Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and loudness.
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots. It is described by AllMusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music.
Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment, opposition to armed conflicts, and at times shares a disdain for the Christian religion with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk.
Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.
Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. Heavily influenced by thrash metal, groove metal features raspy singing and screaming, down-tuned guitars, heavy guitar riffs, and syncopated rhythms. Groove metal is usually slower than thrash. Pantera are often considered the pioneers of groove metal, and the genre expanded in the 1990s with bands including White Zombie, Machine Head, and Sepultura. Successful groove metal acts of the 2000s include Lamb of God, DevilDriver, and Five Finger Death Punch.
Tourniquet was an American Christian metal band that formed in Los Angeles in 1990. It was founded by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. Tourniquet primarily played a mixture of thrash and progressive metal and was influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. The band earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992). They released ten studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one EP, and several video releases. The last Tourniquet lineup consisted of Ted Kirkpatrick (drums) and Aaron Guerra. The band disbanded after Kirkpatrick's death in 2022.
"Stone Cold Crazy" is a song written and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack. The song is the eighth track on the album. Although the song was not released as a single at the time, it was performed live at almost every Queen concert from 1974 to 1978. "Stone Cold Crazy" is included on the band's 1992 compilation album, Classic Queen and was released as a promo single in that year by Hollywood Records.
Locust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Butthole Surfers, released in March 1987. The album was originally released on both vinyl and CD on Touch and Go, and was remastered on CD on the band's label, Latino Buggerveil, in 1999.
"Roots Bloody Roots" is a song by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, released in February 1996 as the lead single from their sixth studio album Roots. It is the band's best known song and remains a concert staple, usually being performed on encores. A music video was filmed for the song, which features the band performing in a catacomb as well as on the streets with a tribe of percussionists. This video can be found on the VHS We Are What We Are, which was later released on DVD as part of Chaos DVD.
Wrecking Everything is a 2002 live album by thrash metal band Overkill which is the counterpart to Wrecking Everything – An Evening in Asbury Park VHS/DVD. Recorded at The Paramount, Asbury Park, New Jersey on March 23, 2002. As of 2006, the album had sold over 5,300 copies and according to Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, the VHS/DVD has sold around 15,000–20,000 copies in the U.S.
The Law is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Exhorder, released on March 15, 1992 through Roadrunner Records. Compared to previous release Slaughter in the Vatican, the band's sound became much more groove metal-oriented while still retaining much of its thrash roots. It was reissued by Roadrunner in 2003 in a two-disc set with Slaughter in the Vatican and again in 2008. The song "Into the Void" is a cover of a Black Sabbath song off their Master of Reality album.
Ted Kirkpatrick was an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work with the Christian thrash metal band Tourniquet. Primarily a drummer, Kirkpatrick was the principal songwriter for the band and played other instruments as necessary.
A gallop is a beat or rhythm typically used in traditional heavy metal songs. It is created by playing an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes, usually on rhythm guitar, drums, or bass.
Live to Die is the second album by the American heavy metal band Bride. It is the band's second album to be released on the label Pure Metal Records in 1988. Live to Die is considered by critics to be the band's finest release in its metal era. Songs such as "Hell No" and "Heroes" have become Christian metal anthems and were popular songs in the band's concerts.
"Arise" is Sepultura's first official single, as well as the first of three to be released from the album of the same name.
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak is a Polish-American musician, best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Halford, led by Rob Halford.
"Dissident Aggressor" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest that was first released on Sin After Sin in 1977. In 2010, thirty-three years after its release, the song won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance after being rereleased as a live track on A Touch of Evil: Live.
Heavy metal guitar is the use of highly-amplified electric guitar in heavy metal. Heavy metal guitar playing is rooted in the guitar playing styles developed in 1960s-era blues rock and psychedelic rock, and folk harmonic traditions and it uses a massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos and overall loudness. The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy distortion.
Heavy metal drumming is a style of rock music drum kit playing that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic/acid rock drum playing, heavy metal drummers play with emphatic beats, and overall loudness using an aggressive performing style. Heavy metal drumming is traditionally characterized by emphatic rhythms and dense bass guitar-and-drum sound.
Biker metal is a fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock, heavy metal, rock and roll and blues, that was pioneered in the late-1970s to early-1980s in England and the United States, by Motörhead, Plasmatics, Anti-Nowhere League and Girlschool.
