| Gavin B. |
12-28-2009 05:32 AM |
There's so too many redundant subgenres already. I gave up on keeping track of musical category creep a long time ago. In the future every band will have it's own unique subgenre. Do I really need to know what "Symphonic Black Metal" is to be informed about music? According to genre obsessed folks at AMG:
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Symphonic Black Metal is the most common term for a European-centered style that emerged in the mid- to late '90s. It isn't literally symphonic, of course; that simply refers to the thick-sounding instrumentation and sweeping, dramatic soundscapes. Nor is its connection to black metal always readily audible; although nearly all of its bands started out playing standard-issue black metal, symphonic black metal often bears little surface resemblance to its immediate forebear. The starting point for symphonic black metal was the early-'90s sound of Norwegian black metal, specifically the wing of bands that employed sorrowful, melodic keyboard lines as a counterpoint to their furious assaults. Black metal groups looking to push past the inherent limitations of the form began de-emphasizing the guitar and adding elements of progressive rock (primarily psychedelic space-rock bands like Pink Floyd) and goth metal, with its emphasis on chilling, eerie texture. The resulting sound is usually lush, and much more inviting and accessible than straightforward black metal. After outfits like Tiamat and Samael pioneered the form, a new wave of bands led by the Gathering also began incorporating ethereal female singers, sometimes as the sole vocal focus. The symphonic black metal movement remains somewhat limited, partly because of its epic ambitions and partly because it isn't traditionally metallic, but its fascinating synthesis of influences made it an instantly identifiable alternative in underground metal at the turn of the millennium.
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The guy at AMG who created this category needs to get a grip because his fevered imagination is careening out of control! According to AMG's glossary of musical genres, all metal music is a subgenre of Hard Rock, and Hard Rock is a subgenre of Rock which is the primary genre. Are you confused?...It gets worse.
Hard Rock has largest amonunt of category creep of all the genres with 32 different subgenres:
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Hard Rock
Blues-Rock; Christian Metal; Hard Rock; Southern Rock; Death Metal; Glam Rock; Grindcore; Heavy Metal; Speed Metal; Hair Metal; Arena Rock; Alternative Metal; British MetaL; lBoogie Rock; Industrial Metal; Rap Metal; Guitar Virtuoso; Progressive Metal; Neo-Classical Metal; Album Rock; Aussie Rock; Pop-Metal; Rap-Rock; New Wave of British Heavy Metal; Detroit Rock; Glitter; Punk Metal; Stoner Metal; Scandinavian Metal; Goth Metal ; Doom Metal; Symphonic Black Metal; Sludge Metal; Power Metal
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Going into that level of subgenre detail defeats the purpose of creating descrete categories of music because nobody will agree on exactly which of the several overlapping sub-genres the artist really belongs to.
There's only 11 basic genres of music and the hundreds of subgenres and sub-sub genres are more information than anyone needs. I'm musical pluralist who opposes any and all category creep in music because it's an elitist trend and it kills joy of music.
Category creep transforms recorded music into just another capitalist product with an appropriate marketing strategy designed to appeal to a certain "hip" demographic of people who want to follow the most fashionable music trends. Trust me on this...Those opinion makers of "the hip demographic" are painfully unaware of hipness because all of the great indie labels like Sun Records, Stax, Rough Trade, Chess, Rounder or Slash don't have the big advertising budgets to market their music to the self-appointed hipsters who know what Emo or Twee music is. I really don't know what Emo or Twee music is and I really don't want to know what Emo or Twee music is. I don't need to have a knowledge of Emo or Twee to appreciate music. For all I know, I could have several Emo or Twee selections in my music collection.
Category creep makes music critics feel important and assists megamusic corporations to market music by demographic groups but there are 11 basic genres of music and all the other hundreds of subgenres are categorical overkill that are subjective creations of the musical establishment. |
