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Heavy Metal

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Heavy Metal

AKA: Traditional Metal • 32,368 releases

Heavier outgrowth of Hard Rock featuring greater distortion and intensity along with lesser Blues influences.
Read more Heavy metal was Metal's original name, but is now used as a retrospective term to refer to a specific metal subgenre. It is built around elements of Hard Rock like muscular, power-chord based riffs, however, played with greater aggression, distortion and intensity, along with stripping away the Blues influences that hard rock is typically based around. The lyrical themes are generally darker than those of hard rock, featuring themes of war, death, loss, and the occult. Fantasy imagery is also very common. Musically, it is varied, ranging from the virtuosic, highly melodic approaches of Iron Maiden to a rougher and looser style akin to Punk Rock. Although not ubiquitous features, the genre typically employs harmonized lead guitars, high-pitched singing, and flashy soloing.

Heavy metal is a result of the increasingly heavy Rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bands of this era took from rock's blues-based roots and Psychedelic Rock (particularly its gloomier subgenre Heavy Psych) while competing to take rock to its furthest extremes. Black Sabbath are widely considered to be the first band to fully break through into metal territory, although they were largely influenced by Blues Rock. Further stylistic development came from the hard rock band Thin Lizzy, who popularized lead guitar harmonies which would become crucial to the more melodic sound of heavy metal. The darker aesthetic of heavy metal was influenced by shock rock artists such as Alice Cooper and KISS, who would develop the more "evil", controversial, and theatrical side of metal's image.

With all of these principles set, heavy metal diversified and went in many directions. Judas Priest would utilize Thin Lizzy indebted guitar harmonies and soaring vocals to achieve a grand and epic sound, whereas Motörhead would focus on creating rough and ready rockers with a Punky ethos. NWOBHM and Speed Metal brought heavy metal to new extremes and heavily influenced following metal genres such as Power Metal and Thrash Metal. Heavy metal would also become a key component of Glam Metal, which was primarily based in hard rock and was very Pop-oriented.

Heavy metal would be overshadowed during the 1990s by Alternative Metal and Groove Metal. However, it remained influential, particularly to Melodic Death Metal where its style of guitar harmonies and melodic sensibilities would be drawn upon heavily. Heavy metal would also see a slight resurgence in popularity during the mid-2000s with the new wave of traditional heavy metal harkening back to its original sound.

Top-ranked albums

See full chart

#1

Paranoid
Black Sabbath
#2

Painkiller
Judas Priest
#3

Powerslave
Iron Maiden
#4

Rising
Rainbow
#5

Don't Break the Oath
Mercyful Fate
#6

Holy Diver
Dio
#7

Overkill
Motörhead
#8

Lightning to the Nations
Diamond Head
#9

Abigail
King Diamond
#10

Death or Glory
Running Wild

Years active

Heavy Metal

Discography

32,368 Releases

1 2 ... 250 Next

Release Date

Avg Ratings Reviews

War Pigs
Black Sabbath

1970 Additional releases

294 Ratings 1 Reviews 4.39 Average

4.39 294 294 1 1
Club Sonderauflage
Black Sabbath

1970 Compilation

26 Ratings 1 Reviews 4.05 Average

4.05 26 26 1 1
Ride the Sky / Horla
Lucifer's Friend

1970 Single

90 Ratings 1 Reviews 3.81 Average

3.81 90 90 1 1
The Wizard / Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games With Me
Black Sabbath

1970 Single

519 Ratings 1 Reviews 3.88 Average

3.88 519 519 1 1
Coleccion underground N° 3: Presentando Paranoid
Black Sabbath

1970 EP

30 Ratings 3.83 Average

3.83 30 30
Hard Rain Fallin' / Lady of Fire
Sir Lord Baltimore

1970 Single

73 Ratings 1 Reviews 3.72 Average

3.72 73 73 1 1
Paranoid / Happy Being Me
Black Sabbath / Manfred Mann Chapter Three

1970 Single

27 Ratings 3.91 Average

3.91 27 27
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath

1970 Bootleg

21 Ratings 4.14 Average

4.14 21 21
Population II
Randy Holden

1970 Album

977 Ratings 33 Reviews 3.63 Average

3.63 977 977 33 33
Paranoid / Rat Salad / Wight Is Wight
Black Sabbath / Michel Delpech

1970 Bootleg

14 Ratings 3.86 Average

3.86 14 14
Black Sabbath / Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games With Me
Black Sabbath

1970 Single

920 Ratings 9 Reviews 4.17 Average

4.17 920 920 9 9
Black Sabbath / Neil Diamond
Black Sabbath / Neil Diamond

1970 Bootleg

10 Ratings 3.84 Average

3.84 10 10
悪魔の世界 (Wicked World) / アイアン・マン (Iron Man)
ブラック・サバス [Black Sabbath]

1970 Single

327 Ratings 2 Reviews 3.76 Average

3.76 327 327 2 2
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath

1970 Music video

29 Ratings 4.10 Average

4.10 29 29
Paranoid
Black Sabbath

1970 Music video

57 Ratings 1 Reviews 3.85 Average

3.85 57 57 1 1

1 2 ... 250 Next

Lists

RYM Ultimate Box Set > Heavy Metal 2016-04-19T23:05:07Z

DarkJah 32 items
My favourite Black Sabbath songs 2024-04-29T15:49:15Z

metaxa 42 items
Iron Maiden Babeeeeeee 2024-04-29T10:23:43Z

Twelfth 7 items
Saxon Albums Ranked 2024-02-04T00:30:36Z

InfluentialStrategist 40 lists 22 items
10's/20's Trad. Heavy Metal 2024-04-19T20:31:46Z

blacklace 4 lists 42 items
MERCYFUL FATE - Ranked 2023-12-11T03:52:26Z

spelunkticus 9 lists 8 items
RYM Ultimate Box Set > US Power Metal 2024-04-28T22:52:04Z

Chamardt 3 lists 35 items
The Best of Heavy Metal in Chronological Order (Rated) 2024-04-28T20:24:52Z

GiornoMio 306 items
Manilla Road Ranked 2024-04-28T14:06:18Z

lovesthemetals 2 lists 9 items
Steel 2024-04-27T20:48:13Z

Doncan_ 123 items
Black Sabbath (Ozzy) Albums Ranked and Reviewed Best to Worst 2024-01-07T15:32:40Z

JustGeorge93 3 lists 10 items
JUDAS PRIEST : ALBUM RANKING 2024-04-27T08:19:55Z

rockoruud 3 lists 17 items
Dio albums ranked 2022-05-17T21:49:43Z

dista 4 lists 10 items
March of the Saints - 31 Days of Heavy Metal 2024 2024-04-26T17:14:34Z

scyth3 34 items
Mercyful Fate albums rated/ranked 2022-03-31T07:57:22Z

davidaraneda 3 lists 7 items

Hierarchy

See all genres

Metal
Driving and distorted riffs, aggressive drumming, vigorous vocals, and an all-around show of brute force in its early days, since branching into dozens of subgenres.
- Heavy Metal
- - NWOBHM
    Acronym for new wave of British Heavy Metal, which occurred in the late 1970s, taking some influence from Punk Rock.
  - Speed Metal
    Originating from the NWOBHM and influenced by the work of early heavy metal bands, being faster and somewhat more aggressive than heavy metal.
  - US Power Metal
    American style influenced by NWOBHM that features heavily distorted guitars paired with more aggressive riffs, mid-tempo Heavy Metal rhythms, and over-the-top theatrical vocals with fantasy or conceptual themes.

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