A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.
Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
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".
Metalcore is a fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, that originated in the late 1980s. Metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing, while other defining instrumentation includes heavy guitar riffs often utilizing percussive pedal tones and double bass drumming. Vocalists in the genre typically perform screaming, more popular bands often combine this with the use of standard singing, usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. However, the death growl is also a popular technique within the genre.
Parkway Drive are an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. Parkway Drive have released seven studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled Ten Years of Parkway Drive. The band's latest three albums have reached number 1 of the Australian ARIA Charts – Ire (2015), Reverence (2018), and Darker Still (2022).
In music, a breakdown is a part of a song in which various instruments have solo parts (breaks). This may take the form of all instruments playing the verse together, and then several or all instruments individually repeating the verse as solo parts.
Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with metalcore/hardcore elements seen in the 1990s, deathcore itself emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in the mid-2000s within the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and inland southern California, which are home to many notable bands and various festivals.
Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-stylized breakdowns, and vocals that range from aggressive screaming and death growls to clean singing. The genre has seen commercial success for employing a more accessible sound at times compared to other forms of extreme music. Many notable melodic metalcore bands have been influenced by At the Gates and In Flames.
Progressive metalcore is a fusion of progressive metal and metalcore characterized by highly technical lead guitar, "atmospheric" elements, and complex instrumentation. Some notable practitioners take influence from djent.
The scene subculture is a youth subculture that emerged during the early 2000s in the United States from the pre-existing emo subculture. The subculture became popular with adolescents from the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. Members of the scene subculture are referred to as scene kids, trendies, or scenesters. Scene fashion consists of skinny jeans, bright-coloured clothing, a signature hairstyle consisting of straight, flat hair with long fringes covering the forehead, and bright-coloured hair dye. Music genres associated with the scene subculture include metalcore, crunkcore, deathcore, electronic music, and pop punk.
Attack Attack! is an American metalcore band from Westerville, Ohio, originally formed in 2005 as Ambiance, later changing their name. Attack Attack!'s first release, an independent EP titled If Guns Are Outlawed, Can We Use Swords?, was released in 2007, which led to the signing of the band to Rise Records the same year. They released three full-length albums, Someday Came Suddenly, a self-titled album, and This Means War all through Rise Records. The band left Rise Records in 2012 and disbanded the following year after a farewell tour. On October 19, 2020, the band announced a re-formation, with a mix of returning and new members.
Someday Came Suddenly is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on November 11, 2008, through Rise Records. The album's name derives from the third track, "Bro, Ashley's Here", and is the only album to feature vocalist Austin Carlile. Many of the album's lyrics feature strong Christian themes.
"Stick Stickly" is a song by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on June 4, 2008 as the lead single from their debut studio album, Someday Came Suddenly.
Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune. The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s with bands like Horse the Band, I Fight Dragons, Math the Band, An Albatross, The NESkimos and Minibosses pioneering the genre.
Caleb Joshua Shomo is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. He is most well known as the lead-vocalist of Beartooth, though he records all studio instrumentals for the band. He is also the former lead vocalist, keyboardist, and early backing vocalist of Attack Attack!, and the owner of Studio Records in Columbus, Ohio. Shomo joined Attack Attack! as keyboardist at 15 years old while maintaining a passion for electronic music and eventually grew into record production by 18.
Electronicore is a fusion genre of metalcore with elements of various electronic music genres, often including trance, electronica, and dubstep.
This Means War is the third studio album by American metalcore band Attack Attack!. It was released on January 17, 2012, through Rise Records. Initially scheduled to be produced by John Feldmann, production was instead handled by frontman Caleb Shomo in his home studio, making it the band's only album not to be produced by Joey Sturgis.
Beartooth is an American rock band founded by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Shomo in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012. Originally Shomo performed every instrument when in the studio, before being joined by a four-piece band. Beartooth has been signed to Red Bull Records since 2013; its debut EP Sick was released on July 26, 2013, followed by the debut full-length album Disgusting on June 10, 2014. Since then, Shomo has released a further three studio albums under the Beartooth moniker: Aggressive (2016), Disease (2018), and Below (2021). The band's fifth studio album, The Surface, was released on October 13, 2023.
Disgusting is the debut studio album by American rock band Beartooth. It was released on June 10, 2014, through Red Bull Records and UNFD Records. The single "Beaten In Lips" was released on May 13, 2014, along with the pre-order for the album.
Beatdown hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with prominent elements of heavy metal. Beatdown hardcore features aggressive vocals, gang vocals, heavy guitar riffs and breakdowns and lyrics discussing unity, brotherhood, volatile interpersonal relationships and machismo. The genre has its origins in late 1980s New York hardcore bands such as Breakdown, Killing Time and Madball, and was pioneered in the mid-1990s by bands like Bulldoze, Terror Zone and Neglect. The definition of the genre has expanded over time to incorporate artists increasingly indebted to metal, notably Xibalba, Sunami and Knocked Loose.
