Top 5 Favorite Genres Thread

[Draehl]

After discussion in the previous thread I decided against having a specific pick list of genres. It risked not covering certain niches and admittedly was getting too "autistic" the further it went (credit to Ozzman) Apologies for the wasted time to Baroque and the other folks who participated. We're going honor system on this one. If there's enough participation and aligning data maybe we can manipulate the data a little and correlate it after the fact.

The goal here is to establish links or commonalities to encourage folks to check out genres they might otherwise not be inclined to; either due to perhaps a poor first impression, a lack of perceived commonality with what you currently enjoy, or complete ignorance it even existed!

What to do:

1) In no particular order list your top 5 metal sub-genres. Be specific and don't just list "Death Metal" but rather OSDM, Tech Death, Melodeath, etc. In the spirit of the thread if you're concentrated in one main genre and need a tiebreaker try to err towards something a little different than the rest of your list.

2) To expand the scope and make things a little more fun, list your 3 favorite non-metal sub-genres. Again, be specific. "I like techno" helps no one!​

That's it! Any extra commentary is great too, but try to open your post with your 2 lists so if we later decide to play with the data its easier to gather from your posts. Thanks!

 

[CiG]

Metal:

• Epic heavy metal (Warlord, Manilla Road, Realmbuilder, 90's Bathory etc)
• Traditional doom metal (Saint Vitus, Revelation, Trouble etc)
• Epic doom metal (Scald, Solstice, Candlemass etc)
• Deathgrind (Impetigo, Exhumed, Repulsion, Dr. Shrinker etc)
• USPM (Manowar, Omen, Twisted Tower Dire, Attacker etc)

Non-metal:

• Celtic folk (Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Clannad etc)
• Progressive rock (Genesis, Rush, Kansas etc)
• Hip hop (Rakim, Kool Keith, MF DOOM etc)

 

[Draehl]

Metal

• Atmospheric BM (Wolves In The Throne Room, Fyrnask, Mare Cognitum, Drudkh)
• Melodic BM (Dissection, Emperor, Melechesh, Dark Fortress)
• Blackened Folk (Moonsorrow, Windir, later-Bathory, Falkenbach)
• Stoner (Om, Yob, The Sword, Zaum)
• Atmospheric Sludge (Latitudes, early-Mastodon, Cobalt, Isis)

Non-Metal

• Space Rock (Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles, Earthless, Yuri Gagarin)
• Dungeon Synth (Wongraven, Kvalvaag, Galdur, Forgotten Kingdoms)
• Neofolk/Ritual Ambient (Wardruna, Forndom, Halo Manash, Blood Of The Black Owl)

Thoughts after listing everything out: I definitely err towards dark, primal, or spiritual melodies layered very thick with atmosphere. That said I'm often turned off by excessively dissonant or depressing type melodies preferring more a powerful and hypnotic variety. Sludge can sometimes get a touch too dissonant and Atmoblack has some depressive leaning acts, but otherwise I think my metal and non-metal align pretty well in that regard, though varying on the spectrum of heaviness, texture and melodic origin.

 

[Baroque]

Progressive/technical thrash metal - Vektor, Artillery, Target, Antidote, Hexen, Aspid, Typhoon, Obliveon, on and on

Progressive metal - Dream Theater, Symphony X, etc also extreme varieties like Ne Obliviscaris. Toss in neoclassical metal like Yngwie and Exmortus.

Thrash metal - just vanilla thrash: Megadeth, Metallica, etc, but including modern bands like Havok, Hatchet, Warbringer, FBF

OSDM - especially the more progressive or interesting ones: Death, Atheist, Pestilence, Obituary

Stoner metal - blues based with strong vocals like early Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Egypt, and some experimental stuff like Ufomammut

Baroque - Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Locatelli, Scarlatti, Telemann, Weiss, Corelli, Fux. Also some late renaissance such as Dowland, Palestrina

Jazz - mostly classic New Orleans Jazz and Bossa Nova. Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Coltrane, Jobim, Baden Powell, Roy Hargrove, Django

Rock in general - AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Van Halen, GnR, Led Zep, Aerosmith, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc. my tastes in Rock are too broad to pick one sub genre like grunge or punk or hard rock

 

[no country for old wainds]

• NSBM (gontyna kry, nokturnal mortum, wolfnacht, the shadow order, moonblood - not the ideal tag really but it's probably the most established one that stands for the sound i want from black metal)
• melodic death metal (pre-TSD at the gates, the chasm, eucharist, necrophobic, arghoslent - would like to see this sub-genre distinguished from 'melodeath')
• progressive power metal (fates warning, adramelch, queensryche, slauter xstroyes, kingsbane)
• epic doom (candlemass, solstice, scald, while heaven wept, ungol if they count)
• NWOBHM (satan, blitzkrieg, angel witch, maiden, diamond head)

• garage rock (not really big on a lot of the best known stuff, but going through various nuggets comps is a passion of mine)
• girl group (could broaden this to '60s pop in general but that'd be even less of a genre lol)
• post-punk (wipers, the cure, television, ubu, the gun club)

 

[Phylactery]

• NSBM (gontyna kry, nokturnal mortum, wolfnacht, the shadow order, moonblood - not the ideal tag really but it's probably the most established one that stands for the sound i want from black metal)

But still all those bands sounds pretty different. There's not much in common between Nokturnal Mortum and Moonblood. Do you prefer these bands to the Norwegian second wave?

Kind of expected to see USPM on your list.

I want to do this but I'm not sure how to name the trad/power metal I like. Most of it being from the UK and the USA. I'm also not sure if "second wave black metal" is too broad of a tag for the purposes of this thread.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

1. Traditional power metal (Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Adramelch)
2. Tech/prog thrash (Anacrusis, Watchtower, Coroner, Mekong Delta)
3. Traditional thrash (Exodus, Artillery, Metallica, Megadeth)
4. Traditional heavy metal (Judas Priest, Savatage, WASP, Scorpions)
5. Traditional prog metal (Fates Warning again, Psychotic Waltz, Slauter Xstroyes, Dream Theater)

1. Old-school prog rock (Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator)
2. Old-school funk (Funkadelic, Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Tower of Power)
3. New wave (Devo, Punishment of Luxury, Oingo Boingo, Elvis Costello)

 

[no country for old wainds]

i had to turn six into five and USPM and prog power were the ones with the most overlap.

it's impossible to get specific with BM without using long-sullied terms like 'atmospheric' or 'melodic' or whatever. does loving burzum mean you love atmospheric black metal, even though 99% of atmo black is the same old boring shit? idk.

 

[arg]

1. Death metal
2. Deathcore
3. Metalcore
4. Female symphonic metal
5. Thrash metal

a. Vocal trance
b. emo/screamo/post-hardcore
c. 90s pop/alternative rock
d. classical/theatre/opera

 

[Krow]

Traditional Heavy Metal
-
Judas Priest
Accept
Scorpions
Motorhead


Traditional Doom Metal
-
Saint Vitus
Cirith Ungol
The Gates of Slumber
Reverend Bizarre


Black/Thrash/Speed
-
Toxic Holocaust
Midnight
Destroyer 666
Sabbat


Folky Black Metal
-
Nokturnal Mortum
Drudkh
Forteresse
Agalloch


USPM/German Power Metal (these are different but fairly similar I think)
-
Omen
Liege Lord
Helstar
Stormwitch
Running Wild
Grave Digger


Non Metal

Prog Rock
-
Camel
King Crimson
Yes
Hawkwind
Jethro Tull
Pink Floyd

Occult Rock
-
Coven
The Devil's Blood
Witchcraft
Jess and the Ancient Ones

Synthwave/horror soundtracks
-
GosT
Perturbator
John Carpenter
Goblin

Goth/Death Rock/Post Punk (think these are related enough)
-
Bauhaus
The Cure
Christian Death
Swans (rabbit albums)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Joy Division

 

[Satanstoenail]

Metal

• Math Metal/Mathcore (Botch, Dillinger, Car_Bomb etc)
• Tech Thrash/Extreme Thrash (Coroner, Destruction, Kreator etc)
• Regular Thrash (Slayer, Vio-lence, Metallica, Megadeth etc)
• Tech Death (Atheist, Pestilence, Cynic, Psycroptic etc)
• Sludge/Stoner (Melvins, Acid Bath, Neurosis, Conan, Ufomammut etc)

Non-Metal

• Noise Rock (The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Rapeman etc)
• Hip Hop (Kool Keith, Jurassic 5, Organised Konfusion, Beastie Boys etc)
• Funk (James Brown, The Fatback Band, early Jamiroquai, Sly & The Family Stone etc)
• 70s-80s Pop-Rock (Talking Heads, Split Enz, Devo, Robert Palmer etc)

 

[CF87]

Metal -

1. Death Metal(old school)
2. Grindcore/Goregrind.(^)
3. Doom/Death(^}
4. Thrash.
5. Industrial.
------------------------------

6. Doom Metal.
7. Trad/Power.

Don't feel like getting in bands, prefere the way older bands sound instrument tone and production wise.

Non metal-pop,90's rock,80's glam bands, old hip hop,some hardcore, some goth, whatever.

 

[PrincessHades]

In no particular order, though black metal is my favorite overall:

Metal:

Black metal (typical stuff, first wave, a lot of NSBM, some DSBM)
Death Metal (old school)
Glam metal
Traditional heavy metal
Thrash metal

Non-metal:

Progressive rock
Punk (Anything from mainstream stuff to Oi! and hardcore, and GG Allin)
Dark ambient
Folk (especially old German war marches
Rock (by which I mean 60s stuff like The Animals, The Yardbirds, etc.)

 

[Slayed Necros]

First wave black metal (Bathory, Sarcófago, Tormentor, Poison, Mortuary Drape, Master's Hammer)
Hellenic black metal (Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia, Zemial, Agatus)
OSDM (Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Demilich, Demigod, Dismember)
Melodic black/death metal (Dissection, Sacramentum, Eucharist, Sentenced, Necrophobic)
USPM (Fates Warning, Jag Panzer, Omen, Helstar, Crimson Glory)


Country/Folk/Singer-Songwriter (Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Gene Clark, Guy Clark, Blaze Foley, etc)
Hard Rock (Scorpions, Budgie, Roky Erickson, Ashbury, etc)

 

[crimsonfloyd]

• NSBM (gontyna kry, nokturnal mortum, wolfnacht, the shadow order, moonblood - not the ideal tag really but it's probably the most established one that stands for the sound i want from black metal)
• melodic death metal (pre-TSD at the gates, the chasm, eucharist, necrophobic, arghoslent - would like to see this sub-genre distinguished from 'melodeath')
• progressive power metal (fates warning, adramelch, queensryche, slauter xstroyes, kingsbane)
• epic doom (candlemass, solstice, scald, while heaven wept, ungol if they count)
• NWOBHM (satan, blitzkrieg, angel witch, maiden, diamond head)

• garage rock (not really big on a lot of the best known stuff, but going through various nuggets comps is a passion of mine)
• girl group (could broaden this to '60s pop in general but that'd be even less of a genre lol)
• post-punk (wipers, the cure, television, ubu, the gun club)

1. NSBM isn't a sub-genre, as it has no consistent sound. It's a lyrical theme. For example, Nokturnal Mortum are symphonic black metal while bands like Fullmoon is more raw black metal.
*Edit* On second thought, raw black metal isn't really a sub-sub-genre either, as much as it's a descriptor of the production quality. This is why I'm not too into this idea. Most sub-sub-genres are just too vague.

2. So far as I know, Moonblood isn't NSBM

 

[no country for old wainds]

i'm aware, but there isn't a label for the sound i like and a lot of the bands with that sound are NSBM. basically i like shit that sounds like it was made by an alien culture with no ties to our own - authentically obscure backwater weirdness, usually proud and beautiful and dreamlike rather than dark 'n morbid or cerebral. i shouldn't have mentioned nokturnal mortum though probably, i love 'em but they're kind of an outlier there. as for moonblood, they regularly get (mis?)labeled as NSBM and they're kinda cagey from what i remember. like, "we're not racist, but we have some of the same values as that scene..." kinda thing. i agree about sub-sub-sub-sub-sub genres though, if i cared more about them i would've put more thought into it.

 

[CiG]

Sludge (Latitudes, early-Mastodon, Cobalt, Isis)

I think you should actually make this atmospheric sludge rather than just sludge, because those bands aren't really standard sludge.

 

[Vilden]

Heh it is kind of interesting that some bands have been mentioned in like 4 different sub-genres (like Fates Warning). I get why though.

1. Epic Doom Metal (Scald, Candlemass, Solstice, Solitude Aeturnus, etc.)

2. Prog/Power Metal (Queensryche, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, Adramelch, etc.)

3. Epic Heavy Metal (Manilla Road, Manowar, Medieval Steel, etc.)

4. Viking/Folk/Pagan Metal (Bathory, Graveland, Nokturnal Mortum, Ulver, Summoning, Helheim, etc.)

5. Doom/Death Metal (Katatonia, Thergothon, Unholy, Paradise Lost, Morgion, etc.)

I guess the three top picks are quite similar and if forced to I could include all of them in an umbrella "epic metal", in which case traditional heavy metal and traditional doom or second wave (norwegian) black metal probably would make the list instead.

Top 3 non-metal:

1. Dark Ambient (Kammarheit, Desiderii Marginis, Lustmord, Raison d'être, etc.)

2. Neofolk (Sol Invictus, Backworld, Death in June, Fire+Ice, etc.)

3. Anime OST (lol)

 

[Draehl]

I think you should actually make this atmospheric sludge rather than just sludge, because those bands aren't really standard sludge.

Good call. Basic Sludge really is that grittier southern sound. I'll update mine.

Also, not calling anyone out but a couple of y'all could be significantly more specific with your genres.

 

[CiG]

Yeah, or just straight up crushing like Grief and Noothgrush.