Weird? It sounds, and looks, like standard mass-market metal to me, I don't see or hear anything weird. Hell even their musical gimmick is standard issue with metal now... Now THIS is weird:

8 Bit Mayhem - http://www.myspace.com/8bitmayhem

Does Ayreon count as 'weird'?

Ayreon is a hell of a lot more progressive than most prog rock/metal though... talking about DT, Sym X, Rush, Queen, Floyd, Focus, Paradise Lost, Bruce Dickinson... This is whilst listening to Human Equation, after listening to The Chemical Wedding.

Yes, Psycho, they're more progressive, but I always experience their music as awesome rather than weird

gah... Its been years and I cant start liking death or black metal

Maybe I should stop calling myself a metal fan and just go with hard rock :s

Thats the thing... I dont break it down so widely personally... Like Manowar would be Power metal for me (for example). And Nightwish would go under something a lot more general (like Melodic) instead of any of Fantasy/Pagan/Folk etc (whatever the super hardcore) would like to categorize it under. Or lets say, I consider Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Iron Maidens music to be the same type of metal, HEAVY METAL. Even though people would place these bands in multiple categories...

So basically, death (for me) is very technical music and growling vocals. Black is even more technical and again growling (grunting etc also included. Basically anything hard to understand by a casual listener). The lyrics dont necessarily need to talk about death etc. There are some exceptions (like Ive never considered Slayer death even though they fit the description...).

So im guessing over a third of the types of Metal you mentioned go under Black and Death for me.

Keyword, of course, is for me. If other people like to have super specific genres for their metal, good for them.

Maybe that's why it's the new wave OF british heavy metal.

New-wave wasn't exactly POST punk was it?

Some metalheads and bands like to think they're cultured, or that their band is unique, hence the reason why there's more metal sub-genres than there are bands. Yes, one death band has keyboards and plays more harmonies than the others. They sound more melodic. It's not really enough to spawn a genre...
Just as blackmore pretty much inspired malmsteen to do neo-classical power-metal... personally, I see blackmore as a big inspiration who played in several rock/metal bands, and malmsteen as a shredder with classical influences... No need to make genres for every little difference

My first band was described as "thrashfunk", as a joke as we were a mix of metal and jazz musicians... but really, we were just the very worst of high-school death metal (meant in a bad way)!

all the -core genres are usually emo tards who think they are being unique and or trying to be metal

"Yes, one death band has keyboards and plays more harmonies than the others. They sound more melodic. It's not really enough to spawn a genre.."

It's a lot more than one band, that's why it's a genre and not just a one-time thing

I for one find the many different genres incredibly useful when you want to discuss bands with other people, so you can at least give them a very good idea of what the band sounds like.

Oh, and as for the Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest thing mentioned earlier, you're right. They are all Heavy Metal, anyone claiming otherwise is silly. But (and here you'll probably be annoyed) each of them added another genre to it, respectively NWOBHM, Doom and Speed.

Arnor, You're being confused with an entirely different genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_of_British_Heavy_Metal Is the new wave we are talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_music New wave you are talking about.

From NWOBHM Wiki "The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM or N.W.O.B.H.M.) is a heavy metal music movement that started in the late 1970s, in the United Kingdom, and achieved some international attention by the early 1980s. "

I Think that NWOBHM has a LOT to do with Metal if I may say so.

Iron Maiden, Saxon, old Def Leppard, Diamond Head, Gaskin, Blitzkrieg, A-II-Z, Tygers of Pan Tang, Girlschool, Raven, ...

Yes, I agree. It has some excellent artists