Who really invented heavy metal? Most people will say that honor belongs to Black Sabbath , but it goes quite a bit deeper than that. To understand the genesis of heavy metal, we need to establish its origins, which goes far beyond building upon the foundation laid down by the most thunderous of '60s rockers.
It goes back decades, away from England and over to the American south, which was the hub for blues, from which all heavy music rose. Featuring the twin-guitar attack of Glenn Tipton and K. Downing as well as the unworldly vocal ability of Rob Halford, Judas Priest ushered heavy metal into uncharted territory Exciter.
Capitalizing on their unique talents, Priest ushered in an era of heavy metal that was at once highly rhythmic and melodic that interchanged between breakneck and more reserved tempos sometimes within one song.
However, the lasting legacy of Judas Priest was the introduction of the indelible image of heavy metal: leather and studs. No one could anticipate at the time that the look would become synonymous with heavy metal. Nevertheless, heavy metal now had a look that matched the power and intensity of its sound Metal Gods. Although heavily inspired by the founding heavy metal bands, the music of these new acts effectively eliminated influence of the blues, instead incorporating elements of late s British punk.
The result was a faster and aggressively bombastic sound. Songs explored the realms of fantasy and mythology Rime of the Ancient Mariner , yet also maintained the social ire of their predecessors.
Building on this creative exploration, the NWOBHM bands, especially Iron Maiden, embarked on creating elaborate, theatrical stage shows that thematically complimented their music Powerslave. These newly explored elements resonated with fans beyond England. By the mid's, heavy metal experienced acceptance and popularity in mainland Europe, North America and South America. Heavy metal experienced different interpretations as it began to disseminate globally.
In Los Angeles, many bands developed a streamlined approach with a neutral, simplified sound and a focus on theatrics and showmanship. Moving north along I-5, other bands embarked on a path diametrically opposed to the hair movement. Thrash was the most extreme incarnation of heavy metal to date. The thrash bands challenged the norm and openly expressed their vitriol and discontent through socially conscious and politically critical lyrics. By the end of the s, heavy metal was becoming schizophrenic, developing in two converging directions with each pushing conventions to extremes.
Heavy metal had reached a crossroads by the early s. The novelty of hair metal vanished as quickly as it burst onto the scene. Thrash remained too extreme for mainstream audiences. Some thrash bands, most notably Metallica Enter Sandman and Megadeth Symphony of Destruction , successfully experimented with a streamlined and commercially palatable direction. This move was a reaction to the rapidly growing popularity of Grunge more on that in a minute. While some thrash bands turned to the limelight, others embraced the unbridled freedom of the underground.
One act in particular, Dallas-based Pantera Cowboys From Hell , enjoyed commercial success by exploring an evolved thrash-hardcore hybrid. Pantera championed many of the same conventions of thrash metal, only driven by extremes. Ironically, Pantera was pedestrian by comparison to the spectrum of bands exploring Extreme Metal. As Lefevre notes, as a genre, heavy metal is both loved and vilified, and has spawned all number of subgenres.
So to find out where the genesis of this demonic prince of a genre began is a tricky task. To start off on this complicated chthonic journey Lefevre first looks at the early history of the genre, and goes beyond where most people can agree the genre originated from, the s , and looks to the generation who influenced many of those 60s musicians.
And those were the blues musicians, particularly the s Memphis blues musicians, like Joe Hill Lewis and Pat Hare, who began experimenting with heavier distortions in their music. Along with the heavier sound, they also began writing lyrics on more morbid subject matters, which is also a trait of heavy metal. Lefevre then traces the distorted sound of the Memphis blues musicians to the surf rock music of early s America.
One aspect this movement added to the heavy metal arsenal, was the use of fast-picked guitars. Then, after these foundations were laid, it was the later s rock groups, many from the UK, that then started really building the demented, accursed path towards metal.
Yet there was a band of this era who made an even heavier song than what those bands produced. It was when acts like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath came along that heavy metal could lay claim to having whole bands preaching the sound of Satan.
And it was one band in particular who can probably really lay claim to inventing the genre, if any individual band can. With their witchcraft and Satanism infused lyrics and tritone chords, it was then that heavy metal was well and truly born. The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in and widely regarded as the most influential acts of the rock era.
The 's was particularly revolutionary era in terms of popular music, as it saw the formation and evolution of rock.
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