere and plunge the listener into the feeling of despair and hopelessness. Most artists usually employ slow or mid-tempo sound, generally devoid of any abrupt changes, with a few exceptions being more standard Black Metal oriented, and therefore faster sounding bands, such as Abyssic Hate, Malvery and Silencer. The vocals utilized are usually expressive shrieking and inhaling. The subject matter concerns a range of pessimistic topics, including suicide, nihilism, hatred, self-mutilation. The genre is often mixed with other genres such as Atmospheric Black Metal, Ambient, Doom Metal and more recently Post-Punk and Shoegaze. The most noticeable acts, apart from those mentioned above, include Leviathan, Xasthur, Strid, I Shalt Become, Shining, Nyktalgia, Trist, Gris and Make a Change... Kill Yourself.
Djent
(also known as Math Metal)
Djent is a style of Progressive Metal with syncopated rhythmic structures, angular melodies, and dissonant chords. Typical traits of the sound include groovy polyrhythms (often four-over-three), cycling patterns of varying length with more unusual time signatures, a sporadic and relatively sparse use of snare, slashing use of cymbals, and both heavy and psychedelic cleanly played riffs that are highly repetitive; all usually interplayed with a high level of technicality. It relies heavily on Alternative Metal-resembling riffs (often incorporating elements from Death Metal and Math Rock) to create a chaotic atmosphere. Djent also sometimes borrows elements from Mathcore.
The word "djent" is an onomatopoeia coined by Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah for the medium-high gain, dissonant guitar tone the genre primarily utilizes. Textures, TesseracT, Xerath and most notably Meshuggah are good examples of Djent.
Doom Metal
Reveling in tension, despair, and dread, doom metal prizes atmosphere more than many of metal's other primary subgenres. Doom uses plodding tempos, repeated chords, and thick, distorted, down-tuned guitars to attempt to envelop the listener in a wash of desperate foreboding that can commonly last to the ten minute mark and beyond. Instruments generally keep to the standard guitar, bass, and drums, but it is not unusual to add keyboard passages and backdrops.
Doom vocals can be in any of the predominant metal styles, but all share a determined attempt to invoke emotional hopelessness and mental anguish. This is further amplified by the lyrical themes of grief, depression, fear, resentment, and suffering that are hallmarks of the style.
The roots of doom metal are considered to have been planted in the early 70s work of Black Sabbath. In the 1980s, European artists like Witchfinder General and Candlemass adopted the Doom sound as a full fledged genre unto itself, as well as American acts like Saint Vitus, Trouble and Pentagram. Their style of thick and depressive doom remained the standard until the early 90s, when newcomers such as My Dying Bride, Cathedral, Electric Wizard, and many others began to experiment in melding doom with several other metal subgenres. Doom has proven to be one of the most lasting and recognizable metal styles, maintaining a relatively small but devoted fan base in many countries.
Drone Metal
Drone metal is a style of Metal composed with heavy repetitive drones, minimalist structure and slow tempos. It is largely influenced by Drone music, as well as Noise music and Ambient music (especially Dark Ambient). The primary instrument of the genre is the electric guitar, typically in deep sub-bass tones, usually heavily distorted using audio feedback and/or reverb. As drone metal often lacks traditional rhythmic structure, use of percussion instruments is less common than most metal genres.
Pioneered by Earth and Melvins in the early 1990s, drone metal began as a form of Doom Metal but should no longer be considered an exclusive form of it. This is a result of contemporary drone metal being fused with many other styles of metal in the late 1990s (such as Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Black Metal and Avant-Garde Metal), which caused it to grow as a unique and independent style.
Folk Metal
Folk metal is a subgenre of Metal music that developed primarily in Europe throughout the early 1990s. As the name suggests, the music itself is a fusion of metal with Traditional Folk Music, usually with heavy usage of folk instruments such as the flute, violin, accordion, and various others. However, while retaining folk melodies in their music, some bands rely more on standard metal instrumentation, thus partly or completely neglecting the usage of folk instruments, which are frequently replicated on keyboards. Lyrical content of the genre is most commonly related to nature, mythology, paganism and fantasy.
The first folk metal band to gain widespread popularity was the British band Skyclad, formed in 1990. Since the genre's origination, several regional styles of folk metal have arisen, including Celtic Metal made popular by such bands as Cruachan and Mägo de Oz, and Medieval Folk Metal, popularized by In Extremo and Subway to Sally. In addition to regional differences, folk metal is often integrated with other subgenres such as Viking Metal, Black Metal, Symphonic Metal and Power Metal, with notable fusion bands being Moonsorrow, Nokturnal Mortum, Turisas and Elvenking.
Funeral Doom Metal
The most melancholy of the Doom Metal styles, Funeral Doom takes the depressive atmosphere and slowed tempos to an extreme. Distorted chords are played at a dirge-like pace, often accompanied by mournful keyboards and vocals that are pushed back in the mix. The vocals become dreamlike chants or hushed growls in an effort to create the most oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere possible. This sound was first popularized by Thergothon, with their moody atmosphere and dreamy mixing influencing many artists in the genre. Bands like Skepticism refine the traditional sound of the genre, and bands like Esoteric and Mournful Congregation often mix Funeral Doom Metal with Death Doom Metal elements.
Funk Metal
Funk metal refers to a fusion of Metal and Funk Rock that gained popularity in the mid-1980s. Funk metal bands often incorporate influences from a variety of genres, most commonly Punk Rock, Hip Hop and Thrash Metal (the latter being particularly true in earlier bands). Bands include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Faith No More, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, and 311. It was heavily influential on the later Nu Metal movement.
Goregrind
Goregrind deviates from typical Grindcore in three aspects: the persistent use of very low pitch shifted vocals; the willingness to employ more mid-tempo rhythms rather than rampant full throttle speed; and an almost exclusive lyrical obsession with medical terminology, pathological conditions, and violence upon the human body. These themes are chosen largely for shock value, and are often conveyed in a purposely over-the-top fashion. In return, some see this as the predecessor to Deathgrind.
The early work of Carcass is considered a prime example of this style.
Gorenoise
(also known as Vomitnoise)
Gorenoise is an extreme variant of Goregrind that combines and subverts its goregrind and Grindcore elements with brash Noise music (typically utilising intense Harsh Noise). The style first began to take place in the late 1990s as goregrind was pushed to its extreme limits by bands such as Last Days of Humanity and Anal Birth.
As within goregrind, the vocals are heavily pitch-shifted down, often to the point of sounding like gargling or bubbling, or to imitate vomiting and other bodily functions. The drums are typically digitally programmed, chaotic, and at a high tempo; this often makes the sound comparable with Cybergrind.
Much like its goregrind roots, gorenoise musicians often utilise medical terminology in their band and song names, as well as using graphic and gory medical imagery in their cover art. Though mostly indecipherable due to the editing techniques used, gorenoise lyrics tend to focus on typical grindcore topics, with graphic violence, death, and bodily functions being the general focus.
The style became more notable in the 2000s, with bands specifically taking to and innovating the style directly. The mid-to-late 2000s saw the work of Bobby Maggard (an artist with several hundred gorenoise projects) and Phyllomedusa both further help define and develop the sound of the genre through their hundreds of releases.
Gothic Metal
Gothic metal is a subgenre of metal music that dates back to the early 1990s, with primary development in the European countries of England, Finland, Norway, Germany and Italy. The music itself is a fusion between Doom Metal and Gothic Rock, focusing on the aggressive riffs of metal music while backed by a primarily dark and melancholic atmosphere. The instrumentation is generally comprised of mournful guitars, plodding drums, ethereal synthesizers, and a general emphasis on “spooky” or “eerie” musical textures. While not a primary focus, some gothic metal bands tend to emphasize orchestral instrumentation similar to that of Symphonic Metal. Lyrical themes are often depressing in nature, revolving around doomed romances, tragedy, death, and general sadness. Notable bands of the genre include Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Theatre of Tragedy and Tiamat.
Grindcore
(also known as Grind)
Born out of the British Crust Punk scene, the original incarnation of grindcore, most notably embraced by the bands Napalm Death and early Carcass, incorporated elements from Thrash Metal and Thrashcore and raised them to new levels of extremity and aggression. A lightning fast tempo of distorted chromatic guitar riffs played over relentless blast beats accompany vocals that consist mainly of unintelligible shrieks, growls, and barks. Grindcore songs typically attack in short, ultra-violent blasts of noise, in some cases lasting only a matter of seconds, with no readily apparent song structures. Grindcore bands attempt to represent the nihilism and decay that they sense in society through this extreme music, and angry lyrics that commonly speak of social and political issues.
Modern grindcore has expanded to include influences from Industrial Metal, Death Metal, and Noise, in the styles of well-known bands like Pig Destroyer, Nasum, and Cephalic Carnage. Though it has always been a niche within a niche, grindcore maintains a steady and enthusiastic following.
Groove Metal
Groove metal is a subgenre of metal music that dates back to the late 1980s, with origins primarily focused in the United States and Brazil. The music itself is generally comprised of mid-tempo riffs similar to those found in Thrash Metal, with a tendency to focus more on groovy syncopation and heaviness than outright speed. The result is generally a combination of influences from original Thrash Metal, with overtones of Heavy Metal and undertones of Hardcore Punk. Notable acts include Pantera, Machine Head, Sepultura and White Zombie.
Heavy Metal
(also known as Traditional Metal)
Heavy Metal is a style of music that began to emerge around 1970 in England and the United States, and is the first of many Metal sub-genres. Black Sabbath is considered by many to be the single most influential group in the formation of this style.
Heavy Metal differs from other Metal styles in a few key ways, the most obvious of which are its strong similarity to Hard Rock and its more traditional Rock sound compared to some of the more extreme Metal sub-genres. There is often somewhat of an overlap between this style and Hard Rock, however in most cases Heavy Metal is seen as having significantly more “loudness” in its instrumentation as well as lacking much of the Blues influence that Hard Rock has. Heavy Metal usually features much darker lyrics (often dealing with themes such as death and the occult) and often utilizes tense-sounding tritone relationships in its chord progressions, whereas this is not true for Hard Rock. Also worth noting is Heavy Metal’s stronger emphasis on distortion (and sometimes down-tuned guitars) as well as its more emphatic beats. This style has had a significant impact on the development of many other Metal sub-genres that followed.
Industrial Metal
Industrial metal is a genre that fuses Metal with elements from Industrial Music. To the usual metal instrumentation, industrial metal adds Electronic instruments such as synthesizers, samplers and sometimes drum machines. The guitar riffs are often downtuned and repetitive, which gives the music a machinal quality. Other common characteristics are distorted vocals and an abrasive sound.
Two important bands that helped define the genre in the late 1980s were Ministry and Godflesh. Godflesh drew inspirations from heavy sounds of early Swans and Whitehouse, while Ministry incorporated metal-indebted guitar riffs to its brand of industrial dance music. After breaking into mainstream alternative music with records such as Nine Inch Nails's Broken and Ministry's Psalm 69, it spawned additional popular bands such as Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad.
The prominent influence of industrial metal yielded popular subgenres such as Cyber Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte through the 1990s and influenced many extreme metal acts such as Blut aus Nord, The Kovenant, and Samael as well.
Mathcore
Mathcore is a rhythmically-complex subgenre of Metalcore that originated in the mid to late 1990s. Metalcore artists such as Deadguy, Candiria and Coalesce were incorporating unconventional time signatures, erratic metric shifts and syncopated and dissonant riffs to the original Metalcore sound. The Mathcore movement gained underground popularity in the late 1990s to early 2000s with acclaimed and influential releases from The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch and Converge that became staples of the technical yet aggressive sound.
Although early Mathcore groups did contain elements of Hardcore Punk and Noisecore, later Mathcore groups began to experiment and further combine their sound with different genres including Grindcore, Post-Hardcore and Electronic music.
The name originated from combining the name of the also rhythmically-complex Math Rock with Metalcore, but Mathcore has much more in common with Metalcore than Math Rock; although they share the trait of rhythmic complexity, Mathcore is much more aggressive and heavy in sound, more often than not with shouted vocals.
Medieval Folk Metal
(also known as Mittelalter Metal)
A sub-genre of Folk Metal that emerged in the mid-to-late 1990s from the German Neo-Medieval movement along with Medieval Rock. It is considered appreciably heavier, more aggressive and powerful than its twin. Also, guitars and drums play an even more important role.
Although these genres, both pioneered by Subway to Sally and In Extremo, often overlap with each other, not all Medieval Metal is Medieval Rock, and vice versa.
Melodic Black Metal
Melodic Black Metal is a sub-genre of Black Metal that emerged in the mid-1990s. Dissection and Sacramentum are considered to be the pioneers of this genre.
While keeping the main characteristics of Black Metal, such as fast tempos, shrieking vocals, tremolo picking and frequent blast-beat use, Melodic Black Metal differs from its parent in several ways. It is usually less aggressive, straightforward, raw, and minimalistic than typical Black Metal, often lacking the cold and sinister atmosphere associated with its parent genre. Instead, a clean and polished sound is employed, featuring more diverse guitar and drum lines. The guitars are played with less distortion, solos are common, keyboards are frequently used, and acoustic guitars can sometimes be included as well. In addition, clean male or female vocals are occasionally employed.
The lyrical themes are usually the same as those found in Black Metal: anti-Christianity, death, darkness and occultism.
Melodic Death Metal
(also known as Melodeath)
Melodic Death Metal is a style of Death Metal which utilizes the guitar harmonies and melodic sound of Heavy Metal, while keeping the main characteristics of Death Metal, particularly down-tuned, heavily distorted guitars and harsh, aggressive sound. Melodic Death Metal contains more melodic guitar riffs and solos than traditional Death Metal. Occasionally, acoustic guitars are used as well. Blast beats are used, but not quite as often as they are in Death Metal. Some bands also add keyboards to their music. The vocal style is usually harsh, sometimes utilizing both clean and screaming parts as well.
Melodic Death Metal was pioneered in the early-mid 1990s by such bands as Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, At the Gates and Carcass on their album Heartwork.
Melodic Metalcore
A style of Metal that appeared in the early 2000s, exploring a more Metal-oriented fusion of Hardcore Punk and Metal than 1990s Metalcore offers, taking its largest influence from Melodic Death Metal and to a lesser extent Thrash Metal and Groove Metal.
Where Metalcore evolved out of Hardcore Punk with added Metal elements such as double bass drumming and thrash-like guitar and vocals, Melodic Metalcore stems from Metal bands adopting Hardcore Punk elements. Most notably in the rhythm section, breakdowns and sometimes two-steps are added to Metal-oriented drumming, and Melodic Metalcore vocals are often reminiscent of Hardcore Punk. Melodic Metalcore bands generally follow standard song structures and have choruses in their songs in which clean vocals are used.
Boston-area acts Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, and Unearth helped to define this genre.
Metalcore
(also known as Metallic Hardcore)
A combination of Hardcore Punk and Metal that began to take shape during the mid 1990s. What differentiates metalcore from other combinations of metal and hardcore punk, such as Crossover Thrash, is the emphasis on breakdowns and greater use of dissonance.
The term 'metallic hardcore' is used to describe the style of the 'first wave' of metalcore bands which shared their hardcore punk and metal influences fairly equally such as Integrity and Earth Crisis. Converge continues to play this style.
The metalcore bands from the early and mid 00s that brought the genre to a more mainstream audience are said instead to play Melodic Metalcore, because of the increased influence of Melodic Death Metal and frequent use of clean vocals.
NWOBHM
(also known as New Wave of British Heavy Metal)
NWOBHM is an acronym for new wave of British heavy metal. It started as a heavy metal movement in the late 1970s in Britain, as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Often panned by critics, many NWOBHM bands took the DIY aesthetics of punk rockers and financed and released their own records. Consequently, the vast majority of them were relegated to the “underground” scene. However, by the early 1980s it had achieved some international attention. Breakout bands of this era include Def Leppard and Iron Maiden (featuring Paul DiAnno on vocals). However, like the punk rock movement, countless other groups made notable impacts on the scene: Diamond Head, Saxon, Raven, Blitzkrieg, Samson (featuring Bruce Dickinson on vocals), Tygers of Pan Tang, Girlschool, Angel Witch, Grim Reaper, Praying Mantis and Witchfynde.
The new wave of British heavy metal didn’t have a signature “sound”, per se. The nomenclature has more to do with the location and era, than any such sound. Many of the groups opted to strip away the blues influences from their music, preferring to forge ahead with a faster, tougher form of heavy metal; others, such as Witchfinder General, made way with a heavy doom metal sound, though less lugubrious than their metal forefathers Black Sabbath. Still more were progressive and epic sounding. While many of the groups were bound together with a sense of melody, this was not always the case. Venom, for instance, made way with a rough, pounding sound that had much more to do with punk rock than it did with traditional heavy metal.
It could be argued that the NWOBHM era set the stage for heavy metal acceptance around the world. It’s also seen as a precursor and influence to the thrash and speed metal genres that would follow in its wake just a few years later.
Neoclassical Metal
Neoclassical metal is a sub-genre of Metal greatly influenced by Western Classical Music in its style of playing and composing. It emerged from Heavy Metal in the early to mid 1980s.
Early pioneers of neoclassical metal, most notably Yngwie Malmsteen, were influenced by Hard Rock and Heavy Metal guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen. The latter was also very important to the development of guitar shredding playing technique which is one of the most explicit elements of neoclassical metal. Classical inspirations include, above all, Romanticism, Baroque Music and Classical Period composers, particularly Niccolò Paganini.
Although neoclassical metal was initially deeply rooted in Heavy Metal, some artists in the genre also expanded into more Power Metal oriented sounds. The rapid, technical and classically influenced solos of keyboardists such as Jens Johansson and Richard Andersson made quite an impact on neoclassical power metal.
Neoclassical metal’s key characteristics include highly technical guitar/keyboard performances and complex musical structures such as fast arpeggios, counterpoints, chord progressions, ostinatos, nonchord tones, strong and frequent vibratos. Artists frequently borrow harmonies, themes and motifs from famous classical works, sometimes even performing full metal adaptations of them. The music is often instrumental, but vocals, if present, are clean, usually high-pitched. In neoclassical power metal, in addition to synthesizers, the sound of harpsichord is often used. Another common element of the genre are the “battles” between the guitarist and the keyboardist who often duel with each other.
Neue Deutsche Härte
(also known as New German Hardness, Tanzmetall)
Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) is a type of Hard Rock/Metal that incorporates various aspects of electronic music, specifically Electronic Dance Music (hence the name Tanzmetall, or dance metal). It was popularized by acts such as Oomph!, Eisbrecher, and Rammstein (who coined the term, Tanzmetall), following the commercialization of Industrial Rock and Industrial Metal in the early 1990s. In addition to presence of synthesizer and electronic beats, Neue Deutsche Härte is characterized by its heavy use of downtuned and palm-muted guitar riffs, similar to Groove Metal. It generally employs male vocals sung in a deep register, while death growls are also sometimes present.
Nintendocore
(also known as Nescore)
Nintendocore is a subgenre of Melodic Metalcore fused with Chiptune instrumentation, often sampling Video Game Music from Nintendo games, and often incorporates elements from Post-Hardcore, Mathcore, Noise Rock, Metalcore, Cybergrind, and Synthpop. The genre is characterized by heavy and chaotic riffs, synth-led 8-bit melodies and screamed vocals. Notable bands in the genre include HORSE the Band, Sky Eats Airplane, Iamerror and I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog.
Nu Metal
Nu metal is a form of Alternative Metal that began around the mid-1990s. Musically, there is a large emphasis placed on rhythm. The guitar is often used almost exclusively as a rhythm instrument, relying more on techniques like syncopation, palm muting, drop tunings and power chords than the more intricate lead guitar work of traditional Metal styles. The rhythm section frequently displays elements of Funk, Hip Hop, and metal, and often eschews techniques more prevalent in extreme metal such as double bass drumming in favour of a more groove-oriented sound. Some bands also employ a DJ on turntables as part of their lineup to further emphasize these elements.
Lyrically, nu metal often deals with themes of angst and hostility and the vocals are usually aggressive, though not to the point where the lyrics become indiscernible. Stylistically, the vocals can be in the form of rapping, singing, or a shouting/screaming style similar to Hardcore Punk or extreme metal. Many bands combine several of these styles and alternate between them within songs.
Production also plays a part in the nu metal sound, often favoring a "clean" and polished production style with liberal use of distortion and post-processing effects to both music and vocals to further enhance the atmosphere of the music. Ross Robinson is a notable producer in the genre and had a hand in the production of many staple nu metal releases by artists like Korn, Deftones, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit.
Pagan Black Metal
Pagan Black Metal is a subgenre of Black Metal that includes certain Folk elements in its sound. It usually features replicated and sometimes real folk instruments, with frequent addition of acoustic guitars. The guitars are generally more melodic and played in a less abrasive way than those in typical Black Metal. The drums are mostly mid or fast paced, with blast-beats not being uncommon. The vocals utilized are usually a combination of harsh, Black Metal shrieks with clean and epic vocals. Raw production is very common, many times made intentionally to recreate a cold and primitive atmosphere.
The subject matter usually concerns paganism, nature, mysticism and other similar and related topics. The genre is mostly underground with important regional and national acts in the Nordic, Slavic, and Central European countries. There are also important acts in Spain and France.
Post-Metal
Post-Metal is a subgenre of Metal that heavily utilizes timbre and texture to have enormous song build-ups and huge atmosphere. The genre takes after Post-Rock and incorporates more heavy, metallic, and distorted guitar playing. Though it sometimes uses harsh vocals (sometimes screams or growls) that are typical to metal, a lot of it is mostly instrumental. It uses metal instrumentation for non-metal purposes by not focusing its attention on riffs or solos in favor of atmosphere and texture.
The genre often overlaps with Atmospheric Sludge Metal (most notably with bands like Isis, Neurosis, and Cult of Luna), but this is certainly not always the case. There are many post-metal bands that have a more standalone sound and remove a lot of the sludge influence, like Russian Circles and Perihelion. The blueprint of the post-metal sound has been mixed with other metal subgenres. One of the most common fusions of post-metal is with Black Metal and Blackgaze with Deafheaven being a primary example. Other fusions include with Folk Metal (Agalloch), Drone Metal (Jesu), and Progressive Metal (Astronoid), among others.
Power Metal
Power Metal is a subgenre of Metal music that developed primarily in Europe in the early 1980s. Power Metal combines elements of both Heavy Metal and Speed Metal, characterized by fast tempos and an emphasis on melody and harmony. The majority of Power Metal bands use soaring clean vocals rather than the guttural or high pitched vocals primarily used in Death Metal and Black Metal. Additionally, Power Metal often incorporates symphonic or classical instrumentation, a similarity that may lead some bands to be considered Symphonic Metal. The lyrics of the genre are often focused on high fantasy or mythological imagery, with specific textual examples such as The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. Prominent bands of the Power Metal genre include but are certainly not limited to Helloween, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, and Stratovarius.
Progressive Metal
The music of Progressive Metal features complex, layered arrangements in longer than typical songs, often including lengthy instrumental passages allowing the performers to display technical proficiency and interplay. Many time signature changes are common, as is the incorporation of Western Classical Music music influences. The sound is generally driven by the guitars and drums, but it is quite typical to add elements non-standard to rock or metal such as synthesizers and an array of orchestral elements.
Progressive Metal vocals often feature operatic, high-register vocals, but also employ cleanly sung mid-range and the gruffer tones of more extreme Metal. Multi-layered arrangements with melodic counterpoint and choral effects are often included. The lyrical content attempts to be intellectual and poetic in its themes and expression.
Rap Metal
Rap Metal is a form of Alternative Metal that features a rapper as a vocalist. Rap metal instrumentation is typically formed around metal riffs and a live drum kit played in a groove-oriented fashion at a mid-tempo pace; much less emphasis on staccato attacks and fast tempos that are common in other metal genres. The genre shares many similarities with Rap Rock, but generally the music is heavier and more aggressive. Rap Metal was influential in the creation of the Nu Metal genre, but sonically they are distinguishable since Nu Metal does not necessarily always have rap vocals. Some key innovators include Rage Against the Machine and Body Count.
Slam Death Metal
Slam Death Metal is a subgenre of Brutal Death Metal that focuses on slow or midtempo (as well as breakdown-style) sections built on chromatic, palm-muted riffs - so called "slams". Compared to brutal death metal's basic songwriting aesthetics, blast beats and guitar solos are less important, though blast beat/tremolo riff sections are frequently applied. The visual aesthetics are quite similar, though slam death metal usually takes the macabre and violent look of brutal death metal to its extreme.
The genre has its origin in the 1990s New York death metal scene (which in turn brought in influences from the sound, attitude and aesthetic of New York Hardcore), where bands such as Suffocation pioneered the use of slam riffs. Devourment and Internal Bleeding are often considered the first true slam bands, as they popularized many of the genre's songwriting conventions and visual aesthetics. Other notable "slam" bands include Cephalotripsy and Short Bus Pile Up. The vocals normally consist of extremely low-pitched, unintelligible death grunts, frequently featuring Hip Hop-inspired vocal rhythms. Hip hop elements often appear in the drumbeats as well.
The genre is sometimes compared to or confused with Nu Metal due to the use of chugging atonal riffs and rap/hip hop influences, and Deathcore due to the guttural vocals, focus on breakdowns and general "tough guy" aesthetic. However, true Slam Death has few real connections to these subgenres apart from certain hybrid bands such as Waking the Cadaver.
Sludge Metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of Metal that combines the slow, dark instrumentals and atmosphere of Doom Metal with the aggressive, harsh screams and shouts credited to Hardcore Punk. A typical sludge song places heavy emphasis on guitar feedback, groovy riffs, and angry, pained vocals. It also isn't uncommon for songs to engage in occasional quick bursts of speed and technicality attributed to more traditional forms of hardcore. Lyrical themes borrow both from the angry social and political commentary of punk and from the sad and melancholic themes of doom metal. This amalgamates into music that can best be described as frustrated and embittered, often either at society or at oneself.
The term "sludge" is a metaphor referring to the slow and dingy atmosphere this blend of metal and punk invokes. While Black Flag and Flipper are often considered to be the first bands to experiment with Doom-esque riffs in punk music, the first bands to truly play sludge include Melvins, Acid Bath, Crowbar, and Eyehategod.
Since its founding in the early to mid 1990s, many sludge artists have sought to experiment with influences from both punk music and metal music. This includes Mastodon (Progressive Metal), Soilent Green (Grindcore), and Dystopia (Crust Punk), among many others. A large following of bands combined the harsh qualities of sludge metal with the psychedelic aspects and repetitive riffs of Stoner Metal; the most notable artists in "stoner sludge" are Melvins, Bongzilla, and Boris.
Many bands have also used the vocals and tempos of sludge with textures and stylings of other atmospheric genres like Post-Rock, giving rise to Atmospheric Sludge Metal. Sludge is also considered to be a major influence on modern Powerviolence.
Speed Metal
Speed Metal is a sub-genre of Metal originating from the NWOBHM and the work of early Heavy Metal bands such as Deep Purple and Judas Priest. It is usually considered less abrasive and more melodic than Thrash Metal, showing less influence from Hardcore Punk. However, Speed Metal is usually faster and more aggressive than traditional Heavy Metal, also showing more inclination to virtuoso soloing and featuring short instrumental passages between couplets. Speed Metal songs frequently make use of highly expressive vocals, but are usually less likely to employ 'harsh' vocals than Thrash Metal songs.
Stoner Metal
Stoner Metal is a subgenre of Metal music that combines elements of Doom Metal with elements of Psychedelic Rock and Blues Rock to create a melodic yet heavy sound. Like Stoner Metal’s close relative genre Stoner Rock, riffs are often groovy and psychedelic, while the tempo of the music as a whole is generally slow to mid paced. The guitar tuning is kept low and, unlike Stoner Rock, there is an additional emphasis on a bass-heavy sound. This form of music was first pioneered in the early 1990s by such bands as Kyuss, Sleep, and Cathedral.
Several of the genre’s earliest establishers shared a common characteristic in that both band members and fans alike were frequent marijuana users. This fixation on cannabis, which can also be found within the lyrics of many songs, when combined with the heavy and psychedelic sound of the music gave the genre its now defining nickname as “Stoner Metal”. Due to the similarities in styles, some Stoner Metal bands will borrow and incorporate certain aspects of Sludge Metal and vice versa, though that’s not to say the two genres are one in the same.
Symphonic Black Metal
Symphonic Black Metal is a sub-genre of Black Metal that emerged in the mid 1990s. It was pioneered and popularized by artists like Emperor, Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir, Bal-Sagoth, Cradle of Filth and Nokturnal Mortum, to name a few. The genre is characterised by typical black metal elements, such as tremolo picking riffs, shrieking vocals and blast-beats, as well as synthesized and symphonic soundscapes. Naturally, actual orchestral instruments can be used instead of, or in addition to, the keyboards.
Symphonic Metal
Symphonic metal is a subgenre of Metal that features elements of symphonic and orchestral music. Similar to the Symphonic Rock acts, symphonic metal artists generally utilise choirs, orchestras or synthesisers to reproduce these elements. Often employing operatic female singers, the genre is often associated with and influenced by Gothic Metal and Power Metal, and may also feature additional growling male vocals of the former.
In the mid-1990s, Swedish Death Metal act Therion became one of the first metal bands to switch to the symphonic metal sound by heavily incorporating live orchestra and classical compositional techniques. Other European acts such as Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation soon attained relative commercial success. A Black Metal version of the genre, named as Symphonic Black Metal, also developed simultaneously in the mid-1990s.
Technical Death Metal
Technical death metal is a sub-genre of Death Metal with particular focus on challenging, demanding songwriting and instrumental skill that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s with bands like Death, Atheist, Nocturnus and Pestilence, to name a few.
Some of the distinct features of this genre include dynamic song structures, complex and atypical rhythmic structures, abundant use of diminished chords and arpeggios, frequent employment of odd time chord progressions and a lot of string skipping on the guitars. The music is normally extremely fast-paced and the representative bands remain firmly rooted in death metal due to their unbending devotion to rhythmic heaviness and conceptual darkness. However, when compared to death metal and its other sub-genres, aside from the features mentioned above, technical death metal bands usually give a different feeling to the music by frequently using more exotic scales. The bass lines are usually complex and the drums are extremely fast-paced with abundant use of blast-beats and other extreme drumming techniques.
Technical Thrash Metal
Technical Thrash Metal is a style of Thrash Metal that places greater emphasis on complex songwriting and demanding instrumental parts. Technical Thrash's style was created almost single-handedly by Watchtower, with their combination of Thrash Metal aggression and Progressive Rock complexity. Notable acts in this genre include Coroner, Anacrusis, and Mekong Delta.
Also of note, the technical elements of this genre are sometimes achieved in a way similar to that of Technical Death Metal. This similarity in approach has resulted in crossover between the two genres. This is perhaps best typified by Sadus, who at times play in a style which blurs the line between the two genres.
Thrash Metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is a style of Metal music that originated in the United States in 1980-1981 under the heavy influence of British bands such as Venom and Motörhead and in reaction to another style of American rock / metal music that arose at the time, Glam Metal. Bands like Metallica, Slayer and Exodus took the roughest aspects of the NWOBHM sound and focused on writing fast and energetic songs with riffs which focused more on rhythmic than melodic qualities and laid out simple melodies over palm-muted pedal-point notes, so-called skank beats, derived from Hardcore Punk, where a straight bass/snare beat in 4/4 is played as fast as possible, shred guitar solos, shouted, often unmelodic vocals, and songwriting which, at its most extreme, was simply aimed at cramming as many riffs as possible in the span of a few minutes. Lyrics dealt with themes such as war, violence, satanism and Cold War paranoia while oftentimes including sociopolitical commentary, as well as more lighthearted topics like skating, partying and getting drunk. The first full-length studio-produced thrash metal albums were Metallica's Kill 'Em All and Slayer's Show No Mercy, both released in 1983.
As the 1980s progressed, hardcore punk bands like D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies took a lot of influence from the American thrash metal scene and refined their chaotic styles into what is commonly referred to as Crossover Thrash. Such influence worked both ways, as exemplified by Anthrax side project S.O.D., whose 1985 album Speak English or Die became a staple of this hardcore-influenced offshoot of thrash.
By the second half of the 1980s Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax had become household names for Metal fans all over the world and the American thrash metal scene had significantly grown in size with many previously underground acts receiving mainstream attention and the underground as a whole thriving with bands like Dark Angel and Sadus pushing the boundaries of the genre. To a large extent thanks to the tape-trading scene and fanzines, thrash metal bands spawned all around the world, some of the biggest scenes being in Germany with bands such as Sodom, Kreator and Destruction, in Canada with Razor, Slaughter and Sacrifice and in Brazil with Sepultura, Vulcano and Sarcófago.
In the 1990s, the style's popularity waned as Groove Metal and Grunge replaced it as the heavy rhythm-driven guitar music of the day, and underground styles like Death Metal and Black Metal were living through their golden era, rendering thrash outdated in the eyes of the newer wave of extreme metal fans. In turn, a lot of thrash bands shifted to a slicker, more modernized sound in that period as can be heard in albums such as Sound of White Noise and Chaos A.D..
The 2000s were somewhat of a renaissance for thrash: young bands that stuck to the style's classic 80s sound such as Municipal Waste and Evile garnered critical acclaim while a new wave of retro-thrash bands flourished. A lot of older bands reunited or recorded albums like Enemy of God and Tempo of the Damned which, while modern-sounding, brought back a lot of the old school vibes and energy the public was craving.
The impact thrash had on the metal genre as a whole cannot be overstated. Thrash metal musicians popularized the use of techniques such as tremolo picking, sweep picking and double-bass drumming in the metal genre. New amps, effect pedals and approaches to production developed to account for 80s thrash metal bands' drive to play as fast and sound as heavy as possible, the compressed bass-heavy production on classic thrash albums like Master of Puppets becoming a huge influence for metal bands to come. Death and black metal essentially spawned from the thrash metal scene with pioneering bands such as Possessed and Bathory being to some extent thrash bands with different aesthetic sensibilities.
Traditional Doom Metal
Traditional doom metal is a style of Doom Metal that emerged in the early to mid-1980s, under the influence of bands from the previous decade such as Black Sabbath, Bedemon and Pentagram.
Traditional doom metal is rooted in Heavy Metal and utilizes a monotonous and heavy playing style, similar to that of Black Sabbath's early period: repetitive, rough and sometimes atonal guitar riffs; a "rocking to sleep" bass; and also some influences from both Blues Rock and Psychedelic Rock. Some bands attempt to complement the general slowness of their sound by adding some faster paced, dynamic sections, but this is rare and not essential to the overall sound of the genre. The vocal style utilized in traditional doom metal is clean and the atmosphere in the genre varies from cold, epic grief to despair and fury; rarely does it express any positive emotions.
Lyrics are typically based on themes such as depression, fear, grief, death and other pessimistic topics. Religion can also be a common topic in traditional doom metal; however, for many bands the use of religious themes is for aesthetic and symbolic purposes only.
Saint Vitus and Candlemass are considered to be the pioneers of the genre, but there were many other influential bands at the time, including Trouble, Witchfinder General, The Obsessed and Pagan Altar.
Trance Metal
A fusion of Trance and Metal, it is typically characterized by a tempo between 130 and 160 BPM, played with keyboards and metal instrumentation, sung with harsh and aggressive vocals including many clean melodic styles, and regularly uses techniques and traits found in Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, and Electronic Dance Music. Important distinctions that separate trance metal from similar genres is that it's usually a melodic and uplifting or otherwise melancholy sound, that is absent of typical Trancecore and Metalcore vocals and their Pop music tendencies, as well as effects used in Industrial Metal and Cyber Metal.
Trance metal became better known and the sole genre of several artists in the mid 00s after trance music established a popular presence that a following of melodic death metal bands recognized. Notable trance metal bands include Blood Stain Child, Deadlock, Silent Descent, Timecry, Lost Eden, and Noidz.
Trancecore
(also known as Electronicore, Electronic Hardcore)
Trancecore is a genre of music mixing aspects of Melodic Metalcore, Trance, Pop Punk, Synthpop and sometimes other genres as well.
At its heart, trancecore features the same type of guitar riffs and drumming found in melodic metalcore as well as its usual inclusion of both harsh and clean vocals. The harsh vocals are similar to Metalcore, melodic metalcore, or Death Metal styles. A simple verse/chorus arrangement for the songs is also common.
Many things separate trancecore from the genres that influence it. The most noticeable difference is the inclusion of trance sections throughout the majority of the songs, including times when trance is the main focus and the Metal elements have disappeared completely. A large portion of trancecore bands use autotuned vocals prominently during choruses and other parts of their songs. Even if autotune isn't used, clean vocals generally mimic the style of pop punk vocals. Finally, trancecore bands tend to include more breakdowns in their songs and make them the focus more often than melodic metalcore.
Viking Metal
Viking metal is a subgenre of metal music with roots in Blood Fire Death and Hammerheart albums by Bathory. Those releases created a clean transition from earlier Black Metal music to embody what is now known as Viking metal. Some of the most common features of Viking metal are powerful, clean vocals and "epic" choirs, galloping riffs and drumming, rich anthemic keyboards, the use of Nordic Folk Music instruments such as fiddles, flutes, and blowing horns; as well as a cold, sad atmosphere. Additionally, bands often incorporate black metal shrieks and blast-beats. Also, as the name suggests, the lyrical content of the music is often focused on Norse mythology and the Viking Age.
Aside from the previously mentioned forefather of the genre, Bathory, other notable acts include Moonsorrow, Falkenbach, Thyrfing, and Borknagar (early albums).
War Metal
(also known as Bestial Black Metal)
War metal is an aggressive, chaotic, and heavily Death Metal-influenced style of Black Metal.
War Metal is differentiated from other styles of Black Metal in a few important ways. Firstly, War Metal bands typically do not feature a trebly, tremelo-picked lead guitar, instead they rely heavily on downtuned power chords. War Metal bands also feature abrupt and unpredictable guitar solos, more in the style of "first-wave" Black Metal than the melodic solos of the Norwegian "second-wave". The tempo of war metal songs is also markedly increased, often punctuated with abrupt, Grindcore-like bursts of speed. Song lengths are thus typically shortened to about three minutes. Also, whereas Black Metal is noted for its ghostly shrieks, War Metal vocalists growl in a much lower register akin to Death Metal.
War Metal is also known for its lyrics and production style. Black Metal in general is often associated with thin and trebly low-fidelity production, but War Metal groups produce their albums in a muddy, bass-heavy fashion, producing a cacophonous and chaotic atmosphere in which individual riffs are often difficult to discern. Lyrical themes largely center around war and nuclear holocaust, often with a particularly over-the-top satanic bent.
The two most important progenitors of the style are Finland's Beherit (specifically their early work compiled on The Oath of Black Blood) and Brazil's Sarcófago, but the first band to truly exemplify the style was the Canadian group Blasphemy, whose album Fallen Angel of Doom.... is regarded as the major classic of the genre. Numerous bands have followed suit, notably Bestial Warlust, Proclamation, Black Witchery, Conqueror, Revenge, and Archgoat.
Definitions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com