Hair-splitting metal

For some, the mere notion of Metal Night sells itself. The indiscriminate metalhead enticed solely by the promise of obnoxious volumes doesn't distinguish between Slayer and Slipknot. Nor does the indiscriminate metal-hater. But for those of us silly enough to split hairs and mire ourselves in metal's notoriously splintered set of sub-genres, the subtlest variations can send the biggest ripples. Most listeners probably couldn't care less about the differences between death metal and black metal, let alone the nuances that distinguish blackened death metal, but for an insular community of heavy music enthusiasts, these labels are immediately recognizable.