Metal 101

The history of metal can be traced back to early blues and birthed with rock n roll when amplifiers made playing guitars as a lead instrument a possibility but with this genre all that is applicable to the origin of modern metal is to trace back the roots to when heavy metal merged with punk influences in the beginning of the 70's, Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Mercyful Fate; the beginning of modern metal.

Typically metal can be described as two or more electric guitars, bass, drums and vocals, played with a loud overdriven/distorted tone with powerful lead riffs and solos, often played in minor keys but not necessarily the case, as many different sub-genres will see some alteration to this lineup. HEAVY METAL: The beginning of heavy metal can be described by one band. Black Sabbath, the loud distorted bass-y guitars centred around a heavy but catchy riff that will become the central premise of all metal to come, though the style of Black Sabbath was very much still entrenched in a blues playing style. The darker tone of the lyrics and the powerfully sung screaming of Ozzy Osbourne, along side the name of the band sent parents into a fury about how satanic this new metal is and thus metal became synonymous with satan.

"Iron man" - Black Sabbath -1970

Merging of 70's punk with 70's heavy metal created a new fast paced play style which is what began the thrash metal movement, but already you could see it forming with bands like Motorhead who played rocknroll styled music with the power and attitude of punk. This spawned a new type of music with heavy distortion at a much faster pace with emphasis on the guitars and bass. The drums are much more prominent and have a bigger part to play as apposed to traditional rock n roll, setting the golden standard for metal to come.

"Motorhead" - Motorhead -1977

So with the basis of the fast played heavily distorted frame for metal set, we are waiting to have another staple of the industry enter the scene just before the start of the 80's. Iron Maiden brings a more melodic and smoother and slightly less distorted tone (or rather organised distortion) to their music and later even introducing the operatic style of Bruce Dickenson.

Keeping with the standards of metal, the loud distorted lead guitars are prominent and the drums are loud and given freedom to add fills, but what Iron Maiden have done different to Motorhead was an emphasis on the vocals, giving Steve Harris and later Bruce Dickenson an harmonious quality that retains the power. Also giving more prominence to the guitar and the wicked dueling guitar solos, this emphasis on the guitar solo is what is the new staple of heavy metal. As you can see below it still has a motorhead type rock n roll feel to it but with the exception of that powerful guitar. This would change in the 80's where we branch into a more melodic metal and a faster metal variety. "Iron Maiden" - Iron Maiden -1979

BLACK METAL:

We break away into the 80's where the biggest thing to hit metal arrives, Mercyful Fate as part of the "first wave" of black metal or satanic metal. Often disregarded as a staple of metal for other bands such as Metallica or Megadeth but is is an earlier example of the direction metal was headed and a huge influencer on those two bands who arrived just a few years later. Black metal was a kick back at metal being labelled satanic, the counter culture that was metal decided to shake up the system. The disregard for set structure, sudden tempo changes and key changes had begun, starting with the introduction of more classically trained guitarists introducing progressions and less harmonious keys. Still maintaining the rules for metal, heavy distorted bass and lead guitars getting louder and more distorted with the introduction of new technology and taking influence from Iron Maiden's vocals with great range (Though arguably to a less "great" degree).

There's less emphasis on melody and harmony with vocals giving way to shrill terrifying screaming and erratic displays of power, and more emphasis on a central riff and the "chug chug" of the rhythm guitar. The drums are more important than ever before, they're given more complex fills. Black metal encompasses a variety of other metal play styles as I'll get into later but the key thing that makes this black metal as opposed to any other metal is the lyrical content and the attire in which they don. Often wearing black and white make up like Alice Cooper or KISS but in much more darker tones. Starting as a pushback against the christian metal that was becoming quite popular in the states they really took the "metal is satanic" approach seriously and fought back by going darker and heavier. "Into My Coven" - Mercyful Fate -1983

THRASH METAL: The standard was changing and ready for the giant metal shift of the 80's. Brought out by the arrival of black metal. Already there were two camps between people, those who wanted something more melodic and those who wanted something faster and more technical. The latter camp split into what's known as thrash metal though originally it was all called black metal. And the introduction of melody to death metal which I'll touch on later.

No sooner than thrash was created was it diverged into death metal. Thrash metal as we know it today was made mainstream by bands like Slayer and Anthrax though it's credited to be first coined by the band Venom whose style has taken a lot of influence from Motorhead. By taking the fast paced aggressive play style of Motorhead and turning the keys minor and changing the chord strumming for the chug chug picking style that is favoured by metal guitarists and the birth of early thrash began. "Don't burn the witch" - Venom - 1983

Slayer really created the tone of thrash metal with songs like raining blood. Starting the culture of disjointed melodies and fast drums, they are not only a time keeper but a steady and quick thumping throughout, creating an image of power and noise. The blast beat now reigns supreme. The vocals are not sung, they are spoken and very quick, the lyrics remain dark and work well with the general atmosphere of dread and destruction. The song below shows how slayer spawned both thrash and death metal at the same time. blending the fast blast beats with lightning quick tremolo picking and the chug chug that was the beginning of death metal. Taking inspiration from the shift from classic heavy metal being 4/4 and concise, slayer shows tempo changes in order to change into their borderline death and thrash play style. Every beat has a strong hit and the rapid bar chord play style with a mix of tremolo makes the thrash genre and death genre very similar in the late 80's. Slayer was also known for it's high squeal-y guitar noises and incorporated them into the songs. "Raining Blood" - Slayer -1986

That is until the 90's. In the late 80's and early 90's doom metal began to pop up partly in defiance and partly in respect to this new thrash craze going around, doom was characteristically slower and reminiscent of Black Sabbath songs like Electric Funeral, but with a modern wall of sound recording technique. Traditional doom metal had an emphasis on obtaining the lowest sound possible, and was where the first elements of deep guttural growls were introduced. The vocal style had become darker and growlier than traditional thrash and thus the divide between death and thrash.

DEATH METAL: Thus started the tone of death metal, which was the dark deathly tone of doom metal with a speed that was closer to thrash, and a kind of mix of the two. There was an emphasis on lyrics being shockingly deathly and disgusting, growled in that low growl we call a death growl. The vocals are often hidden in the mix just like most recordings at that time due to everything else being made so loud. Emphasis was back on the drums and low, detuned tones of guitar and bass, taking more influence from doom metal.

A good example of early death metal was Carcass, showing still a fairly thrash like tone to most of the song however the thumping chug chug of the guitar over the 90's solidified the death metal genre. "Slash Demetia" - Carcass -1993

MELODIC DEATH METAL:

This new death metal was catching on and people liked the thumping of the chords and along side melodic influences such as iron maiden whose presence was not forgotten throughout the 80's and generated a type of metal called power metal. Power metal is a more melodic version of metal that sounds like something medieval but unlike most of the metal genres I've talked about doesn't take it's self too seriously. Generally the favoured metal of nerd culture, incorporating dragon slaying and knighthood as common themes. Power metal will include a synth or keyboard sound of some description and therefore is often played more classically in major chord progressions and more has emphasis on the vocals.

Introducing Amon Amarth an early 90's melodic death metal band who are sometimes referred to as viking metal though that title is just a subgenre of melodic death because they sing about vikings and incorporate traditional nordic structure into their songs. They are heavily influenced by both power metal and death metal but with a nordic twist. The most common theme is the triplet picking style that grew out of death metal, giving the sound of a horses gallop.

Take the song The Last with Pagan Blood. The song has the fast tremolo picking style of death or thrash metal, deep guttural growls but in a melodic structure of power metal and the chug chug rhythm guitar from death metal. The difference being the emphasis on creating melody, the guitar is the main focus of the song and everything else just fits around it. Taking the theme of slaying dragons more literally and writing about vikings and death. What we see happen with melodic death metal is a drive to make songs longer and more musical, this started with doom metal and carried on into power metal and is the beginning of progressive metal. The Last with Pagan Blood - Amon Amarth -1999

The progression of metal has and will continue to evolve over time. Though the roots of all metal will always be based in blues, the influence of the variety of genres, most importantly the introduction of punk in the 70's and the introduction of jazz and classically trained guitarists in the 80's and 90's giving rise to modern melodic metal has shaped the way metal is created.