Rock and Roll: The Best of Heavy Metal Music

A look at the best of heavy metal music and how it has evolved over the years.

What is Heavy Metal Music?

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. 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. The genre’s lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.

In 1970, four British heavy metal bands released debut albums. Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV (1971) reached number one on the charts in both the UK and the US. Black Sabbath’s Paranoid (1970), which includes the band’s signature song “Iron Man”, also made it to number one in the UK while peaking at number two in the US. Deep Purple’s In Rock (1970) reached number three in both countries. Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968), released two years earlier but reissued in 1970 to capitalize on its newfound popularity, peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart but failed to reach the top 40 in either country.

The History of Heavy Metal Music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple contributed to the development of a heavier sound that would come to be known as heavy metal. In the 1980s, glam metal bands such as Mötley Crüe and Poison became popular, while other subgenres like death metal and black metal emerged.

The history of heavy metal music can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a number of bands began pushing the limits of rock music with their innovative sounds and aggressive styles. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were all innovators in the genre, helping to pioneer a heavier sound that would come to be known as heavy metal. In the 1980s, glam metal bands such as Mötley Crüe and Poison became popular with mainstream audiences, while other subgenres like death metal and black metal began to emerge. Today, heavy metal remains one of the most popular genres of rock music, with a wide variety of subgenres to choose from.

The Different Types of Heavy Metal Music

There are many different types of heavy metal music. Some of the most popular include death metal, black metal, and thrash metal. Each type of metal has its own sub-genre and fans. Death metal is a type of metal that is characterized by its aggressive sound and dark lyrics.

Thrash Metal

Thrash metal is a genre of heavy metal music that originated in the early 1980s. Thrash metal features fast tempo, often with guitar solos and low-register guitars. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register chorus from overload vocals. The lyrical subject matter often deals with criticism of The Establishment, and at times contains satiric shots at religion.

Death Metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, aggressive, powerful drumming featuring double kick and blast beat techniques, minor keys or atonality, abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, and chromatic chord progressions. Its lyrics often deal with death, violence, betrayal, misery, horror, and disease.

musical traits include:
-Fast tempos (most commonly 160–220 beats per minute)
-Heavily distorted guitars played with palm muting and low tuning
-Growled or screamed vocals (occasionally clean vocals are employed)
-Double kick drumming
-Extremely fast drumming exceeding 300 beats per minute
-Blast beat drumming
-Chord progressions often based on power chords
-Minimal to no guitar solos
-At times harmonized guitars are used to create a fuller sound
3rd harmonic guitars are common in deathcore

Some death metal bands write lyrics about things such as Satanism, necrophilia (cannibal Corpse), anti-Christianity (Deicide), disease (Cancer), horror/gore (Carcass), violence (Necrophagist), politics (Molotov Solution) warfare (Warbringer), misanthropy (Poison The Well), human suffering (Despised Icon), self-harm/depression ( Chelsea Grin) among other topics.

Black Metal

Black metal is an Extreme metal subgenre and one of the earliest offshoots of Heavy Metal. It usually has fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structures. Artists often appear wearing black corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.

The lyrics often deal with Satanism or anti-Christian subject matter, and the music is sometimes accompanied by background atmospheric sounds or noises, such as those made by nature. Black metal has been associated with a number of crimes, including church arson and murder. The Norwegian scene was particularly notorious for these crimes.

In recent years, there has been a black metal revival, with newer bands such as Watain and Inquisition incorporating elements of black metal into their music.

The Best Heavy Metal Bands

Metal music has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Whether you’re a fan of the old-school metal bands or the new breed of metalcore groups, there’s something for everyone. Here are some of the best heavy metal bands around.

Metallica

Formed in 1981, Metallica was one of the first American heavy metal bands. With their debut album, Kill ‘Em All, they quickly became one of the most popular and influential bands in the genre. Over the course of their career, they have released nine studio albums, three live albums, and numerous singles and EPs. They are one of the best-selling heavy metal bands of all time, with over 125 million records sold worldwide.

Metallica is known for their fast, aggressive music and their complex songwriting. They are considered to be pioneers of the thrash metal genre, and their songs often deal with dark subjects like death, war, addiction, and betrayal. They have won nine Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.

Slayer

Slayer is undisputedly one of the greatest metal bands of all time. With a career spanning over three decades, the band has released some of the most iconic and influential metal albums of all time. From their early work with trainer Jeff Hanneman to their more recent albums with guitarist Gary Holt, Slayer has always been at the forefront of the metal scene, innovating and pushing the boundaries of what heavy music can be. If you’re a fan of metal, Slayer is a band that you simply cannot afford to miss.

Megadeth

Formed in 1983, Megadeth is one of the most successful and influential heavy metal bands of all time, with a string of platinum and gold albums to their name. With their mix of thrash metal and speed metal, they are one of the pioneers of the genre, and their sound has influenced many other bands. Megadeth’s music is characterized by tight arrangements, aggressive riffing, and complex song structures. They are also known for their lyrics, which often deal with dark subjects like war, religion, politics, and personal relationships.

Heavy Metal Music Today

Rock music has never been more popular. In the last few years, we have seen a resurgence in the popularity of heavy metal music. This is due in part to the fact that heavy metal music has never been more accessible. With the internet, you can find any type of music you want and share it with the world.

The New Wave of American Heavy Metal

The New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM) is a heavy metal music movement that started in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the United States. It has its roots in the underground metal scene of the 1980s and early 1990s, when a number of bands created a style which was different from the glam metal that was popular at the time.

The NWOAHM is often seen as being divided into two subgenres: melodic metalcore and djent. Melodic metalcore is a fusion of heavy metal and hardcore punk, while djent is a subgenre of progressive metal that is characterized by its use of polyrhythms and “djenty” riffs.

Some of the most popular NWOAHM bands include Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Bullet for My Valentine, Godsmack, Disturbed, Stone Sour, and Five Finger Death Punch.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a movement of heavy metal bands that emerged in the late 1970s and gained popularity in the early 1980s. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was rooted in the emerge of new bands that combined the speed and aggression of punk rock with the heaviness and power of metal. This new sound began to develop in England during the late 1970s, with bands such as Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, Diamond Head, and Angel Witch leading the way.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a major influence on the development of thrash metal and death metal. Many of the bands from this movement went on to major success in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Def Leppard. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal is often credited with revitalizing heavy metal music after it had become stagnant in the late 1970s.