Types of Heavy Metal Music

Do you like your metal music fast and furious, or slow and crushing? There’s a lot of variety within the heavy metal genre, and each subgenre has its own unique sound. In this blog post, we’ll explore the different types of heavy metal music and what sets them apart.

Introduction

Heavy metal is a genre of rock that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. The genre’s lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.

Defining heavy metal

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. The genre’s lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.

In 1970, several British rock bands, including Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Jimi Hendrix’s The Jimi Hendrix Experience, began to develop the heavy metal sound. In the same year, Rolling Stone magazine wrote in an article about Sabbath that “what separated them from de facto leaders like Cream and Hendrix was that Sabbath maliciously intended their music to be as threatening and depressing as possible.” In 1971 Judas Priest helped spur the genre’s evolution by discarding much of its blues influence; Motörhead also began to develop a “looser” sound than other bands of what would come to be known as heavy metal. In Japan Shōtarō Ide’s XEBEC facilitated experimental sounds for groups such as Mirya MEN.

Origins of heavy metal

The first ever heavy metal band is widely considered to be Black Sabbath, who formed in 1968. They were quickly followed by other British bands such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. American bands such as Metallica and Megadeth also rose to prominence in the 1980s.

Where did heavy metal come from?

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. The genre’s lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.

In 1970, several bands began pushing the limits of blues rock into heavier territory, connecting the dots between Led Zeppelin’s heaviness and Blue Cheer’s proto-metal shrieks. Deep Purple’s “Hush” was released in 1968; the song features an overdriven guitar riff and Robert Plant wailing over it like he’s being dragged to Hell. Cream’s “Crossroads” (1968) uses similar distortion techniques as well; however, it is more subdued than “Hush.” The Paul Butterfield Blues Band also experimented with heavy electric blues on their self-titled album (1966), which moves from Chicago blues to something closer to hard rock.

Who were the pioneers of heavy metal?

Heavy metal music can trace its origins back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a number of bands began cranking up the volume and distorted sound of their electric guitars. This new, heavier sound was soon dubbed “heavy metal” by music critics, and the genre was born. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were among the first heavy metal bands, laying the foundation for the genres that would follow.

In the 1980s, heavy metal reached new heights of popularity with bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer leading the way. These so-called “thrash metal” bands pushed the boundaries of speed and aggression, resulting in a new subgenre of heavy metal. In the 1990s and 2000s, heavy metal continued to evolve with bands like Tool, System of a Down and Slipknot experimenting with different sounds and styles. Today, there are numerous subgenres of heavy metal, each with its own unique sound and style.

The different types of heavy metal

There are many different types of heavy metal music. Some of the more popular types are death metal, black metal, and thrash metal. Each type has its own unique sound and style. Let’s take a closer look at each type.

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its high speed and aggressive lyrics. Thrash metal songs are typically faster than other heavy metal songs, and often incorporate fast-paced riffs and drumming. Lyrics in thrash metal songs often deal with social issues, such as war and violence.

The thrash metal subgenre emerged in the early 1980s, with bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. These bands were heavily influenced by the punk rock movement of the late 1970s, and they began to play their music at a faster pace and with more aggression. In the mid-1980s, bands such as Exodus and Testament emerged, further solidifying the thrash metal sound. In the 1990s, bands such as Pantera and Sepultura brought thrash metal to a wider audience, and by the 2000s, there were many different subgenres of thrash metal.

Today, there are hundreds of thrash metal bands around the world, playing a variety of styles of music. Some of the most popular thrash metal bands include Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus, Testament, Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Shadows Fall.

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, aggressive, powerful drumming featuring double kick and blast beat techniques, minor keys or atonality, abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, and chromatic chord progressions. Its lyrical themes often deal with death, violence, war, religion, perversion, and hatred.

The genre is strongly influenced by earlier black metal and deathrock styles. Within the genre are many subgenres that have developed over the years. Dying Fetus is an American band that performs brutal death metal with a grindcore influence; their work helped pioneer the slams subgenre. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal. In 1990, Allegaeon was formed as a tech death band by Greg Burgess (guitar) in order to achieve a very technical sound within the death metal genre.

Doom metal

Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much “thicker” or “heavier” sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal with songs such as “Black Sabbath”, “Electric Funeral” and “Into the Void”. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands defined themselves as either death-doom or blackened doom. Doom metal is not an entirely unified genre; while its performers share a darkly 2 originally intended to be evocative of feelings of horror, dread and despondency.

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw recording, and often unconventional song structures. Architects of the genre typically purposely employ a disordered and chaotic musical approach.

Musically, black metal often relies on fast-paced riffs, high-pitched screamed vocals, and aggressive drumming. The genre presents a misanthropic view of humanity and Promotes an apocalyptic bleakness—both musically and lyrically. Cultural origins are often associated with Nordic countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark. Black metal has inspired numerous offshoots such as death metal and thrash metal.

Power metal

Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music combining elements of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a more uplifting sound, giving it a positive or optimistic vibe. The genre employs highly energetic, rhythmically sweeping guitar riffs, dynamic drumming techniques, dramatizing operatic or fantasy-themed lyrics, and nightmarish imagery in sound and vision.

Power metal bands from different countries contributed to the development and evolution of the genre during the late 1980s and early 1990s. thereby creating a variety of distinct subgenres. In the 1990s and 2000s, power metal achieved commercial success; however, critics have noted that some of its practitioners have incorporated simplistic lyrics about fantasy and mythology into their work.

The future of heavy metal

There are many different types of heavy metal music, but all of them have one thing in common: they are all extremely loud. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. Some people love the feeling of being surrounded by sound, while others find it overwhelming.

Where is heavy metal headed?

The future of heavy metal is always in flux. The genre has constantly been evolving and mutating since it first emerged in the late 1960s, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Many different subgenres have come and gone over the years, but the one constant has been heavy metal’s ability to stay relevant and continually reinvent itself.

That being said, it’s always tough to predict where the genre will go next. Will we see a return to the more traditional sounds of metal? Or will we see further experimentation and innovation? Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure, heavy metal will continue to evolve and change in the years to come. And as long as there are fans who are passionate about the music, it will never die.

Who are the up-and-coming heavy metal bands?

There are a number of up-and-coming heavy metal bands that are gaining popularity in the metal community. Some of these bands are noteworthy for their unique style, while others are simply rising stars in the metal scene.

Some of the most promising up-and-coming heavy metal bands include Trivium, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, and Avenged Sevenfold. These bands have all released successful albums in recent years and have garnered critical acclaim from music critics. Each band has a unique sound that sets them apart from other metal bands.

Trivium is a metal band that combines elements of thrash metal and melodic death metal. The band’s 2005 album, “The Crusade,” was lauded by critics as one of the best metal albums of the year. All That Remains is a metalcore band that has achieved mainstream success with their last two albums. “The Fall of Ideals” (2006) and “Overcome” (2008) both debuted at #16 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Killswitch Engage is a metalcore band that has been hailed as one of the pioneers of the genre. The band’s 2003 album, “The End of Heartache,” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Avenged Sevenfold is a heavy metal band that achieved commercial success with their 2007 album, “Avenged Sevenfold.” The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and has since been certified platinum by the RIAA.