The difference, by ear
Shares the rhythmic obsession and the flat affect, and locks it to a machine. Alternative metal keeps a human rhythm section that breathes.
Both are part sung, part screamed and move at much the same pace, around 90 to 140 bpm. To hear the difference, play Faith No More next to Ministry. Both grew out of heavy metal in the same year. United States appears in the origins of both.
In figures
Alternative metal
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Alternative metal
In short
Metal weight without the dress code or the scene rules: unconventional structures and influences from post-punk, funk or shoegaze.
How it sounds
- Metal weight with structures and textures borrowed from post-punk, funk or shoegaze.
- Low tunings and thick guitar tone, often with no solos at all.
- Variable vocals: sung, spoken, whispered, screamed, sometimes in one song.
Key acts
- Faith No More
- Tool
- Helmet
- Deftones
Start here
The pickTool - Ænima. Complex without showing off, heavy without insisting.
Full page →Industrial metal
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Industrial metal
In short
Metal riffs over programmed drums, samples and synths. Mechanical by design.
How it sounds
- Programmed or heavily processed drums with samples of mechanical sounds.
- Repetitive, staccato riffing, with the guitar treated as a rhythmic element.
- Distorted vocals, declaimed or shouted through effects.
Key acts
- Ministry
- Fear Factory
- Rammstein
- Godflesh
Start here
The pickGodflesh - Streetcleaner. It sounds like an industrial city collapsing, which is the subject.
Full page →