Heavy Metal Music in Britain
This blog is all about heavy metal music in Britain. From the early days of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, to the more recent rise of bands like Bring Me the Horizon, we love it all!
The Origins of Heavy Metal
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is characterized by a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. The first heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin drew on a heavy blues rock sound.
The First Heavy Metal Bands
It is widely accepted that the first heavy metal bands were British. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of bands began to emerge that combined the hard rock sound with elements of blues and psychedelia to create a new, heavier sound. These early bands included Cream, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. Sabbath in particular is credited with helping to pioneer the heavy metal sound, with their dark and ominous lyrics and slow, heavy riffs.
While these early bands laid the foundation for heavy metal, it was not until the mid-1970s that the genre truly began to take shape. This was thanks in part to the rise of punk rock in Britain. Punk was a reaction against the bloated and excessive sounds of some of the earlier metal bands, and Punk’s raw energy and DIY aesthetic helped to inspire a new generation of metal bands. These bands stripped away many of the blues and psychedelic elements of their predecessors, resulting in a faster, more aggressive sound. Some of the most influential early metal bands include Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Saxon.
The Development of Heavy Metal
The British heavy metal scene began to develop in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with pioneers such as Black Sabbath,Deep Purple and Judas Priest releasing a series of groundbreaking albums. These bands blended hard rock with blues-rock influences to create a new, heavier sound, which would come to be known as heavy metal.
In the 1980s, the British heavy metal scene was at its peak, with bands such as Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Def Leppard achieving massive commercial success. The 1990s saw the rise of a new generation of British metal bands, including Metallica-influenced outfits such as Sepultura and Pantera.
Today, British heavy metal is thriving, with a new wave of bands such as Bring Me the Horizon and Asking Alexandria leading the way.
The British Heavy Metal Scene
Much like in America, the British Heavy Metal scene was born out of the ashes of the late 1960s British Blues boom. A new generation of British musicians, inspired by American Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands such as Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin, began developing their own style of music. By the early 1970s, a number of British Heavy Metal bands had emerged, including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Judas Priest.
The Birth of British Heavy Metal
British Heavy Metal (often referred to simply as Heavy Metal) is a form of hard rock music that emerged in the late 1960s. Although the genre is considered a subgenre of rock music, it has developed its own distinctive style and identity.
The first British heavy metal band is widely considered to be Led Zeppelin, who formed in 1968. The band’s debut album, Led Zeppelin (1969), featured a heavier sound than anything that had been heard before and helped to define the genre. Other important early British heavy metal bands include Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest.
The British heavy metal scene reached its peak in the 1980s with bands such as Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Metallica achieving massive global success. The popularity of the genre declined in the 1990s but it has remained popular among niche audiences.
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a musical movement that started in the late 1970s and peaked in popularity in the early 1980s. The movement developed as a reaction to the decline of the original wave of British heavy metal, which had faded away following the release of Led Zeppelin’s last album in 1977.
Musically, the new wave was a reaction against the prevailing punk rock scene, which was dominated by bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash. The new wave of British heavy metal was characterized by its aggressive, raw sound and its disdain for commercialism and mainstream success.
The new wave of British heavy metal was led by bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Diamond Head and Def Leppard. These bands were followed by a second wave of groups such as Saxon, Venom, Diamond Head and Raven. In contrast to the first wave of bands, which were all based in England, the second wave included groups from Scotland (Saxon), Wales (Venom) and Northern Ireland (Diamond Head).
The new wave of British heavy metal was hugely successful in continental Europe, particularly in Germany, Italy and France. However, it failed to achieve mainstream success in Britain or North America. This is often attributed to the fact that most of the key figures in the scene were not signed to major record labels.
Despite its lack of commercial success, the new wave of British heavy metal was a major influence on subsequent heavy metal subgenres such as power metal and thrash metal. It also paved the way for the rise of hard rock bands such as Def Leppard and Bon Jovi in the 1980s.
The Rise of Extreme Metal
In the early 1990s, a new form of heavy metal began to emerge in Britain. Drawing inspiration from American bands like Metallica and Megadeth, as well as European groups like Venom and Bathory, this new style was faster, heavier, and more aggressive than anything that had come before. This new style of metal would come to be known as “extreme metal.”
Extreme metal quickly gained a devoted following in Britain, and by the mid-1990s there were a number of successful extreme metal bands operating in the country. These included groups like Carcass, Bolt Thrower, and Cathedral. In 1996, an Extreme Metal Festival was even held in London, which featured some of the biggest names in the scene.
Despite its popularity, extreme metal has always been a somewhat niche genre. However, in recent years it has begun to gain a wider audience, thanks in part to the success of British bands like Bring Me the Horizon and Architects. There is now a thriving extreme metal scene in Britain, with new bands emerging all the time.
The Legacy of British Heavy Metal
The Influence of British Heavy Metal
British heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden helped pioneer the genre and influence generations of metalheads.
The 1970s was the decade that saw the birth of heavy metal, with bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Deep Purple forging a sound that would be taken to new heights in the 1980s by the likes of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Metallica.
Heavy metal music has always had a strong following in Britain, with festivals such as Download and Bloodstock attracting tens of thousands of fans from all over the world every year.
The genre has also produced some of the world’s biggest selling artists, including Iron Maiden, Metallica and Slipknot.
The Future of British Heavy Metal
The future of British heavy metal is shrouded in uncertainty. The genre has been in decline for many years, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend. Nevertheless, there are still a number of diehard fans who are keeping the faith and supporting the genre.
It is hard to say what the future holds for British heavy metal. It is possible that the genre will continue to decline and eventually disappear altogether. However, it is also possible that it will make a comeback, albeit on a smaller scale than in its heyday. Only time will tell.
