A Brief History of Metal Music

Posted Aug 3, 2020 12:41 PM

Background

Metal music started in the late 60s when hippie acid rock bands began cranking their amps up and stripping away from their iconic psychedelic tunes to make their music leaner and more intense.

Although bands like Blue Cheer Vanilla Fudge and Leaf Hound were originally grouped as "heavy blue" on par with Led Zeppelin and Cream,
It was clear that they possessed a distinctive tone and this eventually led to the creation of a new movement in rock and roll.

Black Sabbath

Many people consider one particular album as the birthplace of heavy metal. That would be 1970 self-titled released by the legendary band - Black Sabbath in Birmingham, England. Sabbath truly formed the original foundation of which generations of heavy metal music will eventually branch out into their distinctive sub-genres.

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Today, the term "Heavy Metal" is considered as a sub-genre of "Metal". However, this was not the case back then. In the early years of metal, the term "heavy metal" was used as an umbrella term that comprised a vast range of sounds and styles which were well diverse from one another.
Many bands during this period stayed faithful to the original Blue's Style heard in most Acid Rock songs. Prime examples would be bands like Deep Purple and Mountain Stayed. There a few bands however that took things differently. Motorhead and Budgie incorporated fast guitar riffs and amped up the distortion, even more, creating the familiar "heavy metal" sound we hear today.

Although there was a new trend in the metal scene during this period, it was mostly underground and did not quite gain the attention of mainstream media.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal

In the 80s, British bands like Iron Maiden & Judas Priest took the name "Metal" into mainstream media. One key reason for this would be the iconic "Metal" sound being the de facto sound for rock in the 80s. During this media frenzy, most bands focused more on making their music radio-friendly in hopes of getting signed by a record label.

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Inspired by these iconic sounds, bands like Guns N Roses would later form and take "rock" and heavy music to mainstream media once again. This buzz made rock and metal very profitable and more bands were formed and record labels began supporting local metal bands more than before.

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Black Metal

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While most metal bands loved and wanted the attention from media so they could grow and make a living off of making music, some bands in the north had a more dark idea. Known as the most "Extreme" out of all the metal sub-genres, Black Metal very rarely gained media attention due to the nature of their music, subjects and visual imagery.

First wave

This all started when a local metal band named "Venom" responded to the commercialization of heavy metal by taking their music in a more extreme and darker direction by using satanic imagery and lyrics.

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They went on to create a new album titled "Black Metal" which eventually made the genre Black Metal. Venom inspired other bands with similar ideas and sounds. This gave birth to Bands like "Hellhammer" from Switzerland, "Merciful Fate" from Denmark and "Bathory" from Sweden.

Second Wave

At the end of the 80s, A new wave of Black Metal bands immerged from Norway. Bands like Dark Throne, Emperor & Mayhem crafted the Black Metal sound and took the imagery & lyrics to even darker extremes.

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Due to black Metal, new genres like Death Metal, Doom Metal and Thrash Metal were also born.

The 90s

During the 90s, Thrash metal became the most popular sub-genre of Metal primary because of bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax & Slayer. This group of bands is also referred to as "The Big Four".

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Metal Today.

Almost all the original genres of metal are still active and alive today. However, many new sub-genres have been formed over the years. Here are a few sub-genres of Metal.

Doom Metal
Gothic Metal
Groove Metal
Viking Metal
Industrial Metal
Nu Metal
Speed Metal
Neoclassical Metal

Although subjected to heavy criticism by the public and media, Metal is still growing and more new sub-genres are being created. This makes Metal one of the most interesting Genres in Music.

Aug 7, 2020 03:23 PM

Hell yeah. Metal was never meant to be adopted by the masses. A lot of people don't understand that metal is not just a music genre. Within Metal exists a subculture. This was a fun read, thanks!

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