I discovered this sub genre about a year ago and it's become one of my favorite styles.

Not sure I really see that much difference between it and black-death and not sure what bands some might consider black death or "bestial black metal" (I don't know what distinguishes it from either sub genre) but here's a bunch of bands I have come to love recently:

Axis of Advance
Revenge
Goat Penis
Arch Goat
Sadomator
Conqueror
Proclamation
Bestial Warlust
Bestial Mockery
Black Witchery
Damaar
Sadomator
Witchrist
Angel Corpse
Vulpecula (might not be war metal)
Ares Kingdom
War Hate
Domini Infereri

I would also probably consider Order From Chaos to be the first war metal band, or if not, a band who directly influenced the style, and they've become one of my all time favorites.

"War Metal" isn't a sub-genre and I'm certain that every band that's ever been labeled such can be more accurately defined as black, death, or thrash hybrids in one way or the other and a good chunk have some grind influences.

Mfw OP didn't mention blasphemy

Of course, what the fuck was I thinking.

Blasphemy fucking rules.

Well, what would you refer to it as if you wouldn't refer to it as a "sub genre"??

Of course it's a "hybrid style", no question about it, if that's the term you would rather use than "sub genre" than so be it.

Almost every "war metal" band I listed is some kind of hybrid mix of death, black, thrash and grind, but I think that "war metal" as a term, whatever you want to refer to it as in terms of a "genre" is a more "accurate" definition of these bands than to call them black, death, etc.

For me personally, I know what to expect when someone calls a band war metal, I know the sound it describes even if I'm not the best at putting it into words.

Think Revenge, Conqueror, Proclamation, Axis of Advance and Order From Chaos. Elements of black, death and thrash with a huge emphasis on fast and brutal drumming.

I agree, I think war metal is the perfect definition of a subgenre. It has a specific sound, aesthetic, and set of influences. Where do you draw the line? I mean, if you really want to get technical, isn't the majority of metal hybrid styles of some sort? They become genres when enough bands start playing similar enough types of music.

Anyway, as far "bestial black metal," it depends on the person, some people use it interchangeably with war metal, others use it to refer to more overtly black than death stuff like Black Witchery, Morbosidad, Deiphago, Proclamation..

And OP, how did you mention Witchrist (who personally I think are far too doomy to be war metal), and forget Diocletian/Heresiarch?

Don't forget this masterpiece!
Rites Of Thy Degringolade - Totality (2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCPEi8qXF7w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU2biz23O1U

I've never heard Diocletian or Heresiarch, or Morbosidad or Deiphago for that matter.

The Witchrist album i have isn't very doomy though.

I told what I would refer them as, depending on the band, because they're all a mix of of one or already existing genres. Bands like Primalfrost aren't playing a new sub genre when they hybrid power and black metal, and neither are these bands with black, thrash and death.

or, if they were, you could just call it black/power.

(from what I can judge, most "Viking Metal" bands are either pagan folk black or epic folk/death, or something like that ... which seems like a more useful classification to me, since it won't exclude similar, or include dissimilar, sounding bands, so you don't end up recommending a bunch of epic raw black metal bands to someone who only wants clean hi-fi DM riffing like Amon Amarth)

People sleep on Ruin Lust. So much better than 99% of these Blasphemy clones.

Can download the demo easily... I think they're all sold out through Psychic Violence. no band page or anyhting.

Not good quality youtubes exist unfortunately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9Y4V2FFos

Drummer from Fell Voices, Mohoram Atta, Sleepwalker, etc.

I told what I would refer them as, depending on the band, because they're all a mix of of one or already existing genres. Bands like Primalfrost aren't playing a new sub genre when they hybrid power and black metal, and neither are these bands with black, thrash and death.[/quote]

Ok, but regardless of what you want to call "war metal" it is a descriptive term that works better IMO than simply saying "black death" or something like that.

There are lots of black death bands that don't have that same "war metal" sound, so I think the term is helpful.

A lot of people I know that are into war metal love Disforterror.

I personally can't stand it, but Disforterror is huge with the war metal guys I know.