All metal genres suck. So here are my ones.

[The Amazer]

Metal - for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else
Old Metal - for metal that comes from the long ago
Newer Metal - for metal that's more recent
Gay Metal - metal that's really gay (an arguable genre)
Dark Metal - Black metal, death metal, all the dark ones
Happy Metal - Power metal, all the happier ones

If these were the only genres, everything would be a lot easier, and there wouldn't be so much arguing about what band fits what genre.

IT MAKES ME ANGGGGGGGGRY.

 

[The Amazer]

Oh, and by the way, hybrid genres are still available, as I was brought to the attention CHILDREN OF BODOM who are Dark, yet Happy.

Therefore, they're a DARK HAPPY METAL band.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

There would be alot of cross overs though, as Manowar may be classed as 'Old-Happy-Gay Metal'.

 

[Cyclonus]

BUT WAIT THEY CAN MIX N MATCH WITH SOME BANDS!!! OH NO!!! SOME BANDS CAN HAVE TWO OR MORE!!!

You need to rethink this...

 

[The Amazer]

yep, but is that so hard to remember?

I rest my case.

 

[The Amazer]

To classify it:

Only 6 words to remember

Just mix and match

 

[phlogiston]

My way's even easier, and even crosses over into the non-metal genres.

Here goes:

Stuff I Like - This genre contains the stuff I like.
Stuff I Don't Like - This one is all of the stuff I don't like.
Stuff I Haven't Heard - This one contains stuff from both the above genres, with the difference being that they haven't been classified into one of them yet.

 

[Goreripper]

Where do grind bands like Napalm Death and Brutal Truth fit in? What about Nevermore, who are dark but don't play 'dark' metal.

 

[phlogiston]

Napalm Death are a crossover, with songs in all three genres.

Brutal Truth and Nevermore are in the last one.

Or were you asking Ceydn?

 

[Southy]

to hell with him..he smells

 

[Goreripper]

My way's even easier, and even crosses over into the non-metal genres.

Here goes:

Stuff I Like - This genre contains the stuff I like.
Stuff I Don't Like - This one is all of the stuff I don't like.
Stuff I Haven't Heard - This one contains stuff from both the above genres, with the difference being that they haven't been classified into one of them yet.

That's awesome!

 

[The Amazer]

I'm still ironing out a few bugs with my system, but it seems to work for almost every band.

Just use these 5 words whenever applicable:

Happy, Dark, Old, New, Gay

and chuck "Metal" on the end.

I'm going to use it because there are too many genres I don't know what they are.

Black Metal - I'm lost

Nu-Metal - Well, Limp Bizkit are nu-metal and so are SOAD... yet they sound completely different. So I just don't fucking get it.

THERE YOU HAVE IT

 

[vic was 'ere]

Metal - for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else
Old Metal - for metal that comes from the long ago
Newer Metal - for metal that's more recent
Gay Metal - metal that's really gay (an arguable genre)
Dark Metal - Black metal, death metal, all the dark ones
Happy Metal - Power metal, all the happier ones

I think you only need 3 genres under this system of classification: Metal, Dark Metal, Happy Metal.

Old Metal and Newer Metal are defined in terms of age, not sound, so they are not needed.

Gay Metal really depends on opinion. Back in the old days gay used to mean 'happy', so all the stuff under Gay Metal would come under Happy Metal anyway. And all the stuff that is considered 'gay' (eg. Power metal and glam) sounds relatively happy.

 

[The Amazer]

I've realised that these genres don't always work, so I've decided to opt for a new system!

NO GENRES.

Just use describing words when telling what style of music a band plays:

Metallica played fast thrashy metal in the 80s, while they then played slow groovy metal in the 90s...

sort of thing.

I like my new system the best, because its the best.