Top 10 Best Extreme Metal Genres
Extreme metal is a term for a number of related heavy metal subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. This list includes extreme metal subgenres and fusions between same extreme metal subgenres or between other genres.
Death has to be the most extreme. I've never heard a Thrash Metal song about ripping entrails out of a virgin or a song about ripping flesh off of someone's body and wearing it as a mask. Even Slayer and Kreator don't sing about stuff like Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under, or Morbid Angel. So Death is the most extreme!
So much diversity within its subgenres and the amount of experimentation. This is what defines extreme metal, as well as the complex song structures and intricate riff patterns.
Death metal is definitely the heaviest genre. Please explain why thrash is number one. There is no way that thrash can be heavier than death metal.
Thrash Metal is a Heavy Metal subgenre developed during the early 1980s and an early precursor of Extreme Metal. Thrash Metal features a faster and more aggressive guitar work than Traditional Metal with shredding and double-bass drums and can range from melodic singing to loud shouts... read more Thrash metal, doom metal, death metal, melodic death metal, black metal, and grindcore are the only genres that should even be here. Stuff like power metal, groove metal, and metalcore don't belong on this list because they aren't "extreme" metal genres. The fact that nu-"metal" is here is laughable.
Thrash is the most extreme and sounds the heaviest. Just Thrash! Thrash Metal pushed all other extreme subgenres of metal. Genres like Death, Black, and Groove Metal, and also Grindcore and Deathcore. Thrash is extreme life.
Why is there a guy who seems to think symphonic black metal is heavier than black metal and makes lists with made-up genres such as "Nu extreme metal"? Anyway, black metal is the most "extreme" genre in my opinion because not only is the music very inaccessible, but the violence and Satanism that occurred during the second wave haven't really been seen in any other metal genre.
Death, Black, Death-Doom, and Funeral Doom are pretty much the only metal sub-genres I find myself gravitating to the most. I don't dislike other sub-genres, but they no longer captivate me as much as they did during the initial phase. Once you immerse yourself in or embrace extreme metal, the lust for dark music only intensifies with each listen.
Very ambiguous genre. There are so many different types of Melodic Death. While I love bands like Insomnium, Be'Lakor, Carcass, At The Gates, Persefone, Quo Vadis, Intestine Baalism, etc., there are also many bands I dislike who are considered some of the best and genre-leading ones.
But still, I enjoy the gems of this genre, and I guess that's all that counts in the end.
How can anyone not love bands like Insomnium, Arch Enemy, Noumena, and Wolfchant?
Veil of Maya all the way on this one. Mikasa and Doublespeak. Good stuff.
Easily the heaviest genre. People like fast metal, but there's nothing like the MASSIVE sound of Doom. It's the closest "modern" genre to bands like Black Sabbath. How can that be a bad thing?
I love faster metal like thrash and death metal, but there's nothing quite like the sheer heaviness of doom. It gives you this "trudging through mud and sludge" kind of feel. Music is about feel, not super technicality (though that doesn't hurt), and Doom definitely has a very unforgettable feel to it. It's like being crushed with a massive wall of sound, and I love it.
This is where we reach the end of music. This is the noisiest genre that can still be considered music before you start entering real noise territory. I'm not sure why this isn't #1 though. It combines the extremes of goregrind and harsh noise and offers loud guitars, fast drums, and outrageous vocals.
Grindcore might not have the most disgusting lyrics, unlike those listed in the death metal description. Of course, some bands like Anal C*nt can go far and sing about pornogrind or goregrind, but I'm talking about the bands that actually formed grindcore as a genre. For example, my favorite band, Napalm Death. They are the fathers of grind, and no one can deny that.
If you look at their lyrics or try to actually listen to them, you won't hear them singing about a woman whose eye got poked out and then someone with AIDS. No, no, no. They are singing about politics and about not being treated fairly. The true heaviness comes with the music. Listen to their first album, "Scum." Only the drums will make your ears bleed badly within the first minute of any song, let's say "Instinct of Survival."
If you listen to their last album, "Apex Predator - Easy Meat," man, not only will your ears bleed, but your teeth will break and your brain will run away. To conclude, I want to say: death metal is damn heavy, but half of this heaviness is reached through the lyrics. Grindcore is heavy because of its music. Yeah, that's it, haha.
Blackened Death Metal has some of the heaviest drumming ever. Drummers like Inferno of Behemoth and Marthyn of Belphegor take it to the next level.
Behemoth! At the Left Hand ov God is my second favorite song after Hammer Smashed Face.
Off-topic, if Progressive/Technical... Technical Death and its branches are some of the most important variations in the last decade in metal. The technical death musicians have skills beyond the thrashers. The aggressiveness is equal to any black metal, and the fusion/progressive songwriting is at the same level as other bands dedicated to their genre.
It's not a war about definition. It's about recognizing one of the most underrated/polemic genres in Metal! This goes from Obscura to Quo Vadis, from Origin to Nile. Even Gojira licks this genre. Thrash Forever! But Tech Deaths are in my heart!
It's brutal and unforgiving to both the listener and performer. Whether or not you like it, I would argue that it is the heaviest by the fact that it can incorporate all the intensity of death metal and mix in the rebellion that hardcore punk was founded on.
The dynamic of transitioning from really fast to really slow and sludgy makes deathcore feel more intense than death metal. That's just my opinion and feeling, of course.
This should be the number one heaviest genre of metal. It has everything that death metal has plus breakdowns, chugging, and more blast beats.
How in the world is brutal death metal not at number one? Bands like Maggot Colony and Analepsy make all the other subgenres of metal sound like kids' bop.
Brutal Death and its subgenres are superior to any other genre, period.
Brutal Death Metal is strictly heavier than death metal, hence the name. How is death metal number one and this number eleven?
The Newcomers
Well, if you think Last Days of Humanity and Regurgitate are less heavy than Cannibal Corpse and Nile, then you are correct. But in reality, goregrind, while it can be slow and grindy at times, features bands like Carcass, Regurgitate, Last Days of Humanity, Rompeprop, etc., which are in fact much heavier.
Technically, death metal is heavier, but if goregrind is ranked below power metal in heaviness, this list is wrong. Just listen to Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass or Putrefaction in Progress by Last Days of Humanity for proof that goregrind is much heavier (though not more technical).
The heaviest and slowest genre of metal ever. Pounding drums and distorted bass with brutal growling vocals and depressive melodies make this the most lifeless genre on earth! Mournful Congregation, Tyranny, Thergothon, and Bell Witch are some of the best bands in this genre.
Genres like Sludge, Death-Doom, Grindcore, and Tech Death can be extreme at times, but the genres most consistently falling into very extreme music are Funeral Doom, Slam Death, DSBM, and Goregrind in my opinion.
A real underground genre, emerged in the early '90s in Finland. Similar to Death/Doom. Painfully slow, heavily distorted guitars, majestic keyboards, and extreme deep growls. Check out bands like Skepticism, Esoteric, and Worship.
Svartsot is some really heavy Viking metal. They mix death metal with folk instruments and Viking themes.
It's not my favorite subgenre, nor do I believe metalcore should be #1. However, due to the fusion of screaming or growling vocals and brutal breakdowns, I stand by my opinion that you can find a lot of songs that are heavier than a significant amount of thrash metal songs.
Listen to the album "Caliban - Vent," and you will understand why metalcore is heavier than black metal and thrash.
Metalcore is a good genre. It actually has melodies and can be artistically creative. Haters gonna hate, but it's good if you're open-minded and aren't a bandwagoner, which is what metal should be all about anyway.
My favorite genre. The old Katatonia and My Dying Bride fuse the beauty and emotion of doom with death's raw anger, complementing each other perfectly.
This is the fusion genre of death metal and doom metal.
Autopsy changed my mind about death/doom. Amazing.
Some people used to call bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest speed metal in the 70s and 80s.
Amazing. Bands like Silencer are the creepiest thing I've ever heard. It should get more votes.
I know this genre is worthless, but we are talking about extreme genres, not the best ones. So, it deserves the No. 10 spot. Grindcore, Black Metal, Death Metal, etc., might have a better chance at being number one, but Pornogrind still deserves a spot in the top 10.
This subgenre of grindcore is just plain insane. It's truly disgusting stuff.
It's not good for listening, but in terms of heaviness, it is epic.
