Subgenres & Artists

SUB-GENRE	ARTISTS
Thrash Metal	Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus, Sodom, Overkill
Glam Metal	Poison, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Skidrow, Ratt, Bon Jovi
Power Metal	Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, DragonForce, Sonata Arctica, Blind Guardian
Death Metal	Cannibal Corpse, Death, Morbid Angel, Behemoth, Deicide, Nile
Black Metal	Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, Bathory, Darkthrone, Immortal
Grindcore	Carcass, Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Wormrot, Anal Cunt, Brutal Truth
Industrial Metal	Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Ministry, Killing Joke, Rammstein
Alt Metal	Korn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Evanescence, Poppy, System of a Down, Linkin Park, Babymetal

Subgenres of metal often overlap with one another, as well as with genres such as industrial and rock. This blending of categories allows for metal to incorporate other sounds and create a variety of music.

Metal music has gone through many phases in its history and many sub-genres have developed. Deep Purple introduced speed metal with their 1969 hit Speed King, Iron Maiden brought soaring ballads and power metal, and Judas Priest brought lots and lots of leather.  Heavy metal began to disseminate globally, and from the west coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco especially) we got our first instances of hair metal, a genre defined by musical simplicity and showmanship (Heart 2021) Perhaps the largest group to come out of this area in the 1980s was Metallica. Even as every member had the huge, teased out hair prevalent in hair/glam metal, Metallica is a thrash metal group, embodying the opposite of hair metal.  Metallica brought heavy metal to the forefront of popular culture, producing 3 number one albums in their 30+ year career. Once metal became mainstream in the 1980s, the genre started to lose its edge.  Glam groups co-opted metal’s imagery for pop sounds.  In the 90s, even as thrash metal groups such as Metallica and Pantera achieved mainstream success, they could not eclipse groups like Nirvana who featured the newly popular grunge sound.  Throughout the 90s and 2000s, rap and hip-hop overtook metal’s rebel attitude, leading to the introduction of a hybridized nu metal genre.  A journalist for Observer, Bryan Reesman argues: “In recent years, however, despite many newer chart-topping acts, the spotlight has dimmed”. Heavy metal music engages a variety of topics, from sex and alcohol to death and suicide.  Deena Weinstein suggests metal music can be loosely categorized into two themes: the dionysian theme, which celebrates the enjoyment of life as well as ‘sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll’, and the chaotic theme which involves much darker subjects, such as Hell, mayhem, injustice, and death (Weinstein 2009). Both themes are the source of controversy. The hypermasculine culture has historically not been welcoming to women. With most metal bands being primarily men and often using misogynistic imagery, women may feel shut out from parts of metal music (Digioia 2020). It is difficult to note the total number of women who have been nominated for metal performance Grammys due to the majority of metal performers being in bands together. However, as of 2024, one solo female performer has ever been nominated (Al-Sharif 2021), and no band that has won a Best Metal Performance Grammy (in a year that rock and metal were not combined) appears to have any female members (DiVita 2024). Some types of metal that blend it with other genres have less aggressively masculine aesthetics, such as kawaii metal, have emerged in recent years (Rinthalukay 2020). Although the Grammys are often not the focus within metal culture and metalheads often perceive the Grammys as out of touch with metal (Trapp 2024), they are a reflection of who is= making metal music and primarily receiving recognition for it.

Heavy metal lyrics have been the subject of criticism.  During the 1980s, the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned U.S. Congress to regulate the lyrics in Heavy Metal.  This resulted in the “Parental Advisory” sticker seen on much of today’s music. They claimed heavy metal music focuses on violence, substance abuse, perversion, and Satanism (Walser 2014). In 1985, the group Judas Priest was sued due to allegations that subliminal messages in their music led to the suicides of two young men.  Another case was centered on the track from Ozzy Osbourne, “Suicide Solution”. The population of the heavy metal subculture is largely white, cis-gendered, and male.  The 80s brought glam metal, which added a small number of women to the culture.  Today, metal music is global, being most popular in North America and Northern Europe.  Popularity continues to grow among African Americans and Latinos, especially with the success of artists such as Tosin Abasi and his group Animals as Leaders.  Heavy metal fans go by several different names (Mosher, Heavy, Thrasher), but “headbanger” and “Metalhead” are the common terms referring to the members of this subculture.

Deena Weinstein writes metal music forms an “exclusionary youth community” which is “distinctive and marginalized from the mainstream society”.  The strong masculine community relies on a code of authenticity like the punk scene to determine membership (Weinstein 2009).  Authenticity and fashion are two distinguishing features of the metal subculture. The style is loosely formalized, as it varies with each sub-genre, but defining characteristics are leather jackets, jeans, band t-shirts, body modifications such as body piercings or tattoos, and the metal staple, long hair.   Metalheads tolerate those outside its core base that still follow its code of dress and behavior, however lacking authenticity or sincerity will often lead to the labeling of a “poseur” (Arnett 1996).  To affirm authenticity, Metal fans attend concerts, buy albums, and contribute to Metal websites. These websites include forums such as MetalInjection.net and MetalSucks.net, in which fans discuss music, tours, and heavy metal news. The metal subculture sometimes appears in mainstream culture.  Metallica achieved fame through the massive success of its Black Album in 1991, and groups such as Killswitch Engage, Slipknot and Megadeth have achieved more recent fame due to inclusion in the hit video game Guitar Hero.  Metal Music can be found everywhere, from the Atlanta-based group Mastodon to German Metalcore group Rammstein.  What follows is a brief sampling of metal music and culture that provides insight and understanding to the term “Metalhead”.