To be a rock, and not to roll...

Heavy Metal vs. Screamo.


I wanna settle this shit once and for all. Right here, right now.
Heavy Metal does not equal Screamo. Screamo does not equal Heavy Metal. They are, in actual fact, two very different genres.


I get the same 'I can't stand all that screaming' response everytime I mention my love for Heavy Metal - nuh huh buster, you're barking up the wrong tree. 'Screaming' vocals are sometimes used in the Heavy Metal genre for effect but not always. Led Zeppelin, the first and perhaps greatest Heavy Metal band to ever walk the earth - Robert Plant didn't scream once. Not once. 
A loose definition of Heavy Metal would sound something like this... "With roots in blues and psychedelic rock, heavy metal bands have a massive sound characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, and strong, emphatic beats." - please take note there wasn't a single mention of screaming. 


Screamo is a subgenre of punk - nothing to do with metal. They are two seperate genres, utterly alien from one another. Of course there are bands like Slipknot who have a heavy metal sound, with screamo style vocals but they are exceptions to the rule unlike most bands that use predominently screamo vocals that will have a hardcore punk sound.  


Now, please before you take it upon yourself to tell me Heavy Metal is performed by a bunch of long haired, smelly, sweaty, screaming, mysoginistic men do a little research first, and then get back to me.  Listen to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple - it's like poetry. No screaming, just beautiful lyrics intertwined with powerful hooks and riffs. Spine tinglingly perfect.