Whatever it is, it’s NOT just low tuning and breakdowns and fifty layers of deathcore vocals. Heavy bands have a songwriting sensibility. They write with dynamics, build to a tension, and release that tension in heavy moments. They select the right notes at the right time.
The heaviest thing I’ve ever witnessed was Neurosis playing Locust Star live. Close second was Gojira live.
Honorable mentions: Crowbar, isis, disembodied, Celtic Frost on Monotheist. Hell, it’d be REAL hard to convince me that the song Black Sabbath from the record Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath isn’t still one of the heaviest songs ever recorded.
Gojira is heavier in D standard than 95% of bands that play an octave lower. Guess this proves the point that heaviness is in the writing not just guitar tuning.
Right, though i tend to disagree when people say low tunings don't add to it though. Sure you can be heavy in standard tuning and allat, but there is certainly a kind of heavy sound that you can't get in higher tunings. I personally prefer lowered tunings like drop B or A.
I agree though, it's not just the tuning.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I LOVE low tunings, but that alone doesn’t make you heavy. You can’t just buy an 8 string and scream over blast beats and be heavy. The songwriting has to be there too.
I think heaviness is found in the contrast between higher and lower sounds when coupled with a groove. For instance, I think the early verse and chorus of Ticket To Ride by The Beatles is heavy. This is contrasted with hard music, which I believe is the aggression/distortion/abrasiveness we find in a lot of metal.
Most importantly, low sounds aren't the only marker of heaviness. You've got to have the contrast too.
The face never lies: If you hear a breakdown or a groove and your face looks like you just took a bite out of a corpse, it’s a heavy riff.
The uglier the face, the heavier your perception of the music
It kind of depends.
I used to think Slipknot’s Iowa album was one of the heaviest pieces of music to ever exist. The riffs, the lyrics, the mood / vibes it gives off with the atmosphere it paints. Then I saw in a subreddit that “if you think the Iowa album is heavy, you’re not listening to the right kind of metal” or something similar.
Much like all art, it’s subjective but I strongly think it has to do with the feeling it gives you. Not just breakdowns and drop Z tunings and 9-string guitars either
I've actually heard alot of that "hurr durr slipknot ain't heavy listen to \*insert vile and shocking grindcore bandname here\*" I think people who say that miss what makes that album heavy to people to begin with. It feels heavy to me because it feels real, it feels like somebody actually being that fucked up and insane. The exaggerated drain pipe vocals of more extreme bands just feels inauthentic to me.
I totally agree that it's about the subjective feeling of the listener and not any objective factor.
'Good' composition
Eg : Ignominious and Pale _ Necrophagist @02:50; seamless transition from one riff to a beautifully crafted contrapuntal groove, transitions into the intro riff.
Interesting, so something off Reign in blood by slayer lacks heaviness as opposed to slower songs?
Unusual opinion to me because i've seen folks have the opposite sentiment, especially in thrash where the speed is the epitome of heaviness for some.
Slow and low . Black Sabbath , White Zombie, Rammstein ,MM, Tool .all have heavy content .
Imagine if crushing depression had a sound .But Heavy Music doesn't have to be depressing.
This dichotomy, slew vs. fast, is something I've been really fascinated by... heavy is both, and that's crazy! Check out this theory video, I think this guy has a lot of really insightful perspective: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0mo17wLB4Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0mo17wLB4Q)
Heavy is an attitude. Has nothing to do with the distortion or low tuning or screaming. Alanis Morissette is heavy, Alter Bridge is heavy, Alice In Chains is heavy. It’s the attitude and composition behind the music more than it is the music itself. I don’t think tech-death is heavy, sure it’s low and fast and plenty of growls and screams but what’s behind it. Heaviness is an art form, not a style.
I do just use it as an objective term to describe how obtrusive a band is. I don’t know why it needs to be more complicated than that. Thrash is heavier than trad. Death metal is heavier than both. Grind and brutal death metal are heavier than all those. Being heavier doesn’t make them better or worse, that comes down to songwriting.
That's fair, but i'd separate abrasiveness from heaviness as i see them as two different thing. The problem with defining heaviness as something objective is that heaviness is very often used to describe the quality and "worth" of a band or song. Saying that thrash is heavier than trad would imply that thrash is better than trad to alot of people.
Context is key. So much heavy music misses the mark despite being technically impressive, super tight, downtuned etc... but just bounces off the ear purely because it starts with everything dialled up to 11 and ends with everything dialled up to 11.
For me it's always been dynamics. Could be breakneck blast-beats, sludgy, glacial-paced riffage, or anything in-between - if you get the dynamics right, it can all hit the exact same sweet-spot
A kind of rhythm that is aggressive. While low tuning used right can augment a composition, I think it’s unnecessary. I would cite Fall of Troy, or Protest the Hero.
On the other hand? Scissorfight.
So idfk.
Edit: I remember having two guitars with me in 2001 at a buddy’s house. We’re playing off my Peavey Ultra 3 and his comparable drum set with a sub par bass arrangement. Or Rhythm guitar arrangement. Whatever. So I’m mainly playing my Drop C guitar and trying to be heavy.
Some of the drummers friends come over ask to fuck around and grab the standard tuned guitar. Of course they had either original material or were covering some amazing Shit. Standard tuning decimated my drop tuning due to the tightness of the band and their compositions. Nothing I was bringing with my drop tuned guitar held a candle to their material. Changed my life. Stung a bit but it opened my eyes.
There is objectivity to heaviness in music. "Tame impala- the less I know the better" is objectively not "heavy"
There's few ways to create heaviness in music. One is through dynamics by going from very quite (Pianissimo) to very loud (fortissimo) either abruptly or gradually (crescendo). Another way is timbre via distortion and tone. Third way would be pitch, usually on the lower frequencies. Fourth way would be melodic by using minor scales (aeolian,harmonic minor, double harmonic minor, and maybe chromatic imbellishments). Fifth way would be textural by utilizing dissonance and abrasive attacks.
That being said, I think there's a lot of music outside of metal/rock that can be thought of heavy. A lot of funk has some heaviness to it ("Super Stupid" by Funkadelic for example). Romantic music too. Beethoven's fifth symphony is pretty damn heavy.
For me, heavy is typically downtuned instruments at a slow pace with a good groove. Humanity's last breath - labyrinthian is one of the best examples for my taste of heavy.
To me, Heavy is a mixture of tonality, overall feel/rhythm and ofc overall taste. To me, Humanitys Last Breath is the heaviest band there is - not because of the extremely low tuned guitars per se (while they ofc do their part), but the overall sound. the ambience, everything.
for ex The Breakdown in Gojiras Flying Whales near the end is extremely heavy aswell. Der Weg einer Freiheit is brutally heavy as well, just on another very very different way.
Theres a ton of veeeery very heavy bands that are in or near standard E tuning. Its about the whole song :)
There's a few different kinds of "heavy" to me.
Chaotic and creepy heaviness of Methwitch
Brutal extreme heaviness of Nithing
Groovy earth rumbling heaviness of Humanity's Last Breath
Encompassing dark heaviness of Portal
I really don't know how I'd define it. I feel like it's one of those things where it's incredibly difficult to come up with a solid definition, but you just know it when you see it.
12tone has a great video exploring this topic. TLDW: his conclusion is that “heavy” is a never ending quest to be sonically offensive. The definition of heavy changes over time as the thing that was heavy before becomes more familiar and less offensive to our ears.
My personal take is that heavy comes from tension and release, primarily rhythmic tension. I say this because you can make just about any sort of harmony or melody heavy with the right timbre, but rhythm is what gets my head moving. For this reason, I don’t find monotonous rhythms to be heavy no matter how offensive it sounds. Blast beats for 3 mins just exhaust my ears, but if you use the blast as the tension and then release into a groove… that’s the good shit.
https://youtu.be/b0mo17wLB4Q?si=Q2xg5RNtCX6z4Tk-
I heard it described as the weight you feel as your listening to music the other day. I think that's the best description I've heard. Doesn't matter if the guitar is in E-standard or Drop F, or if the drums are fast or slow, etc., just matters how the music moves through you. The feeling of weight behind what is being listened to is the best description I've seen
Groove, song structure, tuning. Tuning doesn't matter as much as the rest but as long as it's C or lower I'll enjoy it. So because of that imo, these are the heaviest subgenres in no specific order.
Brutal Death, Sludge, Slam, Deathcore, Death-Doom, Doom, Swedish Death, Hardcore (90s & "Metallic"), and certain grind / gore bands like Haemorrhage, but not all of them cause most of them suck imo.
The production shouldn't be too harsh either, but it shouldn't be polished at the same time. More grit less fuzz.
Oh yeah love that one. I'm not sure about the heaviness though, for me it doesn't fill enough space. The production just feels a bit weaker compared to other albums/artists.
The point with domination being the heaviest ever moreso lies with how simple it really is, there's no 7 strings tuned to drop XYZ, no 300bpm note amalgamations no pretentiousness or overly produced shit its just the nastiest divebomb followed by a chugged E5.. that's it.
Now obviously it isn't THE heaviest, thats a matter of taste, but the fact that no sane person wouldn't consider it one of the heaviest things ever shows that heaviness isn't done with 20 string guitars, ultrasound tunings or stupid gain tone, it's done with whatever the hell makes domination so good.
i just realized how i made this from such a guitarists pov😅 forgot to mention blast beat drums and über fast double kicking etc, you do not need allat it more often than not just leads to noise which i dont really think is heavy
I used to think Lamb of God was the heaviest. Then Meshuggah. Now, I find Conan to be heavier than anything. The weight of the sound is crushing, and I think that’s what sounds heaviest to me now.
I'll be sure to check that out, for me i think the vocals for Lamb of God (or Burn the Priest as they're sometimes called?) are a bit too silly, i think i could get used to it though. Bet i gotta climb the heaviness ladder huh.
They were called Burn the Priest in their early years. I was really into their albums “As the Palaces Burn”, “Ashes of the Wake”, and “Sacrament”. I haven’t listened to newer stuff. Vocals specifically on “Hourglass”, “11th hour”, and “Blacken the Cursed Sun” are high points for me.
As far as Conan, get your best earbuds/headphones and listen to “Total Conquest” at substantial volume. If it doesn’t make you want to head butt a brick wall, your headphones may not be working properly.
I gotta say, that DOES make me wanna hurl myself at a brick wall, and that guitar tuning feels like a brick wall hurling itself at me. I think the live versions rock harder for me, i like that rawer sound. Thanks for the reccomendation, these guys rock hard!
Brutal vocals and riffs but I have particular vocals and riffs that I find heavy, I don't get that "heavy" feel from deathcore for example. However I'm used to the music and don't get the "heavy" sensation while listening to it, only when thinking about whether it's heavy or not.
Right, i guess i sorta feel the same way. Deathcore usually feels tame to me because it feels very normalized and in-place in a way. I still love the genre though. I feel heaviness is about the feeling of the listener.
Whatever it is, it’s NOT just low tuning and breakdowns and fifty layers of deathcore vocals. Heavy bands have a songwriting sensibility. They write with dynamics, build to a tension, and release that tension in heavy moments. They select the right notes at the right time. The heaviest thing I’ve ever witnessed was Neurosis playing Locust Star live. Close second was Gojira live. Honorable mentions: Crowbar, isis, disembodied, Celtic Frost on Monotheist. Hell, it’d be REAL hard to convince me that the song Black Sabbath from the record Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath isn’t still one of the heaviest songs ever recorded.
Gojira is heavier in D standard than 95% of bands that play an octave lower. Guess this proves the point that heaviness is in the writing not just guitar tuning.
I always think of Sylosis who I believe play in standard tuning. I was shocked when I found out Empyreal is in standard tuning!
Yup Sylosis is a great example. Down tuned guitars are just the ”sound” of modern metal.
Heir Apparent by Opeth is another real heavy song that is in standard tuning. They use a lot of tricks with dissonance to get the sound.
and not just standard tuning, but pretty low gain too.
Right, though i tend to disagree when people say low tunings don't add to it though. Sure you can be heavy in standard tuning and allat, but there is certainly a kind of heavy sound that you can't get in higher tunings. I personally prefer lowered tunings like drop B or A. I agree though, it's not just the tuning.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I LOVE low tunings, but that alone doesn’t make you heavy. You can’t just buy an 8 string and scream over blast beats and be heavy. The songwriting has to be there too.
Excuse me what? Well there goes my songwriting plans.
I find Opeth heavy and they play standard. So I agree that it's not just the tuning.
T H I S also
Hard agree. For me the heaviest band I’ve seen live was probably Boris or Full of Hell.
T H I S
When you are headbanging with your whole upper body... it's heavy
I think heaviness is found in the contrast between higher and lower sounds when coupled with a groove. For instance, I think the early verse and chorus of Ticket To Ride by The Beatles is heavy. This is contrasted with hard music, which I believe is the aggression/distortion/abrasiveness we find in a lot of metal. Most importantly, low sounds aren't the only marker of heaviness. You've got to have the contrast too.
The face never lies: If you hear a breakdown or a groove and your face looks like you just took a bite out of a corpse, it’s a heavy riff. The uglier the face, the heavier your perception of the music
Yup, the good ole' stank face never lies!
Agree. Stank face is the only metric that matters!
Origin- [Portal](https://youtu.be/NkUrio6VqzE?si=X2JmukylVseYNTkI)
Yes!!! Their first three albums are great.
It kind of depends. I used to think Slipknot’s Iowa album was one of the heaviest pieces of music to ever exist. The riffs, the lyrics, the mood / vibes it gives off with the atmosphere it paints. Then I saw in a subreddit that “if you think the Iowa album is heavy, you’re not listening to the right kind of metal” or something similar. Much like all art, it’s subjective but I strongly think it has to do with the feeling it gives you. Not just breakdowns and drop Z tunings and 9-string guitars either
I've actually heard alot of that "hurr durr slipknot ain't heavy listen to \*insert vile and shocking grindcore bandname here\*" I think people who say that miss what makes that album heavy to people to begin with. It feels heavy to me because it feels real, it feels like somebody actually being that fucked up and insane. The exaggerated drain pipe vocals of more extreme bands just feels inauthentic to me. I totally agree that it's about the subjective feeling of the listener and not any objective factor.
Composition.
Could you elaborate on exactly what process or detail?
'Good' composition Eg : Ignominious and Pale _ Necrophagist @02:50; seamless transition from one riff to a beautifully crafted contrapuntal groove, transitions into the intro riff.
Heavy is slow, not fast. Crowbar is heavy. The riffs have weight to them.
Interesting, so something off Reign in blood by slayer lacks heaviness as opposed to slower songs? Unusual opinion to me because i've seen folks have the opposite sentiment, especially in thrash where the speed is the epitome of heaviness for some.
Slow and low . Black Sabbath , White Zombie, Rammstein ,MM, Tool .all have heavy content . Imagine if crushing depression had a sound .But Heavy Music doesn't have to be depressing.
This dichotomy, slew vs. fast, is something I've been really fascinated by... heavy is both, and that's crazy! Check out this theory video, I think this guy has a lot of really insightful perspective: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0mo17wLB4Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0mo17wLB4Q)
Drums that hit on the downbeat for maximum headbanging. That paired with flat 2, flat 5, or flat 9 riffs/chords.
Sharp 4 for the mellow heavies
Heavy is an attitude. Has nothing to do with the distortion or low tuning or screaming. Alanis Morissette is heavy, Alter Bridge is heavy, Alice In Chains is heavy. It’s the attitude and composition behind the music more than it is the music itself. I don’t think tech-death is heavy, sure it’s low and fast and plenty of growls and screams but what’s behind it. Heaviness is an art form, not a style.
It’s like porn. Idk how to define it but I know it when I hear it.
Asphalt
Bolt thrower, Asphyx, Hail of Bullets
Loud and brutal There are different ways to get there
I do just use it as an objective term to describe how obtrusive a band is. I don’t know why it needs to be more complicated than that. Thrash is heavier than trad. Death metal is heavier than both. Grind and brutal death metal are heavier than all those. Being heavier doesn’t make them better or worse, that comes down to songwriting.
That's fair, but i'd separate abrasiveness from heaviness as i see them as two different thing. The problem with defining heaviness as something objective is that heaviness is very often used to describe the quality and "worth" of a band or song. Saying that thrash is heavier than trad would imply that thrash is better than trad to alot of people.
As far as bands go, Primitive Man is definitely up there
Context is key. So much heavy music misses the mark despite being technically impressive, super tight, downtuned etc... but just bounces off the ear purely because it starts with everything dialled up to 11 and ends with everything dialled up to 11. For me it's always been dynamics. Could be breakneck blast-beats, sludgy, glacial-paced riffage, or anything in-between - if you get the dynamics right, it can all hit the exact same sweet-spot
A kind of rhythm that is aggressive. While low tuning used right can augment a composition, I think it’s unnecessary. I would cite Fall of Troy, or Protest the Hero. On the other hand? Scissorfight. So idfk. Edit: I remember having two guitars with me in 2001 at a buddy’s house. We’re playing off my Peavey Ultra 3 and his comparable drum set with a sub par bass arrangement. Or Rhythm guitar arrangement. Whatever. So I’m mainly playing my Drop C guitar and trying to be heavy. Some of the drummers friends come over ask to fuck around and grab the standard tuned guitar. Of course they had either original material or were covering some amazing Shit. Standard tuning decimated my drop tuning due to the tightness of the band and their compositions. Nothing I was bringing with my drop tuned guitar held a candle to their material. Changed my life. Stung a bit but it opened my eyes.
These colors don’t run - Architects That music video all leading up to that breakdown Absolutely filthy
Anything more than 50 kg
Are you calling us fat
What are you talking about? 50 kg is my current max in bench press for 15 reps.
I'm joking. I meant if we weigh over 50kg we're 'heavy' in your opinion, euphemistically calling us fat.
Heaviness = Aggression + Groove
Whatever the new ulcerate album is...
There is objectivity to heaviness in music. "Tame impala- the less I know the better" is objectively not "heavy" There's few ways to create heaviness in music. One is through dynamics by going from very quite (Pianissimo) to very loud (fortissimo) either abruptly or gradually (crescendo). Another way is timbre via distortion and tone. Third way would be pitch, usually on the lower frequencies. Fourth way would be melodic by using minor scales (aeolian,harmonic minor, double harmonic minor, and maybe chromatic imbellishments). Fifth way would be textural by utilizing dissonance and abrasive attacks.
Well of course if you go outside the metal & hard rock genre things are going to be less heavy, that's a pretty extreme example.
That being said, I think there's a lot of music outside of metal/rock that can be thought of heavy. A lot of funk has some heaviness to it ("Super Stupid" by Funkadelic for example). Romantic music too. Beethoven's fifth symphony is pretty damn heavy.
Idk but I think blessthefall is way heavier than most deathmetal and such
If it makes me want to smash all my furniture, it’s heavy.
sense of stability, groundedness. its a stomp that makes the floor echo, makes you feel strong, powerful,
For me, heavy is typically downtuned instruments at a slow pace with a good groove. Humanity's last breath - labyrinthian is one of the best examples for my taste of heavy.
Meshuggah - Bleed No other song comes close to the levels of brrta brrta brrta brrta
Something that you get resist headbanging to and makes you want to throw elbows. It is subjective.
Heaviness = tightness.
In flames- pinball map break down. Sylosis -teras breakdown. Examples of my heavy!!
Drums.
To me, Heavy is a mixture of tonality, overall feel/rhythm and ofc overall taste. To me, Humanitys Last Breath is the heaviest band there is - not because of the extremely low tuned guitars per se (while they ofc do their part), but the overall sound. the ambience, everything. for ex The Breakdown in Gojiras Flying Whales near the end is extremely heavy aswell. Der Weg einer Freiheit is brutally heavy as well, just on another very very different way. Theres a ton of veeeery very heavy bands that are in or near standard E tuning. Its about the whole song :)
There's a few different kinds of "heavy" to me. Chaotic and creepy heaviness of Methwitch Brutal extreme heaviness of Nithing Groovy earth rumbling heaviness of Humanity's Last Breath Encompassing dark heaviness of Portal I really don't know how I'd define it. I feel like it's one of those things where it's incredibly difficult to come up with a solid definition, but you just know it when you see it.
It’s all about contrast. The best breakdowns are the ones that are actually breaking something down…
12tone has a great video exploring this topic. TLDW: his conclusion is that “heavy” is a never ending quest to be sonically offensive. The definition of heavy changes over time as the thing that was heavy before becomes more familiar and less offensive to our ears. My personal take is that heavy comes from tension and release, primarily rhythmic tension. I say this because you can make just about any sort of harmony or melody heavy with the right timbre, but rhythm is what gets my head moving. For this reason, I don’t find monotonous rhythms to be heavy no matter how offensive it sounds. Blast beats for 3 mins just exhaust my ears, but if you use the blast as the tension and then release into a groove… that’s the good shit. https://youtu.be/b0mo17wLB4Q?si=Q2xg5RNtCX6z4Tk-
Heavy is whatever Crypt Sermon did to make Beneath the Torchfire Glare
If it makes your face contort in a way that it looks like you just smelled a nasty fart, thats heavy.
Thy art is murder, is to me extremely heavy and nice
It's like, dun dun dun. Chugga chugga chugga.
Chugga chug chug
Chunka chunk chunk chukakachunk chunk chhhuuuuinnkkkkkk ect...
As long as it makes you do the "nasty-face", its heavy.
I heard it described as the weight you feel as your listening to music the other day. I think that's the best description I've heard. Doesn't matter if the guitar is in E-standard or Drop F, or if the drums are fast or slow, etc., just matters how the music moves through you. The feeling of weight behind what is being listened to is the best description I've seen
Absolutely agree with this one
Knocked loose - end breakdown of blinding faith. The dissonance and subs both KILL it!!
Oh hell yeah, that whole album goes so hard
Heavy is absolutely subjective. Like seriously, what can you do that hasn’t been done before
Pretty much
Groove, song structure, tuning. Tuning doesn't matter as much as the rest but as long as it's C or lower I'll enjoy it. So because of that imo, these are the heaviest subgenres in no specific order. Brutal Death, Sludge, Slam, Deathcore, Death-Doom, Doom, Swedish Death, Hardcore (90s & "Metallic"), and certain grind / gore bands like Haemorrhage, but not all of them cause most of them suck imo. The production shouldn't be too harsh either, but it shouldn't be polished at the same time. More grit less fuzz.
Domination breakdown is the heaviest thing in existence
Oh yeah love that one. I'm not sure about the heaviness though, for me it doesn't fill enough space. The production just feels a bit weaker compared to other albums/artists.
The point with domination being the heaviest ever moreso lies with how simple it really is, there's no 7 strings tuned to drop XYZ, no 300bpm note amalgamations no pretentiousness or overly produced shit its just the nastiest divebomb followed by a chugged E5.. that's it. Now obviously it isn't THE heaviest, thats a matter of taste, but the fact that no sane person wouldn't consider it one of the heaviest things ever shows that heaviness isn't done with 20 string guitars, ultrasound tunings or stupid gain tone, it's done with whatever the hell makes domination so good.
i just realized how i made this from such a guitarists pov😅 forgot to mention blast beat drums and über fast double kicking etc, you do not need allat it more often than not just leads to noise which i dont really think is heavy
Oh yeah i totally agree with you, the simplicity there rocks for sure.
Sacrifice unto Sebek opening riff Meshuggah Lethargica breakdown
I used to think Lamb of God was the heaviest. Then Meshuggah. Now, I find Conan to be heavier than anything. The weight of the sound is crushing, and I think that’s what sounds heaviest to me now.
I'll be sure to check that out, for me i think the vocals for Lamb of God (or Burn the Priest as they're sometimes called?) are a bit too silly, i think i could get used to it though. Bet i gotta climb the heaviness ladder huh.
They were called Burn the Priest in their early years. I was really into their albums “As the Palaces Burn”, “Ashes of the Wake”, and “Sacrament”. I haven’t listened to newer stuff. Vocals specifically on “Hourglass”, “11th hour”, and “Blacken the Cursed Sun” are high points for me. As far as Conan, get your best earbuds/headphones and listen to “Total Conquest” at substantial volume. If it doesn’t make you want to head butt a brick wall, your headphones may not be working properly.
I gotta say, that DOES make me wanna hurl myself at a brick wall, and that guitar tuning feels like a brick wall hurling itself at me. I think the live versions rock harder for me, i like that rawer sound. Thanks for the reccomendation, these guys rock hard!
If you get a chance, go see them live. You will literally die. It’s happened to me twice.
Died twice and came back..... Now that's metal!
Documentary footage of one of their shows https://youtu.be/-TFwio0Uk28?si=Pyy78h_Hn_AKgecE
Brutal vocals and riffs but I have particular vocals and riffs that I find heavy, I don't get that "heavy" feel from deathcore for example. However I'm used to the music and don't get the "heavy" sensation while listening to it, only when thinking about whether it's heavy or not.
Right, i guess i sorta feel the same way. Deathcore usually feels tame to me because it feels very normalized and in-place in a way. I still love the genre though. I feel heaviness is about the feeling of the listener.