The Metal Compass: metal subgenres plotted from soft to hard and heavy to light A two-axis chart with twenty metal subgenres as cyan circles and eight elemental metals as gold diamonds. Hardness increases from left to right. Musical lightness increases upward, while heaviness increases downward. THE METAL COMPASS Subgenres by musical abrasion and sonic mass · elemental references by Mohs hardness and density SOFT / LIGHT HARD / LIGHT SOFT / HEAVY HARD / HEAVY SOFT HARD abrasion · attack · dissonance · vocal harshness LIGHT HEAVY Lithium — Mohs 0.6; density 0.53 g/cm³ Li Aluminum — Mohs 2.75; density 2.70 g/cm³ Al Titanium — Mohs 6.0; density 4.51 g/cm³ Ti Iron — Mohs 4.0; density 7.87 g/cm³ Fe Tin — Mohs 1.5; density 7.31 g/cm³ Sn Copper — Mohs 3.0; density 8.96 g/cm³ Cu Lead — Mohs 1.5; density 11.34 g/cm³ Pb Tungsten — Mohs 7.5; density 19.25 g/cm³ W Glam metal — smooth-edged and buoyant Glam Power metal — bright, fast and moderately hard-edged Power Symphonic metal — polished, expansive and comparatively light Symphonic Folk metal — varied, but generally melodic and nimble Folk Math metal — sharply articulated, angular and relatively light-footed Math metal Black metal — highly abrasive, often thin and fast rather than massive Black Speed metal — aggressive attack with low sonic mass Speed Progressive metal — a broad center-right umbrella Progressive Traditional heavy metal — the chart's practical center Traditional Industrial metal — mechanical abrasion with moderate mass Industrial Metalcore — hard-edged and moderately heavy Metalcore Thrash metal — aggressive, dense and forceful Thrash Death metal — extremely abrasive and sonically massive Death Djent — percussive hardness with substantial low-end weight Djent Groove metal — weight and rhythmic mass over maximal abrasion Groove Sludge metal — heavy and dirty, straddling the softness boundary Sludge Stoner metal — warm, enveloping and heavy without maximal abrasion Stoner Doom metal — slow, sustained and very heavy Doom Funeral doom — near-maximum weight with low attack Funeral doom Drone metal — immense sustained mass with comparatively soft attack Drone KEY subgenre (editorial) elemental metal PHYSICAL REFERENCES Mohs · density g/cm³ Li 0.6 · 0.53 Al 2.75 · 2.70 Ti 6.0 · 4.51 Sn 1.5 · 7.31 Fe 4.0 · 7.87 Cu 3.0 · 8.96 Pb 1.5 · 11.34 W 7.5 · 19.25 READING THE AXES Hardness: abrasion, attack, dissonance, harshness Weight: low-end density, sustain, tempo and spaciousness CAVEAT These are genre centers, not border checkpoints. Albums will wander. Metal points are normalized within this selected set. Hover a point for its rationale or physical values.