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Post-metal is a Music Genre , a mixture between the genres of Post-rock and Heavy Metal , with roots in Progressive Rock and Industrial Music . It is broadly characterized by distorted guitar, heavy atmospherics, gradual evolution of song structure, and a minimal emphasis on vocals. Hydrahead Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating the link with art metal and the Avant Garde , by trying to move away from common metal conventions1. "Post-metal" is the favored name for a growing genre, one also referred to as "instro-metal",2 "postcore", Art Metal , and a great range of others. The term "post-metal" was earlier used in the UK to describe another emergent genre of metal, at which time the genre now knows as "post-metal" was referred to by various other names, most commonly "industrial soundscape music" and "soundscape metal". The term largely fell out of use with the rise of what was known as "post-metal" in the US, effectively seconding the term from the British bands. HISTORY CHARACTERISTICS The simplest way to define post-metal is as a mix of post-rock and metal. This indicates the interplay of light and dark - taking the distorted guitars and guttural vocals of metal and Post-hardcore and setting that against the clean instrumentalism of post-rock. Pieces tend to be at a slow- to mid-tempo, focusing on chord changes and barrages of sound rather than Lead Guitar Riffing and Shredding , and usually eschewing Guitar Solo s. Post-metal tends not to feature the discordance present in much of modern hardcore; a feature present in music by contemporaries such as Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan . Isis' '' Panopticon '' (2004) is a prime example of post-metal, and post-rock elements are clearly evident in the contrast between calm melodic passages and aggressive distortion-driven climactic sequences. Similar musical structuring can be heard in Pelican's second album released in 2005, '' The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw '', again with a focus on gradual evolution of structure. Instrumentation A typical post-metal set-up includes two or three guitars, a bass guitar, synths, a drumkit and a vocalist.. Orchestral passages are not uncommon, especially in the work of Cult Of Luna , Intronaut , Kayo Dot and Boris have music strongly influenced by Jazz . Vocals and lyrics The general philosophy behind post-metal production is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so each instrument is usually given about equal presence. Vocals are often not particularly high in the mix, and in most cases are in the style of hardcore or metal, i.e. guttural and shouted, rather than clean or shrieked as in Emo , or growled in Death Metal . Lyrics cover a broad spectrum of issues, usually somewhat Metaphysical , Existentialist or Macroscopic , as opposed to deeply personal or directly Allegorical . Themes often include political dissatisfaction, or criticism of Herd Mentality . Cult of Luna lyrics (see ''Salvation'') Isis lyrics (see ''Panopticon'') Callisto lyrics Structure Post-metal is also defined by structure, which leans far more towards that of post-rock than metal: songs tend to 'evolve' to a Crescendo or climax (or multiple ones within a song), building upon a repeated theme or chord shift, whereas metal, however, often adheres to Verse-chorus-verse conventions of song structure. As Aaron Turner of Isis states, "the standard song format of verse-chorus-verse-chorus is something that has been done and redone, and it seems pointless to adhere to that structure when there are so many other avenues to explore". The result of this is often long songs, commonly in the range of six to eleven minutes.'' The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw '' Therefore a typical post-metal track is not generally suitable for radio play, nor is it commercially viable. Similarly, albums are often created as quasi- Conceptual , creating the greatest impact when listened to as a whole. Likewise, it is not uncommon to see literary influences on albums, such as Red Sparowes' '' At The Soundless Dawn ''. This is arguably what makes the genre such an element of the '' Avant-garde ''. It draws upon the ideas of Contemporary Classical Music and Minimalism in the vein of Steve Reich (i.e. repetition and expansion of a theme) and John Cage , at the same time as the metal scene. A typical post-metal piece might start with a lone guitar, but eventually build to six-plus members playing simultaneously, as shown in songs like "Genesis" from '' The Beyond '' by Cult of Luna. Likewise, a post-metal song may leap "head-first" into the music, with distortion and aggression evident from the start. Songs like this challenge the definition of the genre, but the majority of them will contain clean interludes or lulls, usually as parts of a build-up in themselves. Relevant examples include "False Light" from ''Oceanic'' by Isis, "Australasia" from '' Australasia '' by Pelican, or "Monstrously Low Tide" from "Leaving Your Body Map" by Maudlin Of The Well . Elements of post-metal can also be found in metal, ("Chain Wandering Deeply"), Eden Maine ("Disformasiya"), and Converge ("Jane Doe") all give nods to the genre in some pieces, largely in their structuring. Many bands include one or two "epic" songs in an album; it is those which are comparable to post-metal. Aesthetic Similarities Many post-metal bands evoke similar imagery in their album artwork, largely taking cues from Isis. Common themes in imagery include oceans, ocean-dwelling creatures (such as Octopi , Squid , Whale s or interpretations of Leviathan ), landscapes and clouded skies. A piece in '' Terrorizer '' posits that ''Oceanic'' covered "fairly similar aquatic terrain" as Cult of Luna's release '' Salvation '',Martin, Jim. Review of ''Salvation''. ''Terrorizer'' issue 124, October 2004. 68. indicating a motif of water, and connotations of vastness. Aesthetically, post-metal is often an attempt to return to the truly "heavy" aspects of metal. CRITICISM Since this genre is relatively new and is only represented by a small number of artists, the need for an entirely independent classification of music has occasionally been questioned by music reviewers and listeners. As a label, some see ''"post-metal"'' as redundant, since some bands listed as post-metal contain many elements similar to Doom Metal , Progressive Metal , Sludge Metal , and Stoner Metal . Others, however, argue that these elements have been combined and altered in ways that go beyond the boundaries of those respective genres, creating the need for a single, distinguishing label. Aesthetic or visual similarities in album art and performance are cited as derivative in claims that post-metal is an overly incestuous movement for its relatively small group of bands and musicians. Isis is often cited as the source of this shared imagery, although bands with similar visual themes playing in the post-metal style existed before Isis greatly popularized the subgenre. LIST OF NOTABLE POST-METAL BANDS
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