... the people that actively listen to and explore the genres such as myself give quite a bit of a rat's ass about the subgenres.

Now, Traitorfish,I agree no flaming. Especially between you and me ^_~

I shall post the basic definitions of what each subgenre sounds like, and then if at all possible a clip of a band that plays the style.

Thrash: A combination of old school Hardcore Punk with Classic Heavy Metal, early thrash bands took the two emerging styles merged them added a healthy dose of speed and went from there. One word defines the instruments in thrash "fast", Riffs are sets of fast chords, drums are played in double bass rolls and fast snare reliant blasts, bass is often limited to fast plucking of the top two strings. Vocals are usually intense but clean and lack vibrato. Slayer, Testament and Exodus are all good examples.

Heathen - Opiate of the Masses
http://www.heathenmetal.com/main/multimedia/vod/02%20Vicitims%20of%20Deception%20-%20Opiate%20of%20the%20Masses.mp3


Black Metal: An extreme evolution of thrash about pushing metal to its audible extremes. Guitars are usually fast and abrasive, often quite minimilistic, and often tremolo picked. Drums are usually fast double bass sections or fast blast beats, usually accompanied by a ride or hi-hat. Vocals are shrieked in a shrill high-pitched tone, and production is often very rough to enhance the atmosphere and abrasiveness of the music. Mayhem, Darkthrone, Gorgorth, Burzum and Kreig are all excellent examples of Pure Black Metal. Some bands may add more symphonic/melodic elements to their sound.

Gorgoroth - Procreating Satan
http://home.online.no/~jmyksvol/samples/procreating-satan.mp3

Rotting Christ - Shadows Follow (Melodic BM)
http://www.rotting-christ.com/download/Rotting%20Christ%20_%20Shadows%20Follow.mp3

Death Metal: The other evolution of Thrash, this branch of bands went in a very different direction with the Thrash prototype, they thickened the guitar tone, inserted a lot of musicianship, morbidity, groove and speed (yes even more). Double bass sections are usually faster, more blasts are used and riffs are usually a lot more technical. However the main thing that sets DM apart is the vocals. Vibrato soaked growls that are projected from the abdomen and shaped with the throat, this is as important part of the music as any of the instruments. Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy, Origin, and Death are all good examples of Death Metal.

Demilich - The Planet that Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh that it Desired...)
http://www.anentity.com/demilich/get.php/files/Nespithe/Nespithe_MP3/Demilich%20-%20Nespithe%20-%2009%20-%20The%20Planet%20that%20Once%20Used%20to%20Absorb%20Flesh%20in%20Order%20to%20Achieve%20Divinity%20 and%20Immortality%20(Suffocated%20to%20the%20Flesh%20that%20it%20Desired...).mp3

Power Metal: A straight evolution of Classic Heavy Metal, through Iron Maiden who despite not being Power themselves were a massive influence on the genre. Power Metal places a high focus on guitar harmonies and melodies, extravagant solos are used often and riffs tend to "gallop" due to the chord progressions used. Subject matter is quite often fantasy based. Lost Horizon, Hammerfal and Stratovarius are good examples of this.

Blind Guardian - Mirror Mirror
http://www.blind-guardian.com/new_version/mediaplayer.php3?title=Mirror%20Mirror&filename=discography/media/Mirror_Mirror_Trailer.mp3&width=200&height=10

Melodic Death Metal: Or "Melo-Death" is a combination of Power Metal structures with those of Death Metal, Maidenesque twin guitar harmonies are used liberally, drums usually contain a certain amount of rhythm and groove, technicality is at a mid to high level and vocals are usually growled, although at a higher pitch than standard Death Metal. In Flames, Soilwork, At The Gates and Arch Enemy are all obvious examples of Melo-Death

Arsis - The Face of My Innocence
http://www.worshipdepraved.com/sounds/TheFaceofMyInnocence.mp3

Progressive Metal: A combination of the ideals of 70’s/80’s prog bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin with the distortion, groove, rythym and structure of classic heavy Metal. What came out was a legion of bands led by Dream Theater who featured immense technical ability, numerous time signature and tempo changes, long sweeping instrumental sections . Each song often sounds different from the last due to the fact that they draw influence from all over the place and extravagant solo sections are almost a necessity.

Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element
http://www.painofsalvation.com/samples/perfshort.mp3


Grindcore: An extreme form of Hardcore Punk. Characterized by heavy use of blast beats, heavily distorted bass, and extremely fast, grinding guitars. Vocals are typically guttural bellows, but higher pitched screams are also used. Lyrical content is political with Grindcore in its purest form. Emphasis on simplicity, just as in punk. Napalm Death, Nasum, Burned Up Bled Dry, Extreme Noise Terror and Siege are all excellent examples of Grind. Modern grind or "Tech Grind" as it is sometimes called is slightly different in that it is based more on modern Metalcore than in old school punk, the obvious examples of this are of course Pig Destroyer.

smurf ... I'm Dead - Licky Webster (should be the first song to pop up)
http://www.myspace.com/smurfimdeadgrind

Doom Metal: This term has grown to mean "anything that draws influence from the first two Sabbath albums" but I resent that, real doom is painfully slow, depressing music, with long monotonous drones for riffs, simple drums and particularly pained vocals (usually lower than their DM counterparts). Most Doom Metal puts the emphasis more on atmosphere and "feel" of the music, rather than any individual notes or riffs. Examples include Saturnus, While Heaven Wept and Skepticism.

Novembers Doom - Swalloed by the Moon
http://media.theendrecords.com/NovembersDoom_PaleHauntDeparture_SwallowedBytheMoon.mp3

Sludge: Typically a sub-genre of hardcore, although borrowing from genres such as Industrial, Grindcore, and even Southern Rock. Characterized by incredibly slow, grinding, dirgy guitars, primarily rhythmic drumming, and screams which sound particularly painful. Subject matter can be about anything, but is most typically about drug use or various states of emotion. the most easily recognizable bands in this genre are Eyehategod, Crowbar, Soilent Green, Beaten Back To Pure, and Rabies Caste.

Acid Bath - Paegan Love Song
http://rottenrecords.com/mp3s/Acid%20Bath%20-%20Paegan%20Love%20Song.mp3

Metalcore: In short: Hardcore + A Metal Genre (Usually Thrash Or Death) Very similar to Hardcore in most respects, but instead of using either overly abstract riffs (The DEP) or simple mosh riffs (Hatebreed), they tend to use much more Thrash or Death influenced guitar work. Metalcore tends not to have the genericore Hardcore vocals and the drumming is more tribal instead of jumping between slow blast beats and rolls. Zao, Johnny Truant, Luddite Clone and Into Eternity are all good examples of the range of sound Metalcore can create.

Killswitch Engage - Temple from the Within
http://www.killswitchengage.com/shared/downloads/KillswitchEngage/Killswitch_Engage_TempleFromTheWithin.mp3

Folk metal: To be quite brief: Metal + Folk music. It usually combines power or black metal, with Celtic folk music but it can be just about any sub-genre of metal mixed with just about any brand of folk music.

Korpiklaani - Cottages and Saunas
http://www.spv.de/SoundsF/3/37022~0001001.mp3

EDIT: Forgot Heavy metal, but heh. Stick to the definition that is in traitorfish's post. A sample? Ok.

http://www.ironmaiden.com/discograph...ficarus_56.wmv

Iron Maiden - Flight of Icarus

Now realize that within each of these sub-genres there are other sub-sub genres but I really don't feel the need to classify them that far in this case.

So, I do believe I have covered the most basic forms of metal, and one of punk >_> Grindcore often is related to DM so I felt it proper to mention them it. So yeah, I hope this will clear up any problems people may have with me and not backing up my claims as to what the genres are. ^___^