Avant-Garde Metal · GenresWhat is avant-garde metal?
Avant-garde metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterised by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements, large-scale experimentation, and the use of non-standard sounds, instruments, and song structures.The earliest avant-garde metal bands include Celtic Frost and Master's Hammer. “Avant-Garde Metal cannot be treated like other genres, such as Black, Death, Doom, Thrash, etc.
About avant-garde metal
Those genres are rooted in similar aesthetics and ideologies, leading to strong commonalities amongst bands united under one genre.
From Last.fm, where 9,226 listeners have tagged music as avant-garde metal.
Artists to start with
Albums to hear first
Life Is But a Dream…
Imaginary Sonicscape
Pandora's Piñata
The Butcher's Ballroom
The Sham Mirrors
DUM SPIRO SPERO
Arcturian
La Masquerade InfernaleAvant-Garde Metal songs
- Voodoo Mon Amour by Diablo Swing Orchestra
- Corpsecry - Angelfall by Sigh
- Birth Pains of Astral Projection by maudlin of the Well
- Black Box Messiah by Diablo Swing Orchestra
- Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball by Diablo Swing Orchestra
- They Aren't All Beautiful by maudlin of the Well
- Heaven and Weak by maudlin of the Well
- I Sang For The Swans by Ved Buens Ende
- Balrog Boogie by Diablo Swing Orchestra
- Kinetic by Arcturus
Neighbouring genres
In the metal & heavy family. All genres
death metalblack metaldoom metalalternative metaldeathcoredeath-doombrutal death metalblackened death metalcrossover thrashatmospheric black metalhardcore punkmetalQuestions
- What is avant-garde metal?
- Avant-garde metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterised by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements, large-scale experimentation, and the use of non-standard sounds, instruments, and song structures.The earliest avant-garde metal bands include Celtic Frost and Master's Hammer. “Avant-Garde Metal cannot be treated like other genres, such as Black, Death, Doom, Thrash, etc. Those genres are rooted in similar aesthetics and ideologies, leading to strong commonalities amongst bands united under one genre.
- Who are the best-known avant-garde metal artists?
- By Last.fm listening: Virus, Sigh, Thy Catafalque, Zeal & Ardor, Diablo Swing Orchestra and Leprous.
- What genres are similar to avant-garde metal?
- On Risocast it sits with death metal, black metal, doom metal, alternative metal, deathcore and death-doom.
Risocast is free. Install it once and it logs everything you play.
Updated 6 October 2026
Risocast HelpA music log that fills itself in. It records the songs you play on your computer and your phone, turns them into your top songs, stats and a public profile, and finds people whose taste overlaps with yours.
Yes. The app and the website are free.
A song counts once half of it has played, or four minutes — whichever comes first. Songs of 30 seconds or less, and videos or podcasts over 20 minutes, never count.
On Windows, anything that shows up in Windows' media controls: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000, Windows Media Player and more (VLC, iTunes and MusicBee through their free media-controls plugin). On Android, any music app — it reads the same now-playing info your lock screen shows. You can also connect Spotify or import from Last.fm.
Yes. Plays are counted on your device and sent when you're back online, and the phone app opens without a connection.
It does the same core job — scrobbling, automatically — without plugins per player, and adds taste matching: see who listens like you and how much your taste overlaps.
Your profile and listening are public so people with similar taste can find you, unless you make your profile private (then only your buddies see it); your email never is. Nothing is sold and there are no ads; anonymous usage analytics (Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics) show what to improve. See the privacy policy for the details.
More in Help, the guides and the privacy policy.
Welcome to Risocast
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A small player that sits in your tray, writes down every song you play, and shows you who listens like you.
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On Windows, Risocast reads the system media controls, so any player counts: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000. No plugins.
On Android the app reads what any music app is playing (it's coming to Google Play). Anywhere else, connect Spotify or a Last.fm username.
Taste twins
See how much your taste overlaps with anyone's, and find the people who listen most like you. The match comes from what you both actually play, not a list of favourites.
Open PeopleWeekly Disc and Taste Map
Every week becomes a disc of your top songs. Every record you play goes on a map, grouped by genre.
Real ones, from the maker's own listening.
Download Risocast
Risocast is free for Windows 10 and 11. Android is coming to Google Play; on any other device, use the web app with Spotify or Last.fm.
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