Heavy-Metal.Info

The history of heavy metal began in Britain in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Many of the elements of heavy metal such as the rhythm, the vocals style, and the electrically amplified guitars were derived from British rock bands experimenting with variations on American Blues music. The blues elements were eventually joined with elements from the psychedelic rock genre to form the early incarnations of heavy metal.


In the early 1970's, British bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath
broke ground in the music industry. They pioneered the heavy metal genre. Soon American artists like Kiss and Alice Cooper emerged. At this point in the history of heavy metal, the new bands began using elaborate effects in their stage shows.


In the late 1970's, the Punk Rock genre was formed to rebel against the society and music styles of the time. This prompted the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard replaced much of the genre's original blues influenced sounds with tempos that were inspired the punk rock sound. The thrash metal subgenre was the result of blending New Wave British Heavy Metal with Hardcore Punk.


The 1980's was the definitive era in the history of heavy metal. The creation of MTV boosted the exposure of several heavy metal artists, especially those in the glam metal subgenre. Glam metal fused heavy metal with elements of glam rock. The artists were characterized by gaudy make-up, clothing, and hairstyles. This was one of the most popular heavy metal subgenres at the time. However, some heavy metal fans thought that glam metal had too much of a pop infuence.


The popularity of heavy metal declined in the early 1990's when grunge rock and alternative rock began to dominate the music scene. A few groups merged alternative rock with heavy metal to form the alternative metal genre. Alternative metal branched off into a number of subgenres such as punk metal, industrial metal, and nu metal.