A Heavy Metal Music Tree Diagram

A look at how metalcore, post-hardcore, and nu metalcore are all interconnected.

Introduction

If you love Heavy Metal Music, this tree diagram is for you! It shows the main sub-genres of Heavy Metal music, and some of the key bands that have influenced each style.

The Three Main Types of Metal

Metal is a genre of music that is often misunderstood. To the untrained ear, it can sound like a bunch of noise. But to the metalhead, it is a complex and beautiful art form. Metal can be divided into three main subgenres: black metal, death metal, and thrash metal.

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 groups began pushing the limits of blues rock into harder territory, inspired by the heavier sound of Led Zeppelin and Cream. A power trio with guitar, bass and drums became the norm; less common were other configurations like duo guitar teams. From the end of 1971 through 1974 Sabbath released a series of four albums generally considered essential to the development of heavy metal: Paranoid (1970), Master of Reality (1971), Vol. 4 (1972) and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973). After seeing them live in 1973 Deep Purple created Machine Head (1972).

In 1974 Judas Priest unleashed Sad Wings of Destiny which along with Diamond Head’s Lightning to the Nations (both released that year) laid much of the groundwork for what would become known as “The New Wave of British Heavy Metal” or simply NWOBHM. In 1975 Black Sabbath began work on their classic album Sabotage; Rainbow’s Ritchie Blackmore would produce one side while producer Martin Birch would handle the other. In 1976 Queen released A Night at the Opera which featured “Bohemian Rhapsody” one of rock’s first true epics at over six minutes long. Iron Maiden followed shortly thereafter with The Soundhouse Tapes containing “Prowler” one of NWOBHM’s most well-known tracks not officially released until decades later on their Maiden Japan live album. Also in 1977 Motörhead debuted with an eponymous album featuring songs like “Vibrator”, “Motorhead” and “Iron Horse/Born to Lose”.

By 1980 heavy metal had begun making inroads into mainstream culture with bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Motörhead appearing on Top Of The Pops; many more such appearances would follow in subsequent years. This was given a major boost when Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a dove at Don Arden’s request during a 1982 MTV awards show; this caused quite a stir among Americans who were not yet used to seeing such antics on television though it barely registered in Europe where such antics had been commonplace for years.

Speed Metal

Speed Metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal. It is described by AllMusic as “extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding” music.

The typical speed metal song structure is built around guitar riffs with plentiful use of double-kick drumming and blistering solos. Lyrics are usually about topics such as horror, death, warfare, or fantasy. The subgenre frequently employs aggressive vocals, shattering guitars, fast tempos and ultra-heavy bass to achieve its sound.

Thrash metal is a direct evolution of speed metal, distinguished most notably by its catchy song structures aimed at headbanging audiences, often with long instrumental sections to allow extended guitar soloing.

Power Metal

Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines traditional heavy metal with elements of speed metal and neo-classical metal. Power metal is typically characterized by highly-energized, often fast-paced songs, sweeping guitar riffs, and operatic or grandiose vocal styles. Power metal bands often incorporate fantasy or mythological themes into their lyrics and imagery.

The Various Subgenres of Heavy Metal

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has its roots in hard rock and blues rock, and draws on musical influences from a variety of sources. Heavy metal is characterized by a aggressive sound, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied by screaming vocals.

Thrash Metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized by its high speed and aggressive musicianship. Thrash metal songs are typically compact and rhythmically-driven, with long instrumentals and frequent fast tempo changes. The genre developed in the early 1980s as a reaction against the decadence of hard rock music in the late 1970s.

The first wave of thrash metal bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax were all formed in the early 1980s. Thrash metal quickly gained popularity in the underground scene, with bands such as Exodus, Sodom, and Kreator emerging in the mid-1980s. The genre began to gain mainstream attention in the late 1980s, with bands such as Metallica and Megadeth releasing successful albums. In the 1990s, thrash metal continued to grow in popularity with bands such as Pantera, Sepultura, and Machine Head achieving success.

Despite its popularity, thrash metal has never been able to achieve the same level of mainstream success as other genres of heavy metal music. This is due to its aggressive sound and lyrics which often deal with dark subject matter such as death, violence, and war. Despite this, thrash metal remains one of the most popular genres of heavy metal music, with many new bands continuing to emerge in the 21st century.

Death Metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes. And if that wasn’t enough to make your head spin, death metal lyrical themes often include topics like murder, torture, sickness, decay, and death.

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 forerunners of a new wave of doom metal, including Candlemass (with their first album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus), Trouble (with their 1984 debut Psalm 9) and Saint Vitus (with Born Too Late).

Doom metal grew in popularity throughout the 1980s, with bands such as Pentagram, Witchfinder General, Cathedral, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema beginning to attract wider attention; Pentagram’s Relentless is often considered the first classic doom metal album. In the 1990s, a number of important bands solidified the genre’s reputation, including Sleep (with Holy Mountain), Eyehategod (with Take as Needed for Pain), Electric Wizard (with Dopethrone) and Solitude Aeturnus (with Through the Darkest Hour).

Today, doom metal has become one of the most influential and established genres in heavy metal music; many newer bands have been influenced by older doom metal bands such as Saint Vitus and Pentagram.

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, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.

Black metal developed in Europe in the early 1980s, drawing heavily from the style of Venom, a pioneer band of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. An important figure in the development of black metal was Quartz (later known as Hellhammer), a Swiss drummer who performed with Mayhem and is credited with helping to create the blast beat. Black metal scenes emerged throughout Europe and Scandinavia in the early 1990s following Mayhem’s debut album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994). Thereafter, several landmark Norwegian albums were released that set forth what is now known as the Norwegian black metal sound. Black metal tends to disavow such predictable structures as chord progressions, verse-chorus form, traditional rock instrumentation and songwriting techniques.

A significant characteristic of black metal is raising its sound above “mere music” to the level of pure atmosphere. One way early bands accomplished this was through developing a strongly negative world-view that inspired fear and hatred. This nihilistic approach has been associated with misanthropy, satanism and anti-Christianity. Another significant characteristic is the use of instrumentation and audial effects to create an oppressive feeling of disorientation and unease.

Folk Metal

Folk metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It combines the heaviness of metal with the traditional sounds of folk music, including instruments such as the flute, acoustic guitar, and violin.

The most famous folk metal band is probably Finland’s Turisas, who are known for their catchy melodies and use of traditional instruments like accordions and violins. Other well-known folk metal bands include Skyclad (UK), Korpiklaani (Finland), Finntroll (Finland), Ensiferum (Finland), Eluveitie (Switzerland), Tyr (Faroe Islands), and Svartsot (Denmark).

Gothic Metal

Gothic metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that combines the heaviness of doom metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. Gothic metal is characterized by a gloomy atmosphere, often reinforced by keyboards which create an eerie or dismal ambiance. Lyrics usually center on topics such as love, loss, betrayal, Heaven and Hell, and being an outcast or outsider.

The genre originated during the early 1990s in the UK with bands such as Paradise Lost, Anathema, and My Dying Bride. The music of early gothic metal groups was often described as “death doom”, combining the slow tempos and growling vocal style of death metal with the dark atmospheres of doom metal. This sound was eventually replaced by a more accessible sound characterised by clean vocals and slower tempos. In the 2000s, gothic metal had become a critical and commercial success with a number of commercially successfulmetal bands such as Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, and Evanescence.

Industrial Metal

            A subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of traditional heavy metal with industrial music. Industrial metal is characterized by its use of mechanical and electronic instrumentation, and its Dismal, dark lyrical themes. Industrial metal songs often feature distorted guitar riffs, samples, and synthesizers.

Industrial metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and industrial music that originated in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It draws from a wide range of sources including death metal, thrash metal, black metal, industrial music, and electronica.

Industrialmetal is characterized by its use of mechanical and electronic instrumentation, as well as its dark and dismal lyrical themes. Industrialmetal songs often feature distorted guitar riffs, samples & synthesizers.

Some well-knownindustrialmetal bands include Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson & Rammstein.

Conclusion

This has been a quick overview of the metal music tree diagram. As you can see, there are many different subgenres of metal, each with their own distinct sound and style. Whether you’re a fan of death metal, black metal, doom metal, or any other type of metal, there’s sure to be a subgenre that you’ll enjoy. So dive in and explore the many different sounds of heavy metal music today.