Metal and Metal Subgenres

Many styles and genres of music have their own distinct aesthetics associated with them, and Metal is one of the more well known ones. Metal as a genre is defined by distorted sounds, aggressive playing, and unique styles of vocals. As a result, metal aesthetics tend to represent anger or other deep seated or negative emotions. Commonplace in metal attire are leather jackets, spiked accessories, and ripped clothing. While these are associated with several musical genres today, the origin of this is actually in the biker subculture of the 60s.

Despite this, metal is a very wide-spanning genre, and its many subgenres tend to have their own unique aesthetics, despite all stemming from the same source.

One of the first metal aesthetics that tends to come to mind for people is that of Kiss, with black and white makeup and over the top, exaggerated outfits. This is no coincidence, as one of the more well known sub-categories of metal was Shock Metal, which was entirely focused on being as over-the-top and memorable as possible. The aesthetics of this genre were not defined by a single look or style, but rather just the act being as memorable as possible.

Another of the more iconic Metal aesthetics is that of Hair Metal. As the name suggests, the style donned by musicians of this style was heavily focused on their hair. Long, flowing, curly hair was style, with over-the-top performances and outfits being optional. While there was not a uniform aesthetic style outside of this, there was a single symbol that stood out among everything else: Eddie Van Halen’s custom guitar. Belonging to the frontman of one of the era’s biggest metal bands, “Frankenstrat” was an amalgamation of parts from several different guitars, with custom equipment attached to its head. Painted in a variety of reds, blacks, and whites, it was recognizable to all who had even seen it, standing out in the same way that Shock and Hair metal aesthetics desire.

Unfortunately, the common factor behind these Metal aesthetics is that they are intrinsically tied to the time they came from. The Hair Metal aesthetic is now forever associated with the 80s, with few adhering to it. As music evolved, Metal aesthetics did as well. Standing out among these are two subgenres, Nu Metal and Power Metal.

Nu Metal is unique among metal Aesthetics in that it has a lot of overlap with the aesthetics of hip-hop. This subgenre began in the 90s, fusing the rap and metal of the time. Gone were the leather jackets and spikes that came before, replace by baggy jeans, t-shirts, and backwards caps. Despite being in the same broader category as all other variants of Metal, Nu Metal still managed to carve out its own aesthetic.

While most metal subgenres that deviated from the typical Metal aesthetic remained somewhat grounded, Power Metal is the farthest that the aesthetic could have possibly diverged. Instead of leather jackets and spikes, the Power Metal aesthetic has wizard robes and suits of armor. This genre was largely inspire by singer-songwriter Ronnie James Dio, who wrote songs based on his love of folklore and classical fantasy. The aesthetic of Power Metal is grounded in fantasy, with some bands even dressing as vikings or knights during live shows.

Music inspires many aesthetics, and Metal is one of the best examples of this. As one overall genre, countless aesthetics have been created From the incomprehensible logos of death metal to the almost mathematical methods of progressive metal to whatever “Shakespeare metal” entails, only the tip of the iceberg has been seen with the aesthetic of Metal.

Image References:

Featured Picture: https://ultimatemetallica.com/the-ultimate-metallica-show-recap-live-tracks-2022/

Figure 1: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/jul/09/rebel-riders-on-the-road-with-a-1960s-biker-gang-in-pictures

Figure 2: https://apnews.com/article/kiss-digital-avatars-end-of-road-finale-37a8ae9905099343c7b41654b2344d0c

Figure 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMDHwYTeZd0

Figure 4: https://www.1057thepoint.com/music-news/fred-durst-pretend-hosts-snl-in-new-video-for-diiv-song/

Figure 5: https://web.archive.org/web/20181029101025/https://www.thoughtco.com/essential-power-metal-albums-1759036