Heavy metal or metal as it is currently called started back in the late ‘60’s. Heavy metal found its roots in the blues and psychedelic music genres, and got its inspiration in the misery of daily life in industrialized cities combined with a fascination for mysticism and the occult. The stereotypical metal song combines heavy thudding drums sounds (often with a double bass) with thickly distorted guitar riffs, screaming vocals and 16th notes played over a standard 4/4 beat.
Some people imagine metal as songs with furious guitars played at breakneck speed but this is a variation of the style that happened fairly early. In the beginning bands like Black Sabbath founded the genre with songs with a slow tempo and tuned down guitars (to accommodate guitarist Tony Iommi’s injury; he lost a finger while working in a metal shop). The guitar is the driving force in heavy metal even more so than other genres. Heavily distorted tube amplifiers and distortion pedals give the music its classic “sonic dirt”. Most articles on heavy metal play up the importance of guitar solos in heavy metal music but a careful examination reveals that the solo was just an extension of the styles focus on musical excellence. Solos were not the key aspect of the style but just another weapon in the metal arsenal. Other key features that were sometimes used were the bass solo, layered keyboards, harmonized guitars, power chords, classical and exotic musical scales, tri-tones, palm muting, bass distortion, unusual percussion, and unbelievably loud live shows combined with dramatic theatrical elements. Another thing that set heavy metal music apart was the lyrical content, which usually had an escapist quality to it. They cover diverse concepts like sex, fantasy, mysticism, literature, poetry, violence, war, politics, nuclear weapons, death, the occult, and other topics too extreme for the other genres of the time.
Some people imagine metal as songs with furious guitars played at breakneck speed but this is a variation of the style that happened fairly early. In the beginning bands like Black Sabbath founded the genre with songs with a slow tempo and tuned down guitars (to accommodate guitarist Tony Iommi’s injury; he lost a finger while working in a metal shop). The guitar is the driving force in heavy metal even more so than other genres. Heavily distorted tube amplifiers and distortion pedals give the music its classic “sonic dirt”. Most articles on heavy metal play up the importance of guitar solos in heavy metal music but a careful examination reveals that the solo was just an extension of the styles focus on musical excellence. Solos were not the key aspect of the style but just another weapon in the metal arsenal. Other key features that were sometimes used were the bass solo, layered keyboards, harmonized guitars, power chords, classical and exotic musical scales, tri-tones, palm muting, bass distortion, unusual percussion, and unbelievably loud live shows combined with dramatic theatrical elements. Another thing that set heavy metal music apart was the lyrical content, which usually had an escapist quality to it. They cover diverse concepts like sex, fantasy, mysticism, literature, poetry, violence, war, politics, nuclear weapons, death, the occult, and other topics too extreme for the other genres of the time.
http://www.silver-dragon-records.com/hmm.htm
