What is metal? Its a serious question. I mean i like what i like

>>70642638
I agree fully. Metal has just become a catch-all term for music with distortion, unfotunately.

>Yet when a friend plays me a song they think is metal, its kinda garbage. I honestly cant tell if im being a snob or if metal has split into so many sub-genres that its become a catch all word and has no real definition anymore.
Your train of thought is correct, but your conclusion isn't. Metal has split into so many subgeneres that the music you listen to and enjoy and consider to be "metal" can easily be vastly different from the metal your friend likes. However, the word does have meaning as all metal shares certain characteristics. Study music and learn about them if you want

>>70642655
>Metal has just become a catch-all term for music with distortion

But metal is literally extra-distorted rock, occassionally with harsher vocals

Metal is non-blues-based riff-oriented rock music, usually with a "heavy" tone.certain types of riffs, soloing styles, beats and vocal styles are metal, but I can't explain that easily.

>>70642817
>Metal is non-blues-based
>What is Black Sabbath, the inventors of metal

>>70642817
>non-blues-based riff-oriented rock music
>non-blues-based
This is debatable in many styles of metal, and rock in general is based on the blues, so by extension, metal is as well.

>>70642677
>extra-distorted rock = metal
My Bloody Valentine is my favourite metal band

>>70642853
I mean the blues form. Sabbath was blues influenced but not blues based. The blues influence mainly showed up in their solos.
>>70642860
Rock n roll grew from blues, but metal has evolved so far away from blues that its no longer a very big aspect of what's going on musically. Even in sabbath, blues was not the main thing happening. Every subgenre (with a few exceptions I'm sure, like death 'n' roll) since the 80's has decreased the blues influence.

>>70643037
>I mean the blues form
12 bar blues? That's not universal. There is no universal song form for the blues. Also, a song that happens to use the 12-bar-blues song form is not automatically a blues song.

so how would i make the distinction to someone that when i say "metal" im talking about stuff from the Scandinavian scene, or the classics like sabbath and iron maiden without sounding like a snob. If i get another recommendation to listen to some nu-metal mallcore shit i might literally die

a band is metal if it can trace it's origins back to black sabbath

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Well what do you listen to OP? You should always start with that

>>70643750
because it typically goes like this

what kinda of music do you like
bit of everything, mostly metal

oh yeah what metal bands
at the gates, amon amarth, municipal waste, 3 inches of blood, solstafir, uncle acid, dissection, iron maiden, black sabbath, powerwolf, the sword, skeletonwitch, rainbow, be'lakor, in vain...... >usually only name like 3 bands but this is my general taste

oh yeah i dont know of them, do you like slipknot? what about korn? disturbed?

>>70642638
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BboIkZ14TVo

this is the most metal song there is

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>>70643393
>without sounding like a snob
Print this out and hang it on your wall. Stare at it while blasting this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-kJskwOzR0

Feel the inspiration.

>>70644289
uuuuuhhh fuck yes

>>70642638
It's hard to say what it is, but at base, it's the culmination of the heavier side of psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock and, to a much lesser extent, progressive rock. Galloping riffs and double-bass drums are strong characteristics.

>>70642638
>What is metal?
For teenagers.

>>70644142
Hmmm

I can kinda see what kind of metal you're talking about

saved

why is metal called metaL honestly? when i think of actual metal i think of just ambient music about atoms and stuff

is it because guitar strings are metal?

>>70642817
This is mostly true. Some metal is blues based though.

>>70646924
It's heavier than rock

>>70642945
kek