More hallucinated subgenres (there are only two), (guest entry)

Words by P.B. Elsewhere in this blog, it has been said that there are four metal subgenres — heavy, speed (incorrectly called “thrash”), death, and black. However, in the article where this was first put forth, little justification was given as to why there were this many subgenres, and what the lines dividing them were. Indeed, with some analysis, it seems to be impossible to draw lines between some of these. As such, I make the counterclaim that this overestimates the number of metal subgenres, and that there are only actually two metal subgenres — “pre-underground” (the combination of “heavy” and “speed”) and “underground” (the combination of death and black). Listening to the two songs above will make it immediately clear that there can be no musical division made between death metal and black metal. Un-muted tremolo picked melodies? Present in both. Palm muted stomps? Present in both. Similar tempos. Similar drum beats. Emphasis on similar instruments, with each taking the same…