Although it is not an official category, it would refer to a subgenre within heavy metal which aims to take the listener into an emotional journey, using, to do so, many distinct musical influences, from Ambience music to black/death/doom metal. "Astral Metal" was first used to refer to Maudlin of the Well (maudlin of the Well) as for their genre, but the Encyclopaedia Metallum and Metalstorm, among countless other metal websites, list them under "Avant-Garde Metal".

A quirky style of heavy metal which blends other genres like jazz, techno, funk, world music and circus music. Also known as avant garde metal or experimetal.

A brutal sub-genre of heavy metal. Misplaced anger is often put towards this genre by ignorant people who think jazz is really avant-garde.

Death metal usually includes but is not limited to fast riffage, growling vocals, and blast beats. Modern death metal has some grindcore influence. Yes, it does take talent to vocalize like that. Record yourself "growling" and let's see how professinal you sound.

A sub-genre of Metal. And derived from Speed and Thrash Metal. The term 'Black Metal' was coined by the Speed Metal band, Venom.

It is inspired by bands such as Venom and Mercyful Fate. And the first Black Metal band is debated to be either Bathory or Celtic Frost. Although these were unrefined and were not the original true Black Metal bands. The first real Black Metal was started in Norway by bands such as Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone, and Satyricon. Later many other sub-genres of Black Metal were created.

Black Metal is usually definied by Vocals that are high in tone and pitch and are usually refered to as the 'Black Metal Screech', very different from the Guttural sound of the 'Death Metal Growl'. Lyrics mostly have Anti-Christian, Misantropic, Satanic, Luciferian, and Pagan basis. Drum beats described as 'blast beats'. But are different from Death Metal blast beats because there is more focus on the Snare drum instead of the Toms. The guitars are usually very repeatative and the riffs are usually only four to five chords. The basslines are similar to the guitar riffs but usually have a more punk quality to them. And the quality of the recordings is usually very bad.

Black Metal was started in defiance of the Death Metal scene, instead of having great, clean production, Black Metal had low and piercing quality. Instead of having complicated riffs and beats, BM had a more simplistic approach. And BM strived to be more controversial in lyrical themes.

There a...

A Norwegian avant-garde metal band. Arcturus formed in 1987 as a black metal band named Mortem, founded by keyboardist Steinar Johnsen, Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg (Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir), and bassist/vocalist Marius Vold. in 1994 Marius left the band and was replaced by bassist Hugh Mingay, vocalist Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg (ex-Borknagar, Ulver), and guitarist Carl August Tidemann.
Arcturus released their first album Aspera Hiems Symfonia in 1995. Aspera was the only true black metal album Arcturus would release, yet still contained the experimental elements which would later define Arcturus' unique sound. Soon after it's release Tidermann left the band and was replaced by Knut Magne Valle.
In 1997 Arcturus released their breakthrough record, La Masquerade Infernale. Infernale was a huge step away from the doom/black metal sound of Aspera, shifting to a more definitive avant-garde style, incorporating eerie carnival organs and lyrical themes revolving around classical theatre and literature. La Masquerade Infernale also saw the first appearance of Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnaes as a guest vocalist on Master of Disguise, The Chaos Path, and Painting My Horror; Hestnaes' vocal acrobatics on The Chaos Path would make it Arcturus' most popular song.
The next 5 years saw only silence from Arcturus as they recorded and, in 2002, released their third album, The Sham Mirrors. The Sham Mirrors represented a complete departure from previous albums, abandoning the classical e...

A genre of music that is simply too diverse to define correctly.

Not all metal is aggressive, not all metal is fast, not all metal is about killing, not all metal is about Satan, and ALL metal is talented sophisticated music (save for the bands that just suck).

Metal has to be split up into multiple sub-genres because of how diverse it is.

Heavy Metal - generally refers to late 70s/early 80s bands that have their sound rooted in hard rock. Can also describe bands that don't really fit into any other sub-genre. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden are the big 3 bands of heavy metal, but earlier hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple are sometimes called heavy metal.

Speed Metal - a type of heavy metal that is faster and can have influences of punk in their rhythms. Not many bands are exclusively referred to as speed metal, because speed metal is hardly distinguishable from thrash metal. Motorhead and Venom, two British bands, are sometimes regarded as definitive of the style.

Thrash Metal - this happened after the New Wave of British Heavy Metal when American bands started to combine it with elements of hardcore punk (there are many other genres to combine punk with metal as well). Bands in this genre play fast riffs with a lot of palm muting and the guitars are often tuned to standard E or standard E flat; many of these guitarists are trained musicians and guitar solos are prevalent. Vocalists can sing (generally in a virtuoso style) shout, or in so...

A genre of music that combines Post-Rock, Black Metal, and sometimes Shoegaze. Lyrical themes include, but aren't limited to, sorrow, beauty, surrealism, etc.

Examples of Post-Black Metal: Alcest, Silence of the Old Man, Lantlos, Shyy, Dopamine, Austere, Woods of Desolation, Grey Waters, and Heretoir.