this thread honestly irritates me a bit - if you don't label/classify music to some extent how do you ever discuss it? i mean, sonmeone asks you what style of music a band is and you say "i don't categorize musicians by label, so i can't/won't answer you"!? i mean, c'mon... you want to talk about a new band, you need something to offer by way of comparison so that people will know in which direction the music lies.
genres, subgenres, are necessary, otherwise you end up with this...
"so i heard this great band last night!"
"yeah? what do they sound like?"
"ever heard 'chilled monkey's brians'?"
"nope..."
"how about 'the ugly dionysus'?"
"nope..."
"how about 'your mother's combat boots'?"
"nope..."
"how about 'over the enders' maw'?"
"nope..."
"how about 'primal estrangement'?"
"nope..."
"how about ..."