Table of Contents
8 – Heavy Metal
The “heavy sound” that John Lennon kept referring to was something the Beatles, Hendrix, Townshend and the Yardbirds 3 guitarists Clapton Beck and Page, among others, explored extensively.
February 13, 1970, Black Sabbath is released, it was like heavy metal prepackaged and instant, the music will forever be shockingly different with almost no hint of the blues & psychedelia roots it came from, yet deja vu familiarity for time to come.
Heavy Metal vs, Hard Rock, Black Sabbath vs. Led Zeppelin are discussed at length. I have re-cap lists of hard rock influences, the artists, and songs that helped shape both heavy metal & punk rock.
A – Classic Heavy Metal
1 – Hard Rock Re-cap – For about 2 years before Black Sabbath there were a number of bands that helped develop the new sound of heavy metal. Look for Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple, Vanilla Fudge, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, James Gang, Mountain, David Bowie, Free.
2 – Pioneer Heavy Metal – Hard rock as a genre contained many of the following artists who slowly helped carry the heavy metal flag in the early years of the 70s. Beginning with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Rainbow, UFO, Budgie, Rush, AC/DC, and Blue Oyster Cult for a start.
B – New Wave of British Heavy Metal
1 – NWOBHM – The “new wave” of British heavy metal” coming at the end of the 70s was the beginning of a hard-hitting decade in the 80s. Many of these bands would combine with earlier pioneers to usher in a vast and varied genre in its own right. Iron Maiden, Def Lepard, Samson, Saxon, Diamond Head, Tygers of Pan Tang, Raven, Angel Witch, Girlschool, Sweet Revenge, Blitzkrieg, Jaguar, Avenger, Demon, Witchfynde, Merciful Fate, Witch Finder General, Accept, Venom.
2 – Speed Metal – Speed Metal was one of the initial styles of the new wave of British heavy metal inspired by “Speed King” by Deep Purple. Judas Priest, the Canadian bands Exciter, Anvil and Annihilator, Germany’s Accept.
C – Mainstream Heavy Metal
1 – American Heavy Metal – The west coast had a vibrant heavy metal scene. This time both LA and the bay area had hard rocking bands as well as up the west coast, heavy metal graduated from hard rock. Check out Van Halen, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne’s two masterpieces ‘Blizzard of Oz’ and ‘Diary of a Madman’, Quiet Riot, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Y&T, Scorpions, and Dio. These bands along with the older pioneers of Judas Priest, Motorhead, AC/DC, Rush, and Sabbath
2 – Glam Metal – Get out your hairspray, makeup, spandex, silk scarves and high-heels a lot of hair bands became popular in the mid-eighties after the new wave of British heavy metal and the American west coast answer. MTV had quite a lot to do with the rise of this economically successful sub-genre. Ratt, Hanoi Rocks, Motley Crue, Poison, Zebra, Vixen, Europe, Warrant, Cinderella, Winger, Skid Row and Bon Jovi.
D – 80s Metal Sub-Genres
Many of the subgenres that followed the initial US mainstream success after the new wave of British heavy metal the genre started to splinter up into many different sub-genres.
Thrash Metal
1 – Thrash Metal – Initially coming out of the bay area (San Francisco Bay) the music was a mix of speed metal and hardcore punk. Speed mixed with powerful groove-oriented jams that sometimes were very extensive suites. Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” is considered one of the first “thrash metal” songs.
Start out with the “big four” Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer & Megadeth. Then after you are frenzied and whiplashed, jump into the pit with Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Metal Church, Death Angel, Nuclear Assault, Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.), those three German speed metal bands Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and many more.
Death Metal
2 – Death Metal – The very fast, the taboo, the unintelligible, the music that should not be! Anything having to do with the touchy subject of death, in other words concerning obsessed mortal thoughts. Venom, Slayer, Possessed’s song “Death Metal” and album ‘Seven Churches’, Death, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Dismember, Mortician.
Grindcore – Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Doom. Extreme Noise Terror, Sore Throat, Brutal Tryth.
Extreme Metal – A taste of artists and songs that produced this dark mix of musical extremity.
Black Metal
3 – Black Metal – Black metal was practically invented by Venom. This was a sub-genre that deals with the taboo subjects of the worship of Satan, true evil and occult fetish maybe burning witches or anything having to do with demonic origin.
Some bands had their tongues in their cheeks, others were “dead” serious. Venom’s song and album “Black Metal”, Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Morbid Angel, Sodom, Sepultura. Destruction,
90s Scandinavian Black Metal – My opinion of this sub-genre is that it went a bit too far.I think things went way too far with these guys. Mayhem, Emperor/Enslaved, Dissection, Darkthrone, Mortiis, Enslaved, Burzum, Marduk.
Power Metal
4 – Power Metal – Power metal is an underground sub-genre in the United States but enjoys wide popularity in Europe, Japan, and South America. Check out Helloween, Hammer Fall, Dragon Force, Iced Earth, the symphonic sounding Kamelot, Nightwish, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody of Fire, and Catharsis.
c) Progressive Metal – Started by progressive bands like Rush and King Crimson soon matured to new bands such as Queensryche, Fate’s Warning, Dream Theatre and Symphony X.
Doom Metal
5 – Doom Metal – Slow moving, slow tempo heavy metal of the sort played by old classic Black Sabbath songs “Electric Funeral” or “Into the Void”. It also resembles hardcore punk like the Melvins or slow Blag Flag.
Bands like Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Trouble, Candlemass, Dream Death, Cathedral, the Obsessed, Eyehategod, Corrupted, and Count Raven epitomized the doom metal as well as NWOBHM band Witchfinder General.
Doom metal has several subgenres of its own like traditional doom, epic doom, stoner doom, sludge doom, funeral doom, drone doom, death-doom, and black-doom.
E – Alternative Metal
Alternative Metal – Is a mix of heavy metal with alternative rock, however, alt. rock is vast with many subgenres.
1 – Hardcore Punk meets Heavy Metal
2 – Funk Metal – Alternative funk rock bands in the mid-80s like Fishbone, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Living Colour and Faith No More started the development of funk metal along with help from Anthrax, Mordred, rap metal band Rage Against the Machine and the uncategorizable Primus.
Later bands include Mr. Bungle, Limbomaniacs, 24-7 Spyz, Infectious Grooves, Mind Funk.Korn, Incubus, Sugar Ray, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack and 311. And new millennium Alien Ant Farm, Psychostick, Twelve Foot Ninja and Prophets of Rage.
3 – Early Alternative Metal – Butthole Surfers, Ministry, Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More, White Zombie, Helmet, Voivod, Kyus, Type O Negative
4 – Industrial Metal – Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Ministry and Marilyn Manson dominated this genre in the 90s. Along with Filter, Orgy, KMFDM, Fear Factory, Gravity Kills, Sister Machine Gun and Rob Zombie himself.
5 – Gothic Metal – Gothic metal is a hybrid of heavy metal and gothic rock that manifested itself in the early 90s out of the mix of doom and death metal.
The first wave was Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Type O-Negative, Tiamat, the Gathering and Theatre of Tragedy. The second wave was Moonspell, Theatres des Vampires and Cradle of Filth.
6 – Rap Metal – Hard Core Rap – Public Enemy, KRS-1, Ice-T, NWA, the Geto Boys, Ice Cube, Urban Dance Squad.
F – Grunge
1) Pioneering Seattle Sound – Grunge was heavily influenced by punk, post-punk and hardcore punk. In Seattle came punk bands like Green River, the Melvins, Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone.
2) Grunge – Grunge came out of Seattle in the early 1990s and caused a resurgence in punk music and 70s rock and heavy metal. Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season.
3) Post-Grunge – the Breeders, Hole, L7, Bush, Candlebox, Collective Soul, Foo Fighters, Creed, Matchbox Twenty, Alanis Morrissette and Nickelback
G – Nu Metal
Nu Metal – Biohazard, Fear Factory, Tool, Korn, Soulfly, System of a Down, Rob Zombie, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, Papa Roach, Kittie, Rage Against the Machine
1) Avante Gard Metal – Naked City, Treponem Pal, 16-17, Breadwinner, Painkiller, OPOan-Thy-Manium, Master’s Hammer, Arcturus.
2) Metallic Techno – Godflesh, Scorn, Atari Teenage Riot, Panacea.
3) Symphonic metal bands – Tristania and Within Temptation, along with power metal band Nightwish were gothic. In the 21st century, the UK’sEntwine, HIM, Lullacry and Poionblack and the US’s Lacuna Coil and Evanescence.
4) Sludge Metal – A mix of Doom and Hardcore – Artists such as Kyuss, Eye hate god, Crowbar. other related sub-genres Stoner Metal, Drone Metal;
5) Metalcore –The Accused, Corrosion of Conformity, DRI, SOD, Cro-Mags, Dr. Know, Cryptic Slaughter, Samhain, Excel, Prong.