What Qualifies as "Metal"?

Music is classifed as metal when it has "a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness".

Metal:

A type of music characterized by it's cacophonous wall of sound and accelerated tempo which is achieved through distorted electric guitars playing fast-paced riffs, with the driving drumbeat often utilizing hypersonic double bass rhythms and emphasizing the continuous pumping action, the bass guitar is often playing similar to the guitar, but more with the drums, so as to add to the overall heavyness and depth. It can manifest in many different forms and the spectrum of intensity is usually quite varied. From slow and heavy melodic grooves, to complex and precise blinding rhythms, odd time changes, and sheer brutality.. metal comes in many shapes and sizes. One common trait of metal is to have vocals dealing with dark subject matter, often sung with anger, aggression, and conviction in the form of screaming. Melodic smooth vocals are also accepted. Solos are an integral part of metal music, as the icing on the cake to complement the heavy intensity of the songs and add more depth and individuality. Real metal has a solo in every song, usually scales and arpeggios played with some changes often in 8th, 16th, or 32nd notes..if only a few quick licks. Metal is progressive and dynamic, and usually provokes feelings that are therapeutic to the listener. Metal is rock music that has evolved.

-Awesome lyrics and topics that are esoteric by mainstream standards (ex. mythology, death, philosophy, fantasy, satanism, historical battles, that sort of stuff)

-In a metal song, there are typically 3-5 different riffs played (usually one for the intro, one for the verses, one for the chorus, etc.) and 1 or 2 guitar solos usually consisting of really fast hammer-ons and pull-offs, tapping, sweep picking, and other techniques

-Really noticeable and heavy bassline that *usually* follows the guitar

-Vocals are really varied, but all unique to the metal genre. Deep, guttural growling for death metal; high-pitched melodic vocals for power metal, operatic vocals for symphonic metal, etc.

-If the music sucks out your soul and damns it to a fiery void of epicness

It's it's heavy enough, it's Metal, to Me

metal is what god created to make me happy

The ability to headbang really. That's it.

Basically anything that's not wood and not stone.

You know your in a metal band if....

The lead singer sings worst then your grandma (no offense grandmas, your awesome)

your music causes deaf people to become more deaf

Your lead singer is either: Stoned, High, Drunk, Constipated, or really angry...Probably a combo of all

....Lol, have fun making up others.....

properties of a metal:

~conducts electricity and heat

~malleable

~ductile

~solid at room temp(excluding mercury)

~lustrous