Heavy Metal has proven somewhat difficult to categorise. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorisation as limiting or useless.
Heavy metal is the progenitor of the "metal-family" of genres including black metal, death metal, thrash metal, hair metal and others. Most metal derives directly from blues and rock, while some sub-genres include an evident influence of Western classical music. Thus, even if classical heavy metal and avant-garde black metal belong to the same family, there are important differences between them. Pure heavy metal is mainly blues-based, with pentatonic scales and a blues-like song structure; black metal and related forms often draw on classical music, even if at a first glance it seems to be only distorted guitars playing a very fast repeating melody.
Glitter rock, a short-lived era in the mid-1970s, is the extreme exploration of the fantasy-side of the reality-fantasy parents of heavy metal. T. Rex, David Bowie and Alice Cooper are among the more popular standard examples of this sub-genre.
Hard rock, mentioned earlier, is also closely related to heavy metal, but does not consistently match the description of what purists consider the definition heavy metal. While still guitar-driven in nature and sometimes deriving off of riffs, its themes and execution differ from that of the major heavy metal bands listed earlier in the article. This is perhaps best illustrated by The Who in the late-1960s and early-1970s, as well as other 1970s and 1980s bands like Queen, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC.
In the early 1980s the New Wave of British Heavy Metal made metal music very popular (especially in Europe) with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Saxon.
However, the purest form of Heavy Metal was evident in the early 1980s, in the form of Classic metal, which included of such true metal artistes as Judas Priest, Dio, Dokken, Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Scorpions and Motörhead (although Motorhead often straddled the hard rock category due to having more of a blues influence than the other bands cited here). These bands played traditional metal, but there was a youthful vibe and an air punching dynamo confluenced intricately with melody. This genre was characterised by thumping fast basslines, extended lead guitar solos, high pitched vocals and pounding drums. Classic metal should not be confused with the Traditional metal or the Roots Of Metal genre which was evident in the 1970s with pioneering artistes like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Alice Cooper.
A good deal of cross-influence has occured between punk rock and heavy metal. Motörhead, for example, was an influence on many punk bands. Some hardcore punk bands such as DRI and Suicidal Tendencies began playing more metal-like music as they progressed. Punk has also had a large influence on metal, particularly with relation to grindcore. Thrashcore, crust punk and grindcore all have notable influence from both punk and metal. Also, Grunge is frequently described as Heavy Metal fused with punk's DIY ethic.
As for metal's relationship with art rock, heavy metal and progressive rock developed in and around the same scenes, particularily in Great Britian, and as a result many metal bands worked progressive elements into their sound throughout the genre.
After the punk boom of the late 1970s, heavy metal and art rock again intersected, as a few post-punk bands, most notably Bauhaus and Joy Division incorporated metal's (more specifically Black Sabbath's) minor key melodies, emphasis on low end tones, and darker lyrical content into their arty approach to punk rock.
Metal's profound influence on contemporary popular music is again seen in its effect on several bands in the garage rock revival set of the early 21st century. The White Stripes, one of the most popular of these bands, often draw on the emerging metal of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. Additionally, the similarity minded Yeah Yeah Yeahs take this fusion a step further making elements of death metal, thrash, and metalcore part of their sound.
There are numerous, often overlapping subgenre....
- Is a branch of heavy metal music, characterized by some heavy metal trappings, but usually a pronounced experimental edge, including unconventional lyrics, odd tempo, unusual musical instruments or extended techniques.
As with most rock music genres, Alternative metal has proved somewhat difficult to define. Some fans and musicians have firm ideas of genre and sub-genre, while others reject such notions as useless or limiting. Influence from many other genres is common in Alternative metal.
The term is very loosely defined, but is usually used to describe artists playing a style of metal which is considered either unique or difficult to define. Faith No More are a good example of this category, with their 'unconventional' metal sound, as with former frontman Mike Patton's side projects Fantômas and Tomahawk. Some artists of this category take an extremely avant-garde approach to their music, such as The Melvins and Meshuggah, while others have a more conventional but unique style such as Tool, Rage Against The Machine, and Helmet.
Heavy metal is at the core of the music, but it was very different from the thrash underground of the 1980s. The grunge movement of the early 1990s helped increase this sub-genre's audience, and Alternative Metal bands began taking different paths: Jane's Addiction and Tool had a more progressive rock sound, Corrosion of Conformity and Soundgarden had a fondness for 70's blues rock. Faith No More, Primus and Incubus incorporate Funk into their brand of Alternative Metal, White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails and Fear Factory started the industrial wave, combining techno-like beats and heavy guitars, and Pantera used thrash-like intensity and bleak lyrics to further mold the Alternative Metal sound. Sepultura have blended the drumming of indigenous Brazilians with their music, while bands like Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Dog Fashion Disco and Vicious Hairy Mary incorporated everything from circus/carnival music, jazz, and surf rock into their music, creating what is often described as circus metal or avant garde metal.
- Sometimes called experimental, it is a subgenre of heavy metal characterized by large amounts of experimentation and by non-standard sounds, instruments, and song structures. While progressive metal, like avant garde metal, is also a genre which favours experimentation and non-standard ideas, there are rather large differences between the two genres. One of the most striking differences is that the experimentation of progressive metal lies mostly in complex rhythms and song structures, while the genre usually sticks to a more traditional instrumentation, whereas in avant garde metal the usage of unusual sounds plays usually a fundamental role. Most of the artists that play avant garde metal also have a strong focus on a generally dark atmosphere. The genre has often been associated with black metal, and a number of avant garde bands also have a black metal background, but it is generally looked down upon by black metal purists, who consider common elements from avant garde metal, such as keyboards or female vocals, an alienating element which has nothing to do with "real" black metal. Examples includes: Arcturus and Peccatum.
- Or Bay Area Thrash, referred to a steady following of heavy metal bands in the 1980s who formed and gained international status in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Many have attributed the scene as the starting point of thrash metal, speed metal, and even early-stage death metal.
Although Metallica had initially formed in Los Angeles, it wasn't until their relocation to the East Bay area that Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett joined as bassist and lead guitarist, sealing the band's first, formulative line-up.
Burton's friendship with other local acts, notably Oakland's Exodus and Testament, and Concord's Death Angel - among others - strongly vitalized the scene, leading to intensive touring and tape-trading that would cross borders and seas, and eventually graduate to record signings.
El Sobrante's Possessed would bring a turning point to the genre with 1985's Seven Churches, regarded as the first album to cross over from thrash metal to death metal for the largely "growling vocals" and subject matter dealing with horror and the occult. In addition to the inspiration of black metal, it would predate other albums, such as Slayer's Reign in Blood and Death's Scream Bloody Gore, which had also been regarded as influential to the two genres.
- Is a musical genre related to styles of heavy metal such as death metal. Some black metal fans, musicians and critics use a strict definition of the genre, though others view this as limiting and view black metal more as an artistic movement than a sub-category of popular music.
The originators of Black Metal are bands like Venom, Mayhem, Hellhammer, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, and Celtic Frost. The name of the movement comes from Venom's album "Black Metal" (a pun on the term "Black Magic") and it can first be seen in its mature form with the recordings of Bathory in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Black metal congealed in its current form through the influence of Norwegian bands such as Darkthrone, Enslaved, Burzum, Mayhem, Immortal and Emperor, who began with the earlier style and introduced elements from mainstream heavy metal, classical music and popularized the style to a growing underground audience. Their influence is most apparent in the Satanic (or Pagan) imagery, anti-Christian lyrics and occult themes.
- Is a fusion genre of extreme metal utilising elements of death metal and black metal with bands usually hailing from Europe. Many of the bands start out as full on black metal outfits and end up adopting death metal influences and fusing the two together or becoming modern death metal artists.
Notable blackened death metal bands: Behemoth, Cadaver, God Dethroned & Mindgrinder.
- Is a sub-genre of black metal, its focus is on Celtic mythology and instruments mixed with black metal. Celtic metal has developed a huge underground scene in Ireland, where pioneers like Cruachan, Geasa, Waylander and other such bands play.
Although still a sub-genre by itself, Celtic Metal has already spawned a few mixtures and sub-genres:
Celtic battle metal (Bran Barr, Belinus)
Celtic doom metal (Cryptical Realm, Mael Mórdha)
Celtic pagan metal (Aisling, Ogmias, Primordial)
- Is a form of heavy metal music with explicitly Christian lyrics and themes. It is a form of Christian alternative music.
The first Christian metal band was arguably Jerusalem. Stryper was the first to popularize the genre. Christian Metal can be classified under many subgenres as well. For example, the band Horde, who have extreme Black Metal influences, yet are deemed grindcore. Also, Whitecross plays Hair Metal and As I Lay Dying plays metalcore. Typically, a band's style status is defined not only by the actual music, but also by theme and lyrical content.
- Is a genre of heavy metal music which is characterized by thumping fast basslines, fast, but less heavy and more melodic riffs, extended lead guitar solos, high pitched vocals and anthemic choruses. Its peak period was the early to mid 1980s. Artists include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Motorhead. It is often called Tru Metal.
Although it lasted only for a short time, classic metal enjoyed a lot of commercial success all over the world. Iron Maiden sold in excess of 58 million albums during the 80s. While Scorpions and Judas Priest sold out big arenas around the world.
Classic metal influenced many later metal genres including hair metal, thrash metal, power metal and death metal. Classic metal bands were not as heavy and had a greater sense of melody than the thrash and death metal bands such as Metallica, Anthrax and Morbid Angel that they influenced. Often considered the purest form of metal, classic metal was popular for its combination of melody and aggression.
- Is a subjective term used to describe European heavy metal bands in the 1990's who began as death or black metal and progressed with some traits of gothic doom metal, which included synthesizer use, acoustic guitar experimentation and/or operatic female vocals.
Samael, Tiamat, Rotting Christ, Therion, and Crematory are a few examples, however, more mainstream artists like Opeth, Lacuna Coil and The Gathering can be attributed to a certain extent as well.
This subgenre is often used by the media to describe already known names in doom/death and black metal, but is also brought up by more recent underground metal bands seeking an atmospheric or darker approach in sound.
- Is a type of heavy metal music with thrash metal influences which emerged in the United States (especially Florida and California), Europe (especially the United Kingdom and Sweden) and Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Death metal's subject matter usually deals with the darker side of society that most other musical styles avoid writing about although some bands such as Dying Fetus write mostly political lyrics. The focus on mortality along with the extreme nature of the music likely inspired the naming of this genre as "death" metal. Other bands still take their lyrical inspiration from horror movies, e.g., early Death, Cannibal Corpse, Mortician.
Death metal is known for very abrupt tempo and count/time signature changes, and extremely fast and complex guitar and double bass drumwork. Most bands of this genre use downtuned and distorted guitars (usually utilising two), which play both rhythm and lead guitar parts, a downtuned, sometimes distorted bass guitar, a double bass drum set, and a vocalist who uses the death grunt vocal style. Some bands, such as Septic Flesh and early Amorphis, added incidental synthesizers or other instruments for effects.
- Is a form of heavy metal that emerged as a recognised subgenre in the mid-1980s. It is slow and heavy and intended to evoke an atmosphere of darkness, despair and melancholy. It is very strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, and a number of early Black Sabbath tracks, such as "Black Sabbath", are often considered embryonic or prototypical doom metal songs.
Although in the the beginning of the 1970s both Black Sabbath and the American Pentagram performed a kind of music that can be considered proto-doom, neither band is generally considered as an actual doom metal band. From the late 1970s to mid 1980s, bands such as Trouble, Saint Vitus and Witchfinder General contributed much to the formation of doom metal as a distinct genre. The form of music played by these artists can be described as being rooted in both the music of Black Sabbath and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, especially the band Witchfinder General. The slowness of their music is often also seen as a reaction to the constantly increasing speed of contemporary thrash metal and speed metal. Doom metal first became widely popular with Sweden's Candlemass, who are hailed in the mainstream metal press as one of the most important and influential doom metal bands.
- Is a specific subgenre of heavy metal music and an umbrella term sometimes used to describe more aggressive styles of metal including Black metal, Death metal, Brutal death metal, Doom metal, Grindcore, and Thrash metal. The term extreme metal was coined in the mid 1990s to describe bands which didn't fit into the mainstream heavy metal genres of the time. As mainstream music gets heavier, extreme metal's definition becomes more extreme.
Music can be "extreme" in creating sounds that are excessive in speed, volume, distortion or opposing styles. May also incorporate heavy distorted guitars with other genres of music, such as classical music. The heavy metal equivalent to the term Alternative Rock
- There are many different forms of folk metal, due to the many varying folk traditions throughout the world. One thing to note also, however, is the fact that different forms of metal are combined with these folk traditions also. For instance, the band Mael Mórdha combine Gaelic/Irish folk music with doom metal, whilst another Celtic metal band, Geasa (and their brother band, Primordial) combines Irish folk with black metal. Whilst the two folk sounds may sound similar, the actual metal is different. Bands, however, are usually grouped according to their folk stylings.
The proponents of folk metal are undoubtably Skyclad, but the genre wasn't really popularised until bands like Cruachan, Otyg, Windir, and Tuatha de Danann in the mid to late 90s. Eastern Europe is also home to numerous folk-influenced black metal bands, the most prominent of whom are Graveland and Nokturnal Mortum.
- Is a type of music that incorporates hard-driving heavy metal guitar riffs and the pounding bass rhythms characteristic of funk. The style emerged from Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, pioneered by the early Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More. The number of performers multiplied in the later part of the decade as the sound reached its commercial peak with bands like Fishbone.
Some later bands showed distinct Grunge influences such as Porno for Pyros and Jane's Addiction, while other such as Rage Against the Machine brought in Hardcore hip hop influences.
Many funk metal bands influenced the nu metal league, such as Korn.
- Is a type of heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s, in the United States, and was a strong force in popular music throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. It is also called hair metal or glam rock and such bands are frequently called hair bands. Pejorative terms for hair metal include poodle rock, due to the teased, bushy hair of many performers, or other derogatory terms reflective of a fixation on sexual lyrics and deeds and the lack of respect afforded by some music critics.
Early hair metal bands included Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot, and Fastway. Their music was less melodic than their younger contemporaries, like Ratt, and Cinderella, whose music and image ultimately became synonymous with the genre.
Hair metal was aggressive, with lyrics often focusing on girls, drinking, drug use, and the occult. Musically, hair metal songs often featured distorted guitar riffs, "hammer-on" solos, anthemic choruses, frenzied drumming, and complimentary bass. Hair metal performers became infamous for their debauched lifestyles, their long, teased hair, and effeminate use of make-up, clothing, and accessories, (traits somewhat reminiscent of glam rock.) Following Def Leppard's wildly popular Pyromania, and Van Halen's seminal 1984, hair metal became ubiquitous on radio and television. Many other hair metal bands were one-hit wonders, or as David Lee Roth once said of them, "here today, gone later today," (for example, Europe and Autograph.)
By the mid-1980s, hair metal was drawing inspiration from other sources, such as the romantic rock of the late-1970s. Bands like Boston, Journey, and Foreigner, influenced Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Poison, among others, to record power ballads. Despite hair metal's popularity at the time, many began to consider it unimportant or derisory, due to a common perception that the bands were more focused on their make-up, clothing (usually spandex), lyrics, and stage shows, than on their music. By the mid-1980s, a discernible formula developed in which a hair band had two hits--one a power ballad, one a hard-rocking anthem.
In 1987, Guns N' Roses completly changed the meaning of hair metal. They incorporated sound of trash metal, blues and punk to the music, while keeping some of the images of glam rock. However, Guns N' Roses' next releases went into another musical directions. Therefore, many music critics do not consider Guns N' Roses a hair metal band.
- (also called Goth metal) is a crossover between heavy metal music and goth music itself; although the term 'metal' is debated by some who say very few elements of metal are present. It developed in the early 1990s in Europe and the United States. Goth metal has proven somewhat difficult to categorise. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorisation as limiting or useless. There is often significant crossover from one category to another, and often the influence of non-metal music.
In the 1990s, a group of young bands in Northern England borrowed from the early goth metal sound of the 1980s and incorporated it with the slow, downtuned guitar dirges of Black Sabbath. Gothic Doom, or DoomDeath, as it was often called, would be regarded as a second stage of the subgenre. Bands most notable for this style included Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema.
Although the Scandinavian region was known more for its death metal and black metal fertility, many bands who started in either genre had progressed and conformed more to gothic metal styles - Tiamat, Theatre of Tragedy, and Lake of Tears being a few examples. Although Paradise Lost, Anathema used some female vocals in their music, Norway's Theatre of Tragedy was the first goth metal with a leading female singer, Liv Kristine Espenaes-Krull
Similarly, New York City's Type O Negative had some connections to death metal and thrash metal with lead singer/bassist's Peter Steele's earlier group, Carnivore. Although the band has taken a more humorous, tonque-and-cheek approach to the genre, they have played a large role in the genre and its characteristics.
- Is an extreme form of Heavy Metal related to Death Metal, but historically formed by combining elements of early Thrash Metal (which predated the advent of Death Metal) and Hardcore Punk.
Early bands, such as Napalm Death, DRI, and Siege were seen by their contemporaries as part of the anarcho-punk and hardcore punk scenes. As many anarcho-punk and peace punk bands in England and hardcore in the United States had already incorporated elements of heavy metal into their music.
Many consider the first true grindcore band to be British band Napalm Death. The genre was given its name by Napalm Death's drummer Mick Harris. Since then, the grind sound has evolved but is still recognisable for its intense blast-beat drumming, grinding guitars (hence the name), brutal grunted vocals, and very short songs (the Napalm Death song "You Suffer" is listed as the shortest song ever by the Guinness Book of Records, clocking in at fractionally over 1 second long.
Subgenres include:
+ Political Grindcore: This subgenre is known for having politically aware lyrics, and is sometimes associated with the crust punk and peace punk movement. Of all the subgenres of grindcore, this one remains the most musically similar to the earliest grindcore bands.
+ Power violence: Form of political grindcore which maintains the closest ties to punk rock.
+ Goregrind: This subgenre started with the band Carcass, and is most notable for having gore obsessed lyrics, more of a "groove", and pitchshifted vocals.
+ Pathogrind: Created by General Surgery, inspired by Carcass. Lyrics are based on medical themes.
+ Cybergrind: Cybergrind is a form of grindcore that, aside from the instruments used by ordinary grindcore, uses computer generated sounds and/or drum machines and other synthetic instruments.
+ Pornogrind: same as Goregrind, but with sexually explicit lyrics.
+ Noisecore: Noisy and blur-like Grindcore.
+ Modern Death/Grind: Death metal with heavy Grind influences, or vice versa.
+ Coprogrind: same as Goregrind, but with lyrical matter focusing on excrement and things of the like.
- Half-thrash, or post-thrash is a subgenre of thrash metal which took its current form during the early 1990s. Albums such as Sepultura's Arise and Artillery's We are the Dead incorporated groovish melodies to thrash metal, however it wasn't until albums like Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, White Zombie's La Sexorcisto - Devil Music Vol.1, and Machine Head's Burn my Eyes that groove metal truly took its musical form. Unlike thrash metal and many of the other heavy metal subgenres, groove metal is not as riff-oriented. Artists of genre tend to use slow/mid-placed thrash riffs while overly emphasizing drum work and/or vocals. It is a popular belief that modern hard rock or nu metal spawned from this genre of metal. It should also be noted groove metal is not considered to be thrash despite the fact that it originated from it.
- Is a sub-genre of heavy metal. It combines elements of dance music and techno, with heavy, distorted guitars. Synthesizers and drum machines are heavily used in this sub-genre.
Bands include: Fear Factory, Interlock, The Kovenant, MaxDmyz & NeedNeedleye.
- Is generally considered an offshoot of death metal. The subgenre contains more melodic guitar riffs and solos, which are sometimes acoustic, and also occasional 'clean' singing as opposed to traditional death grunt vocals. The song structures are generally more progressive, using diverse themes throughout the song. Death and Morbid Angel, often considered the "godfathers" of death metal, are primary influences on the genre, but its originators are still a mystery. Some credit In Flames as the band which popularised the sub-genre. Melodic Death metal, though from the same geographic area as Black Metal, rarely speaks of Satanism or the downfall of Christianity, but has more poetic themes, which vary greatly.
One extremely important piece of the melodic death jigsaw puzzle is the Gothenburg sound style, named after the city from which it was created from. It is not certain what band originally started the Gothenburg sound, but it is widely accepted that In Flames, At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity are three major popularizers of the Gothenburg sound, and some of the only widely known bands to practice it.
Nearly all melodic death metal bands are from the Northern Europe region, especially from Sweden and Finland.
- A Neo-Nazi subgenre of black metal music concerned with ideas of racial separatism and the Aryan race. Their racial and nationalist ideas derive in considerable part from Nazism, though they typically have a focus on virulent anti-Christianity. Along those lines, most bands of this type have adopted variations (with varying degrees of authenticity) of pagan beliefs and traditions, believing them to face destruction by Christian beliefs. One of the most common belief systems one can find among adherents to NSBM is asatrú and sometimes, Satanism. Most artists in the NSBM scene have a belief that Christianity is responsible for race mixing, and for the downfall of the Aryan race. Some even go so far as to believe that Christianity was a Jewish conspiracy in order to control the White race to push their Zionist agenda forward.
Somewhat recently, the NSBM and Rock Against Communism (RAC) scenes have been uniting, as NSBM is increasingly being sold at RAC and other White Power music outlets, and NSBM bands such as Gestapo SS and Bannerwar have covered RAC and Hatecore songs on their NSBM releases. Some NSBM bands even perform alongside of RAC bands at Neo-Nazi gigs.
- Is a subgenre of the heavy metal music heavily influenced by classical music. Neo-classical is a term which refers to the style's use of classical-esque devices, harmonies, sounds and approaches.
The chord progressions, arpeggios, broken chords, and speedy scale runs of neo-classical metal are borrowed for the most part from Bach, Vivaldi, Paganini, Mozart and Beethoven. Most renowned neo-classical guitarists are classically trained virtuoso players and incorporate Harmonic Minor scale and the Phrygian mode.
Although Yngwie J. Malmsteen is probably the forms best known proponent, classical elements used in heavy metal and hard rock date back to Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Eddie Van Halen's innovations in the late 1970s.
Examples are: Michael Angelo Batio, Jason Becker, Joe Stump & Steve Vai.
- The New Wave of American Heavy Metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music whose name comes from the late '70s New Wave of British Heavy Metal. NWOAHM (as it is commonly abbreviated) is defined usually by bands whose music combines both the raw vocals and beat of American hardcore (generally within the Northeast US) with the guitars more often used in European power/speed metal and occasionally melodic metal; for example, the guitars of In Flames have been cited often as an influence for many of the bands.
The four bands most commonly associated with the genre are Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and God Forbid.
- Emerged in the late 1970s, in part a reaction to the decline (or over-popularity, and therefore 'untouchable' status) of traditional heavy metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. It was also a reaction against punk, although it incorporated many of British punk's innovations, and some of its aesthetic.
The movement was most associated with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, and Diamond Head, along with hard rock acts such as Motörhead and AC/DC which were not strictly part of the NWOBHM (and, in the latter case, not actually British). Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard went on to considerable, lasting mainstream success, with Def Leppard in particular being embraced by the American market.
NWOBHM was musically characterised by power chords, fast guitar solos and screeching vocals, with lyrical themes often, drawing inspiration from mythology, fantasy fiction, and the occult. The movement's music was, however, often surprisingly melodic, and surprisingly parallel to punk and post-punk (the main riff in Def Leppard's 'Photograph' was taken from The Pretenders' 'Brass in Pocket,' which was itself one of several Pretenders songs built on the riff from Public Image Limited's 'Public Image.')
- The popularity of this nonsense in the late 1990s led to widespread negative associations with the phrase "nu metal", particularly due to commercialisation, and many metal fans and artists reject the term, which has become almost an all-purpose musical insult.
Bands includes System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, Staind & Linkin Park.
- Mixing operatic vocal ranges with hard rock, opera metal is a unique style. The British band Queen is one of the better known exponents of this genre, exemplified by their world wide hit Bohemian Rhapsody.
Currently, the idea of mixing opera with metal is being explored in-depth within a small portion of the genre.
The primary influence of Opera Metal is the Power Metal genre created by Iron Maiden in the 1980s although a strong influence of gothic rock can be heard as well.
Celtic Frost "Into the Pandemonium" album coverOne of the first serious metal bands to hire an actual opera singer and orchestra was the progressive metal band Celtic Frost, on the album Into the Pandemonium. Many others experimented with the idea, but bands using full-time classical vocalists did not surface until the late 1990s. Modern examples are Nightwish, Tristania, Therion, Third and the Mortal, Virgin Black and Theatre of Tragedy. Most of them are symphonic metal bands.
- Is a crossover between death metal and doom metal, influenced by ancient Jewish traditions and the oriental culture.
Oriental metal evolved in Israel, where bands from the local metal scene began writing metal songs related to Jewish tragedies and biblical stories. This change did not only have an effect on the lyrics, but on the music as well; the bands added traditional instruments and singing to their slow Death metal riffs, creating moving, emotional, apocalyptic music. Some of the bands have also composed Death metal versions to ancient Jewish prayers and Psalms chants.
The most notable bands in this genre are the Israeli bands Salem and Orphaned Land.
- Is a style of heavy metal music. There is some dispute about the term, which can refer to two different, but related styles: one pioneered and largely practiced in North America, and one based in Germany and Scandinavia. In contemporary usage, "power metal" generally refers to the European style.
In the mid-1980s, European bands such as Helloween (Germany) and Europe (Sweden) began focusing more on triumphant, catchy melodies in both guitar and vocal parts, while maintaining extremely rapid tempos and demanding guitar solos.
Power metal, as the term is used today, places primary importance on an "epic" sound, usually at high speeds and with catchy melodies. Whereas most rock lyrics focus largely on "the real world" - personal experience, historical incidents, social commentary, etc. - power metal often treats cosmological or metaphysical themes.
- (shortened to prog, or prog metal when differentiating from progressive rock) is a heavy brand of progressive rock which is characterized by the use of complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and other features.
Its origins can be traced back to progressive rock acts of the 1960s and '70s like Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis and Rush, but progressive metal didn't develop into a genre of its own until the mid-1980s. Acts such as Dream Theater, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning took elements of these progressive rock groups, primarily the instrumentation and compositional structure of songs, and merged them with heavy metal characteristics attributed to bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. The result could be described as a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds.
The genre reached its commercial peak in the early '90s when Queensrÿche's "Silent Lucidity" became a massive radio and MTV hit. It was not a typical progressive metal song (it is more accurately described as a heavy metal power ballad), but nonetheless it opened Queensrÿche's music to a whole new legion of fans, which in turn had an effect on the popularity of other progressive metal bands of the time. In 1993, Dream Theater's "Pull Me Under", a more typical progressive metal song than "Silent Lucidity" but still more accurately described as straight heavy metal, became popular on radio and MTV.
If fringe progressive metal acts are to be included, Tool would be the most popular group in the genre.
- Concerns the death metal bands of Scandinavian origin. The most dominant countries of the genre are Finland and Sweden . Many bands that fall under this category are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Scandinavian death metal a much different sound than other variations of death metal.
In the early 1990s, a distinctively new death metal scene arose, centered primarily around Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden, though also incorporating Finnish and Norwegian bands. The Swedish and Finnish bands, inspired by Bathory and other 1980s thrash metal bands, were more popular than the Norwegian bands, who were influenced strongly by black metal and included keyboards and chaotic riffs. The Gothenburg sound was pioneered by bands such as At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, and In Flames. The Swedish (and Finnish) bands used grindcore-influenced riffs and soon added prog rock-style flourishes. As the 1990s progressed, the Norwegian and Swedish scenes continued diverging, with the latter's center moving from Stockholm to Gothenburg, where New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences became prominent, and Finnish acts continued this trend into the next millennium as Finnish rock began to break into mainstream European audiences
- Is a genre of heavy metal that is often mistaken for thrash metal but tends to be more melodic and less punk-oriented. Judas Priest's album Painkiller from 1990 is widely regarded as the quintessential speed-metal album, combining lightning-fast riffage, extended guitar solos and duels, and Rob Halford's trademark shrieking vocals.
Speed metal is generally categorised as "heavy metal played fast". It is a very broad term. Thus, other bands that can be seen to fit the genre include Motörhead (whose gruff vocalist, Lemmy, won't be mistaken for Rob Halford), and also the band Venom, who were a direct influence on the genres of thrash and death metal. Since thrash is also played fast for the most part, it can be viewed as a subgenre of speed metal, though using the terms interchangeably tends to lead to confusion.
The genre names (thrash, death, power, speed, etc) are fairly recent. In the 1980s, the terms were used interchangeably. Venom (black speed metal) labelled themselves as "power metal" (to differentiate themselves from what was being labelled as "heavy metal" by the commercial press, namely Bon Jovi), and Metallica (thrash) also used the same term on their first business card. Motörhead play more than just speed metal, combining heavy metal, punk, and rock 'n roll elements, so they are noted mainly for their influence.
- Or Sludge Metal are often used interchangeably, but some fans make distinctions: Sludge metal has more similarities with grindcore and hardcore punk. There are also very close similarities to doom metal, but most aficionados consider the two genres distinct.
The genre name is derived from the notion that the artists and audience for this kind of music are stoners although the term is more in reference to the style of the music itself rather than the non-musical hobbies of band members and fans. This is a common misconception that inaccurately lumps in bands like Black Sabbath and Pantera among others.
Stoner metal is best known by its commonly stripped down production, use of psychedelic guitar effects, and deep 70's rock influence.
Other terms, which also indicate slightly different, but frequently overlapping genres are 'stoner rock', 'desert rock' and the very abstract 'desert music', which usually has only very little 'metal' content as such.
Monster Magnet and Kyuss were among the most popular practitioners in the 1990s, today bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Fireball Ministry and Fu Manchu have carried the torch.
- Is a subgenre of heavy metal / Death metal. It is characterised by a show of skill, changeable time signatures, and often dissonant or atonal guitar riffs. Death metal and grindcore elements are often found in tech metal. Some bands employ elements of jazz into their music, such as dynamic time signatures, guitar solos, and drumming patterns. It has also been referred to as Math metal.
Bands include: Spiral Architect, Gorguts, Craw & Spawn of Possession.
- Is a subgenre of heavy metal music. The origins of thrash metal are generally traced to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when a number of heavy metal bands began incorporating speed metal's extreme speed into traditional metal melody and riffs.
Beyond this, thrash metal has proven somewhat difficult to categorise. Some ans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorisation as limiting or useless. There is often significant crossover from one metal category to another, and the influence of non-metal genres, including classical music and jazz is not uncommon.
The first thrash metal demo may very well be Metal Church's Red Skies from late 1981. An instrumental demo that combined thrash, speed, and power metal, it did not receive much circulation, and was overshadowed by their October 1982 Four Hymns demo. Chronologically, though, Metal Church were probably the first.
Metallica were second on the scene (the Power Metal demo, April 1982, and then No Life 'til Leather in July) and the first with a studio LP (Kill 'Em All, July 1983). Meanwhile, in Europe, Artillery recorded a demo in November, 1982. Their We Are The Dead took a more Black Sabbath oriented direction, resulting in a thrash metal form that was not quite as fast as that of Metallica but had similar riff ideas.
Often considered the four most important bands in this genre (especially in the US, and generally called the "Big Four Of Thrash") are: Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer & Megadeth.
- Is the earliest form of metal music. Artists include Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
As a genre, traditional metal is right called the "roots of metal". Most of the traditional metal bands laid down the groundwork for heavy metal music to come. Prominent among those being the abovementioned four artists. However, there were a host of other artists who too bit-by-bit laid the foundation for heavy metal to come. A few of those artists were actually hard rock bands who influenced and shaped up heavy metal.
Purely traditional metals bands are: Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, U.F.O., Uriah Heep & KISS.
- Is a form of Heavy metal music popularized in South Asia and South East Asia. The lyrics heavily derive from the Vedic literature and philosophy. This genre has been pioneered by Singaporean band Rudra in the late 90s. Since then, this genre has grown in popularity. Often, along with the Vedic lyrics, the music has shades of Indian Classical music. The definitive album of this genre is the Rudra album The Aryan Crusade.
Bands include: Indian Ocean, Advaita, Maha Yadnya, Symmetry & Vayu.
- Is a sub-genre of black metal music. A lot of people mistake Viking metal for any metal with lyrical themes about Viking or Scandinavian mythology, heathenism, etc. However, this is a completely different musical style. Arrangements are usually more complex than the somewhat simple early black metal that originated in Norway in the early 1990s. The most prominent Viking metal bands are Enslaved, mid period Bathory, Thyrfing and Moonsorrow.
Lyrically, Viking metal is often epic, depicting great battles between Viking warlords and their Christian counter-parts.
