A Timeline of Heavy Metal Music

A look at the history of heavy metal music and the bands that have shaped the genre over the years.

Origins of Heavy Metal

Early metal bands

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was largely a reaction to the increasingly distorted and amplified sound of the existing rock music. Early heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin incorporated blues-style guitar riffs and solos, elongated song structures, and louder sound levels.

The birth of heavy metal

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of heavy metal. However, many people believe that it started in the late 1960s or early 1970s with bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. These bands started experimenting with heavier sounds and themes, which would later become synonymous with heavy metal.

Heavy metal really took off in the 1980s with the rise of bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. These bands brought heavy metal to a whole new audience and helped to solidify its place in the world of music.

Today, heavy metal is enjoyed by millions of fans around the world and shows no signs of slowing down.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was a musical movement that started in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a reaction to the decline of the British heavy metal scene. Bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Def Leppard brought heavy metal back to the mainstream.

The NWOBHM movement

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was a musical movement that started in the late 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. It was a reaction to the declining energy and quality of mainstream rock music.

TheNWOBHM was spearheaded by a handful of bands who managed to break through to the mainstream, such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Def Leppard. But the true story of the NWOBHM is one of an underground movement that spawned a thousand bands, many of whom made only a few recordings before disappearing into obscurity.

In the late 1970s, Britain was in the grips of a musical drought. Glam rock, which had dominated the charts in the early part of the decade, had become stale and repetitive. Prog rock had run its course, and punk rock had injected some much-needed energy into the music scene, but by 1978 even punk was starting to sound tired. Into this void came a new wave of bands playing heavy metal music with a rawer, more aggressive sound than anything that had come before.

The NWOBHM was fuelled by DIY ethic of punk and inspired by classic metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. Bands like Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Venom, Angel Witch, Witchfynde, Tygers of Pan Tang, Samson, Saxon, and Def Leppard wrote songs that were faster and heavier than anything that had come before. They were also influenced by horror movies and played up their dark image with gory album covers and onstage theatrics.

The NWOBHM quickly found an audience among disaffected working-class youths in Britain’s industrial cities. These “metalheads” embraced the new music wholeheartedly and started attending concerts in droves. The scene quickly became overheated and violent clashes between rival gangs of metal fans were not uncommon.

TheNWOBHM finally broke into the mainstream in 1980 with Iron Maiden’s debut album ‘Iron Maiden’and Judas Priest’s ‘British Steel’. From there it went from strength to strength with numerous other bands finding success both in Britain and abroad. But by 1982 it was starting to fizzle out; many of the leading lights of the NWOBHM had either broken up or gone commercial (or both), leaving behind a legion of lesser-known bands struggling to keep things going

The rise of metalcore

The rise of metalcore began in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Bands such as Converge, Botch, and Deadguy started to blend hardcore punk with metal, creating a sound that was more aggressive than either genre. These bands were later joined by groups like Every Time I Die, Hatebreed, and Lamb of God, who pushed the sound in a more brutal direction.

In the 2010s, metalcore began to incorporate more clean singing and melodic elements, leading to the rise of bands like Architects, Bring Me the Horizon, andWhile She Sleeps. This new wave of British heavy metal has been hugely successful both commercially and critically, with many of these bands achieving mainstream success.

The American Metal Scene

The rise of thrash metal

Thrash metal was a subgenre of heavy metal that developed in the early 1980s. The genre is generally characterized by fast tempos, high energy, and aggression. Thrash metal songs typically use fast percussive beats, low-register guitar riffs, and overall loudness.

The earliest recorded use of the term “thrash metal” was in an article by Kerrang! magazine in February 1982. In the article, writer Garry Bushell praised the bands Diamond Head, Spitfires, and Holocaust as the “forefathers of thrash”.

The first wave of thrash metal bands emerged in the early 1980s with bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax gaining popularity; their success opened the door for other bands such as Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Heathen, Vio-lence, Death Angel, Sacred Reich and Suicidal Tendencies.

In the second half of the 1980s, thrash metal achieved commercial success with bands such as Metallica’s 1986 album Master of Puppets and Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction in 1992. By the early 1990s its popularity declined due to changes in the music industry; many pioneering bands broke up or switched to other styles of heavy music.

The rise of death metal

In the early 1980s, a new type of metal began to emerge in the American underground metal scene. This new style, which would come to be known as death metal, was characterized by its extremely fast tempo, guttural vocal style, and highly distorted guitars. Death metal bands such as Death, Obituary, and Morbid Angel were at the forefront of this new movement, and their albums sparked a wave of interest in death metal among metal fans.

Death metal quickly began to gain popularity in Europe as well, with bands such as Sodom and Kreator leading the way. In the early 1990s, death metal reached its commercial peak with the release of several highly successful albums, such as Sepultura’s “Chaos A.D.” and Cannibal Corpse’s “Eaten Back to Life”. However, by the mid-1990s death metal’s popularity had begun to wane, and many death metal bands broke up or switched to other styles of music.

Modern Heavy Metal

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has its roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, and often incorporates elements of these genres. Unlike most other rock genres, heavy metal is characterized by a loud, aggressive sound. Metal songs often have distorted guitar sounds, and are often played at fast speeds.

The rise of metalcore

The early 2000s saw the rise of metalcore, a genre that blended elements of heavy metal and hardcore punk. Metalcore bands such asKillswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, and Atreyu fused the heaviness of metal with the speed and aggression of punk, resulting in a sound that was both brutally hard-hitting and melodic. These bands enjoyed commercial success throughout the early to mid-2000s, with Atreyu’s 2006 album The Curse becoming the first metalcore album to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

The rise of black metal

In the early to mid-’80s, a new style of metal was taking shape. Called “black metal,” it would come to personify metal’s dark side. The music was brutal, the lyrics dealt with Satanism, death, and other taboo subjects, and the look was very much anti-fashion. This new wave of black metal would be defined by Norwegian bands such as Venom, Mercyful Fate, and Celtic Frost.