Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock or heavy metal that began to develop in the late 1980s as a reaction to the stagnation of other metal sub-styles.
An alternative to what is alternative music
The conversation about “alternative” should start with the same obvious things that started the conversation about indie music: it is not a genre as such.
History of development Alternative Rock
Just like the term “new wave”, the word “Alternative” does not carry a specific meaning. If we consider alternative broadly enough, many styles such as punk, heavy metal, funk, rap, pop, rock&roll
Transformations and gradual merging of alternative with mainstream
Like most styles of rock music, alternative rock quickly split into different directions: neopsychedelia (a modern version of 1960s psychedelic rock)
Indie music style
Indie music is a common name for various musical genres that are positioned as independent of popular commercial music and mainstream trends, and also promote the so-called DIY ideology.