A lot of metalheads have been describing and discriminating against bands who they classify as 'true metal' (or 'tr00 metal'). Whilst this is not an actual defined metal sub genre like prog or black metal, I've seen this term used a lot to describe bands from Manowar to Burzum. Some metalheads are quite passionate about this pseudo-tag and have gotten into petty squabbles about what is true and what isn't.

Anyhow, I've decided to question your thoughts on what 'true metal' is or has been described as. There is no real answer so there will be no need to bash or redefine other people's points. What makes a band 'true'? What bands can be considered so? And can a band that has 'sold out' be classed as 'true' as well or do they have to be underground to a certain extent? Do bands belonging in a certain metal subgenre have a better chance of being 'true' than another metal subgenre?

Discuss. I'm interested to see what other people have to say.

True metal is a sub-genre of metal, but it's not called 'true metal'...the sub-genre tag is known as 'traditional metal'...bands that fall into this catagory would be bands like Nevermore, Armored Saint, Eidolon, Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, Manilla Road, Metal Church, etc...

Basically, a metal band is 'true' if they follow the basic guitar and drums driven sound of metal from earlier bands like Black Sabbath and keep this basic blueprint consistant throughout their career and don't evolve into anything further...keyboards are used but they are kept on the down low...as long as these bands are using the key elements of guitar, bass and drums then they are true...

The bands that I have mentioned haven't sold out...I suppose that if they start adding other elements then they have basically sold out to other sub-genres of metal and thus cannot be classified as traditional metal anymore...these bands don't have to be underground but fusing other sub-genre metal elements is generally not excepted...

I suppose that every sub-genre of metal has a degree of 'trOOness' and if you beging experimenting with other sub-genres in your evolution as a band then you aren't qualified as being part of the sub-genre of metal you started out in and you crossover...

With traditional metal bands you can trust to hear more of the same all the time everytime and you will never loose faith in them...these bands go down in history in metal and are well respected because of how they stick to one thing and never loose sight...

True metal (for me) is the meaning of the bands that make the metal stronger than ever, Burzum, Manowar and Helloween are the most greatest symbols. I heard the true metal meaning with bands like grave digger and manowar, they said that everibody that play true metal like them, could be possibly the followers of their genre.

True Metal......well there's more True Metal in the world than Flase Metal.....

True Metal are bands that play music that IS ACTUALLY METAL and inspired by music that is Metal......Bands that don't depend on MTV and any other such glam and glitter industry!

Written by [user id=2084] on 03.07.2006 at 05:09

True metal is a sub-genre of metal, but it's not called 'true metal'...the sub-genre tag is known as 'traditional metal'...bands that fall into this catagory would be bands like Nevermore, Armored Saint, Eidolon, Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, Manilla Road, Metal Church, etc...

Oh, I was told that traditional metal was interchangable with heavy metal.

Also, those listed bands fit into the other more commonly used metal genres like thrash and power etc, but they still remain true metal as well?

Written by [user id=160] on 03.07.2006 at 18:49

True Metal......well there's more True Metal in the world than Flase Metal.....

True Metal are bands that play music that IS ACTUALLY METAL and inspired by music that is Metal......Bands that don't depend on MTV and any other such glam and glitter industry!

So by not depending on MTV and stuff, does that mean they sort of have to not be mainstream and well known?

true/troo is a term only really used by power metal fans whining about something they know nothing about. i rarely see anyone use the term "true" seriously apart from "true doom" which some people use to refer to traditional doom.

True Metal... I think thats a band witch do not lose it's idea and genre... Like bands with no changes in the genre cuz of money... something like that i supose...

Written by -tom- on 03.07.2006 at 23:03

true/troo is a term only really used by power metal fans whining about something they know nothing about. i rarely see anyone use the term "true" seriously apart from "true doom" which some people use to refer to traditional doom.

And a lot of black metallers who take themselves too seriously as well.

Written by Daru Jericho on 03.07.2006 at 22:46

Written by [user id=2084] on 03.07.2006 at 05:09

True metal is a sub-genre of metal, but it's not called 'true metal'...the sub-genre tag is known as 'traditional metal'...bands that fall into this catagory would be bands like Nevermore, Armored Saint, Eidolon, Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, Manilla Road, Metal Church, etc...

Oh, I was told that traditional metal was interchangable with heavy metal.

Also, those listed bands fit into the other more commonly used metal genres like thrash and power etc, but they still remain true metal as well?

A lot of people I know say that true metal is traditional metal and when I just looked up true metal, I was redirected to traditional metal

Those bands that I mentioned might fall into other catagories, but people that count them as thrash or power still are never sure that they are actually thrash, power, etc...

Written by Daru Jericho on 04.07.2006 at 01:17

Written by -tom- on 03.07.2006 at 23:03

true/troo is a term only really used by power metal fans whining about something they know nothing about. i rarely see anyone use the term "true" seriously apart from "true doom" which some people use to refer to traditional doom.

And a lot of black metallers who take themselves too seriously as well.

no. they don't. its become increasingly rare for people to use the term "true black metal" in a serious way.

my avatar pretty much sums up how seriously anyone (including most BM fans) consider words like true and cult.

Written by -tom- on 04.07.2006 at 01:37

Written by Daru Jericho on 04.07.2006 at 01:17

Written by -tom- on 03.07.2006 at 23:03

true/troo is a term only really used by power metal fans whining about something they know nothing about. i rarely see anyone use the term "true" seriously apart from "true doom" which some people use to refer to traditional doom.

And a lot of black metallers who take themselves too seriously as well.

no. they don't. its become increasingly rare for people to use the term "true black metal" in a serious way.

my avatar pretty much sums up how seriously anyone (including most BM fans) consider words like true and cult.

Well, at least once upon a time there were people who used it seriously. I'm sure there are still a lot of BM fans who say "Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth are not true black metal." Either way, I've definitely talked to BM'ers who used the word seriously.

To be honest this is the first time I've heard the term true-metal as a serious genre. I've heard it used just to describe what one thinks is a good band. (an opinion) To me, it means bands that stick to their roots. They don't conforms to big record labels just to make money a.k.a Trivium. I'm sure that most of the "great" bands started off really poor, and later, due to the fact that they stayed original, became very rich. But it's all perspective really...

This sounds just like Rozz's goth metal/not goth metal article.

Written by Daru Jericho on 03.07.2006 at 22:47

Written by [user id=160] on 03.07.2006 at 18:49

True Metal......well there's more True Metal in the world than Flase Metal.....

True Metal are bands that play music that IS ACTUALLY METAL and inspired by music that is Metal......Bands that don't depend on MTV and any other such glam and glitter industry!

So by not depending on MTV and stuff, does that mean they sort of have to not be mainstream and well known?

Well come to think ov it, not necessarily ya know.....Cuz Judas Priest got lots ov airplay back in the day.

....Hmmmm i guess really to be True Metal, there's a certain trait or sound you must maintain.

I always thought that all you needed to make tr00 metal was to make metal that sounded like crap and was Darkthrone look-a-like all over. Guess I was wrong.

But anyway, true metal being traditional metal doesn't sound too bad. But I'd prefer to call it traditional metal, as true metal sounds kinda narrow-minded.

I think the erection of a "berlin wall" between various genres of music which contain metal elements is simply playground politics to make "metalheads" still feel elite or superior when more mainstream culture starts gravitating to their musical territory.

Would most true metal be older stuff? 80s to early 90s?

i think that the "true metal" varies from person to person who listens to metal. for example: somebody really loves uhm.. death metal. So the true metal for that person is death metal, whilst someone else really loves folk metal which is really different from death metal. So for that person is folk metal the true metal.

"True Metal" is actually a genre, it's exactly the same as "traditional metal", "Heavy Metal".... All three names describe the same genre... So if we take Iron Maiden as an example, they're traditional metal, heavy metal, true metal..it's basically all just different names for the same thing, really.

If you don't believe me, you can read here:
http://www.metalcrypt.com/genresframe.php

"Traditional: Often called "True Metal", sometimes "Classic" or just "Heavy Metal", this is the genre that was there before all the others. The proliferation of genres didn't begin until the first big metal wave began to crest in the mid 80's, and before that all metal bands were just "Heavy Metal". Hard and fast standards are hard to pin down here. Most Traditional Metal bands play music at least partially inspired by early pioneers like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Manowar. There is a definite focus on two-guitar harmonies, aggressive riffs, and powerful clean vocals with a lot of emphasis on the upper ranges. Songs with "Barbarian" and "Metal" in the title are pretty much customary, and songs about Metal as a musical form and way of life are common. An exception is the pioneering band Manilla Road, who are the fathers of a subset of true metal including bands like Omen and Ironsword. These bands tend to use rawer production and riffage, as well as sometimes using gruffer vocals. These bands represent a small but respected subset of the Traditional Metal fold.

Another side note in Traditional Metal is the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) sound from the early 80s. This was a wave of new bands from England (Including Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but also such bands as Def Leppard) that had an explosion of popularity from '79 to roughly 1983. There are still proponents of the NWOBHM sound, which can be hard to define, but is essentially a "rockier" variation on the early metal sound.

The lines between Traditional and Power Metal, as well as Traditional and Doom or Thrash can sometimes be blurry, and there are many bands that straddle two or more styles. Where exactly these bands fall is usually the decision of a given listener, or the bands themselves. If a band devotes one or more songs to how cool metal is, you can be pretty sure they consider themselves "True Metal".

Pioneers: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Manilla Road

Notable Bands: Manowar, Omen, Ironsword, Wizard, Pegazus, Twisted Tower Dire, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Cage, Primal Fear, Steel Attack, Paragon, Skullview, Battleroar, Running Wild, Cauldron Born, Tarot, Hanker."

At least this should give you an idea of what I mean.

For me true metal is the classic metal scene, heavy metal, hair metal and maybe some thrash:
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Metallica, Manowar, Running Wild, Black Sabbath, W.A.S.P, Accept, Megadeth, Motörhead, Doro, Hawkwind and so many legendary bands that helped to develop the metal, that's what I understand for true metal

Written by Dam3k on 07.07.2006 at 17:50

For me true metal is the classic metal scene, heavy metal, hair metal and maybe some thrash:
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Metallica, Manowar, Running Wild, Black Sabbath, W.A.S.P, Accept, Megadeth, Motörhead, Doro, Hawkwind and so many legendary bands that helped to develop the metal, that's what I understand for true metal

Seems pretty correct according to what I posted earlier

Just to make this clear:
"True metal" can't be considered a genre as has been stated above. Manowar and Burzum have been mentioned here many times, these bands don't don't have much in commom(staying betweeb the bordrers of metal music) musically. So "True metal" is common point in som bands, not a genre.

Actually "True Metal" is a genre, it's the same as Traditional Metal, Heavy Metal, Classic Metal...Call it what you want, it's the same genre...And if we follow that, then it would be incorrect to call Burzum "True Metal".

The mistake some of you guys make is to think of it like "true" and "false" metal, so you think of it like manowar and burzum are true metal, but a nu-metal band would be "false" or something like that.. But that isn't the meaning of "True Metal", and I think alot of metalheads make that mistake, because they've heard the expression somewhere, without really knowing what it means, and then use it that way.. "True Metal" is, as stated earlier, just another name for traditional metal, so in this case only Manowar would be considered "True Metal".

In that case Burzum doesn't fit the category. It doesn't matter actually because those bands which fit in the category traditional metal are from different genres, see a contradiction there?

Well, I guess you could make that argument, but if they are all under traditional metal, they're all under the same genre, aren't they? ;-)

But like it said in the text I posted earlier, the lines can sometimes be blurry, but it's like that with all genres, isn't it?

I don't want to make myself an expert, because I'm not.. I just wanted to tell people that "True Metal" is a genre.. :-)

I'm not an expert either but I see this toatally unlogical that bands from different genres make up a genre. A genre is based on some certain musical aspects. I'd say true metal is a category of band..

Well, then lets just agree to disagree, because obviously our views on the subject are widely different, I am however certain that I am right, and I'm sure you are certain that you are right, so there's no use in discussing it anymore, at least not for us two, I'll let someone else continue this discussion now.

@Sune: Great one, you are quite correct my metalstorming friend, "true metal" is just heavy metal played as it should be while a band like Helloween (example) is a metalic band as it sounds now will never be a "true metal" one, if you look at the first things the band did yes they fall into the "true metal" category. I'll get back some other time with a longer post as I am into old school, clasic, ture or just heavy metal (in the 80's way). btw I like your avatar from 3 Inches of Blood and yes they are a true metal band whatever someone might say!