[Severus]

Death Metal

Death Metal :
Death Metal was created by Possessed when in 1985 released their first LP "Seven Churches", this genre took Thrash further, downtuned their guitars and gruntled the vocals (dyaphragma style), the drum work was the fastest double bass to that period of time, and the downtuned guitars played a well coordinated cacophony of riffs. The lyrics were based against religion and such, but Death's album "Scream Bloody Gore" from 1987 determined what Death Metal was really (lyricaly) about.

The US Florida scene bloomed in the late 80's leaded by Deicide, Morbid Angel, Death and Obituary, all released landmark albums as the previously mentioned, "Deicide" and "Legion" from Deicide in 1990 and 1992 and "Altars of Madness" by Morbid Angel in 1989.
"Slowly We Rot", "Cause Of Death" and "The End Complete" (from 1989, 1990 and 1992) from Obituary were also very important albums in the creation and stablishment of Death Metal and the Florida scene (which perished in the mid-late 90's).

Sweden took the Death Metal style to form what is now known as "Swedeath", "Gothenburg" or "Melodic Death Metal".
Bands like Dismember ("Like An Everflowing Stream", and "Indecent and Obscene" albums) and Entombed were the pioneers of this genre, followed by the British colaboration of Carcass' "Heartwork" album.
This innovation took Death Metal and added melodic solos (since most of them were, as previously noted, cacophonous. For an example see soloing in Morbid Angel), heavier and a bit slower sound.

Note : Opeth are often mistaken for Death and/or Progressive Metal, even though they do not belong to either of these sub-genres, only utilize them in their sound at times

The genre has "progressed" so much that most bands who are considered "melodic Death Metal" nowadays, do not utilize much Death Metal in their music and are much closer to Heavy Metal with harsh vocals.

Lyrics more often than not talk about Death, Gore, Murdering, Zombies, blood, anti christianity, and some takes on Man and Philosophy by the hand of Death (the band).

Extras :
-Pioneers : Possessed, Death, Obituary
-Bands worth noticing: Entombed, Dismember

Black Metal

Black Metal :
Black Metal started in 1982, as the Speed/Heavy Band Venom released their "Black Metal" album, a roughly produced, Motorhead influenced full of speed metal album which took simplistic lyrics of Death, Hell, Satan and sometimes plain drunk fun and made badly timed, simplistic riffing with agressive vocals. (gotta love it).

From that point, some bands emerged which were nowhere to be linked together except for their themes about Satan, anti christianity and fantasy tales regarding death, graveyards and stuff.
Bands like 1981's Mercyful Fate (Heavy Metal), specially with their release "Melissa" (1983) and "Don't Break The Oath" (1984); 1983's Bathory, featuring the infamous Quorthon (Ace Borje Fosberg), most specially with releases like "Bathory" (1984), and "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark" (1987). And 1984's Celtic Frost, with their ever popular release "To Mega Therion" (1985) and their debut album "Morbid Tales" (1984).

The style these bands took was nowhere near similar, but it was all classed as Heavy Metal. They were later discussed as Black Metal because of the lyrical content explained above.

These bands gave influence to the creation of a new wave of Black Metal led by Mayhem (bandname based on Venom's "Mayhem With Mercy") and their 1987 E.P. "Deathcrush", in which they were markedly influenced by all the previous bands, taking the raw riffing from Celtic Frost and Venom, and the shrieking vocals and satanic messages of Bathory, to produce a minimalistic sound.
The Black Metal style of the "second wave" got standarized as fast picking, insanely fast tremolo riffing and blasting drumwork with satanic lyrics delivered in various styles of shrieks and growls.
Other Black Metal bands took a more symphonic stand on the process (Emperor and early Dimmu Borgir), to create a more accessible sound.

There existed in the early 90's an almost mafia like group of Black Metal bands formed by members in Emperor, Mayhem, Darkthrone and Immortal (all founding fathers of the second wave), which comited crimes against christianity such as the most infamous of these actings , the church burnings in Norway (where the 2nd wave originated). It is also known that one of the members of this organization murdered an homosexual man. Some of these bands standed on their own views of Nietzscheism, Satanism and Nazism.

Nicknames are also important on Black Metal, even if the trend was created jokingly by Venom, which on their album "Black Metal" holded the following lineup:

Chronos - Dynosaur Destroyer Bass & Vocals (Bass and Vocals)
Mantas - Chainsaw Guitar (Guitars)
Abaddon - 123 Inter-City Express (Drums)

The instrument name-calling was mainly adopted by Cradle Of Filth (arguably, a Gothic Metal band).

Many bands have taken black metal as a crossover style, to create different and innovative music (Thrash + Black = Destroyer 666) (Black + Folk = Finntroll) (Industrial/Electronic + Black Metal = ...And Oceans)

There is supposedly now a third wave of Black Metal, which holds a much more melodic style and have it's base in France, originated by Blut Aus Nord. And other bands like Ukraine's Nokturnal Mortum.

Extras :
-Pioneers of the First Wave: Venom, Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, Sodom (first album)

-Pioneers of the Second Wave: Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Emperor, Burzum

-Bands worth noticing: Blut Aus Nord, Graveland, Absu, Nokturnal Mortum, Naglfar

Viking Metal

Viking Metal :
Viking metal evolved from Black Metal. A lot of people mistake Viking metal for any metal with lyrical themes about Viking or Fenno-Ugric mythology, Heathenism etc. However, this is a completely different musical style. Arrangements are usually more complex than the somewhat simple early black metal that originated in Norway in the early 1990s and Folk Metal is often mixed in, though it not a necessity by any means. The most important bands to the Viking Metal genre are Enslaved and midperiod Bathory and most noteworthy bands would be Moonsorrow, Wintersun and Ensiferum.

Extras :
-Pioneers: Bathory
-Bands worth noticing: Einherjer, Moonsorrow, Wintersun, Ensiferum, Enslaved

Doom Metal

Doom Metal :
Doom was originaly the first Metal subgenre to ever be put on a record, Black Sabbath self titled song (1970) is what I mean. Doom Metal features slow, evil riffs, lots of dark groove and bleak, sense of despair lyrics with depressive matters and deep vocals were what gave inspiration to bands like Candlemass and St. Vitus, the first full on Doom Metal bands.
The general feeling of doom is dark, and depressive (existing a subgenre of it called Funeral), singing about death, lost loves, mourning, ruin and tragedy.

There are mainly two ways that bands today play doom metal. Traditionaly in the vein of Candlemass and St. Vitus like the bands Solitude Aeternus and Doomsword, or bands which came out of the early 90's that combined some of the sense of despair and doom style with bits and pieces of Death metal vocals, such as My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost.
What was named as Funeral Doom, is lead by Pantheist, which holds the newer (death vocals) style and reduces the pace and rythm of the songs even more.

Extras :
-Pioneers: Black Sabbath, Candlemass, St. Vitus
-Bands worth noticing: Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Doomsword, Morgion

Goregrind / Grindcore

Goregrind / Grindcore:
Arguably (and with all right), Grindcore really belongs in the Punk realm, not really Metal. That's why we are going to concentrate on Goregrind, led specially by Carcass. This band took Death Metal and mixed it up with their Napalm Death influences for the album Sc** (1987) to create Reek Of Putrefaction (1988), an album that remains as the creator of Goregrind and one of the most influential (and variated inside this limiting style), it features relentless speed drumming and guitars with gutural and gnarly vocals that usually don't even go along the lyrics which treat subjects like explicit rape, dismembered guts, blood, death, blood, blood, murder, blood and sex.
Also worth noticing their Symphonies Of Sickness (1989) album.

Extras :
-Pioneers: Napalm Death, Carcass, Repulsion

-Bands worth noticing: Exhumed, Dying Fetus