What type of metal am I listening to?

There are so many sub-genres to metal music. Even though you may have thought the complicated guitar riffs, screaming vocals and double-bass lines were the standard indentification of metal music, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that.

The sub-genres in metal music were created to categorgize bands by their music style, their subject matter and sometimes by their appearance.

There are probably about 20 or more sub-genres of metal music. I won’t go through them all because this post will be forever long if I do. But I will list and explain some of the more prominent sub-genres in metal and leave you to explore Wikipedia for more information on the genres I haven’t listed. If there’s a genre you absolutely love that I didn’t list, feel free to leave a comment.

New Wave of British Heavy Metal - This group of metal, in my opinion, was the biggest influence on other metal bands with the exception of Black Sabbath who started it all. This group took the blueprint of metal that Black Sabbth created, took out the blues and created a powerful heavy metal sound. Bands include: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead and Saxon.

Death metal – This group of metal is one of the most explicit. Subject matter usually revolves around death and destruction. Their sound is brutal to say the least with distorted guitars and growling, “cookie monster” like vocals. Bands include: Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Death.

Thrash metal- This group of metal is probably one of the hardest out of all the genres. Most of the bands in this group formed in California and their sound is fast, features double bass, difficult guitar riffs and screaming vocals. Bands include: Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica and Megadeth.

Black metal- Out of all the genres in metal, this is the only group who can really be considered Satanic. Most of the black metal bands originated in Norway and they dress in dark clothing with gothic make-up and sing in high-pitched rapsy voices. All of their songs lyrics are about Satan or other pagan imagery. Bands include: Bathory, Burzum and Venom.

Nu metal- This group of metal combines heavy metal riffs with hip-hop and rap influences. This group was very popualr in the late 90s to early 2000s but has faded away in popularity. Bands include: Korn, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit.

Metalcore- This group combines metal with hardcore. It uses the melodic, musical style from metal but the shouting vocal style from hardcore. The bands in this group have grown in popularity in the last few years. Bands include: Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and As I Lay Dying.

So in case you still don’t understand the metal genres, visit YouTube  and watch the metal genre series by Kraal7718 (there is 5 parts). I felt they were great learning tools. I also recommend, again, Metal: A Headbangers Journey. Sam Dunn, the director, created a metal family tree explaining the metal genres and it’s very thorough. Below is a video showing his tree. It may be hard to read so rent or buy the DVD! It’s worth the money!

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