Heavy metal music is and always will be one of the most polarising and controversial music genres in the world. While it is not without controversy, many fans of metal praise it as being the greatest musical style in the world. With the legions of fans it has, it is easy to see why metal has become such a massive phenomenon. The history of metal, staying true to the themes of it, is a dark grueling path of drugs, fights, brotherhood, and death. Metal has a very rich history full of culture shaking events, and this paper will cover the many beginnings, endings, deaths, breakups, and reunions that created metal. Metal is one of the most diverse genres in the music world. Although modern metal is heavy, loud, and violent sounding, the roots
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With the formation of Black Sabbath in 1968, early metal was born. Black Sabbath took styles of dark Delta Blues and UK rock to form Heavy Metal. The resulting sound was massive, haunting, and heavy. One main contributing factor of the heaviness was Tony Iommi, guitarist of Black Sabbath. When he was younger, his fingertips were severed in an accident. Because of this, he tuned his guitar lower to make it easier for his fingers to play and bend the strings. This resulted in a heavy, dark sound. Many of their songs had lyrics with occult or horror themes, dealing with Satan, magic, monsters, and demons. One of their most famous songs, Black Sabbath, deals with a vision that Geezer Butler, their bassist, had. In the dream he saw a creature in a black cloak standing at the end of his bed. The creature beckoned him toward a book Butler had on his shelf, but when he approached the book, the creature vanished. The book was an actual book Geezer had in his apartment. Before having the dream, he painted his room black and placed a book on witchcraft and the occult at the end of his bed. With the creation of Black Sabbath, heavy metal was born. This began a revolution of metal across the world. Before this time, rock was always considered a very niche subject. No one played heavy music the way Black Sabbath did. Black Sabbath was not the perfect band though. Their long career was full of break-ups, reunions, …show more content…
When the eighties came through though, metal went from an underground niche to the main forefront of music. When the eighties kicked into gear, metal kicked up the speed, the aggression, and the technicality. One such band is the almighty Metallica. Metallica was formed in 1981 when guitarist and lead vocalist James Hetfield answered an ad by drummer Lars Ulrich. Soon Metallica had fully formed with James Hetfield on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Dave Mustaine on lead guitar, Cliff Burton on bass, and Lars Ulrich on drums. Full of speed and raw aggression, Metallica released their first album Kill em’ All. Though they were very popular in the underground metal scene, their beginnings did not go off without a hitch. The hard life of the rockstar, drinking and drugs got the best of Dave Mustaine. Combined with his anger problems, the band was forced to kick him out. Dave Mustaine was not the end of Metallica's troubles though. While on tour in Europe for their album Master of Puppets, there was a tragic bus accident. Bassist Cliff Burton was killed when the bus tipped over. Metallica soon recovered from this loss and recruited new bassist Jason Newsted. Metallica was not without competition though. Ex member Dave Mustaine soon formed his own band. Megadeth took the speed of Metallica and turned it up to 1,000. They were loud, aggressive, and had many complex, speed metal style riffs. Many
With the formation of Black Sabbath in 1968, early metal was born. Black Sabbath took styles of dark Delta Blues and UK rock to form Heavy Metal. The resulting sound was massive, haunting, and heavy. One main contributing factor of the heaviness was Tony Iommi, guitarist of Black Sabbath. When he was younger, his fingertips were severed in an accident. Because of this, he tuned his guitar lower to make it easier for his fingers to play and bend the strings. This resulted in a heavy, dark sound. Many of their songs had lyrics with occult or horror themes, dealing with Satan, magic, monsters, and demons. One of their most famous songs, Black Sabbath, deals with a vision that Geezer Butler, their bassist, had. In the dream he saw a creature in a black cloak standing at the end of his bed. The creature beckoned him toward a book Butler had on his shelf, but when he approached the book, the creature vanished. The book was an actual book Geezer had in his apartment. Before having the dream, he painted his room black and placed a book on witchcraft and the occult at the end of his bed. With the creation of Black Sabbath, heavy metal was born. This began a revolution of metal across the world. Before this time, rock was always considered a very niche subject. No one played heavy music the way Black Sabbath did. Black Sabbath was not the perfect band though. Their long career was full of break-ups, reunions, …show more content…
When the eighties came through though, metal went from an underground niche to the main forefront of music. When the eighties kicked into gear, metal kicked up the speed, the aggression, and the technicality. One such band is the almighty Metallica. Metallica was formed in 1981 when guitarist and lead vocalist James Hetfield answered an ad by drummer Lars Ulrich. Soon Metallica had fully formed with James Hetfield on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Dave Mustaine on lead guitar, Cliff Burton on bass, and Lars Ulrich on drums. Full of speed and raw aggression, Metallica released their first album Kill em’ All. Though they were very popular in the underground metal scene, their beginnings did not go off without a hitch. The hard life of the rockstar, drinking and drugs got the best of Dave Mustaine. Combined with his anger problems, the band was forced to kick him out. Dave Mustaine was not the end of Metallica's troubles though. While on tour in Europe for their album Master of Puppets, there was a tragic bus accident. Bassist Cliff Burton was killed when the bus tipped over. Metallica soon recovered from this loss and recruited new bassist Jason Newsted. Metallica was not without competition though. Ex member Dave Mustaine soon formed his own band. Megadeth took the speed of Metallica and turned it up to 1,000. They were loud, aggressive, and had many complex, speed metal style riffs. Many