Posted in: Metal by tman555 on October 18, 2009 | 4 Comments
Are you confused with the amount of sub genres in metal? Let me break them down for you.
In metal, there are a huge number of sub genres to choose from. There is one for every person, even if you hate metal.
First off, let’s start with simple and clean heavy metal. Heavy metal is a branch off of rock music that developed in the late 60s with bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. Classical and older metal acts are usually known as simply “heavy metal” even if they have they’re own sub genre.
In the early 1980s, a new style of metal was starting to grow. Glam or hair metal is a type of metal where the look of the band was of great importance. Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, and Kiss are very well known for having teased up hair, spandex and studs. This is where the stereotypical look of metal originates from.
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A very popular type of metal is Thrash metal. Thrash metal is the home to Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. It is shown through it’s aggressive riffs and powerful stage presence.
There are many types of metal that would take me at least three or four articles to discuss them all. Instead, I’ll give you a list and some characteristics.
As you can see, there are many types of metal sub genres. There are too many to list here, but hopefully, it’ll will help with some confusion you have with the genre.
ReggieLutz October 20th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Thanks for providing this breakdown of the sub-genres of metal. Illuminating.
alc October 21st, 2009 at 9:34 am
Loved this article!!!!
nick likes slipknot October 28th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
thats pretty good. but u forgot my favorite, metalcore. like bullet for my valentine and killswitch engage and the devil wears prada
jerome likes extreme metal March 21st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
This is not a very complete guide. There are many subgenres of death and black that you left out(blackened death(behemoth) , melodeath(arsis), atmospheric black(burzum), 1st wave black(celtic frost), grindcore (napalm death), goregrind(hemorrhage), deathgrind(pig destroyer), technical death(necrophagist), cybergrind(agoraphobic nosebleed)… this list is only a glimpse of more underground genres and notable bands of the genre