There are lots of genres in heavy music. To make you understand the stream definition and short histories how genre was born, BugJet classifies them based on GNU Public Definition Library. Surely some of the band called they has unique characteristic and differs than this definition but the article below gives you big picture worldwide in relation to rock-metal genres around the humankind. If you can’t find what genre you’re looking for, feel free to search on www.free-definition.com

1.      Heavy metal is a form of rock music characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms, highly amplified guitars, and often dark thematic elements. Heavy metal is an evolutionary product of pop, blues and classical music. Its first wave, between 1967 and 1974, was a product of pop and blues, while the classical element came to the fore in the later 1970s. By approximately 1991 most heavy metal had evolved into other hard rock genres, notably grunge.

2.      Thrash metal or speed metal is widely viewed as the most riff-oriented of all the heavy metal music sub-genres. It is generally accepted that it came into existence in 1981, though some bands had thrash riffs and other thrash ideas earlier than that. The first riff of Black Sabbath's 'Symptom of the Universe' (1975) is possibly the first thrash riff, though their 'Into the Void' (1971) was influential as well. Speed metal pioneers Judas Priest had some thrash ideas on their Stained Class LP (1978), including the punkish counterpoint riff on 'Saints in Hell' or the general structure of 'White Heat, Red Hot'. Soon, post-thrash bands with a newer sound would continue the more innovative direction, while those that played classic thrash were seen as retreads, though the '90s had some excellent thrash, for example Iced Earth's Night of the Stormrider (1992), which combined power-metal and thrash. Many bands, however, opted for a slower, more groove-oriented sound, including Machine Head and Pantera. This would give rise to many 90s-metal bands.

3.      Death metal is a form of heavy metal music which emerged in the US and Canada during the 1980s with bands like Death, Morbid Angel, Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. Going one step beyond other metal genres, death metal is identified by extreme brutality and speed. The vocals, or growls as they are usually referred to, are rough and/or incomprehensible and they usually communicate macabre subject matter. This style of music is known for very abrupt tempo and count changes, and extremely fast drumwork. Most bands of this sort consist purely of guitars and drums, often two rhythm guitars, a bass, a drum set, and a vocalist. Some bands add incidental synthesizers for discordant effect. During the 1990s, death metal grew in many directions, spawning a rich variety of subgenres, including the following:

• 'Symphonic' or 'melodic' death metal, where harmonies and melodies are much more present in the guitarwork. This subgenre is mostly associated with Sweden, especially in Gothenburg, as well as Norway and Finland

• 'Technical' death metal is a narrow, but influential subgenre where musical complexity and skill is the main focus. It is represented by bands like Cynic, Atheist, Theory in Practice and eventually the originators of death metal themselves, Death.

• 'Death-Grind' developed by combining certain aspects of the song structures of grindcore with death metal. Death-Grind is associated with bands like Suffocation.

4.      Grindcore is considered by some to be an even more extreme variant of death metal. However, many fans of grindcore and music historians would place it in a genre by itself, since the genre historically developed in parallel to death metal (both developed in the 1980s from thrash metal), each influencing the development of the other, but with early grindcore having a much more obvious hardcore punk and peace punk influence. The genre was pioneered in the 1980s by the proto-grindcore U.S. bands Siege (a hardcore punk band whom only released a demo entiled Drop Dead) and Repulsion (only later exposed to the world in 1989 through the album Horrified which was released in Europe by Necrosis Records, a label owned by members of Carcass). The first true grindcore band was the British band Napalm Death. The genre was given its name by Napalm Death's drummer Mick Harris. Since then, the grind sound has evolved but is still recognizable by its intense blast-beat drumming, grinding guitars (hence the name), and very short songs (at least one Napalm Death song is less than a second long.)

5.      Goregrind is an offshoot genre of Grindcore. Many believe that its origins lie in the group Carcass which formed in 1988. Goregrind, although similar to grindcore, differs in several ways. Grindcore, lyrically, is more in touch with hardcore punk as bands like Napalm Death and Brutal Truth created songs which worked as a political commentary fighting homophobia, sexism, and the like. Meanwhile, Carcass had a deep interested in forensic pathology and the morgue. Their lyrics sounded more from a horror movie than a protest rally. The lyrics were dripping with longwinded medical terms and stomach turning bodily functions. It was when bands such as Necrony, General Surgery, and later, The County Medical Examiners went on to follow in Carcass’ pathological footsteps that the actual term ‘goregrind’ would be coined. In addition, musically, goregrind tends to have more grooves in addition to straightforward grind.

6.      Symphonic death metal (also called melodic death metal) is a variant of death metal where harmonies and melodies are much more present in the guitar work than in regular death metal. Rather than the trademark brutality and speed of traditional death metal, melodic death incorporates varying tempos, from the "blast beats" associated with death metal, to slower, dreamy passages and everything in between. Also of note are the presence of numerous acoustic passages, particularly in the early work of Dark Tranquillity and In Flames, often complete instrumental acoustic tracks influenced by traditional Norse folk music are recorded. Symphonic death metal initially developed in Gothenburg, Sweden in the early 1990s; pioneering bands included At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, and In Flames. The movement is carried on by such bands as Arch Enemy (Swe.), Soilwork (Swe.), Children of Bodom (Fin.), Norther (Fin.), and Beyond the Embrace (US).

7.      Hardcore is an intensified version of the punk rock genre, characterized by bands that play short, loud, and angry songs with exceptionally fast chord changes on highly overdriven guitars. The lyrics are often political in nature, and typically violent in expression.

8.      Doom metal is a type of heavy metal music which developed in the mid 1980s. The sound is slow and creepy, and intended to evoke a general atmosphere of darkness, despair, tension and doom. When the sound developed, bands like Trouble and Candlemass were critically acclaimed for their return to the old school sounds of Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult, though sales were slim; metal audiences at the time were listening to thrash metal or hair metal, and both were swift, hard and energetic, very unlike doom metal.

9.      Stoner metal is a type of heavy metal music which arose in the 1990s. Stoner metal bands played a mix of jam-heavy psychedelic metal mixed with grunge and other indie rock styles. Monster Magnet and Kyuss were among the most popular practitioners.

10.  Grunge movement was the introduction of an independent-rooted music genre and eventually more commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bands from the cities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, such as Seattle, Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, made the grunge music genre popular with mainstream audiences. As a style of music, it is generally characterized by 'dirty' guitar, strong riffs, and heavy drumming. Grunge is also popularly referred to as the Seattle Sound. Independent labels were key catalysts in bringing this style of music to the public initially. Many of the more successful bands of the era were associated with Seattle's Sub Pop record label, though several other independent Seattle labels gained recognition

11.  Hair metal is a type of heavy metal music that arose in the mid/late 1970s in the United States and was a strong force in popular music throughout most of the 1980s. The term is often used derisively, due to the perception that most hair metal bands watered down a combination of metal and glam rock, and were known more for their flashy make-up, clothing, lyrics and stage shows than their music, which tended to be anthemic pop-metal mixed with the occasional power ballad, and which took much of its musical inspiration from the harder progressive rock bands of the 1970s like Kansas, Boston, and Foreigner. Another derogatory term for this style is poodle rock.

12.  Progressive rock artists sought to move away from the limitations of the radio formatted rock, mainly its cyclic structure, favoring a progressive one (hence the term "progressive"). Progressive rock is often wrongly perceived as complex and elaborate music, requiring a high level of musicianship from the artists, mainly because of the impression left by some of the most popular progressive bands.

13.  Progressive metal (prog metal) is a heavier brand of Progressive Rock (prog rock) incepted during the late 1980's, but which never gained mass appeal like prog rock did in the early 1970's. While it may not have a wide audience, it does have a very loyal, usually rather musically mature, fanbase. Prog metal could be broken down into an absurd infinite number of other sub-genres (see bottom of article), however it suffices to say that extraneous influences such as Jazz (Dream Theater), Classical Music (Symphony X) and Death Metal (Opeth) make this genre as diverse as can be.

14.  Art rock is a sub-genre of rock music that is characterized by its heavy use of lyrical imagery and exotic instruments. Art rock reached its height with the popularity of progressive rock groups such as Pink Floyd in the 1970s. It has, however, enjoyed a slight resurgence during the late 1990s and early 2000s, due in part to the popularity of the critically-acclaimed Britpop group Radiohead, whose recent albums Kid A and Amnesiac have sold astoundingly well despite being somewhat inaccessible.

15.  Rock and Roll, also called Rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony backing), electric guitars (and saxophone in the early days) and a strong back beat. Rock and Roll emerged as a defined musical style in America in the 1950s, though elements of rock and roll can be seen in rhythm and blues records as far back as the 1920s. Early rock and roll combined elements of blues, boogie woogie, jazz and rhythm and blues, and is also influenced by traditional folk music, gospel music, black and white, and country and western. Going back even further, Rock and Roll can trace a direct lineage to the old Five Points district of mid-1800s New York City, the scene of the first fusion between heavily rhythmic African shuffles and sand dances with melody driven European genres, particularly the Irish jig.

16.  Hard rock is a form of rock and roll music that finds its closest roots in early 1960s garage rock. Budgie, AC/DC, The Stooges, MC5, Living Colour, Prong, Skid Row, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple are easy to find examples of early hard rock. Van Halen (up to 1984) typifies the energy of this genre. The genre achieved maximum popularity between 1969 and 1985.

17.  Glam rock is a style of rock music popularized in the 1970s, and was mostly a British phenomenon. It was distinguished by the costumes and stage acts of the performers rather than any particular aspect of their music. The emphasis was on superficiality and an unabashed embracing of fame and wealth, a statement of sorts against such acts as Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes and Genesis, whose music was often referred to by critics as art rock.

18.  Punk rock (from 'punk', meaning rotten, worthless, or snotty; also a prison slang term for a person who is sexually submissive) usually refers to the anti-establishment music movement of the period 1976-80, exemplified by the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash and The Ramones, and to subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with these first-generation "punks." The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "do-it-yourself" attitude associated with this musical movement.

19.  Gothic rock started as a subset of the punk movement; with groups like Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cure and Joy Division, bands that were contemporaries of such early punk bands as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks and Generation X in the UK in 1977 - 1979. While the latter bands focused on aggressive, outward focused rock, the early goth groups were more introverted and personal. Originally considered just another aspect of the punk rock/post punk explosion, Goth only began to be defined as a separate movement with the emergence of Bauhaus in 1979.

20.  Goth metal (also called Gothic Metal) is a crossover between Doom Metal, heavy metal music and goth music itself. It developed in the early 1990s in Europe and the United States. Originally, Gothic Metal evolved from Doom Metal, where bands like Paradise Lost (U.K.) and Theatre of Tragedy (Norway) added female vocals and melodic keyboards to heavy doom riffs and death grunts. Bands such as Type O Negative (U.S.), My Dying Bride (U.K.), and Anathema (U.K.), focused on eerie keyboards and gloomy atmosphere as well. Paradise Lost's Gothic is considered to be the first Gothic Metal song ever created, introducing duet of female vocals and death grunts.

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Sorry for messy font Written by admin on 2004-07-14 21:08:48 this edited by HTMLarea2 which is, you know, open source, free software so there are some glitches existed beyond my control since I''m code-idiot (a.k.a human being, not programmer).

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