101 rules of black metal

[isoFlux]

I reject the statement that Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and Robin Trower cease to be \"Metal\" for the sole reason that bands like Venom, Metallica, and Iron Maiden expanded on the sound. They, Cream, Foghat, Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, and many other bands were integral developments which led to the coining of the term, and the definition of the genre. A genre doesn\'t migrate. A genre is defined by the bands that are associated with it. Nirvana will never cease to be Grunge, even though bands like Soundgarden, Bush, Smashing Pumkins, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam expanded the sound. Kyuss is still Stoner Rock, even if Queensryche explores past what Kyuss originally did. In the very same vein, just because Metallica is angrier, and Opeth more \"epic\"-sounding, Led Zeppelin is still part of the genre it pioneered. You can\'t argue that Communication Breakdown, Dazed and Confused, and How Many More times aren\'t, dark, heavy, and epic.

Metal is the ground-genre. It is a sub-genre of Rock. But you wouldn\'t say a band is just rock, or just metal. There are subgenres that are used to describe bands, and sub-subgenres, and so on that are used to narrow the description of a band. Think of genres as not flat, but a heirarchy. Led Zeppelin and Skid Row are both Metal bands, but Led Zeppelin is \"Heavy Metal\", \"Folk Metal\" and \"Bluesrock\", and Skid Row are \"Hair Metal\" and \"Pop Metal\". They are both Metal bands just like they are both Rock bands just like they are both music. They share basic philosiphies: distorted and aggressive riffing, a \"heavy\" sound, and solos. They use those elements differently, with varying effects and moods, which separates their sound beyond the bland category of \"Metal\", and makes it necessary for us to more accuratly define their sound with more specifically defined genres.

On a side note:
Notice how most of the genres being discussed in this thread are postfixed with \"Metal\". This implies that they are all part of the father-genre of \"Metal\".