Heavy metal music

"Heavy metal" redirects here. For other uses, see Heavy metal (disambiguation).

Heavy metal
Stylistic origins	Psychedelic rock Blues rock Hard rock
Cultural origins	Late 1960s in the United Kingdom and the United States
Typical instruments	Guitar - Bass - Drums
Subgenres
Avant-garde metal - Black metal - Classic metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Folk metal - Glam metal - Gothic metal - Groove metal - Nu metal - Power metal - Progressive metal - Speed metal - Thrash metal - Viking Metal (complete list)
Fusion genres
Alternative metal - Christian metal - Funk metal - Grindcore - Industrial metal - Metalcore - Nu metal - Rapcore - Symphonic metal
Regional scenes
Gothenburg - Britain - Bay Area
Other topics
Fashion - History - Bands - Umlaut - Blast beat

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed between 1969 and 1974. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterised by the use of highly-amplified distortion. Allmusic declares, "Of all rock & roll's myriad forms, heavy metal is the most extreme in terms of volume, machismo, and theatricality."

Throughout its history heavy metal has had a large world-wide following of fans known by terms such as "metalheads" and "headbangers". Early heavy metal bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were popular but critically reviled at the time, a trend that has been present throughout the history of metal. As the original wave of heavy metal bands began to wane, the late 1970s brought the New Wave of British Heavy Metal which stripped away much of the music's blues influence instead fusing it with punk rock innovations and some of its aesthetic. Heavy metal became extremely popular in the 1980s, at which time many of the now existing subgenres first evolved. Some subgenres, often more aggressive and extreme than metal music of the past, were often restricted to underground audiences, but some like glam metal and to a lesser extent thrash metal were able to gain mainstream commercial success. In recent years subgenres like nu metal have broadened the scope of what is considered heavy metal while much of the metal music of the past is being critically reevaluated.

Characteristics

Heavy metal is typically characterized by a guitar-and-drum-dominated sound, strong rhythms and classical, bluesy or symphonic styles. However, heavy metal sub-genres have their own stylistic variations on the original form that often omit or alter many of these characteristics. There is a very wide variety of sounds and styles within the genre of Metal.

The most commonly used line-up for a metal band is a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer (who may or may not be an instrumentalist). Keyboards were popular with early metal bands (especially the organ and occasionally the mellotron), but were gradually used less and less frequently. Today they are used by some styles and shunned by others, though as different subgenres develop they have begun to become more popular. The guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification, however, is the key element in heavy metal music. Distortion of the guitar sound is used to create a more powerful, "heavy'" sound. Later, more intricate solos and riffs became a big part of heavy metal music. Guitarists use sweep-picking, tapping and other advanced techniques for rapid playing, and many sub-genres praise virtuosity over simplicity. Also, as technology has developed, new ways of altering the guitar's sound have been adopted.

In the early part of the 1970s, bands with two lead guitarists began to emerge. Wishbone Ash, The Allman Brothers Band, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest all made notable use of dual leads and harmonies. Many bands, such as Iron Maiden, would follow this pattern of having two guitarists share the role of both lead and rhythm guitar.

Metal vocals vary widely in style. Vocalists' abilities and styles range from the multi-octave theatrical vocals of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, to the intentionally gruff vocals of Metallica's James Hetfield and Lemmy from Motörhead .

In terms of the live sound, volume is often considered as important as anything. Following the lead set by Jimi Hendrix and The Who (who once held the distinction of "The World's Loudest Band" in the Guinness Book Of World Records), early heavy metal bands set new benchmarks for sound volume during shows. Tony Iommi, guitarist in heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath, is just one of the early Heavy Metal musicians to suffer considerable hearing loss due to their live volume. Detroit rocker Ted Nugent and guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who are nearly deaf. Heavy metal's volume fixation was mocked in the rockumentary spoof This Is Spinal Tap by guitarist "Nigel Tufnel", who revealed that his Marshall amplifiers had been modified to "go up to eleven."

Musical language

Rhythm and groove

A specific rhythmic groove based on dynamic patterns frequently in staccato (thanks to palm muting). The rhythmic patterns often use (though not always) short binary or tertiary equal rhythmic figures (most of the time eighth notes or 16th notes). In metaphorical terms, it means that heavy metal is often characterized by the use of some dynamic and off-handed rhythmic patterns thanks to the adjunction of small rhythmic abrupt cells. Heavy metal may also use large and long rhythmic figures, most particularly in slow tempo songs such as ballads.

Chords

One of the signatures of the genre is the large use of power chord. Most frequently the fifth power chord. But also sometimes some other types of power chords:

• the fourth
• the minor third/-major third
• the diminished fifth
• the minor sixth.

File:Addicted to chaos transcirption and analysis.jpg

Example of a heavy metal riff using several types of Power chord: The main riff of Megadeth'sAddicted to Chaos

Typical harmonic relationships

Heavy metal by nature is Wikked awesome sweet!!! With loud, over the top rebelion. Riffs are frequently created with 3 main harmonic traits:

Modal harmony PENIS!!!!

Traditional heavy metal tends to make a large use of modal aeolian (the A mode) such as: I-VI –VII, I VII-(VI) or I-VI –IV- VII or sometimes I- minor V-I

e.g.

• Judas Priest- Breaking the Law (main riff: I- VI-VII)
• Iron Maiden - Hallowed be thy Name (main ryhtmic pattern: I- VI-VII)
• Accept- Princess of the Dawn (main riff: I- VI-VII)

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Example of a typical heavy metal aeolian harmonic progression in I-VI-VII (Am-F-G): The main riff of Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law"

Tritone and chromatism

However one of the most frequent harmonic trademark of many heavy metal subgenre is the use of tense harmony such as the chromatic or tritone relationships. Several music experts and metal musicians have noted of the role of the tritone in heavy metal, a dissonant interval consisting of a root note and an augmented fourth. C and F sharp. This interval was banned from medieval singing because of its dissonant nature, which led monks to call it «Diabolus in Musica" ("the devil in music").Because of that original symbolic association, it was then slowly assimilated in western cultural conventions as “evil”. Today this interval tends to suggest ostensibly some “oppressive”, "scary," or "evil" sound. Heavy metal has also made extensive use of this interval because of these connotative qualities. Additionally, it is frequently used in solos and riffs, e.g., the beginning of Black Sabbath's eponymous song.

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Example of a harmonic progression with the tritone (G-C#): The main riff of the Black Sabbath song..

Pedal point

Heavy metal also makes an extensive use of pedal point as an harmonic basis. Riffs are frequently constructed over a persistent repeating note/or chord played on the low strings (bass or guitar.): most frequently the E, A and D strings.

Heavy metal bands may also use some other scale in their solos sometimes:

The minor harmonic scale

The harmonic minor scale is the typical classical minor scale and many classical influenced guitarists such has Ritchie Blackmoore, Yngwie Malmsteen or Uli Jon Roth tend to make an extensive use of it.

Pentatonic and Blues scales

Despite the fact Heavy metal tends to drop the typical bluesy harmonic flavour (I- IV-I –V- IV),some heavy metal guitarists may use the pentatonic and the blues scales in melodic licks over modal chord progressions. Among many examples, that’s notably the case of Tommy Iommy,Ritchie BlackmooreKK Downing, Glenn tipton,Wolf Hoffmann

Themes

Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, pioneering heavy metal bands often included outlandish and fantasy-inspired lyrics, giving them an escapist quality. Iron Maiden frequently based songs on mythology, fiction and poetry, like in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (based on the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem of the same name), or the majority of their 1982 release Piece of Mind. Other examples include Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" and "The Wizard," Megadeth's "The Conjuring," and Judas Priest's "Dreamer Deceiver."

As the genre developed, thematic content was among the things that helped define various subgenres of heavy metal. Popular Glam metal bands of the 1980s like Motley Crue or Twisted Sister had lyrical content revolving around themes of teenage life and social issues. At the same time, other artists were revolving their themes around war, nuclear annihilation, environmental issues, and political or religious propaganda, like Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants", Metallica's "...And Justice for All", Iron Maiden's" 2 Minutes to Midnight", Accept's "Balls to the Wall and Rage Against the Machine's entire catalog. Death is also a predominant theme in heavy metal, featuring in the lyrical content of artists such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth.

The themes of darkness, evil, power and apocalypse are language components for addressing the reality of life's problems. In reaction to the "peace and love" hippie culture of the 1960s, heavy metal developed as a counterculture, where light is supplanted by darkness and the happy ending of pop is replaced by the naked reality that things do not always work out in this world. This dark thematic content is a target of critics, whom accuse the genre of glorifying negative aspects of reality.

As with much popular music, visuals and images are part of heavy metal. Album covers and stage shows are as much a part of the presentation of the material as the music itself, though seldom exceeding the music in priority. A heavy metal band's "image" is associated with the thematic content of their lyrics, and is expressed in the artwork on the album, the set of the stage, the tone of the lyrics, and the clothes of the band, in addition to the sound of the music.

Heavy metal musicians have often tried to associate lyrics and themes that match with the connotative and suggestive atmospheres conveyed by music. Progressive rock bands such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes had already explored this dynamic before heavy metal evolved. As heavy metal uses apocalyptic themes and images of power and darkness, the ability to successfully translate verbal ideas into music is often seen as critical to its authenticity and credibility. An example of this is the album Powerslave by Iron Maiden. The cover is of a dramatic Egyptian scene and many of the songs on the album have subject matter requiring a sound suggestive of life and death, including a song entitled "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," based on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris has cited progressive rock bands such as Rush and Yes as influences, and it should be noted that the 1977 Rush album A Farewell to Kings features the eleven-minute "Xanadu," also inspired by Coleridge and pre-dating the Iron Maiden composition by several years.

Classical influence

The appropriation of "classical" music by heavy metal typically includes the influence of Baroque, Romantic, and Modernist composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Niccolò Paganini, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky.

And the even evocative tritone was already exploited by Romantic composers like Liszt, and most specifically by modern classical composers (such as Bartok, Stravinsky or Schoenberg) who used it especially for its anguishing and dark connotative qualities.

Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore had been experimenting with musical figurations borrowed from classical music since the early 1970s. Following Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads and Uli Jon Roth the "classical" influence in metal guitar during the 1980s looked to the early eighteenth century for its model of speed and technique; notably, classically-inspired guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, whose technical prowess inspired a myriad of neo-classical metal players including Michael Romeo, Michael Angelo Batio and Tony MacAlpine.

However, while heavy metal musicians may have often been inspired by classical composers, it is important to stress the fact that their music does not descend from classical music. Classical music is "art" music (serious music) whereas heavy metal is popular music.

Moreover many specialists and critics have observed that heavy metal musicians actually focus and borrow superficial aspects of classical music (motives, melodies, scales or even sometimes real orchestral set). Heavy metal bands generally don't try to exploit the real compositional depth and complexity of classical music. (Even the said “neo classical” and progressive metal bands). For example, the allegedly Bach-inspired players seldom make use of the complex counterpoint which is central to Bach's compositions.

Furthermore the extensive use of power chords in heavy metal (implying countless consecutive fifths) goes against one of the main principles of classical music. As a matter of fact, the use of consecutive fifths and octaves is a violation of an important rule of harmony and classical aesthetic.

And the fact that many metal bands pretend to be " symphonic" by thinking they can replace the rich acoustic spectra of an entire symphonic orchestra by the synthetic sounds of a keyboard would be regarded as an heresy or as pure naivety in the classical world.

The term "heavy metal"

The origin of the term heavy metal in relation to a form of music is uncertain. The phrase had been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy and is listed as such in the Oxford English Dictionary. An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by counter-culture writer William S. Burroughs. In the 1962 novel, The Soft Machine, he introduces the character "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid". His next novel in 1964, Nova Express, develops this theme further, heavy metal being a metaphor for addictive drugs.

With their diseases and orgasm drugs and their sexless parasite life forms — Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes — And the Insect People of Minraud with metal music

The first recorded use of heavy metal in a song lyric is the phrase "heavy metal thunder" in the 1968 Steppenwolf song "Born To Be Wild": "I like smoke and lightning/Heavy metal thunder/Racin' with the wind/And the feelin' that I'm under".

The book The History of Heavy Metal states the name as a take from "hippiespeak," heavy meaning anything with a potent mood, and metal, specifically designating what the mood would be, grinding and weighted as with metal. The word "heavy" (meaning serious or profound) had entered beatnik/counterculture slang some time earlier and references to "heavy music"—typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare—were already common; indeed, Iron Butterfly first started playing Los Angeles in 1967, their name explained on an album cover, "Iron- symbolic of something heavy as in sound, Butterfly- light, appealing and versatile...an object that can be used freely in the imagination". Iron Butterfly's 1968 debut album was entitled Heavy. The fact that Led Zeppelin (whose moniker came partly in reference to Keith Moon's jest that they would "go down like a lead balloon") incorporated a heavy metal into its name may have sealed the usage of the term.

In the late 1960s, Birmingham, England was still a centre for manufacturing and (given the many rock bands that evolved in and around the city, such as The Move, and Black Sabbath), some people suggest that the term Heavy Metal may have some relation to such activity. Biographies of The Move have claimed that the sound came from their 'heavy' guitar riffs.

Cover from Blue Öyster Cult's 1986 album Club Ninja, depicting the group's use of alchemical symbol for lead - a heavy metal.

Sandy Pearlman, original producer, manager and songwriter for Blue Öyster Cult, claims to have been the first person to apply the term "heavy metal" to rock music in 1970. In creating much of the band's image, which included tongue-in-cheek references to the occult, Pearlman came up with a symbol for the group (similar to the use of a symbol Iron Maiden later included on their album cover artwork), the Alchemical symbol for lead - one of the heaviest of metals. He put forth this term to describe the type of music that Blue Öyster Cult played.

A late, but disputed, hypothesis about the origin of the genre was brought forth by "Chas" Chandler, who was a manager of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1969, in an interview on the PBS TV program "Rock and Roll" in 1995. He states that "...it [heavy metal] was a term originated in a New York Times article reviewing a Jimi Hendrix performance," and claims the author described the Jimi Hendrix Experience "...like listening to heavy metal falling from the sky." The precise source of this claim, however, has not been found and its accuracy is disputed.

The first well-documented usage of the term "heavy metal" referring to a style of music, appears to be the May 1971 issue of Creem, in a review of Sir Lord Baltimore's Kingdom Come. In this review we are told that "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book". Creem critic Lester Bangs subsequently has been credited with popularizing the term in the early 1970s in regards to bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

Heavy metal may have been used as a jibe initially by a number of music critics but was quickly adopted by its adherents. Other, already-established bands, such as Deep Purple, who had origins in pop or progressive rock, immediately took on the heavy metal mantle, adding distortion and additional amplification in a more aggressive approach.

History

Origins and early popularity (1960s and early 1970s)

Template:Sample box end American blues music was highly popular and influential among the early British rockers; bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds had recorded covers of many classic blues songs, sometimes speeding up the tempo and using electric guitar where the original used acoustic. Such powered-up blues music was encouraged by the intellectual and artistic experimentation that arose when musicians started to exploit the opportunities of the electrically amplified guitar to produce a louder and more dissonant sound. Where blues-rock drumming styles had been largely simple shuffle beats on small drum kits, drummers began using a more muscular, complex, and amplified approach to match and be heard with the increasingly loud guitar sounds; similarly vocalists modified their technique and increased their reliance on amplification, often becoming more stylized and dramatic in the process. Simultaneous advances in amplification and recording technology made it possible to successfully capture the power of this heavier approach on record.

Many artists and songs have been pointed out as prototypical of heavy metal. The Kinks' 1964 tune "You Really Got Me" has even been cited as one of the very first 'heavy metal' songs: it was perhaps the first to use a repetitive, distorted, power-chord riff as its basis. A particularly influential band was the psychedelic blues-rock power trio Cream, who derived a powerful sound from unison riffing between guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce as well as Ginger Baker's use of double bass drumming. By 1968, heavy blues sounds were becoming commonplace—many fans and scholars point to Blue Cheer's Jan. 1968 cover of Eddie Cochran's hit "Summertime Blues" as the first true heavy metal song. Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" (released in Jan. 1968), and the Yardbirds' single, "Think About It" (recorded Jan. '68; released Mar. '68) should also be mentioned; the latter employed a similar sound to that which Jimmy Page would employ with Led Zeppelin; these were soon followed by Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (July '68). Beatles scholars cite in particular the song "Helter Skelter" from The Beatles (more commonly known as The White Album) (Nov. 1968) and the single version of "Revolution" (Nov. 1968), which set new standards for distortion and aggressive sound on a pop album. Dave Edmunds' band Love Sculpture also released an aggressive heavy guitar version of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance in November 1968. The Jeff Beck Group's album Truth (August 1968) was an important and influential rock album; released just before Led Zeppelin's first album (Jan. 1969), leading some (especially British blues fans) to argue that Truth was the first heavy metal album.

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Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath in 1973

The 1970 releases by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple defined and codified the genre that would be known as heavy metal. Led Zeppelin had formed out of the ashes of guitarist Jimmy Page's previous band, the Yardbirds, and came to define important aspects of the genre with singer Robert Plant's dramatic, wailing vocals and lyrics concerning themes of magic, conquest and the occult. Black Sabbath also dealt heavily with occult themes; formerly a blues-rock band called Earth, Black Sabbath adopted a new name taken from a Bela Lugosi horror film and a darker, heavier sound partially necessitated by an industrial accident guitarist Tony Iommi had suffered. Unable to play normally, Iommi had to tune his guitar down for easier fretting and had to rely on power chords due to the ease of the fingering. Deep Purple had fluctuated between styles in its early years, but by 1969 vocalist Ian Gillan and the guitar stylings of Ritchie Blackmore had pushed the band into the direction of the developing heavy metal genre. These bands quickly become successful, with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath scoring hits on the pop charts with the songs "Whole Lotta Love"(1969) and "Paranoid" (1971), respectively. Many of the first heavy metal bands—Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and UFO, among a few—are often now called hard rock bands by the modern metal community rather than heavy metal, especially those bands whose sound was more similar to traditional rock music. In general, the terms heavy metal and hard rock are often used interchangeably, in particular when discussing the 1970s.

Mainstream dominance (Late 1970s and 1980s)

Main articles: Classic metal and Glam metal

The late 1970s and early 1980s history of heavy metal music is highly debated among music historians. Bands like Blue Öyster Cult achieved moderate mainstream success and the Los Angeles glam metal scene began finding pop audiences—especially in the 1980s. Others ignore or downplay the importance of these bands, instead focusing on the arrival of classical influences—which can be heard in the work of Randy Rhoads and such like. Others still highlight the late-70s cross-fertilization of heavy metal with fast-paced, youthful punk rock (e.g. Sex Pistols, Ramones), culminating in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal around the year 1980, led by bands like Motörhead, Def Leppard, Saxon and Iron Maiden.

Rainbow are also sometimes cited as pioneering a sort of pure heavy metal and one could also make this claim about the later albums of Deep Purple such as Burn and Stormbringer, but these bands are generally considered to be "hard rock" bands. Beginning with Judas Priest, metal bands quickly began to look beyond the almost exclusive use of the blues scale to incorporate diatonic modes into their solos. (Some followers believe that the foundations of the definitive style and sound of modern day heavy metal were pioneered by Judas Priest). This more complex approach has since spread throughout many sub-genres of metal and along with an overall strong sense of musicianship are the main contributions classical music and jazz music (via progressive rock) have made to the metal genre.

Guitar virtuosity was brought to the fore by Eddie Van Halen, and many consider his 1978 solo "Eruption" (Van Halen, 1978) a milestone. Ritchie Blackmore (formerly of Deep Purple), Randy Rhoads (with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot) and Yngwie Malmsteen went on to further virtuoso guitar work; in some cases, classical nylon-stringed guitars were played at heavy metal concerts and on heavy metal albums, e.g., Rhoades' "Dee" on Blizzard of Ozz. Classical icons such as Liona Boyd also became associated with the heavy metal stars in a newly diverse guitar fraternity where conservative and aggressive guitarists could come together to "trade licks."

The most popular subgenre of heavy metal emerged in the United States, coming from glam metal bands of the 1980s. The epicentre for this explosion was mostly in the Sunset Strip from Los Angeles, California. The first wave of glam metal included the likes of Mötley Crüe, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Dokken and Twisted Sister. Early glam metal groups were influenced by heavy metal acts such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and, incorporating guitar solos into the majority of their songs. Bands such as Mötley Crüe and W.A.S.P. expanded on the foundations laid by Alice Cooper and Kiss in regards to stage show, often venturing into shock rock territory. In one form or another glam metal would dominate the mainstream airwaves from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. At times the likes of Dio, Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest experimented with glam metal stylings in their music. The genre caused a divide in the evolving metal community of the 1980s, largely due to the glam metal bands' image, especially that of the more feminine-looking bands such as Poison and Bon Jovi.

Underground metal (1980s, 1990s, and 2000s)

Template:Sound sample box align rightTemplate:Sample box end Many subgenres of heavy metal developed during the 1980s. Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of the online All Music Guide, as well as critic Garry Sharpe-Young. Sharpe-Young's multi-volume metal encyclopedias separate the underground into five major categories: thrash metal, death metal, black metal, power metal, and, lastly, the related sub-genres of doom and gothic metal.

Thrash metal

Main article: Thrash metal

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Metallica, one of the main thrash metal groups

In a move away from metal's hard rock roots, a genre that took influences from hardcore punk emerged in the 1980s — thrash metal. The genre's sound was much more aggressive, louder and faster than the original metal bands or their glam metal contemporaries, and the guitar work was often more technically complex. This subgenre was popularized by the 'Big Four Of Thrash', Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer, with bands like San Francisco's Testament and Exodus, New Jersey's Overkill and Brazil's Sepultura also making an impact. With the exception of Metallica, who sold consistently in the millions, and even appeared on the Billboard chart at #6 with "...And Justice for All" during the 1980s, thrash was more underground in terms of sales and media coverage, compared to more popular subgenres. During the 1990s, sales of Thrash improved, particularly that of the "big four".

Death metal and Black metal

Main articles: Death metal and Black metal

In the early and mid 1990s, thrash began to evolve and split further into more extreme metal genres such as death metal and black metal. Many death metal bands would eventually showcase levels of speed and technicality that were previously unheard of and while highly skilled guitar work remained highly valued (as in most metal genres) death metal also featured a more prominent role from highly skilled, versatile, and fast drummers. Death metal vocals are typically fairly harsh and involve guttural growling, high-pitched screaming, and other such atonal vocalizations that are usually not found in other genres of music. Complimenting the deep, aggressive vocal style are downtuned, highly distorted guitars, and extremely fast drums which make use of rapid double bass drumming and syncopation. Frequent tempo and time signature changes are not uncommon. Death metal (a term probably originating from Possessed's song "Death Metal", off their Seven Churches album), led by Possessed and Death, would evolve into various sub-genres and would produce many notable bands, such as Nile and Suffocation.

Template:Sound sample box align rightTemplate:Sample box end Black metal is an extreme metal genre that began in Europe and is perhaps one of the most underground metal genres, although some symphonic black metal bands such as Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth have entered the mainstream. Satanic and Pagan themes are common in the genre. Black metal (a term coined by Venom, from an album titled Black Metal) eventually produced an "inner circle" of bands that would become associated with considerable violence in 90's (see black metal for details). Black metal can vary considerably in it's production quality and style, although most bands make use of shrieked and growled vocals, highly distorted guitars and emphasize a "dark" atmosphere. Denmark's Mercyful Fate are often considered the originators of the corpse paint that is common to Black Metal. Bathory (generally considered one of the first black metal acts although they later involved more Viking themes), Celtic Frost and Mayhem were key bands early on, and one of the most well known and technically proficient black metal bands is Emperor.

Power metal

Main article: Power metal

From the 1980s and into the 1990s power metal, especially in Europe, evolved in an opposite direction from death metal and thrash by keeping the speed, anti-commercial mentality and intensity of heavy metal but focusing on upbeat and epic themes and melodies. Power metal usually involves high pitched 'clean singing' similar to that of NWOBHM vocalists, such as Bruce Dickinson, as opposed to death grunts. Traditional power metal bands such as Manowar and Hammerfall have a sound very close to classic heavy metal whilst more modern power metal bands such as Rhapsody of Fire, Kamelot and Symphony X often have a strong keyboard based symphonic influence, sometimes using orchestra and opera singers. Power metal has gained a strong fanbase in South America and Japan. Progressive metal, a fusion of the progressive stylings of bands like Rush, King Crimson and heavy metal began in the '80s, too, behind innovators like Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater who enjoyed substantial mainstream acceptance and success in the glam metal era.

Doom metal

Main article: Doom metal

At a time when thrash ruled the metal underground, a new genre known as doom metal (beginning in the 1980s with such bands as Saint Vitus) took the opposite approach. Instead of emphasizing speed, doom bands slowed the music down to a crawl. The themes, style, and approach of the genre were deeply indebted to Black Sabbath, and have remained so to this day.

Alternative metal and nu metal (1990s and 2000s)

Main articles: Alternative metal and Nu metal

The era of metal dominating the mainstream came to an end with the emergence of Nirvana and other grunge bands that signaled the popular breakthrough of alternative rock. Also notable was the success of Pantera, whose groove metal was equally responsible for the demise of 1980s mainstream metal, according to some critics.

With these breakthroughs, bands active since the 1980s began to become more widely known and achieve mainstream attention. In particular, bands that had fused alternative rock and heavy metal styles began to gain momentum and formed the fusion genre called alternative metal. This included a wide variety of acts, including the grunge-based band Alice in Chains, the goth-influenced Jane's Addiction, the noise rock-infused White Zombie, and groups influenced by a wide variety of other alternative genres. Red Hot Chili Peppers infused their alternative rock with punk, funk, hip hop and metal, Danzig continued Glenn Danzig's progression from punk, through deathrock (with Samhain) and into metal, Ministry began incorporating metal into their industrial music, and Primus combined elements of funk, punk, thrash metal and experimental music.

As alternative metal achieved wider mainstream success, more notable bands from the genre, including Faith No More, Helmet, Marilyn Manson, Rage Against the Machine and Tool, influenced a new wave of rock bands. These bands were not the preceding fusion of alternative rock and heavy metal, but a new genre derived from it, and came to be known as nu metal. Korn, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Slipknot and P.O.D. are among the most prominent nu metal bands. Nu metal gained mainstream success through heavy MTV rotation and the 1996 formation of Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest metal music festival, which led the media to talk of a resurgence of heavy metal. Much debate has arisen over the nu metal's massive success and whether or not it is metal in the conventional sense, with fans of traditional and extreme metal genres often insisting it is not.

Recent trends (mid 2000s)

Several reunions have lead to a resurgence of interest in the classic metal style. Among others, Black Sabbath's reunion with their original vocalist in 1997 and Judas Priest's reunion with their original vocalist in 2003 have turned younger audiences onto older bands. Many bands, having reunited only for a one-off tour or gig, decide to stick together after the original tour or gig achieves commercial and critical success.

In Europe, and especially in Germany and Scandinavia, metal continues to be one of the most popular genres, with dedicated fans supporting already established acts with fervour and propelling newer ones like Edguy and Hammerfall to superstar status on a regular basis. Proof of this commitment can be seen in events like the open air festivals held all over the continent from late spring to summer, with the most notable having turned from one-day events to week-long escapades lining up dozens of bands playing in front of staggering crowds ranging in capacity from 8,000 to 50,000 people. Some of the best known festivals are the Wacken Open Air, Summer Breeze Festival, Bang Your Head!!!, Metalcamp, Gods of Metal, Inferno Festival and Keep It True.

2002 to 2003 also saw the rise of metalcore as a commercial force. This sub genre is a hybrid blending elements of thrash metal, melodic death metal and hardcore punk. The origins of the genre date back nearly 20 years to the formation of "crossover" thrash in the mid 80s with bands such as Suicidal Tendencies and Nuclear Assault. Up until the mid to late 1990s metalcore had largely been an underground sub genre, but by 2004 it had risen sharply in popularity, enough for big selling groups like Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall to debut albums in the top 20 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and get prominent slots at major music festivals, including Ozzfest, Reading Festival and Download Festival.

Related styles

Hard rock is closely related to heavy metal (and often the terms overlap in usage), but it does not always match the description of what purists consider the definition of heavy metal. While still guitar-driven in nature and usually riff-based, its themes and execution differ from that of the major heavy metal bands listed earlier in this article. This is perhaps best exemplified by The Who in the late-1960s and early-1970s, as well as other 1970s and 1980s bands like Queen who have had a large influence on heavy metal music, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, and Scorpions.

Glam rock (or glitter rock) - a short-lived era in the early 1970s, relied on heavy, crunchy guitars, anthemic songs, and a theatrical image. T. Rex, David Bowie (particularly in his incarnation as Ziggy Stardust) and Alice Cooper are among the more popular standard examples of this sub-genre.

Some cross-influence has occurred between punk rock and heavy metal. An example is Motörhead; the band's leader Lemmy, spent time in punk band The Damned and attempted to teach Sid Vicious how to play bass guitar.

Alternative rock, particularly grunge, sometimes takes influence from heavy metal. Some grunge bands such as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were marketed as metal before alternative became a viable commercial force.

Heavy metal movements

There are certain body movements that are nearly universal in the metal culture, including headbanging, moshing, and various hand gestures such as the infamous devil horns (brought to popularity by vocalist Ronnie James Dio during his time with Black Sabbath and his solo band Dio). Stage diving, air guitar, and crowd surfing are also practiced, though air guitar practices are less popular today.

See also

• List of heavy metal bands
• List of heavy metal genres
• Timeline of heavy metal

Sources

• Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8.
• Walser, Robert (1993). Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6260-2.
• Weinstein, Deena (1991). Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology. Lexington. ISBN 0-669-21837-5. Revised edition: (2000) Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture. DaCapo. ISBN 0-306-80970-2.

External links

• All Music Guide entry for heavy metal
• Encyclopaedia Metallum, largest online metal band database