Which metal?

[HaloSlayer]

I have been listening to Metal in one form or another since I was 9 years old and my older cousin took me to an AC/DC concert in 1980. Back then you had like 5 different kinds of metal.

Metal: AC/DC, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, etc

Heavy Metal: Iron Maiden, Celtic Frost, Metal Church, Merciful Fate,etc

Speed Metal: Metalica, Megadeath, Anthrax, Nuclear Assualt, Testament, Overkill, etc

Thrash/Powerslob: DRI, MOD, SOD, Destruction, Wargasm, Violence, etc

Death Metal: Venom, Slayer, Kreator, Vader, EOS, etc

But now there are like 30 (and that is not an exageration) types of metal. It is like every band has their on genre of metal now. When did this happen? You have everything from Grind Metal (which was slang for garage band metal in the 80s) to Black Metal and Skate Metal and Lite Death Metal and Viking Metal and Industrial Metal and Net Metal and Green Metal and Punk Metal and Swedish Metal and the list could go on forever. When did every band get their own category?

 

[amon666]

well, i think a key of success is to be uniqe, and having that option makes them get big.
cuz somtimes people want something differnet

my fav. is folk/pagan/celtic/viking metal, now that wasn't there back in 1980's (i guess)

 

[waif]

Those genres you provided are all wrong, but anyhow...

Metal sort of naturally evolved. Got more complex over time. That's how things work.

 

[saboona]

i dont think the genres he provided are so wrong.,, actually it's kind of right putting in mind that he's providing this information as if he was in the 80's

 

[Alasdhair]

I'd say there are so many genres because Metal runs parallel with "mainstream" music. Like, you get "mainstream metal" like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, ETC... And you get obscure metal bands like Goat the Herd, Enthroned, Arkhon Infaustus, ETC. And there are so many nooks and cranies within the genre, that everywhere you look there is a new sound of "metal".And people then want to put labels on it like "Blackened Speed Doomdeath Arse-Chicken Megaskullgreymon Metal" or whatever. But in actual fact it usually fits within the 6 big genres (Black, Doom, Death, Speed, Thrash & Heavy).

 

[Vilewoman]

I'd say there are so many genres because Metal runs parallel with "mainstream" music. Like, you get "mainstream metal" like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, ETC... And you get obscure metal bands like Goat the Herd, Enthroned, Arkhon Infaustus, ETC. And there are so many nooks and cranies within the genre, that everywhere you look there is a new sound of "metal".And people then want to put labels on it like "Blackened Speed Doomdeath Arse-Chicken Megaskullgreymon Metal" or whatever. But in actual fact it usually fits within the 6 big genres (Black, Doom, Death, Speed, Thrash & Heavy).

and now for something completely different...Crumpet Metal!

 

[waif]

I'd say there are so many genres because Metal runs parallel with "mainstream" music. Like, you get "mainstream metal" like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, ETC... And you get obscure metal bands like Goat the Herd, Enthroned, Arkhon Infaustus, ETC. And there are so many nooks and cranies within the genre, that everywhere you look there is a new sound of "metal".And people then want to put labels on it like "Blackened Speed Doomdeath Arse-Chicken Megaskullgreymon Metal" or whatever. But in actual fact it usually fits within the 6 big genres (Black, Doom, Death, Speed, Thrash & Heavy).

But there's always new stuff evolving like folk metal, melodic metal that has sorta evolved beyond melodic death into something new (if not very good) (talking about Soilwork and In Flames' newer stuff), etc.

Also, the big six are black, doom, death, power, thrash and heavy. Speed metal universally falls into either thrash or power metal.

There's a pretty decent thread on this in the GMD entitled "A Few Thoughts On The Evolution of Metal"

 

[BlodadTand]

Why the hell are you so keen on pigeonholing the music, it is what it is, you don't need to adhere to some label. There has allways been the more mainstream side which largely consists of shit then there is the stuff which is less about the money/fame or whatever and is actually written to purvey emotions or purely because they enjoy it. This stuff away from the mainstream can be very varied as it's not just people trying to get in on a scene so it will differ from musician to musician as they will like to things differently to one another. Thus making it pointless to even attempt to categorise every single band into a limited number genres.
In my eyes it should just be called Heavy Metal and be left at that.

 

[GmT-Curwen]

That makes no sense, how could you put i.e. Bathory and Helloween in the same cattegory?

 

[BlodadTand]

Thats the point, why the need to categorise?

 

[amon666]

Thats the point, why the need to categorise?

cuz not every band sounds the same

 

[BlodadTand]

Yet many bands in the same genre don't sound alike, so what's the point?

 

[amon666]

to know the differnece between them, u cant put immortal and iron maiden in one category

 

[BlodadTand]

So you decide what you like by just looking at the genre instead of listening to it?

 

[amon666]

well im a huge fan of folk metal, so i tend to listen to folky bands, more than heavy metal bands

 

[Vilewoman]

Rock n Roll in general has many different genres. It's the only style of music that I can think of that is broken down into so many different categories.
At this point it doesn't matter if it's the band or the fans, someone will always say...but so and so doesn't sound like so and so. At it's heart it will always be Rock-N-Roll to me. Whether I am listening to Sabbath, AC/DC, Maiden, Pantera, Amon Amarth or Bloodbath. It's just evolved.

 

[PaganThunder]

Slayer & Kreator etc would come under Thrash metal man, Death metal is more in the vein of:

Amon Amarth
Morbid Angel
Bloodbath
Vital Remains
Deicide
Nile etc...

I do see your point though, there are a fuckload of different metal categories.

Look at Zimmer's Hole, they're classed as Comedy Metal!

 

[Babydollcybergoth]

"lite death metal"? are the bands now 20% less fat?

I don't think very many people who listen to metal care about what genre of metal they listen to.

 

[MORGAVID]

"lite death metal"? are the bands now 20% less fat?

I don't think very many people who listen to metal care about what genre of metal they listen to.

too right blad, fuck these noobs arguing about what metal is what, just like people bragging about how they can name all their fav's bands albums, or what date each of their stars lead singers was born, what their hoobies or where they go for a fricken shit. None of it matters.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

It does get confusing. Even worse is it seems like everyband has to be some sort of "-core" band these days. 30 fucking breakdowns in one song, annoying tough guy vocals. Metalcore, deathcore, sludgecore, vaginacore bla bla bla. Crossover thrash from the 80's was the shit but all this trying to be cool by watering down the metal with the "-core" sucks big time.