Top 10 Metal Genres | Teen Ink

Top 10 Metal Genres

February 14, 2015
By theheavymetalist ELITE, Winter Haven, Florida
theheavymetalist ELITE, Winter Haven, Florida
247 articles 0 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
Take me As I Am - James Labrie of Dream Theater


As you could tell, Metal is my favorite genre of music. Why? Well, it has some things that no other genre can really pull off like having complex times and stories to be told. The world of heavy metal is huge and these ten entries will show you just how big the metal universe really is.

10, Sludge Metal, also known as Country Metal, this genre is a form of progressive metal that has more Country style rootes and tend to use screaming vocals as a main factor as well as heavy riffs and 5 minute songs. This genre is kind of hard to get into for some reason at least for me anyways. Bands of this genre include Mastodon, Baroness, and Kylesa.

9, Metalcore, the only scene metal on here. Metalcore is a genre that has been a round really ever since the mid-2000's with bands like Killswitch Engage and All That Remeains taking helm. Then came the bad part of this genre, the fact that bands like Black Veil Brides, Sleeping With Sirens, Pierce the Veil, and Bring Me The Horizon exist. Trust me, I know enough people who know bands like the ones I've mentioned. Stop it, if you want metalcore listen to Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Chimera, and/or Bullet For My Valentine.

8, Doom/Drone metal, I put these to together because they are esentially the same at least when it comes to the way the play. There seems to be a very slowed down riff that lasts for 30 seconds with songs that are 4, 5, or 6 minutes or longer. The only difference is the subject matter. Doom metal, having a gloomy atmosphere and brutal vocals. Drone Metal having autotuned guitars and maybe instrumentals from time to time. Bands of this genre are Sunn, Earth, and Swallow the Sun.

7, Black Metal, the heaviest and hardest genre to get into. This genre originated with guys from the UK known as Venom and their album Black Metal. Since then, the tile has been used as a brand new genre which in the 80's was much similar to Thrash Metal but with much more heaviness and ah hem, Satanic messages. Yeah, now you wish this wasn't on the list. It gets worse though. In the 90's the Norwegians took over and cranked it up to say 666 just to fit with the story.(It's really 12 though.) With bands like Burzum, Gorgoroth, and Emperor coming into play. They stopped kinding from here, ever and this is by far the heaviest genre to date. If you ask me what my favorites are I would say bands like Emperor, Agalloch, Enslaved and anything that isn't satanic to be honest.

6, Folk Metal, the genre home to Switzerland and Finland. This is actually funny how someone in hte world came up with this. This genre is set up to combine Heavy Metal instruments with some classic folk instruments like a Urdy Gurdy(not sure if this is right), or Bagpipes. Creative, yes, boring, heck no. This is fun concept whether it has death metal vocals or if they are more like Dropkick Murphy's. Bands of this genre include Eluveitie, Ensiferum, Finntroll, Tyr, Korpiklaani, and Equilibrium.

5, Thrash Metal, the metal genre that has its based around the 70's punk rock bands like The Ramones or The Clash. Thrash metal isn't exactly all that difficult to digest in any way but it is fun to listen to. The problem was for the 80's thrash bands their music either got worse, or they were non existent in the 90's. Making either the 80's material better as well as the newer stuff. Now we all kmow Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax correct? Well those are the Big Four American thrash metal bands and they followed the same curse since the 80's. At least except for Megadeth because their 90's material was fairly decent and it only got better from there. Bands of this genre include, The Big 4, Kreator, Overkill, Sodom, Destruction, Sepultura, MX, Violator, Cavalera Conspiracy, Vektor, Voivod, Razor, Annihilator and Heathen.

4, Power Metal, originating in the 1980's with bands like Helloween, Iron Maiden, and Blind Guardian, soon evolved to a more progressive genre and a bit more speedy than before. Now we have bands like Dragonforce, Avantasia, Edguy, Stratovarious, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot and many more that I'm probably forgetting. This is one of the easiest genres to get into due to it not being really heavy but being more fast, epic, and speedy. Most of the ones your likely going to be able to mention are going to be from the land of Europe or (more specifically) Germany and Finland. So much to listen to and so much to hear. Bands of this genre include, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Dream Evil, Avantasia, Edguy, Kamelot, Nightwish, Dragonforce, Hammerfall, Stratovarious, Gamma Ray, Rage, Riot, Heaven's Gate, and Sabaton.

3, Death Metal, you may find this a bit shocking to find it this high. Death metal is a genre much like the other two extreame metal genres, originatted in the 80's. This time with bands like Morbid Angel, Death, Cannibal Corpse, and Deicide. It has since evolved to being more melodic with bands like Soilwork, Children of Bodom and Arch Enemy. To being faster and heavier than ever with band like Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Suffocation, and Bloodbath. This is a genre much like Black metal that is hard to get into. Thankfully not as hard as Black Metal which is good.

2, Symphonic Metal, one of the most epic and jaw dropping metal genres of all time. Symphonic metal, while relatively new(ok 20 years into it), is a creative genre on its own. This has been incorperated into many other genres as well like anything from Power Metal to Death Metal to Black Meal and Avant Garde. Wonderful little piece of music. Also, call me biased, but I do play in an orchestra myself so it definantly means something to me in a more personal way. Now what I would like to do is play any of these songs on my violin because these are fun tunes. This should be the metal genre that my entire orchestra class should get into because at least half of them like to be in it, I sure do. Hold that thought(Note to self, tell Maiah(Don't ask) to listen to Nightwish and Epica.) Bands of this genre include, Nightwish, Kamelot(again), Epica, Leaves' Eyes, Within Temptation, After Forever, Tarja Turunen, Amaranthe and Symphony X.

1, Progressive Metal, to add to the list, put in progressive rock as well. to describe this in two words I would say, "Musical Genius." Most of these bands are influenced by the classic 70's prog rock bands like Genesis, Rush and Pink Floyd to name a few. Then we get bands like Opeth(my current favorite of all time), Dream Theater, Symphony X, Ayreon, Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree, Riverside, Tool and Coheed and Cambria(OK, maybe not the last one.) Anyways, this is the genre that will keep you jaw-dropped until you love it. Much like the last entry, this can be paired up with just about any other metal genre. Heck there are even Death-Jazz metal bands like Cynic and Athiest. I know, I'm a total nerd. This is the genre I recommend the most to any and ALL people of the world and if you don't like it. Screw you then because you have NO taste in music if you don't like any prog rock or metal bands of any kind. I am the Grim Reaper and let me get some recommendations to my friends at my school. I'll see you next time.


The author's comments:

A bit of a doosy and something I really enjoy. What are your favorite genres of any music? Post in the comments below.


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