How many forms of Metal are there?

Okay Ben, you can put the straw man away, I surrender :) ... I just searched for jazz subgenres and there were oodles, though I hadn't heard of some and suspect there's some of it is overly fussy.

I can't speak for how it works in metal, because I don't really know, but I can tell you that nobody takes those subgenres seriously in jazz. The big argument in jazz is whether something is jazz or not, whether it belongs under the big umbrella at all. That's where teeth are gnashed and the bickering happens. Nobody cares whether it's really bop or hard bop; whether it's third-stream or avant garde. The definitions exist for those things, but they aren't relevant to discussions about the music.
 
And I can tell you the exact same thing is true for metal, broadly speaking. Obviously you want to know if something's death metal or power metal just as you'd want to know if it was bebop or trad jazz, but the tiny little hair-splitting genre names aren't paid that much attention to.
 
As a long time metal drummer, I must confess that I've felt compelled to hide my inclinations in this and other drummer forums. It seems to me that there is a latent, although pervasive sentiment that jazz is king and metal is plain overplaying - a senseless, infantile combination of hysteria and histrionics.

To the ever-present question of "can metal subsist without speed and double bass?" (which is a very poorly hidden implication that it cannot) I submit this brilliant example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9LpMZuBEMk

Enjoy...if you can...
 
What it all really comes down to is to not sound like the next guy (band). Everyone tries so hard to be original, and to deem the 'originality' of it they slap some never before heard of genre name on there and advertise themselves as that. But I guess that can go for any single genre, am I wrong?

It's basically a whole 'whose balls are bigger' scenario. Who can play the fastest, the heaviest, the most brutal, all that type of stuff. It is true most metalheads are infact teenage males, although that would seem to make sense. Because its only instinct to do something better than someone else, or 'prove your worthy' and all that nonsense, especially in the teenage years. Same can go for sports, middle school/high school/college kids make up a majority of the sports teams in the world. Why? Same reason teens flock to metal. It's 'proving yourself', showing other people what you have to offer. Whose better than the next guy, training your way to be better than the next, ect. The adrelaline rush, anger, frustration, it all dwells within the same matters. Also, to an outsider, sports is just 'the people who catch the ball' and whatnot, but to an insider it is very complex and all well understood. Same for metal, or any genre.

I'm an avid metal head, and I like the catagorization of the subgenres, but to a more broad extent. A lot of it makes sense, it's not too hard to understant it. It's like the animal kingdom, everything can be broken down into even the smallest of catagories.

For example, and '-core' band. The '-core' suffix comes from adding elements of hardcore punk into the music (breakdowns, usually). Metalcore, deathcore, they all share bonded music elements.

Or, it could be broken down in this way (in a very simplified version)

METAL

- death metal

- deathcore

- melodic death

- 'old school'


- thrash metal

- death thrash

- punk thrash

- black thrash

- black metal

- atmospheric

- symphonic

- blackened death (which can also be listed under 'death')

- progressive metal

- melodic

- djent

- progressive death/thrash/anything

Yes, its not an accurate listing of every genre, its just to show that theres a main category, which gets broken down, and broken down again. Genre... fractions. Haha
 
Maybe this topic is not about telling me what kind of metal subgenres I listen to, but I saw some people did, and I'll do the same...

My first favorite metal subgenre is Metalcore, many metalheads don't consider metalcore a metal subgenre, but I do, since many of them scream and growl a lot. It also depends on what metalcore you listen, there are bands influenced more from hardcore punk than metal, I don't listen to them, I prefer metalcore influenced more by metal itself. Some bands I like: August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage etc.

I'm also a lot into Death Metal, the heaviest metal genre out there. I listen to original death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Aborted and Death, but I also listen to Melodic Death Metal bands like Arch Enemy, Children Of Bodom, Amon Amarth etc. I don't like Technical Death Metal very much, except the band called Cryptopsy.

Another subgenre that I like is Thrash Metal. I like the heavy thrash metal only though, only where the scream and/or growl. Bands like Slayer, Exodus and Anthrax would explain what I'm talking about.

Groove Metal is kinda down in the list, I don't listen to a lot of groove metal, but sometimes I do, so I have to keep it in here. Bands that I like most in groove metal are Lamb Of God and Pantera.

Final favorite sugbenre is Nu Metal. I like this genre just because Slipknot is part of it. Actually I don't know any other nu metal band except KoRn, but I dislike them a lot.

There are many other subgenres I did not mention in my post, because I don't really listen to them. There is: Black Metal, Power Metal, Speed Metal, Alternative Metal, Industrial Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Extreme Metal, Deathcore, Glam Metal, Heavy Metal etc.
 
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