Heavy Metal Bands
A number of bands started experimenting and began to push the limits of blues rock into new areas, which grew in the late 1960’s into a new genre called heavy metal. In the early 1980’s, the heavy metal genre itself started to be divided into sub genre categories, so as to define the stylistic differences that grew out of the original heavy metal movement.
Heavy metal bands, the first ones among them being Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, attracted large audiences but were very often utterly disliked by critics and musicians, and this continued to be the case throughout their history.
In the 1970’s, Judas Priest were one of the first heavy metal bands to start discarding its blues influence, and this helped in spurring the genre’s evolution. They often played faster than other rock groups of the time, and introduced a unique, more metallic sound to their guitars.
The other heavy metal band Motorhead brought in punk rock sensibilities and a greater emphasis on speed. British heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden followed in a similar way. By the end of the decade, heavy metal bands had made a huge splash and attracted worldwide following, and its fans were known as “headbangers” and “metalheads”.
As already mentioned, Judas Priest, a pioneer among heavy metal bands, modernized the twin guitar sound with their duo of Glenn Tipton and K K Downing. They created their own unique style of heavy rock by combining Rob Halford’s vocal style with the guitar sound. Judas Priest has been one of the most influential among heavy metal bands. Prominent members of heavy meal bands and influential musicians believe that three early Judas Priest albums – Sad Wings of Destiny 1976, Sin after Sin 1977, and Stained Class 1978, laid the foundations of what came to be defined as pure heavy metal.
The influence of Black Sabbath, the other famous heavy metal band, has also been unparalleled on countless other bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Death, Mayhem, Korn, Anthrax, Venom, Iced Earth, Disturbed, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Candlemass, Slipknot, Melvins, Pantera, The Smashing Pumpkins. Two gold selling tribute albums, Nativity in Black Volume 1 & 2 have been released, with numbers by White Zombie, Sepultura, Type O Negative, Machine Head, Faith No More, Monster Magnet and System of a Down.
Glam metal became a commercial force in the 1980’s with the emergence of groups like Motley Crue, and thrash metal bands such as Metallica successfully entered the mainstream. Other styles such as black metal and death metal remain part of the sub-culture. Since the 1990’s, popular styles like nu metal, incorporating features of hip hop and grunge, and metalcore, blending hardcore punk with extreme metal, have enlarged the definition of the heavy metal genre.