Extreme metal

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). The exception is doom metal, which instead often takes heaviness and slowness to extremes. Most extreme metal eschews conventional melody and verse-chorus-verse song structure. It also tends to omit the blues element of traditional heavy metal. Joel McIver wrote that extreme metal tends to be faster, harsher, heavier or more aggressive than 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.

According to ethnographer Keith Kahn-Harris, 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 general, extreme metal strives to remain inaccessible and unpalatable to 'mainstream' audiences. It is largely based around independent record labels and grassroots promotion. In most of the world, extreme metal does not receive much radio-play or achieve high chart positions.

Early history

The English band Venom laid the foundations of extreme metal with their first two albums Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982). Part of the new wave of British heavy metal, they played a sped-up and stripped-down style, and used Satanic and occult imagery. Venom and early extreme metal bands were influenced by the speed, distortion and aggression of hardcore punk bands like Discharge, the Exploited and Amebix.

The first thrash metal bands were inspired by the likes of Venom, Motörhead, the new wave of British heavy metal and hardcore punk. 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". Thrash was often called "speed metal" in the early 1980s, before the two terms became more defined.

Swedish band Bathory have been described as "the biggest inspiration for the Norwegian black metal movement of the early nineties". 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 and death metal bands.

In the United States, death metal was pioneered by the bands Possessed and Death. Possessed released the demo Death Metal in 1984 and their first record Seven Churches in November 1985. They have been described by music journalists and musicians as being "monumental" in developing the death metal style, or as being the first death metal band. 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

Primary genres

• Black metal
• Death metal
• Doom metal
• Thrash metal

Subgenres of primary genres

• Subgenres of black metal
  • Ambient 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
  • Symphonic death metal
  • Technical death metal
• Subgenres of doom metal
  • Epic doom
  • Traditional doom

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
• Deathrash

Fusions with punk rock styles

• Crossover thrash
• Crust punk
  • Blackened crust
    • Red and Anarchist black metal
  • Crack rock steady
  • Crustcore
  • Neo crust
• Grindcore
  • Blackened grindcore
  • Deathgrind
  • Electrogrind
  • Goregrind
  • Noisegrind
  • Pornogrind
• 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
• Gothic-doom
• Progressive doom
• Stoner metal
  • Desert rock

Fusions with other musical styles

• Drone metal
• Pagan 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;
• Groove metal, influenced by thrash metal and death metal;
• Grunge, influenced by sludge metal and thrash metal;
• Hyperpop, influenced by metalcore;
• Neoclassical metal, influenced by speed metal and 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 speed metal and thrash metal;
• Sass, influenced by grindcore and metalcore.

Notes

References

Notes

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