A Beginner's Guide To Metal

written for the winter 2008 edition of squeezebox, dartmouth's music magazine:

The Eight Sub-genres

When I say “metal” what do you think of? Apart from such alloys as steel or brass, perhaps images of Iron Maiden, Metallica and Judas Priest come to mind. Or, perhaps, you think of devil-worshipping bands whose names are some variants of the words “satan”, “blood”, and “goat”. As a metalhead, my goal is to help you better understand the misunderstood and understated musical genre that is metal.

The most basic sub-genres of metal as they exist today are: heavy metal, thrash metal, progressive metal, power metal, folk metal, death metal, black metal and doom metal. Heavy metal first established itself in the 1970’s through the pioneering work of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Cream. Since then, heavy metal has evolved and branched off into these eight core sub-genres. Each has its own distinct sound and character, although many artists intermarry them to create new slants of these sub-genres.

Heavy Metal

The forerunner of all other forms of metal, heavy metal is a true metalhead’s staple. Heavy metal is characterized by a general sense of loudness that is made possible by fast, rhythmic drumming, heavily distorted guitars and extended guitar solos. The existence of these key components of heavy metal in all of the other sub-genres of metal is a testament to the influence of early heavy metal bands. As a rule of thumb: if a band doesn’t have these influences either directly or indirectly, then it probably isn’t metal. Iconic heavy metal bands include Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dio, AC/DC and Motörhead. Since this sub-genre is the oldest form of metal, there aren’t many new bands out today that play strictly heavy metal. For example, Black Label Society is the only heavy metal band I can think of that was founded as recently as 1998.

Thrash Metal

The most prominent thrash metal bands are Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Pantera, Slayer and Testament. If you have heard at least one of these bands, you will know to some degree what thrash metal sounds like. If you haven’t…well, that’s why I’m here. Thrash metal is all about capturing the sound of aggression. Thrash can be described as an evolved descendant of heavy metal in the sense that it uses its main components and takes them to the extreme. Faster drumming, faster solos, and faster rhythmic picking differentiate thrash metal. Lyrical content can range from war, politics and drug abuse to heaven, hell and the occult. While I’m speaking of lyrics: don’t assume that because a song may be about, say, drug abuse, metal artists support drug abuse. For instance, look at Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, a song about the effects of cocaine: I’m your source of self-destruction / Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear /Leading on your death’s construction.

Progressive Metal

Progressive metal, I have found, is a good starting point for the metal neophyte. If you feel at all dissatisfied with the lack of virtuosity in mainstream music, give progressive metal a try. “Prog” metal is the most complex and intricate of the sub-genres of metal. Featuring odd time signatures, intricate instrumental passages, and some of the best guitar solos around, prog metal will confound and astound you. Prog metal is also the first sub-genre we’ve come across that features the piano/keyboard due to its classical influences. This added dimension gives progressive metal a lusher, fuller sound than thrash and heavy metal. Prog metal lyrics can be just as diverse as thrash lyrics, but prog metal seems to have more literary influences. I speculate that this is an indirect result of prog’s aforementioned classical influences which are unapparent in thrash. The most prominent progressive metal bands are: Dream Theater, Symphony X, Ayreon, Fates Warning, Evergrey and Queensrÿche.

Power Metal

Now on to my personal favorite, power metal. Having evolved out of speed metal (itself a sub-genre of thrash metal), power metal is best described in one word: epic. The “powerful” feeling power metal creates is achieved through harmonized guitar and keyboard leads (i.e. semitones are played over the main riff), double bass drumming, and falsetto vocals. Due to its emphasis on harmonization and choral effects, power metal songs often have sing-along choruses. Symphonic elements are also heavily used to create its epic feel. This can be done through either layering keyboard synth tracks or having an orchestra play an accompaniment. Power metal also has the highest concentration of female singers when compared to other sub-genres due to the high demand for sopranos. Lyrically, power metal covers topics such as mythology, fantasy, love and war. To get a feel for power metal vocals, here is an excerpt from Blind Guardian’s “The Hobbit”: Far to the hill we've to go / Over the mountain and seas /
To the old hill, where the old dragon sleeps / Blind in the dark dungeon's night /So God please take me away from here / And Gollum shows the way right out. As you can see, Tolkien’s Middle-Earth is a popular theme in power metal. Some of my favorite power metal bands are: Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot, Nightwish, Angra and Stratovarius.

Folk Metal

What is unique about folk metal is that it varies by country. Norwegian folk metal does not sound like Israeli folk metal because of folk metal’s stress on folk instruments (such as fiddle, accordion, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, lute and bouzouki). Lyrically, most folk metal songs are about nature, history and mythology (mainly Nordic, hence why some folk metal is often called viking metal). So, I suppose folk metal is best for you if you always wanted to know what a viking would listen to. Apart from viking metal, you can also find folk metal bands that specialize in pirate metal (Alestorm) and, believe it or not, troll metal (Finntroll, TrollfesT). The lyrics to Finntroll’s premier album “Midnattens Widunder” is written from the perspective of trolls. Folk metal is often sung in the language of the artist’s country, meaning only about half of all folk metal is sung in English. Apart from English, folk metal is sung in such languages as Finnish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese, French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Gaulish. Some good folk metal bands are: Týr, Elvenking, Eluveitie, Lumsk, Ensiferum, Moonsorrow, Finntroll and Folkearth.

Disclaimer: The remaining sub-genres (and folk metal to an extent) make use of “growl” vocals, which often turn-off those who are exploring metal. If you are new to metal, I would recommend saving the next two sub-genres until you have already listened to at least one of the aforementioned sub-genres and feel comfortable with furthering your metal explorations.

Death Metal

Okay, so death metal is pretty similar to thrash metal except with a few changes: keyboards are more often used, the lyrics are “sung” in a growled fashion, the guitars are tuned down to make the sound heavier and the drumming is more complex. Death metal lyrics are usually, though not always, about bleak subjects (death and war). The lyrical content is what drives death metal. It is what makes the down tuned guitars and growled vocals necessary. To give you an example of what I mean, let’s look at Amon Amarth’s “Death in Fire”: Total war is here / Face it without fear / Age of sword, age of spear / Fight for honor, glory, death in fire. There simply is no other way to play a song with those lyrics. Some notable death metal bands are: Wintersun, Gojira, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Opeth, Death and In Flames.

Doom Metal

I’ll be honest, I don’t listen to that much doom metal, but I’ll do my best to tell you what I know. Having developed out of Black Sabbath’s sound, doom metal creates a feeling of despair and loneliness. Note: do not associate doom metal with emo. Doom metal features down tuned guitars, slower drumming tempos and a mixture of clean and growled vocals. The music and lyrics are meant to evoke a sense of impending dread, or doom. Here is a glimpse of doom metal vocals from the band Agalloch: The snow has fallen and raised this white mountain on which you will die and fade away in silence. Although doom metal may sound depressing and boring, give it a shot when you feel like experimenting. I recommend: Katatonia, Agalloch, Amorphis, Paradise Lost, and Moonspell.

Black Metal

Black metal has a long and unpopular history. Known for inciting church burnings and Satanism, black metal is not exactly mainstream. Still, a few bad apples shouldn’t spoil the whole bunch. Not all black metal is about summoning Satan (though I recommend Belphegor if that’s what you’re into). Black metal features tremolo guitar picking, fast drumming and unfamiliar song structures. It creates a minimalist, atmospheric mood that can be quite enjoyable. Some good black metal artists include Summoning, Falkenbach, Burzum, Behemoth and Bathory.

Conclusion

Some assume that metal is ugly and brutish. I contend this view. I hold that it is engaging, innovative and beautiful. Its underground status has preserved, on the whole, its integrity in an increasingly commercial world. I have never in my life met a 'former' metalhead. They simply don’t exist. Metal is not just a fad for teenage boys to be abandoned in adulthood. When one embraces it, it embraces you back, and you become its spouse for life. I hope that you will discover its existence. I hope you will love it and embrace it as I have.