Okay, people are fighting about sub-sub-sub-sub-genres and sub-genre/with-influences, etc. all the fucking time. I'm not even gonna try to "church it up" here. People have forgotten, that short of verbally reviewing the album in a little conversation with an interested person, we need to have something quick to describe it with so they know what to expect, and you don't bore them half to death with over-analysis. Truth is, there's limitless combinations. The "damn, that's a genre now?" mindframe is futile. Think of it as a random word-generator with multiple columns. Now pull the lever. Yep, those things can be mixed, those random aspects that showed up on your little "genre slot machine" can be a genre, if you wanna call it that. "Grind-Black-Progressive-Country-Metal"? Should they be mixed? That's a matter of taste. I think a sub-genre is a small description with a root genre. That's how it used to be, at least. So I'm gonna attempt a little (subjective) list of things I find relevant or atrocious. This is nothing but my personal ideas coming out with no studying beyond the interactions of fellow analytical metalheads and people who should...um...just stop thinking about heavy music if they can't just shut their yaps.
Best examples of ROOT genres:
3/14/15 TTSNSN
Best examples of ROOT genres:
- METAL (classic metal/heavy metal) - from "rock metal" (what people are now calling classic metal all too often), to death metal, to black metal - this is the lifesblood of every metalhead's tastes...knowing in their heart that ROCK is the true ROOT of all. (This is where the dreaded metalcore/deathcore bands miss the mark, opting for a more...how can I say this without seeming racist...um... "urban/street" vibe, which is very contradictory to rock and metal's heart.)
- Thrash - The form of metal that utilized heavy music's former unity by allowing hardcore punk to influence the mindset, to get faster, louder, and heavier. This is basically classic metal with an emphasis on extremity (when done right), while keeping the rock-based aspects of both punk AND metal nicely in tact.
- Death - On we go to the former subs that now seem to be "roots". Death metal is that of dark, pounding, horror-based (for the most part), growling (for the most part), guttural metal that seems to be the thing that the masses think anything with harsh vocals is. We all know that's not true, but wadda ya gonna do?
- Black - Formerly "that Satanic death metal that was put on a higher RPM", thus heightening the vocals, tunings, and speed of the drummers - black metal has embraced TONS of sub-genres, more than what I ever could have predicted, as well as breaking the first part of this to resemble death metal even more and once again. It's an artistic, darker-than-dark form of metal where EVIL reigns, and if not, you'd better be talking about suicide or your darkest feelings. But even that last part can be controversial. (But, what the hell isn't, these days?)
- Doom - This can span from the very birth of metal (Black Sabbath) to the now more popular death metal-based version, which is just that very genre slowed to a crawl and trying to add an artsiness to keep the tempo from boring the listener. As with most, these things are all reletive, but can be varied in many ways.
- Grindcore - NOT ending with the word "metal", this genre seems to be the ONLY "core" most old-fashioned metalheads (including myself) can embrace, when speaking metal, that is - both for it's kinship with death metal, and it's lack of love (i.e. hatred) for the ways of the masses. Like "crossover" (thrash/punk), it has a large respect for metal, and pretty much IS METAL - a punkier form of the most extreme forms of our preferred root genre. Other forms of metal have begun to mix with this violent form, as music always tends to do in time.
3/14/15 TTSNSN