152-427: King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984. For their first two albums, the band consisted of four relatively unknown musicians: vocalist Marcie Free , guitarist David Michael-Philips , guitarist Mick Sweda , and bassist Johnny Rod . After two albums on Capitol Records — Ready to Strike (November 9, 1985) and Thrill of
304-515: A distorted bass tone , an approach popularized by Burton and Motörhead 's Lemmy . Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands. Humor and irony can occasionally be found (Anthrax for example), but they are limited, and are an exception rather than
456-558: A staccato attack created by using a palm-muted technique on the rhythm 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". By
608-415: A Lifetime (1986)—and the independent release King Kobra III in 1988, Appice decided to dissolve the band and join guitarist John Sykes for his Blue Murder project in 1989. A new King Kobra emerged in 2010 with Carmine Appice on drums, Paul Shortino taking over vocal duties, Mick Sweda on guitar, David Henzerling (a.k.a. David Michael-Philips) on guitar, and Johnny Rod on bass. This lineup released
760-526: A band of their own. Hanneman and King recruited vocalist/bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo , and Slayer was formed. Slayer was discovered by Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel; the band's live performance of Iron Maiden 's "Phantom of the Opera" so impressed him that he promptly signed them to his label. In December 1983, five months after the release of Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All , Slayer released their debut album, Show No Mercy . To
912-492: A drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple 's Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ . In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III ; by the 1990s, synthesizers were used in "almost every subgenre of heavy metal". The electric guitar and
1064-473: A heavy metal direction. A few commentators – mainly American – argue for other groups, including Iron Butterfly , Steppenwolf , Blue Cheer , or Vanilla Fudge , as the first to play heavy metal. In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a cover of Eddie Cochran 's classic " Summertime Blues " as a part of their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum , and many consider it to be
1216-527: A heavy-metals blues sound". In January 1970, Lucian K. Truscott IV , reviewing Led Zeppelin II for the Village Voice , described the sound as "heavy" and made comparisons with Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge . Other early documented uses of the phrase are from reviews by critic Metal Mike Saunders . In the 12 November 1970 issue of Rolling Stone , he commented on an album put out the previous year by
1368-446: A key influence on the genre, due to its sound, which introduced the three-chord thrash style of guitar. Void has been credited as one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach is often cited as particularly influential. Their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band The Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, fiery, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid
1520-428: A major influence on heavy metal since the genre's earliest days, and 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." In an article written for Grove Music Online , Walser stated that
1672-492: A major role in the crossover success of thrash metal during this time, but helped push album sales of the genre's "Big Four" and similar bands, or moved them from playing clubs to arenas and stadiums. Anthrax made its mainstream breakthrough in 1987 with the release of their gold-certified album Among the Living , which borrowed elements from their two previous releases, with fast guitar riffs and pounding drums. Shortly after
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#17327904983421824-491: A massive, heavy sound from unison riffing between guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce , as well as Ginger Baker 's double bass drumming. Their first two LPs – Fresh Cream (1966) and Disraeli Gears (1967) – are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style of heavy metal. 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
1976-524: A more heavier direction, including Suicidal Tendencies , who are often considered to be one of the "fathers of crossover thrash", and became more recognized as a thrash metal band in the late 1980s (thanks in large part to the presence of guitarists Rocky George and Mike Clark ); the band would reach new heights of success with their first two major-label albums, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988) and Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu (1989). D.R.I. 's music took
2128-671: A party without limits ... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic." 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. Andrew Cope stated that claims that heavy metal lyrics are misogynistic are "clearly misguided" as these critics have "overlook[ed]
2280-527: A primary influence on their playing. Thrash metal bands have also taken inspiration from Judas Priest , with Slayer guitarist Kerry King saying that, "There would be no Slayer without Priest." Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel played a key role in bringing the NWOBHM to a larger audience, as he was responsible for discovering both Metallica and Slayer and producing their earliest studio recordings. Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar notes, "Although
2432-508: A resurgence in popularity since the 2000s, with the arrival of various bands such as Bonded by Blood , Evile , Hatchet , Havok , Lamb of God , Municipal Waste , and Warbringer , who have all been credited for leading the so-called "thrash metal revival" scene. Thrash metal generally features fast tempos , low-register, complex guitar riffs , high-register guitar solos , and double bass drumming . The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion and often palm muted to create
2584-484: A return to their signature thrash metal sound, followed by Christ Illusion (2006) and World Painted Blood (2009), both of which marked their first studio albums with drummer Dave Lombardo in nearly two decades. Although their career had declined from its peak in the 1990s, Overkill was perhaps one of the most-active thrash metal groups outside of the "Big Four", having never disbanded or taken longer breaks in-between records, and by 2000's Bloodletting , they were
2736-544: A rule. The term proto-thrash has been used to describe bands as having elements of speed metal or thrash metal before those genres came to prominence in early-to-mid-1980s. Deep Purple 's 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock is perhaps the earliest proto-thrash/speed metal album, as music journalist Martin Popoff noted, "It's really about the discipline and classical haughtiness of this record, as well as 'Hard Lovin' Man' which
2888-567: A similar direction with their last three albums of the 1980s, Crossover (1987), 4 of a Kind (1988), and Thrash Zone (1989), and other bands would follow suit, including The Exploited , Excel (from Suicidal Tendencies' hometown of Venice ) and New York hardcore acts M.O.D. (fronted by former S.O.D. singer Billy Milano ), the Cro-Mags and the Crumbsuckers . From 1987 to 1989, Overkill released Taking Over , Under
3040-423: A slower and Black Sabbath -influenced heavy metal direction with their post-1980s output, adapting influences and textures of sludge , doom metal , blues, and southern rock on several of their albums, including Blind (1991), Deliverance (1994) and Wiseblood (1996). In the wake of the success of groove metal , instigated by Pantera (who went on to become one of the most successful heavy metal bands of
3192-569: A song entitled "Hit the Lights". Leather Charm soon disbanded and the band's primary songwriter, vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield , met drummer Lars Ulrich through a classified advertisement. Together, Hetfield and Ulrich formed Metallica , one of the "Big Four" thrash bands, with lead guitarist Dave Mustaine , who would later form Megadeth , another of the "Big Four" originators of thrash, and bassist Ron McGovney . McGovney would be replaced by Cliff Burton (formerly of Trauma ), and Mustaine
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#17327904983423344-419: A spirit of "affectionate rivalry". 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. Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics. The prominent role of the bass is also key to
3496-512: A stylistic change in the band, eliminating much of the speed and longer song structures of the band's previous work, and instead focusing on more concise and heavier songs. The album was a change in Metallica's direction from the thrash metal style of the band's previous four studio albums towards a more contemporary heavy metal sound with original hard rock elements, but still had remnant characteristics of thrash metal. It would go on to become
3648-415: A thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos , emphatic beats and loudness . In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – British bands Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath and Deep Purple – were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during
3800-424: A tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted or screamed vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are usually characterized by shredding , and use advanced techniques such as sweep picking , legato phrasing , alternate picking , tremolo picking , string skipping , and two-hand tapping . David Ellefson ,
3952-794: A trippy, distorted haze". During the late 1960s, many psychedelic singers, such as Arthur Brown , began to create outlandish, theatrical, and often macabre performances that influenced many metal acts. The American psychedelic rock band Coven , who opened for early heavy metal influencers such as Vanilla Fudge and the Yardbirds, portrayed themselves as practitioners of witchcraft or black magic , using dark – Satanic or occult – imagery in their lyrics, album art and live performances, which consisted of elaborate, theatrical " Satanic rites ". Coven's 1969 debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls , featured imagery of skulls, black masses , inverted crosses , and Satan worship, and both
4104-501: Is a chromatic descent, followed by a chromatic ascent based on the tritone . Speed, pacing, and time changes also define thrash metal. Thrash tends to have an accelerating feel which may be due in large part to its aggressive drumming style. For example, drummers often use two bass drums, or a double-bass pedal to create a relentless, driving beat. Cymbal stops/ chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo. Some common characteristics of
4256-471: Is a great contender for first proto-thrash song ever." Queen 's 1974 song " Stone Cold Crazy " and Black Sabbath's " Symptom of the Universe ", released the following year, have also been cited as examples of proto-thrash/speed metal; the latter of which was a direct inspiration for Diamond Head 's pioneering song " Am I Evil? ". The new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands emerging from Britain in
4408-506: Is considered vital. In his book, Metalheads , psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy metal concerts as "the sensory equivalent of war". 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 put it, "All we knew was we wanted more power." A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how "excessive volume in particular figured into
4560-426: 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". In many heavy metal songs, the main groove is characterized by short, two- or three-note rhythmic figures – generally made up of eighth or 16th notes . These rhythmic figures are usually performed with
4712-545: Is known for combining traditional thrash metal with elements of progressive, jazz or classical music . In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone , Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante said: "When I was first learning to play drums, I would strap on my headphones, play along with [Rush's live album All the World's a Stage ] and be transformed. I remember talking with Cliff [Burton] and Kirk [Hammett of Metallica] back when we first met, and we all agreed how much of an influence Rush
King Kobra - Misplaced Pages Continue
4864-557: Is speculation as to who started the phenomenon. Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense. It has been argued that this is due to the music's largely male audience and "extreme heterosexualist ideology". Two primary body movements used are headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture. The performance of air guitar is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home. According to Deena Weinstein , thrash metal concerts have two elements that are not part of
5016-485: Is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound and vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter or omit one or more of these attributes. In a 1988 article, The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote, "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." The typical band lineup includes
5168-439: The 13th Floor Elevators epitomized the frenetic, heavier, darker, and more psychotic psychedelic rock sound known as acid rock, a sound characterized by droning guitar riffs, amplified feedback, and guitar distortion, while the 13th Floor Elevators' sound in particular featured yelping vocals and "occasionally demented" lyrics. Frank Hoffman noted that "[Psychedelic rock] was sometimes referred to as 'acid rock'. The latter label
5320-724: The Aeolian and Phrygian modes . 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). Tense-sounding chromatic or tritone relationships are used in a number of metal chord progressions. In addition to using modal harmonic relationships, heavy metal also uses " pentatonic and blues-derived features". The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones – such as C to F# –
5472-495: The Sepultura EP Bestial Devastation . Seven Churches and To Mega Therion are often credited for pioneering and popularizing the mid-1980s extreme metal scene (as well as the then-developing genres of death metal and black metal , respectively), while Energetic Disassembly has been cited as the first progressive/technical thrash metal album. From a creative standpoint, the year 1986
5624-458: The minor third , major third , perfect fourth , diminished fifth or minor sixth . Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the fretboard . 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 . Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular
5776-443: The perfect fifth , though an octave may be added as a doubling of the root . When power chords are played on the lower strings at high volumes and with distortion, additional low-frequency sounds are created, which add to the "weight of the sound" and create an effect of "overwhelming power". Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord, power chords are also based on different intervals such as
5928-485: The "1980s brought on ... the widespread adaptation of chord progressions and virtuosic practices from 18th-century European models, especially Bach and Antonio Vivaldi , by influential guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore , Marty Friedman , Jason Becker , Uli Jon Roth , Eddie Van Halen , Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen ." Kurt Bachmann of Believer has stated that "if done correctly, metal and classical fit quite well together. Classical and metal are probably
6080-476: The "Big Four" of U.S. thrash metal. Other U.S. bands, such as Overkill , Metal Church , and Bay Area acts Exodus , Testament and Death Angel , never achieved the popularity of the "Big Four" but also had considerable success during the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly on the strength of airplay on MTV 's Headbangers Ball . Some of the most successful international thrash metal bands from this era were Brazil's Sepultura , Canada's Voivod , and
6232-460: The "Big Four", Anthrax (who, like Metallica, formed in 1981), and their song "Metal Thrashing Mad". Before this, Metallica frontman James Hetfield referred to his band's sound as speed metal or power metal . Another "Big Four" thrash band formed in Los Angeles in 1981, when guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King met while auditioning for the same band and subsequently decided to form
King Kobra - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-410: The "heavy crunch sound in heavy metal ... [is created by] palm muting " the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end. 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
6536-434: The "holiest of heavy metal communions". The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation" with its own code of authenticity. 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 uninterested in mainstream appeal and radio hits; and they must never " sell out ". Deena Weinstein stated that for
6688-555: The "punch and grind" characteristic. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and tightly compressed sound with multiple bass frequencies. Guitar solos are "an essential element of the heavy metal code ... that underscores the significance of the guitar" to the genre. Most heavy metal songs "feature at least one guitar solo", which is "a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity". Some exceptions are nu metal and grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos. With rhythm guitar parts,
6840-400: The 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and shock rock of Alice Cooper and Kiss ; the blues-rooted rock of Aerosmith ; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of Van Halen . During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, while Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Beginning in
6992-510: 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". The classic uniform of heavy metal fans consists of light-colored, ripped, frayed or torn blue jeans, black T-shirts, boots, and black leather or denim jackets. Deena Weinstein wrote, "T-shirts are generally emblazoned with
7144-414: The 1980s. The early thrash metal movement revolved around independent record labels, including Megaforce , Metal Blade , Combat , Roadrunner , and Noise , and the underground tape trading industry in both Europe and North America. The genre was commercially successful from approximately 1985 through 1991, bringing prominence to Metallica , Slayer , Megadeth , and Anthrax , all grouped together as
7296-727: The 1990s), several thrash metal established bands started to expand their sound by adding elements and influences from the groove metal genre. Anthrax, who had recently replaced Joey Belladonna with John Bush as their singer, began stepping away from their previously established thrash metal formula to a more accessible alternative/groove metal approach for the remainder of their 1990s output, starting with and including Sound of White Noise (1993). Sacred Reich, Overkill, Coroner, Prong, Testament, and Forbidden followed this trend with their respective albums Independent , I Hear Black , Grin , Cleansing , Low , and Distortion . Sepultura's 1993 album Chaos A.D. also marked
7448-427: The 2000s. In 2003, Anthrax released their first studio album in five years We've Come for You All , followed a month later by Metallica's double platinum-certified album St. Anger . After experimenting further with a commercialized sound on their previous few albums, Megadeth returned to its heavier sound with their ninth album The World Needs a Hero (2001). It would be the band's final album before disbanding in
7600-579: The Bay Area would subsequently reunite, including Anthrax (twice with Joey Belladonna and briefly with John Bush ), Dark Angel , Nuclear Assault , Sacred Reich , UK bands Onslaught , Sabbat , and Xentrix , and Canada's Sacrifice , renewing interest in previous decades. The term "thrash-revivalists" has been applied to such bands as Lamb of God , Municipal Waste , Evile , Havok , Warbringer , Vektor , Bonded by Blood , Hatchet , and Power Trip . Evile's 2007 debut album Enter
7752-466: 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
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#17327904983427904-416: The British bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath , with American commentators tending to favour Led Zeppelin and British commentators tending to favour Black Sabbath, though many give equal credit to both. Deep Purple , the third band in what is sometimes considered the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, fluctuated between many rock styles until late 1969 when they took
8056-702: The British record label Earache Records , in an "unsuccessful attempt to prosecute the label for obscenity". In some predominantly Muslim countries, heavy metal has been officially denounced as a threat to traditional values, and in countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Malaysia, there have been incidents of heavy metal musicians and fans being arrested and incarcerated. In 1997, the Egyptian police jailed many young metal fans, and they were accused of "devil worship" and blasphemy after police found metal recordings during searches of their homes. In 2013, Malaysia banned Lamb of God from performing in their country, on
8208-803: The Chapel and Overkill respectively. This led to a heavier-sounding form of thrash, which was reflected in Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood , Slayer's Hell Awaits and Anthrax's Spreading the Disease , all three released in 1985. Several other debut albums were released that same year, including Megadeth's Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! , Overkill's Feel the Fire , Kreator's Endless Pain , Destruction's Infernal Overkill , Possessed 's Seven Churches , Celtic Frost 's To Mega Therion , Watchtower 's Energetic Disassembly and
8360-629: The Deceiver (released on the Fourth of July in 1986) received some attention as well, due to the album being "the first of only a handful" to ever receive a 6K rating from Kerrang! magazine, and it is also notable for featuring a then-unknown Jason Newsted , who, not long after the album's release, joined Metallica as Burton's replacement. Also during the mid-to-late 1980s, bands such as Suicidal Tendencies , D.R.I. , S.O.D. (who featured three-fifths of Anthrax), and Corrosion of Conformity paved
8512-532: The Grave , produced by former Metallica producer and engineer Flemming Rasmussen , received considerable praise for its sound, which combined elements of the sounds of Slayer and the Bay Area scene (particularly Exodus and Testament). Los Angeles-based bands Warbringer and Bonded by Blood took a similar approach on their respective debut albums, War Without End and Feed the Beast , both released in 2008. Perhaps
8664-611: The Influence , and The Years of Decay , three albums considered their best. Each of the "Big Four" of thrash metal bands released albums in 1988: Slayer released South of Heaven , Megadeth released So Far, So Good... So What! , Anthrax released State of Euphoria while Metallica's ...And Justice for All spawned the band's first video and Top 40 hit, the World War I –themed song " One ". That same year, Metallica joined Van Halen , Scorpions , Dokken and Kingdom Come on
8816-463: The Lights" would later open their first studio album, Kill 'Em All , released in July 1983. Kill 'Em All is widely regarded as the first thrash metal album, and one of the album's tracks " Whiplash " has been referred to as one of the first songs of the genre. The term "thrash metal" was first used in the music press by Kerrang! magazine's journalist Malcolm Dome while referring to another of
8968-542: The Titans festival, which was held in August 2001 as a co-benefit concert for Testament singer Chuck Billy and Death 's Chuck Schuldiner , who were both battling cancer. The show is also notable for seeing several of Testament's Bay Area thrash metal contemporaries, including Exodus, Death Angel, Vio-lence , Forbidden Evil , Sadus and Legacy (a precursor to Testament), reunited. Many thrash metal bands from outside of
9120-594: The Vatican ; the latter three are often credited for being an integral part of the then-developing groove metal genre. All of those albums were commercial high points for the aforementioned artists. During this period, Megadeth and Slayer co-headlined one of the most successful tours in thrash metal history called the Clash of the Titans ; the first leg in Europe included support from Testament and Suicidal Tendencies, while
9272-436: The airy feel of synthesizers , popularized in industrial metal. Today the placing of bands within distinct sub-genres remains a source of contention for heavy metal fans, however, little debate resides over the fact that thrash metal is the sole proprietor of its respective spin-offs. A few thrash metal bands from the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the genre's U.S. "big four", continued recording and touring with success in
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#17327904983429424-545: The album A Long Time Comin' by U.S. band Electric Flag : "Nobody who's been listening to Mike Bloomfield —either talking or playing—in the last few years could have expected this. This is the new soul music, the synthesis of white blues and heavy metal rock." In the 7 September 1968 edition of the Seattle Daily Times , reviewer Susan Schwartz wrote that the Jimi Hendrix Experience "has
9576-418: The album artwork and the band's live performances marked the first appearances in rock music of the sign of the horns , which would later become an important gesture in heavy metal culture. Coven's lyrical and thematic influences on heavy metal were quickly overshadowed by the darker and heavier sounds of Black Sabbath . Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit
9728-526: The album's most successful single, " Purple Haze ", is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit. Vanilla Fudge , whose first album also came out in 1967, has been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal," and the band has been cited as an early American heavy metal group. On their self-titled debut album, Vanilla Fudge created "loud, heavy, slowed-down arrangements" of contemporary hit songs, blowing these songs up to "epic proportions" and "bathing them in
9880-434: The audience for whom they're playing – engage in headbanging , which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The il cornuto , or "devil horns", hand gesture was popularized by vocalist Ronnie James Dio during his time with the bands Black Sabbath and Dio . Although Gene Simmons of Kiss claims to have been the first to make the gesture on the 1977 Love Gun album cover, there
10032-450: The band Massakre (1985) in Chile . In Europe, the earliest band of the emerging thrash movement was Venom from Newcastle upon Tyne , formed in 1979. Their 1982 album Black Metal has been cited as a major influence on many subsequent genres and bands in the extreme metal world, such as Bathory , Hellhammer , Slayer, and Mayhem . The European scene was almost exclusively influenced by
10184-558: The band's best-selling album and began a wave of thrash metal bands releasing more garage-oriented albums, or else more experimental ones. The era of 1991–1992 marked the beginning of the end of thrash metal's commercial peak, due to the rising popularity of the alternative metal and grunge movements (the latter spearheaded by Washington -based bands Nirvana , Soundgarden , Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam ). In response to this climate change, many thrash metal bands that had emerged from
10336-403: The band's earlier sound. Megadeth took a more accessible heavy metal route starting with their 1992 album Countdown to Extinction . Testament, Exodus and Flotsam and Jetsam all took a melodic/progressive approach with the albums The Ritual , Force of Habit , and Cuatro , respectively. One of the pioneers of crossover thrash, Corrosion of Conformity , began changing their sound into
10488-426: The band's impact". 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". Heavy metal performers tended to be almost exclusively male until at least
10640-572: The bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica 's Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass solos and use of chords while playing the bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead often played overdriven power chords in his bass lines. The essence of heavy metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision". Heavy metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity ... to play
10792-505: The beginning of their transition away from death/thrash metal to groove metal which had influenced then-up-and-coming bands like Korn , who reciprocally became the inspiration behind the nu metal style of the band's next album Roots (1996). Roots would influence a generation of bands from Linkin Park to Slipknot , which during the 1990s meant the replacement of death, thrash, and speed, by nu metal and metalcore as popular epicenters of
10944-466: 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. 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
11096-429: 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. The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of beatnik and later countercultural hippie slang , and references to "heavy music" – typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare – were already common by
11248-917: The cornerstones of jazz-metal fusion and a major influence on the technical death metal genre, while Forced Entry 's debut album Uncertain Future helped pioneer the late 1980s Seattle music scene. A number of more typical but technically sophisticated albums were released in 1990, including Megadeth's Rust in Peace , Anthrax's Persistence of Time , Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss , Suicidal Tendencies' Lights...Camera...Revolution! , Testament's Souls of Black , Kreator's Coma of Souls , Destruction's Cracked Brain , Forbidden's Twisted into Form , Exodus' Impact Is Imminent , Sacred Reich 's The American Way , Prong 's Beg to Differ , Pantera 's Cowboys from Hell and Exhorder 's Slaughter in
11400-542: The early 1980s as musicians began fusing the double bass drumming and complex guitar stylings of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk and the technicality of progressive music . Philosophically, thrash metal developed as a backlash against both the conservatism of the Reagan era and the much more moderate, pop -influenced, and widely accessible heavy metal subgenre of glam metal which also developed concurrently in
11552-536: The emergence of an intense, exclusionary and strongly masculine subculture. While the metal fan base 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". Identification with the subculture is strengthened not only by the group experience of concert-going and shared elements of fashion, but also by contributing to metal magazines and, more recently, websites. Attending live concerts in particular has been called
11704-445: The emphasis on atmosphere over rhythm. As further extreme metal genres came to prominence in the 1990s ( industrial metal , death metal, and black metal each finding their own fanbase), the heavy metal "family tree" soon found itself blending aesthetics and styles. For example, bands with all the musical traits of thrash metal began using death growls , a vocal style borrowed from death metal, while black metal bands often utilized
11856-651: The era. Bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds developed blues rock by recording covers of classic blues songs, often speeding up the tempos . As they experimented with the music, the U.K. blues-based bands – and in turn the U.S. acts they influenced – developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal (in particular, the loud, distorted guitar sound). The Kinks played a major role in popularising this sound with their 1964 hit " You Really Got Me ". In addition to The Kinks' Dave Davies , other guitarists such as The Who 's Pete Townshend and The Yardbirds' Jeff Beck were experimenting with feedback. Where
12008-418: The fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society". Musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie observed, "Most of the kids who come to my shows seem like really imaginative kids with a lot of creative energy they don't know what to do with" and that metal is "outsider music for outsiders. Nobody wants to be the weird kid; you just somehow end up being
12160-569: The first band in the genre to release more than ten studio albums. Overkill's popularity was reignited in the 2010s, with three of their albums, The Electric Age (2012), White Devil Armory (2014) and The Grinding Wheel (2017), all entering the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The resurgence of interest in the thrash metal genre during the early 2000s was widely attributed to the Thrash of
12312-881: The first true heavy metal recording. The same month, Steppenwolf released their self-titled debut album , on which the track " Born to Be Wild " refers to "heavy metal thunder" in describing a motorcycle. In July, the Jeff Beck Group , whose leader had preceded Page as The Yardbirds' guitarist, released its debut record, Truth , which featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time", breaking ground for generations of metal ax-slingers. In September, Page's new band, Led Zeppelin , made its live debut in Denmark (but were billed as The New Yardbirds). The Beatles ' self-titled double album , released in November, included " Helter Skelter ", then one of
12464-423: The following year, due to an arm injury that had left Dave Mustaine unable to play guitar; he would eventually reform Megadeth for a handful albums, including The System Has Failed (2004) which was originally going to be released as a solo album by him, before reuniting with co-founding member and bassist David Ellefson in 2010. Slayer released three albums in the 2000s: God Hates Us All (2001), which saw
12616-412: The former with more focus on melody rather than chromaticism. The blending of punk ethos and metal's brutal nature led to even more extreme, underground styles after thrash metal began gaining mild commercial success in the late 1980s. With gorier subject matter, heavier down tuning of guitars, more consistent use of blast beat drumming , and darker, atonal death growls , death metal was established in
12768-703: The foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos, and that thrash is essentially hardcore punk with the technical proficiency missing from that genre. The crossover with hardcore punk has also been cited as important influence on thrash, especially the English hardcore punk band Discharge, whose "influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, Machine Head , Sepultura , Soulfly , Prong and Arch Enemy have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." The eponymous debut albums by D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies , both released in 1983, have been credited for paving
12920-423: The foundation of heavy metal and greatly influential in the transformation of acid rock into heavy metal. Thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash ) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs , overlaid with shredding -style lead guitar work. The genre emerged in
13072-413: The general population. For many artists and bands, 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 cover art, logos, stage sets, clothing, design of instruments and music videos . Down-the-back long hair is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion". Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by
13224-471: The genre are fast guitar riffs with aggressive picking styles and fast guitar solos, and extensive use of two bass drums as opposed to the conventional use of only one, typical of most rock music. To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum (pick). However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers , such as Frank Bello , Greg Christian , Steve Di Giorgio , Robert Trujillo , and Cliff Burton . Several bassists use
13376-442: The genre's " Big Teutonic Four ": Kreator , Destruction , Sodom , and Tankard . The thrash metal genre had declined in popularity by the mid-1990s, due to the commercial success of numerous genres such as alternative rock , grunge , and later pop-punk and nu metal . In response, some bands either disbanded or moved away from their thrash metal roots and more towards groove metal or alternative metal . The genre has seen
13528-482: The genre, such as Havok and Legion of the Damned have turned their focus towards a more aggressive rendition of thrash metal, incorporating elements of melodic death metal . Thrash metal is directly responsible for the development of underground metal genres, such as death metal, black metal , and groove metal . In addition to this, metalcore , grindcore , and deathcore employ similar riffs in their composition,
13680-517: The ground opening up and little dwarves coming out riding dragons! You know, like bad Dio records." Heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, which is built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to early 1950s Memphis blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis , Willie Johnson and particularly Pat Hare , who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as James Cotton 's " Cotton Crop Blues " (1954). Other early influences include
13832-429: The grounds that the "band's lyrics could be interpreted as being religiously insensitive" and blasphemous. Some people consider heavy metal music to be a leading factor for mental health disorders, and that heavy metal fans are more likely to suffer poor mental health, but a study from 2009 suggests that this is not true and that fans of heavy metal music suffer from poor mental health at a similar or lower rate compared to
13984-476: The hardest metal scene. Staying away from this new commercial mainstream of groove metal, metalcore, and especially nu metal, the second wave of black metal emerged as an opposed underground music scene, initially in Norway . This crop of new bands differenced themselves from the "first wave" by totally distilling black metal from the combined origins with thrash metal, but they preserved from all these sub-genres
14136-413: The harmonic analysis done by metal players and teachers is "often very sophisticated". In the study of heavy metal chord structures, it has been concluded that "heavy metal music has proved to be far more complicated" than other music researchers had realized. Robert Walser stated that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known ... as ' classical music '" has been
14288-610: The heaviest-sounding songs ever released by a major band. The Pretty Things ' rock opera S.F. Sorrow , released in December, featured "proto heavy metal" songs such as "Old Man Going" and "I See You". Iron Butterfly 's 1968 song " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida " is sometimes described as an example of the transition between acid rock and heavy metal or the turning point in which acid rock became "heavy metal", and both Iron Butterfly's 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and Blue Cheer's 1968 album Vincebus Eruptum have been described as laying
14440-403: 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.'" According to David Hatch and Stephen Millward, Black Sabbath and
14592-485: The intensity and sonic qualities of thrash metal and plays them at mid- tempo , with most bands making only occasional forays into fast tempo, but since the early 1990s, it started to favor a more death metal–derived sound. Thrash metal with stronger punk elements is called crossover thrash . Its overall sound is more punk-influenced than traditional thrash metal but has more heavy metal elements than hardcore punk and thrashcore . Thrash metal emerged predominantly from
14744-605: The intricate patterns" used in heavy metal. 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. Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats ". In live performance, loudness – an "onslaught of sound", in sociologist Deena Weinstein 's description –
14896-423: The late 1950s instrumentals of Link Wray , particularly " Rumble " (1958); the early 1960s surf rock of Dick Dale , including " Let's Go Trippin' " (1961) and " Misirlou " (1962); and The Kingsmen 's version of " Louie Louie " (1963), which became a garage rock standard. However, the genre's direct lineage begins in the mid-1960s. American blues music was a major influence on the early British rockers of
15048-523: The late 1970s further influenced the development of early thrash. The early work of artists such as Diamond Head, Iron Maiden , Venom , Motörhead , Tygers of Pan Tang , Raven , and Angel Witch , among others, introduced the fast-paced and intricate musicianship that became core aspects of thrash. Phil Taylor 's double-bass drumming featured in Motörhead's 1979 song " Overkill " has been acknowledged by many thrash drummers, most notably Lars Ulrich , as
15200-580: The late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Saxon followed in a similar vein. By the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as " metalheads " or " headbangers ". The lyrics of some metal genres became associated with aggression and machismo , an issue that has at times led to accusations of misogyny. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with groups such as Bon Jovi , Mötley Crüe and Poison . Meanwhile, however, underground scenes produced an array of more aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into
15352-438: The late 1970s, however, metal bands were employing a wide variety of tempos, and as recently as 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). One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord. In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main interval , generally
15504-420: The latter album demonstrated a sound that was primarily driven by the fretless bass of Steve Di Giorgio . Also in 1988, Blind Illusion released its only studio album for more than two decades, The Sane Asylum , which received some particular attention as it was produced by Kirk Hammett , and is also notable for featuring bassist Les Claypool and former Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde ; after its release,
15656-471: The logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands." In the 1980s, a range of sources – from punk rock and goth music to horror films – influenced metal fashion. 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
15808-414: The mainstream with bands such as Metallica , Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax , while other extreme subgenres such as death metal and black metal became – and remain – subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles have expanded the definition of the genre. These include groove metal and nu metal , the latter of which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip-hop . Heavy metal
15960-432: The metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". The bass plays a "more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock". 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 or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature
16112-491: The mid-1960s, such as in reference to Vanilla Fudge . Iron Butterfly 's debut album, which was released in early 1968, was titled Heavy . The first use of "heavy metal" in a song lyric is in reference to a motorcycle in the Steppenwolf song " Born to Be Wild ", also released that year: "I like smoke and lightning / Heavy metal thunder / Racin' with the wind / And the feelin' that I'm under". An early documented use of
16264-468: The mid-1980s, with some exceptions such as Girlschool . However, by the 2010s, women were making more of an impact, and PopMatters' Craig Hayes argues that metal "clearly empowers women". In the power metal and symphonic metal subgenres, there has been a sizable number of bands that have had women as the lead singers, such as Nightwish , Delain and Within Temptation . The rhythm in metal songs
16416-572: The mid-1980s. Black metal, also related to thrash metal, emerged at the same time, with many black metal bands taking influence from thrash metal bands such as Venom . Black metal continued deviating from thrash metal, often providing more orchestral overtones, open tremolo picking , blast beat drumming, shrieked or raspy vocals and pagan or occult -based aesthetics to distinguish itself from thrash metal. Thrash metal would later combine with its spinoffs, thus giving rise to genres like blackened thrash metal and deathrash . Groove metal takes
16568-456: The mid-Seventies". "The term 'heavy metal' is self-defeating," remarked Kiss bassist Gene Simmons . "When I think of heavy metal, I've always thought of elves and evil dwarves and evil princes and princesses. A lot of the Maiden and Priest records were real metal records. I sure as hell don't think Metallica 's metal, or Guns N' Roses is metal, or Kiss is metal. It just doesn't deal with
16720-502: The more extreme side of the psychedelic rock genre, frequently containing a loud, improvised, and heavily distorted, guitar-centered sound. Acid rock has been described as psychedelic rock at its "rawest and most intense", emphasizing the heavier qualities associated with both the positive and negative extremes of the psychedelic experience rather than only the idyllic side of psychedelia. In contrast to more idyllic or whimsical pop psychedelic rock, American acid rock garage bands such as
16872-649: The most aggressive music Germany and England were producing at the time. British bands such as Tank and Raven , along with German bands Accept (whose 1982 song " Fast as a Shark " is often credited as one of the first-ever thrash/speed metal songs) and Living Death , motivated musicians from central Europe to start bands of their own, eventually producing groups such as Sodom , Kreator , and Destruction from Germany, as well as Switzerland's Celtic Frost (formed by two-thirds of Hellhammer ), Coroner and Carrion (who later became Poltergeist ) and Denmark's Artillery . In 1981, Los Angeles band Leather Charm wrote
17024-761: The most commercially successful band from the 2000s and 2010s thrash metal revival movement is Lamb of God, who are also considered a key part of the new wave of American heavy metal movement, have received two gold-certified albums in the U.S., and continue to play from small clubs to arenas and stadiums. Notable bands returned to their roots with releases such as Kreator's Violent Revolution (2001), Metallica's Death Magnetic (2008), Megadeth's Endgame (2009), Slayer's World Painted Blood (2009), Exodus' Exhibit B: The Human Condition (2010), Overkill's Ironbound (2010), Anthrax's Worship Music (2011), Testament's Dark Roots of Earth (2012), and Flotsam and Jetsam's Ugly Noise (2012). More recent bands of
17176-539: The most sinister thrash metal bands of the early 1980s, released Reign in Blood in October, an album considered by some to have single-handedly inspired the death metal genre. Also in October, Nuclear Assault released their debut album Game Over , followed a month later by Dark Angel 's Darkness Descends , which marked the debut of renowned drummer Gene Hoglan . Flotsam and Jetsam 's debut album Doomsday for
17328-535: 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. Pioneered by the heavy metal act X Japan in the late 1980s, bands in the Japanese movement known as visual kei , which includes many non-metal groups, emphasize elaborate costumes, hair and makeup. When performing live, many metal musicians – as well as
17480-520: The north, Canada produced influential thrash and speed metal bands such as Annihilator , Anvil , Exciter , Razor , Sacrifice , and Voivod . The popularity of thrash metal increased in 1984 with the release of Metallica's sophomore record Ride the Lightning , as well as Anthrax's debut Fistful of Metal and Metal Church 's eponymous debut album . Slayer and Overkill released extended plays on independent labels during this era, Haunting
17632-456: The numerous heavy metal bands that they inspired have concentrated lyrically "on dark and depressing subject matter to an extent hitherto unprecedented in any form of pop music." They take as an example Black Sabbath's second album, Paranoid (1970), 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
17784-402: The original bassist of Megadeth , described thrash metal as "a combination of the attitude from punk rock but the riffs and complexities of traditional metal." On the origins of thrash metal, original Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker recalls: "Thrash was just what they called 'faster hardcore,' because you literally thrashed around when you were either playing it or reacting to it. And thrash metal
17936-431: The other metal genres: moshing and stage diving , which "were imported from the punk/hardcore subculture ". Weinstein states that moshing participants bump and jostle each other as they move in a circle in an area called the "pit" near the stage. Stage divers climb onto the stage with the band and then jump "back into the audience". It has been argued that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to
18088-430: The overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise". Music critic Robert Christgau called metal "an expressive mode [that] it sometimes seems will be with us for as long as ordinary white boys fear girls, pity themselves, and are permitted to rage against a world they'll never beat". Heavy metal artists have had to defend their lyrics in front of the U.S. Senate and in court. In 1985, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider
18240-727: The periodic table organizes elements of both light and heavy metals (e.g., uranium). An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by countercultural writer William S. Burroughs . His 1961 novel The Soft Machine includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid". Burroughs' 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." Inspired by Burroughs' novels,
18392-592: The phrase in rock criticism appears in Sandy Pearlman's February 1967 Crawdaddy review of the Rolling Stones ' Got Live If You Want It (1966), albeit as a description of the sound rather than as a genre: "On this album the Stones go metal. Technology is in the saddle—as an ideal and as a method." Another appears in the 11 May 1968 issue of Rolling Stone , in which Barry Gifford wrote about
18544-411: The previous decade had called it quits or went on hiatus during the 1990s, while half of the "Big Four" and other veteran bands began changing to more accessible, radio-friendly styles. Metallica was a notable example of this shift, particularly with their mid–to–late 1990s albums Load , and ReLoad , which displayed minor blues and southern rock influences, and were seen as a major departure from
18696-691: The release of Among the Living , three Bay Area bands, Testament , Death Angel and Heathen , respectively released their debut albums The Legacy , The Ultra-Violence and Breaking the Silence . All of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal also released albums in 1987: Kreator's Terrible Certainty , Destruction's Release from Agony , Sodom's Persecution Mania and Tankard's Chemical Invasion ; these albums cemented their reputations as top-tier German thrash metal bands. In response to thrash metal's growing popularity during this period, several hardcore punk bands began changing their style to
18848-473: The same 27th-rate heavy metal crap". In a review of Sir Lord Baltimore 's Kingdom Come in the May 1971 edition of Creem , Saunders wrote, "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book." Creem critic Lester Bangs is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Through the decade, "heavy metal"
19000-446: The same level of popularity as the "Big Four", while Exodus ' third album Fabulous Disaster (1989) garnered the band their first music video and one of their most recognized songs, the mosh-pit anthem " The Toxic Waltz ". Vio-lence , Forbidden , and Sadus , three relative latecomers to the Bay Area thrash metal scene, released their debut albums Eternal Nightmare , Forbidden Evil , and Illusions , respectively, in 1988;
19152-641: The second leg in North America had Anthrax and then-emerging Seattle band Alice in Chains , who were the supporting act. Several albums, some of which had come to be known as technical thrash metal, were released in 1991, including Overkill's Horrorscope , Heathen 's Victims of Deception , Dark Angel 's Time Does Not Heal , Sepultura's Arise , Coroner's Mental Vortex , Prong's Prove You Wrong and Forced Entry's As Above, So Below . In 1991, Metallica released their eponymous fifth studio album , known as "The Black Album". The album marked
19304-499: The self-explanatory ' War Pigs ' and ' Hand of Doom .'" 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 metal and nu metal bands. 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 ...
19456-436: The self-titled album King Kobra in 2011 on Frontiers Records and another album in 2013, titled King Kobra II . The band went on hiatus following the release of their 2013 album, largely due to the other commitments of the individual band members, They played live gigs again in 2016 without Mick Sweda. On July 18, 2023, the band announced their new album, We Are Warriors , will be released on August 11. The title track
19608-421: The sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy fuzz . For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music; the guitar amplifier is turned up loud to produce
19760-714: The term was used in the title of the 1967 album Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat , which has been claimed to be its first use in the context of music. The phrase was later lifted by Sandy Pearlman , who used the term to describe the Byrds for their supposed "aluminium style of context and effect", particularly on their album The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968). Metal historian Ian Christe describes what
19912-478: 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. For example, the 1983 edition of the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll includes the following passage: "Known for its aggressive blues-based hard-rock style, Aerosmith was the top American heavy-metal band of
20064-415: The thrash movement seemed to have much more in common with punk than prog fashion-wise (leather jackets vs. capes), musically, there were certainly moments when thrash leaned more towards the prog side of things." Canadian progressive rock band Rush has been cited a formative influence on the thrash metal movement and the birth of its subgenre technical thrash metal (or " progressive thrash metal"), which
20216-434: The two genres that have the most in common when it comes to feel, texture, creativity." Although a number of metal musicians cite classical composers as inspiration, 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
20368-758: The two would later team up together in Claypool's then-upcoming band Primus . Canadian thrashers Annihilator released their highly technical debut Alice in Hell in 1989, which was praised for its fast riffs and extended guitar solos. In Germany, Sodom released Agent Orange , and Kreator would release Extreme Aggression . Several highly acclaimed albums associated with the sub-genre of technical thrash metal were also released in 1989, including Coroner's No More Color , Dark Angel's Leave Scars , Toxik 's Think This , and Watchtower 's Control and Resistance , which has been recognized and acknowledged as one of
20520-520: The two-month-long arena and stadium tour Monsters of Rock in North America. In the spring of 1989, Anthrax teamed up with Exodus and Helloween on a US arena tour sponsored by Headbangers Ball . Sepultura's third album, Beneath the Remains (1989), earned them some mainstream appeal as it was released by Roadrunner Records . Testament's second and third albums, The New Order (1988) and Practice What You Preach (1989), nearly gained them
20672-459: The way for thrashcore . In Latin America, this genre also gained a lot of strength, and its creation is also attributed to it, since it began to gain popularity due to the dictatorships that many countries faced at that time, with bands like V8 (1979) with their debut albums Demo 1982 or Luchando por el metal , and Bloke (1980) from Argentina , Transmetal (1987) from México , also
20824-685: The way to what became known as crossover thrash , a fusion genre that lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk, and is arguably faster and more aggressive than thrash metal. By the mid-to-late 1980s, thrash metal began to achieve major mainstream success worldwide, with many bands of the genre receiving heavy rotation on MTV 's Headbangers Ball , and radio stations such as KNAC in Long Beach and Z Rock in Dallas , as well as coverage on numerous publications, including Kerrang! and RIP Magazine . These outlets not only played
20976-475: The weird kid. It's kind of like that, but with metal you have all the weird kids in one place." 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". The origin of the term "heavy metal" in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy, where
21128-501: Was also released as a single. The line up features new guitarists Carlos Cavazo and Rowan Robertson , formerly of Quiet Riot and Dio respectively. Heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal ) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock , psychedelic rock and acid rock , heavy metal bands developed
21280-406: Was applied to a pounding, hard rock variant that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage-punk movement. ... When rock began turning back to softer, roots-oriented sounds in late 1968, acid-rock bands mutated into heavy metal acts." One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of psychedelic rock and acid rock with the blues rock genre was the British power trio Cream , who derived
21432-586: Was asked to defend his song " Under the Blade " at a U.S. Senate hearing. At the hearing, the PMRC alleged that the song was about sadomasochism and rape ; Snider stated that the song was about his bandmate's throat surgery. In 1986, Ozzy Osbourne was sued over the lyrics of his song " Suicide Solution ". A lawsuit against Osbourne was filed by the parents of John McCollum, a depressed teenager who committed suicide allegedly after listening to Osbourne's song. Osbourne
21584-408: Was born because it was influenced by thrash hardcore, and they just thought it was more metal, so they said, 'Okay, this is thrash metal.'" The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single-scale-based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica 's " Master of Puppets " (the title track of the namesake album )
21736-493: Was considered extremely dissonant and unstable by medieval and Renaissance music theorists. It was nicknamed the diabolus in musica – "the devil in music". 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. According to Robert Walser, heavy metal harmonic relationships are "often quite complex" and
21888-524: Was killed in a bus accident six months after its release. Kreator released Pleasure to Kill in April 1986, which would later be a major influence on the death metal scene. Megadeth released Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in September, an album which proved to be the band's commercial and critical breakthrough and which AllMusic later cited as "a classic of early thrash". Slayer, regarded as one of
22040-531: Was later replaced by Kirk Hammett of the then-unsigned Bay Area thrash metal act Exodus , and at Burton's insistence, the band relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area . Before Metallica had even settled on a definitive lineup, Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel asked Hetfield and Ulrich (credited as "Mettallica") to record "Hit the Lights" for the first edition of his Metal Massacre compilation in 1982. A re-recorded version of "Hit
22192-501: Was not found to be responsible for the teen's death. 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 the band's cover of the song " Better by You, Better than Me ". While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed. In 1991, U.K. police seized death metal records from
22344-410: Was often used interchangeably with "heavy metal" and " hard rock ". "Acid rock" generally describes heavy, hard or raw psychedelic rock. Musicologist Steve Waksman stated that "the distinction between acid rock, hard rock, and heavy metal can at some point never be more than tenuous", while percussionist John Beck defined "acid rock" as synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal. Apart from "acid rock",
22496-824: Was on all of us." The thrash metal genre is also strongly influenced by punk rock , drawing inspiration from sources ranging from traditional punk bands from the 1970s, including the New York Dolls , the Ramones , the Sex Pistols and the Dead Boys , to late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk bands Discharge , GBH , Black Flag , the Misfits , the Dead Kennedys , and Bad Brains . The Ramones' 1976 self-titled debut album in particular has been noted as
22648-419: Was one of the earliest terms used to describe this style of music and was applied to acts such as Sabbath and Bloodrock . Classic Rock magazine described the downer rock culture revolving around the use of Quaaludes and the drinking of wine. The term would later be replaced by "heavy metal". Earlier on, as "heavy metal" emerged partially from heavy psychedelic rock, also known as acid rock , "acid rock"
22800-547: Was perhaps the pinnacle of thrash metal, as a number of critically acclaimed and genre-defining albums were released. Metallica's major label debut Master of Puppets was released in March, becoming the first thrash album to be certified platinum, being certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); it would be the band's last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton , who
22952-435: Was seminal to the development of the later heavy metal sound. The combination of this loud and heavy blues rock with psychedelic rock and acid rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal. The variant or subgenre of psychedelic rock often known as "acid rock" was particularly influential on heavy metal and its development; acid rock is often defined as a heavier, louder, or harder variant of psychedelic rock, or
23104-413: 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" and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers". Coined by Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward , "downer rock"
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