Heavy metal music

{{Short description|Genre of rock music}} {{About|the genre|its subgenres|Heavy metal genres|other uses|Heavy Metal Music (album)|and|Heavy metal (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Trad metal|Trap metal}} {{pp-move}} {{pp-semi-indef}}  {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Heavy metal | other_names = Metal | image = | caption = | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Blues rock]]|[[acid rock]]|[[psychedelic rock]]}} | cultural_origins = Late 1960s, United Kingdom and United States | subgenrelist = Heavy metal genres | subgenres = * [[Avant-garde metal]] * [[extreme metal]] ** [[black metal]] ** [[death metal]] ** [[doom metal]] ** [[thrash metal]] * [[glam metal]] * [[groove metal]] * [[power metal]] * [[speed metal]] * [[symphonic metal]] | fusiongenres = * [[Alternative metal]] ** [[funk metal]] ** [[rap metal]] ** [[nu metal]] * [[drone metal]] * [[folk metal]] * [[gothic metal]] * [[grindcore]] * [[grunge]]<ref name="allmusic grunge">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/grunge-ma0000002626 |title=Grunge |access-date=9 January 2022 |website=[[AllMusic]] |archive-date=21 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821004628/http://www.allmusic.com/style/grunge-ma0000002626 |url-status=live }}</ref> * [[post-metal]] * [[industrial metal]] * [[metalcore]] ** [[deathcore]] * [[neoclassical metal]] * [[progressive metal]] ** [[djent]] * [[sludge metal]] * [[stoner rock]] * [[Viking metal]] | regional_scenes = * [[African heavy metal|Africa]] * [[Argentine heavy metal|Argentina]] * [[Australian heavy metal|Australia]] * [[Bangladeshi heavy metal|Bangladesh]] * [[Brazilian thrash metal|Brazil]] * [[Canadian heavy metal|Canada]] * [[Finnish heavy metal|Finland]] * [[Les Légions Noires|France]] * [[Music in Germany#Heavy metal|Germany]] * [[Hungarian metal|Hungary]] * [[Indian rock#Hard rock and heavy metal|India]] * [[Indonesian heavy metal|Indonesia]] * [[Japanese metal|Japan]] * [[Folk metal#Oriental metal|Middle East]] * [[Music of the Netherlands#Heavy metal|Netherlands]] * [[Early Norwegian black metal scene|Norway]] * [[Music of Poland#Heavy metal|Poland]] * [[Swedish death metal|Sweden]] * [[New wave of British heavy metal|United Kingdom]] * [[New Wave of American Heavy Metal|United States]] | local_scenes = [[Popular music of Birmingham#Early heavymetal|Birmingham]] * [[Melodic death metal|Gothenburg]] * [[Music of New Orleans#Heavy metal|New Orleans]] * [[Palm Desert Scene]] * [[Bay Area thrash metal|San Francisco Bay Area]] * [[Florida death metal]] | other_topics = * [[Underground music|Underground]] * [[Heavy metal fashion|Fashion]] * [[List of heavy metal bands|list of bands]] * [[List of heavy metal festivals|list of festivals]] * [[Heavy metal lyrics|lyrics]] * [[Heavy metal subculture|subculture]] * [[metal umlaut|umlaut]] | current_year = yes }}

'''Heavy metal''' (or simply '''metal''') is a [[Music genre|genre]] of [[rock music]] that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Havers |first1=Richard |title=Heavy Metal Thunder: The Origins of Heavy Metal |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/metal-music-heavy-thunder/ |website=udiscovermusic |date=29 March 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=30 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430030409/https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/metal-music-heavy-thunder/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With roots in [[blues rock]], [[psychedelic rock]] and [[acid rock]], heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by [[distortion (music)|distorted]] guitars, extended [[guitar solo]]s, emphatic [[Beat (music)|beats]] and [[loudness]].

In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – British bands [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Black Sabbath]], and [[Deep Purple]] – were founded.<ref name="Larson2004a">{{cite book|author=Tom Larson|title=History of Rock and Roll|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGJ7XmA8rjIC&pg=PA183|year=2004|publisher=Kendall/Hunt Pub.|isbn=978-0-7872-9969-9|pages=183–187}}</ref> Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during the 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and [[shock rock]] of [[Alice Cooper]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]]; the [[blues]]-rooted rock of [[Aerosmith]]; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of [[Van Halen]].<ref>"[https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/heavy-metal-ma0000002721 Heavy Metal Music Genre Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518012243/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/d655 |date=18 May 2012 }}". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 January 2022</ref> During the mid-1970s, [[Judas Priest]] helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence,<ref name="Walser 1993, p. 6">Walser (1993), p. 6</ref><ref>"As much as Sabbath started it, Priest were the ones who took it out of the blues and straight into metal." Bowe, Brian J. ''[[iarchive:judaspriestmetal0000bowe|Judas Priest: Metal Gods]]''. {{ISBN|0-7660-3621-9}}</ref> while [[Motörhead]] introduced a [[punk rock]] sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the [[new wave of British heavy metal]] such as [[Iron Maiden]] and [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] followed in a similar vein. By the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "[[Heavy metal subculture|metalheads]]" or "[[headbanging|headbangers]]". The lyrics of some metal genres became associated with aggression and [[machismo]],<ref name=fast>Fast (2005), pp. 89–91; Weinstein (2000), pp. 7, 8, 23, 36, 103, 104</ref> 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 (band)|Poison]]. Meanwhile, however, [[Underground music|underground scenes]] produced an array of more aggressive styles: [[thrash metal]] broke into the mainstream with bands such as [[Metallica]], [[Slayer]], [[Megadeth]] and [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], while other [[extreme metal|extreme subgenres]] such as [[death metal]] and [[black metal]] became – and remain – [[subculture|subcultural]] phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles have expanded the genre's definition. These include [[groove metal]] and [[nu metal]], the latter of which often incorporates elements of [[grunge]] and [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]]. Today, "heavy metal" can be used broadly as an umbrella term for all [[Heavy metal genres|sub-genres]], but is also used narrowly as a term for more traditional styles only.

==Characteristics== Heavy metal 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."<ref name=JP>Pareles, Jon. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DB113DF933A25754C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "Heavy Metal, Weighty Words"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112160658/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/10/magazine/heavy-metal-weighty-words.html |date=12 November 2012 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', 10 July 1988. Retrieved on 14 November 2007</ref> The typical band lineup includes 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.<ref name=W25>Weinstein (2000), p. 25</ref> [[Deep Purple]]'s [[Jon Lord]] played an overdriven [[Hammond organ]]. In 1970, [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] used a [[Moog synthesizer]] on ''[[Led Zeppelin III]]''; by the 1990s, synthesizers were used in "almost every subgenre of heavy metal".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/synthesizers-impact-heavy-metal/ |title=Instigate Sonic Violence: A Not-so-Brief History of the Synthesizer's Impact on Heavy Metal |last=Hannum |first=Terence |date=18 March 2016 |website=noisey.vice.com |publisher=Vice |access-date=7 January 2017 |quote=In almost every subgenre of heavy metal, synthesizers held sway. Look at Cynic, who on their progressive death metal opus Focus (1993) had keyboards appear on the album and during live performances, or British gothic doom band My Dying Bride, who relied heavily on synths for their 1993 album, Turn Loose the Swans. American noise band Today is the Day used synthesizers on their 1996 self titled album to powerfully add to their din. Voivod even put synthesizers to use for the first time on 1991's Angel Rat and 1993's The Outer Limits, played by both guitarist Piggy and drummer Away. The 1990s were a gold era for the use of synthesizers in heavy metal, and only paved the way for the further explorations of the new millennia.}}</ref>

[[File:Judas Priest Retribution 2005 Tour.jpg|thumb|alt=The band Judas Priest are onstage at a concert. From left to right are the singer, two electric guitarists, the bass player, and the drummer, who is seated behind a drumkit. The singer is wearing a black trenchcoat with metal studs.|[[Judas Priest]] performing in 2005]] The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal.<ref name=W23>Weinstein (2000), p. 23</ref> The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy [[fuzz (electric guitar)|fuzz]].<ref>Walser, Robert (1993). ''Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music''. [[Wesleyan University Press]]. p. 10. {{ISBN|0-8195-6260-2}}</ref> 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 the "punch and grind" characteristic.<ref name="Hodgson">{{cite web |url=http://iheartguitarblog.com/2011/04/metal-101-face-melting-guitar-tones.html#sthash.10w443jx.dpbs |title=METAL 101: Face-melting guitar tones |last=Hodgson |first=Peter |date=9 April 2011 |website=I Heart Guitar |archive-date=13 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413235946/http://iheartguitarblog.com/2011/04/metal-101-face-melting-guitar-tones.html |access-date=24 January 2022 }}</ref> Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and [[Dynamic range compression|tightly compressed]] sound with multiple bass frequencies.<ref name="Hodgson"/> Guitar solos are "an essential element of the heavy metal code ... that underscores the significance of the guitar" to the genre.<ref>Weinstein, p. 24</ref> Most heavy metal songs "feature at least one guitar solo",<ref>Walser, p. 50</ref> which is "a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity".<ref>{{cite book |last=Dickinson |first=Kay |date=2003 |title=Movie Music, the Film Reader|publisher=Psychology Press |page=158 }}</ref> Some exceptions are [[nu metal]] and [[grindcore]] bands, which tend to omit guitar solos.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.revolvermag.com/lists-2/final-six-the-six-best-worst-things-to-come-out-of-nu-metal.html |title=Final Six: The Six Best/Worst Things to Come out of Nu-Metal |last1=Grow |first1=Kory |work=Revolvermag |date=26 February 2010 |publisher=Revolver magazine |access-date=21 September 2015 |quote=The death of the guitar solo[:] In its efforts to tune down and simplify riffs, nu-metal effectively drove a stake through the heart of the guitar solo |archive-date=11 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611050855/http://www.revolvermag.com/lists-2/final-six-the-six-best-worst-things-to-come-out-of-nu-metal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> With rhythm guitar parts, the "heavy crunch sound in heavy metal ... [is created by] [[palm muting]]" the strings with the picking hand and using distortion.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070819035422/http://www.marshallamps.com/images/web%20tuition/lesson4.html "Lesson four- Power chords".]}} Marshall Amps</ref> Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end.<ref>''Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity''. By Glenn Pillsbury. Routledge, 2013</ref>

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 a spirit of "affectionate rivalry".<ref name=W25/> 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.<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 26</ref> Critic [[Simon Frith]] claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics.<ref>Cited in Weinstein (2000), p. 26</ref>

The prominent role of the bass ‍is also key to 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".<ref name=W24>Weinstein (2000), p. 24</ref> The bass plays a "more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock".<ref>Weinstein (2009), p. 24</ref> Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low [[pedal point]] as a foundation to doubling complex [[riff]]s and [[lick (music)|licks]] along with the lead or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature 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.<ref>[http://www.bassplayer.com/article/the-king-metal/Feb-05/164 "Cliff Burton's Legendary Career: The King of Metal Bass".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106164523/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/the-king-metal/Feb-05/164 |date=6 November 2015 }} ''Bass Player'', February 2005. Retrieved on 13 November 2007</ref> [[Lemmy]] of [[Motörhead]] often played overdriven [[power chord]]s in his bass lines.<ref>Wall, Mick. ''Lemmy: The Definitive Biography''. Orion Publishing Group, 2016</ref>

Heavy metal drumming is defined by a loud, consistent beat that drives the band, relying on the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision."<ref>Dawson, Michael. [http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2006/08/chris-adler/ "Lamb of God's Chris Adler: More than Meets the Eye"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305131313/http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2006/08/chris-adler/ |date=5 March 2016 }}, 17 August 2006. ''Modern Drummer Online''. Retrieved on 13 November 2007</ref> Heavy metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity ... to play the intricate patterns" used in heavy metal.<ref name=Berry>Berry and Gianni (2003), p. 85</ref> 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.<ref name=W24/> Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon [[double bass drumming|double-kicks]] and [[blast beats]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cope |first=Andrew L. |date= 2010|title=Black Sabbath and the Rise of Heavy Metal Music |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd. |page=130 }}</ref>

[[File:Girlschool enid and lemmy-2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|alt=Female musician Enid Williams from the band Girlschool and Lemmy Kilmeister from Motörhead are shown onstage. Both are singing and playing bass guitar. A drumkit is seen behind them.|Enid Williams from [[Girlschool]] and [[Lemmy]] from [[Motörhead]] live in 2009. The ties that bind the two bands started in the 1980s and were still strong in the 2010s.]] In live performance, loudness – an "onslaught of sound", in sociologist [[Deena Weinstein]]'s description – is considered vital.<ref name=W23/> In his book, ''Metalheads'', psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy metal concerts as "the sensory equivalent of war".<ref>Arnett (1996), p. 14</ref> Following the lead set by [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]] and [[the Who]], early heavy metal acts such as [[Blue Cheer]] set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer's [[Dickie Peterson|Dick Peterson]] put it, "All we knew was we wanted more power."<ref name=vdqxbw>Walser (1993), p. 9</ref> A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how "excessive volume in particular figured into the band's impact".<ref>Paul Sutcliffe quoted in Waksman, Steve. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070618140351/http://www.echo.ucla.edu/volume6-issue2/waksman/waksman3.html "Metal, Punk, and Motörhead: Generic Crossover in the Heart of the Punk Explosion".]}} ''Echo: A Music-Centered Journal'' 6.2 (Fall 2004). Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref> Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that [[melody]] is the main element of [[pop music|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".<ref name=W23/>

Heavy metal performers tended to be almost exclusively male<ref name="Brake 1990 87–91">{{cite book |last=Brake |first=Mike |editor1-last=Frith |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Goodwin |editor2-first=Andrew |title=On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word |publisher=Routledge |date=1990 |pages=87–91 |chapter=Heavy Metal Culture, Masculinity and Iconography }}</ref> until at least the mid-1980s,<ref>{{cite book |last=Walser |first=Robert |date=1993 |title=Running with the Devil:Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |page=76 }}</ref> with some exceptions such as [[Girlschool]].<ref name="Brake 1990 87–91"/> However, by the 2010s, women were making more of an impact,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Eddy |first=Chuck |date=1 July 2011 |title=Women of Metal |journal=Spin |publisher=SpinMedia Group}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kelly |first=Kim |date=17 January 2013 |title=Queens of noise: heavy metal encourages heavy-hitting women |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]}}</ref> and PopMatters' Craig Hayes argues that metal "clearly empowers women".<ref>Hayes, Craig. "[https://www.popmatters.com/a-very-dirty-lens-2495726632.html A Very Dirty Lens: How Can We Listen to Offensive Metal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029095121/https://www.popmatters.com/a-very-dirty-lens-2495726632.html |date=29 October 2019 }}". ''PopMatters''. 20 September 2013</ref> 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]].

===Musical language===

====Rhythm and tempo==== [[File:Heavy rythmic pattern2.png|upright=2|thumb|An example of a rhythmic pattern used in heavy metal. The upper stave is a [[palm mute|palm-muted]] [[rhythm guitar]] part. The lower stave is the drum part.{{Listen|title=Rhythmic Pattern Audio|filename=Heavy rythmic pattern audio.ogg|plain=yes|style=float:right}}]] The rhythm in metal songs 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".<ref name=W24/> In many heavy metal songs, the main groove is characterized by short, two- or three-note rhythmic figures – generally made up of [[eighth note|eighth]] or [[sixteenth note|16th notes]]. These rhythmic figures are usually performed with a [[staccato]] attack created by using a [[palm mute|palm-muted]] technique on the rhythm guitar.<ref>"Master of Rhythm: The Importance of Tone and Right-hand Technique", ''Guitar Legends'', April 1997, p. 99</ref>

Brief, abrupt and detached [[rhythmic cell]]s are joined into rhythmic phrases with a distinctive, often jerky texture. These phrases are used to create rhythmic accompaniment and melodic figures called [[riff]]s, which help to establish thematic [[Hook (music)|hooks]]. Heavy metal songs also use longer rhythmic figures such as [[whole note]]- or dotted quarter note-length chords in slow-tempo [[power ballad]]s. The tempos in early heavy metal music tended to be "slow, even ponderous".<ref name=W24/> By 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).<ref name=Berry/>

====Harmony==== One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 2</ref> In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main [[interval (music)|interval]], generally the [[perfect fifth]], though an [[octave]] may be added as a doubling of the [[Root (chord)|root]]. When power chords are played on the lower strings at high volumes and with distortion, [[Resultant (organ)|additional low-frequency sounds]] are created, which add to the "weight of the sound" and create an effect of "overwhelming power".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walser |first1=Robert|date=2014|title=Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music|page=43 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press}}</ref> Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord,<ref>See, e.g., [http://www.melbay.com/guitarglossary.asp Glossary of Guitar Terms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421103225/http://www.melbay.com/guitarglossary.asp |date=21 April 2012 }}. Mel Bay Publications. Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref> power chords are also based on different intervals such as the [[minor third]], [[major third]], [[perfect fourth]], [[diminished fifth]] or [[minor sixth]].<ref>"Shaping Up and Riffing Out: Using Major and Minor Power Chords to Add Colour to Your Parts", ''Guitar Legends'', April 1997, p. 97</ref> Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the [[fingerboard|fretboard]].<ref>Schonbrun (2006), p. 22</ref>

====Typical harmonic structures==== 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 point]]s. Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular the [[Aeolian mode|Aeolian]] and [[Phrygian mode]]s.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 46</ref> 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.<ref>Marshall, Wolf. "Power Lord—Climbing Chords, Evil Tritones, Giant Callouses", ''Guitar Legends'', April 1997, p. 29</ref><ref name=MH>Dunn, Sam (2005). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20180807081407/http://metalhistory.com/ "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey".]}} Warner Home Video (2006). Retrieved on 19 March 2007</ref> In addition to using modal harmonic relationships, heavy metal also uses "[[Pentatonic scale|pentatonic]] and blues-derived features".<ref name="Lilja 2009">{{cite journal |last=Lilja |first=Esa |date=2009 |title=Theory and Analysis of Classic Heavy Metal Harmony |journal=[[Advanced Musicology]] |publisher=IAML Finland |volume=1 }}</ref>

The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones – such as C to F# – was considered extremely [[dissonant]] and unstable by medieval and Renaissance music theorists. It was nicknamed the ''diabolus in musica –'' "the devil in music".<ref>The first explicit prohibition of that interval seems to occur with the "development of [[Guido of Arezzo]]'s [[hexachord]]al system which made B flat a [[diatonic]] note, namely as the 4th degree of the hexachordal on F. From then until the end of Renaissance the tritone, nicknamed the 'diabolus in musica', was regarded as an unstable interval and rejected as a consonance" (Sadie, Stanley [1980]. "Tritone", in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 1st ed. MacMillan, pp. 154–155. {{ISBN|0-333-23111-2}}. See also Arnold, Denis [1983]. "Tritone", in ''The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: A–J''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-311316-3}}</ref>

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.<ref>Kennedy (1985), "Pedal Point", p. 540</ref> According to Robert Walser, heavy metal harmonic relationships are "often quite complex" and the harmonic analysis done by metal players and teachers is "often very sophisticated".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walser |first1=Robert|date=2014|title=Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music|page=47 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Lilja 2009"/>

====Relationship with classical music==== [[File:Ritchie Blackmore 1977.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, is shown playing a Fender electric guitar onstage. He has long hair.|[[Ritchie Blackmore]], founder of [[Deep Purple]] and [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]], known for the neoclassical approach in his guitar performances.]] Robert Walser stated that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known ... as '[[classical music]]'" has been 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."<ref>Walser (1993), p. 58</ref>

In an article written for ''[[Grove Music Online]]'', Walser stated that the "1980s brought on ... the widespread adaptation of chord progressions and virtuosic practices from 18th-century European models, especially [[J. S. Bach|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]]."<ref>{{cite web|author=Walser, Robert|title=Heavy metal|publisher=Grove Music Online|access-date=6 March 2010|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_gmo|archive-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207071607/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_gmo|url-status=live}}{{subscription required|date=June 2018}}</ref> Kurt Bachmann of [[Believer (band)|Believer]] has stated that "if done correctly, metal and classical fit quite well together. Classical and metal are probably the two genres that have the most in common when it comes to feel, texture, creativity."<ref>Wagner, Wilson, p. 156</ref>

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 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.'"<ref>See Cook and Dibben (2001), p. 56</ref>

===Lyrical themes=== {{For|a more descriptive list|Heavy metal lyrics}} According to David Hatch and Stephen Millward, Black Sabbath and 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 (album)|Paranoid]]'' (1970), which "included songs dealing with personal trauma—'[[Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)|Paranoid]]' and '[[Fairies Wear Boots]]' (which described the unsavoury side effects of drug-taking)—as well as those confronting wider issues, such as the self-explanatory '[[War Pigs]]' and '[[Hand of Doom (Black Sabbath song)|Hand of Doom]].'"<ref>Hatch and Millward (1989), p. 167</ref> 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.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 36</ref>

[[File:King Diamond live 2006 Moscow 02.jpg|thumb|alt=Two members from the band King Diamond are shown at a concert performance. From left to right are the singer and an electric guitarist. The singer has white and black face makeup and a top hat. Both are wearing black.|[[King Diamond (band)|King Diamond]], known for writing conceptual lyrics about horror stories]] 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 ... a party without limits ... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic."<ref name=JP/> Music critics have often deemed metal lyrics juvenile and banal, and others<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjRSmEjs8ZcC&pg=PT245 |year=2007|title=The Rock History Reader |author=Gore, Tipper|chapter=The Cult of Violence|editor=Cateforis, Theo |access-date=30 August 2015|pages=227–233|isbn=978-0-415-97501-8|publisher=Taylor & Francis|author-link=Tipper Gore}}</ref> 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.<ref name="See, e 2006 pp. 104">See, e.g., Ewing and McCann (2006), pp. 104–113</ref> Andrew Cope stated that claims that heavy metal lyrics are misogynistic are "clearly misguided" as these critics have "overlook[ed] the overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise".<ref>Cope, Andrew L. ''Black Sabbath and the Rise of Heavy Metal Music''. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2010. p. 141</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=13 October 1998|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-10-13/music/nothing-s-shocking/1/|title=Nothing's Shocking|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|location=New York|access-date=22 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912045843/http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-10-13/music/nothing-s-shocking/1/|archive-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>

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]] was asked to defend his song "[[Under the Blade (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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ostroff |first=Joshua |date=18 September 2015 |title=Twisted Sister's Dee Snider Blasts Irresponsible Parents On PMRC Hearings' 30th Anniversary |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/18/dee-snider-twisted-sister-pmrc-senate-hearings_n_8020706.html |journal=Huffington Post |access-date=3 February 2016}}</ref> In 1986, [[Ozzy Osbourne]] was sued over the lyrics of his song "[[Suicide Solution]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Elovaara |first=Mika |editor1-last=Abbey |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Helb |editor2-first=Colin|title=Hardcore, Punk and Other Junk: Aggressive Sounds in Contemporary Music|publisher=Lexington Books|date=2014 |page=38 |chapter=Chapter 3: Am I Evil? The Meaning of Metal Lyrics to its Fans}}</ref> 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 was not found to be responsible for the teen's death.<ref>''VH1: Behind The Music—Ozzy Osbourne'', VH1. Paramount Television, 1998</ref> 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]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/judas-priest-suicide-trial/|title=Revisiting Judas Priest's Subliminal Lyrics Trial|date=24 August 2015|access-date=16 September 2018|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404133446/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/judas-priest-suicide-trial/|url-status=live}}</ref> While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed.<ref name="See, e 2006 pp. 104"/> In 1991, U.K. police seized death metal records from the British record label [[Earache Records]], in an "unsuccessful attempt to prosecute the label for obscenity".<ref name="Kahn-Harris">Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', Oxford: Berg, 2007, {{ISBN|1-84520-399-2}}. p. 28</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Whitaker, Brian|date=2 June 2003|title=Highway to Hell|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/02/worlddispatch.brianwhitaker|work=Guardian|access-date=3 March 2009|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404232454/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/02/worlddispatch.brianwhitaker|url-status=live}} {{cite news|date=4 August 2001|title=Malaysia Curbs Heavy Metal Music|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1473198.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=3 March 2009|location=London}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Kahn-Harris"/> In 2013, Malaysia banned [[Lamb of God (band)|Lamb of God]] from performing in their country, on the grounds that the "band's lyrics could be interpreted as being religiously insensitive" and blasphemous.<ref name="Weber, Katherine 2013">Weber, Katherine. "Malaysia Bans 'Lamb of God', Grammy-Nominated Heavy Metal Band, Says Lyrics are Blasphemous". ''The Christian Post''. 5 September 2013</ref> 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 the general population.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Recours|first1=R|last2=Aussaguel|first2=F|last3=Trujillo|first3=N|date=2009|title=Metal music and mental health in France|url=https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01712122/file/2009%20CMP%20Metal.pdf|journal=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry|volume=33|issue=3|pages=473–488|doi=10.1007/s11013-009-9138-2|pmid=19521752|s2cid=20685241|issn=0165-005X|archive-date=30 June 2023|access-date=16 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630032557/https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-01712122/file/2009%20CMP%20Metal.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Image and fashion=== {{Main|Heavy metal fashion}} [[File:KISS in concert Boston 2004.jpg|thumb|alt=The band Kiss is shown onstage at a concert. From left to right are the bassist Gene Simmons, two electric guitarists and the drummer, who is at the rear of the stage. Simmons is wearing spiked clothing and his tongue is extended. All members have white and black face makeup. Large guitar speaker stacks are shown behind the band.|[[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] performing in 2004, wearing makeup]] 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 video]]s.<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 27</ref>

Down-the-back long hair is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion".<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 129</ref> Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by 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".<ref>Rahman, Nader. [http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2006/07/04/musings.htm "Hair Today Gone Tomorrow"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206171850/http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2006/07/04/musings.htm |date=6 December 2007 }}. ''Star Weekend Magazine'', 28 July 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2007</ref>

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 the logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands."<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 127</ref> In the 1980s, a range of sources – from punk rock and [[goth music]] to horror films – influenced metal fashion.<ref name=Umelec>Pospiszyl, Tomáš. [http://www.divus.cz/umelec/en/pages/umelec.php?id=13&roc=2001&cis=1 "Heavy Metal".] ''Umelec'', January 2001. Retrieved on 20 November 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603034818/http://www.divus.cz/umelec/en/pages/umelec.php?id=13&roc=2001&cis=1 |date=3 June 2008 }}</ref> Many metal performers of the 1970s and 1980s used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance their stage appearance.<ref name="Thompson (2007), p. 135">Thompson (2007), p. 135</ref><ref name="Blush">{{cite web|first=Steven|last=Blush|author-link=Steven Blush|title=American Hair Metal – Excerpts: Selected Images and Quotes|date=11 November 2007|publisher=[[Feral House]]|url=http://feralhouse.com/press/mini_sites/american_hair_metal/excerpts.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111141800/http://feralhouse.com/press/mini_sites/american_hair_metal/excerpts.php|archive-date=11 November 2007|access-date=25 November 2007}}</ref>

Fashion and personal style was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long, dyed, hairspray-teased hair (hence 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.<ref name="Thompson (2007), p. 135"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Strauss, Neil|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EFD7103DF93BA25755C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=The Pop Life: End of a Life, End of an Era|date=18 June 1998|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=9 May 2008|archive-date=6 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306095144/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/18/arts/the-pop-life-end-of-a-life-end-of-an-era.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Physical gestures=== [[File:Metal horns.JPG|thumb|Fans raise their fists and make the [[Sign of the horns|"devil horns"]] gesture at a concert]] When performing live, many metal musicians – as well as the audience for whom they're playing – engage in [[headbanging]], which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The [[sign of the horns]] hand gesture was popularized by vocalist [[Ronnie James Dio]] during his time with the bands Black Sabbath and [[Dio (band)|Dio]].<ref name=MH/> Although [[Gene Simmons]] of [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] claims to have been the first to make the gesture on the 1977 ''[[Love Gun]]'' album cover, there is speculation as to who started the phenomenon.<ref>Appleford, Steve. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040912024146/http://www.mk-magazine.com/news/archives/000929.php "Odyssey of the Devil Horns"]}}. ''MK Magazine'', 9 September 2004. Retrieved on 31 March 2007</ref>

Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense. Two primary body movements used are headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture.<ref>Weinstein, p. 130</ref> The performance of [[air guitar]] is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home.<ref>Weinstein, p. 95</ref> According to [[Deena Weinstein]], thrash metal concerts have two elements that are not part of the other metal genres: [[moshing]] and [[stage diving]], which "were imported from the [[punk subculture|punk/hardcore subculture]]".<ref name="Weinstein 2009 228–229">{{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Deena |date=2009 |title=Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture |publisher=Da Capo Press|pages=228–229 }}</ref> 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".<ref name="Weinstein 2009 228–229"/>

===Fan subculture=== {{Main|Heavy metal subculture}} It has been argued that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to the emergence of an intense, exclusionary and strongly masculine subculture.<ref>Weinstein, pp. 103, 7, 8, 104</ref> 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".<ref>Weinstein, pp. 102, 112</ref> 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.<ref>Weinstein, pp. 181, 207, 294</ref> Attending live concerts in particular has been called the "holiest of heavy metal communions".<ref>Julian Schaap and Pauwke Berkers. "Grunting Alone? Online Gender Inequality in Extreme Metal Music" in ''IASPM Journal''. Vol. 4, no. 1 (2014) p. 105</ref>

The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation" with its own code of authenticity.<ref name=JQS>"Three profiles of heavy metal fans: A taste for sensation and a subculture of alienation", Jeffrey Arnett. In ''Qualitative Sociology''; Publisher Springer Netherlands. {{ISSN|0162-0436}}. Volume 16, Number 4 / December 1993. pp. 423–443</ref> 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 "[[selling out|sell out]]".<ref>Weinstein, pp. 46, 60, 154, 273</ref> [[Deena Weinstein]] stated that for the fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society".<ref>Weinstein, p. 166</ref>

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 the weird kid. It's kind of like that, but with metal you have all the weird kids in one place."<ref name="Sam Dunn">Dunn, "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" B000EGEJIY (2006)</ref> Scholars of metal have noted the tendency of fans to classify and reject some performers (and some other fans) as "[[poseur (music)|poseurs]]" "who pretended to be part of the subculture, but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity".<ref name=JQS/><ref>Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen (1996). ''Metalheads: Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Alienation''</ref>

Today, "metal" or "heavy metal" is often used broadly as an umbrella term for all sub-genres, but "heavy metal" is also used narrowly as a term for only the more conventional or "true" styles, or as a synonym for "traditional (trad) metal".<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Wallach | editor-last2=Berger | editor-last3=Greene | editor-first=Jeremy | editor-first2=Harris M. | editor-first3=Paul D. | title=Metal Rules the Globe: Heavy Metal Music around the World | publisher=Duke University Press | date=December 2011 | doi=10.2307/j.ctv1220q3v | isbn=9780822347163 | jstor=j.ctv1220q3v | url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/metal-rules-the-globe |page=28}}</ref>

==Etymology== 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 the periodic table organizes elements of both [[light metal|light]] and [[heavy metal (chemistry)|heavy metals]] (e.g., uranium). An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by [[counterculture|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."<ref>[[William S. Burroughs|Burroughs, William S]]. [http://www.efn.org/~dredmond/PP3.html "Nova Express"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414232023/http://www.efn.org/~dredmond/PP3.html |date=14 April 2007 }}. New York: Grove Press, 1964. p. 112</ref> Inspired by Burroughs' novels,<ref>{{cite book |last=Thorgerson|first=Storm|date=1999 |title=100 Best Album Covers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6hJAQAAIAAJ&q=michael+english+%22named+the+heavy+metal+kids+after+william+burroughs+book%22 |publisher=DK|page=1969 |isbn=9780789449511}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Palacios|first=Julian|date=2010 |title=Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvgH58uEPFAC&q=hapshash+%22heavy+metal%22&pg=PA170 |publisher=Plexus |page=170 |isbn=978-0859654319}}</ref> 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).<ref name="Dome">{{Cite episode|title=Arena: 'Heavy Metal' |series=Arena (Tv show)|credits=[[Malcolm Dome]]|network=[[BBC]]|station=[[BBC Two]]|minutes=4:06 – 4:21}}</ref>

Metal historian [[Ian Christe]] describes what the components of the term mean in "[[hippie]]speak": "heavy" is roughly synonymous with "potent" or "profound", and "metal" designates a certain type of mood, grinding and weighted as with metal.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 10</ref> The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of [[beatnik]] and later [[1960s counterculture|countercultural]] hippie [[slang]], and references to "heavy music" – typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare – were already common by the mid-1960s, such as in reference to [[Vanilla Fudge]]. [[Iron Butterfly]]'s debut album, which was released in early 1968, was titled ''[[Heavy (Iron Butterfly album)|Heavy]]''. The first use of "heavy metal" in a song lyric is in reference to a motorcycle in the [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] song "[[Born to Be Wild]]", also released that year:<ref>Walser (1993), p. 8</ref> "I like smoke and lightning / Heavy metal thunder / Racin' with the wind / And the feelin' that I'm under".

An early documented use of the phrase in [[rock criticism]] appears in Sandy Pearlman's February 1967 ''[[Crawdaddy (magazine)|Crawdaddy]]'' review of [[the Rolling Stones]]' ''[[Got Live If You Want It! (album)|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."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Weinstein|first=Deena|date=12 November 2013|title=Just So Stories: How Heavy Metal Got Its Name—A Cautionary Tale|pages=36–51|journal=Rock Music Studies|volume=1|doi=10.1080/19401159.2013.846655|s2cid=191362285|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Pearlman goes on to say, "A mechanically hysterical audience is matched to a mechanically hysterical sound. Side two of the album is a metal side. Most mechanical{{nbsp}}... the to-date definitive metal song: 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?,' as hysterical and tense as can be{{nbsp}}... A sloppy performance—but never flaccid. Some bad detail, but lots of tension. It's a mechanical conception and realization (like all metal songs)—with the instruments and Mick's voice densely organized into hard, sharp-edged planes of sound: a construction of aural surfaces and regular surfaced planes, a planar conception, the product of a mechanistic discipline, with an emphasis upon the geometrical organization of percussive sounds."<ref name="Pearlman">{{cite magazine|last=Pearlman|first=Sandy|author-link=Sandy Pearlman|date=February 1967|issue=8|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/crawdaddy/the-four-tops/crawdaddy-classics-live-the-four-tops-and-the-roll/|title=Live! The Four Tops and The Rolling Stones|magazine=[[Crawdaddy]]|via=[[Paste (magazine)|pastemagazine.com]]|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=28 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328153742/https://www.pastemagazine.com/crawdaddy/the-four-tops/crawdaddy-classics-live-the-four-tops-and-the-roll/|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} Another appears in the 11 May 1968 issue of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', in which [[Barry Gifford]] wrote about 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."<ref>Gifford, Barry. ''Rolling Stone'', 11 May 1968. p. 20</ref> In the 7 September 1968 edition of the ''Seattle Daily Times'', reviewer Susan Schwartz wrote that [[the Jimi Hendrix Experience]] "has a heavy-metals blues sound".<ref>Schwartz, Susan (September 7, 1968). "Blues Show Goes On With Hendrix", ''Seattle Daily Times'', p. 12</ref> In January 1970, [[Lucian Truscott IV|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]].<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/news/these-led-zeppelin-guys-are-surprisingly-good-6659450 "Riffs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530132851/https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/08/31/these-led-zeppelin-guys-are-surprisingly-good/ |date=30 May 2020 }}. [[Lucian Truscott#Family|Lucian K. Truscott IV]] for the [[Village Voice]]. 22 January 1970. "Led Zeppelin, popularly looked on as an English version of Blue Cheer, given to Vanilla Fudgeish heavy-handedness in all that it does, has come out with a good album, 'Led Zeppelin II' (Atlantic SD 8236). Sure, it's 'heavy.' Sure, it's volume-rock at a time when the trend seems to be toward acoustical niceties of country music".</ref>

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 the British band [[Humble Pie (band)|Humble Pie]]: "''[[As Safe as Yesterday Is|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, [[Humble Pie (album)|self-titled release]] as "more of the same 27th-rate heavy metal crap".<ref name=humble>{{cite magazine |author=Saunders, Mike |date=12 November 1970 |title=Humble Pie: 'Town and Country' (review) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130055912/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/158628/review/5944670/town_and_country |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=dead |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/158628/review/5944670/town_and_country |archive-date=30 November 2007 |access-date=17 December 2007}}</ref>

In a review of [[Sir Lord Baltimore]]'s ''[[Kingdom Come (Sir Lord Baltimore album)|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."<ref name=baltimore>{{cite web|author=Saunders, Mike |date=May 1971 |url=http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/SirLordBaltimore/KingdomCome001.html |title=Sir Lord Baltimore's 'Kingdom Come' (review) |work=[[Creem]] |access-date=17 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308145737/http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/SirLordBaltimore/KingdomCome001.html |archive-date=8 March 2007 }}</ref> ''Creem'' critic [[Lester Bangs]] is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 19</ref> Through the decade, "heavy metal" 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"<ref>Rockwell, John. ''New York Times'', 4 February 1979, p. D22</ref> and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers".<ref>Rockwell, John. ''New York Times'', 13 August 1979, p. C16</ref>

Coined by [[Black Sabbath]] drummer [[Bill Ward (musician)|Bill Ward]], "downer rock" 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)|Classic Rock]]'' magazine described the downer rock culture revolving around the use of [[Quaaludes]] and the drinking of wine.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Lost Pioneers of Heavy Metal |last=Sleazegrinder |magazine=Classic Rock |date=March 2007}}</ref> The term would later be replaced by "heavy metal".<ref>Kevin Holm-Hudson, ''Progressive Rock Reconsidered'', (Routledge, 2002), {{ISBN|0-8153-3715-9}}</ref>

Earlier on, as "heavy metal" emerged partially from heavy psychedelic rock, also known as [[acid rock]], "acid rock" 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",<ref>Waksman (2001), p. 262</ref> while percussionist John Beck defined "acid rock" as synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beck|first1=John H.|title=Encyclopedia of Percussion|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8U83AgAAQBAJ&q=%22acid+rock%22+%22harder%22&pg=PA335|isbn=978-1-317-74768-0|page=335}}</ref>

Apart from "acid rock", 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.<ref>Du Noyer (2003), pp. 96, 78</ref> 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 the mid-Seventies".<ref>Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 4</ref>

"The term 'heavy metal' is self-defeating," remarked [[Kiss (band)|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 [[Iron Maiden|Maiden]] and [[Judas Priest|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 the ground opening up and little dwarves coming out riding dragons! You know, like bad [[Dio (band)|Dio]] records."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Mike|last=Gitter|title=Talkin' 'bout revolutions|magazine=[[Kerrang!]]|date=6 March 1993|issue=433|page=39}}</ref>

==History==

===Proto-metal: 1950s-late 1960s=== Heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, which is built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to early 1950s [[Memphis blues]] [[guitarist]]s such as [[Joe Hill Louis]], [[Willie Johnson (guitarist)|Willie Johnson]] and particularly [[Pat Hare]],<ref name=rolling_memphis>{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Jim |title=The Rolling Stone illustrated history of rock & roll |publisher=Rolling Stone |year=1980 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-394-51322-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneillu00mill |url-access=registration |access-date=5 July 2012 |quote=Black country bluesmen made raw, heavily amplified boogie records of their own, especially in Memphis, where guitarists like Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson (with the early Howlin' Wolf band) and Pat Hare (with Little Junior Parker) played driving rhythms and scorching, distorted solos that might be counted the distant ancestors of heavy metal.}}</ref><ref name=palmer/> who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as [[James Cotton]]'s "Cotton Crop Blues" (1954).<ref name=palmer>[[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Palmer, Robert]]. "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13–38. In: DeCurtis, Anthony: ''Present Tense'', [[Duke University Press]], 1992., pp. 24–27. {{ISBN|0-8223-1265-4}}</ref> Other early influences include the late 1950s instrumentals of [[Link Wray]], particularly "[[Rumble (instrumental)|Rumble]]" (1958);<ref>Strong (2004), p. 1693; Buckley (2003), p. 1187</ref> the early 1960s [[surf music|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.<ref>Buckley (2003) p. 1144</ref>

[[File:Cream on Fanclub 1968.png|thumb|right|alt=The band Cream is shown playing on a TV show. From left to right are drummer Ginger Baker (sitting behind a drumkit with two bass drums) and two electric guitarists.|Cream performing on the Dutch television program ''Fanclub'' in 1968]] However, the genre's direct lineage begins in the mid-1960s. American [[blues music]] was a major influence on the early [[British rock]]ers of the era. Bands like [[the Rolling Stones]] and [[the Yardbirds]] developed [[blues rock]] by recording covers of classic blues songs, often speeding up the [[tempo]]s. As they experimented with the music, the UK 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).<ref name=vdqxbw/> [[The Kinks]] played a major role in popularising this sound with their 1964 hit "[[You Really Got Me]]".<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 18; Walser (1993), p. 9</ref>

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.<ref>Wilkerson (2006), p. 19</ref><ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=the-yardbirds-mn0000489303|pure_url=yes}} "The Yardbirds"]. Richie Unterberger. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved 30 August 2011</ref> Where 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.<ref name=eyaqji>Walser (1993), p. 10</ref> 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-[[Marshall Amplification#Marshall stack|Marshalls]]" approach was seminal to the development of the later heavy metal sound.<ref>McMichael (2004), p. 112</ref>

The combination of this loud and heavy blues rock with [[psychedelic rock]] and [[acid rock]] formed much of the original basis for heavy metal.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 16</ref> 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,<ref name=AMgenre>{{AllMusic|class=style|id=acid-rock-ma0000012327}}</ref> or 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.<ref name="bisbort">{{cite book|last1=Bisbort|first1=Alan|last2=Puterbaugh|first2=Parke|title=Rhino's Psychedelic Trip|date=2000|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsa9NUlj9FsC&q=%22acid+rock%22+rawer&pg=PA31|access-date=5 August 2017|isbn=9780879306267}}</ref> In contrast to more idyllic or whimsical pop psychedelic rock, American acid rock [[garage bands]] such as the [[13th Floor Elevators]] epitomized the frenetic, heavier, darker, and more psychotic psychedelic rock sound known as acid rock, a sound characterized by [[Drone (music)|droning]] guitar riffs, amplified feedback, and guitar distortion, while the 13th Floor Elevators' sound in particular featured yelping vocals and "occasionally demented" lyrics.<ref name="unterberger">{{cite book|last1=Unterberger|first1=Richie|title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music|date=2001|publisher=Hal Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xR7MdpuSlAEC&q=%22occasionally+demented+lyrics%22&pg=PT384|access-date=5 August 2017|isbn=9780879306274}}</ref> Frank Hoffman noted that "[Psychedelic rock] was sometimes referred to as 'acid rock'. The latter label was applied to a pounding, [[hard rock]] variant that evolved out of the mid-1960s [[garage-punk]] movement.{{nbsp}}... When rock began turning back to softer, roots-oriented sounds in late 1968, acid-rock bands mutated into heavy metal acts."<ref>Hoffmann, Frank (ed.) (2004). ''Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound'', Routledge, p. 1725 {{ISBN|1135949506}}</ref>

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 (band)|Cream]], who derived a massive, heavy sound from [[unison]] riffing between guitarist [[Eric Clapton]] and bassist [[Jack Bruce]], as well as [[Ginger Baker]]'s double bass drumming.<ref>Charlton (2003), pp. 232–33</ref> 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 (album)|Are You Experienced]]'' (1967), was also highly influential. [[Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix]]'s virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists, and the album's most successful single, "[[Purple Haze]]", is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit.<ref name=vdqxbw/> [[Vanilla Fudge]], whose [[Vanilla Fudge (album)|first album]] also came out in 1967, has been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal,"<ref name=vanillafudge>{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=Vanilla Fudge (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vanilla-fudge-mn0000311674 |access-date=1 September 2009 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522061645/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vanilla-fudge-mn0000311674 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the band has been cited as an early American heavy metal group.<ref name="browne">{{cite book|last1=Browne|first1=Ray Broadus|last2=Browne|first2=Pat|title=The Guide to United States Popular Culture|date=2001|publisher=Popular Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&q=vanilla+fudge+heavy+metal&pg=PA373|isbn=9780879728212}}</ref> 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 a trippy, distorted haze".<ref name=vanillafudge/>

During the late 1960s, many psychedelic singers, such as [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]], began to create outlandish, theatrical, and often [[macabre]] performances that influenced many metal acts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Unterberger, Ritchie |title=Arthur Brown (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-brown-mn0000510278 |access-date=20 July 2011 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003031207/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-brown-mn0000510278 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Polly Marshall, ''The God of Hellfire, the Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown'', {{ISBN|0-946719-77-2}}, SAF Publishing, 2005, p. 175</ref><ref>Polly Marshall, ''The God of Hellfire, the Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown'', {{ISBN|0-946719-77-2}}, SAF Publishing, 200, p. 103</ref> The American psychedelic rock band [[Coven (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 – [[Satanism|Satanic]] or [[occult]] – imagery in their lyrics, album art and live performances, which consisted of elaborate, theatrical "[[Black Mass|Satanic rites]]". Coven's 1969 debut album, ''[[Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls]]'', featured imagery of skulls, [[black mass]]es, [[inverted cross]]es, and [[Satan]] worship, and both 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.<ref name="people">{{cite web|last1=Heigl|first1=Alex|title=The Overwhelming (and Overlooked) Darkness of Jinx Dawson and Coven|url=http://people.com/music/jinx-dawson-coven-overlooked-heavy-metal-influencers/|website=People.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808005612/https://people.com/music/jinx-dawson-coven-overlooked-heavy-metal-influencers/|archive-date=8 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="pattersonblackmetal"/> Coven's lyrical and thematic influences on heavy metal were quickly overshadowed by the darker and heavier sounds of [[Black Sabbath]].<ref name="people"/><ref name="pattersonblackmetal">{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Dayal|title=Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult|date=2013|publisher=Feral House|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kIxCgAAQBAJ&q=coven+%22heavy+metal%22&pg=PA3|isbn=9781936239764}}</ref>

===Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s=== [[File:John Kay of Steppenwolf (1970's).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|alt=Two performers from Steppenwolf are shown in an onstage performance. From left to right are an electric guitarist (only the instrument is shown) and singer John Kay, who is swinging the microphone.|John Kay of [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]]]] Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit 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 a heavy metal direction.<ref name="Charlton 2003, p. 241">Charlton (2003), p. 241</ref> A few commentators – mainly American – argue for other groups, including [[Iron Butterfly]], [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]], [[Blue Cheer]], or [[Vanilla Fudge]], as the first to play heavy metal.<ref>Weinstein (2000), pp. 14–15</ref>

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 the first true heavy metal recording.<ref>McCleary (2004), pp. 240, 50</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=An Answer to the Immortal Question: Who Invented Heavy Metal? |url=https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/who-invented-heavy-metal-music |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=Rockarchive |language=en |archive-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220623233109/https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/who-invented-heavy-metal-music |url-status=dead }}</ref> The same month, Steppenwolf released their [[steppenwolf (Steppenwolf album)|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 (Jeff Beck album)|Truth]]'', which featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time", breaking ground for generations of metal guitarists.<ref>Gene Santoro, quoted in Carson (2001), p. 86</ref> In September, Page's new band, Led Zeppelin, made its live debut in Denmark (but were billed as the New Yardbirds).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/september-7-1968|title=Led Zeppelin Teen-Clubs, Box 45, Egegaard Skole – September 7, 1968|website=Led Zeppelin – Official Website|date=20 September 2007|language=en|access-date=2 August 2017|archive-date=21 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421072409/https://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/september-7-1968|url-status=live}}</ref> [[The Beatles]]' double album [[The Beatles (album)|''The Beatles'']], released in November, included "[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]", one of the heaviest-sounding songs released by a major band at that time.<ref>Blake (1997), p. 143</ref> [[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".<ref>{{cite web |author=Strauss, Neil |title=The Pop Life: The First Rock Opera (No, Not 'Tommy') |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=3 September 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E0D6133FF930A3575AC0A96E958260 |access-date=26 June 2008 |archive-date=17 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217021010/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E0D6133FF930A3575AC0A96E958260 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Mason, Stewart. [{{AllMusic|class=song|id=i-see-you-mt0027360249|pure_url=yes}} "I See You: Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2012</ref> 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{{sfn|Rood|1994|p=6}} or the turning point in which acid rock became "heavy metal",<ref name="houstonpress">{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Nathan|title=The Warning: The 10 Heaviest Albums Before Black Sabbath|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-warning-the-10-heaviest-albums-before-black-sabbath-6779079|website=Houston Press|access-date=26 April 2016|date=13 February 2012|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404184734/https://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-warning-the-10-heaviest-albums-before-black-sabbath-6779079|url-status=live}}</ref> and both Iron Butterfly's 1968 album [[In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (album)|''In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'']] and Blue Cheer's 1968 album ''Vincebus Eruptum'' have been described as laying the foundation of heavy metal and greatly influential in the transformation of acid rock into heavy metal.<ref>Bukszpan (2003), p. 288</ref>

In this [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] period, [[MC5]], who began as part of the Detroit garage rock scene, developed a raw, distorted style that has been seen as a major influence on the future sound of both heavy metal and later [[Punk rock|punk music]].<ref>Bukszpan (2003), p. 141</ref><ref>Braunstein and Doyle (2002), p. 133</ref> [[The Stooges]] also began to establish and influence a heavy metal and later punk sound, with songs such as "[[I Wanna Be Your Dog]]", featuring pounding and distorted heavy guitar power chord riffs.<ref>{{cite book |author=Trynka, Paul |title=Iggy Pop: open up and bleed |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/iggypopopenupble00tryn/page/95 95] |isbn=978-0-7679-2319-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/iggypopopenupble00tryn/page/95 }}</ref> [[Pink Floyd]] released two of their heaviest and loudest songs to date, "[[Ibiza Bar]]" and "[[The Nile Song]]", the latter of which being regarded as "one of the heaviest songs the band recorded."<ref>Kellman, Andy. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=relics-mw0000309068|pure_url=yes}} "Relics, Pink Floyd: Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2012</ref><ref>J. DeRogatis, ''Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'' (Milwaukee, Michigan: Hal Leonard, 2003), {{ISBN|0-634-05548-8}}, p. 132</ref> [[King Crimson]]'s debut album ''[[In the Court of the Crimson King]]'' started with "[[21st Century Schizoid Man]]", which was considered heavy metal by several critics.<ref>Fricke, David. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090425074919/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe "King Crimson: The Power To Believe : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone"]}}. web.archive.org. Archived from the {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071028164021/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe original]}}.</ref><ref>[[#refBuckley2003|Buckley 2003]], p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of '21st Century Schizoid Man', and closing with the cathedral-sized title track,"</ref>

[[File:LedZeppelinChicago75 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|[[Led Zeppelin]] performing at [[Chicago Stadium]] in January 1975|alt=A colour photograph of the four members of Led Zeppelin performing onstage, with some other figures visible in the background. The band members shown are, from left to right, the bassist, drummer, guitarist, and lead singer. Large guitar speaker stacks are behind the band members.]]

In January 1969, Led Zeppelin's [[Led Zeppelin (album)|self-titled debut album]] was released and reached No. 10 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album chart. In July, Led Zeppelin and a power trio with a Cream-inspired, but cruder sound, called [[Grand Funk Railroad]] played the [[Atlanta International Pop Festival (1969)|Atlanta Pop Festival]]. That same month, another Cream-rooted trio led by [[Leslie West]] released ''[[Mountain (Leslie West album)|Mountain]]'', an album filled with heavy blues rock guitar and roaring vocals. In August, the group – now itself dubbed [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]] – played an hour-long set at the [[Woodstock Festival]], exposing the crowd of 300,000 people to the emerging sound of heavy metal.<ref name="prown">{{cite book|last1=Prown|first1=Pete|last2=Newquist|first2=HP|title=Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists|date=1997|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60Jde3l7WNwC&q=mississippi+queen+heavy+metal&pg=PA66|access-date=29 May 2017|isbn=9780793540426}}</ref><ref>Though often identified now as "hard rock", the band's official debut album, ''Mountain Climbing'' (1970), placed 85th on the list of "Top 100 Metal Albums" compiled by ''[[Hit Parader]]'' in 1989. In November, [[Love Sculpture]], with guitarist [[Dave Edmunds]], put out ''Forms and Feelings'', featuring a pounding, aggressive version of [[Aram Khachaturian]]'s "[[Sabre Dance]]". Grand Funk Railroad's ''Survival'' (1971) placed 72nd (Walser [1993], p. 174)</ref> Mountain's proto-metal or early heavy metal hit song "[[Mississippi Queen]]" from the album ''[[Climbing!]]'' is especially credited with paving the way for heavy metal and was one of the first heavy guitar songs to receive regular play on radio.<ref name=prown/><ref name="hoffmann">{{cite book|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Frank W.|title=Popular Culture and Libraries|date=1984|publisher=Library Professional Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdfWAAAAMAAJ&q=mississippi+queen+heavy+metal|isbn=9780208019813}}</ref><ref name="axs">{{cite web|last1=Ulibas|first1=Joseph|title=Hard rock band Mountain is riding the Mississippi Queen into the 21st century|url=https://www.axs.com/hard-rock-band-mountain-is-riding-the-mississippi-queen-into-the-21st--60208|website=AXS|access-date=29 May 2017|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402080055/https://www.axs.com/hard-rock-band-mountain-is-riding-the-mississippi-queen-into-the-21st--60208|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 1969, the Beatles released the album ''[[Abbey Road]]'' containing the track "[[I Want You (She's So Heavy)]]", which has been credited as an early example of or influence on heavy metal or [[doom metal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/50-heaviest-songs-black-sabbath-40-31?page=0,6|title=The 50 Heaviest Songs Before Black Sabbath: #40-31|work=Guitar World|date=11 October 2015|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-date=23 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723011202/http://www.guitarworld.com/50-heaviest-songs-black-sabbath-40-31?page=0,6|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Classic Rock Magazine, September 2014</ref> In October 1969, British band [[High Tide (band)|High Tide]] debuted with the heavy, proto-metal album ''[[Sea Shanties (High Tide album)|Sea Shanties]]''.<ref name="Allmusic">Neate, Wilson [http://allmusic.com/album/sea-shanties-r40604/review AllMusic Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218061724/http://www.allmusic.com/album/sea-shanties-r40604/review |date=18 February 2011 }}</ref><ref name="houstonpress"/>

Led Zeppelin defined central aspects of the emerging genre, with Page's highly distorted guitar style and singer [[Robert Plant]]'s dramatic, wailing vocals.<ref>Charlton (2003), p. 239</ref> Other bands, with a more consistently heavy, "purely" metal sound, would prove equally important in codifying the genre. The 1970 releases by Black Sabbath (''[[Black Sabbath (album)|Black Sabbath]]'', which is generally accepted as the first heavy metal album,<ref>Wagner (2010), p. 10</ref> and ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]'') and Deep Purple (''[[Deep Purple in Rock]]'') were crucial in this regard.<ref name=eyaqji/>

Birmingham's Black Sabbath had developed a particularly heavy sound in part due to a work accident in which guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] lost the ends of two fingers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/horrific-accident-created-heavy-metal-tony-iommi/|title=The Horrific Accident That Created Heavy Metal|website=loudwire.com|date=25 February 2022 |publisher=Townsquare Media}}</ref> Unable to play normally, Iommi had to tune his guitar down for easier fretting and rely on power chords with their relatively simple fingering.<ref>di Perna, Alan. "The History of Hard Rock: The 70's". ''Guitar World''. March 2001</ref> The bleak, industrial, working-class environment of Birmingham, a manufacturing city full of noisy factories and metalworking, has itself been credited with influencing Black Sabbath's heavy, chugging, metallic sound – and the sound of heavy metal in general.<ref name="allsop">{{cite news|last1=Allsop|first1=Laura|title=Birmingham, England{{nbsp}}... the unlikely birthplace of heavy metal|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/01/birmingham.home.of.metal/index.html|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=CNN|date=1 July 2011|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326052310/http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/01/birmingham.home.of.metal/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wood">{{cite news|last1=Wood|first1=Rebecca|title=Black Sabbath: 'We hated being a heavy metal band'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-38768573|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=BBC|date=4 February 2017|archive-date=7 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607025846/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-38768573|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="newyorker">{{cite news|last1=Michaud|first1=Jon|title=Keeping the Sabbath|url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/keeping-the-sabbath|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=The New Yorker|date=4 August 2013|archive-date=29 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729110810/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/keeping-the-sabbath|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="birmingham">{{cite news|last1=Bentley|first1=David|title=Midlands rocks! How Birmingham's industrial heritage made it the birthplace of heavy metal|url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/music/birmingham-birthplace-of-heavy-metal-4031445|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=Birmingham Post|date=4 June 2013|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522134603/https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/music/birmingham-birthplace-of-heavy-metal-4031445|url-status=live}}</ref>

Deep Purple had fluctuated between styles in its early years, but by 1969, vocalist [[Ian Gillan]] and guitarist [[Ritchie Blackmore]] had led the band toward the developing heavy metal style.<ref name="Charlton 2003, p. 241"/> In 1970, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple scored major U.K. chart hits with "[[Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)|Paranoid]]" and "[[Black Night]]", respectively.<ref name="RnR Hall of Fame">{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/black-sabbath|title=Black Sabbath|publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]|access-date=8 March 2010|archive-date=4 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504054258/http://rockhall.com/inductees/black-sabbath|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#refBuckley2003|Buckley 2003]], p. 232, "''{{'}}Black Night', a UK #2 hit in November 1970, stole its riff from Ricky Nelson's 'Summertime'.''"</ref> That same year, two other British bands released debut albums in a heavy metal mode: [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]] with ''[[...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble|...{{nbsp}}Very 'Eavy{{nbsp}}... Very 'Umble]]'' and [[UFO (band)|UFO]] with ''[[Unidentified Flying Object (album)|UFO 1]]''. [[Bloodrock]] released their [[Bloodrock (album)|self-titled debut album]], a collection of heavy guitar riffs, gruff style vocals and sadistic and macabre lyrics.<ref>Guarisco, Donald A. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=bloodrock-mw0000176093|pure_url=yes}} "''Bloodrock'' Review"]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved 5 February 2012</ref> The influential [[Budgie (band)|Budgie]] brought the new metal sound into a power trio context, creating some of the heaviest music of the time.<ref>{{cite web |author=Henderson, Alex |title=''Budgie'' (review) |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/budgie-mw0000208307 |access-date=15 September 2009 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404101209/https://www.allmusic.com/album/budgie-mw0000208307 |url-status=live }}</ref> The occult lyrics and imagery employed by Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep would prove particularly influential; Led Zeppelin also began foregrounding such elements with its [[Led Zeppelin IV|fourth album]], released in 1971.<ref>Fast (2001), pp. 70–71</ref> In 1973, Deep Purple released the song "[[Smoke on the Water]]", whose iconic riff is usually considered as the most recognizable one in "heavy rock" history, as a single of the classic live album ''[[Made in Japan (Deep Purple album)|Made in Japan]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/iconic-guitar-riffs-rock-history-article-1.2745646|title=SEE IT: From 'Kashmir' to 'Layla,' a look at the most iconic guitar riffs in rock history|first=Nicholas|last=Parco|website=Nydailynews.com|date=10 August 2016|access-date=7 June 2018|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404215815/https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/iconic-guitar-riffs-rock-history-article-1.2745646|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-lars-ulrichs-passionate-deep-purple-rock-hall-induction-20160408|title=Read Lars Ulrich's Deep Purple Rock Hall Induction Speech|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=7 June 2018|date=9 April 2016|archive-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430193005/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-lars-ulrichs-passionate-deep-purple-rock-hall-induction-20160408|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Phil-Lynott Thin Lizzy.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Three members of the band Thin Lizzy are shown onstage. From left to right are a guitarist, bass player, and another electric guitarist. Both electric guitarists have long hair.|[[Brian Robertson (guitarist)|Brian Robertson]], [[Phil Lynott]] and [[Scott Gorham]] of [[Thin Lizzy]] performing during the Bad Reputation Tour, 24 November 1977]] On the other side of the Atlantic, the trendsetting group was [[Grand Funk Railroad]], who was described as "the most commercially successful American heavy-metal band from 1970 until they disbanded in 1976, [they] established the Seventies success formula: continuous touring."<ref>Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 225</ref> Other influential bands identified with metal emerged in the U.S. such as [[Sir Lord Baltimore]] (''[[Kingdom Come (Sir Lord Baltimore album)|Kingdom Come]],'' 1970), [[Blue Öyster Cult]] (''[[Blue Öyster Cult (album)|Blue Öyster Cult]]'', 1972), [[Aerosmith]] (''[[Aerosmith (album)|Aerosmith]]'', 1973) and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] (''[[Kiss (Kiss album)|Kiss]]'', 1974). Sir Lord Baltimore's 1970 debut album and both [[Humble Pie (band)|Humble Pie]]'s [[As Safe As Yesterday Is|debut]] and [[Humble Pie (album)|self-titled third album]] were among the first albums to be described in print as "heavy metal", with ''As Safe As Yesterday Is'' referred to by the term "heavy metal" in a 1970 review in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine.<ref>Saunders, Mike. ''[https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/312133/review/5943267/as_safe_as_yesterday_is Rolling Stone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112065633/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/312133/review/5943267/as_safe_as_yesterday_is |date=12 January 2010 }}'' 12 November 1970</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/11/label-love-immediate-records|work=theguardian.com|title=Label of love: Immediate Records|date=11 May 2009|author=Owen Adams|access-date=5 August 2017|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405045103/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/11/label-love-immediate-records|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=baltimore/><ref name=humble/> In Germany, [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] debuted with ''[[Lonesome Crow]]'' in 1972. Blackmore, who had emerged as a virtuoso soloist with Deep Purple's highly influential album ''[[Machine Head (album)|Machine Head]]'' (1972), left the band in 1975 to form [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]] with [[Ronnie James Dio]], singer and bassist for blues rock band [[Elf (band)|Elf]] and future vocalist for Black Sabbath and heavy metal band [[Dio (band)|Dio]]. Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio would expand on the mystical and [[fantasy]]-based lyrics and themes sometimes found in heavy metal, pioneering both [[power metal]] and [[neoclassical metal]].<ref name="Eduardo Rivadavia">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rainbow-mn0000391933/biography |first=Eduardo |last=Rivadavia |title=Rainbow |website=AllMusic |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-date=16 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816063249/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rainbow-mn0000391933/biography |url-status=live }}</ref> These bands also built audiences via constant touring and increasingly elaborate stage shows.<ref name=eyaqji/>

There are arguments about whether these and other early bands truly qualify as "heavy metal" or simply as "hard rock". Those closer to the music's blues roots or placing greater emphasis on melody are now commonly ascribed the latter label. [[AC/DC]], which debuted with ''[[High Voltage (Australian album)|High Voltage]]'' in 1975, is a prime example. The 1983 ''Rolling Stone'' encyclopedia entry begins, "Australian heavy-metal band AC/DC ..."<ref>Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 1</ref> Rock historian Clinton Walker wrote, "Calling AC/DC a heavy metal band in the seventies was as inaccurate as it is today.{{nbsp}}... [They] were a rock 'n' roll band that just happened to be heavy enough for metal."<ref>Walker (2001), p. 297</ref> The issue is not only one of shifting definitions, but also a persistent distinction between musical style and audience identification; Ian Christe describes how the band "became the stepping-stone that led huge numbers of hard rock fans into heavy metal perdition".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 54</ref>

In certain cases, there is little debate. After Black Sabbath, the next major example is Britain's [[Judas Priest]], which debuted with ''[[Rocka Rolla]]'' in 1974. In Christe's description,

<blockquote>Black Sabbath's audience was{{nbsp}}... 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 (band)|Queen]], and in the thundering medieval questions of Rainbow.{{nbsp}}... 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.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 19–20</ref></blockquote>

Though Judas Priest did not have a top 40 album in the United States until 1980, for many it was the definitive post-Sabbath heavy metal band; its twin-guitar attack, featuring rapid tempos and a non-bluesy, more cleanly metallic sound, was a major influence on later acts.<ref name="Walser 1993, p. 6"/> While heavy metal was growing in popularity, most critics were not enamored of the music. Objections were raised to metal's adoption of visual spectacle and other trappings of commercial artifice,<ref name=gnwtey>Walser (1993), p. 11</ref> but the main offense was its perceived musical and lyrical vacuity: reviewing a Black Sabbath album in the early 1970s, [[Robert Christgau]] described it as "dull and decadent{{nbsp}}... dim-witted, amoral exploitation."<ref>Christgau (1981), p. 49</ref>

===Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s=== [[File:Iron Maiden - bass and guitars 30nov2006.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Four members of Iron Maiden are shown in concert. From left to right are a bass guitarist and then three electric guitarists. All members shown have long hair.|[[Iron Maiden]], one of the central bands in the [[new wave of British heavy metal]]]] [[Punk rock]] emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against contemporary social conditions as well as what was perceived as the overindulgent, overproduced rock music of the time, including heavy metal. Sales of heavy metal records declined sharply in the late 1970s in the face of punk, [[disco]] and more mainstream rock.<ref name=gnwtey/> With the major labels fixated on punk, many newer British heavy metal bands were inspired by the movement's aggressive, high-energy sound and "[[lo-fi (music)|lo-fi]]", [[do it yourself]] ethos. Underground metal bands began putting out cheaply recorded releases independently to small, devoted audiences.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 30, 33</ref>

[[Motörhead]], founded in 1975, was the first important band to straddle the punk/metal divide. With the explosion of punk in 1977, others followed. British music magazines such as the ''[[NME]]'' and ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' took notice, with ''Sounds'' writer Geoff Barton christening the movement the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 33</ref> NWOBHM bands including [[Iron Maiden]], [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] and [[Def Leppard]] re-energized the heavy metal genre. Following the lead set by Judas Priest and Motörhead, they toughened up the sound, reduced its blues elements and emphasized increasingly fast tempos.<ref>{{cite web |title=Judas Priest |author1=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |author2=Prato, Greg |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/judas-priest-mn0000246611 |access-date=30 April 2007 |archive-date=18 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018235312/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/judas-priest-mn0000246611 |url-status=live }} {{cite web |title=Genre—New Wave of British Heavy Metal |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-wave-of-british-heavy-metal-ma0000004491 |access-date=17 March 2007 |archive-date=18 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018192241/https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-wave-of-british-heavy-metal-ma0000004491 |url-status=live }}</ref>

"This seemed to be the resurgence of heavy metal," noted [[Ronnie James Dio]], who joined Black Sabbath in 1979. "I've never thought there was a ''desurgence'' of heavy metal – if that's a word! – but it was important to me that, yet again ''[after [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]]]'', I could be involved in something that was paving the way for those who are going to come after me."<ref>Ronnie James Dio interview with [[Tommy Vance]] for [[BBC Radio 1]]'s ''[[Friday Rock Show]]''; broadcast on 21 August 1987; transcribed by editor Peter Scott for Sabbath [[fanzine]] ''Southern Cross'' #11, October 1996, p27</ref>

By 1980, the NWOBHM had broken into the mainstream, as albums by Iron Maiden and Saxon, as well as Motörhead, reached the British top 10. Though less commercially successful, NWOBHM bands such as [[Venom (band)|Venom]] and [[Diamond Head (English band)|Diamond Head]] would have a significant influence on metal's development.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 44</ref> In 1981, Motörhead became the first of this new breed of metal bands to top the U.K. charts with the live album ''[[No Sleep 'til Hammersmith]]''.<ref name="RC1">{{cite journal |last=Burridge |first=Alan |date=April 1991 |title=Motörhead |journal=[[Record Collector]] |issue=140 |pages=18–19 }}</ref>

The first generation of metal bands was ceding the limelight. Deep Purple broke up soon after Blackmore's departure in 1975, and Led Zeppelin split following drummer [[John Bonham]]'s death in 1980. Black Sabbath were plagued with infighting and substance abuse, while facing fierce competition from [[Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath)|their opening band]], [[Van Halen]].<ref>Popoff (2011), ''Black Sabbath FAQ: All That's Left to Know on the First Name in Metal'' P. 130</ref><ref>Christe (2003), p. 25</ref> [[Eddie Van Halen]] established himself as one of the leading metal guitarists of the era. His solo on "[[Eruption (instrumental)|Eruption]]", from the band's [[Van Halen (album)|self-titled 1978 album]], is considered a milestone.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 51</ref> Eddie Van Halen's sound even crossed over into pop music when his guitar solo was featured on the track "[[Beat It]]" by [[Michael Jackson]], which reached No. 1 in the U.S. in February 1983.<ref>"Van Halen – Van Halen." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 4 October 2015</ref>

Inspired by Van Halen's success, a metal scene began to develop in Southern California during the late 1970s. Based on the clubs of L.A.'s [[Sunset Strip]], bands such as [[Mötley Crüe]], [[Quiet Riot]], [[Ratt]] and [[W.A.S.P. (band)|W.A.S.P.]] were influenced by traditional heavy metal of the 1970s.<ref>Rivadavia, Eduardo. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=quiet-riot-mn0000859868|pure_url=yes}} "Quiet Riot"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 25 March 2007; Neely, Kim {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071002050205/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ratt/albums/album/211449/review/5946112/detonator "Ratt"]}}. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 3 April 2007; Barry Weber & Greg Prato. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mötley-crüe-mn0000500992|pure_url=yes}} "Mötley Crüe"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 3 April 2007; Dolas, Yiannis. [http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=637&type=1&sub=%20&lang=EN "Blackie Lawless Interview"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425113211/http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=637&type=1&sub=%20&lang=EN |date=25 April 2011 }}. Rockpages. Retrieved on 3 April 2007</ref> These acts incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) of [[glam metal]] or "hair metal" bands such as [[Alice Cooper]] and Kiss.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 55–57</ref> Glam metal bands were often visually distinguished by long, overworked hairstyles accompanied by wardrobes which were sometimes considered cross-gender. The lyrics of these glam metal bands characteristically emphasized [[hedonism]] and wild behavior, including lyrics that involved sexual expletives and the use of narcotics.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Freeborn|first1=Robert|title=A SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY OF SCANDINAVIAN HEAVY METAL MUSIC|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association|date=June 2010|volume=66|issue=4|pages=840–850}}</ref>{{Listen |filename=Iron Maiden Purgatory 29 second file.ogg |title="Purgatory" |description=Sample of "[[Purgatory (song)|Purgatory]]" by [[Iron Maiden]], from the album ''[[Killers (Iron Maiden album)|Killers]]'' (1981). The early Iron Maiden sound was a mix of punk rock speed and heavy metal guitar work typical of the new wave of British heavy metal. }} In the wake of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Judas Priest's breakthrough with ''[[British Steel (album)|British Steel]]'' (1980), heavy metal became increasingly popular in the early 1980s. Many metal artists benefited from the exposure they received on [[MTV]], which began airing in 1981; sales often soared if a band's videos screened on the channel.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 79</ref> Def Leppard's videos for ''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]'' (1983) made them superstars in America, and Quiet Riot became the first domestic heavy metal band to top the ''Billboard'' chart with ''[[Metal Health]]'' (1983). One of the seminal events in metal's growing popularity was the 1983 [[US Festival]] in California, where the "heavy metal day" featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and others drew the largest audiences of the three-day event.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 45</ref>

Between 1983 and 1984, heavy metal's share of all recordings sold in the U.S. increased from 8% to 20%.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 12</ref> Several major professional magazines devoted to the genre were launched, including ''[[Kerrang!]]'' in 1981 and ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' in 1984, as well as a host of fan journals. In 1985, ''Billboard'' declared: "Metal has broadened its audience base. Metal music is no longer the exclusive domain of male teenagers. The metal audience has become older (college-aged), younger (pre-teen), and more female."<ref>Walser (1993), pp. 12–13, 182 n. 35</ref>

By the mid-1980s, glam metal was a dominant presence on the U.S. charts, [[music television]] and the arena concert circuit. New bands such as L.A.'s [[Warrant (American band)|Warrant]] and acts from the East Coast like [[Poison (band)|Poison]] and [[Cinderella (band)|Cinderella]] became major draws, while Mötley Crüe and Ratt remained very popular. Bridging the stylistic gap between hard rock and glam metal, [[New Jersey]]'s [[Bon Jovi]] became enormously successful with its third album, ''[[Slippery When Wet]]'' (1986). The similarly styled Swedish band [[Europe (band)|Europe]] became international stars with ''[[The Final Countdown (album)|The Final Countdown]]'' (1986), whose [[The Final Countdown (song)|title track]] hit No. 1 in 25 countries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rock Group Europe Plan Comeback |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2003 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3162506.stm |access-date=28 November 2008 |location=London |archive-date=16 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216130130/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3162506.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1987, MTV launched ''[[Headbangers Ball]]'', a show devoted exclusively to heavy metal videos. However, the metal audience had begun to factionalize, with those in many underground metal scenes favoring more extreme sounds and disparaging the popular style as "light metal" or "hair metal".<ref>Walser (1993), p. 14; Christe (2003), p. 170</ref>

One band that reached diverse audiences was [[Guns N' Roses]]. With the release of their chart-topping album ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]'' in 1987, they "recharged and almost single-handedly sustained the Sunset Strip sleaze system for several years".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 165</ref> The following year, [[Jane's Addiction]] emerged from the same L.A. hard-rock club scene with their major-label debut, ''[[Nothing's Shocking]]''. Reviewing the album, Steve Pond of ''Rolling Stone'' declared, "As much as any band in existence, Jane's Addiction is the true heir to Led Zeppelin."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Jane's Addiction: ''Nothing's Shocking'' |author=Steve Pond |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=20 October 1988 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/janesaddiction/albums/album/119704/review/5942383/nothings_shocking |access-date=1 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002080218/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/janesaddiction/albums/album/119704/review/5942383/nothings_shocking |archive-date=2 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The group was one of the first to be identified with the "[[alternative metal]]" trend that would come to the fore in the next decade. Meanwhile, new bands like New York City's [[Winger (band)|Winger]] and New Jersey's [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]] sustained the popularity of the glam metal style.<ref name=Covach>Covach, John. [http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/music/rockhistory/outlines/ch12.htm "Heavy Metal, Rap, and the Rise of Alternative Rock (1982–1992)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604211738/http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/music/rockhistory/outlines/ch12.htm |date=4 June 2012 }}. ''What's That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and its History'' (W. W. Norton). Retrieved on 16 November 2007</ref>

===Other heavy metal genres: 1980s, 1990s and 2000s=== [[File:Suicidal Tendencies @ Capitol (18 5 2011) (5770925587).jpg|thumb|left|alt=The drummer from the band Suicidal Tendencies, Eric Moore, is shown behind his drumkit. One hand is raised with the index finger and pinky extended.|Drummer [[List of Suicidal Tendencies band members|Eric Moore]] from [[crossover thrash]] band [[Suicidal Tendencies]]]] Many [[list of heavy metal genres|subgenres of heavy metal]] developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s,<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 21</ref> such as [[crossover thrash]]. Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of [[AllMusic]], as well as critic [[Rockdetector|Garry Sharpe-Young]]. Sharpe-Young's multivolume metal encyclopedia separates the underground into five major categories: [[thrash metal]], [[death metal]], [[black metal]], [[power metal]] and the related subgenres of [[doom metal|doom]] and [[gothic metal]].<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), p. 2</ref>

In 1990, a review in ''Rolling Stone'' suggested retiring the term "heavy metal" as the genre was "ridiculously vague".<ref name="rs-1990">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121842/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time|access-date=17 July 2015|archive-date=8 January 2008|title=Anthrax: Persistence of Time|last=Neely|first=Kim|date=4 October 1990|url-status=dead|work=[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> The article stated that the term only fueled "misperceptions of rock & roll bigots who still assume that five bands as different as [[Ratt]], [[Extreme (band)|Extreme]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] and [[Mother Love Bone]]" sound the same.<ref name="rs-1990" />

====Thrash metal==== {{Main|Thrash metal}} [[File:Slayer, The Fields of Rock, 2007.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|alt=The band Slayer is shown at concert. From left to right are an electric guitarist, a bass player (also singing), an electric guitarists, and a drummer. The first guitarist and bassist have long hair. The right-most guitarist has a bald head. The drummer has two bass drums.|Thrash metal band [[Slayer]] performing in 2007 in front of a wall of speaker stacks]] Thrash metal emerged in the early 1980s under the influence of [[hardcore punk]] and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,<ref name=GTM>[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=speed-thrash-metal-ma0000002874|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Thrash Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 3 March 007</ref> particularly songs in the revved-up style known as [[speed metal]]. The movement began in the United States, with [[Bay Area thrash metal]] being the leading scene. The sound developed by thrash groups was faster and more aggressive than that of the original metal bands and their glam metal successors.<ref name=GTM/> Low-register guitar riffs are typically overlaid with [[shred guitar|shredding]] leads. Lyrics often express [[nihilism|nihilistic]] views or deal with [[social issues]] using visceral, gory language. Thrash has been described as a form of "urban blight music" and "a palefaced cousin of rap".<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 26</ref>

The subgenre was popularized by the "Big Four of Thrash": [[Metallica]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], [[Megadeth]] and [[Slayer]].<ref>Walser (1993), p.14</ref> Three German bands, [[Kreator]], [[Sodom (band)|Sodom]] and [[Destruction (band)|Destruction]], played a central role in bringing the style to Europe. Others, including the San Francisco Bay Area's [[Testament (band)|Testament]] and [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]], New Jersey's [[Overkill (band)|Overkill]], and Brazil's [[Sepultura]] and [[Sarcófago]], also had a significant impact. Although thrash metal began as an underground movement, and remained largely that for almost a decade, the leading bands of the scene began to reach a wider audience. Metallica brought the sound into the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' album chart in 1986 with ''[[Master of Puppets]]'', the genre's first Platinum record.<ref>Nicholls (1997), p. 378</ref> Two years later, the band's album ''[[...And Justice for All (album)|...{{nbsp}}And Justice for All]]'' hit No. 6, while Megadeth and Anthrax also had top 40 records on the American charts.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Metallica|chart=all}} "Metallica—Artist Chart History"]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Megadeth|chart=all}} "Megadeth—Artist Chart History"]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Anthrax|chart=all}} "Anthrax—Artist Chart History"]. Billboard.com. Retrieved 7 April 2007</ref>

Though less commercially successful than the rest of the Big Four, Slayer released one of the genre's definitive records: ''[[Reign in Blood]]'' (1986) was credited for incorporating heavier guitar [[timbre]]s and including explicit depictions of death, suffering, violence and occult into thrash metal's lyricism.<ref>Phillipov (2012), p. 15, 16</ref> Slayer attracted a following among [[white power skinhead|far-right skinheads]], and accusations of promoting violence and [[Nazism|Nazi]] themes have dogged the band.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 30; O'Neil (2001), p. 164</ref> Even though Slayer did not receive substantial media exposure, their music played a key role in the development of [[extreme metal]].<ref>Harrison (2011), p. 61</ref>

In the early 1990s, bands that got their start in thrash metal achieved breakout success, challenging and redefining the metal mainstream.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 15</ref> Metallica's [[Metallica (album)|self-titled 1991 album]] topped the ''Billboard'' chart,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1991-08-31/billboard-200|title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022|archive-date=29 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629082954/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1991-08-31/billboard-200|url-status=live}}</ref> as the band established an international following.<ref>Harrison (2011), p. 60</ref> Megadeth's ''[[Countdown to Extinction]]'' (1992) debuted at No. 2,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1992-08-01/billboard-200|title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022|archive-date=8 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108165312/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1992-08-01/billboard-200|url-status=live}}</ref> Anthrax and Slayer cracked the top 10,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1993-06-12/billboard-200|title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022|archive-date=29 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629053126/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1993-06-12/billboard-200|url-status=live}}</ref> and albums by regional bands such as Testament and Sepultura entered the top 100.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=testament|chart=all}} Billboard 200 Chart Position: Testament – ''Ritual'', chart date: 30 May 1992]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=sepultura|chart=all}} Billboard 200 Chart Position: Sepultura – ''Chaos A.D.'', chart date: 6 November 1993]</ref>

====Death metal==== {{Main|Death metal}} [[File:Chuck Schuldiner.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|alt=A man, Chuck Schuldiner, is shown on a dark shoreline. He has long hair, black pants and a black shirt, and a black leather jacket.|[[Death (metal band)|Death]]'s [[Chuck Schuldiner]], "widely recognized as the father of death metal"<ref>Rivadavia, Eduardo. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=death-mn0000228323|pure_url=yes}} "Death—Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 23 November 2007</ref>]]

Thrash metal soon began to evolve and split into more extreme metal genres. "Slayer's music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal," according to MTV News.<ref>[http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal/greatest_metal_bands/071406/index7.jhtml The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time—Slayer] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718224746/http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal/greatest_metal_bands/071406/index7.jhtml |date=18 July 2006 }}. MTVNews.com. Retrieved on 27 February 2008</ref> The NWOBHM band Venom was also an important progenitor. The death metal movement in both North America and Europe adopted and emphasized the elements of [[blasphemy]] and [[diabolism]] employed by such acts. Florida's [[Death (metal band)|Death]], San Francisco Bay Area's [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]] and Ohio's [[Necrophagia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/necrophagia-mn0000862214/biography|title=Necrophagia – Biography & History – AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=29 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140959/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/necrophagia-mn0000862214/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> are recognized as seminal bands in the style. All three have been credited with inspiring the subgenre's name. Possessed in particular did so via their 1984 demo, ''Death Metal'', and their song "Death Metal", which came from their 1985 debut album, ''[[Seven Churches (album)|Seven Churches]]''. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Swedish death metal became notable and melodic forms of death metal were created.<ref>Ekeroth, Daniel (2011)</ref>

Death metal utilizes the speed and aggression of both thrash and hardcore, fused with lyrics preoccupied with [[Z movie|Z-grade]] [[slasher film|slasher movie]] violence and [[Satanism]].<ref name=LOC27>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 27</ref> Death metal vocals are typically bleak, involving guttural "[[death growl]]s", high-pitched [[screaming (music)|screaming]], the "death rasp"<ref name=VS>Van Schaik, Mark. [http://www.emptywords.org/SK04-2000.htm "Extreme Metal Drumming"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924000351/http://www.emptywords.org/SK04-2000.htm |date=24 September 2015 }} ''Slagwerkkrant'', March/April 2000. Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref> and other uncommon techniques.<ref name="Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d384|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal"]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved on 27 February 2007</ref> Complementing the deep, aggressive vocal style are down-tuned, heavily [[distortion (guitar)|distorted]] guitars<ref name=LOC27/><ref name=VS/> and extremely fast percussion, often with rapid [[bass drum|double bass]] drumming and "wall of sound"–style [[blast beats]]. Frequent tempo and [[time signature]] changes and [[syncopation]] are also typical.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kahn-Harris|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Kahn-Harris|year=2007|title=Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge|publisher=[[Berg Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-84520-399-3}}</ref>

Death metal, like thrash metal, generally rejects the theatrics of earlier metal styles, opting instead for an everyday look of ripped jeans and plain leather jackets.<ref name=MS28>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 28</ref> One major exception to this rule was [[Deicide (band)|Deicide]]'s [[Glen Benton]], who branded an inverted cross on his forehead and wore armor on stage. [[Morbid Angel]] adopted [[neo-fascist]] imagery.<ref name=MS28/> These two bands, along with Death and [[Obituary (band)|Obituary]], were leaders of the major death metal scene that emerged in Florida in the mid-1980s. In the U.K., the related style of [[grindcore]], led by bands such as [[Napalm Death]] and [[Extreme Noise Terror]], emerged from the [[anarcho-punk]] movement.<ref name=LOC27/>

====Black metal==== {{Main|Black metal}}

The first wave of black metal emerged in Europe in the early and mid-1980s, led by the United Kingdom's [[Venom (band)|Venom]], Denmark's [[Mercyful Fate]], Switzerland's [[Hellhammer]] and [[Celtic Frost]], and Sweden's [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]]. By the late 1980s, Norwegian bands such as [[Mayhem (band)|Mayhem]] and [[Burzum]] were heading a second wave.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 270</ref> Black metal varies considerably in style and production quality, although most bands emphasize shrieked and growled vocals, highly distorted guitars frequently played with rapid [[tremolo picking]], a dark atmosphere<ref name="Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal"/> and intentionally lo-fi production, often with ambient noise and background hiss.<ref>Jurek, Thom. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=nefaria-mw0000567088|pure_url=yes}} "Striborg: ''Nefaria''"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref>

Satanic themes are common in black metal, though many bands take inspiration from ancient [[paganism]], promoting a return to supposed pre-Christian values.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 212</ref> Numerous black metal bands also "experiment with sounds from all possible forms of metal, folk, classical music, electronica and avant-garde".<ref name=VS/> [[Darkthrone]] drummer [[Fenriz]] explained: "It had something to do with production, lyrics, the way they dressed and a commitment to making ugly, raw, grim stuff. There wasn't a generic sound."<ref name=Campion>Campion, Chris. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/feb/20/popandrock4#article_continue "In the Face of Death"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123093525/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/feb/20/popandrock4#article_continue |date=23 January 2016 }}. ''The Observer'' (UK), 20 February 2005. Retrieved on 4 April 2007</ref>

Although bands such as [[Sarcófago]] had been donning [[corpsepaint]], by 1990, Mayhem was regularly wearing it; many other black metal acts also adopted the look. Bathory inspired the [[Viking metal]] and [[folk metal]] movements, and [[Immortal (band)|Immortal]] brought blast beats to the fore. Some bands in the Scandinavian black metal scene became associated with considerable violence in the early 1990s,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 276</ref> with Mayhem and Burzum linked to church burnings. Growing commercial hype around death metal generated a backlash; beginning in Norway, much of the Scandinavian metal underground shifted to support a black metal scene that resisted being co-opted by the commercial metal industry.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), pp. 31–32</ref>

By 1992, black metal scenes had begun to emerge in areas outside Scandinavia, including Germany, France and Poland.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), pp. 271, 321, 326</ref> The 1993 murder of Mayhem's [[Euronymous]] by Burzum's [[Varg Vikernes]] provoked intensive media coverage.<ref name=Campion/> Around 1996, when many in the scene felt the genre was stagnating,<ref>Vikernes, Varg. [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story06.shtml "A Burzum Story: Part VI—The Music"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107002424/http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story06.shtml |date=7 January 2010 }}. Burzum.org, July 2005; retrieved on 4 April 2007</ref> several key bands, including Burzum and Finland's [[Beherit (band)|Beherit]], moved toward an [[dark ambient|ambient]] style, while [[symphonic black metal]] was explored by Sweden's [[Tiamat (band)|Tiamat]] and Switzerland's [[Samael (band)|Samael]].<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=symphonic-black-metal-ma0000012290|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Symphonic Black Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 9 April 2007</ref> In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Norway's [[Dimmu Borgir]] and England's [[Cradle of Filth]] brought black metal closer to the mainstream.<ref>Tepedelen, Adem. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031005254/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/dimmuborgir/articles/story/5935933/dimmu_borgirs_death_cult "Dimmu Borgir's 'Death Cult'"]}} (Archived at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031005254/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/dimmuborgir/articles/story/5935933/dimmu_borgirs_death_cult Wayback]}} on 31 October 2007). ''Rolling Stone'', 7 November 2003. Retrieved on 10 September 2007</ref><ref>Bennett, J. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070515040459/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/jun2007/dimmuborgir.aspx "Dimmu Borgir"]}}. ''Decibel'', June 2007. Retrieved on 10 September 2007</ref>

====Power metal==== {{Main|Power metal}} [[File:Rhapsody_Buenos_Aires_2010.JPG|thumb|Italian band [[Rhapsody of Fire]] performing in Buenos Aires in 2010]] During the late 1980s, the power metal scene came together largely in reaction to the harshness of death and black metal.<ref name="Genre - Power Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=power-metal-ma0000011913|pure_url=yes}} "Genre – Power Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 20 March 2007</ref> Though a relatively underground style in North America, it enjoys wide popularity in Europe, Japan and South America. Power metal focuses on upbeat, epic melodies and themes that "appeal to the listener's sense of valor and loveliness".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 372</ref> The prototype for the sound was established in the mid- to late 1980s by Germany's [[Helloween]], who, in their 1987 and 1988 ''[[Keeper of the Seven Keys (disambiguation)|Keeper of the Seven Keys]]'' albums, combined the power riffs, melodic approach and a high-pitched, "clean" singing style of bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden with thrash's speed and energy, "crystalliz[ing] the sonic ingredients of what is now known as power metal".<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=helloween-mn0000957340|pure_url=yes}} "Helloween – Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 8 April 2007</ref>

Traditional power metal bands like Sweden's [[HammerFall]], England's [[DragonForce]] and the U.S.'s [[Iced Earth]] have a sound clearly indebted to the classic NWOBHM style.<ref>See, e.g., Reesman, Bryan. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=glory-to-the-brave-mw0000233637|pure_url=yes}} "HammerFall: ''Glory to the Brave''"]. AllMusic; Henderson, Alex. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=sonic-firestorm-mw0000333007|pure_url=yes}} "DragonForce: ''Sonic Firestorm''"]. AllMusic. Both retrieved on 11 November 2007</ref> Many power metal bands such as the U.S.'s [[Kamelot]], Finland's [[Nightwish]], [[Stratovarius]] and [[Sonata Arctica]], Italy's [[Rhapsody of Fire]] and Russia's [[Catharsis (Russian band)|Catharsis]] feature a keyboard-based [[Symphonic power metal|"symphonic" sound]], sometimes employing orchestras and opera singers. Power metal has built a strong fanbase in Japan and South America, where bands like Brazil's [[Angra (band)|Angra]] and Argentina's [[Rata Blanca]] are popular.<ref name="A-Z of Power Metal">{{cite book |last=Sharpe-Young |first=Garry |year=2003 |title=A-Z of Power Metal |location=London |publisher=Cherry Red Books Ltd. |pages=19–20,354–356 |isbn=978-1-901447-13-2}}</ref>

Closely related to power metal is [[progressive metal]], which adopts the complex compositional approach of bands like [[Rush (band)|Rush]] and [[King Crimson]]. This style emerged in the United States in the early and mid-1980s, with innovators such as [[Queensrÿche]], [[Fates Warning]] and [[Dream Theater]]. The mix of the progressive and power metal sounds is typified by New Jersey's [[Symphony X]], whose guitarist [[Michael Romeo]] is among the most recognized of latter-day shredders.<ref name="Genre - Progressive Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=progressive-metal-ma0000002797|pure_url=yes}} "Genre – Progressive Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 20 March 2007</ref>

====Doom metal==== {{Main|Doom metal}}

Emerging in the mid-1980s with such bands as California's [[Saint Vitus (band)|Saint Vitus]], Maryland's [[the Obsessed]], Chicago's [[Trouble (band)|Trouble]] and Sweden's [[Candlemass (band)|Candlemass]], the doom metal movement rejected other metal styles' emphasis on speed, slowing its music to a crawl. Doom metal traces its roots to the lyrical themes and musical approach of early Black Sabbath.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 345</ref> The [[Melvins]] have also been a significant influence on doom metal and a number of its subgenres.<ref>Begrand, Adrien. [http://www.PopMatters.com/columns/begrand/060215.shtml "Blood and Thunder: The Profits of Doom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106054622/http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/060215.shtml/ |date=6 November 2015 }}. 15 February 2006. [[popmatters.com]]. Retrieved on 8 April 2007</ref> Doom metal emphasizes melody, melancholy tempos and a sepulchral mood relative to many other varieties of metal.<ref name=NYT1>Wray, John. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/magazine/28artmetal.html?ei=5090&en=68f0bcd99797d7a3&ex=1306468800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all "Heady Metal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405082700/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/magazine/28artmetal.html?ei=5090&en=68f0bcd99797d7a3&ex=1306468800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all |date=5 April 2023 }}. ''New York Times'', 28 May 2006. Retrieved on 21 March 2007</ref>

The 1991 release of ''[[Forest of Equilibrium]]'', the debut album by U.K. band [[Cathedral (band)|Cathedral]], helped spark a new wave of doom metal. During the same period, the [[death/doom|doom-death]] fusion style of British bands [[Paradise Lost (band)|Paradise Lost]], [[My Dying Bride]] and [[Anathema (band)|Anathema]] gave rise to European [[gothic metal]].<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), pp. 246, 275; see also Stéphane Leguay, "Metal Gothique" in ''Carnets Noirs'', éditions E-dite, 3e édition, 2006, {{ISBN|2-84608-176-X}}</ref> with its signature dual-vocalist arrangements, exemplified by Norway's [[Theatre of Tragedy]] and [[Tristania (band)|Tristania]]. New York's [[Type O Negative]] introduced an American take on the style.<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), p. 275</ref>

In the United States, [[sludge metal]], which mixes doom metal and hardcore punk, emerged in the late 1980s; [[Eyehategod]] and [[Crowbar (US band)|Crowbar]] were leaders in a [[Music of New Orleans#Heavy metal|major Louisiana sludge scene]]. Early in the next decade, California's [[Kyuss]] and [[Sleep (band)|Sleep]], inspired by the earlier doom metal bands, spearheaded the rise of [[stoner metal]],<ref>Christe (2003), p. 347</ref> while Seattle's [[Earth (American band)|Earth]] helped develop the [[drone metal]] subgenre.<ref>Jackowiak, Jason. [http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1125311580560974 "Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927052955/http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1125311580560974 |date=27 September 2008 }}. Splendid Magazine, September 2005. Retrieved on 21 March 2007</ref> The late 1990s saw new bands form such as the Los Angeles–based [[Goatsnake]], with a classic stoner/doom sound, and [[Sunn O)))]], which crosses lines between doom, drone and [[dark ambient]] metal; the ''New York Times'' has compared their sound to an "[[Music of India|Indian]] [[raga]] in the middle of an earthquake".<ref name=NYT1/>

===1990s and early 2000s subgenres and fusions=== {{Further|Alternative metal|Rap metal|Nu metal|NWOAHM|Industrial metal|Groove metal}} [[File:Staley05.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A male singer, Layne Staley, performs onstage with Alice in Chains. He holds the microphone with both hands and his eyes are closed as he sings.|[[Layne Staley]] of [[Alice in Chains]], one of the most popular acts identified with [[alternative metal]], performing in 1992]]

Glam metal fell out of favor with the popular breakthrough of [[grunge]] and alternative rock,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 231</ref> but as well as the growing popularity of the more aggressive sound typified by Metallica and the post-thrash [[groove metal]] of [[Pantera]] and [[White Zombie (band)|White Zombie]].<ref>Birchmeier, Jason. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=pantera-mn0000005441|pure_url=yes}} "Pantera"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 19 March 2007</ref>

Grunge acts were influenced by the heavy metal sound, but rejected the excesses of the more popular metal bands, such as their "flashy and virtuosic solos" and "appearance-driven" [[MTV]] orientation.<ref name=Covach/> In 1991, [[Metallica]] released their album ''[[Metallica (album)|Metallica]]'', also known as ''The Black Album'', which moved the band's sound out of the [[thrash metal]] genre and into standard heavy metal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SUQAgAAQBAJ&q=Metallica+took+a+more+mainstream+sounding+with+The+Black+Album&pg=PT107|title=Metallica|access-date=4 December 2015|isbn=9780760344828|last1=Popoff|first1=Martin|date=15 November 2013|publisher=Voyageur Press }}</ref> The album was certified 16× Platinum by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond |title=Gold & Platinum – January 17, 2010 |publisher=RIAA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701163046/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond |archive-date=1 July 2007 }}</ref> A few new, unambiguously metal bands had commercial success during the first half of the decade – Pantera's ''[[Far Beyond Driven]]'' topped the ''Billboard'' chart in 1994 – but, "In the dull eyes of the mainstream, metal was dead."<ref>Christe (2003), p. 305</ref> Some bands tried to adapt to the new musical landscape. Metallica revamped its image: the band members cut their hair and, in 1996, headlined the alternative music festival [[Lollapalooza]], which was founded by [[Jane's Addiction]] singer [[Perry Farrell]]. While this prompted a backlash among some longtime fans,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 312</ref> Metallica remained one of the most successful bands in the world into the new century.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 322</ref>

[[File:Lacuna Coil 2010 0001.jpg|thumb|left|Italian [[gothic metal]] band [[Lacuna Coil]] performing in 2010]]

Like Jane's Addiction, many of the most popular early 1990s groups with roots in heavy metal fall under the umbrella term "alternative metal".<ref name=alternativemetal>{{cite web |title=Genre—Alternative Metal |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/alternative-metal-ma0000012328 |access-date=26 March 2007 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612183541/https://www.allmusic.com/style/alternative-metal-ma0000012328 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bands in Seattle's grunge scene such as [[Soundgarden]] are credited for making a "place for heavy metal in alternative rock",<ref>{{cite web |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |title=Soundgarden (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/soundgarden-mn0000001098 |access-date=1 September 2009 |archive-date=31 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731093823/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/soundgarden-mn0000001098 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Alice in Chains]] were at the center of the alternative metal movement. The label was applied to a wide spectrum of other acts that fused metal with different styles: [[Faith No More]] combined their alternative rock sound with punk, [[funk]], metal and [[hip hop music|hip-hop]]; [[Primus (band)|Primus]] joined elements of funk, punk, [[thrash metal]] and [[experimental music]]; [[Tool (band)|Tool]] mixed metal and [[progressive rock]]; bands such as [[Fear Factory]], [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] and [[Nine Inch Nails]] began incorporating metal into their [[industrial music|industrial sound]] (and vice versa); and [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]] went down a similar route, while also employing shock effects of the sort popularized by Alice Cooper. Alternative metal artists, though they did not represent a cohesive scene, were united by their willingness to experiment with the metal genre and their rejection of glam metal aesthetics (with the stagecraft of Marilyn Manson and White Zombie – also identified with alt metal – significant, if partial, exceptions).<ref name=alternativemetal/> Alternative metal's mix of styles and sounds represented "the colorful results of metal opening up to face the outside world".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 224</ref>

In the mid- and late 1990s came a new wave of U.S. metal groups inspired by the alternative metal bands and their mix of genres.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 324–25</ref> Dubbed "nu metal", bands such as [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]], [[Linkin Park]], [[Limp Bizkit]], [[Papa Roach]], [[P.O.D.]], [[Korn]] and [[Disturbed (band)|Disturbed]] incorporated elements ranging from [[death metal]] to hip-hop, often including [[DJ]]s and [[Rapping|rap]]-style vocals. The mix demonstrated that "pancultural metal could pay off".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 329</ref> Nu metal gained mainstream success through heavy MTV rotation and Ozzy Osbourne's 1996 introduction of [[Ozzfest]], which led the media to talk of a resurgence of heavy metal.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 324</ref> In 1999, ''Billboard'' noted that there were more than 500 specialty metal radio shows in the U.S., nearly three times as many as 10 years before.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 344</ref> While nu metal was widely popular, traditional metal fans did not fully embrace the style.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 328</ref> By early 2003, the movement's popularity was on the wane, though several nu metal acts such as Korn or Limp Bizkit retained substantial followings.<ref>{{cite web|last=D'angelo |first=Joe |title=Nu Metal Meltdown |publisher=MTV.com |date=24 January 2003 |url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/index.jhtml |access-date=28 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208190614/http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/index.jhtml |archive-date=8 February 2007 }}</ref>

===Recent styles: mid- to late 2000s, 2010s and 2020s=== {{Redirect-distinguish|New metal|Nu metal}} {{Further|Metalcore|Djent|Deathcore|Melodic metalcore|Mathcore|NWOAHM}}

[[Metalcore]], a hybrid of extreme metal and [[hardcore punk]],<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 288; Christe (2003), p. 372</ref> emerged as a commercial force in the mid-2000s, having mostly been an underground phenomenon throughout the 1980s and 1990s;<ref>I. Christe, ''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal'' (London: [[HarperCollins]], 2003), {{ISBN|0-380-81127-8}}, p. 184</ref> pioneering bands include [[Earth Crisis]],<ref name=am>Mudrian, Albert (2000). ''Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore''. Feral House. {{ISBN|1-932595-04-X}}. p. 222–223</ref><ref name=ig>Ian Glasper, ''Terrorizer'' no. 171, June 2008, p. 78, "here the term (metalcore) is used in its original context, referencing the likes of Strife, Earth Crisis, and Integrity{{nbsp}}..."</ref> [[Converge (band)|Converge]],<ref name=am/> [[Hatebreed]]<ref name=ig/><ref name=rh>Ross Haenfler, ''Straight Edge: Clean-living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change'', [[Rutgers University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8135-3852-1}} pp. 87–88</ref> and [[Shai Hulud (band)|Shai Hulud]].<ref name=killyour>{{cite web |title=Kill Your Stereo – Reviews: Shai Hulud – Misanthropy Pure |url=http://www.killyourstereo.com/reviews/169/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure/ |access-date=17 February 2012 |quote=Shai Hulud, a name that is synonymous (in heavy music circles at least) with intelligent, provocative and most importantly unique metallic hardcore. The band's earliest release is widely credited with influencing an entire generation of musicians |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327210110/http://www.killyourstereo.com/reviews/169/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Mason, Stewart. [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/shai-hulud-mn0000159857 "Shai Hulud"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920074955/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/shai-hulud-mn0000159857 |date=20 September 2012 }}. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2012. "A positively themed metalcore band with some [[straight edge|straight-edge]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] leanings, the influential Shai Hulud have maintained a strong band identity since their original formation in the mid-'90s".</ref> By 2004, melodic metalcore – influenced by [[melodic death metal]] as well – was popular enough that [[Killswitch Engage]]'s ''[[The End of Heartache]]'' and [[Shadows Fall]]'s ''[[The War Within (Shadows Fall album)|The War Within]]'' debuted at No. 21 and No. 20, respectively, on the ''Billboard'' album chart.<ref>{{cite web|title=Killswitch Engage|date=7 April 2011|publisher=Metal CallOut|url=http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/killswitch-engage.html/|access-date=7 April 2011|archive-date=20 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220051918/http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/killswitch-engage.html|url-status=live}} {{cite web|title=Shadows Fall|date=17 August 2010|publisher=Metal CallOut|url=http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/shadows-fall.html|access-date=17 August 2010|archive-date=20 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220043939/http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/shadows-fall.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Masters of Rock 2007 - Children of Bodom - 08.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|alt=A color photograph of two members of the group Children of Bodom standing on a stage with guitars, drums are visible in the background. Both electric guitarists have "flying V" style guitars and they have long hair.|[[Children of Bodom]], performing at the 2007 [[Masters of Rock (festival)|Masters of Rock]] festival]] Evolving even further from metalcore came [[mathcore]], a more rhythmically complicated and progressive style brought to light by bands such as [[the Dillinger Escape Plan]], [[Converge (band)|Converge]] and [[Protest the Hero]].<ref>Kevin Stewart-Panko, "The Decade in Noisecore", ''Terrorizer'' no. 75, Feb 2000, pp. 22–23</ref> Mathcore's main defining quality is the use of odd time signatures, and has been described to possess rhythmic comparability to [[free jazz]].<ref>"Contemporary grindcore bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan{{nbsp}}... have developed [[avant-garde metal|avant-garde]] versions of the genre incorporating frequent time signature changes and complex sounds that at times recall free jazz." [[Keith Kahn-Harris]] (2007) ''Extreme Metal'', [[Berg Publishers]], {{ISBN|1-84520-399-2}}, p. 4</ref>

Heavy metal remained popular in the 2000s, particularly in continental Europe. By the new millennium, Scandinavia had emerged as one of the areas producing innovative and successful bands, while Belgium, the Netherlands and especially Germany were the most significant markets.<ref>K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Oxford: Berg, 2007), {{ISBN|1-84520-399-2}}, pp. 86, 116</ref> Metal music is more favorably embraced in Scandinavia and Northern Europe than other regions due to social and political openness in these regions;<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s40806-018-0139-7 |title=Ecology of Musical Preference: the Relationship Between Pathogen Prevalence and the Number and Intensity of Metal Bands |year=2018 |last1=Pazhoohi |first1=F. |last2=Luna |first2=K. |journal= Evolutionary Psychological Science |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=294–300|s2cid=148970777 }}</ref> Finland in particular has been often called the "Promised Land of Heavy Metal", as there are more than 50 metal bands for every 100,000 inhabitants – more than any other nation in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 May 2018|title=Finnish metropolises vie to win Capital of Metal|url=https://finland.fi/arts-culture/finnish-metropolises-vie-to-win-capital-of-metal/|access-date=15 June 2021|website=thisisFINLAND|language=en-US|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401024138/https://finland.fi/arts-culture/finnish-metropolises-vie-to-win-capital-of-metal/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Finland stage world's first heavy metal knitting championship|url=https://www.famouscampaigns.com/2019/07/finlands-stage-worlds-first-heavy-metal-knitting-championship/|access-date=15 June 2021|website=famouscampaigns.com|archive-date=30 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530235534/https://www.famouscampaigns.com/2019/07/finlands-stage-worlds-first-heavy-metal-knitting-championship/|url-status=live}}</ref> Established continental metal bands that placed multiple albums in the top 20 of the German charts between 2003 and 2008 include Finland's [[Children of Bodom]],<ref>{{citation |title=Finland's Children of Bodom Debut at #22 on Billboard Chart with New Album, 'Blooddrunk' |journal=Guitar Player |url=http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/finland--39;s/April-2008/35205 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503203329/http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/finland--39;s/April-2008/35205 |archive-date=3 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Norway's Dimmu Borgir,<ref>{{citation |title=Chartverfolgung / Dimmu Borgir / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Dimmu+Borgir/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150553/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Dimmu+Borgir/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Germany's [[Blind Guardian]]<ref>{{citation |title=Chartverfolgung / Blind Guardian / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Blind+Guardian/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150642/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Blind+Guardian/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Sweden's HammerFall.<ref>{{citation|title=Chartverfolgung / Hammer Fall / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/HAMMERFALL/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150628/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/HAMMERFALL/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 2000s, an extreme metal fusion genre known as [[deathcore]] emerged. Deathcore incorporates elements of [[death metal]], [[hardcore punk]] and [[metalcore]].<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r704417|pure_url=yes}} allmusic.com] Alex Henderson: "What is deathcore?{{nbsp}}... it's essentially metalcore{{nbsp}}... Drawing on both death metal and hardcore{{nbsp}}..."</ref><ref>[http://www.lambgoat.com/albums/view.aspx?id=2517 lambgoat.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113060518/http://lambgoat.com/albums/view.aspx?id=2517 |date=13 January 2010 }} "This is deathcore. This is what happens when death metal and hardcore, along with healthy doses of other heavy music styles, are so smoothly blended{{nbsp}}..."</ref> Deathcore features characteristics such as death metal [[riff]]s, hardcore punk [[breakdown (music)|breakdowns]], death growling, "pig squeal"-sounding vocals and screaming.<ref name="Cosmo Lee">{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Cosmo|title=Doom|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r854978|work=[[AllMusic]]|publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]]|access-date=10 September 2015|archive-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019002935/http://www.allmusic.com/album/r854978|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Marsicano|first=Dan|title=Rose Funeral – 'The Resting Sonata'|url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/rosefuneralrest.htm|publisher=[[About.com]]|access-date=10 September 2015|archive-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314093608/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/rosefuneralrest.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Deathcore bands include [[Whitechapel (band)|Whitechapel]], [[Suicide Silence]], [[Despised Icon]] and [[Carnifex (band)|Carnifex]].<ref name="Dawn of the Deathcore">{{cite journal |author=Wiederhorn, Jon |title=Dawn of the Deathcore |journal=[[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver]] |issue=72 |pages=63–66 |publisher=[[Future US]] |issn=1527-408X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPkDAAAAMBAJ&q=deathcore&pg=PT62 |date=September 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})</ref>

The term "retro-metal" has been used to describe bands such as Texas-based [[the Sword]], California's [[High on Fire]], Sweden's [[Witchcraft (band)|Witchcraft]]<ref name="AMAgeofWinters">{{Citation|last=E. Rivadavia |title=The Sword: Age of Winters |journal=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/age-of-winters-r820095/review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229181827/http://www.allmusic.com/album/age-of-winters-r820095/review |archive-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Australia's [[Wolfmother]].<ref name="AMAgeofWinters" /><ref name="WRS">[https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wolfmother Wolfmother]. ''Rolling Stone'', 18 April 2006. Retrieved on 31 March 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308152431/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wolfmother |date=8 March 2007 }}</ref> The Sword's ''[[Age of Winters]]'' (2006) drew heavily on the work of Black Sabbath and [[Pentagram (band)|Pentagram]],<ref name=Begrand2006>{{citation|last=A. Begrand |title=The Sword: Age of Winters |website=PopMatters.com |date=20 February 2006 |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the_sword_age_of_winters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513134518/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the_sword_age_of_winters |archive-date=13 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Witchcraft added elements of [[folk rock]] and psychedelic rock,<ref>{{citation|last=E. Rivadavia |title=Witchcraft |journal=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/witchcraft-p391961/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308105031/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/witchcraft-p391961/biography |archive-date=8 March 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Wolfmother's [[Wolfmother (album)|self-titled 2005 debut album]] had "[[Deep Purple]]-ish organs" and "[[Jimmy Page]]-worthy chordal [[Ostinato|riffing]]". [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]], which plays a progressive/sludge style of metal, has inspired claims of a metal revival in the United States, dubbed by some critics the "[[New Wave of American Heavy Metal]]".<ref>Sharpe-Young, Garry, ''New Wave of American Heavy Metal'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=uIIf03bGyAAC&pg=PP10&dq=nwoahm&ei=a7ohSNGYCrW2iQGP95nFDQ&sig=yhEpvA_dhNF6I5YwMJACJGRA3XY#PPP10,M1 (link)]. {{cite web |author=Edward, James |title=The Ghosts of Glam Metal Past |url=http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?editorialid=64 |publisher=Lamentations of the Flame Princess |access-date=27 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108081333/http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?editorialid=64 |archive-date=8 January 2011 }} {{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/051014.shtml |publisher=PopMatters.com |title=Blood and Thunder: Regeneration |author=Begrand, Adrien |access-date=14 May 2008 |archive-date=18 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318045916/http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/051014.shtml/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{clear}}

By the early 2010s, metalcore was evolving to more frequently incorporate synthesizers and elements from genres beyond rock and metal. The album ''[[Reckless & Relentless]]'' by British band [[Asking Alexandria]], which sold 31,000 copies in its first week, and the Devil Wears Prada's 2011 album ''[[Dead Throne]]'', which sold 32,400 in its first week,<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/467358/lady-antebellum-own-the-billboard-200-with-second-no-1-album |title=Lady Antebellum 'Own' the Billboard 200 with Second No. 1 Album |work=[[Billboard.com]] |date=14 September 2009 |access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref> reached No. 9 and No. 10,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metalinsider.net/video/the-devil-wears-prada-post-a-video-update-for-new-album|title=The Devil Wears Prada Post A Video Update For New Album|work=Metal Insider|date=31 May 2013|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=7 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607035607/https://metalinsider.net/video/the-devil-wears-prada-post-a-video-update-for-new-album|url-status=live}}</ref> respectively, on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In 2013, British band [[Bring Me the Horizon]] released their fourth studio album, [[Sempiternal (album)|''Sempiternal'']], to critical acclaim. The album debuted at No. 3 on the [[UK Album Chart|U.K. Album Chart]] and at No. 1 in Australia. The album sold 27,522 copies in the U.S. and charted at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Chart, making it their highest-charting release in America until their follow-up album, ''[[That's the Spirit]]'', which debuted at No. 2 in 2015.

Also in the 2010s, a metal style called "[[djent]]" developed as a spinoff of standard [[progressive metal]].<ref name="secrets">{{cite web|last=Bowcott |first=Nick |title=Meshuggah Share the Secrets of Their Sound |url=http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound |work=[[Guitar World]] |publisher=[[Future US]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517094739/http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound |archive-date=17 May 2016 }} (26 June 2011)</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Angle|first=Brad|title=Interview: Meshuggah Guitarist Fredrik Thordendal Answers Reader Questions|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-meshuggah-guitarist-fredrik-thordendal-answers-reader-questions|work=[[Guitar World]]|publisher=[[Future US]]}} (23 July 2011)</ref> Djent music uses rhythmic and technical complexity,<ref name=Concealingfate>{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=Concealing Fate|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/concealing-fate-r2166510|work=[[AllMusic]]|publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]]}}</ref> heavily distorted, [[palm mute|palm-muted]] guitar chords, syncopated [[riffs]]<ref name=Guardian>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/03/djent-metal-geeks "Djent, the metal geek's microgenre"]. ''The Guardian''. 3 March 2011</ref> and [[polyrhythm]]s alongside [[virtuoso]] soloing.<ref name="secrets"/> Another typical characteristic is the use of extended range [[seven-string guitar|seven]]-, [[eight-string guitar|eight]]- and [[nine-string guitar]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kennelty|first=Greg|title=Here's Why Everyone Needs To Stop Complaining About Extended Range Guitars|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/heres-why-everyone-needs-to-stop-complaining-about-extended-range-guitars|work=Metal Injection}}</ref>

Fusion of [[nu metal]] with [[electropop]] by singer-songwriters [[Poppy (entertainer)|Poppy]], [[Grimes]] and [[Rina Sawayama]] saw a popular and critical revival of the former genre in the late 2010s and 2020s, particular on their respective albums ''[[I Disagree]],'' ''[[Miss Anthropocene]]'' and ''[[Sawayama]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grimes details "nu-metal" fifth album Miss_Anthrop0cene|url=https://www.thefader.com/2019/03/20/grimes-new-album-2019-miss-anthrop0cene-announcement|access-date=13 January 2021|website=The FADER|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Poppy Makes a Case for a New Kind of Artificial Pop Star|url=https://time.com/5455221/poppy-am-i-a-girl/|access-date=13 January 2021|magazine=Time|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404234000/https://time.com/5455221/poppy-am-i-a-girl/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2 November 2018|title=Poppy may be the future of heavy metal with new song "Play Destroy"|url=https://www.altpress.com/news/poppy-grimes-metal-play-destroy/|access-date=13 January 2021|website=Alternative Press|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=13 December 2019|title=The female pop stars channeling nu-metal's rage|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/13/theres-a-lot-to-be-angry-about-the-female-pop-stars-reclaiming-nu-metals-rage|access-date=15 January 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

==Global reach== {{expand section|date=September 2023}} Metal has been recognized as a global music genre, being listened to and performed around the world.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Wallach | editor-last2=Berger | editor-last3=Greene | editor-first=Jeremy | editor-first2=Harris M. | editor-first3=Paul D. | title=Metal Rules the Global: Heavy Metal Music around the World | publisher=Duke University Press | date=December 2011 | doi=10.2307/j.ctv1220q3v | isbn=9780822347163 | jstor=j.ctv1220q3v | url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/metal-rules-the-globe}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author-last=Gharib | author-first=Malaka | title='Scream for Me, Africa!': How the continent is reinventing heavy metal music | date=August 7, 2022 | access-date=September 17, 2023 | publisher=NPR | department=culture | series=Goats and Soda | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/07/1114616272/scream-for-me-africa-how-the-continent-is-reinventing-heavy-metal-music}}</ref> Laina Dawes explored the multidimensional components of [[racism]] in her book ''[[What Are You Doing Here?]]'', including the perspectives of black women musicians and fans, in the heavy metal scene in North America and the United Kingdom. She also grounded her doctoral thesis "'Freedom Ain't Free': Race and Representation(s) in Extreme Heavy Metal" on her own experiences, laying out some of the nuances of a community that can be both a site of exclusionism and at the same time also a place for greater freedom of expression compared to mainstream genres.<ref>{{cite thesis | author-last=Dawes | author-first=Laina | degree=Doctor of Philosophy | title="Freedom Ain't Free:" Race and Representation(s) in Extreme Heavy Metal | publisher=Columbia University | url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/msfp-xx60 |doi=10.7916/msfp-xx60 |year=2022}}</ref> The band [[Alien Weaponry]] from the [[Māori people]] of [[New Zealand]] promotes heavy metal music as one way of combating racism.<ref>{{cite news | author-last=Mills | author-first=Matt | title='Racism is rampant': Alien Weaponry, the metal band standing up for Māori culture | date=28 September 2021 | access-date=17 September 2023 | work=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/28/racism-is-rampant-alien-weaponry-the-metal-band-standing-up-for-maori-culture | format=online}}</ref>

==Women in heavy metal== [[File:Frozen Crown (23) - 52849994682.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Giada Etro from [[Frozen Crown]] (''left'') and Federica Lanna from [[Volturian]] (''right'') during a joint concert.]] [[File:Voice of Baceprot op het Valkhof Festival 2022 03.jpg|thumb|All-female Indonesian group [[Voice of Baceprot]] performs at [[Valkhof Festival]] 2022.]]

Women have been involved in heavy metal since its very conception, given the role played by Esther "Jinx" Dawson, vocalist and leader of [[Coven (band)|Coven]], in introducing the "[[sign of the horns]]" to metal culture in the late 1960s, alongside their early usage of Satanic themes in rock music.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-18 |title=The Forgotten Mother of Metal Music and Birth of the "Devil's Horns" |url=https://atomicredhead.com/2021/08/18/the-forgotten-mother-of-metal-music-and-birth-of-the-devils-horns/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Atomic Redhead |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Leonie |date=2021-02-22 |title=The Unsung: Jinx Dawson invented rock's devil horns – but a man took all the credit |url=https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/jinx-dawson-coven/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=The Forty-Five |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Trapp |first=Philip|date=2021-04-21 |title=Where Did Metal's 'Devil Horns' Hand Gesture Really Come From? |url=https://loudwire.com/where-did-metal-devil-horns-hand-come-from/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> The next milestone took place in the 1970s when Genesis, the forerunner of [[Vixen (band)|Vixen]], formed in 1973. In 1978, during the rise of the [[new wave of British heavy metal|New Wave of British Heavy Metal]], the band [[Girlschool]] was founded and, in 1980, collaborated with [[Motörhead]] under the pseudonym [[Headgirl]]. Starting in 1982, [[Doro Pesch]], dubbed "the Metal Queen", reached success across Europe (inspiring the formation of other woman-fronted metal bands, such as Spain's [[Santa (band)|Santa]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bomb |first=Cherry |date=2019-12-16 |title=Forget Santa Claus! Bang Your Head to 80s Spanish Metal Demons SANTA |url=https://metalinjection.net/editorials/back-in-the-day/forget-santa-claus-bang-your-head-to-80s-spanish-metal-demons-santa |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Metal Injection |language=en-US}}</ref> in 1983), leading the German band [[Warlock (band)|Warlock]] before starting her solo career.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BraveWords |title=DORO – The Queen Of Metal Documentary 2021 Streaming |url=https://bravewords.com/news/doro-the-queen-of-metal-documentary-2021-streaming |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=bravewords.com |date=29 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In 1983 another pioneering heavy metal singer, [[Mari Hamada]], made her debut, achieving great success in Japan from the 1980s until well into the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Yusuke |last=Tsuruta |date=2023-06-22 |title=Mari Hamada's Outlook on Life, Death Reflected in New Heavy Metal Album |url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/music/20230622-117617/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=japannews.yomiuri.co.jp |language=en}}</ref> Also that year, [[Lita Ford]] embarked on a successful metal solo career, following her tenure in the short-lived all-female rock band [[the Runaways]] in the mid-to-late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/lita-ford-17169494|title=Lita Ford|website=Biography|language=en-us|access-date=26 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323060710/https://www.biography.com/people/lita-ford-17169494|archive-date=23 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Debuting as the female lead singer of the American band [[Chastain (band)|Chastain]] in 1985, [[Leather Leone]] was a pioneer in [[power metal]] vocals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leather |url=https://www.metal.it/group.aspx/15868/leather/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=www.metal.it}}</ref> In 1986, the German thrash band [[Holy Moses]], fronted by pioneer [[Growling|growler]] [[Sabina Classen]], issued their first album.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawson |first=Dom |date=2020-09-25 |title=Holy Moses revolutionised the 80s thrash scene. Why don't more people know about them? |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/holy-moses-revolutionised-the-80s-thrash-scene-why-dont-more-people-know-about-them |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

[[Bolt Thrower]]'s [[bassist]] [[Jo Bench]], since joining the band in 1987, has inspired female musicians to play metal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Kim |date=2016-09-22 |title=No Guts, No Glory: How Bolt Thrower's Jo Bench Inspired a Generation of Metal Musicians |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/no-guts-no-glory-how-bolt-throwers-jo-bench-inspired-a-generation-of-metal-musicians/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> Other women who have played instruments in otherwise male-dominated metal bands include [[Shirley Temple]]'s daughter [[Lori Black]] ([[Melvins]]), Kate Reddy of [[Krishnacore]] band [[108 (band)|108]] and Kim Deal ([[Pixies (band)|Pixies]]).

In 1994, [[Liv Kristine]] joined Norwegian [[gothic metal]] band [[Theatre of Tragedy]], providing "angelic"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.napalmrecords.com/band/?bandID=40&alphabetID=21 |title=Artists – LIv Kristine |publisher=[[Napalm Records]] |date=2012 |access-date=16 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416174541/http://www.napalmrecords.com/band/?bandID=40&alphabetID=21 |archive-date=16 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> clean female vocals to contrast with male [[death growl]]s. In 1996, Finnish band [[Nightwish]] was founded and featured [[Tarja Turunen]]'s vocals. This was followed by more women fronting heavy metal bands, such as [[Halestorm]], [[In This Moment]], [[Within Temptation]], [[Arch Enemy]] and [[Epica (band)|Epica]] among others. Liv Kristine was featured on the title track of [[Cradle of Filth]]'s 2004 album, ''[[Nymphetamine]]'', which was nominated for the 2004 [[Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance]].<ref name="usatoday">{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-12-07-grammy-nominee-list_x.htm |title=usatoday.com – Grammy Award Nominees in Top Categories |date=12 July 2004 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref> In 2013, Halestorm won the Grammy in the combined category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for "[[Love Bites (So Do I)]]".<ref name="usatoday" /> In 2021, In This Moment, [[Code Orange (band)|Code Orange]] and [[Poppy (entertainer)|Poppy]] were all nominated in the Best Metal Performance category.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pasbani|first=Robert|date=24 November 2020|title=Here Are The Nominees For Best Metal Performance at the 2021 GRAMMYs|url=https://metalinjection.net/metal-in-the-mainstream/here-are-the-nominees-for-best-metal-performance-at-the-2021-grammys|access-date=15 January 2021|website=Metal Injection|language=en-US}}</ref>

The most notable of these 1990s/2000s female-fronted groups was the American band [[Evanescence]], headed by vocalist [[Amy Lee]] and featuring a musical style usually described as gothic alternative metal and hard rock with classical elements.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2017-11-17 |title=The story of Evanescence so far |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-of-evanescence-so-far |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=[[Metal Hammer]] |language=en}}</ref> Their first album ''[[Fallen (Evanescence album)|Fallen]]'', released in 2003, broke into the [[popular music]] scene and was a worldwide phenomenon;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baltin |first=Steve |title=Evanescence Thank Fans With New Box Set |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2016/10/12/evanescence-thank-fans-with-new-box-set/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en}}</ref> it earned the band two [[Grammy Awards]] and briefly catapulted Lee to a level of fame similar to that of contemporary [[Pop icon|popstars]] such as [[Christina Aguilera]], [[Avril Lavigne]], and [[Beyoncé]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Spanos |first=Brittany |date=2020-11-16 |title=Evanescence's Amy Lee Gets Back to Life |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/evanescence-amy-lee-interview-bitter-truth-1088593/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> Although their later albums have not had a similar impact, Evanescence are still one of the most commercially successful metal groups of the 21st century, having sold over 30 million records.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fooks |first=Todd |date=2022-08-19 |title=The Top 25 Best Selling Hard Rock + Metal Artists of All Time |url=https://loudwire.com/top-25-best-selling-rock-metal-artists/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref>

In Japan, the 2010s saw a boom of all-female metal bands, including [[Destrose]], [[Aldious]], [[Mary's Blood]], [[Cyntia]] and [[Lovebites (band)|Lovebites]],<ref>{{cite web | title = The DESTROSE Connection ~The Prologue~ | work = JaME | url = https://www.jame-world.com/en/article/136224-the-destrose-connection-the-prologue.html| date= 17 March 2016| access-date = 31 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = 浜田麻里からLOVEBITESまでーーガールズHR/HM、波乱万丈の30年史 | url = https://realsound.jp/2017/11/post-125465.html |date=7 November 2017| work = Real Sound | language = ja | access-date = 31 August 2019}}</ref> as well as the mainstream success of [[Babymetal]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-23 |title=Meet Babymetal: The Japanese Band That Is Breaking Grounds For Women In Heavy Metal |url=https://www.hercampus.com/school/casper-libero/meet-babymetal-japanese-band-breaking-grounds-women-heavy-metal/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=www.hercampus.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Women such as [[Gaby Hoffmann (manager)|Gaby Hoffmann]] and [[Sharon Osbourne]] have held important managerial roles behind the scenes. In 1981, Hoffmann helped [[Don Dokken]] acquire his first record deal,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michaelwagener.com/html/bio.html|title=Michael Wagener's Biography|website=www.michaelwagener.com|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> as well as becoming the manager of [[Accept (band)|Accept]] in 1981 and wrote songs under the pseudonym of "Deaffy" for many of band's studio albums. Vocalist [[Mark Tornillo]] stated that Hoffmann still had some influence in songwriting on their later albums.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/accepts-mark-tornillo-says-fans-can-expect-a-little-more-diversity-on-blind-rage/|title=ACCEPT's MARK TORNILLO Says Fans Can Expect 'A Little More Diversity' On 'Blind Rage'|date=4 April 2014|work=BLABBERMOUTH.NET|access-date=23 March 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Osbourne, the wife and manager of [[Ozzy Osbourne]], founded the [[Ozzfest]] music festival and managed several bands and artists, including Motörhead, [[Coal Chamber]], [[the Smashing Pumpkins]], [[Electric Light Orchestra]], Lita Ford and [[Queen (band)|Queen]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Interview: Sharon Osbourne|url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,495951,00.html|website=The Guardian|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>

=== Allegations of sexism === The popular media and academia have long charged heavy metal with sexism and [[misogyny]]. In the 1980s, American conservative groups like the [[Parents Music Resource Center]] (PMRC) and the [[Parent Teacher Association]] (PTA) co-opted feminist views on anti-woman violence to form attacks on metal's rhetoric and imagery.<ref name="Hill">{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Rosemary Lucy|date=January 2016|chapter=Metal and Sexism|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309760064|access-date=15 February 2020|title=Gender, Metal and the Media|pages=133–158|chapter-url-access=registration|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-55441-3_6|isbn=978-1-137-55440-6|s2cid=152177363 }}</ref> According to [[Robert Christgau]] in 2001, metal, along with hip-hop, has made "reflexive and violent sexism{{nbsp}}... current in the music".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Dansby|first=Andrew|date=16 February 2001|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/critic-christgau-wraps-the-90s-249682/|title=Critic Christgau Wraps the '90s|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref>

In response to such claims, debates in the metal press have centered on defining and contextualizing sexism. Hill claims that "understanding what counts as sexism is complex and requires critical work by fans when sexism is normalised." Citing her own research, including interviews of British female fans, she found that metal offers them an opportunity to feel liberated and genderless, albeit if assimilated into a culture that is largely neglectful of women.<ref name="Hill"/>

In 2018, ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' editor Eleanor Goodman published an article titled "Does Metal Have a Sexism Problem?" interviewing veteran industry people and artists about the plight of women in metal. Some talked about a history of difficulty receiving professional respect from male counterparts. Among those interviewed was Wendy Dio, who had worked in label, booking and legal capacities in the music industry before her marriage to and management of metal artist [[Ronnie James Dio]]. She said that after marrying Dio, her professional reputation became reduced to her marital role as his wife, and her competency was questioned. Gloria Cavalera, former manager of [[Sepultura]] and wife of the band's former frontman [[Max Cavalera]], said that since 1996, she had received misogynistic hate mail and death threats from fans and that "women take a lot of crap. This whole [[Me Too movement|#MeToo]] thing, do they think it just started? That has gone on since the pictures of the cavemen pulling girls by their hair."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Goodman|first=Eleanor|date=12 February 2018|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/does-metal-have-a-sexism-problem|title=Does Metal Have a Sexism Problem?|magazine=[[Metal Hammer]]|access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref>

==Persecution== ===East Germany=== In socialist [[East Germany]], heavy metal and other music scenes were becoming increasingly popular in the early 1980s. Heavy metal fans were widely seen as being ‘negative decadent’<ref name="Berghahn Books">{{cite book |last1=Mike Dennis |first1=Norman LaPorte |title=State and Minorities in Communist East Germany |date=2011 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-857-45-195-8 |page=158 |chapter=Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths and Heavy Metallers}}</ref> by the [[Stasi]] secret police because their standards of dress and behaviour were not in keeping with [[socialist]] standards of respectability as promoted by the ruling [[SED party]].<ref name="State and Minorities in Communist E">{{cite book |last1=Mike Dennis |first1=Norman LaPorte |title=State and Minorities in Communist East Germany |date=2011 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-857-45-195-8 |page=157 |chapter=Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths and Heavy Metallers}}</ref> Along with punk, heavy metal culture was considered to represent a relatively severe threat. It was thought by the Stasi that metallers could become increasingly politically incorrect and liaise with human rights and peace groups in a political manner. In conjunction with this, they may also be used by the imperialist Western ‘enemy’<ref name="State and Minorities in Communist E"/> as an internal ‘hostile-negative’<ref name="Berghahn Books"/> force which undermined ‘the communist upbringing of young people; encouraging immorality and decadence; and weakening economic performance.’<ref name="Berghahn Books"/> This meant that ‘a broad spectrum of young people’ became of ‘operative interest’<ref name="State and Minorities in Communist E"/> to the Stasi. Unofficial collaborators were deployed in order to counteract the influence of heavy metal groupings and prominent individuals. This could involve surveillance and ‘silent repression’<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |last1=Mike Dennis |first1=Norman LaPorte |title=State and Minorities in Communist East Germany |date=2011 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-857-45-195-8 |page=8 |chapter=State, Society and Minority Groups in the GDR}}</ref> such as [[Zersetzung|decomposition]] which involved the use of [[counterespionage]] methods against everyday civilians. The use of such methods allowed for large scale repression while avoiding international condemnation.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin|30em}} * Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen (1996). ''Metalheads: Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Alienation''. Westview Press. {{ISBN|0-8133-2813-6}}. * [[Denis Arnold|Arnold, Denis]] (1983). "Consecutive Intervals", in ''[[The Oxford Companion to Music|The New Oxford Companion to Music]]'', Volume 1: A-J. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-311316-3}}. * Berelian, Essi (2005). '' Rough Guide to Heavy Metal''. Rough Guides. Foreword by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. {{ISBN|1-84353-415-0}}. * Berry, Mick and Jason Gianni (2003). ''The Drummer's Bible: How to Play Every Drum Style from Afro-Cuban to Zydeco''. See Sharp Press. {{ISBN|1-884365-32-9}}. * Blake, Andrew (1997). ''The Land Without Music: Music, Culture and Society in Twentieth-century Britain''. Manchester University Press. {{ISBN|0-7190-4299-2}}. * Braunstein, P. and Doyle, M. W., ''Imagine Nation: the American Counterculture of the 1960s and '70s'' (London: Routledge, 2002), {{ISBN|0-415-93040-5}}. * Buckley, Peter (2003). ''The Rough Guide to Rock''. Rough Guides. {{ISBN|1-84353-105-4}}. * Bukszpan, D. (2003), ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble. {{ISBN|0-7607-4218-9}}. * Carson, Annette (2001). ''Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers''. Backbeat Books. {{ISBN|0-87930-632-7}}. * Charlton, Katherine (2003). ''Rock Music Styles: A History''. McGraw Hill. {{ISBN|0-07-249555-3}}. * [[Ian Christe|Christe, Ian]] (2003). ''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0-380-81127-8}}. * [[Robert Christgau|Christgau, Robert]] (1981). "''[[Master of Reality]]'' (1971) [review]", in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''. Ticknor & Fields. {{ISBN|0-89919-026-X}}. * Cook, Nicholas, and Nicola Dibben (2001). "Musicological Approaches to Emotion", in ''Music and Emotion''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-263188-8}}. * {{cite book |author-last=Dawes |author-first=Laina |date=2012 |title=What are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal | isbn=9781935950059 | url=https://www.bazillionpoints.com/books/black-women-in-heavy-metal/ | publisher=Bazillion Points}} * {{cite thesis |author-last=Dawes |author-first=Laina |year=2022 |title="Freedom Ain't Free:" Race and Representation(s) in Extreme Heavy Metal | degree=Doctor of Philosophy | publisher=Columbia University | url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/msfp-xx60 |doi=10.7916/msfp-xx60}} * Du Noyer, Paul (ed.) (2003). ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music''. Flame Tree. {{ISBN|1-904041-70-1}} * Ekeroth, Daniel (2011), ''Swedish Death Metal''. Bazillion Points. {{ISBN|978-0-9796163-1-0}} * Ewing, Charles Patrick, and Joseph T. McCann (2006). ''Minds on Trial: Great Cases in Law and Psychology''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-518176-X}}. * Fast, Susan (2001). ''In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-511756-5}}. * Fast, Susan (2005). "Led Zeppelin and the Construction of Masculinity", in ''Music Cultures in the United States'', ed. Ellen Koskoff. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-96588-8}}. * Guibert, Gérôme, and Fabien Hein (ed.) (2007). "Les Scènes Metal. Sciences sociales et pratiques culturelles radicales". ''Volume! La revue des musiques populaires''. N°5-2. Bordeaux: Mélanie Seteun. {{ISBN|978-2-913169-24-1}}. * Hainaut, Bérenger (2017). ''Le Style black metal''. Château-Gontier: Aedam musicae. {{ISBN|978-2-919046-21-8}}. * Harrison, Thomas (2011). ''Music of the 1980s''. ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|978-0-313-36599-7}} * Hatch, David, and Stephen Millward (1989). ''From Blues to Rock: An Analytical History of Pop Music''. Manchester University Press. {{ISBN|0-7190-2349-1}}. * Kahn-Harris, Keith and Fabien Hein (2007), "Metal studies: a bibliography", ''Volume! La revue des musiques populaires'', n°5-2, Bordeaux: Éditions Mélanie Seteun. {{ISBN|978-2-913169-24-1}}. * Kennedy, Michael (1985). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-311333-3}}. * Leguay, Stéphane (2006). "Metal Gothique", in ''Carnets Noirs'', éditions E-dite, 3rd edition, {{ISBN|2-84608-176-X}}. * Lilja, Esa (2009). ''Theory and Analysis of Classic Heavy Metal Harmony''. Helsinki: IAML Finland. {{ISBN|978-952-5363-35-7}}. *{{cite thesis |last=Martinez |first=Kristen Le Amber |year=2019 | title=Not All Killed by John Wayne: The Long History of Indigenous Rock, Metal, and Punk 1940s to the Present |degree=Master of Arts | publisher=University of California | url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92f86988}} * McCleary, John Bassett (2004). ''The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s''. Ten Speed Press. {{ISBN|1-58008-547-4}}. * McMichael, Joe (2004). ''The Who Concert File''. Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|1-84449-009-2}}. * Moynihan, Michael, and Dirik Søderlind (1998). ''Lords of Chaos'' (2nd ed.). Feral House. {{ISBN|0-922915-94-6}}. * [[David Nicholls (musicologist)|Nicholls, David]] (1998). ''The Cambridge History of American Music''. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-45429-8}} * O'Neil, Robert M. (2001). ''The First Amendment and Civil Liability''. Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|0-253-34033-0}}. * Pareles, Jon, and Patricia Romanowski (eds.) (1983). ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll''. Rolling Stone Press/Summit Books. {{ISBN|0-671-44071-3}}. * Phillipov, Michelle (2012). ''Death Metal and Music Criticism: Analysis at the Limits'' Lexington Books. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-6459-4}} * Pillsbury, Glenn T. (2006). ''Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity''. Routledge. * {{cite book|last=Rood|first=Karen Lane|title=American culture after World War II|date=1994|publisher=Gale Research |url=https://archive.org/details/americanculturea00rood|url-access=registration|quote=but its influence is apparent in the heavy-metal sound.|isbn=9780810384811}} * [[Stanley Sadie|Sadie, Stanley]] (1980). "Consecutive Fifth, Consecutive Octaves", in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' (1st ed.). MacMillan. {{ISBN|0-333-23111-2}}. * Schonbrun, Marc (2006). ''The Everything Guitar Chords Book''. Adams Media. {{ISBN|1-59337-529-8}}. * Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). ''Metal: The Definitive Guide''. Jawbone Press. {{ISBN|978-1-906002-01-5}}. * Strong, Martin C. (2004). ''The Great Rock Discography''. Canongate. {{ISBN|1-84195-615-5}}. * Swinford, Dean (2013). ''Death Metal Epic (Book I: The Inverted Katabasis)''. Atlatl Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9883484-3-1}}. * Thompson, Graham (2007). ''American Culture in the 1980s''. Edinburgh University Press. {{ISBN|0-7486-1910-0}}. * Van Zoonen, Liesbet (2005). ''Entertaining the Citizen: When Politics and Popular Culture Converge''. Rowman & Littlefield. {{ISBN|0-7425-2906-1}}. * Wagner, Jeff (2010). ''[[Mean Deviation (book)|Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal]]''. [[Bazillion Points]]. {{ISBN|978-0-9796163-3-4}}. * Waksman, Steve (2001). ''Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience''. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0674005473}}. * {{cite book | editor-last=Wallach | editor-last2=Berger | editor-last3=Greene | editor-first=Jeremy | editor-first2=Harris M. | editor-first3=Paul D. | title=Metal Rules the Globe: Heavy Metal Music around the World | publisher=Duke University Press | date=December 2011 | doi=10.2307/j.ctv1220q3v | isbn=9780822347163 | jstor=j.ctv1220q3v | url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/metal-rules-the-globe}} * [[Robert Walser (musicologist)|Walser, Robert]] (1993). ''Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music''. Wesleyan University Press. {{ISBN|0-8195-6260-2}}. * {{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Deena |author-link=Deena Weinstein |date=1991 |title=Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology |place= |publisher=Lexington |isbn=0-669-21837-5}} * {{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Deena |author-link=Deena Weinstein |date=2000 |orig-date=First ed. 1991 |title=Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture |edition=Rev. |place= |publisher=Da Capo |isbn=0-306-80970-2}} * Wiederhorn, Jon (2013). ''Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal''. [[It Books]]. {{ISBN|978-0-06-195828-1}} * Wilkerson, Mark Ian (2006). ''Amazing Journey: The Life of Pete Townshend''. Bad News Press. {{ISBN|1-4116-7700-5}}. {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Heavy metal music}} {{wikiquote}} {{wikibooks|Guitar/Metal}} {{Library resources box|by=no|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|wikititle=heavy metal music}} * {{cite encyclopedia |title=Encyclopedia Metallum: The Metal Archives |url=https://www.metal-archives.com/}} * {{cite encyclopedia | title=Spirit of Metal | url=https://www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/encyclopedia}} * {{cite web |title=Metal Storm |url=https://metalstorm.net/home/ |website=}} * {{cite web | title=The International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS) | url=https://metalstudies.org/}} * [{{AllMusic|class=subgenre|id=heavy-metal-ma0000002721|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic entry] for heavy metal * [[iarchive:heavy-metal-historian|Heavy Metal Historian]] podcast at [[Wayback Machine|WaybackMachine]]

[[Category:Heavy metal music| ]] [[Category:Rock music genres]] [[Category:History of rock music]] [[Category:American styles of music]] [[Category:European music genres]] [[Category:British styles of music]] [[Category:English styles of music]] [[Category:Music genres]] [[Category:Popular music]] [[Category:1970s fads and trends]] [[Category:1970s in music]]