NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Heavy metal music

Heavy metal (often referred to simply as metal) is a genre of rock music^[1] that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States.^[2] With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are generally associated with masculinity and machismo.^[3] Hard Rock redirects here. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that attempts to replicate the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. ... Two different electric guitars. ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as a cowbell, wood block, chimes or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer. ... Harry Belafonte singing, photograph by C. van Vechten Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with speech. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... A number of overlapping heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal (often shortened to metal) in the late 1960s. ... Avant-garde metal or experimental metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterised by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... Doom metal is a form of heavy metal music that emerged as a recognized sub-genre during the first half of the 1980s. ... Glam metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s - early 1980s in the United States. ... Gothic metal is a genre of heavy metal music. ... Groove metal, often associated with neo-thrash/post-thrash and power groove, is a term sometimes used to describe a derivative of thrash metal which took its current form during the early 1990s. ... This article is about the sub-genre of heavy metal music. ... Progressive metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock. ... Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that spawned in the early 1980s and was the direct musical progenitor of thrash metal[1] [2]. When Speed metal first emerged as a genre, it innovatively increased the tempo of the music template set forth by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin... Stoner rock and stoner metal are interchangeable terms describing sub-genres of rock and metal music. ... Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that sound similar to a classical symphony. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... Viking metal is a term used in reference to heavy metal music with a dramatic emphasis on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the life and times of Northern and Central Europeans prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. ... Alternative metal is an eclectic form of music that gained popularity in the early 1990s alongside grunge. ... Christian metal is a form of heavy metal music which, as well as its many subgenres, contains Christian lyrics and themes. ... Crusty redirects here. ... Pioneered by the band Earth, Drone metal, also known as drone doom, is a subgenre of doom metal that takes the heaviness and slowness of its progenitor to a new extreme. ... Folk metal is a diverse collection of music, encompassing a wide variety of different styles and approaches. ... Funk-rock is a music genre that fuses funk and rock elements. ... Grindcore, often shortened to grind, is an evolution of crust punk, most commonly associated with death metal, a very different though similarly extreme style of music. ... Grunge redirects here. ... Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws elements from industrial music and heavy metal music. ... Metalcore is a fusion of extreme metal and hardcore punk that began in the United States. ... Neo-classical metal is a subgenre of the heavy metal music heavily influenced by classical music in its style of playing and composing[1]. It implies a very technical performance and the use of elements borrowed from classical music and/or by famous classical music composers. ... Nu metal (also called aggro metal, or nÃ¼ metal using the traditional heavy metal umlaut) is a musical genre that has origins in the mid 1990s. ... Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal, with roots in progressive rock and industrial music. ... Rap metal is a musical genre that takes influence from both rap music and heavy metal music. ... Sludge metal is a form of heavy metal music that is generally regarded as a fusion of the doom metal and hardcore punk genres, often displaying southern rock influence. ... For the British record label, see Bay Area Thrash Records. ... Melodic death metal, (also referred to as Gothenburg metal, melodeath, and post-death) is a subgenre of death metal. ... This is a list of bands that pertain to the heavy metal genre of music. ... Blast beats are the torrents of alternating snare and bass drums which increase the speed, density, and percussiveness of death metal, black metal and grindcore. ... A number of overlapping heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal (often shortened to metal) in the late 1960s. ... This article is about the genre. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that attempts to replicate the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. ... In the world of guitar music and guitar amplification, distortion is actively sought, evaluated, and appreciatively discussed in its endless flavors. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Early heavy metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple attracted large audiences, though they were often critically reviled, a status common throughout the history of the genre. In the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence; Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal such as Iron Maiden followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal had attracted a worldwide following of fans known as "metalheads" or "headbangers". For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ... This article is about the rock band. ... For other uses, see Judas priest (curse). ... Blues music redirects here. ... This article is about the band. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM or N.W.O.B.H.M.) emerged in the late 1970s and reached mainstream attention in the late 1970s, in the United Kingdom, as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as... Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ... For the playable character in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, see Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. ...

In the 1980s, glam metal became a major commercial force with groups like Mötley Crüe. Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, while other styles like death metal and black metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles such as nu metal, which often incorporates elements of funk and hip hop; and metalcore, which blends extreme metal with hardcore punk, have further expanded the definition of the genre. Glam metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s - early 1980s in the United States. ... MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e (IPA pronunciation: ) is an American Hard Rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. ... Underground music is music which has developed a cult following, independent of commercial success. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, culture, which could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they belong. ... Nu metal (also called aggro metal, or nÃ¼ metal using the traditional heavy metal umlaut) is a musical genre that has origins in the mid 1990s. ... For other uses, including related musical genres, see Funk (disambiguation). ... Metalcore is a fusion of extreme metal and hardcore punk that began in the United States. ... Extreme metal is an umbrella term, somewhat loosely defined, for a number of related heavy metal subgenres that have developed since the 1980s. ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in North America around 1980. ...

Characteristics

Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. New York Times critic Jon Pareles writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force."^[4] The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist.^{[citation needed]} Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound;^[5] early heavy metal bands typically used a Hammond organ, while synthesizers are now more common. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is chief music critic at the arts section of the New York Times. ... For the comic book character, see Drummer (comics). ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Rhythm guitar is a guitar that is primarily used to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment for a singer or for other instruments in an ensemble. ... Lead guitar refers to a role within a band, that provides melody or melodic material, as opposed to the rhythm of the rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. ... A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ...

The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal.^[6] Guitars are often played with distortion pedals through heavily overdriven tube amplifiers to create a thick, powerful, "heavy" sound. A central element of much heavy metal is the guitar solo, a form of cadenza. As the genre developed, more intricate solos and riffs became an integral part of the style. Guitarists use sweep-picking, tapping, and other advanced techniques for rapid playing, and many styles of metal emphasize virtuosic displays. Some influential bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden have two or even three guitarists share the roles of both lead and rhythm guitar. For other uses, see Judas priest (curse). ... Two different electric guitars. ... The TS9 Tubescreamer from Ibanez, a popular pedal adding vacuum tube-like distortion to the output signal from electric instruments. ... A valve amplifier (UK and Aus. ... Guitar solos are a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. ... In music, a cadenza (Italian for cadence) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a free rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display. ... Riff is also an alternate spelling of Rif, a region of Morocco. ... What is meant by the term sweep picking is when the guitarist picks the string downwards and then the next string below it downwards its called a Sweep. This also applies for upward strokes. ... This article is about the music technique. ... For other uses, see Virtuoso (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Judas priest (curse). ... Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ...

The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry".^[5] Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity.^[7] Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics.^[8] Metal vocals vary widely in style, from the multioctave, theatrical approach of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, to the gruff style of Motörhead's Lemmy and Metallica's James Hetfield, to the growling of many death metal performers. Simon Frith is a former rock critic and a sociologist who specializes in popular music culture, and the brother of guitarist Fred Frith and psychologist Chris Frith. ... Robert John Arthur Halford (born August 25, 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Judas Priest. ... For the record producer in the Saturday Night Live skit, see More Cowbell. ... This article is about the band. ... Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister, December 24, 1945), also known as Lemmy Kilmister, Ian Willis or Lemmy von MotÃ¶rhead, is an English singer and bass guitarist, most famous for being the founding member of the heavy metal band MotÃ¶rhead. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... James Alan Hetfield (born 3 August 1963, Downey, California[1]) is the main songwriter (with drummer Lars Ulrich and sometimes guitarist Kirk Hammett), co-founder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash/heavy metal band Metallica. ... Death growl, also known as growled vocals, harsh vocals, death vocals, pig vocals, throating, death grunts, unclean vocals, Cookie Monster vocals[1], or simply growling, is a vocalization style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal music genre, but also used in a variety of other heavy metal subgenres. ... This article is about the musical genre. ...

The prominent role of the bass is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy".^[9] Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead and/or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton in the early 1980s.^[10] In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone, organ point, or just pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i. ... In popular music, a lick is a rock term [meaning]...something like a stock pattern or phrase (Middleton 1990, p. ... Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 â€“ September 27, 1986) was a bass guitarist best known for his work with the American heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until 1986. ...

The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision".^[11] Metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity...to play the intricate patterns" used in metal.^[12] A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music.^[9] Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... A cymbal choke is a technique used in heavy metal drumming, which consists of striking a cymbal with a drumstick held in one hand and then immediately grabbing the cymbal with another hand, or more rarely, with the same hand. ...

In live performance, loudness—an "onslaught of sound," in sociologist Deena Weinstein's description—is considered vital.^[6] In his book Metalheads, psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy metal concerts as "the sensory equivalent of war."^[13] Following the lead set by Jimi Hendrix, Cream and The Who, early heavy metal acts such as Blue Cheer set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer's Dick Peterson puts it, "All we knew was we wanted more power."^[14] A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how "excessive volume in particular figured into the band’s impact."^[15] Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that melody is the main element of pop and rhythm is the main focus of house music, powerful sound, timbre, and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to "sweep the listener into the sound" and to provide a "shot of youthful vitality."^[6] Heavy metal's fixation on loudness was mocked in the rockumentary spoof This Is Spinal Tap, in which a metal guitarist claims to have modified his amplifiers to "go to eleven." The horizontal axis shows frequency in Hz Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical intensity. ... Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 â€“ September 18, 1970) was an American guitar virtuoso, singer and songwriter. ... Cream were a 1960s British rock band comprising guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... The Who are an English rock band that formed in 1964. ... Blue Cheer is a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. ... Dickie Peterson is the bassist and lead singer for Blue Cheer, he also recorded two solo albums: Child of the Darkness and Tramp. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the genre of popular music. ... House music refers to a collection of styles of electronic dance music, the earliest forms beginning in the early- to mid- 1980s. ... The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a program on television or movie documentary about rock and roll or its musicians. ... This Is SpinÌˆal Tap (which is officially spelled with a non-functional umlaut symbol over the N) is a 1984 mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner and starring members of the semi-fictional heavy-metal glam rock band Spinal Tap. ... Look up up to eleven in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Musical language

Rhythm and tempo

The rhythm in metal songs is emphatic, with deliberate stresses. Weinstein observes that the wide array of sonic effects available to metal drummers enables the "rhythmic pattern to take on a complexity within its elemental drive and insistency."^[9] In many heavy metal songs, the main groove is characterized by short, two-note or three-note rhythmic figures—generally made up of 8th or 16th notes. These rhythmic figures are usually performed with a staccato attack created by using a palm-muted technique on the rhythm guitar.^[16] Figure 1. ... [[ Figure 1. ... In musical notation, the Italian word staccato (literally detached, plural staccatos or staccati) indicates that notes are sounded in a detached and distinctly separate manner, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. ... The palm mute, also known as palm muting, is a playing technique for the guitar. ...

Brief, abrupt, and detached rhythmic cells are joined into rhythmic phrases with a distinctive, often jerky texture. These phrases are used to create rhythmic accompaniment and melodic figures called riffs, which help to establish thematic hooks. Heavy metal songs also use longer rhythmic figures such as whole note- or dotted quarter note-length chords in slow-tempo power ballads. The tempos in early heavy metal music tended to be "slow, even ponderous."^[9] By the late 1970s, however, metal bands were employing a wide variety of tempos. In the 2000s, metal tempos range from slow ballad tempos (quarter note = 60 beats per minute) to extremely fast blast beat tempos (quarter note = 350 beats per minute).^[12] Riff is also an alternate spelling of Rif, a region of Morocco. ... A hook is a musical idea, a passage or phrase, that is believed to be appealing and make the song stand out; it is meant to catch the ear of the listener (Covach 2005, p. ... Figure 1. ... -1... Beats per minute (bpm) is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of ones heart rate. ... Blast beats are the torrents of alternating snare and bass drums which increase the speed, density, and percussiveness of death metal, black metal and grindcore. ...

Harmony

One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord.^[17] In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main interval, generally the perfect fifth, though an octave may be added as a doubling of the root. Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord,^[18] power chords are also based on different intervals such as the minor third, major third, perfect fourth, diminished fifth, or minor sixth.^[19] Since the power chord is based on a single interval, it enables guitarists to use a high level of distortion without unintended inharmonicity or intermodulation distortion. If a triad—a chord with a root, third, and fifth—is played on a heavily distorted guitar, intermodulation distortion may produce frequency components at the various sums and differences of the frequency components of the input signal which will be not be harmonically related to the input signal, leading to disarmonious sounds.^[20] Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the fretboard.^[21] Megadeth is an American thrash metal band led by founder, frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine. ... In music, a power chord is a bare fifth usually played on electric guitar. ... In music, a power chord is a bare fifth usually played on electric guitar. ... In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ... For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Root (disambiguation). ... A minor third is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... The perfect fourth or diatessaron, abbreviated P4, is one of two musical intervals that span four diatonic scale degrees; the other being the augmented fourth, which is one semitone larger. ... This article is about the musical interval. ... A minor sixth is the smaller of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span six diatonic scale degrees. ... In music, inharmonicity is the degree to which the frequencies of the overtones of a fundamental differ from whole number multiples of the fundamentals frequency. ... Intermodulation distortion: Nonlinear distortion characterized by the appearance, in the output of a device, of frequencies that are linear combinations of the fundamental frequencies and all harmonics present in the input signals. ... In music or music theory, a triad is a tonal or diatonic tertian trichord. ... For other uses, see Fingerboard (disambiguation). ...

Typical harmonic structures

Heavy metal is usually based on riffs created with three main harmonic traits: modal scale progressions, tritone and chromatic progressions, and the use of pedal points. Riff is also an alternate spelling of Rif, a region of Morocco. ...

Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular the Aeolian and Phrygian modes.^[22] Harmonically speaking, this means the genre typically incorporates modal chord progressions such as the Aeolian progressions I-VI-VII, I-VII-(VI), or I-VI-IV-VII and Phrygian progressions implying the relation between I and ♭II (I-♭II-I, I-♭II-III, or I-♭II-VII for example). The Aeolian mode comprises a musical mode or diatonic scale. ... For other uses, see Judas priest (curse). ... Breaking the Law is a Judas Priest song featured on their 1980 album British Steel. ... The Aeolian mode comprises a musical mode or diatonic scale. ... Due to historical confusion, Phrygian mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales. ...

Aeolian harmony is used in songs such as Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law", Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name", and Accept's "Princess of the Dawn", each employing a I-VI-VII progression as its main riff. Phrygian harmony is used in songs such as Mercyful Fate's "Gypsy" (main riff I-♭II-I-VI-V), Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" (main riff built on the ♭II-I relation), and Sodom's "Remember the Fallen" (Introduction + main riff—the riff closing implies a Phrygian cadence: I-♭II-III). Breaking the Law is a Judas Priest song featured on their 1980 album British Steel. ... Hallowed Be Thy Name is a song written by Steve Harris for the 1982 Iron Maiden album The Number of The Beast. ... Accept was a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled in the early 1970s by Udo Dirkschneider. ... Mercyful Fate is an influential Danish heavy metal group who are often cited among the influences in the black metal, thrash metal, power metal, and progressive metal genres. ... Megadeth is an American thrash metal band led by founder, frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine. ... â€¹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Sodom is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ...

Tense-sounding chromatic or tritone relationships are used in a number of metal chord progressions.^[23]^[24] The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones—such as C and F#—was a forbidden dissonance in medieval ecclesiastical singing, which led monks to call it diabolus in musica—"the devil in music."^[25] Because of that original symbolic association, it came to be heard in Western cultural convention as "evil". Heavy metal has made extensive use of the tritone in guitar solos and riffs, such as in the beginning of "Black Sabbath". Black Sabbath is a song by the heavy metal pioneers of the same name. ... In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ... For other uses, see Tritone (disambiguation). ... Black Sabbath is a song by the heavy metal pioneers of the same name. ...

Pedal point
Heavy metal songs often make extensive use of pedal point as a harmonic basis. A pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass range, during which at least one foreign (i.e., dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts.^[26] Heavy metal riffs are frequently constructed over a persistent repeating note played on the low strings of the bass or rhythmic guitar, most usually on the E, A, and D strings.^[27] In other words, a single bass note—most frequently low E or A—is persistently repeated while some different chords are successively played, including chords that do not normally incorporate that bass note, which creates a sense of tension. An example is the opening riff of Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"^{[dubious – discuss]}. In this case, one guitar plays the pedal point in F#, while the second guitar plays the chords. In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone, organ point, or just pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i. ... Youve Got Another Thing Coming was a single released by the Heavy Metal band Judas Priest in August 1982. ...

Relationship with classical music

Robert Walser argues that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known...as 'classical music'" has been a major influence on heavy metal since the genre's earliest days. He claims that metal's "most influential musicians have been guitar players who have also studied classical music. Their appropriation and adaptation of classical models sparked the development of a new kind of guitar virtuosity [and] changes in the harmonic and melodic language of heavy metal."^[28] Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (IPA pronunciation: //) (born Lars Johann Yngve LannerbÃ¤ck on June 30, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist, composer and bandleader. ...

Although a number of metal musicians cite classical composers as inspiration, heavy metal cannot be regarded as the modern descendant of classical music.^[29] Classical and metal are rooted in different cultural traditions and practices—classical in the art music tradition, metal in the popular music tradition. As musicologists Nicolas Cook and Nicola Dibben note, "Analyses of popular music also sometimes reveal the influence of 'art traditions.' An example is Walser’s linkage of heavy metal music with the ideologies and even some of the performance practices of nineteenth-century Romanticism. However, it would be clearly wrong to claim that traditions such as blues, rock, heavy metal, rap or dance music derive primarily from 'art music.'"^[30] This article is about the broad genre of classical music in the Western musical tradition. ... For the music genre, see Pop music. ...

Lyrical themes

Black Sabbath and the many metal bands they inspired have concentrated lyrically "on dark and depressing subject matter to an extent hitherto unprecedented in any form of pop music," according to scholars David Hatch and Stephen Millward. They take as an example Sabbath's 1970 album Paranoid, which "included songs dealing with personal trauma—'Paranoid' and 'Fairies Wear Boots' (which described the unsavoury side effects of drug-taking)—as well as those confronting wider issues, such as the self-explanatory 'War Pigs' and 'Hand of Doom.'"^[31] Nuclear annihilation was addressed in later metal songs such as Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants". Death is a predominant theme in heavy metal, routinely featuring in the lyrics of bands as otherwise widely different as Slayer and W.A.S.P. The more extreme forms of death metal and grindcore tend to have aggressive and gory lyrics. Paranoid is the second album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and contains some of their most famous work, including the songs Iron Man, War Pigs, and the title track Paranoid. ... Paranoid is a song by Black Sabbath that appears on the bands breakthrough album Paranoid. ... â€œFairies Wear Bootsâ€ is a Black Sabbath song from their 1970 album Paranoid. ... War Pigs is an anti-war song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their 1970 album, Paranoid. ... Hand of Doom is an anti-heroin song by Black Sabbath from their breakthrough album Paranoid in 1970. ... 2 Minutes to Midnight is the eleventh single released by Iron Maiden and the first from their Powerslave album. ... Ozzy redirects here. ... For other uses, see Slayer (disambiguation). ... W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. ...

Deriving from the genre's roots in blues music, sex is another important topic—a thread running from Led Zeppelin's suggestive lyrics to the more explicit references of glam and nu metal bands.^[32] Romantic tragedy is a standard theme of gothic and doom metal, as well as of nu metal, where teenage angst is another central topic. Heavy metal songs often feature outlandish, fantasy-inspired lyrics, lending them an escapist quality. Iron Maiden's songs, for instance, were frequently inspired by mythology, fiction, and poetry, such as "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," based on the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem. Other examples include Black Sabbath's "The Wizard," Megadeth's "The Conjuring" and "Five Magics," and Judas Priest's "Dreamer Deceiver". Since the 1980s, with the rise of thrash metal and songs such as Metallica's "...And Justice for All" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells", more metal lyrics have included sociopolitical commentary. Genres such as melodic death metal, progressive metal, and black metal often explore philosophical themes. Rime of the ancient mariner is a song by Iron Maiden off their 1984 album Powerslave. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 â€“ July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... Illustration by Gustav Dore. ... Megadeth is an American thrash metal band led by founder, frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine. ... ...And Justice for All is the second track on Metallicas 1988 album . ... Peace Sells ( ) is the name of a song by Megadeth from the album Peace Sells. ...

The thematic content of heavy metal has long been a target of criticism. According to Jon Pareles, "Heavy metal's main subject matter is simple and virtually universal. With grunts, moans and subliterary lyrics, it celebrates...a party without limits.... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic."^[4] Music critics have often deemed metal lyrics juvenile and banal, and others have objected to what they see as advocacy of misogyny and the occult. During the 1980s, the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned the U.S. Congress to regulate the popular music industry due to what the group asserted were objectionable lyrics, particularly those in heavy metal songs. In 1990, Judas Priest was sued in American court by the parents of two young men who had shot themselves five years earlier, allegedly after hearing the subliminal statement "do it" in a Priest song. While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed.^[33] In some predominantly Muslim countries, heavy metal has been officially denounced as a threat to traditional values. In countries including Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Malaysia, there have been incidents of heavy metal musicians and fans being arrested and incarcerated.^[34] In Eva Prima Pandora, by Jean Cousin (Louvre Museum), Eve, the equivalent of Pandora embodies Original Sin Misogyny (pronounced ) is hatred or strong prejudice against women; an antonym of philogyny. ... Tipper Gore, founder of the Parents Music Resource Center The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor...

Image and fashion

As with much popular music, visual imagery plays a large role in heavy metal. In addition to its sound and lyrics, a heavy metal band's "image" is expressed in album sleeve art, logos, stage sets, clothing, and music videos.^[35] Some heavy metal acts such as Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Gwar have become known as much for their outrageous performance personas and stage shows as for their music. Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. ... A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans five decades. ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. ... GWAR is a satirical heavy metal musical group formed in 1985. ...

Down-the-back long hair, according to Weinstein, is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion."^[36] Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by the 1980s and 1990s heavy metal hair "symbolised the hate, angst and disenchantment of a generation that seemingly never felt at home," according to journalist Nader Rahman. Long hair gave members of the metal community "the power they needed to rebel against nothing in general."^[37]

The classic uniform of heavy metal fans consists of "blue jeans, black T-shirts, boots and black leather or jeans jackets.... T-shirts are generally emblazoned with the logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands."^[38] Metal fans also "appropriated elements from the S&M community (chains, metal studs, skulls, leather and crosses)." In the 1980s, a range of sources, from punk and goth music to horror films, influenced metal fashion.^[39] Many metal performers of the 1970s and 1980s used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance their stage appearance. Fashion and personal style was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long, dyed, hairspray-teased hair (hence the nickname, "hair metal"); makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner; gaudy clothing, including leopard-skin-printed shirts or vests and tight denim, leather, or spandex pants; and accessories such as headbands and jewelry.^[40] Pioneered by the heavy metal act X Japan in the late 1980s, bands in the Japanese movement known as visual kei—which includes many nonmetal groups—emphasize elaborate costumes, hair, and makeup.^[41] Look up Gothic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... X Japan, or X which was their initial name, was a Japanese Visual kei band, the brainchild of Yoshiki (Yoshiki Hayashi). ... Malice Mizer, an example of visual kei during the 1990s. ...

Physical gestures

Many metal musicians when performing live engage in headbanging, which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The corna, or devil horns, hand gesture, also widespread, was popularized by vocalist Ronnie James Dio while with Black Sabbath and Dio.^[24] Gene Simmons of Kiss claims to have been the first to make the gesture in concert.^[42] MetsatÃ¶ll MetsatÃ¶ll is an Estonian folk metal band. ... The Corna The corna (Italian for horns, also mano cornuta, horned hand fare le corna, to make the horns, or simply the devil horns) is a hand gesture with a vulgar meaning in Mediterranean countries and a variety of meanings and uses in other cultures. ... Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona on July 10, 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA), is an American heavy metal vocalist who has performed with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and his own band Dio. ... Dio is a heavy metal band led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who formed it in October 1982 after leaving Black Sabbath. ... Chaim Witz (×—×™×™× ×•×•×™×¥), (born August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel), better known by his stage name Gene Simmons, is an Israeli-American hard rock bass guitarist and vocalist. ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. ...

Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense; Deena Weinstein has argued that this is due to the music's largely male audience and "extreme heterosexualist ideology." She identifies two primary body movements that substitute for dancing: headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture.^[43] The performance of air guitar is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home.^[44] Other concert audience activities include stage diving, crowd surfing, pushing and shoving in a chaotic mêlée called moshing, and displaying the corna hand symbol. It is believed that air guitar possibly originated from early Iron Maiden fans in the late 1970s. ... Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert stage into the crowd below. ... A vocalist crowdsurfing at the Alimas Carnival, Maldives. ... For other uses, see Mosh (disambiguation). ...

Fan subculture

Deena Weinstein argues that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to the emergence of an intense, exclusionary, strongly masculine subculture.^[45] While the metal fanbase is largely young, white, male, and blue-collar, the group is "tolerant of those outside its core demographic base who follow its codes of dress, appearance, and behavior."^[46] Identification with the subculture is strengthened not only by the shared experience of concert-going and shared elements of fashion, but also by contributing to metal magazines and, more recently, websites.^[47] For the playable character in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, see Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. ...

The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation", with its own code of authenticity.^[48] This code puts several demands on performers: they must appear both completely devoted to their music and loyal to the subculture that supports it; they must appear disinterested in mainstream appeal and radio hits; and they must never "sell out".^[49] For the fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society."^[50] Scholars of metal have noted the tendency of fans to classify and reject some performers (and some other fans) as "poseurs" "who pretended to be part of the subculture, but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity."^[48]^[51]

Etymology

The origin of the term heavy metal in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy. An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by countercultural writer William S. Burroughs. His 1962 novel The Soft Machine includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid." Burroughs's next novel, Nova Express (1964), develops the theme, using heavy metal as 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."^[52] For the Roy Harper album Counter Culture, see Counter Culture. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914) â€” August 2, 1997; pronounced ), more commonly known as William S. Burroughs, was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. ... For the rock band named after this book, see Soft Machine The Soft Machine is the title of a novel by William S. Burroughs, first published in 1961 and was Burroughs first novel after the groundbreaking publication of Naked Lunch. ... Nova Express is a 1964 novel by William Burroughs, whose plot cannot easily be described. ...

Metal historian Ian Christe describes what the components of the term mean in "hippiespeak": "heavy" is roughly synonymous with "potent" or "profound," and "metal" designates a certain type of mood, grinding and weighted as with metal.^[53] The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of beatnik and later countercultural slang, and references to "heavy music"—typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare—were already common by the mid-1960s. Iron Butterfly's debut album, released in early 1968, was titled Heavy. The first recorded use of heavy metal is a reference to a motorcycle in the Steppenwolf song "Born to Be Wild," also released that year:^[54] "I like smoke and lightning/Heavy metal thunder/Racin' with the wind/And the feelin' that I'm under." A late, and disputed, claim about the source of the term was made by "Chas" Chandler, former manager of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In a 1995 interview on the PBS program Rock and Roll, he asserted that heavy metal "was a term originated in a New York Times article reviewing a Jimi Hendrix performance," in which the author likened the event to "listening to heavy metal falling from the sky." A source for Chandler's claim has never been found. Ian Christe (born 1970 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland) is a writer. ... For other uses, see Beatnik (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Iron Butterfly (disambiguation). ... Heavy was Iron Butterflys debut album, released in early 1968. ... Steppenwolf is a rock band that helped establish heavy metal music in the late 1960s along with bands like Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly. ... Born to Be Wild is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire. ... Bryan James Chas Chandler (born 18 December 1938, died 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts. ... Jimi Hendrix James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who is widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 â€“ September 18, 1970) was an American guitar virtuoso, singer and songwriter. ...

The first documented uses of the phrase to describe a type of rock music are from reviews by critic Mike Saunders. In the November 12, 1970, issue of Rolling Stone, he commented on an album put out the previous year by the British band Humble Pie: "Safe As Yesterday Is, their first American release, proved that Humble Pie could be boring in lots of different ways. Here they were a noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-leaden shit-rock band with the loud and noisy parts beyond doubt. There were a couple of nice songs...and one monumental pile of refuse." He described the band's latest, self-titled release as "more of the same 27th-rate heavy metal crap."^[55] In a review of Sir Lord Baltimore's Kingdom Come in the May 1971 Creem, Saunders wrote, "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book."^[56] Creem critic Lester Bangs is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.^[57] Through the decade, heavy metal was used by certain critics as a virtually automatic putdown. In 1979, lead New York Times popular music critic John Rockwell described what he called "heavy-metal rock" as "brutally aggressive music played mostly for minds clouded by drugs,"^[58] and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers."^[59] Mike Saunders, better known as Metal Mike, is a rock critic and the singer of the Californian punk band, the Angry Samoans. ... This article is about the magazine. ... For the hard rock band of the same name, see Humble Pie (band). ... As Safe As Yesterday Is was the Humble Pie debut album in August 1969. ... Humble Pie was rock group Humble Pies third studio album and their first with A&M Records. ... Sir Lord Baltimore was a short lived 1970s American heavy metal band, from Brooklyn, NY. They released two albums on Mercury Records at the start of the seventies. ... Kingdom Come is the first studio album by American heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, released on Mercury Records in 1970. ... CREEM, Americas Only Rock n Roll Magazine, was a monthly rock n roll publication started in 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. ... Lester Bangs during an interview Leslie Conway Bangs (December 14, 1948 â€“ April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, author and musician. ... John Rockwell (born 1940 in Washington D.C.) is an important music critic, editor, and dance critic. ...

The terms "heavy metal" and "hard rock" have often been used interchangeably, particularly in discussing bands of the 1970s, a period when the terms were largely synonymous.^[60] For example, the 1983 Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll includes this passage: "known for its aggressive blues-based hard-rock style, Aerosmith was the top American heavy-metal band of the mid-Seventies."^[61] This article is about the band Aerosmith. ...

History

Antecedents: mid-1960s

While heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to the late 1950s instrumentals of American Link Wray,^[62] the genre's direct lineage begins in the mid-1960s. American blues music was a major influence on the early British rockers of the era. Bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds developed blues-rock by recording covers of many classic blues songs, often speeding up the tempos. As they experimented with the music, the UK blues-based bands—and the U.S. acts they influenced in turn—developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal, in particular, the loud, distorted guitar sound.^[14] The Kinks played a major role in popularizing this sound with their 1964 hit "You Really Got Me."^[63] A significant contributor to the emerging guitar sound was the feedback facilitated by the new generation of amplifiers. Link Wray and His Ray Mens The Swan Singles Collection 1963-1967 Fred Lincoln Link Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 â€“ November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitar player most noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars in his hit 1958 instrumental Rumble, by Link... Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. ... Rolling Stones redirects here. ... Not to be confused with Yard Birds. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... The Kinks were an English rock group formed in 1963 by lead singer-songwriter Ray Davies, his brother, lead guitarist and vocalist Dave Davies, and bassist Pete Quaife. ... You Really Got Me is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. ... For other uses, see Feedback (disambiguation). ...

In addition to The Kinks' Dave Davies, other guitarists such as The Who's Pete Townshend and the Tridents' Jeff Beck were experimenting with feedback.^[64] Where the blues-rock drumming style started out largely as simple shuffle beats on small kits, drummers began using a more muscular, complex, and amplified approach to match and be heard against the increasingly loud guitar.^[65] Vocalists similarly modified their technique and increased their reliance on amplification, often becoming more stylized and dramatic. In terms of sheer volume, especially in live performance, The Who's "bigger-louder-wall-of-Marshalls" approach was seminal.^[66] Simultaneous advances in amplification and recording technology made it possible to successfully capture the power of this heavier approach on record. Dave Davies (born David Russell Gordon Davies, 3 February 1947, in Muswell Hill, London, England) was a singer and guitarist with the English rock band The Kinks, which he founded with Pete Quaife in 1963. ... The Who are an English rock band that formed in 1964. ... Pete Townshend (born Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend on 19 May 1945 in Chiswick, London), is an award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer, and writer. ... Geoffrey Arnold (Jeff) Beck (born June 24, 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck in Wallington, Greater London) is an English rock guitarist. ... The Marshall Logo Marshall Amplification is a British company which designs and manufactures music amplifiers. ...

The combination of blues-rock with psychedelic rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal.^[67] One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of genres was the power trio Cream, who derived a massive, heavy sound from unison riffing between guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce, as well as Ginger Baker's double bass drumming.^[68] Their first two LPs, Fresh Cream (1966) and Disraeli Gears (1967), are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967), was also highly influential. Hendrix's virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists and the album's most successful single, "Purple Haze," is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit.^[14] Cream were a 1960s British rock band comprising guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... For other uses, see Unison (disambiguation). ... Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE[2] (born 30 March 1945) [3], nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. ... John Symon Asher Jack Bruce (born May 14, 1943) is a Scottish-born musician, composer and singer. ... Peter Edward Ginger Baker (born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, South London) is an English drummer who gained fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organization (GBO) and Cream from 1966 until 1968. ... Fresh Cream was Creams December 1966 debut album. ... Disraeli Gears is the second album by British blues-rock group Cream. ... Are You Experienced was the debut album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in 1967. ... For other meanings of Purple Haze, see Purple Haze (disambiguation). ...

Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s

In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, the San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a cover of Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues," from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum, that many consider the first true heavy metal recording.^[69] The same month, Steppenwolf released its self-titled debut album, including "Born to Be Wild," with its "heavy metal" lyric. In July, another two epochal records came out: The Yardbirds' "Think About It"—B-side of the band's last single—with a performance by guitarist Jimmy Page anticipating the metal sound he would soon make famous; and Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, with its 17-minute-long title track, a prime candidate for first-ever heavy metal album. In August, The Beatles' single version of "Revolution," with its redlined guitar and drum sound, set new standards for distortion in a top-selling context. Blue Cheer is a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. ... Raymond Edward Eddie Cochran (October 2, 1938[1]â€“April 17, 1960[2]) was an American rock and roll musician and an important influence on popular music during the late 1950s, early 1960s, and beyond. ... Summertime Blues (1958) is a 12-bar blues standard song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart about the trials and tribulations of teenage life in America. ... Vincebus Eruptum is a psychedelic album by proto-heavy metal band Blue Cheer, released in January of 1968 (see 1968 in music). ... Steppenwolf is a rock band that helped establish heavy metal music in the late 1960s along with bands like Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly. ... Steppenwolf is the first album created by Steppenwolf, released in January 1968 (see 1968 in music) on ABC Dunhill Records. ... Born to Be Wild is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire. ... For the Scottish football (soccer) player, see Jimmy Page (footballer). ... For other uses, see Iron Butterfly (disambiguation). ... In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is a rock album by the band Iron Butterfly, released in 1968 (see 1968 in music). ... In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, released in 1968, is a 17-minute rock song by Iron Butterfly, released on their album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, occupying the entire second side of the album. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Revolution is a song by The Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and attributed to Lennon-McCartney. ...

The Jeff Beck Group, whose leader had preceded Page as The Yardbirds' guitarist, released its debut record that same month: Truth featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time," breaking ground for generations of metal ax-slingers.^[70] In October, Page's new band, Led Zeppelin, made its live debut. In November, Love Sculpture, with guitarist Dave Edmunds, put out Blues Helping, featuring a pounding, aggressive version of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance." The Beatles' so-called White Album, which also came out that month, included "Helter Skelter," then one of the heaviest-sounding songs ever released by a major band.^[71] The Pretty Things' rock opera S.F. Sorrow, released in December, featured "proto heavy metal" songs such as "Old Man Going."^[72] The electric guitarist Jeff Beck (born June 24, 1944) is a British rock musician who played in a number of influential bands in the 1960s. ... Truth (1968) was the first full-length album by Jeff Beck and his backing group. ... For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Love Sculpture were a British blues-rock band of the late 60s, led by Dave Edmunds. ... Dave Edmunds (born April 15, 1944) is a singer, guitarist and producer from Cardiff, Wales. ... Aram Ilich Khachaturian (Armenian: Արամ Խաչատրյան, Russian: Аpaм Ильич Xaчaтypян) (June 6, 1903 – May 1, 1978) was a composer of classical music. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The White Album redirects here. ... The Pretty Things are a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band from London. ... The Whos Tommy, the first album explicitly billed as a rock opera A rock opera is a rock music album or stage production that resembles the form of an opera. ... S.F. Sorrow is the title of a 1968 LP by British rock group The Pretty Things. ...

In January 1969, Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut album was released and reached number 10 on the Billboard album chart. In July, Zeppelin and a power trio with a Cream-inspired, but cruder sound, Grand Funk Railroad, played the Atlanta Pop Festival. That same month, another Cream-rooted trio led by Leslie West released Mountain, an album filled with heavy blues-rock guitar and roaring vocals. In August, the group—now itself dubbed Mountain—played an hour-long set at the Woodstock Festival.^[73] Grand Funk's debut album, On Time, also came out that month. In the fall, Led Zeppelin II went to number 1 and the album's single "Whole Lotta Love" hit number 4 on the Billboard pop chart. The metal revolution was under way. For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Led Zeppelin is the eponymous debut album of English hard rock band, Led Zeppelin. ... Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... Grand Funk Railroad (aka Grand Funk) is an American rock band. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Leslie West (born October 22, 1945) is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. ... Mountain is an American rock band, popular in the early 1970s. ... The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was an event held at Max Yasgurs 600 acre (2. ... On Time is Grand Funk Railroads first studio album, and was released in August of 1969 by Capitol Records. ... Led Zeppelin II is the second album released by English rock band Led Zeppelin in 1969. ... Alternate Cover Audio sample Info (helpÂ· info) Whole Lotta Love is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured as the opening track on their second album, Led Zeppelin II. It was their first hit single. ...

Led Zeppelin defined central aspects of the emerging genre, with Page's highly distorted guitar style and singer Robert Plant's dramatic, wailing vocals.^[75] Other bands, with a more consistently heavy, "purely" metal sound, would prove equally important in codifying the genre. The 1970 releases by Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath and Paranoid) and Deep Purple (In Rock) were crucial in this regard.^[65] Black Sabbath had developed a particularly heavy sound in part due to an industrial accident guitarist Tony Iommi suffered before cofounding the band. Unable to play normally, Iommi had to tune his guitar down for easier fretting and rely on power chords with their relatively simple fingering.^[76] Deep Purple had fluctuated between styles in its early years, but by 1969 vocalist Ian Gillan and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore had led the band toward the developing heavy metal style.^[77] In 1970, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple scored major UK chart hits with "Paranoid" and "Black Night," respectively. That same year, three other British bands released debut albums in a heavy metal mode: Uriah Heep with Very 'eavy... Very 'umble, UFO with UFO 1, and Black Widow with Sacrifice. Wishbone Ash, though not commonly identified as metal, introduced a dual-lead/rhythm-guitar style that many metal bands of the following generation would adopt. Budgie brought the new metal sound into a power trio context. The occult lyrics and imagery employed by Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and Black Widow would prove particularly influential; Led Zeppelin also began foregrounding such elements with its fourth album, released in 1971. Alternate Cover Audio sample Info (helpÂ· info) Whole Lotta Love is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured as the opening track on their second album, Led Zeppelin II. It was their first hit single. ... For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Led Zeppelin II is the second album released by English rock band Led Zeppelin in 1969. ... Willie Dixons style of blues was one of the inspirations for a new generation of music, rock and roll. ... Robert Anthony Plant (born August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, West Midlands, England), is an English rock singer and songwriter, famous for his membership in the English rock band Led Zeppelin as the lead vocalist, as well as for his successful solo career. ... For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ... Black Sabbath is the self-titled debut album of the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in the UK on Friday 13 February 1970. ... Paranoid is the second album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and contains some of their most famous work, including the songs Iron Man, War Pigs, and the title track Paranoid. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Frank Anthony Tony Iommi (born February 19, 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, England) is a guitarist best known for his tenure in the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. ... Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist best known as the lead singer for Deep Purple. ... Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. ... Paranoid is a song by Black Sabbath that appears on the bands breakthrough album Paranoid. ... Black Night is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple, first released as a single in 1970, and is now included on the 25th Year Anniversary version of their 1970 album, Deep Purple in Rock. ... Uriah Heep are an English rock band, formed in December 1969 when record producer Gerry Bron invited keyboardist Ken Hensley (previously a member of The Gods and Toe Fat) to join Spice, a band signed to his own Bronze Records label. ... US issue Uriah Heep Very eavy. ... UFO are an English rock band formed in 1969. ... Band: UFO CD: UFO Parental Advisory: No In-Print: Yes Released Date: October 5, 1971 Number Of Discs: 1 Genre: Rock and Roll and Heavy Metal music Track listing Unidentified Flying Object Boogie Cmon Everybody Shake It About (Come Away) Melinda Timothy Follow Me Home Treacle People Who Do... Black Widow was a progressive rock/heavy metal band that formed in Leicester, England in 1970. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The untitled fourth album of English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on November 8, 1971. ...

On the other side of the Atlantic, the trend-setting group was Grand Funk Railroad, "the most commercially successful American heavy-metal band from 1970 until they disbanded in 1976, [they] established the Seventies success formula: continuous touring."^[78] Other bands identified with metal emerged in the U.S., such as Dust (first LP in 1971), Blue Öyster Cult (1972), and Kiss (1974). In Germany, the Scorpions debuted with Lonesome Crow in 1972. Blackmore, who had emerged as a virtuoso soloist with Deep Purple's Machine Head (1972), quit the group in 1975 to form Rainbow. These bands also built audiences via constant touring and increasingly elaborate stage shows.^[65] As described above, there are arguments about whether these and other early bands truly qualify as "heavy metal" or simply as "hard rock." Those closer to the music's blues roots or placing greater emphasis on melody are now commonly ascribed the latter label. AC/DC, which debuted with High Voltage in 1975, is a prime example. The 1983 Rolling Stone encyclopedia entry begins, "Australian heavy-metal band AC/DC..."^[79] Rock historian Clinton Walker writes, "Calling AC/DC a heavy metal band in the seventies was as inaccurate as it is today.... [They] were a rock'n'roll band that just happened to be heavy enough for metal."^[80] The issue is not only one of shifting definitions, but also a persistent distinction between musical style and audience identification: Ian Christe describes how the band "became the stepping-stone that led huge numbers of hard rock fans into heavy metal perdition."^[81] Frank Anthony Tony Iommi (born February 19, 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, England) is a guitarist best known for his tenure in the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. ... Ozzy redirects here. ... For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ... At the dawn of the 70s, hard rock and early heavy metal were almost completely dominated by British innovators. ... Blue Ã–yster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2008. ... Blue Ã–yster Cult is the self-titled debut by hard rock band, the Blue Ã–yster Cult, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music). ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. ... Kiss is the self-titled debut album from the American hard rock band Kiss. ... For other bands named The Scorpions or other meanings of scorpion, see scorpion. ... Lonesome Crow is the 1972 debut album of the German Hard rock band Scorpions produced by Conny Plank. ... Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ... Rainbow were a hard rock and heavy metal band formed by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. ... This article is about the band. ... The Australian hard rock band AC/DCs first album High Voltage was released in 1975 (see 1975 in music) in Australia. ... Medieval illustration of the Mouth of Hell Hell is, according to many religious beliefs about the afterlife, a place of torment, of great weeping and gnashing of teeth. ...

In certain cases, there is little debate. After Black Sabbath, the next major example is Britain's Judas Priest, which debuted with Rocka Rolla in 1974. In Christe's description, Black Sabbath's For other uses, see Judas priest (curse). ... Original Cover Rocka Rolla is the debut album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in 1974. ...

Though Judas Priest did not have a top 40 album in the U.S. until 1980, for many it was the definitive post-Sabbath heavy metal band; its twin-guitar attack, featuring rapid tempos and a nonbluesy, more cleanly metallic sound, was a major influence on later acts.^[83] While heavy metal was growing in popularity, most critics were not enamored of the music. Objections were raised to metal's adoption of visual spectacle and other trappings of commercial artifice,^[84] but the main offense was its perceived musical and lyrical vacuity: reviewing a Black Sabbath album in the early 1970s, leading critic Robert Christgau described it as "dull and decadent...dim-witted, amoral exploitation."^[85] Robert Christgau (born April 18, 1942), is an American essayist, music journalist, and the self-declared Dean of American Rock Critics.[1] In print, his name is sometimes abbreviated as Xgau. ...

Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s

Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against contemporary social conditions as well as what was perceived as the overindulgent, overproduced rock music of the time, including heavy metal. Sales of heavy metal records declined sharply in the late 1970s in the face of punk, disco, and more mainstream rock.^[84] With the major labels fixated on punk, many newer British heavy metal bands were inspired by the movement's aggressive, high-energy sound and "lo-fi", do it yourself ethos. Underground metal bands began putting out cheaply recorded releases independently to small, devoted audiences.^[86] Motörhead, founded in 1975, was the first important band to straddle the punk/metal divide. With the explosion of punk in 1977, others followed. British music papers such as the NME and Sounds took notice, with Sounds writer Geoff Barton christening the movement the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal."^[87] NWOBHM bands including Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard reenergized the heavy metal genre. Following the lead set by Judas Priest and Motörhead, they toughened up the sound, reduced its blues elements, and emphasized increasingly fast tempos.^[88] In 1980, NWOBHM broke into the mainstream, as albums by Iron Maiden and Saxon, as well as Motörhead, reached the British top 10. Though less commercially successful, other NWOBHM bands such as Venom and Diamond Head would have a significant influence on metal's development.^[89] In 1981, Motörhead became the first of this new breed of metal bands to top the UK charts with No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ... The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM or N.W.O.B.H.M.) emerged in the late 1970s and reached mainstream attention in the late 1970s, in the United Kingdom, as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... This article is about the music genre. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... See also: DIY Network, a cable TV network. ... This article is about the band. ... For other uses, see NME (disambiguation). ... Sounds was a British music paper, published weekly from October 10, 1970 â€“ April 6, 1991. ... The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM or N.W.O.B.H.M.) emerged in the late 1970s and reached mainstream attention in the late 1970s, in the United Kingdom, as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as... Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ... Saxon are a British heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. ... Def Leppard are an English hard rock band from Sheffield who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. ... Venom are an English heavy metal band, formed in late 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. ... Diamond Head Diamond Head are a British heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Stourbridge, England. ... No Sleep til Hammersmith was MotÃ¶rheads first live album. ...

The first generation of metal bands was ceding the limelight. Deep Purple had broken up soon after Blackmore's departure in 1975, and Led Zeppelin broke up following drummer John Bonham's death in 1980. Black Sabbath was routinely upstaged in concert by its opening act, the Los Angeles band Van Halen.^[90] Eddie Van Halen established himself as one of the leading metal guitar virtuosos of the era—his solo on "Eruption," from the band's self-titled 1978 album, is considered a milestone.^[91] Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen also became famed virtuosos, associated with what would be known as the neoclassical metal style. The adoption of classical elements had been spearheaded by Blackmore and the Scorpions' Uli Jon Roth; this next generation progressed to occasionally using classical nylon-stringed guitars, as Rhoads does on "Dee" from former Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne's first solo album, Blizzard of Ozz (1980). John Henry Bonzo Bonham (May 31, 1948 â€“ September 25, 1980) was an English drummer and member of the band Led Zeppelin. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area City 1,290. ... This article is about the band Van Halen, for there debut album see Van Halen (album) Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. ... Edward Lodewijk Eddie Van Halen (born January 26, 1955)[1], is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer most famous for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen. ... Eruption is an instrumental by Van Halen from their first album, Van Halen. ... Van Halen is the self-titled debut album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1978. ... For the talk radio host, see Randi Rhodes, or for the guitar model, see Jackson Randy Rhoads. ... Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (IPA pronunciation: //) (born Lars Johann Yngve LannerbÃ¤ck on June 30, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist, composer and bandleader. ... Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that mixes the melodies and instrumentation of classical music with the speed and intensity of metal. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Ozzy redirects here. ... Blizzard of Ozz is a heavy metal album by Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, U.K. and released on September 20, 1980 (see 1980 in music) in the UK and on January 15, 1981 (see 1981 in music) in the US. This is Osbournes first solo album and one...

Inspired by Van Halen's success, a metal scene began to develop in Southern California during the late 1970s. Based around the clubs of L.A.'s Sunset Strip, bands such as Quiet Riot, Ratt, Mötley Crüe, and W.A.S.P. were influenced by traditional heavy metal of the earlier 1970s^[92] and incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) of glam rock acts such as Alice Cooper and Kiss.^[93] The lyrics of these glam metal bands characteristically emphasized hedonism and wild behavior. Musically, the style was distinguished by rapid-fire shred guitar solos, anthemic choruses, and a relatively pop-oriented melodic approach. The glam metal movement—along with similarly styled acts such as New York's Twisted Sister—became a major force in metal and the wider spectrum of rock music. Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in the East End of London. ... For the Kiss album, see Killers (Kiss album). ... Hot For Teacher is a song on Van Halens successful MCMLXXXIV album. ... This article is about the band Van Halen, for there debut album see Van Halen (album) Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. ... 1984 (written as MCMLXXXIV on the front cover) is the sixth album by American hard rock band Van Halen. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band, whose 1983 & 1984 success contributed to launching the 1980s glam metal scene. ... Ratt is an American sleaze metal and semi glam metal band that formed in San Diego and enjoyed significant commercial success during the 1980s. ... MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e (IPA pronunciation: ) is an American Hard Rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. ... W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. ... Glam rock (also known as glitter rock), is a rock music style that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s which was performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots. ... Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans five decades. ... Glam metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s - early 1980s in the United States. ... Shred guitar is a style of electric guitar playing in which rapid passages are performed using sweep-picking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and other techniques. ... Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City. ...

In the wake of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Judas Priest's breakthrough British Steel (1980), heavy metal became increasingly popular in the early 1980s. Many metal artists benefited from the exposure they received on MTV, which began airing in 1981—sales often soared if a band's videos screened on the channel.^[94] Def Leppard's videos for Pyromania (1983) made them superstars in America and Quiet Riot became the first domestic heavy metal band to top the Billboard chart with Metal Health (1983). One of the seminal events in metal's growing popularity was the 1983 US Festival in California, where the "heavy metal day" featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, and others drew the largest audiences of the three-day event.^[95] Between 1983 and 1984, heavy metal went from an 8 percent to a 20 percent share of all recordings sold in the U.S.^[96] Several major professional magazines devoted to the genre were launched, including Kerrang! (in 1981) and Metal Hammer (in 1984), as well as a host of fan journals. In 1985, Billboard declared, "Metal has broadened its audience base. Metal music is no longer the exclusive domain of male teenagers. The metal audience has become older (college-aged), younger (pre-teen), and more female."^[97] British Steel is a heavy metal album by Judas Priest, released on April 14 1980 (see 1980 in music). ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... Singles from Pyromania Released: February 1983 Released: May 1983 Released: August 1983 (US) Released: October 1983 (UK) Pyromania is the third studio album by British hard rock band Def Leppard, released in 1983. ... Metal Health was the breakthrough album for the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. ... The US Festivals were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer, and broadcast live on Pay Per View TV. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Metal Hammer (sometimes MetalHammer) is a monthly heavy metal magazine in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro by a different publisher. ...

By the mid-1980s, glam metal was a dominant presence on the U.S. charts, music television, and the arena concert circuit. New bands such as L.A.'s Warrant and acts from the East Coast like Poison and Cinderella became major draws, while Mötley Crüe and Ratt remained very popular. Bridging the stylistic gap between hard rock and glam metal, New Jersey's Bon Jovi became enormously successful with its third album, Slippery When Wet (1986). The similarly styled Swedish band Europe became international stars with the The Final Countdown (1986). Its title track hit number 1 in 25 countries.^[98] In 1987, MTV launched a show, Headbanger's Ball, devoted exclusively to heavy metal videos. However, the metal audience had begun to factionalize, with those in many underground metal scenes favoring more extreme sounds and disparaging the popular style as "lite metal" or "hair metal."^[99] The MTV logotype, often used in different, less stylized, forms. ... Warrant is an American glam metal band from Hollywood, California that experienced success in the 1980s and early 1990s with several multi-platinum albums. ... Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success and popularity in the late 1980s and 1990s. ... Cinderella is an American blues based hard rock and glam metal band most known during the 1980s and early 1990s. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Bon Jovi is a hard rock band originating from Sayreville, New Jersey. ... Alternate cover Original banned wet T-shirt cover Singles from Slippery When Wet Released: 1986 Released: 1986 Released: 1987 Released: 1987 Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by Bon Jovi released on August 18, 1986 (see 1986 in music). ... Europe is a Swedish hard rock band originally assembled as a progressive rock group; they later added keyboards to their sound in order to soften it. ... The Final Countdown is Europes third album, released May 26, 1986, by Epic Records. ... For other meanings, see The Final Countdown (disambiguation). ... Original logo of The Ball. ...

One band that reached diverse audiences was Guns N' Roses. In contrast to their glam metal contemporaries in L.A., they were seen as much rawer and more dangerous. With the release of their chart-topping Appetite for Destruction (1987), they "recharged and almost single-handedly sustained the Sunset Strip sleaze system for several years."^[100] The following year, Jane's Addiction emerged from the same L.A. hard-rock club scene with its major label debut, Nothing's Shocking. Reviewing the album, Rolling Stone declared, "as much as any band in existence, Jane's Addiction is the true heir to Led Zeppelin."^[101] The group was one of the first to be identified with the "alternative metal" trend that would come to the fore in the next decade. Meanwhile, new bands such as New York's Winger and New Jersey's Skid Row sustained the popularity of the glam metal style.^[102] Guns N Roses are an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. ... For other uses, see Appetite for Destruction (disambiguation). ... Janes Addiction is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. ... Nothings Shocking is Janes Addictions first studio album because the self-titled debut is a live recording. ... Alternative metal is an eclectic form of music that gained popularity in the early 1990s alongside grunge. ... Winger is an American Hard Rock/Glam Metal band from New York City. ... Skid Row is an American heavy metal band which became the glam metal prototypes of the late 1980s metal scene and were successful until they were eclipsed by the Seattle grunge bands in 1991. ...

Underground metal: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

Many subgenres of heavy metal developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s.^[103] Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of Allmusic, as well as critic Garry Sharpe-Young. Sharpe-Young's multivolume metal encyclopedia separates the underground into five major categories: thrash metal, death metal, black metal, power metal, and the related subgenres of doom and gothic metal. A number of overlapping heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal (often shortened to metal) in the late 1960s. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a large, comprehensive and high quality metadata database about music. ... Rockdetector, sometimes abbreviated to RD by frequent users, is an international Rock music website database concieved by editor Garry Sharpe-Young during 2001. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... This article is about the sub-genre of heavy metal music. ... Doom metal is a form of heavy metal music that emerged as a recognized sub-genre during the first half of the 1980s. ... Gothic metal is a genre of heavy metal music. ...

Thrash metal

Thrash metal emerged in the early 1980s under the influence of hardcore punk and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,^[104] particularly songs in the revved-up style known as speed metal. The movement began in the United States, with the leading scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. The sound developed by thrash groups was faster and more aggressive than that of the original metal bands and their glam metal successors.^[104] Low-register guitar riffs are typically overlaid with shredding leads. Lyrics often express nihilistic views or deal with social issues using visceral, gory language. Thrash has been described as a form of "urban blight music" and "a palefaced cousin of rap."^[105] Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... For other uses, see Slayer (disambiguation). ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in North America around 1980. ... Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that spawned in the early 1980s and was the direct musical progenitor of thrash metal[1] [2]. When Speed metal first emerged as a genre, it innovatively increased the tempo of the music template set forth by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin... For the British record label, see Bay Area Thrash Records. ... Shred guitar is a style of electric guitar playing in which rapid passages are performed using sweep-picking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and other techniques. ... This article is about the philosophical position. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The subgenre was popularized by the "Big Four of Thrash": Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer.^[106] Three German bands, Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction, played a central role in bringing the style to Europe. Others, including San Francisco's Testament and Exodus, New Jersey's Overkill, and Brazil's Sepultura, also had a significant impact. While thrash began as an underground scene, and remained largely that for almost a decade, the leading bands in the movement began to reach a wider audience. Metallica brought the sound into the top 40 of the Billboard album chart in 1986 with Master of Puppets; two years later, the band's ...And Justice for All hit number 6, while Megadeth and Anthrax had top 40 records.^[107] For other uses, see Slayer (disambiguation). ... Josef Mengele, the SS physician whose acts during WWII inspired the lyrics of Angel of Death Angel of Death is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayers 1986 album Reign in Blood. ... Reign in Blood is the third studio album and major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... Megadeth is an American thrash metal band led by founder, frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine. ... For other uses, see Slayer (disambiguation). ... Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany. ... Sodom is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. ... Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in LÃ¶rrach, in southern Germany in 1982. ... Testament are an American thrash metal band from California. ... Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1980 in San Francisco, California by singer/drummer Tom Hunting, guitarists Tim Agnello and Kirk Hammett, and bassist Carlton Melson. ... Overkill is one of the first Thrash Metal bands, formed in the early 1980s in New Jersey (but often attributed to New York City), and very active ever since. ... Sepultura is a Brazilian thrash metal band, formed in 1984. ... For the title track of the album, see Master of Puppets (song). ... ...And Justice for All is American heavy metal band Metallicas fourth studio album released August 25, 1988, by Elektra Records. ...

Though less commercially successful than the rest of the Big Four, Slayer released one of the genre's definitive records: Reign in Blood (1986) was described by Kerrang! as the "heaviest album of all time."^[108] Two decades later, Metal Hammer named it the best album of the preceding twenty years.^[109] Slayer attracted a following among far-right skinheads, and accusations of promoting violence and Nazi themes have dogged the band.^[110] In the early 1990s, thrash achieved breakout success, challenging and redefining the metal mainstream.^[111] Metallica's self-titled 1991 album topped the Billboard chart, Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction (1992) hit number 2, Anthrax and Slayer cracked the top 10, and albums by regional bands such as Testament and Sepultura entered the top 100. Reign in Blood is the third studio album and major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. ... Metal Hammer (sometimes MetalHammer) is a monthly heavy metal magazine in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro by a different publisher. ... Metallica (also known as The Black Album) is the 1991 self-titled 5th studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. ... Countdown to Extinction is the fifth studio album by American Heavy metal band Megadeth, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music). ...

Death metal

Thrash soon began to evolve and split into more extreme metal genres. "Slayer's music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal," according to MTV News.^[113] The NWOBHM band Venom was also an important progenitor. The death metal movement in both North America and Europe adopted and emphasized the elements of blasphemy and diabolism employed by such acts. Florida's Death and the Bay Area's Possessed are recognized as seminal bands in the style. Both groups have been credited with inspiring the subgenre's name, the latter via its 1984 demo Death Metal and the song "Death Metal," from its 1985 debut album Seven Churches (1985). This article is about the musical genre. ... Death was an influential American death metal band founded in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner, and dissolved in 2001. ... Charles Michael Chuck Schuldiner (May 13, 1967, Long Island, New York â€“ December 13, 2001) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and genre innovator. ... For the black metal band, see Blasphemy (band). ... Diabolism is a true Faith. ... Death was an influential American death metal band founded in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner, and dissolved in 2001. ... Possessed is a death metal band that formed in 1983 in El Sobrante, California. ... Seven Churches is Possesseds debut album, released in 1985. ...

Death metal utilizes the speed and aggression of both thrash and hardcore, fused with lyrics preoccupied with Z-grade slasher movie violence and Satanism.^[114] Death metal vocals are typically bleak, involving guttural "death growls," high-pitched screaming, the "death rasp,"^[115] and other uncommon techniques.^[116] Complementing the deep, aggressive vocal style are downtuned, highly distorted guitars^[114]^[115] and extremely fast percussion, often with rapid double bass drumming and "wall of sound"–style blast beats. Frequent tempo and time signature changes and syncopation are also typical. Z-movie (or Grade-Z movie) is a term applied to films with an extremely low budget and a miserable quality. ... The original 1974 Black Christmas is considered the first authentic slasher. ... Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan. ... Death growl, also known as growled vocals, harsh vocals, death vocals, pig vocals, throating, death grunts, unclean vocals, Cookie Monster vocals[1], or simply growling, is a vocalization style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal music genre, but also used in a variety of other heavy metal subgenres. ... Screaming is a form of vocalization common in certain genres of alternative rock, as well as heavy metal, hardcore punk, post-hardcore and emo. ... In the world of guitar music and guitar amplification, distortion is actively sought, evaluated, and appreciatively discussed in its endless flavors. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... This article is about the music production effect. ... Blast beats are drum beats consisting of torrents of alternating snare and bass drums which increase the speed, density, and percussiveness of death metal, black metal and grindcore. ... The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and what note value constitutes one beat. ... For other uses of the same name, see Syncopation (disambiguation). ...

Death metal, like thrash metal, generally rejects the theatrics of earlier metal styles, opting instead for an everyday look of ripped jeans and plain leather jackets.^[117] One major exception to this rule was Deicide's Glen Benton, who branded an inverted cross on his forehead and wore armor on stage. Morbid Angel adopted neo-fascist imagery.^[117] These two bands, along with Death and Obituary, were leaders of the major death metal scene that emerged in Florida in the mid-1980s. In the UK, the related style of grindcore, led by bands such as Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror, emerged out of the anarcho-punk movement.^[114] A large Scandinavian death metal scene, with bands such as Sweden's Entombed and Dismember, began to develop as well. Out of this evolved a melodic death metal sound, typified by Swedish bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquillity and Finland's Children of Bodom and Kalmah. Obituary are one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. ... Slowly We Rot is a 1989 (see 1989 in music) album by American death metal band Obituary. ... Deicide is an American death metal band. ... Glen Benton is a North American heavy metal musician best known as the frontman of Florida-based death metal band Deicide, although Benton himself does not accept the death metal terminology. ... Morbid Angel is a Florida-based death metal band assembled in 1983. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Obituary are one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. ... Grindcore, often shortened to grind, is an evolution of crust punk, most commonly associated with death metal, a very different though similarly extreme style of music. ... Napalm Death are a grindcore/death metal band from Birmingham, England. ... Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) is a crust, grindcore, and deathgrind band originally from Ipswich, England. ... The anarchy symbol commonly used by anarcho-punks Anarcho-punk (sometimes known as peace-punk) is a subgenre of the punk rock movement consisting of groups and bands promoting specifically anarchist ideas. ... Scandinavian death metal concerns the death metal bands of Scandinavian origin. ... Entombed is a Swedish metal band which formed in 1987 (see 1987 in music) under the name of Nihilist. ... Dismember is a Swedish death metal band. ... Melodic death metal, (also referred to as Gothenburg metal, melodeath, and post-death) is a subgenre of death metal. ... In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. ... Dark Tranquillity is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For the figure in Legos Bionicle franchise, see Barraki. ...

Black metal

The first wave of black metal emerged in Europe in the early and mid-1980s, led by Britain's Venom, Denmark's Mercyful Fate, Switzerland's Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and Sweden's Bathory. By the late 1980s, Norwegian bands such as Mayhem and Burzum were heading a second wave.^[118] Black metal varies considerably in style and production quality, although most bands emphasize shrieked and growled vocals, highly distorted guitars frequently played with rapid tremolo picking, a "dark" atmosphere^[116] and intentionally lo-fi production, with ambient noise and background hiss.^[119] Satanic themes are common in black metal, though many bands take inspiration from ancient paganism, promoting a return to pre-Christian values.^[120] Numerous black metal bands also "experiment with sounds from all possible forms of metal, folk, classical music, electronica and avant-garde."^[115] Darkthrone drummer Fenriz explains, "It had something to do with production, lyrics, the way they dressed and a commitment to making ugly, raw, grim stuff. There wasn't a generic sound."^[121] This article is about the musical genre. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Burzum began in 1991 as a prominent and influential Norwegian black metal act by Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Vikernes). ... Aske is the second release by Varg Vikernes Burzum project. ... Mercyful Fate is an influential Danish heavy metal group who are often cited among the influences in the black metal, thrash metal, power metal, and progressive metal genres. ... Celtic Frost are a black metalthrash metal band from ZÃ¼rich, Switzerland, known for their influence on the extreme metal and gothic metal genres. ... Bathory was a highly influential Swedish thrash metal/black metal/viking metal band, and were regarded as one of the forefathers of black metal and founder of viking metal. ... Mayhem (often called The True Mayhem) is an infamous, pioneering black metal band formed in 1984[1] in Oslo, Norway. ... Burzum began in 1991 as a prominent and influential Norwegian black metal act by Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Vikernes). ... Tremolo picking or double picking describes the musical technique of picking on a guitar or other string instrument in which a single note is played repeatedly in quick succession. ... Lo-fi â€” from Low Fidelity â€” describes a sound recording which contains accidental artifacts, like distortion, or environmental noise, or a recording which has a limited frequency response. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... Darkthrone is an influential Norwegian black metal band. ... Fenriz (born Leif Nagell on November 28, 1971), later changed to Gylve Fenris Nagell, is best known as the drummer and lyricist for the two-piece Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. ...

By 1990, Mayhem was regularly wearing corpsepaint; many other black metal acts also adopted the look. Bathory inspired the Viking metal and folk metal movements and Immortal brought blast beats to the fore. Some bands in the Scandinavian black metal scene became associated with considerable violence in the early 1990s,^[122] with Mayhem and Burzum linked to church burnings. Growing commercial hype around death metal generated a backlash; beginning in Norway, much of the Scandinavian metal underground shifted to support a black metal scene that resisted being co-opted by the commercial metal industry.^[123] According to former Gorgoroth vocalist Gaahl, "Black Metal was never meant to reach an audience.... [We] had a common enemy which was, of course, Christianity, socialism and everything that democracy stands for."^[121] Corpse paint (sometimes a single word, corpsepaint) is a style of black-and- white makeup used extensively by black metal bands during live concerts and photo shoots as part of their imagery of evil and decay. ... Viking metal is a term used in reference to heavy metal music with a dramatic emphasis on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the life and times of Northern and Central Europeans prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. ... Folk metal is a diverse collection of music, encompassing a wide variety of different styles and approaches. ... Immortal is a pioneering black metal band from Bergen, Norway. ... This article is about the black metal band. ... Kristian Eivind Gaahl Espedal is the vocalist for the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. ...

By 1992, black metal scenes had begun to emerge in areas outside Scandinavia, including Germany, France, and Poland.^[124] The 1993 murder of Mayhem's Euronymous by Burzum's Varg Vikernes provoked intensive media coverage.^[121] Around 1996, when many in the scene felt the genre was stagnating,^[125] several key bands, including Burzum and Finland's Beherit, moved toward an ambient style, while symphonic black metal was explored by Sweden's Tiamat and Switzerland's Samael.^[126] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Norway's Dimmu Borgir brought black metal closer to the mainstream,^[127] as did Cradle of Filth, which Metal Hammer calls England's most successful metal band since Iron Maiden.^[128] Critically lauded contemporary acts include Sweden's traditionalist Watain,^[129] France's more experimental Deathspell Omega,^[130] and America's one-man Xasthur.^[131] Mayhem (often called The True Mayhem) is an infamous, pioneering black metal band formed in 1984[1] in Oslo, Norway. ... De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is the first full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. ... For the demon Euronymous, see Eurynomos. ... Varg Vikernes[1] IPA: , born Kristian Vikernes on February 11, 1973, outside of Bergen, Norway, is a black metal musician and writer. ... Beherit were a black metal band from Finland. ... Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of new synthesizer and sampling technology in the electronic music genre and other technical advances in music. ... Symphonic Black Metal is a fusion genre, combining elements of black metal and symphonic metal. ... Tiamat is a band that formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988. ... Samael is a heavy metal band formed in 1987 in Sion, Switzerland. ... For the geologic feature in Iceland, see Dimmuborgir. ... Cradle of Filth are an extreme metal band formed in Suffolk, England in 1991. ... Metal Hammer (sometimes MetalHammer) is a monthly heavy metal magazine in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro by a different publisher. ... Swedish black metal-band from Uppsala formed in 1998. ... Deathspell Omega are an avant-garde black metal band from France who are the most well-known band in the Norma Evangelium Diaboli movement. ... Xasthur is an American one-man black metal band formed in 1995 by Scott Conner, who goes by the pseudonym Malefic.[1] Although similar in terms of low-fi production and the wearing of corpse paint, musically and lyrically Xasthurs focus is usually not on paganism, Satanism or anti...

Power metal

During the late 1980s, the power metal scene came together largely in reaction to the harshness of death and black metal.^[132] Though a relatively underground style in North America, it enjoys wide popularity in Europe, Japan, and South America. Power metal focuses on upbeat, epic melodies and themes that "appeal to the listener's sense of valor and loveliness."^[133] The prototype for the sound was established in the mid- to late 1980s by Germany's Helloween, which combined the power riffs, melodic approach, and high-pitched, "clean" singing style of bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden with thrash's speed and energy, "crystalliz[ing] the sonic ingredients of what is now known as power metal."^[134] New York's Manowar and Virgin Steele were pioneering American bands. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (1984) was crucial in popularizing the ultrafast electric guitar style known as "shredding" as well as the merger of metal with classical music elements, developments that have strongly influenced power metal. This article is about the sub-genre of heavy metal music. ... Hammerfall redirects here. ... For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). ... Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York, which formed in 1980. ... Virgin Steele is a Heavy metal band from New York, founded in 1981, but more recently they have displayed progressive and symphonic metal elements. ... Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (IPA pronunciation: //) (born Lars Johann Yngve LannerbÃ¤ck, June 30, 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, composer and bandleader. ... Rising Force is the debut album released by guitar virtuoso Yngwie J. Malmsteen issued in 1984. ... Shred guitar is a style of electric guitar playing in which rapid passages are performed using sweep-picking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and other techniques. ... Neo-classical metal is a subgenre of the heavy metal music heavily influenced by classical music in its style of playing and composing[1]. It implies a very technical performance and the use of elements borrowed from classical music and/or by famous classical music composers. ...

Traditional power metal bands like Sweden's HammerFall, England's DragonForce, and Florida's Iced Earth have a sound clearly indebted to the classic NWOBHM style.^[135] Many power metal bands such as Florida's Kamelot, Finland's Nightwish, Italy's Rhapsody of Fire, and Russia's Catharsis feature a keyboard-based "symphonic" sound, sometimes employing orchestras and opera singers. Power metal has built a strong fanbase in Japan and South America, where bands like Brazil's Angra and Argentina's Rata Blanca are popular. This article is about the band. ... Battle Hymns is the 1982 debut album from the heavy metal band Manowar. ... Hammerfall redirects here. ... This article is about the band. ... Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band that combine influences from thrash metal, power metal, progressive metal, opera, speed metal and NWOBHM. In 1999 their leader and songwriter Jon Schaffer teamed up with Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi KÃ¼rsch to form a side project called Demons & Wizards. ... Kamelot is a power metal band that incorporates many elements of symphonic and progressive metal into their music. ... Nightwish is a Finnish metal quintet, formed in 1996 in the town of Kitee, Finland. ... Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Thundercross and - more recently - Rhapsody) is an Italian Symphonic power metal band. ... Catharsis is a russian power metal band. ... Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that sound similar to a classical symphony. ... This article is about the heavy metal band Angra. ... Rata Blanca is a classic heavy metal band from Argentina that formed in the 1980s. ...

Closely related to power metal is progressive metal, which adopts the complex compositional approach of bands like Rush and King Crimson. This style emerged in the United States in the early and mid-1980s, with innovators such as Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, and Dream Theater. The mix of the progressive and power metal sounds is typified by New Jersey's Symphony X, whose guitarist Michael Romeo is among the most recognized of latter-day shredders.^[136] Bands such as Sweden's Meshuggah have taken progressive in even more experimental directions as part of the avant-garde metal movement. Progressive metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock. ... Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario; presently comprised of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. ... This article is about the musical group. ... QueensrÃ¿che (pronounced ) is an American heavy metal / progressive metal band formed in 1981 in Bellevue, Washington. ... Fates Warning is a progressive metal band, formed in 1983 by John Arch, Jim Matheos, Victor Arduini, Joe DiBiase, and Steve Zimmerman in Connecticut, USA. The band directly contributed to the establishment of the progressive metal genre. ... Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Myung, John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, before they dropped out to support the band. ... Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from New Jersey founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo. ... Michael James Romeo (born March 6, 1968) is an American guitarist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Symphony X. // Michael Romeos introduction to formal music training began with bassoon lessons at a young age. ... Meshuggah is a Swedish five-piece experimental metal band from UmeÃ¥, known for their use of extended polymetric passages, complex drum patterns, odd time signatures, angular, dissonant guitar riffs, and harsh vocals. ... Avant-garde metal or experimental metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterised by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements. ...

Doom and gothic metal

Emerging in the mid-1980s with such bands as California's Saint Vitus, Maryland's The Obsessed, Chicago's Trouble, and Sweden's Candlemass, the doom metal movement rejected other metal styles' emphasis on speed, slowing its music to a crawl. Doom metal traces its roots to the lyrical themes and musical approach of early Black Sabbath^[137] and Sabbath contemporaries such as Blue Cheer, Pentagram, and Black Widow.^[138] The Melvins have also been a significant influence on doom metal and a number of its subgenres.^[139] Doom emphasizes melody, melancholy tempos, and a sepulchral mood relative to many other varieties of metal.^[140] Doom metal is a form of heavy metal music that emerged as a recognized sub-genre during the first half of the 1980s. ... Gothic metal is a genre of heavy metal music. ... Saint Vitus was a doom metal band from California. ... The Obsessed were a doom metal band from Maryland led by Scott Wino Weinrich, who also fronted Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Place of Skulls, and currently fronts The Hidden Hand. ... Trouble is an American (proto) Doom Metal band noted for their slow (by 80s standards), heavy albums such as their 1984 debut Trouble (later Psalm 9) The Skull (1985) and others. ... Candlemass is a Swedish epic doom metal band established in the 1980s by Leif Edling (bass), its leader and songwriter. ... Blue Cheer is a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. ... Pentagram are a long-running American heavy metal band from Virginia, most famous as performers of Sabbathesque doom metal. ... Black Widow was a progressive rock/heavy metal band that formed in Leicester, England in 1970. ... The Melvins are an American experimental sludge metal/grunge band that usually perform as a trio. ...

The 1991 release of Forest of Equilibrium, the debut album by UK band Cathedral, helped spark a new wave of doom metal. During the same period, the doom-death fusion style of British bands Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema gave rise to European gothic metal,^[141] with its signature dual-vocalist arrangements, exemplified by Norway's Theatre of Tragedy and Tristania. New York's Type O Negative introduced an American take on the style.^[142] Led by the Swedish band Therion's incorporation of classical elements, gothic metal in turn spawned a symphonic metal movement including Australia's Virgin Black, Finland's Nightwish, and the Netherlands' Within Temptation and After Forever. Crippled Lucifer is an album by Burning Witch. ... Burning Witch was an American doom metal band from Seattle, Washington in the mid to late 1990s. ... Forest of Equilibrium is the debut album of the British doom metal band Cathedral. ... Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. ... Paradise Lost are a death/doom and later gothic metal band formed in 1987 in Halifax, England. ... My Dying Bride is a British doom/death metal band formed in 1990. ... Anathema are an English band from the city of Liverpool, which, together with Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, helped to develop the death/doom sound, a subgenre of doom metal. ... The band Theatre of Tragedy Theatre of Tragedy is a Norwegian band from Stavanger, originally assembled in 1993 and best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre. ... Tristania is a gothic metal band from Norway, formed in the end of 1996 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. ... This article is about the band. ... Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. ... Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that sound similar to a classical symphony. ... Virgin Black is an Australian gothic metal band that combines doom metal with opera for an emotional and dramatic sound. ... Nightwish is a Finnish metal quintet, formed in 1996 in the town of Kitee, Finland. ... Within Temptation is a rock band from The Netherlands. ... After Forever is a symphonic metal band from the Netherlands, which relies on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. ...

In the United States, sludge metal, mixing doom and hardcore, emerged in the late 1980s—Eyehategod and Crowbar were leaders in a major Louisiana sludge scene. Early in the next decade, California's Kyuss and Sleep, inspired by the earlier doom metal bands, spearheaded the rise of stoner metal,^[143] while Seattle's Earth helped develop the drone metal subgenre.^[144] The late 1990s saw new bands form such as the Los Angeles–based Goatsnake, with a classic stoner/doom sound, and Sunn O))), which crosses lines between doom, drone, and dark ambient metal—the New York Times has compared their sound to an "Indian raga in the middle of an earthquake".^[140] Sludge metal is a form of heavy metal music that is generally regarded as a fusion of the doom metal and hardcore punk genres, often displaying southern rock influence. ... Eyehategod is an American sludgecore band from Louisiana who are known for their dark, sludgy riffs combined with equally dark lyrics. ... Crowbar is an American doom / sludge metal band from Louisiana, characterized by their extremely slow, low-keyed, heavy and brooding songs. ... This article is under construction. ... This article is about the band. ... Sleep was a stoner and doom metal band from San Jose, California. ... Stoner music, stoner metal and stoner rock are interchangeable terms describing a sub-genre of rock music. ... Dylan Carlson of Earth. ... Pioneered by the band Earth, Drone metal, also known as drone doom, is a subgenre of doom metal that takes the heaviness and slowness of its progenitor to a new extreme. ... Goatsnake is an American doom metal band from Los Angeles, California. ... Sunn O))) (pronounced simply sun) is an American drone metal band, in its broadest sense; however, it incorporates elements of the dark ambient, metal and drone doom genres as well. ... Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of new synthesizer and sampling technology in the electronic music genre and other technical advances in music. ...

New fusions: 1990s and early 2000s

The era of metal's mainstream dominance in North America came to an end in the early 1990s with the emergence of Nirvana and other grunge bands, signaling the popular breakthrough of alternative rock.^[145] Grunge acts were influenced by the heavy metal sound, but rejected the excesses of the more popular metal bands, such as their "flashy and virtuosic solos" and "appearance-driven" MTV orientation.^[102] Alternative metal is an eclectic form of music that gained popularity in the early 1990s alongside grunge. ... Nu metal (also called aggro metal, or nÃ¼ metal using the traditional heavy metal umlaut) is a musical genre that has origins in the mid 1990s. ... For other uses, see Pantera (disambiguation). ... Vulgar Display of Power is a groove metal album by heavy metal band Pantera, released on February 25, 1992 (see 1992 in music). ... This article is about the American grunge band. ... Grunge redirects here. ... Alternative music redirects here. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ...

Glam metal fell out of favor due not only to the success of grunge,^[146] but also because of the growing popularity of the more aggressive sound typified by Metallica and the post-thrash groove metal of Pantera and White Zombie.^[147] A few new, unambiguously metal bands had commercial success during the first half of the decade—Pantera's Far Beyond Driven topped the Billboard chart in 1994—but, "In the dull eyes of the mainstream, metal was dead."^[148] Some bands tried to adapt to the new musical landscape. Metallica revamped its image: the band members cut their hair and, in 1996, headlined the alternative musical festival Lollapalooza founded by Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell. While this prompted a backlash among some long-time fans,^[149] Metallica remained one of the most successful bands in the world into the new century.^[150] Groove metal, often associated with neo-thrash/post-thrash and power groove, is a term sometimes used to describe a derivative of thrash metal which took its current form during the early 1990s. ... For other uses, see Pantera (disambiguation). ... White Zombie was an American band named after the 1932 film White Zombie, which starred Bela Lugosi. ... Far Beyond Driven is an album by heavy metal band Pantera. ... Lollapalooza is an American music festival featuring rock, alternative rock, hip hop, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. ... Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein in New York City on March 29, 1959) is a musician who, as the frontman of Janes Addiction, was one of the pioneers of alternative rock. ...

Like Jane's Addiction, many of the most popular early 1990s groups with roots in heavy metal fall under the umbrella term "alternative metal."^[151] The label was applied to a wide spectrum of acts that fused metal with different styles, not all associated with alternative rock. Acts labeled alternative metal included the Seattle grunge scene's Alice in Chains and groups drawing on multiple styles: Faith No More combined their alternative rock sound with punk, funk, metal, and hip hop; Primus joined elements of funk, punk, thrash metal, and experimental music. Tool mixed metal and progressive rock; Ministry began incorporating metal into its industrial sound; and Marilyn Manson went down a similar route, while also employing shock effects of the sort popularized by Alice Cooper. Alternative metal artists, though they did not represent a cohesive scene, were united by their willingness to experiment with the metal genre and their rejection of glam metal aesthetics (with the stagecraft of Marilyn Manson and White Zombie—also identified with alt-metal—significant, if partial, exceptions).^[151] Alternative metal's mix of styles and sounds represented "the colorful results of metal opening up to face the outside world."^[152] Layne Thomas Staley (August 22, 1967 - ca. ... This article is about the rock band. ... This article is about the rock band. ... FNM redirects here. ... For other uses, including related musical genres, see Funk (disambiguation). ... Primus is an American rock band currently composed of singer and bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry Ler LaLonde, and drummer Tim Herb Alexander. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by high speed riffing and aggression. ... For experimental rock music, see experimental rock. ... Tool is an American, Grammy Award winning progressive metal band that was formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California. ... For the Swedish political music movement, see progg. ... Ministry is an influential, Grammy-nominated American industrial metal band founded by frontman Al Jourgensen in 1981. ... Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of experimental music, especially but not necessarily electronic music. ... Marilyn Manson is a Grammy nominated[1] American alternative metal band based in Los Angeles, California. ...

In the mid- and late 1990s came a new wave of U.S. metal groups inspired by the alternative metal bands and their mix of genres.^[153] Dubbed "nu metal", bands such as P.O.D., Korn, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Flaw, Slipknot, and Linkin Park incorporated elements ranging from death metal to hip hop, often including DJs and rap-style vocals. The mix demonstrated that "pancultural metal could pay off."^[154] Nu metal gained mainstream success through heavy MTV rotation and Ozzy Osbourne's 1996 introduction of Ozzfest, which led the media to talk of a resurgence of heavy metal.^[155] That year, Korn released Life Is Peachy, the first nu metal album to reach the top 10; two years later, the band's Follow the Leader hit number 1. In 1999, Billboard noted that there were more than 500 specialty metal radio shows in the U.S., nearly three times as many as ten years before.^[156] While nu metal was widely popular early in the 2000s, traditional metal fans did not fully embrace the style.^[157] By early 2003, the movement had clearly passed its peak, though several nu metal acts, as well as bands with related styles, such as System of a Down, retained substantial followings.^[158] This article is about the band. ... This article is about the band. ... Papa Roach is a four-piece rock band from Vacaville, California. ... Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. ... Flaw is an alternative metal/hard rock music group from Louisville, Kentucky. ... Slipknot (sometimes typeset as SlipKnoT to fit their logo) is a Grammy winning American metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. ... Linkin Park is a rock band from Agoura Hills, California. ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ... Rap redirects here. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... Ozzfest is an annual tour of the United States (and in some years, Europe) featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. ... Life Is Peachy is Korns second album. ... Follow the Leader is KoÐ¯ns third album and a departure from their first two albums in sound and production. ... System of a Down (commonly referred to as System or abbreviated as SOAD) are an American heavy metal band, formed in 1995 in Glendale, California. ...

Recent trends: mid–late 2000s

Metalcore, an originally American hybrid of thrash metal and hardcore punk,^[159] emerged as a commercial force in the mid-2000s. It is rooted in the crossover thrash style developed two decades earlier by bands such as Suicidal Tendencies, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, and Stormtroopers of Death.^[160] Through the 1990s, metalcore was mostly an underground phenomenon. By 2004, melodic metalcore—influenced as well by melodic death metal—was popular enough that Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache and Shadows Fall's The War Within debuted at numbers 21 and 20, respectively, on the Billboard album chart.^[161] Bullet for My Valentine, from Wales, broke into the top 5 in both the U.S. and British charts with Scream Aim Fire (2008). In recent years, metalcore bands have received prominent slots at Ozzfest and the Download Festival. Lamb of God, with a related blend of metal styles, hit the Billboard top 10 in 2006 with Sacrament. The success of these bands and others such as Trivium, which has released both metalcore and straight-ahead thrash albums, and Mastodon, which plays in a progressive/sludge style, has inspired claims of a metal revival in the United States, dubbed by some critics the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal."^[162] For other uses, see Trivium. ... This article refers to the 2005 album by the metalcore band Trivium; for the DOS-based computer game, see Ascendancy. ... Metalcore is a fusion of extreme metal and hardcore punk that began in the United States. ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in North America around 1980. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Suicidal Tendencies is an American hardcore punk / crossover thrash band formed in 1981 in Venice, California. ... Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, or simply D.R.I., are a Thrash band that formed in 1982. ... Stormtroopers of Death, more commonly known as S.O.D., formed in New York in 1985. ... Melodic death metal, (also referred to as Gothenburg metal, melodeath, and post-death) is a subgenre of death metal. ... Killswitch Engage (often abbreviated as KSE or Killswitch) is a Grammy nominated metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts. ... Alternate Cover Re-release cover The End of Heartache is the 2004 album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. ... Shadows Fall is an American heavy metal band formed in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1996. ... For the film see The War Within (film). ... Bullet for My Valentine are a four-piece metalcore band from Bridgend, Wales. ... Scream Aim Fire is the second studio album by Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine. ... The Download Festival is a three day music festival held annually at the spiritual home of rock music in England: Donington Park (which hosted the Monsters of Rock Festivals between 1980 and 1996, and 2002s Ozzfest). ... Lamb of God is an American band formed in 1990 in Richmond, Virginia. ... Sacrament is the fourth studio album from the American metal band Lamb of God. ... For other uses, see Trivium. ... For the prehistoric animal, see Mastadon. ... The New Wave of American Heavy Metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music whose name comes from the late 70s New Wave of British Heavy Metal. ...

The term "retro-metal" has been applied to such bands as England's The Darkness^[163] and Australia's Wolfmother.^[164] The Darkness's Permission to Land (2003), described as an "eerily realistic simulation of '80s metal and '70s glam,"^[163] topped the UK charts, going quintuple platinum. One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back (2005) reached number 11.^[165] Wolfmother's self-titled 2005 debut album had "Deep Purple-ish organs," "Jimmy Page-worthy chordal riffing," and lead singer Andrew Stockdale howling "notes that Robert Plant can't reach anymore."^[164] "Woman," a track from the album, won for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Slayer's "Eyes of the Insane" won for Best Metal Performance in 2007; their "Final Six" won the same award in 2008. Metallica took the honor in 2009 for "My Apocalypse".^[166] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Masters of Rock is a big heavy metal festival in Europe. ... Wolfmother is a Grammy Award winning hard rock band from Australia. ... Permission to Land is the debut album of The Darkness. ... One Way Ticket to Hell. ... Wolfmother is the first full-length album from the Australian three-piece psychedelic rock band Wolfmother. ... Andrew Stockdale (born July 20, 1976) is the lead singer and guitarist of Australian band Wolfmother. ... Woman is a single by the Australian hard rock band Wolfmother from their self-titled debut album. ... The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance has been awarded since 1990. ... Nominees for Grammy Awards of 2007 The winner of a category will be shown in bold text. ... Eyes of the Insane is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. ... The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance has been awarded since 1990. ...

In continental Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavia, metal continues to be broadly popular. Well-established British acts such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden continue to have chart success on the continent, as do a range of local groups. In Germany, Western Europe's largest music market, several continental metal bands placed multiple albums in the top 20 of the charts between 2003 and 2008, including Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, Norwegian symphonic extreme metal act Dimmu Borgir, and two power metal groups, Germany's Blind Guardian and Sweden's HammerFall.^[167] The Swedish melodic death metal act In Flames took both Come Clarity (2006) and A Sense of Purpose (2008) to number 6 in Germany;^[167] each album topped the Swedish charts.^[168] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For the geologic feature in Iceland, see Dimmuborgir. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Hammerfall redirects here. ... In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. ... Alternate Cover Limited edition digipak cover Come Clarity is the eighth studio album by In Flames, released on February 3, 2006 in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records and February 7 in the U.S. through Ferret Records. ... Singles from A Sense of Purpose Released: 2008 A Sense of Purpose is the ninth In Flames studio album. ...

Contents

Characteristics

Musical language

Rhythm and tempo

Harmony

Typical harmonic structures

Relationship with classical music

Lyrical themes

Image and fashion

Physical gestures

Fan subculture

Etymology

History

Antecedents: mid-1960s

Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s

Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s

Underground metal: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

Thrash metal

Death metal

Black metal

Power metal

Doom and gothic metal

New fusions: 1990s and early 2000s

Recent trends: mid–late 2000s

See also

References

Sources

External links

Contents

Characteristics var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};

Musical language

Rhythm and tempo

Harmony

Typical harmonic structures

Relationship with classical music

Lyrical themes

Image and fashion

Physical gestures

Fan subculture

Etymology

History

Antecedents: mid-1960s

Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s

Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s

Underground metal: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

Thrash metal

Death metal

Black metal

Power metal

Doom and gothic metal

New fusions: 1990s and early 2000s

Recent trends: mid–late 2000s

See also

References

Sources

External links

Characteristics