Music is one of the oldest and arguably the most popular form of art. Everybody listens to music and over the years, experts have been continuously studying why it has such huge effects on people. We watch music videos, buy singles and CD’s, attend concerts and give attention on almost everything about the music and our favorite artists.

As time passes by, more and more music genres are being introduced in the music scene. The heavy metal genre has been a huge hit, influencing people of all ages and nationalities. Read on as we list down ten sub-genres that fall under the metal or heavy metal music types.

Black Metal

Black metal music uses melody to create an illusion of atmospheric emotion and isolation. This music was born out of conflict brought about by war, racism, natural selection, misunderstanding and others. The main message of black metal music is for people suffering from isolation to rise and fight to overcome difficulties brought about by the judgmental society. Though black music is often related to crimes and mayhem in the west, there’s no doubt that it’s an honest and emotional expression of feelings from people who wants to be heard. Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation are considered some of the greatest artists of this genre.

Thrash

The name thrash came from the word “thrashers” or teenage skate boarders. This genre incorporates heavy metal and punk music, giving focus on the view of punk music which questions how the society treat people who seem weird and different from others. Conceived in the 1980’s, trash gave popularity to artists including Metallica and Exodus. The later generation of Thrash music involving artists like D.R.I and Corrosion of Conformity started to strengthen the integration of hard core music to punk roots.

Grindcore

The main objective of Grindcore artists is to create sounds which are generally hard to listen to. This sound must be off time, semi-coherent, speedy, highly intensified and ugly. Technically, this genre is a combination of hardcore punk, death metal and thrashes music. Grindcore music usually sounds so off and creates an idea that the artist is singing from the outer space. The lyrics often talks about death, blood and other human limitations. At times, it also talks about political issues. Pig destroyer, Carcass and Nasum are some of the biggest names in this genre.

Speed Metal

Vendetta, Destruction and Raven are some of the most popular speed metal bands. To be a speed metal artist, one has to be very careful in playing electric guitar. Speed metal is about energetic playing of the guitar to create and enigmatic and influential sound. Speed metal is probably one of the most popular and entertaining genres of heavy metal music because it reaches wider audience.

True Metal

Also known as Traditional or Classic Metal, True Metal is said to be the ancestor of all other genres of heavy metal music. Rooted in 1980’s, True Meta introduced big names like Judas Priest, Manowar and Iron Maiden. The first True Metal bands use raging sounds and few lyrics but later on, other pioneering artists like Ironsword emerged, using rawer music production and gruffer vocals.

Power Metal

Power Metal is much easier to distinguish than other sub-genres of heavy metal. It incorporates music and vocals in a more subtle way. The lyrics are usually about a wide range of topics but sang on faster way incorporating strong music background and accentuated with keyboards. Just like other sub-genres, it makes use of the guitar more than other instruments but vocals are not left behind. Most power metal artists like HammerFall and Gamma Ray came from the Europe.

Progressive Metal

Known as the most artistic heavy metal genre, Progressive metal carefully combines progressive art rock of the 70’s and other heavy metal sounds to create more complex sounds. The modern Progressive Metal was pioneered by a band named Fates Warning in 1908’s.

Death Metal

As the name implies, Death Metal usually tackles about life and death and is almost comparable to Black Metal. The only difference is that while the former uses more subtle and emotional sound, Death metal is all about violent sound. It’s very easy to distinguish since it can be both melodic and harsh. Pioneers of Death Metal include Death and Slayer, two bands which emerged in mid-1980’s.

Doom Metal

Founded by St. Vitus and Candlemass, Doom Metal tackles sensitive topics of harshness and despair. The first Doom Metal albums are composed of a series of long songs that almost tell a novel. Doom Metal bands are known to sing about mourning, death, war and other tragic events. At times, they tackle all these issues at once, making listeners feel a subtle kind of feeling of sadness. This genre has been very popular for telling real stories of real people.

Gothic Metal

Gothic Metal artists like Theatre of Tragedy, Evanescence and Paradise lost are different from other heavy metal artists because they usually use female vocals with a male voice growling in the background. The number of Gothic Metal bands skyrocketed in the 1990’s when people are cheering mostly for cute pop artists. Today, this music genre has evolved, using techniques of other heavy metal bands while sticking to soprano female voices.