Extreme metal - WikiHQ

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression", and refers to metal that is harsher, heavier, more aggressive and less commercialized than other subgenres. Extreme metal is generally underground music that values authenticity and strives to remain outside the mainstream. The term usually includes thrash metal, death metal, black metal and doom metal. Some definitions do not recognise doom metal, or consider that only some of its subgenres are extreme. Most extreme metal styles have very fast tempos and originally took inspiration from hardcore punk.

Definitions

"Extreme metal" generally refers to heavy metal that is extreme in terms of its sound, instrumentation, vocals, lyrics, and imagery. Extreme metal usually has heavily distorted guitars, harsh vocals (such as shouting, screaming and death growls), and complex drumming (such as double bass drumming and blast beats). Most extreme metal styles have very fast tempos (usually between 150 and 250 beats per minute). Most extreme metal eschews conventional melody and verse-chorus-verse song structure. It also tends to omit the blues element of traditional heavy metal.

Extreme metal's lyrics and imagery typically deal with dark themes such as death, killing, war, horror and the occult. They are often anti-Christian and may include references to Satanism or Paganism. A small number of extreme metal bands reference Nazi Germany, for example Slayer and Marduk. the defining characteristics of extreme metal are clearly transgressive: the "extreme" traits noted above are all meant to violate or transgress cultural, artistic, social or aesthetic boundaries. Kahn-Harris says that extreme metal can sometimes sound "close to being a formless noise" to the uninitiated listener. In most of the world, extreme metal does not receive much radio-play or achieve high chart positions. In 1983, Metallica released their debut album Kill 'Em All, which is seen as the first thrash metal record, and would eventually be certified triple platinum. A few months later, Slayer released their own thrash metal album Show No Mercy. These were "landmark releases characterized by speed, aggression, and an austere seriousness". Their songs first appeared on the compilation Scandinavian Metal Attack in March 1984. Bathory's first and second albums respectively influenced black metal and death metal. Frontman Quorthon pioneered the shrieked vocals that later came to define black metal.

Swiss band Hellhammer made "truly raw and brutal music" which likewise influenced both black and death metal. They released three demos, and an EP in April 1984. Hellhammer then transformed into Celtic Frost and released their first album Morbid Tales that October. Celtic Frost were a major influence on all styles of extreme metal.

The German thrash metal bands Sodom, Kreator and Destruction "pushed the boundaries of extreme metal". Their first records In the Sign of Evil (1985), Endless Pain (1985) and Sentence of Death (1984) led the way for black metal Death also released a demo Death by Metal (under the name Mantas) in 1984. The band made a major impact in the emerging Florida death metal scene, and frontman Chuck Schuldiner has been credited as the "Father of Death Metal". Their debut album, Scream Bloody Gore (1987), has been described as "the first true death metal record".

The front cover of the Sarcófago's 1987 debut album, I.N.R.I., was a major influence on black metal's corpse paint style make-up. That record is also considered one of the first-wave black metal albums that helped shape the genre. Their second album, The Laws of Scourge, was one of the first technical death metal records to be released.

List of genres

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Primary genres

Black metal
Folk black metal
Industrial black metal
National Socialist black metal
Post-black metal
Blackgaze
Psychedelic black metal
Raw black metal
Symphonic black metal
Unblack metal
Subgenres of death metal
Brutal death metal
Slam death metal
Christian death metal
Industrial death metal
Melodic death metal
Old school death metal
Psychedelic death metal
Symphonic death metal
Technical death metal
Subgenres of doom metal
Epic doom
Traditional doom
Subgenres of thrash metal
Technical thrash metal

Fusion genres

Fusions between primary genres

Black-doom
Depressive suicidal black metal
Blackened death-doom
Blackened death metal
Melodic black-death
War metal
Blackened thrash metal
Death-doom
Funeral doom

Fusions with punk rock styles

Crossover thrash
Crust punk
Blackened crust
Crack rock steady
Crustcore
Grindcore
Blackened grindcore
Deathgrind
Electrogrind
Goregrind
Gorenoise
Pornogrind
Noisegrind
Metalcore
Deathcore
Easycore
Electronicore
Mathcore
Melodic metalcore
Nintendocore
Nu metalcore
Progressive metalcore
Risecore
Sludge metal
Sludgecore

Fusion with other rock styles

Black 'n' roll
Death 'n' roll
Dream thrash
Gothic-doom
Progressive doom
Stoner metal
Desert rock

Fusions with other musical styles

Drone metal
Viking metal

Derivatives

Genres influenced by extreme metal but usually not considered extreme themselves:

Avant-garde metal
Beatdown hardcore, influenced by thrash metal;
Crunkcore, influenced by metalcore;
Dungeon synth, influenced by black metal;
Funk metal, influenced by thrash metal;
Gothic metal, influenced by death-doom and doom metal;
Grunge, influenced by sludge metal and thrash metal;
Hyperpop, influenced by metalcore;
Neoclassical metal, influenced by thrash metal;
Nu metal, influenced by thrash metal;
Pop screamo, influenced by metalcore;
Post-metal, influenced by doom metal and later by black metal;
Power metal, influenced by thrash metal;
Sass, influenced by grindcore and metalcore;
Tough guy hardcore, influenced by thrash metal.