Heavy metal types: Help me learn these metal genres

Cafe Society
1

So, I am interested in getting out and seeing some live heavy metal music. This web site DCHeavyMetal.com has been helping me get acquainted with the local scene but I just don’t understand a lot of the genre terminology. So heavy metal Dopers, please school me!

Here is a list of genres I read about on the site. Can you describe their sound in words, and offer a few of the top bands in the genre, and maybe even a link to a certain song on YouTube which exemplifies the genre.

death metal
black metal
thrash metal
speed metal
progressive metal
doom metal
metalcore
deathcore
grindcore
hardcore
“tech”
technical death metal
industrial melodic black metal
brutal death metal

Your knowledge and help is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance!

2

I can’t speak to all of the genres listed here, but to elaborate on a few;

Death metal - Up-tempo, heavily distorted guitars, double bass drums, and almost universally growled/screeched “cookie monster” vocals. Bands of note - Death, Cannibal Corpse, Dethklok (a parody of death metal, really, but also the best-selling death metal band of all time.) “Technical” death metal is a subgenre that puts more focus on intricate solos and musicianship.

Black metal - Like death metal, but with “extreme” lyrics generally of a misanthropic, often Satanic nature.

Doom metal - Heavily distorted like death metal, but whereas death metal is fast, doom metal is sloooooooooooow. Vocals are much less distorted as well, but are often sung in a very low pitch that can be just as hard to understand. Notable bands include early Black Sabbath (particularly on Paranoid), Type O Negative, and Kyuss.

Thrash/speed metal - Up-tempo, considerably less distortion than death metal, and clean vocals. Lots of overlap here, though speed metal tends to be more technically demanding of the two genres. Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer are the “big four” thrash bands. Speed metal with lyrics focused on mythology, war, or other “epic” themes is often called “power metal”.

3

I’m not an expert on all types of metal, but for the progressive type I would suggest Queensryche or Dream Theatre.

In the UK at least speed metal was epitomised by Motorhead and I generally think of early Metallica and Anthrax as a US version that are also sometimes categorised as thrash.

As for Black/Doom metal, well IMHo Black Sabbath were the progenitor of both genres, but I’m not really up on who the modern forerunners are.

Hopefully other will be along soon with a more exhausitve answer.

4

I’ll go with what I know. Thrash metal tends to be fast and energetic, with a lot of powerful riffage. Vocals run the whole gamut from clear to rough. Noteworthy bands include early Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Kreator, Anthrax, Annihilator etc.

Speed Metal is simply metal with an emphasis on speed without the high and mighty aspirations of Power Metal. Megadeth and Motorhead have been called speed metal, though it often bleeds over with thrash.

Doom Metal is slower riff oriented, most often with clear, even operatic vocals. The music is sludgey. Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus, Pentagram, Saint Vitus and the mighty Candlemass anchor this genre, Black Sabbath is the grandaddy and I’d consider the more recent Heaven and Hell right in line.

I’ll leave other types of metal to the respective experts.

5

Opeth gets thrown into the progressive metal category, though they usually lean towards progressive death metal.

Opeth not-growly and melodic: Death Whispered a Lullaby

Opeth growly and hardcore, but still melodic: Heir Apparent

6

I got to thinking about it, and to be honest, genre is the last thing you should be worried about. Even within genres some bands rock and others suck. You just need to discover a band you really like, and then another, and then you can follow up on other bands that share something in common with those you know you like. That website you linked is really nice, you should just watch the YouTube videos they have imbedded and find what hits your groove.

7

From the couple of concerts that we went to years ago I would think you’d like the thrash/speed/power metal bands more. There seems to be a few bands playing at the Jaxx which is close to you.

Nevermore is the 15th.
If I was around I’d be at the Zombie/Cooper show the 17th, and I might actually be able to go. That’s at Merriweather.
Epica is a power metal band playing the 16th of November.
Blind Guardian is another power metal band playing in December.

I also think you and I saw the Devin Townsend guy and I think we also saw Helloween and Symphony X, so if you liked those then you might like some of the above bands.

8

This is excellent advice, and I heartily endorse using pandora as a tool for helping you out here. Once you find a band or song that strikes your fancy, just type it in and away you go. Be sure to babysit it a bit at first telling it what you like and don’t care for. Soon you’ll have a station that plays to that “sound” that you like and will be made up of many metal bands that work in that genre.

Generally speaking:

Death- Fast pounding drums with a lot of heavily distorted guitars, vocals are fast, rough and normally low.

Black- See above but add in a lot of synth and vocals are normally screeched. These bands are usually more theatric and focus on evil and fantasy, satanism, etc…

Doom- Slow, thunderous, droning with melodic breaks. Vocals vary between singing, spoken word chanting, and low roars. Generally has a sad focus, but can also do the whole triumphant destuction/ decay thing. Think beautiful melancholy etc…

Speed and thrash are basically the same thing depending on the amount of traditional metal and punk influence. fast, with varying levels of technical skill or clarity of notes. The sound is lighter than the above genres as well with less low end.

Technical metal is sort of a metalhead music major’s wank. The songs can vary wildly but have odd times and melodic structures. Impressive if you know what you are listening to, but can disappoint in from song to song.

The various core genres and sub species of metal either blended with hardcore rock, or occasionally with each other. Explore for yourself, though i will mention that grindcore has a focus on gross lyrics.

Industrial- any- metal will be the sound of that genre mixed with industrial music techniques. Think a darker heavier nine inch nails.

Brutal may or may not exist depending on your ear.

Also worthy of note or listen is folk metal which blends traditional music with death or prog/ power metal techniques. It can be awesomely good or incredibly cheesy, but it’s nearly always fun and makes you want to jump up an down.

9

I love Heavy Metal and I could write about it for hours, but I’ll try and provide a brief summary for the genres I like best.

DEATH METAL
Sounds Like: guttural growling vocals, alternating slow and fast tempos
Lyrics: death, dead bodies, diseases; occasionally Satanic or political
(Grindcore is basically Death Metal performed by punks, with political lyrics)
Typical Bands: Napalm Death, Carcass, Death, Morbid Angel, Autopsy
Record Labels: Earache, Peaceville, Relapse, Roadrunner

BLACK METAL
Sounds Like: guttural growling vocals, extremely fast tempos
Lyrics: Satanism, burning churches; winter; pagan Scandinavia, occasionally Nazism
Typical Bands: Darkthrone, Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, Satanic Warmaster
Record Labels: Moonfog, Osmose, Peaceville
(Black Metal is also typified by the black and white “Kiss” style make-up that the performers wear.)

THRASH & SPEED METAL
(Purists differentiate between the two, IMO they’e close enough to group together)
Sounds Like: vocals can vary between growling and actual singing, fast tempos with lots of catchy guitar riffs and complicated guitar solos
Lyrics: rock and fantasy imagery, sometimes politics or Satantism; drugs and alcohol
Typical Bands: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus
Record Labels: Megaforce, Music for Nations, several major labels

PROGRESSIVE METAL
Sounds Like: heavy metal with jazz and progressive rock inspired tempo changes
Lyrics: fantasy; philosophy; concept albums
Typical Bands: Dream Theater, Queensryche, Cynic
Record Labels: various major labels

DOOM METAL, STONER METAL etc
Sounds Like: Black Sabbath, very slow tempos
Lyrics: drugs, magic & wizardry
Typical Bands: Sleep, Cathedral, Boris, Electric Wizard
Record Labels: Southern Lord, Rise Above

Again, IMO, the remainder of the genres you’ve listed are so similar that they can be grouped somewhere in the four wider types above.

For example, I love Grindcore, but I also realize that to any casual listener it’s going to sound exactly the same as Death Metal, so there’s not much point in sub-categorizing it.

Punk and hardcore music also suffers from the same kind of ad nauseam sub- and sub-subdividing. It can get quite inane sometimes.

After all most modern music critics don’t bother to classify Skifflepsychedelicpopfolkrock bands like the Beatles, Randbpsychedelicpopfolkrock bands like the Rolling Stones, and Neoskifflepsychedelicpopfolkrock bands like Oasis into different genres.

10

So where do the bands I liked in my youth fit into these genres? Such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Scorpions and the like.

Maiden have always been heavy, but I’ve never thought of them as being thrash or speed metal, In fact the only label I’ve seen applied to them was NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal (obviously this does not apply to the Scorpions as they are German).

11

Honestly? I’d just call those “Heavy Metal”.

Same goes for Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead etc.

12

Moved MPSIMS --> Cafe Society.

Rock on, dudes and dudettes.

13

death metal: Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide

black metal: Enslaved, Watain

thrash metal: Slayer, Sepultura, D.R.I.

speed metal: I never knew what distinguished “speed” from “thrash”

doom metal: Yob, Reverend Bizarre

metalcore: Unearth

deathcore: lol

grindcore: Napalm Death, Nasum

hardcore: Sick of it All

“tech”: Dillinger Escape Plan

technical death metal: Atheist, Cynic, Death

industrial melodic black metal: Uh…

brutal death metal: Suffocation
Boy am I bored today.

14

Thank you everyone! I am going to take some time to go through all the links, and I will be back with any additional questions comments. In the meantime, anyone care to share what is their favorite “flavor” of metal?

15

I love classic metal - the original stuff like Black Sabbath, heavier Led Zeppelin (remember when Zep was lumped in as metal?), Iron Maiden and UFO, etc…

…and I love Thrash’s Big 4: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer…

16

It’s the chunk.

Speed metal just didn’t have the same E-string-riding chunky sound that thrash later developed into a staple of the genre. It’s not that they are totally separate genres, it’s more than thrash evolved out of speed metal.

ETA: Most people have most of the genres mostly right here; I guess my years of posting about metal on the Dope have not been in vain! :smiley:

17

Death: BLUUUUUUUUUURGH / EAT CHRISTIANS
Black: AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH / SODOMIZE CHRISTIANS

18

And doom metal is distinguished by the sloth? :wink:

19

I hate genres mostly because I never get them right.
I think most bands play a combination of styles and then somebody comes up with a name for that style to be able to market it.

I disagree with a couple of things here and there. I consider D.R.I. a crossover band ( a mix between thrash and hardcore) and that black metal employs mostly high pitch shrieky vocals, not low and guttural) but pretty much everybody knows (to the best of my limited knowledge) what they’re talking about.

20

That the sheer amount of awesomeness much of it displays, yeah. :smiley: