Everything You Wanted to Know About Metal but Were Afraid to Ask

Sludge Doom: Popularized by bands from the southeastern United States, sludge doom takes the doom metal blueprint and infuses it with brief passages of fast-paced hardcore punk and swampy-sounding blues riffs. Examples: EyeHateGod, Crowbar

Post-Metal

PHOTO BY W.B. FONTENOT

Elena Vladi from Demona Mortiss

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• Cradle of Filth
• Cannibal Corpse
• All That Remains (Band)
• Metal and Hardcore
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Notable bands: Isis, Neurosis, Pelican

Here, elements from doom metal and progressive metal are combined with elements of indie rock, shoegaze and ambient music. Vocals are few and far between, and when they do show up they often alternate between growls and world-weary spoken lyrics. Not much headbanging to be found here.

Power Metal

Notable bands: Gamma Ray, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian

Classic literature, folklore and science fiction are power metal's domain. Traditional metal is a backbone, but the guitars are louder and the anthemic choruses often are layered to the point of ridiculousness. Concept albums often tell fast-paced tales of dragons, knights and warriors, with a token ballad or two thrown in.

Metalcore

Notable bands: Killswitch Engage, All That Remains

Metalcore was more popular in the mid-aughts than it is now, but the bands that broke through are still relevant today. Groups blend influences from hardcore with late-'90s Swedish melodic death, and the music often is characterized by screamed vocals during verses and melodic crooning during choruses.

Notable Sub-subgenres of Metalcore:

Deathcore: Hardcore-mosh breakdowns, death metal riffage and vocals that are 100 percent abrasive from start to finish. Examples: Suicide Silence, Carnifex [Corrected July 9, 2012.]

A previous version of this story misidentified the band Carnifex.

See also:
Top Ten Metal Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Metal
Norwegian Black Metal: Images of Satan
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