What is Heavy Metal?

Ok so on a lot of the threads a band is mentioned and instantly someone pops up and says "they aren't metal".

Will someone please attempt to define what is and what isn't metal? Just naming bands is a cop out.

 

Yea, I was wondering the same thing. Like....for instance....are heavy metal bands just the older ones, or are newer bands considered metal? Or is anything new just considered alternative rock?

 

Newer bands that make metal in the same style as the traditional heavy metal are called heavy metal in my opinion. If a new sound is created it still can be metal but probably not heavy metal, because that name is for a specific genre. However, I consider some subgengrenames a bit unnnecessary.

At the question what metal is; I don't have a fitting definition, it just depends on the sound of the band. Like Greenday for example is fast, loud and makes use of guitar, drums and vocals, those things are all characteristic for metal and still it is some kind of punk. Hm, don't know if I make myself clear

 

Yeah, Asmodean has got it right as far as I'm concerned. A lot of new stuff won't fit into the clear definition of 'heavy metal' defined by Sabbath, Priest and Maiden, for example. But they don't soundanything like alternative rock either, like Butters mentioned, unless when dealing with so-called 'nu-metal', which isn't the only but the most well known of more recent developments. But apart from heavy metal and alternative rock/nu-metal there has developed a big variety of very different styles of metal that can't be called heavy metal because the difference with the bands that stand at the root of heavy metal is too big. Usually someone then thinks of another cheesy subgenre name which gradually becomes the accepted term for that type of metal, my favourite which is still 'hobbit-raping gay-ass power metal'...

 

Okay so then....as an example....say a band like Chevelle, would they be considered a type of metal? Or is that alternative? Because they don't have a punk sound, and are on the harder side, but without alot of screaming...

 

i dont understand it myself. how come i figure kid rock isnt metal, but stuck mojo maybe is? theyre really similar. or why do i think of porcupine tree (mellow prog) as metal but not rage against the machine? it gets weird.. but i guess alot of it just has those special certain vibes in the production style that defines it for me... and the loud guitars and stuff dont mean nothin.

 

i think of nu-metal as the kind of stuff featured on the battle for ozzfest show... and i would guess id think of bands like chevelle or velvet revolver as a hard rock or something, i guess, but thats just me.

 

You don't think rage against the machine is metal? I guess its one of those sub-genre things. Rap metal???? But you are right in some aspects how can a band that tour with Cypress Hill be metal.

But I like Cypress Hill as well. (not sure why that is relevant).

Basically I used to think that if my mum thought its something i'd listen to then its probably not metal.

The truth I think is this....

nu-metal however much people detest it is a doorway for young-uns to get into something other than the mainstream pop. from there they may venture forward and listen to other stuff like nine inch nails. As they transcend and get more adventurous they may discover cradle of filth and so on and so on.

I therefore don't have a problem with nu-metal, pop punk and whatever category it is nightwish fall into.

When I was a wee nipper I got into metal through listening to Europe. I then moved on to Extreme (ho ho), Def Leppard and the power rock, bands. I listened to a lot of Motley Crue and sleazy stuff which I still really like but I digressed onto other stuff like Faith No More, Ozzy, Sabbath, Slayer, RATM, NIN, The Cult.

When I was a student I listened to nearly everything that my mother wouldn't approve of. (actually thats rather easy as she only likes Cliff Richard).

I'm not embarrassed that I like Motley Crue and Twisted Sister etc because I also like the darker heavier stuff like Cradle of Filth. It depends on my mood.

 

haha cradle of filth will get you into classical and ambient music too... beware!!! since theyre so common influences in those uk and norway metal bands

and rage is really on the line actually, i dunno what they are actually, i think theyre right on the edge of lots of styles but not more one than the other lol.

and battle for la is sweet!!! theyre the coolest after system

 

heavy metal is any band that uses dark and sinister riffs...

 

THIS IS METAL. ANYTHING NOT LIKE ANY OF THE LISTED IS PROBABLY NOT METAL:
(although you havce some that don't fitin any of these and are still metal)

Heavy metal is like Iron Maiden and similairs, they're the classic metal.

Power metal is like Sonata Arctica, they use dubble base drums a lot and have eunuchs.

Black metal is like Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone and the 5000 or more underground bands and really fucking great (cradle of filth is NOT black metal, they are extreme goth metal)

Death metal is like Morbid Angel and some other things, sometimes mixes with grindcore.

Grindcore is like Nasum. its not really easy on the ear.

Gothic metal is like tristania, melodic, fem. vocals (although that doesnt'mean its gothic metal) and often medieval-churchish soudns.

Doom metal is slow, depressed and mainly stuff like my dying bride. Its really slow often, and best as background music.

Further more you have stuff like Thrash metal and some other genres or cross-genres.

Nu metal is NOT metal, anything 'punkrock' is NOT metal.

But then again would hippies know that?

 

lets not forget

progressive metal. such as spocks beard and liquid tension experiment and dream theater

swedish metal. are soilwork, in flames or dark tranquillity

viking metal. thyrfing, mithotyn, amon amarth, einherjer

 

Anything loud that you can't help but head bang to. Loud, guitar work with drums.

 

Hm Jeah Progressive Metal.. But it often holds a lot of elements of other metalgenres.


Trickster: not really true. You don't headbang to Opeth, you don't headbang to Myriads, and they're still metal!

 

if the dial on the amp has been rolled up to "overdrive" it's prolly metal......if not, it just kids fucking around to their record companies marketing drive.....

 

Never heard of those guys but that's what we do when hearing metal. I guess there's the "softter" stuff, but you can't really call that "heavy". Each to their own

 

That's probably why Opeth isn't called heavy.

 

Same with Viking metal, which is often death metal influenced black metal, sometimes with folk influences and chanting vocals. But it differs. It's not really relevant to fit metal bands into subgenres judging from their lyrics, so I usually put viking metal bands under what it sounds most like (most of the time black metal, stuff like Enslaved, Thyrfing, but for instance I'd file Amon Amarth under death metal) and don't consider viking metal to be a fixed subgenre.

Okay, my stab at defining the subgenres:

Heavy metal - requires no introduction. Stereotypical bands: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath.

Power metal - see heavy metal, but often with synthesisers and/or hobbits, unicorns, rainbows and burly nordic warriors wearing only leather loincloths It's imperative that every album has at least one cheesy, whiny power ballad! Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Lost Horizon...

Thrash metal - faster riffs and drums, overall more viscious and technical, less melodic vocals. Slayer, Megadeth, Kreator...

Death metal - continuous downtuned heavy guitars, guttural grunted vocals, often blastbeats, and not giving you the time to cath your breath to create that I'm-going-to-rape-you-with-a-chainsaw-and-let-you-watch-me-eat-your-guts effect. Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Dismember...

Black metal - raw, often shrill sounding guitars, shrieking or rasping vocals, sometimes primitive recording quality. More aimed at creating a dark, cold and hateful atmosphere than at all-out brutality. Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Satyricon...
NOTE: this happens to be the most brilliant music ever.

Doom metal - slow, heavy, and haunting music to inspire a mood of bitterness and despair. Nowadays often incorporates gothic and death metal influences. Candlemass, My Dying Bride, Shape of Despair...

Gothic metal - recently, symphonic, female-fronted rock/metal has become a trend among the semi-conformist youth, and since then gothic metal has become a name for this kind of music solely, while it could be used to encompass all gracious yet dark sounding (softer) metal. Nightwish, Orphanage, latter-day Anathema, Cradle of Filth...

nu-'metal' - proves you don't need unicorns and near-naked nordic warriors with oiled bodies to convince people that girl you're claiming to be your girlfriend is in fact a junkie you pay in heroin to act like you're even interested in her. This isn't really metal so it doesn't really deserve to be in this list but I felt inspired.

 

Ok well I tried to keep the list more simple then that. And I don't think power metal needs more then 'gay' and 'cheese'. Oh well.

 

Yeah, but I just HAD to illustrate it with some unicorns and the always present body builder guy with almost no clothes on.