What is with all the metal sub-genres'?

I understand that in all musical types there are sub-genres but metal seems to have gone overboard. I mean there is thrash, death, black, power, symphonic, grindcore, metalcore, screamo, goregrind, extreme, etc. Heck with Alestorm I even have friends telling me about pirate metal. I totally appreciate that all musical forms have sub-genres but with metal it just seems so overboard (see what I did there?). Why does every band have to be labelled and aligned with a sub-genre? And before anyone says anything about commenting on something I know nothing about, I have been a metal-head for 20 odd years now but don't see the need to catergorize & label everything I listen to into little pigeon holes. I mean whats next? Ninja hip-hop? Matador R&B?

I ask this here because it has become abundantly clear ther is an inordinate amount of metal lovers on GS.

Does metal really need such anal labelling & classification?

You know how i know you haven't been a metalhead for 20 years? Because you just listed screamo off as a metal subgengre. NecroKvltMuffin

Ahem...saw Cannibal Corpse when Chris Barnes was the singer. So try again.

I don't like saying it, but Metal is perhaps the most diverse genre there is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mr9TAKMzU

is nothing like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqgJc7DaDU4

is nothing like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuPz7cMD3qs

You can not put songs like these into the same genre, it just wouldn't make sense.

[QUOTE="NecroKvltMuffin"]You know how i know you haven't been a metalhead for 20 years? Because you just listed screamo off as a metal subgengre. jahnerd

Ahem...saw Cannibal Corpse when Chris Barnes was the singer. So try again.

I don't like saying it, but Metal is perhaps the most diverse genre there is

PerilousWolf

I think classical and jazz are more diverse. At least regarding technical diversity.

[QUOTE="jahnerd"]

[QUOTE="NecroKvltMuffin"]You know how i know you haven't been a metalhead for 20 years? Because you just listed screamo off as a metal subgengre. NecroKvltMuffin

Ahem...saw Cannibal Corpse when Chris Barnes was the singer. So try again.

Oh for f*&@$ sake. I cant be bothered with a "prove your metal credentials" arguement. Just address the topic or don't post.

You know how i know you haven't been a metalhead for 20 years? Because you just listed screamo off as a metal subgengre. NecroKvltMuffin

[QUOTE="PerilousWolf"]I don't like saying it, but Metal is perhaps the most diverse genre there is

_Tobli_

I think classical and jazz are more diverse. (technically speaking)

But is classical and jazz defined as such in so many different genres? I mean, acid-jazz is the only sub-genre I've heard of. And certainly no classical labels come to mind.

don't worry..this genre and its sub-genres don't exist anymore,just disapeared them in the other thread.

[QUOTE="_Tobli_"]

[QUOTE="PerilousWolf"]I don't like saying it, but Metal is perhaps the most diverse genre there is

jahnerd

I think classical and jazz are more diverse. (technically speaking)

But is classical and jazz defined as such in so many different genres? I mean, acid-jazz is the only sub-genre I've heard of. And certainly no classical labels come to mind.

[QUOTE="NecroKvltMuffin"][QUOTE="jahnerd"]

Ahem...saw Cannibal Corpse when Chris Barnes was the singer. So try again.

jahnerd

Oh for f*&@$ sake. I cant be bothered with a "prove your metal credentials" arguement. Just address the topic or don't post.

[QUOTE="jahnerd"]

[QUOTE="_Tobli_"]

I think classical and jazz are more diverse. (technically speaking)

PerilousWolf

But is classical and jazz defined as such in so many different genres? I mean, acid-jazz is the only sub-genre I've heard of. And certainly no classical labels come to mind.

Hang on. Still getting through them all. Thanks for the post BTW. :)

[QUOTE="_Tobli_"]

[QUOTE="PerilousWolf"]I don't like saying it, but Metal is perhaps the most diverse genre there is

jahnerd

I think classical and jazz are more diverse. (technically speaking)

But is classical and jazz defined as such in so many different genres? I mean, acid-jazz is the only sub-genre I've heard of. And certainly no classical labels come to mind.

Jazz Fusion, Acid Jazz, Bebop, Big Band, Gypsy Jazz, Jazz Blues, Latin Jazz, and heaps more.

Baroque, Romantic, Contempory, Medievil, Renaissance, etc.

Plenty of sub genres and the such,

Alright I will. If you've spent any time listening to the different subgenres, you'd realize that they are indeed different. That is to say death, black, thrash, doom, power, prog, etc. I'm not sure if I'd consider grindcore metal, it's more a form of punk with metal touches, some bands more so than others. Goregrind is just a form of grindcore. Metalcore is a fusion of metal and hardcore, so again that's different. All the stuff like "pirate metal" and such is meaningless. Just made up stuff that has to do with lyrical themes. NecroKvltMuffin

Fair enough. I guess my original post should be a bit more explanitory. Why is metal seemingly the on genre that is being so sub-divided then? To me this hasn't happened so much to any form of music since rock & roll which is the spiritual father to metal, punk, prog, etc. But it just seems that metal is labelled more & more. Why? I hope that makes more sense.

Jazz Fusion, Acid Jazz, Bebop, Big Band, Gypsy Jazz, Jazz Blues, Latin Jazz, and heaps more.

Baroque, Romantic, Contempory, Medievil, Renaissance, etc.

Plenty of sub genres and the such,

freek666

Oh man. And I thought I listened to enough different styles of music. Just started to listen to a bit of jazz and had no idea. Fair enough. I guess the one style I've been listening to for the last couple of years is reggae and while it has sub-genres (dancehall, roots, rock-steady, ska, slackness, etc) I always just thought the sub-genres of metal was going overboard. Standing here willing to be corrected on this issue. :shock:

Metal tends to be basically at the extreme end of music, in relative terms, to other genres. Frequently bands will try to push the limits of songwriting and technical difficulty in their songs. See 30 minute epics in Prog-Metal and also extreme instrumental metal. Naturally this seems to mean there is a bigger variety in different approaches to song writing and instrumentation. This is probably the reason these sub-genres split off, as they are trying to account for the particular direction a band is going in, in it's approach to song writing. Other genres (not Jazz and Classical) tend to be more popular and therefore musicians in these genres will tend to write songs which they know will be popular and this results in a loop of songs which are quite pleasing to listen to and catchy, but don't push any envelops in regards to technical skill or songwriting and thus, don't really need to be classified into any sub genre

What are your opinions on the similarities between the music in my earlier postPerilousWolf

I see what your getting at but don't feel that the labelling is deserved. BTW, Lamb of God rule.

Does hip-hop label themselves as such (into sub-genres. Besides gangsta rap I mean)?

[QUOTE="PerilousWolf"] What are your opinions on the similarities between the music in my earlier postjahnerd

I see what your getting at but don't feel that the labelling is deserved. BTW, Lamb of God rule.

Does hip-hop label themselves as such (into sub-genres. Besides gangsta rap I mean)?

I'm sure they do. Not to the degree of metal though. But as I said, this is probably due to the lack of variety in the instrumentation of hip hop (not a criticism, hip-hop is a bout the beat/vocals/lyrics). And when there is an apparent lack of variety in instrumentation (which is a large part of overall sound) there isn't a large need to categorize as most songs are pretty similar on a basic levelPerilousWolf

I think I just got my answer right there. This makes sense to me. I guess I was just thinking how much I thought it was lame to see a metal band come up with an innovative idea or a gimmick and see it catergorized as a new genre, only to see many carbon copies in a week.

And I do see how prevalent it is in other genres. I also love punk but didn't really look past the 70's and early 80's so haven't kept up to date on the many spin-offs since then. Guess it's human nature. Label and pigeon hole.

I understand that in all musical types there are sub-genres but metal seems to have gone overboard. I mean there is thrash, death, black, power, symphonic, grindcore, metalcore, screamo, goregrind, extreme, etc. Heck with Alestorm I even have friends telling me about pirate metal. I totally appreciate that all musical forms have sub-genres but with metal it just seems so overboard (see what I did there?). Why does every band have to be labelled and aligned with a sub-genre? And before anyone says anything about commenting on something I know nothing about, I have been a metal-head for 20 odd years now but don't see the need to catergorize & label everything I listen to into little pigeon holes. I mean whats next? Ninja hip-hop? Matador R&B

I ask this here because it has become abundantly clear ther is an inordinate amount of metal lovers on GS.

Does metal really need such anal labelling & classification?

jahnerd

If you were really a metalhead, you wouldn't even have to ask this question. Seriously, dude, have you even listened to one death metal song, one black metal song, and one power metal song? You really can't lump those three in the same category... :lol:

"Extreme Metal" (blanket term) consists of the following 4 genres and their subgenres:
Death
Black
Doom
Thrash
----
Other metal genres:
Progressive
Heavy
Power
Symphonic/Orchestral (interchanged terms)
Folk
Drone
----
Now these terms are often combined to describe certain styIes out there. Blackened Death Metal is black+death metal. It has numerous elements from both. Progressive Black Metal is black metal with progressive metal elements. It just helps define the band more for a new listener because of how oversaturated the genre is. Same for any band you hear listed as a genre that isn't one of the above or a combination thereof. Of course there are anomalies too, like Sludge Metal (related to Doom), Avant-Garde (progressive with dissonance and unique in it's own way), and the whole "dark" metal thing (which is often debated). It pretty much is a genre with various elements from more than 3-4 of the above genres. Another blanket term. Same with "Stoner" metal and stuff like that.

Anything with -core on the end is not directly related to metal unless otherwise specified (like Napalm Death). Screamo has no relation to anything metal, not even fusion. Crossover also isn't really metal. Anyone who tells you "pirate" metal is a genre is wrong as well. It's a lyrical theme, like viking metal.

What's with all the Jazz subgenres?

Hard Bop, Bebop, Free Jazz, Cool Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Swing, Acid Jazz, Avant-Jazz, Chamber Jazz, Nu Jazz, Latin Jazz, Ragtime, Third Stream, Thrash Jazz... Gosh, it's ridiculous!

If you were really a metalhead, you wouldn't even have to ask this question. Seriously, dude, have you even listened to one death metal song, one black metal song, and one power metal song? You really can't lump those three in the same category... :lol:

chessmaster1989

I guess I shouldn't have used the term metalhead when I don't exclusively listen to this one form of music. I listen to a lot of different types and haven't bothered with following any to the point of differentiating all the different little sub-genres.

Oh and I can lump them all in the same catergory....its called heavy metal. :D

What's with all the Jazz subgenres?

Hard Bop, Bebop, Free Jazz, Cool Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Swing, Acid Jazz, Avant-Jazz, Chamber Jazz, Nu Jazz, Latin Jazz, Ragtime, Third Stream, Thrash Jazz... Gosh, it's ridiculous!

dhyce