Metal Subgenres Field Guide
From NWOBHM to gothic metal, a compact map of the main metal subgenres, what each sounds like and which bands to try first.
Metal has so many labels that a new listener can get lost before hearing a single riff. Which subgenre is which, and where should a beginner start? This guide covers the main branches in one place: what each sounds like, roughly when it emerged, and one or two bands that define it.
The family tree in brief
Heavy metal grew out of hard rock and blues rock in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest among its founders. At the end of the 1970s the New Wave of British Heavy Metal brought faster, leaner bands such as Iron Maiden and Saxon. In the early and mid 1980s, younger musicians pushed that speed further into speed and thrash metal, and thrash in turn opened the door to death and black metal. From there the tree kept branching, towards slower, more melodic, more technical or more hardcore-influenced forms.
The main subgenres at a glance
| Subgenre | Sound | Emerged | Bands to start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy metal / NWOBHM | Riff-driven, melodic, clean high vocals | Early 1970s / late 1970s | Black Sabbath, Judas Priest / Iron Maiden, Saxon |
| Speed metal | Fast, sharp riffs, high-pitched vocals | Early 1980s | Motörhead (forerunner), Exciter |
| Thrash metal | Fast palm-muted riffs, aggressive shouted vocals | Early 1980s | Metallica, Slayer |
| Death metal | Down-tuned riffs, growls, complex drumming | Mid to late 1980s | Death, Morbid Angel |
| Black metal | Tremolo picking, shrieks, raw atmosphere | Early 1990s (roots in the 1980s) | Mayhem, Darkthrone |
| Doom metal | Slow tempos, heavy tone, melancholy | 1970s roots, 1980s style | Candlemass, Saint Vitus |
| Power metal | Fast, melodic, soaring vocals, fantasy themes | Mid 1980s | Helloween, Blind Guardian |
| Progressive metal | Long songs, odd time signatures, virtuosity | Late 1980s | Queensrÿche, Dream Theater |
| Groove metal | Mid-tempo, syncopated, heavy grooves | Early 1990s | Pantera, Machine Head |
| Metalcore | Metal riffs, hardcore breakdowns, screams | 1990s | Converge, Killswitch Engage |
| Folk / pagan metal | Folk melodies and instruments, heritage themes | 1990s | Skyclad, Korpiklaani |
| Sludge / stoner | Fuzzed-out, slow, groove-heavy riffs | Late 1980s to 1990s | Melvins, Kyuss |
| Gothic metal | Dark, romantic, keyboards, deep vocals | Early to mid 1990s | Paradise Lost, Type O Negative |
A few notes help read the table. Speed and thrash overlap heavily, and many early thrash albums are also called speed metal. Doom, death and black metal each have their own offshoots, such as death-doom, funeral doom and blackened death metal. Progressive metal is less a sound than an approach, so it can include anything from Dream Theater's Images and Words (1992) to far heavier bands. Portugal has its own place on this map: Moonspell, from Amadora near Lisbon, became one of the best-known gothic metal bands with albums such as Wolfheart (1995) and Irreligious (1996).
How to find your branch
Labels are useful for searching, but they are not strict boxes. Most bands move between styles over their careers, and many sit on the border of two subgenres. Taste tends to follow a few clear signals: whether you prefer speed or weight, clean singing or harsh vocals, and short songs or long, atmospheric ones.
A practical way to start is to pick three rows from the table that sound appealing and listen to one well-known album by each listed band. Notice which one keeps pulling you back, then use a database such as Encyclopaedia Metallum to browse that genre, read band pages and follow the related-artist trail to the next record.
