Symphonic Metal

Mixes a little progressive with operatic and symphonic elements. Lyrics are reminiscent of operas in the sense that they tend to be melodramatic and deal with emotions. Often the lyrics will focus on evil in the hearts of mankind. This is sometimes so artsy that it could only appeal to fans of opera and fine art that are slumming in the underground metal world. But when done with the verve of metal it is explosive and mindblowing. Bands like Therion, Odes of Ecstasy, Septic Flesh, Long Winters' Stare and Theatre of Tragedy are the frontrunners. I would recommend starting with any of Septic Flesh's recent releases especially A Fallen Temple since I feel they are the best at melding the two worlds. Therion's releases Vovin, Theli and Crowning of Atlantis tend to edge towards more classical-oriented metal. Christofer Johnsson is the main man for Therion and just blows away most of the wimpier symphonic metal bands. I've never heard The Great Kat, but she is a guitarist (evidently quite talented) that metalizes classical works, I've seen a number of ads for Bloody Vivaldi. Reviewers seem to think she's pretty good. Perhaps it's just the sight of a woman covered in blood with a big guitar. Odes of Ecstacy, Long Winters' Stare, Angizia, Macbeth and Theatre of Tragedy are part of the more artistic side of symphonic metal. They would be the artsy Oscar nominees as opposed to Septic Flesh and Therion who would be shunned because they are too metal. Dragon Flight Recordings represents Long Winters' Stare and also has a terrific mail order. Most of the other mail order companies listed for black metal also sell Symphonic Metal.

Folk Metal

Mixing folk or medieval musics with metal. The best groups are Skyclad and Bethzaida. Bethzaida just blow me away every time, they play so heavy yet with such sweet melodies. Their Nine Worlds and LXXVIIII are the best examples of the genre. I admit that I have yet to hear Skyclad, but several reliable sources state that they are even better than Bethzaida, but I have yet to search out their releases to find out. I'm sure that there are many out there whose heard both and will testify to their greatness.

The sole performer of this genre is Lord Weird Slough Feg from San Francisco. Epic Celtic Metal concentrates its lyrics on Druids, Blarney Stones and other Celtic topics. The music is similar to a more pompous Iron Maiden crossed with a folk metal feel. Lord Weird Slough Feg have a self-titled disc and Twilight of the Idols.

Gothic Metal

Mix a healthy amount of gothic industrialism with metal and stir with an evil implement. Lyrics are generally dark, sometimes evil, sometimes sexual, always interesting. Much lighter in tone than its cousin, Gothic Doom Metal. Moonspell is champ here--their discs Wolfheart, Sin/Pecado and Irreligious are landmarks in the genre. Another band in the genre is Sundown whose Design 19 is pretty good for gothic.

Vampyric Metal

You really should be able to figure out this one all on your own. No I don't know that they really think they are vampires, but there are a lot of people who live for this vampyric fantasy stuff and honestly its more than a little interesting. Subject matter is a little biased towards the traumas of daily and spiritual life for vampires. It's not very much different in sound to gothic metal. The major band is Vasaria out of New York City who probably only come out after dark. Bands like Cradle of Filth have claimed to have a vampire or two in the band as well.

Romantic Black

Probably should be in the black metal section, but the prime band is Opeth. There is not a better band at combining gothic atmospherics with black metal than Opeth. These guys are so smooth they make Power Metal look harsh. Any Opeth release is great, but My Arms, Your Hearse is awesome and is a great introduction to the genre. Similar to Opeth is Godgory, however, I'm not sure that Godgory can be put into a defining category. Resurrection is one of the finest discs I've ever heard and deserves to be in your collection. The music is moody and heavy--it can rock and it can just make me bust into tears. I just love his voice. This is a must-own.

Atmospheric Metal

Toss a whole bunch of ambient mood altering avant-garde material with heavy riffs and intellectualized lyrics and mix well with electronica. Tends to have clean vocals with female singers or male vocalists that are light in tone except Morgion who has a tuneful growler. This genre is so light most of the time that it is hardly metal to me. It really seems more gothic light or industrial avant-garde. The best of genre are Tiamat (Wildhoney), Lake of Tears, The Gathering and Lacuna Coil. People really into ambient or the Cocteau Twins will love this. The heavier side of atmospheric metal would be Morgion and perhaps early Tiamat. Morgion's Solinari is an intellectual atmospheric metal work that is heavy and moving.

Hard and heavier than Heavy Metal, Death Metal is fast, furious and very lyrically dark. Many of the bands truly love grotesque lyrics. These are the deep, full-on death metal growlers. Named Death Metal after the Floridian band Death in the early '80s. Today Death perseveres as a hard and heavy metal band, but are more technical metal now than pure Death Metal. Fear not, There are probably hundreds of Death Metal bands roaming the planet, just not thousands like in the early- to mid-Eighties. Back then, everywhere you went in Florida, Death Metal was king. Now the Death Metal craze has calmed a little which has probably saved the music.

There are too many Bible Belters here that were ready to go to war with Satan for the end of Death Metal. Death metal is technically precise, but filled with emotion and energy; it runs a hundred-plus-miles-per-hour with drums and bass flailing away in the storms caused by the speedy guitarists. Lyrically it can run from serial killings and killers to gore to evil to just everyday topics. The first and best band is Death (check out Leprosy for a thrill). But other huge death metal bands are Monstrosity, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Deicide and Benediction. Death Metal doesn't just come from Florida, it's poured out of lots of different places--the United Kingdom (Benediction), Denmark (Sinister), Brazil (Sepultura), Los Angeles (Sadistic Intent) and San Francisco (Autopsy).

But the best studio for death metal is in Florida--Morrisound Studios in Tampa. Morrisound makes the death metal sound more authentic. Variations like Hypocrisy's "Alien Death," Morbid Angel's obsession with ancient cultures mixed with metal and Witchery's mixture of black and death keep things hopping around the Death Metal camps. The knock I've always heard about death metal is that "it all sounds the same," so does just about every other music genre on the planet. If you like metal that is hard, heavy, fast and brutal--then you must give Death Metal a try.

Brutal Death Metal

Brutal Death Metal takes Death Metal a step harder, faster and more heavy. Lyrically, Brutal Death Metal is usually about death and gore; the theory is the sicker the better. If you thought Carcass' lyrics were disgusting don't even go here. Album covers generally feature blood, filth and body parts. The best bands are Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Deeds of Flesh, Death of Millions and Cryptopsy (whose Whisper Supremacy is stunning).

Swedish Death

Just another genre--take traditional death metal and add the Scandinavian element. Not with enough melody to become Melodic, but with enough melody to smooth out the rough edges. Frequently has a touch of the dark side. Still retains the death metal style vocals. Depends on your opinion, but it was either started with Entombed or At the Gates in the early '80s in Sweden. The best of the Swedish deathmongers are Entombed (check out the Left Hand Path or Wolverine Blues to discover these groundbreaking gems), At the Gates (Slaughter of the Soul is mandatory listening), Centinex and Taetre. Both Centinex and Taetre are newer bands that retain the style of old--they are heavy as hell and speedier than Superman on Viagra.

Take Death Metal and add in melody, smooth out all the edges until it is smooth as glass. Filled to the brim with guitar arpeggios. Vocals may be rough or may be clean, if they are clean, they will be high-pitched and very Iron Maiden-y. It appears that this beast crawled forth from the Gothenburg area of Sweden. Most of the studios that are associated with this genre like Fredman and Sunlight Studios (home of producer Tomas Skogsberg) are in Sweden. It doesn't mean that all of the bands are Swedish, but it does tend to run that way. In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Guidance of Sin, Edge of Sanity and Haunted (remains of At the Gates, but with a more hardcore-influenced sound) are the biggest names in melodic death.

Brutal Industrial Death

Brutal industrial death is the stomping ground of the extremely macabre Mortician. Mortician combines brutal death with totally gruesome imagery (these boys must have been raised on horror movies) and mind-blowing speed. I don't believe they've found a drummer to keep up with them yet, so drum machines rule the Mortician world. All of their releases are worthy of a listener willing to stomach the gore.

Websites, magazines, chat rooms, lists, labels

Deathmetal.com has a great chat room for death metal and also a death metal radio station.
Another extreme metal radio station is Khaos AD.
A good chat group is Melodic Death on ONElist.
The Metal Crypt Ring is loaded with search engines.
The Metal Tablature Pages will show you all the notes and tablatures to play metal.
Metal World Zine, Chronicles of Chaos and Scream Magazine--Norway's Hard Metal Magazine--are all great webzines that deal with Death and Extreme Metals.

Labels:
Century Media Records
Conquest Music specializes in Florida Death. Primo!
Displeased Records
Earache
Metal Blade
Necropolis Records
Nuclear Blast America
Olympic Records
Pavement Music
Peaceville
Repulse
Roadrunner Records

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