Heavy metal genres

A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal (often shortened to metal) during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are

Alternative metal#

Alternative metal is a style of heavy metal and alternative rock which emerged in the mid-1980s and gained popularity in the early 1990s. Alternative metal usually combines heavy metal with influences from genres like alternative rock, and in some cases, other genres not normally associated with metal as well. One of the main characteristics of alternative metal and its subgenres are heavily downtuned, mid-paced “chug”-like guitar riffs. Alternative metal bands are also often characterized by melodic vocals, unconventional sounds within other heavy metal genres, unconventional song structures, and sometimes experimental approaches to heavy music. Many of the early alternative metal bands originated from Los Angeles. Prominent bands in this genre include Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Helmet, Life of Agony, Rollins Band More modern bands include Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Godsmack and System of a Down.

Funk metal#

Funk metal is essentially a fusion of heavy metal and funk. It started off in the late eighties as a subgenre of alternative metal and was heavily influenced by bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone. Funk metal bands often use a conventional riffing style influenced by 1980s thrash metal, unlike bands from other alternative metal genres. During the late-’90s, many bands which started out as funk metal branched out into more commercially viable genres, such as alternative rock and nu metal. Notable funk metal bands include Living Colour, Infectious Grooves, Mordred, Primus, and Rage Against the Machine. The biggest regional scene during funk metal’s prime was San Francisco.

Nu metal#

Nu metal, also known as aggro metal, is a fusion genre that blends alternative metal and groove metal elements with other styles, including grunge, industrial, funk and hip hop. The nu metal builds on rap metal’s rock and rap collaborations, but it highlights some of the more aggressive elements of its musical ancestors. Intense and angry lyrics, off-pitched guitars, and massively amplified beats are typical of nu metal songs. The style is mostly syncopated and based on riffs, and is influenced by groove metal rhythm. Some nu metal bands use seven-string guitars, which are sometimes down-tuned to increase heaviness, resulting in bass guitarists using five and six-string instruments. Nu metal vocal styles range between melodic singing, rapping, screaming and death growling. The Bakersfield-based Korn became the first band to be labeled as “nu metal”. MTV states that Korn “arrived in 1993 into the burgeoning alternative metal scene, which would morph into nü-metal the way college rock became alternative rock.” Coal Chamber, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Kittie and Disturbed are prominent bands in this genre.

Rap metal#

Rap metal bands institute the vocal and lyrical form of hip hop. Examples of rap metal include Crazy Town, Clawfinger, Stuck Mojo, Skindred and Rage Against the Machine. The thrash metal band Anthrax also helped pioneer the genre. Rap metal is often mislabeled as rapcore (a genre which fuses hardcore punk with hip hop) or nu metal, a genre which has similar elements in the music, rap metal usually does not include turntables or sampling into its sound, although keyboards are often used. Rap metal bands, unlike nu metal bands, are almost always fronted by rappers. Rap metal also lacks the melodic singing and growling commonly associated with nu metal.

Avant-garde metal#

Avant-garde metal or avant-metal, also known as experimental metal, is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation, and characterized by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements, large-scale experimentation, and the use of non-standard and unconventional sounds, instruments, song structures, playing styles, and vocal techniques. It evolved out of progressive rock, jazz fusion, and extreme metal, particularly death metal. Some local scenes include Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States, Oslo in Norway, and Tokyo in Japan. Pioneers of experimental metal include Boris, Celtic Frost, Earth, Helmet, Maudlin of the Well, Neurosis, Sunn O))), and Voivod.

Black metal#

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. Similarly to avant garde metal bands, black metal singers and groups also feature unconventional song structures and lyrical emphasis on atmosphere. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structures. During the 1980s, several thrash metal bands formed a prototype for black metal. This so-called “first wave” included bands such as Venom, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. A “second wave” arose in the early 1990s, spearheaded by Norwegian bands such as Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Immortal, and Emperor. The music of the early Norwegian black metal scene became a distinct genre. Initially considered a synonym for “Satanic metal”, black metal has often been met with hostility from mainstream culture, mainly due to the misanthropic and anti-Christian standpoint of many artists. Moreover, several of the genre’s pioneers have been linked with church burnings and murder. Some have also been linked to neo-Nazism; however, most black metal fans and most prominent black metal musicians reject Nazi ideology and oppose its influence on the black metal subculture.

National Socialist black metal#

NSBM typically melds Neo-Nazi beliefs (such as fascism, white supremacy, white separatism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and homophobia) with hostility to “foreign” religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.). Bands often promote ethnic European paganism, occultism, or Satanism. Hendrik Möbus of Absurd described Nazism as the “most perfect (and only realistic) synthesis of Satanic/Luciferian will to power, elitist Social Darwinism, connected to Aryan Germanic paganism”. Members of the band Der Stürmer (named after the antisemitic newspaper edited by Julius Streicher) subscribe to esoteric Hitlerism, leaning on the works of Savitri Devi and Julius Evola.

Red and Anarchist black metal#

Red and Anarchist black metal, often shortened to the acronym RABM, is black metal in which the artists espouse various far-left and environmentalist ideologies such as anarchism, Marxism, and green anarchism. It emerged as an amalgamation of black metal with anarchist crust punk, and typically eschews the traditional Satanic and nihilist lyrics of black metal. While some artists such as Iskra, Panopticon, Puna Terrori and Skagos overtly endorse political agendas and manifestos, others, such as Wolves in the Throne Room and some other Cascadian artists, would not explicitly associate with the red or anarchist label.

Symphonic black metal#

Symphonic black metal is a style of black metal that incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. This may include the usage of music workstation keyboards to conjure up “pseudo-orchestral” landscapes with default presets (e.g. strings, choirs, piano, organs, and pads), or full orchestral arrangements containing woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboards and strings. Bands like Carach Angren may feature solo instruments such as violins, in addition to virtual or live orchestral arrangements. Vocals can be “clean” or operatic in style, and song structures are more defined or are inspired by symphonies, albeit not adhering to forms found in Western music (e.g. sonata, rondo, theme and variations) and following a typical riff-based approach. Many of the characteristics of traditional black metal are retained, such as shrieked vocals, fast tempos, high treble gain and tremolo picked electric guitars. But the speed is usually slower, the song structure is clearer, the band uses a lot of keyboards, and even the entire orchestra, just like symphonic metal. Examples of symphonic black metal include Emperor and Dimmu Borgir.

Viking metal#

Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music with origins in black metal and Nordic folk music, characterized by a common lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Its musical style is typically manifested as Nordic folk-influenced black metal. Some common traits include a slow-paced and heavy riffing style, anthemic choruses, use of both clean and harsh vocals, a frequent use of folk instrumentation, and, often, the use of keyboards for atmospheric effect. Viking metal developed in the 1980s through the mid-1990s as a rejection of Satanism and the occult, instead embracing the Vikings and paganism as the leaders of opposition to Christianity. Most Viking metal bands originate from the Nordic countries, and nearly all bands claim that their members descend, directly or indirectly, from Vikings. Bathory, from Sweden, is generally credited with pioneering the genre with its albums Blood Fire Death (1988) and Hammerheart (1990). Enslaved, Burzum, Emperor, Storm and Falkenbach helped further develop the genre in the early through mid-1990s. The death metal bands Unleashed and Amon Amarth, which emerged during the early 1990s, also adopted Viking themes, broadening the genre from its primarily black metal origin. Other key bands in the genre include Darkwoods My Betrothed, Einherjer, Ensiferum, Moonsorrow, Thyrfing, and Windir.

War metal#

War metal, also known as war black metal or bestial black metal, is an aggressive, and the first two Sepultura releases. Zyklon-B.

Blackgaze#

Blackgaze is a genre fusion of black metal and shoegaze that originated in the early 2000s. The genre often incorporates heavier elements common of black metal, including blast beat drumming and high-pitched screamed vocals with melodic elements, and heavily distorted “Wall of Sound” guitar styles typically associated with shoegazing. The French shoegazing band Alcest is often credited with having influenced and formed the genre, while American bands such as Deafheaven have become synonymous as to defining the genre’s characteristics.

Post-black metal#

Post-black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emphasizes more experimentation and creative expression than other forms, as well as molding different music genres into black metal. Bands such as Deafheaven, Alcest, Liturgy, Deathspell Omega, and Altar of Plagues are notable bands in this genre.

Christian metal#

Christian metal, also known as white metal, is a form of heavy metal music usually defined by its message using song lyrics as well as the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by professed Christians, sometimes principally for Christians who listen to heavy metal music, and often produced and distributed through various Christian networks. Christian metal artists exist in all the subgenres of heavy metal music, and the only common link among most Christian metal artists are the lyrics. The Christian themes are often melded with the subjects of the genre the band is rooted in, regularly providing a Christian take on the subject matter. It has been argued that the marginal yet transnational Christian metal subculture provides its core members an alternative religious expression and Christian identity, and that the music serves the purpose of offering a positive alternative or counterbalance to ‘secular’ metal music, which is known for its generally dark and negative message. Saving Grace is another example of a Christian metalcore band.

Christian death metal#

In the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, Christian death metal bands also emerged. Incubus (later known as Opprobrium), formed in 1986 in Louisiana, United States by two brothers recently immigrated from Brazil, was Christian and in the late 1980s experimented with a death metal sound. The Melbourne, Australia, groups Mortification and Vomitorial Corpulence, Living Sacrifice and Crimson Thorn, from the United States, and Sympathy, from Canada, were the main progenitors of the Christian death metal. In the latter half of the 2000s, Impending Doom (from the United States) and Blood Covenant (from India) joined the forefront of Christian death metal.

Unblack metal#

Unblack metal, sometimes called Christian black metal, is a genre of music that is stylistically black metal, but whose artists promote Christianity in their lyrics and imagery. Such artists are controversial, mainly because black metal’s pioneers, especially those of the Second Wave, intended to encourage hostility towards Christianity. It is also suggested that Christianity contradicts black metal’s dark nature, and the individualistic and misanthropic ideals of many bands. The exact beginning of the Christian black metal movement is disputed. The Australian band Horde’s 1994 album Hellig Usvart brought the concept and the term holy unblack metal (a word play on Darkthrone’s slogan “unholy black metal” used on the albums A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Under a Funeral Moon) to media attention. The Norwegian band Antestor formed in 1990 as a death/doom act and released its demo The Defeat of Satan in 1991, before they began shifting towards black metal on their 1994 album Martyrium. Other examples of unblack metal bands include Crimson Moonlight, Admonish, and Frosthardr.

Crust punk#

Crust punk, often simply called crust, is a form of music influenced by anarcho-punk, hardcore punk and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the mid-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term “crust” was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo. Crust is partly defined by its “bassy” and “dirty” sound. It is often played at a fast tempo with occasional slow sections. Vocals are usually guttural and may be growled or screamed. Crust punk takes cues from the anarcho-punk aspect of Crass and Discharge, Notable crust punk bands include Amebix, Antisect and Doom.

Genre family: Lists of music genres, Rock music genres