When it comes to heavy metal I miss the 80’s. Especially the early to mid 80’s when metal was just metal. Generally if it was heavy it was just called heavy metal. In today’s metal scene there are genres with sub genres for sub genres of genres that no one’s even sure what the original genre is supposed to sound like. Of course I am exaggerating, but here in 2016 there are just way too many metal genres and subgenres. If you do a little research the results will leave you with extreme genre overload.
I do understand the need for labels and genres in music. I am a huge fan of Thrash Metal, Symphonic Metal, Progressive Rock and Neo Prog, the latter being a subgenre of progressive rock. So overall I do not have an issue with genre labels. But somewhere in the late 80’s and 90’s things begin to go awry with the splintering of metal into far too many genres, leading us to where we are today.
To list all of the genres and subgenres of heavy metal that currently exist would leave one’s head spinning. I’ll list a few, in no particular order, and perhaps you’ll agree that things have gotten just a bit out of control.
Power Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Pagan Metal, Glam Metal, Gothic Metal, Grindcore, Metalcore (A genre that some metal fans believe is not metal at all, I’m not sure why), Deathcore, Mathcore, Neoclassical Metal, Post Metal, Progressive Metal, Djent, Stoner Metal, Symphonic Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal (In regards to the prior two, I was never sure what the difference was between the two), Alternative Metal, Funk Metal, Nu Metal (Which I guess is now Old Metal, just kidding someone might start a new genre), Groove Metal, Grunge (Was Grunge really a music genre or just a passing fad?), Industrial, Rap Metal, Rapcore, Avant-garde Metal, Extreme Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, Shoegaze, Christian Metal (a genre some feel does not make sense, but I am Christian and I love metal, so listening to metal played by other Christians without the dark lyrics usually associated with metal is a no brainer for me), Post Punk, Crust (What the heck!?!?!?!), Blackened Death Metal, Melodeath, and I’ll end my list with perhaps the oddest genre title of this batch, Pirate Metal.
This list is far from complete, it is just scratching the surface of the ever growing list of metal genres and subgenres. Can we please stop now?
Shades Of Noir 
Well said!!! I have never been a ‘genre’ person, just a lover of great music. So trying to label music nowadays is intimidating at best! Nice post!
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I understand the desire for genre labels. But every slight change or deviation musically should not warrant the creation of another genre. It only rock and roll and I like it! Thanks for the kind words.
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