Heavy Metal

Heavy metal, in its purest form, is referring to what now may be cited as "classic" or "traditional metal," and rightfully so. Since its inception, metal music has branched out into facets so far removed from its beginnings, that its plethora of subgenres are much more necessary than one would think. Try comparing Black Sabbath to Ingested: both bands are undeniably metal, but that's essentially where the resemblance stops. This is due to the sheer openness to creativity for which metal provides a blueprint; a style of music based solely around what the musicians feel, rather than what they play.

Jumping right in, as I discussed in my entry on hard rock, Black Sabbath arguably "invented" metal music with the release of their self-titled record in 1970. Tony Iommi centers the very first riff on the album (on the titular track) around a slow, plodding tritone. This signifies to the listener that what they are about to experience is dark, brooding, ominous, and certainly unorthodox or the time. Combined with Bill Ward's powerful drumming, Geezer Butler's massive bass tone, and Ozzy Osbourne's unmistakable funeral croon, Iommi's playing style had solidified itself at the forefront of a musical movement that would remain headstrong for the next four decades ahead.

Another key spearheading figure of '70s metal was Judas Priest. This band, hailing from the United Kingdom as well, created heavy metal fashion. Black leather donning metal studs, biker imagery, dark sunglasses, and a tough-guy attitude all came to fruition with this band. While producing some of the most iconic looks of the metal genre, they were cranking out music that was equally as iconic. Priest solidified the power chord riffage that we all know and love from this genre, effectively removing the blues from hard rock, setting the metal sound in stone. Many bands around that same time would soon follow with this sound and/or look, such as Motörhead, Rainbow, Budgie, and Scorpions.

Recommended '70s heavy metal listening:
1. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath & Paranoid (1970)
2. Budgie - Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
3. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
4. Rainbow - Rising (1976)
5. Motörhead - Overkill (1979)

As the 1970s bridged into the 1980s, a reaction was occurring. As many of the works by classic hard rock bands such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin begun to plateau, metal needed something new to pick itself up. This influence came both from punk rock and Western classical music. The sheer ferocity and speed of punk combined with the eloquence and harmony from classical music fit perfectly into the grandiosity of metal music. Thus, the new wave of British heavy metal, NWOBHM for short, was formed. Though many key metal figures (Sabbath, Priest, Motörhead) had all been British anyway, it wasn't until bands like Quartz, Diamond Head, Angel Witch, and Samson came onto the scene where fast, melody-driven metal would arrive.

One band stood out amongst the crowd of others in the NWOBHM movement: Iron Maiden. Known to some as "the Beatles of metal," Iron Maiden took the sound that Sabbath and Priest had laid out for them, and injected it with the most (unironically) epic aspects possible. Lyrics about literature and mythology, multifaceted songs with lengths surpassing the ten-minute mark, and double (sometimes even triple) layered harmonies to fill out the sonic space they were given... Iron Maiden truly pushed the envelope and created a style of metal that became incredibly influential.

As the NWOBHM scene progressed, bands started to switch up the formula. Bands like Diamond Head and Saxon were wildly influential on the thrash metal scene. Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General spearheaded the genre of doom metal. Def Leppard and Girlschool would inject pop melodies into their metal, with Def Leppard eventually going full glam metal. Venom would prove to be one of the sole influencers of extreme metal. Others still, like Grim Reaper, Tygers of Pan Tang, and Satan would carve out the niche for power metal and progressive metal. Alas, despite how wildly influential and diverse the NWOBHM scene was, it didn't last very long into the 1980s, becoming one of the more ephemeral points in metal's history.

Recommended NWOBHM listening:
1. Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1980)
2. Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law (1980)
3. Angel Witch - Angel Witch (1980)
4. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982)
5. Satan - Court in the Act (1983)

The 1980s saw an explosion in the popularity of heavy metal. With Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne going solo and the introduction of glam metal and MTV, metal began to become more of a household terminology. Many '70s metal bands like Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Judas Priest continued to release albums to critical acclaim. Rainbow frontman Ronnie James Dio would go on to not only replace Osbourne in Black Sabbath, but to also form the band Dio, which becomes wildly influential on power metal. New bands like Mercyful Fate and Accept lay groundwork for future metal genres like black metal and speed metal, respectively.

Recommended '80s heavy metal listening:
1. Motörhead - Ace of Spades (1980)
2. Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
3. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)
4. Iron Maiden - Powerslave (1984)
5. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath (1984)

Much of the heavy metal in the 1990s was directly involved in the U.S. power metal scene with bands like Iced Earth, Savatage, and Virgin Steele. Many of the '70s and '80s metal bands had since exhausted their glory (with events such as vocalist Bruce Dickinson leaving Iron Maiden), leaving an empty niche for other bands to fill their spots. Ex-glam bands like W.A.S.P. would show their chops with a more grounded, mature sound. Others, like the giants of thrash metal Metallica and Megadeth, would go on to write wildly successful and influential albums in this simplified style. Metallica's self-titled record would eventually become the highest-grossing metal album of all time, establishing many of the most recognizable songs in the entire genre.

Recommended '90s heavy metal listening:
1. Judas Priest - Painkiller (1990)
2. Metallica - Metallica (1991)
3. Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction (1992)
4. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol (1992)
5. Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding (1998)

The 21st century established many comebacks from classic artists. Iron Maiden releases The Book of Souls, Judas Priest Firepower, and Black Sabbath even released 13 before calling it quits. Even artists like Pagan Altar, Satan, and Accept released fairly high quality comeback albums in the 2000s and 2010s. Though the genre's popularity is waning due to the rising influence of other metal subgenres, new blood is still being breathed into this style. In the 2000s, notable new artists were Slough Feg, Nevermore, and Grand Magus. The 2010s brought bands like Chapel of Disease, Hell, Battle Beast, Tribulation, and the ever-popular Ghost to the forefront.

Recommended '00s and '10s heavy metal listening:
1. Iron Maiden - Brave New World (2000)
2. Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)
3. Slough Feg - Traveller (2003)
4. Ghost - Meliora (2015)
5. Judas Priest - Firepower (2018)

Though heavy metal in itself has found itself in the shadow of the subsequent subgenres it had created, it nevertheless remains a vital part of rock music. Whether it's reflecting on the metal giants of the prior decades or looking to the underground for more new artists, traditional heavy metal will always be a relevant, driving force in music culture. Stay tuned every week for new genre discussions!