Analyzing the various subgenres of any kind of popular music is a fascinating process for two main reasons (or at least it is if you're like me, and you think Heaven is a record store). One, it's a great way to find styles and even cultural movements you've never heard before. Two, it's a beautiful reminder of how no music exists in a vacuum; genres grow and evolve and sometimes even die out completely over time as they intermingle between bands, experiment with new recording or production technologies, and clash for dominance on sales charts.

occasionally bewildering subgenres that will never get their due moment in the sun in the mainstream.

1 Acid Rock

A Foundational Genre That Gave Rise To Heavy Metal And Prog-Rock

Acid rock is a genre from the annals of rock history, one that many listeners may not immediately see as its own genre, especially since many of its contributors remain some of the biggest names in classic rock. The late 1960s saw the psychedelic scene take over much of rock, with innovations in sound from the Beatles and the Grateful Dead leading to bands like Jefferson Airplane finding major commercial success.

The important distinction between the broader set of psychedelic rock and the subgenre of acid rock is a sense of heaviness; while psychedelica was often gentle, or at least meditative, true acid rock was more likely to feature heavily distorted guitars and equally wailing vocals. The San Francisco Sound was the most notable form of acid rock, and was embodied by the aforementioned Jefferson Airplane, as well as the legendary Janis Joplin and her two bands, Big Brother and the Holding Company and the later Kozmic Blues Band.

2 Chillwave

A Late '00s Reinvention Of Shoegaze

On the other end of the intensity spectrum from acid rock lies chillwave, which sprung out of the late '00s when irony-pilled hipsters initially meant to mock shoegaze bands like Neon Indian and Washed Out for their ethereal, nostalgic, and often heavily synthesized sound. Yet while "chillwave" was meant ironically, it was embraced wholeheartedly by the artists in the scene. The genre peaked and died in mid-2010, unfortunately, as it collapsed under the weight of too many musicians and too few listeners. As Flavorwire's Tom Hawking put it:

The chillwave era will most likely be a footnote to musical history, a faint flaring of middle-class angst in a frightening time for everyone. But that doesn't mean it's not worth examining regardless, because its simple existence says far more about a generation than the music itself ever did. (via Flavorwire)

3 Dark Cabaret

Part Burlesque, Part Bertolt Brecht Play, And Part Punk Show

Few rock genres can directly trace their pedigree back to the ill-fated Weimar Republic – the interim German state that arose out of the downfall of the German Empire in 1918 and was shattered by Adolf Hitler when he seized control – but dark cabaret wouldn't exist without the bizarre theatre form pioneered by German playwright Bertolt Brecht. His 1927 play Little Mahagonny provided the original version of "Alabama Song," which would be covered almost 40 years later by the Doors, and then another decade later by none other than David Bowie.

Those initial roots sprouted in the late '90s, as the art form of burlesque found mainstream success thanks to performers like Dita Von Teese, and major films like Moulin Rouge! getting major attention at the Oscars. In turn, bands like the Dresden Dolls, the Tiger Lillies, and the World/Inferno Friendship Society developed into a coherent scene. Out of that came a lot of interplay with the goth scene, leading to the success of artists like Aurelio Voltaire, and more recent musicians like Will Wood have built on that further.

4 Desert Rock

Palm Desert's Stoned Jam Sessions Spawned A Unique Sound

Some subgenres are tied to single events or artistic movements, or just the social habits of specific artists, and none quite so embody the latter like desert rock. It's also known as the Palm Desert Sound, as it springs specifically from the town of Palm Desert, California, where rock bands began developing a particular vibe of free-form jams, sludgy guitars, and trance-like, repetitive drumming in the late '80s. Genre pioneers Yawning Man were the first to embody the Palm Desert Sound, beginning a tradition of playing spontaneous gigs in random areas of the desert that would evolve into full-on parties.

Rock bands began developing a particular vibe of free-form jams, sludgy guitars, and trance-like, repetitive drumming in the late '80s.

Yawning Man heavily inspired Kyuss – one of the pioneers of stoner rock – who would be one of the iconic parts of the scene until they disbanded in 1995; Kyuss' guitarist Josh Homme wasn't done with the Palm Desert Sound, though, and went on to found Queens of the Stone Age, as well as multiple side projects like Them Crooked Vultures. Homme also founded the Desert Sessions in 1997, a series of invite-only jam sessions where he and a group of other musicians, both from the Palm Desert scene and not, improvise and record an album in a week.

5 Dungeon Synth

Fusing Black Metal And Fantasy RPG Soundscapes

In the late '80s and early '90s, black metal bands – particularly Norwegian ones like Mortiis and Burzum – often used ambient, synthesized music as interstitials, introductions, or outros to their albums, as they contrasted well with the intensity of black metal. Dungeon synth is the outgrowth of that, taking the initial, often fantastical themes of those black metal albums and leaning further in on the fairy-tale vibes, particularly in the works of Jim Kirkwood.

The past several years have seen a renaissance in dungeon synth, particularly as the tabletop and indie video RPG scenes have begun to cross over. KOBOLD is one such project, which uses old sound-chip instruments that evoke the feeling of Amiga adventure games, with the intention of them being used as TTRPG soundtracks. Dungeon synth can vary in tone from highly ambient to cinematic; acts like Quest Master even go so far as to add synth-pop drums. Literary themes still remain prevalent, such as in the work of Fogweaver, whose albums are tributes to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels.

6 Gothabilly

For When Psychobilly Just Isn't Classy Enough

Also known as hellbilly (but not to be confused with the Rob Zombie album or Hank Williams III song), this genre fused the vintage-fetishizing intensity of rockabilly with the macabre goofiness of goth fashion. The genre was formed and pioneered by the Cramps, who formed in 1976 out of the early punk scene at CBGB, and who also pioneered gothabilly's angrier sister genre, psychobilly. But while psychobilly is characterized by its chaotic and intense aggression, gothabilly takes a more sedate approach, with slower tempos and bluesier compositions.

7 Kawaii Metal

Metal Has Never Been So Cute – Until Now

Initially synonymous with the genre-defining band Babymetal, kawaii metal emerged in the early 2010s as a combination of heavy metal instrumentation with J-pop lyrics and melodies, as well as the Japanese tradition of idol singers – highly commodified pop stars whose labels and managers leverage a parasocial relationship with their fanbase in order to drive popularity. Babymetal exploded onto the global stage in 2014 with their hit YouTube release "Gimme Chocolate!!," and in 2019, they became the first Asian artists to top Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart.

Kawaii metal bands, although as sonically intense as other experimental metal artists, radically depart from what some music critics have called the hyper-masculine aggression so common to most metal genres. Babymetal is no longer alone in the kawaii metal space either, with bands like Babybeard – fronted by Australian professional wrestler and crossdresser Ladybeard – and code also contributing to this cutting-edge genre.

8 Mathcore

A Whole Genre Designed To Use All The Time Signatures Other Musicians Avoid At All Costs

As the culmination of 1980s post-hardcore, math rock, krautrock, and progressive and avant-garde rock, mathcore is one of the most intense and inexplicable of rock's infinite permutations. Metal Hammer described it as "the sound of metal being twisted into startling new shapes," and with the genre's technical complexity combined with the extreme use of volume, that's a pretty apt description. From mainstream successes like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan to underground champions of the sound like the female-fronted iwrestledabearonce, mathcore is very much an aquired taste – much like advanced mathematics.

9 Nintendocore

What Happens When Your Gaming Consoles Start A Thrashcore Band

While dungeon synth evolved sort of in parallel with the synthesized sounds of video games without ever becoming truly homogenized with them – in fact, it often remains determinedly analogue – Nintendocore is the opposite. The genre evolved out of hacking the sound cards of various pieces of gaming hardware, as well as software, and using them in conjunction with metalcore or other extreme genres in order to create intense soundscapes that juxtapose the familiar with the fundamentally overstimulating.

The genre nominally began with HORSE the Band, who formed in Southern California in 1998; they're certainly responsible for the name "Nintendocore," which was first coined somewhat ironically by frontman Nathan Winneke. Other major Nintendocore groups that have emerged over the years are Anamanaguchi, who composed the music for the various non-book incarnations of Scott Pilgrim, Minibosses, and I Fight Dragons.

10 Visual Kei

Japanese Rock Bands That Put Professional Cosplayers To Shame

Technically an aesthetic and not a genre, visual kei refers to Japanese rock bands that have an extravagant stage presence that at least rivals, if not eclipses, the power of their music. Visual kei bands have sounds that range from glam rock to heavy metal, and first emerged in the 1980s as Western acts like KISS began to influence Japanese bands; X Japan is considered to be one of the first pioneers of visual kei, emerging out of the Japanese underground to massive acclaim, followed soon by the powerhouse hits of L'Arc-en-Ciel, Gackt, and Dir En Grey.

Visual kei bands have sounds that range from glam rock to heavy metal.

Since then, visual kei acts have also become intertwined with the anime scene, in part because the bands are often selected to provide the opening themes for prominent series, and because of the natural overlap in the ion for costumes. Visual kei's focus on costumes and pageantry is often off-putting to Western audiences, due to the frequent subversion of gender roles by various band. In recent years, the genre has suffered from homogeneity, as what was once a counterculture is now just as commodified as the system that churns out female idol singers.