The history of heavy metal

[Yippee38]

After reading some reviews of "Until the Light Takes Us" I decided to do some research on black metal since I was completely ignorant of the details of what went on with Norwegian Black Metal in the 90s. I knew about murders and church burnings, but that's about as much detail as I has at the time.

I headed to Wikipedia.

I don't know who wrote the articles on most of the subgenres of metal, but they're really well written. I've been reading a bunch of them (I'm on call and stuck in the crew lounge with nothing to keep me entertained except my laptop and a lousy internet connection). Eventually, I ended up reading the entry on "heavy metal" just to see what it said. It's pretty in-depth.

Something struck me that was in the article. It quotes "metal historian" Ian Christe as saying, Black Sabbath's...
"audience was...left to scavenge for sounds with similar impact. By the mid-1970s, heavy metal aesthetic could be spotted, like a mythical beast, in the moody bass and complex dual guitars of Thin Lizzy, in the stagecraft of Alice Cooper, in the sizzling guitar and showy vocals of Queen, and in the thundering medieval questions of Rainbow.... Judas Priest arrived to unify and amplify these diverse highlights from hard rock's sonic palette. For the first time, heavy metal became a true genre unto itself."

The article certainly doesn't claim that Judas Priest was the first metal band. However, the above statement seems to make the point that heavy metal wasn't its own genre until JP came along. I thought that was interesting.

What's your opinions on this?

 

[J. Golden]

That point has been made several times and does have a sort of validity to it. Although Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple are considered "god fathers" of metal these bands set out to only be rock bands.
Understand that tracing the roots of heavy metal is all in one perception. Black Sabbath is noted as being the first heavy metal band but there were many that tuned down before Tony Iommi did. There was others who had dark occultic themes before Geezer wrote Black Sabbath. Sabbath were just the ones who were credited first.
I can think of othe bands around the time of Sabbath and before who sounded like that or very similar, I cannot think of anyone else like Priest when they came along.
Not sure if I was making any point there. HAHA
There seems to be this kind of Cliff note version of the histor of heavy metal with says Sabbath were the first then Priest, Motorhead, and so on. Really it goes a bit deeper than that but in the greater scheme of things it really doesn't matter unless you are a dork about it like me.

 

[Orion Crystal Ice]

I love studying stuff like that, and I agree, Priest were just so FOCUSED when 'Sad Wings' was unleashed. Sabbath was quite focused sounding as well in many respects by that time, but metal just sounded so SOBER and purposeful with Priest. Sabbath and Purple and Blue Cheer and so many of those influential bands and albums really started from scratch and stumbled into classic songs and albums as they fearlessly chipped away at the stone. Not that the early Priest wasn't still shedding some rock roots as well, of course. I think credit should go to the individual experiments as well as the bands themselves, and it goes pretty deep IMO, songs such as '21st Century Schizoid Man' and 'Close to the Edge', where, if you listen to any progressive metal band that is out today and check out those songs, it's so startling how clear the evolution is. They may not have had the same guitar tone as a Sabbath, but a lot of the other aesthetics employed can be easily identified as metal in all but name.

 

[raising_iron]

I still point to the Sabs as the defining starting point, but Christe (get his book, excellent read!) makes a valid point. In '70, '71, '72, there wasn't really a term to define what Black Sabbath was yet, and by the time Priest rolled into town with their 2nd album (one of the best metal albums ever!) it collectively took in all the myriad traits and rolled them up into a singular machine called heavy metal. Then, looking back from that point people started to see how it all came about via the myriad bands doing their thing(s) pre-'76. From there, you can look back and most now agree that Sabbath were the catalyst. But, check out some other terrifying doers of wrong from the time:
High Tide
Sir Lord Baltimore
Night Sun
Necromandus
Bloodrock
Blue Cheer
Mountain
Dust
URIAH HEEP!!!

(King Crimson & DP already mentioned above)

...damn I love this genre!...

 

[zekeyou]

"metal historian" Ian Christe ?

definitely check out his book from a 7 years back:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Beast-Complete-Headbanging-History/dp/0380811278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300846912&sr=1-1[/ame]

 

[Yippee38]

definitely check out his book from a 7 years back:

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Beast-C...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300846912&sr=1-1

Thanks for the link Zeke. I'd never heard of that book. I added it to my wishlist.

 

[J. Golden]

I still point to the Sabs as the defining starting point, but Christe (get his book, excellent read!) makes a valid point. In '70, '71, '72, there wasn't really a term to define what Black Sabbath was yet, and by the time Priest rolled into town with their 2nd album (one of the best metal albums ever!) it collectively took in all the myriad traits and rolled them up into a singular machine called heavy metal. Then, looking back from that point people started to see how it all came about via the myriad bands doing their thing(s) pre-'76. From there, you can look back and most now agree that Sabbath were the catalyst. But, check out some other terrifying doers of wrong from the time:
High Tide
Sir Lord Baltimore
Night Sun
Necromandus
Bloodrock
Blue Cheer
Mountain
Dust
URIAH HEEP!!!

(King Crimson & DP already mentioned above)

...damn I love this genre!...

I was wondering if Dust would be mentioned, I think of them as an easy precursor of what would become doom.
Also the late 60s Iron Maiden, and I remember a Metal Manics article with a Pentagram discography that showed their first release '68 (predating Sabbath).
Damn there are just many, to many to name.

 

[Jasonic]

High Tide
Sir Lord Baltimore
Night Sun
Necromandus
Bloodrock
Blue Cheer
Mountain
Dust
URIAH HEEP!!!

You know your stuff!!!!
It amazes me how many people are into traditional metal, yet are not familiar with URIAH HEEP. I wish SIR LORD BALTIMORE stuff wasn't so damn expensive.

At the end of the day though, the first "heavy metal" band was BLACK SABBATH. Sure, there were bands before that started to lay some of the foundation, but it wasn't true heavy metal in song structure as we know today, exactly.

It's the same argument I will make that MERCYFUL FATE and VENOM are NOT black metal. They certainly are the godfathers of all which influenced what became black metal. Hell (pun DEFINITELY intended!), VENOM coined the gosh darn term, but musically, they are heavier NWOBHM, with harsher vocals.

Well, my 2 cents anyhow.

 

[J. Golden]

It's the same argument I will make that MERCYFUL FATE and VENOM are NOT black metal. They certainly are the godfathers of all which influenced what became black metal. Hell (pun DEFINITELY intended!), VENOM coined the gosh darn term, but musically, they are heavier NWOBHM, with harsher vocals.

Yes Venom did ionfluence black metal. One day Mayhem was listening to Venom and on spoke up and said "hey guys I bet we can do a crapper job than this".

 

[BenMech]

You know your stuff!!!!
It amazes me how many people are into traditional metal, yet are not familiar with URIAH HEEP. I wish SIR LORD BALTIMORE stuff wasn't so damn expensive.

At the end of the day though, the first "heavy metal" band was BLACK SABBATH. Sure, there were bands before that started to lay some of the foundation, but it wasn't true heavy metal in song structure as we know today, exactly.

It's the same argument I will make that MERCYFUL FATE and VENOM are NOT black metal. They certainly are the godfathers of all which influenced what became black metal. Hell (pun DEFINITELY intended!), VENOM coined the gosh darn term, but musically, they are heavier NWOBHM, with harsher vocals.

Well, my 2 cents anyhow.

I still beg to differ about Mercyful Fate.

If you're gonna go on about Sir Lord Baltimore, I guess you'll have to include Bang! If you want to be more a Lion than a christian.

 

[Jasonic]

I still beg to differ about Mercyful Fate.

If you're gonna go on about Sir Lord Baltimore, I guess you'll have to include Bang! If you want to be more a Lion than a christian.

Really?
Look, I love me some MF.
Just vocally and musically, it is not black metal.
Sure, the lyrical content and imagery of the band was EXTREMELY influencial, but as a whole, I would not call them a black metal band.
Just my opinion though which is in no way golden......

Never heard Bang! Where are they from?

 

[zekeyou]

Shadow Kingdom has a great 2-on-1 Bang! album:
http://shadowkingdomrecords.com/store.php?action=store&i=B

 

[BenMech]

Really?
Look, I love me some MF.
Just vocally and musically, it is not black metal.
Sure, the lyrical content and imagery of the band was EXTREMELY influencial, but as a whole, I would not call them a black metal band.
Just my opinion though which is in no way golden......

More like Pyrite most days. LYRICS COUNT. ANYONE SAYING OTHERWISE SHOULD LISTEN TO INSTRUMENTAL BANDS ONLY. Mercyful Fate are Black metal. Period.

Never heard Bang! Where are they from?

Michigan, iirc. First albums in 1970.

 

[eaeolian]

More like Pyrite most days. LYRICS COUNT. ANYONE SAYING OTHERWISE SHOULD LISTEN TO INSTRUMENTAL BANDS ONLY. Mercyful Fate are Black metal. Period.

...and that's still the stupidest statement I've ever heard. Lyrics might count, but music does, too, and they're not musically related in the slightest. By your reasoning, the original Coven are a black metal band.

Revisionist historians. Sheesh.

 

[dcowboys311]

More like Pyrite most days. LYRICS COUNT. ANYONE SAYING OTHERWISE SHOULD LISTEN TO INSTRUMENTAL BANDS ONLY. Mercyful Fate are Black metal. Period.


Michigan, iirc. First albums in 1970.

Ah so what of instrumental black metal, then? Lyricless pieces of music....

Lyrics are a contributing factor. Not the sole deciding factor. Come on, Ben.

(for the record, I agree that MF was black metal).

 

[BenMech]

Jinx Dawson's band? Well, I am a fan of theirs.

As for thinking that my remark is stupid, that's your prerogative Mike.

 

[Justin G]

Shadow Kingdom has a great 2-on-1 Bang! album:
http://shadowkingdomrecords.com/store.php?action=store&i=B

I need to get that one. I have the debut, and it's very good proto-metal. Lightning is another really good, really heavy band from that era. Then there are bands like Frijid Pink and Fuzzy Duck and Stone Garden that have the heaviness but tend towards the more psychedelic sound. That whole era is just brilliant if you're a fan of heavy rock.

 

[eaeolian]

Jinx Dawson's band? Well, I am a fan of theirs.

As for thinking that my remark is stupid, that's your prerogative Mike.

You're hardly the first person to make that remark, Ben, but that doesn't change it's utter ridiculousness. You also aren't refuting my point, though - using solely lyric content as a determining factor is as ridiculous as ignoring lyrics entirely.

Sorry, but that one really gets to me, worse than people that call The Who a punk band. Let your musical movement stand on it's own merits instead of trying to re-write history to make it look more important.

 

[Jasonic]

All that 'First Wave of Black Metal' stuff is bullshit.

Agreed, but I don't get my boxers in a bunch over it.
It's just hard to hold back my opinion of it.

Much the same way I can't ever call Black Sabbath doom metal, or Led Zeppelin heavy metal. Influential? Absolutely!

Whatevs.... Good tunes are good tunes, and Mercyful Fate and Venom both wrote many of em!

 

[raising_iron]

Bang is another good one to mention regarding this era. I love Pentagram, but they only released singles in the early days (the first one around '72 if I'm not mistaken), no albums proper 'til the 80's. Other good bands circling the Bang bandwagon were Goliath, Josefus, and Buffalo. And I've gotta chime in on Mercyful Fate, I would agree with Jasonic, they're godfathers but not black metal as it's come to be known. At that time though, we were calling MF, Bathory, Venom, etc. black metal or some variant thereof as they were definitely beginning to define a new sound, Bathory being the closest forebearer to traditional black metal. But the Fates were still fabricating traditional metal glinting with progressive tendencies, albeit with the blackest of lyrics!