Thrash Metal
Metallica
Anthrax
Megadeth
Slayer
When people say "The Big Four," this is what they mean. Why do I have to spell it out then? I keep reading articles that try to drop Anthrax or Megadeth from the Big Four. It is not up for debate. I keep reading people trying to redefine what Metal is. Queen is in the Big Four. Led Zepplin is in the Big Four. WTF? Between 1985 and 1990, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer took Metal and sped it up and darkened it down. They expanded the Metal Universe ten-fold. If there was a Big Five, the fifth band would have surely been Exodus, but none of those bands "invented" Metal.
Mainstream Metal
Guns N Roses
Motley Crew
Ozzy Osbourne
Def Leppard
From the 1980's moving forward, 4 bands walked the line between popular Rock Music and Metal. Most average music fans consider all 4 bands Metal. Many hardcore Metal fans are jealous of the millions of units sold here compared to their favorite band.
Classic Metal
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Rainbow
Birthed in the 70's, the very roots of the genre. All of the bands skirted mainstream success but mostly stayed together due to tenacity instead of mass acceptance.
Nu Metal
Korn
Limp Bizkit
Static X
Linkin Park
In 1987, Anthrax dropped the I'm The Man single. I'm the Man didn't fit in with anything else the band, or anyone else, had ever done. They rapped that a Heavy Metal Band could do anything, like using Samples, in this specific case, anything from the Master of Puppets snippet to Sam Kenison screaming. When Anthrax did the Bring the Noise crossover with Public Enemy, they dared to be seen with turntables. A whole genre sprang from those moments. Anthrax itself did not shift from their original trajectory. Nu Metal sprang from the concept of Metal bands using programmers and DJ's.
Masked Metal
Slipknot
GWAR
Mushroomhead
Sleep Token
There is something ominous and theatrical when a performer decides to obstruct their face from view. These are the Metal bands that take the visual, and pull it off in their sound, the right way.
Post Metal
Isis
Pelican
Neurosis
Jesu
Simply stated, Metal with limited, or an absence, of vocals.
Power Metal
DragonForce
Manowar
Armored Saint
Dio
Heavy enough to be on the outside edges of the genre, accessible enough that you recognize the music.
Hair Metal
Skid Row
Poison
Bon Jovi
Steel Panther
Hair Metal should be looked on with disdain. With the exception Skid Row's debut album, if someone says Hair Metal, you should run away. I will die on this hill, Motley Crue and Guns N Roses are not Hair Metal.
(Not Metal, but Close)
Industrial
Ministry
Nine Inch Nails
Skinny Puppy
KMFDM
Very good bands, I like them all. Not Metal.
(Not Metal, but Close)
Alternative
Faith No More
Alice in Chains
Tool
Rage Against the Machine
I could make an argument that each one of these bands are Metal.
I could make an argument that each one of these bands aren't Metal.
Where are the lines?
Now if you're a Metal Aficionado, you're growling at me-
Where's your Melodic Death Metal?
Where's your Grindcore?
Where's your Deathcore?
<sigh>
Listen, due to hearing loss, it has been hard for me to keep up with the newest Metal Bands and newest Metal Genres. But even if I didn't have auditory issues, the most extreme forms of Metal really don't do anything for me.
I am very aware of the story of Mayhem, but I don't actually enjoy their music.
I enjoy the music of Blood Incantation, but I can't name 3 other Prog Death Metal bands.
One of my favorite Metal albums of all time is Blackjazz from the Shining (Nor), that fused Metal and Jazz.
Is Black Jazz really a thing though? Or is it just something that the Shining claimed was a thing? Is anyone else even doing anything like that? I listened to the Shining's newest album, they're not even doing Black Jazz anymore.
And, as we try to extract ourselves from an article that has turned out to be random thoughts strewn across the page, we defer the next question to Revolver Magazine:
What was the best Metal Album of 2024?
According to the FANS of the website, it was Marilyn Manson's One Assassination Under God- Chapter I.
Marilyn Manson? What do you do with him?
Part of me says he is nothing more than a modern-day Shock-Rocker, like Alice Cooper. Part of me thinks he's the most important Metal artist of the past 30 years.
Now you can call me a crotchety ol' Gatekeeper, and that's fine, I accept that criticism, but I am a real Metal Fan. You want to debate me with better lists? I WILL LISTEN TO THAT.
But the whole reason for this article is because I keep reading AI Generated crap that says that bands like The Police, Oasis, and Pink Floyd are Metal.
I'm not the guy screaming: Name 3 Songs.
I'm the guy screaming: Machine Gun Kelly is NOT METAL.
