Editing Heavy metal music (section)

==History==

===Antecedents: 1950s to late 1960s===
{{See also|Blues rock|Psychedelic rock|Acid rock|Garage rock}}
Heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, which is built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to early 1950s [[Memphis blues]] [[guitarist]]s such as [[Joe Hill Louis]], [[Willie Johnson (guitarist)|Willie Johnson]] and particularly [[Pat Hare]],<ref name=rolling_memphis>{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Jim |title=The Rolling Stone illustrated history of rock & roll |publisher=Rolling Stone |year=1980 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-394-51322-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneillu00mill |url-access=registration |access-date=5 July 2012 |quote=Black country bluesmen made raw, heavily amplified boogie records of their own, especially in Memphis, where guitarists like Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson (with the early Howlin' Wolf band) and Pat Hare (with Little Junior Parker) played driving rhythms and scorching, distorted solos that might be counted the distant ancestors of heavy metal.}}</ref><ref name=palmer/> who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as [[James Cotton]]'s "[[Cotton Crop Blues]]" (1954).<ref name=palmer>[[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Palmer, Robert]]. "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13–38. In: DeCurtis, Anthony: ''Present Tense'', [[Duke University Press]], 1992., pp.&nbsp;24–27. {{ISBN|0-8223-1265-4}}</ref> Other early influences include the late 1950s instrumentals of [[Link Wray]], particularly "[[Rumble (instrumental)|Rumble]]" (1958);<ref>Strong (2004), p. 1693; Buckley (2003), p. 1187</ref> the early 1960s [[surf music|surf rock]] of [[Dick Dale]], including "[[Let's Go Trippin']]" (1961) and "[[Misirlou]]" (1962); and [[the Kingsmen]]'s version of "[[Louie Louie]]" (1963), which became a [[garage rock]] standard.<ref>Buckley (2003) p. 1144</ref>

[[File:Cream on Fanclub 1968.png|thumb|right|alt=The band Cream is shown playing on a TV show. From left to right are drummer Ginger Baker (sitting behind a drumkit with two bass drums) and two electric guitarists.|Cream performing on the Dutch television program ''Fanclub'' in 1968]]
However, the genre's direct lineage begins in the mid-1960s. American [[blues music]] was a major influence on the early [[British rock]]ers of the era. Bands like [[the Rolling Stones]] and [[the Yardbirds]] developed [[blues rock]] by recording covers of classic blues songs, often speeding up the [[tempo]]s. As they experimented with the music, the UK blues-based bands – and in turn the U.S. acts they influenced – developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal (in particular, the loud, distorted guitar sound).<ref name=vdqxbw/> [[The Kinks]] played a major role in popularising this sound with their 1964 hit "[[You Really Got Me]]".<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 18; Walser (1993), p. 9</ref>

In addition to the Kinks' [[Dave Davies]], other guitarists such as [[the Who]]'s [[Pete Townshend]] and the Yardbirds' [[Jeff Beck]] were experimenting with feedback.<ref>Wilkerson (2006), p. 19</ref><ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=the-yardbirds-mn0000489303|pure_url=yes}} "The Yardbirds"]. Richie Unterberger. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved 30 August 2011</ref> Where the blues rock drumming style started out largely as simple shuffle beats on small kits, drummers began using a more muscular, complex and amplified approach to match and be heard against the increasingly loud guitar.<ref name=eyaqji>Walser (1993), p. 10</ref> Vocalists similarly modified their technique and increased their reliance on amplification, often becoming more stylized and dramatic. In terms of sheer volume, especially in live performance, the Who's "bigger-louder-wall-of-[[Marshall Amplification#Marshall stack|Marshalls]]" approach was seminal to the development of the later heavy metal sound.<ref>McMichael (2004), p. 112</ref>

The combination of this loud and heavy blues rock with [[psychedelic rock]] and [[acid rock]] formed much of the original basis for heavy metal.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 16</ref> The variant or subgenre of psychedelic rock often known as "acid rock" was particularly influential on heavy metal and its development; acid rock is often defined as a heavier, louder, or harder variant of psychedelic rock,<ref name=AMgenre>{{AllMusic|class=style|id=acid-rock-ma0000012327}}</ref> or the more extreme side of the psychedelic rock genre, frequently containing a loud, improvised, and heavily distorted, guitar-centered sound. Acid rock has been described as psychedelic rock at its "rawest and most intense", emphasizing the heavier qualities associated with both the positive and negative extremes of the [[psychedelic experience]] rather than only the idyllic side of psychedelia.<ref name="bisbort">{{cite book|last1=Bisbort|first1=Alan|last2=Puterbaugh|first2=Parke|title=Rhino's Psychedelic Trip|date=2000|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsa9NUlj9FsC&q=%22acid+rock%22+rawer&pg=PA31|access-date=5 August 2017|isbn=9780879306267}}</ref> In  contrast to more idyllic or whimsical pop psychedelic rock, American acid rock [[garage bands]] such as the [[13th Floor Elevators]] epitomized the frenetic, heavier, darker, and more psychotic psychedelic rock sound known as acid rock, a sound characterized by [[Drone (music)|droning]] guitar riffs, amplified feedback, and guitar distortion, while the 13th Floor Elevators' sound in particular featured yelping vocals and "occasionally demented" lyrics.<ref name="unterberger">{{cite book|last1=Unterberger|first1=Richie|title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music|date=2001|publisher=Hal Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xR7MdpuSlAEC&q=%22occasionally+demented+lyrics%22&pg=PT384|access-date=5 August 2017|isbn=9780879306274}}</ref> Frank Hoffman noted that "[Psychedelic rock] was sometimes referred to as 'acid rock'. The latter label was applied to a pounding, [[hard rock]] variant that evolved out of the mid-1960s [[garage-punk]] movement.{{nbsp}}... When rock began turning back to softer, roots-oriented sounds in late 1968, acid-rock bands mutated into heavy metal acts."<ref>Hoffmann, Frank (ed.) (2004). ''Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound'', Routledge, p. 1725 {{ISBN|1135949506}}</ref>

One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of psychedelic rock and acid rock with the blues rock genre was the British power trio [[Cream (band)|Cream]], who derived a massive, heavy sound from [[unison]] riffing between guitarist [[Eric Clapton]] and bassist [[Jack Bruce]], as well as [[Ginger Baker]]'s double bass drumming.<ref>Charlton (2003), pp. 232–33</ref> Their first two LPs – ''[[Fresh Cream]]'' (1966) and ''[[Disraeli Gears]]'' (1967) – are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style of heavy metal. [[The Jimi Hendrix Experience]]'s debut album, ''[[Are You Experienced (album)|Are You Experienced]]'' (1967), was also highly influential. [[Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix]]'s virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists, and the album's most successful single, "[[Purple Haze]]", is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit.<ref name=vdqxbw/> [[Vanilla Fudge]], whose [[Vanilla Fudge (album)|first album]] also came out in 1967, has been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal,"<ref name=vanillafudge>{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=Vanilla Fudge (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=vanilla-fudge-mn0000311674|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=1 September 2009}}</ref> and the band has been cited as an early American heavy metal group.<ref name="browne">{{cite book|last1=Browne|first1=Ray Broadus|last2=Browne|first2=Pat|title=The Guide to United States Popular Culture|date=2001|publisher=Popular Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&q=vanilla+fudge+heavy+metal&pg=PA373|isbn=9780879728212}}</ref> On their self-titled debut album, Vanilla Fudge created "loud, heavy, slowed-down arrangements" of contemporary hit songs, blowing these songs up to "epic proportions" and "bathing them in a trippy, distorted haze".<ref name=vanillafudge/>

During the late 1960s, many psychedelic singers, such as [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]], began to create outlandish, theatrical, and often [[macabre]] performances that influenced many metal acts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Unterberger, Ritchie |title=Arthur Brown (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=arthur-brown-mn0000510278|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=20 July 2011}}</ref><ref>Polly Marshall, ''The God of Hellfire, the Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown'', {{ISBN|0-946719-77-2}}, SAF Publishing, 2005, p. 175</ref><ref>Polly Marshall, ''The God of Hellfire, the Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown'', {{ISBN|0-946719-77-2}}, SAF Publishing, 200, p. 103</ref> The American psychedelic rock band [[Coven (band)|Coven]], who opened for early heavy metal influencers such as Vanilla Fudge and the Yardbirds, portrayed themselves as practitioners of [[witchcraft]] or [[black magic]], using dark – [[Satanism|Satanic]] or [[occult]] – imagery in their lyrics, album art and live performances, which consisted of elaborate, theatrical "[[Black Mass|Satanic rites]]". Coven's 1969 debut album, ''[[Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls]]'', featured imagery of skulls, [[black mass]]es, [[inverted cross]]es, and [[Satan]] worship, and both the album artwork and the band's live performances marked the first appearances in rock music of the [[sign of the horns]], which would later become an important gesture in heavy metal culture.<ref name="people">{{cite web|last1=Heigl|first1=Alex|title=The Overwhelming (and Overlooked) Darkness of Jinx Dawson and Coven|url=http://people.com/music/jinx-dawson-coven-overlooked-heavy-metal-influencers/|website=People.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808005612/https://people.com/music/jinx-dawson-coven-overlooked-heavy-metal-influencers/|archive-date=8 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="pattersonblackmetal"/> Coven's lyrical and thematic influences on heavy metal were quickly overshadowed by the darker and heavier sounds of [[Black Sabbath]].<ref name="people"/><ref name="pattersonblackmetal">{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Dayal|title=Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult|date=2013|publisher=Feral House|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kIxCgAAQBAJ&q=coven+%22heavy+metal%22&pg=PA3|isbn=9781936239764}}</ref>

===Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s===
[[File:John Kay of Steppenwolf (1970's).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|alt=Two performers from Steppenwolf are shown in an onstage performance. From left to right are an electric guitarist (only the instrument is shown) and singer John Kay, who is swinging the microphone.|John Kay of [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]]]]
Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit the British bands [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Black Sabbath]], with American commentators tending to favour Led Zeppelin and British commentators tending to favour Black Sabbath, though many give equal credit to both. [[Deep Purple]], the third band in what is sometimes considered the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, fluctuated between many rock styles until late 1969 when they took a heavy metal direction.<ref name="Charlton 2003, p. 241">Charlton (2003), p. 241</ref> A few commentators – mainly American – argue for other groups, including [[Iron Butterfly]], [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]], [[Blue Cheer]], or [[Vanilla Fudge]], as the first to play heavy metal.<ref>Weinstein (2000), pp. 14–15</ref>

In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, San Francisco band [[Blue Cheer]] released a cover of [[Eddie Cochran]]'s classic "[[Summertime Blues]]" as a part of their debut album, ''[[Vincebus Eruptum]]'', and many consider it to be the first true heavy metal recording.<ref>McCleary (2004), pp. 240, 50</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=An Answer to the Immortal Question: Who Invented Heavy Metal? |url=https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/who-invented-heavy-metal-music |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=Rockarchive |language=en}}</ref> The same month, [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] released their [[steppenwolf (Steppenwolf album)|self-titled debut album]], on which the track "[[Born to Be Wild]]" refers to "heavy metal thunder" in describing a motorcycle. In July, the [[Jeff Beck Group]], whose leader had preceded Page as The Yardbirds' guitarist, released its debut record, ''[[Truth (Jeff Beck album)|Truth]]'', which featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time", breaking ground for generations of metal guitarists.<ref>Gene Santoro, quoted in Carson (2001), p. 86</ref> In September, Page's new band, [[Led Zeppelin]], made its live debut in Denmark (but were billed as The New Yardbirds).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/september-7-1968|title=Led Zeppelin Teen-Clubs, Box 45, Egegaard Skole – September 7, 1968|website=Led Zeppelin – Official Website|date=20 September 2007 |language=en|access-date=2 August 2017}}</ref> [[The Beatles]]' [[The Beatles (album)|self-titled double album]], released in November, included "[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]", then one of the heaviest-sounding songs ever released by a major band.<ref>Blake (1997), p. 143</ref> [[The Pretty Things]]' [[rock opera]] ''[[S.F. Sorrow]]'', released in December, featured "proto heavy metal" songs such as "Old Man Going" and "I See You".<ref>{{cite web |author=Strauss, Neil |title=The Pop Life: The First Rock Opera (No, Not 'Tommy') |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=3 September 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E0D6133FF930A3575AC0A96E958260 |access-date=26 June 2008}}</ref><ref>Mason, Stewart. [{{AllMusic|class=song|id=i-see-you-mt0027360249|pure_url=yes}} "I See You: Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2012</ref> [[Iron Butterfly]]'s 1968 song "[[In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida]]" is sometimes described as an example of the transition between [[acid rock]] and heavy metal{{sfn|Rood|1994|p=6}} or the turning point in which acid rock became "heavy metal",<ref name="houstonpress">{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Nathan|title=The Warning: The 10 Heaviest Albums Before Black Sabbath|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-warning-the-10-heaviest-albums-before-black-sabbath-6779079|website=Houston Press|access-date=26 April 2016|date=13 February 2012}}</ref> and both Iron Butterfly's 1968 album [[In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (album)|''In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'']] and Blue Cheer's 1968 album ''Vincebus Eruptum'' have been described as laying the foundation of heavy metal and greatly influential in the transformation of acid rock into heavy metal.<ref>Bukszpan (2003), p. 288</ref>

In this [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] period, [[MC5]], who began as part of the Detroit garage rock scene, developed a raw, distorted style that has been seen as a major influence on the future sound of both heavy metal and later [[Punk rock|punk music]].<ref>Bukszpan (2003), p. 141</ref><ref>Braunstein and Doyle (2002), p. 133</ref> [[The Stooges]] also began to establish and influence a heavy metal and later punk sound, with songs such as "[[I Wanna Be Your Dog]]", featuring pounding and distorted heavy guitar power chord riffs.<ref>{{cite book |author=Trynka, Paul |title=Iggy Pop: open up and bleed |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/iggypopopenupble00tryn/page/95 95] |isbn=978-0-7679-2319-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/iggypopopenupble00tryn/page/95 }}</ref> [[Pink Floyd]] released two of their heaviest and loudest songs to date, "[[Ibiza Bar]]" and "[[The Nile Song]]", the latter of which being regarded as "one of the heaviest songs the band recorded."<ref>Kellman, Andy. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=relics-mw0000309068|pure_url=yes}} "Relics, Pink Floyd: Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2012</ref><ref>J. DeRogatis, ''Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'' (Milwaukee, Michigan: Hal Leonard, 2003), {{ISBN|0-634-05548-8}}, p. 132</ref> [[King Crimson]]'s [[In the Court of the Crimson King|debut album]] started with "[[21st Century Schizoid Man]]", which was considered heavy metal by several critics.<ref>Fricke, David. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090425074919/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe "King Crimson: The Power To Believe : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone"]}}. web.archive.org. Archived from the {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071028164021/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe original]}}.</ref><ref>[[#refBuckley2003|Buckley 2003]], p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of '21st Century Schizoid Man', and closing with the cathedral-sized title track,"</ref>

[[File:LedZeppelinChicago75 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|[[Led Zeppelin]] performing at [[Chicago Stadium]] in January 1975|alt=A colour photograph of the four members of Led Zeppelin performing onstage, with some other figures visible in the background. The band members shown are, from left to right, the bassist, drummer, guitarist, and lead singer. Large guitar speaker stacks are behind the band members.]]

In January 1969, Led Zeppelin's [[Led Zeppelin (album)|self-titled debut album]] was released and reached No. 10 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album chart. In July, Led Zeppelin and a power trio with a Cream-inspired, but cruder sound, called [[Grand Funk Railroad]] played the [[Atlanta International Pop Festival (1969)|Atlanta Pop Festival]]. That same month, another Cream-rooted trio led by [[Leslie West]] released ''[[Mountain (Leslie West album)|Mountain]]'', an album filled with heavy blues rock guitar and roaring vocals. In August, the group – now itself dubbed [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]] – played an hour-long set at the [[Woodstock Festival]], exposing the crowd of 300,000 people to the emerging sound of heavy metal.<ref name="prown">{{cite book|last1=Prown|first1=Pete|last2=Newquist|first2=HP|title=Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists|date=1997|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60Jde3l7WNwC&q=mississippi+queen+heavy+metal&pg=PA66|access-date=29 May 2017|isbn=9780793540426}}</ref><ref>Though often identified now as "hard rock", the band's official debut album, ''Mountain Climbing'' (1970), placed 85th on the list of "Top 100 Metal Albums" compiled by ''[[Hit Parader]]'' in 1989. In November, [[Love Sculpture]], with guitarist [[Dave Edmunds]], put out ''Forms and Feelings'', featuring a pounding, aggressive version of [[Aram Khachaturian]]'s "[[Sabre Dance]]". Grand Funk Railroad's ''Survival'' (1971) placed 72nd (Walser [1993], p. 174)</ref> Mountain's proto-metal or early heavy metal hit song "[[Mississippi Queen]]" from the album ''[[Climbing!]]'' is especially credited with paving the way for heavy metal and was one of the first heavy guitar songs to receive regular play on radio.<ref name=prown/><ref name="hoffmann">{{cite book|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Frank W.|title=Popular Culture and Libraries|date=1984|publisher=Library Professional Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdfWAAAAMAAJ&q=mississippi+queen+heavy+metal|isbn=9780208019813}}</ref><ref name="axs">{{cite web|last1=Ulibas|first1=Joseph|title=Hard rock band Mountain is riding the Mississippi Queen into the 21st century|url=https://www.axs.com/hard-rock-band-mountain-is-riding-the-mississippi-queen-into-the-21st--60208|website=AXS|access-date=29 May 2017}}</ref> In September 1969, the Beatles released the album ''[[Abbey Road]]'' containing the track "[[I Want You (She's So Heavy)]]", which has been credited as an early example of or influence on heavy metal or [[doom metal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/50-heaviest-songs-black-sabbath-40-31?page=0,6|title=The 50 Heaviest Songs Before Black Sabbath: #40-31|work=Guitar World|date=11 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>Classic Rock Magazine, September 2014</ref> In October 1969, British band [[High Tide (band)|High Tide]] debuted with the heavy, proto-metal album ''[[Sea Shanties (High Tide album)|Sea Shanties]]''.<ref name="Allmusic">Neate, Wilson [http://allmusic.com/album/sea-shanties-r40604/review AllMusic Review]</ref><ref name="houstonpress"/>

Led Zeppelin defined central aspects of the emerging genre, with Page's highly distorted guitar style and singer [[Robert Plant]]'s dramatic, wailing vocals.<ref>Charlton (2003), p. 239</ref> Other bands, with a more consistently heavy, "purely" metal sound, would prove equally important in codifying the genre. The 1970 releases by [[Black Sabbath]] (''[[Black Sabbath (album)|Black Sabbath]]'', which is generally accepted as the first heavy metal album,<ref>Wagner (2010), p. 10</ref> and ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]'') and [[Deep Purple]] (''[[Deep Purple in Rock]]'') were crucial in this regard.<ref name=eyaqji/>

[[Birmingham]]'s Black Sabbath had developed a particularly heavy sound in part due to a [[work accident]] in which guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] lost the ends of two fingers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/horrific-accident-created-heavy-metal-tony-iommi/|title=The Horrific Accident That Created Heavy Metal|website=loudwire.com|date=25 February 2022 |publisher=Townsquare Media}}</ref> Unable to play normally, Iommi had to tune his guitar down for easier fretting and rely on power chords with their relatively simple fingering.<ref>di Perna, Alan. "The History of Hard Rock: The 70's". ''Guitar World''. March 2001</ref> The bleak, industrial, [[working class|working-class]] environment of [[Birmingham]], a [[manufacturing]] city full of noisy [[factories]] and [[metalworking]], has itself been credited with influencing Black Sabbath's heavy, chugging, metallic sound – and the sound of heavy metal in general.<ref name="allsop">{{cite news|last1=Allsop|first1=Laura|title=Birmingham, England{{nbsp}}... the unlikely birthplace of heavy metal|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/01/birmingham.home.of.metal/index.html|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=CNN|date=1 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="wood">{{cite news|last1=Wood|first1=Rebecca|title=Black Sabbath: 'We hated being a heavy metal band'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-38768573|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=BBC|date=4 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="newyorker">{{cite news|last1=Michaud|first1=Jon|title=Keeping the Sabbath|url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/keeping-the-sabbath|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=The New Yorker|date=4 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="birmingham">{{cite news|last1=Bentley|first1=David|title=Midlands rocks! How Birmingham's industrial heritage made it the birthplace of heavy metal|url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/music/birmingham-birthplace-of-heavy-metal-4031445|access-date=3 August 2017|agency=Birmingham Post|date=4 June 2013}}</ref>

Deep Purple had fluctuated between styles in its early years, but by 1969, vocalist [[Ian Gillan]] and guitarist [[Ritchie Blackmore]] had led the band toward the developing heavy metal style.<ref name="Charlton 2003, p. 241"/> In 1970, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple scored major U.K. chart hits with "[[Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)|Paranoid]]" and "[[Black Night]]", respectively.<ref name="RnR Hall of Fame">{{cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/black-sabbath|title=Black Sabbath|publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]|access-date=8 March 2010}}</ref><ref>[[#refBuckley2003|Buckley 2003]], p. 232, "''{{'}}Black Night', a UK #2 hit in November 1970, stole its riff from Ricky Nelson's 'Summertime'.''"</ref> That same year, two other British bands released debut albums in a heavy metal mode: [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]] with ''[[...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble|...{{nbsp}}Very 'Eavy{{nbsp}}... Very 'Umble]]'' and [[UFO (band)|UFO]] with ''[[Unidentified Flying Object (album)|UFO 1]]''. [[Bloodrock]] released their [[Bloodrock (album)|self-titled debut album]], a collection of heavy guitar riffs, gruff style vocals and sadistic and macabre lyrics.<ref>Guarisco, Donald A. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=bloodrock-mw0000176093|pure_url=yes}} "''Bloodrock'' Review"]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved 5 February 2012</ref> The influential [[Budgie (band)|Budgie]] brought the new metal sound into a power trio context, creating some of the heaviest music of the time.<ref>{{cite web |author=Henderson, Alex |title=''Budgie'' (review) |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=budgie-mw0000208307|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=15 September 2009}}</ref> The occult lyrics and imagery employed by Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep would prove particularly influential; Led Zeppelin also began foregrounding such elements with its [[Led Zeppelin IV|fourth album]], released in 1971.<ref>Fast (2001), pp. 70–71</ref> In 1973, Deep Purple released the song "[[Smoke on the Water]]", whose iconic riff is usually considered as the most recognizable one in "heavy rock" history, as a single of the classic live album ''[[Made in Japan (Deep Purple album)|Made in Japan]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/iconic-guitar-riffs-rock-history-article-1.2745646|title=SEE IT: From 'Kashmir' to 'Layla,' a look at the most iconic guitar riffs in rock history |first=Nicholas|last=Parco |website=Nydailynews.com|date=10 August 2016 |access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-lars-ulrichs-passionate-deep-purple-rock-hall-induction-20160408|title=Read Lars Ulrich's Deep Purple Rock Hall Induction Speech|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=7 June 2018|date=9 April 2016|archive-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430193005/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-lars-ulrichs-passionate-deep-purple-rock-hall-induction-20160408|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Phil-Lynott Thin Lizzy.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Three members of the band Thin Lizzy are shown onstage. From left to right are a guitarist, bass player, and another electric guitarist. Both electric guitarists have long hair.|[[Brian Robertson (guitarist)|Brian Robertson]], [[Phil Lynott]] and [[Scott Gorham]] of [[Thin Lizzy]] performing during the Bad Reputation Tour, 24 November 1977]]
On the other side of the Atlantic, the trendsetting group was [[Grand Funk Railroad]], who was described as "the most commercially successful American heavy-metal band from 1970 until they disbanded in 1976, [they] established the Seventies success formula: continuous touring."<ref>Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 225</ref> Other influential bands identified with metal emerged in the U.S. such as [[Sir Lord Baltimore]] (''[[Kingdom Come (Sir Lord Baltimore album)|Kingdom Come]],'' 1970), [[Blue Öyster Cult]] (''[[Blue Öyster Cult (album)|Blue Öyster Cult]]'', 1972), [[Aerosmith]] (''[[Aerosmith (album)|Aerosmith]]'', 1973) and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] (''[[Kiss (Kiss album)|Kiss]]'', 1974). Sir Lord Baltimore's 1970 debut album and both [[Humble Pie (band)|Humble Pie]]'s [[As Safe As Yesterday Is|debut]] and [[Humble Pie (album)|self-titled third album]] were among the first albums to be described in print as "heavy metal", with ''[[As Safe As Yesterday Is]]'' referred to by the term "heavy metal" in a 1970 review in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine.<ref>Saunders, Mike. ''[https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/312133/review/5943267/as_safe_as_yesterday_is Rolling Stone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112065633/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/humblepie/albums/album/312133/review/5943267/as_safe_as_yesterday_is |date=12 January 2010 }}'' 12 November 1970</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/11/label-love-immediate-records|work=theguardian.com|title=Label of love: Immediate Records|date=11 May 2009 |author=Owen Adams}}</ref><ref name=baltimore/><ref name=humble/> In Germany, [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] debuted with ''[[Lonesome Crow]]'' in 1972. Blackmore, who had emerged as a virtuoso soloist with Deep Purple's highly influential album ''[[Machine Head (album)|Machine Head]]'' (1972), left the band in 1975 to form [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]] with [[Ronnie James Dio]], singer and bassist for blues rock band [[Elf (band)|Elf]] and future vocalist for Black Sabbath and heavy metal band [[Dio (band)|Dio]]. Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio would expand on the mystical and [[fantasy]]-based lyrics and themes sometimes found in heavy metal, pioneering both [[power metal]] and [[neoclassical metal]].<ref name="Eduardo Rivadavia">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rainbow-mn0000391933/biography |first=Eduardo |last=Rivadavia |title=Rainbow |website=AllMusic |access-date=10 July 2010}}</ref> These bands also built audiences via constant touring and increasingly elaborate stage shows.<ref name=eyaqji/>

There are arguments about whether these and other early bands truly qualify as "heavy metal" or simply as "hard rock". Those closer to the music's blues roots or placing greater emphasis on melody are now commonly ascribed the latter label. [[AC/DC]], which debuted with ''[[High Voltage (Australian album)|High Voltage]]'' in 1975, is a prime example. The 1983 ''Rolling Stone'' encyclopedia entry begins, "Australian heavy-metal band AC/DC ..."<ref>Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 1</ref> Rock historian Clinton Walker wrote, "Calling AC/DC a heavy metal band in the seventies was as inaccurate as it is today.{{nbsp}}... [They] were a rock 'n' roll band that just happened to be heavy enough for metal."<ref>Walker (2001), p. 297</ref> The issue is not only one of shifting definitions, but also a persistent distinction between musical style and audience identification; Ian Christe describes how the band "became the stepping-stone that led huge numbers of hard rock fans into heavy metal perdition".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 54</ref>

In certain cases, there is little debate. After Black Sabbath, the next major example is Britain's [[Judas Priest]], which debuted with ''[[Rocka Rolla]]'' in 1974. In Christe's description,

<blockquote>Black Sabbath's audience was{{nbsp}}... left to scavenge for sounds with similar impact. By the mid-1970s, heavy metal aesthetic could be spotted, like a mythical beast, in the moody bass and complex dual guitars of [[Thin Lizzy]], in the stagecraft of [[Alice Cooper]], in the sizzling guitar and showy vocals of [[Queen (band)|Queen]], and in the thundering medieval questions of Rainbow.{{nbsp}}... Judas Priest arrived to unify and amplify these diverse highlights from hard rock's sonic palette. For the first time, heavy metal became a true genre unto itself.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 19–20</ref></blockquote>

Though Judas Priest did not have a top 40 album in the United States until 1980, for many it was the definitive post-Sabbath heavy metal band; its twin-guitar attack, featuring rapid tempos and a non-bluesy, more cleanly metallic sound, was a major influence on later acts.<ref name="Walser 1993, p. 6"/> While heavy metal was growing in popularity, most critics were not enamored of the music. Objections were raised to metal's adoption of visual spectacle and other trappings of commercial artifice,<ref name=gnwtey>Walser (1993), p. 11</ref> but the main offense was its perceived musical and lyrical vacuity: reviewing a Black Sabbath album in the early 1970s, [[Robert Christgau]] described it as "dull and decadent{{nbsp}}... dim-witted, amoral exploitation."<ref>Christgau (1981), p. 49</ref>

===Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s===
[[File:Iron Maiden - bass and guitars 30nov2006.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Four members of Iron Maiden are shown in concert. From left to right are a bass guitarist and then three electric guitarists. All members shown have long hair.|[[Iron Maiden]], one of the central bands in the [[new wave of British heavy metal]]]]
[[Punk rock]] emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against contemporary social conditions as well as what was perceived as the overindulgent, overproduced rock music of the time, including heavy metal. Sales of heavy metal records declined sharply in the late 1970s in the face of punk, [[disco]] and more mainstream rock.<ref name=gnwtey/> With the major labels fixated on punk, many newer British heavy metal bands were inspired by the movement's aggressive, high-energy sound and "[[lo-fi (music)|lo-fi]]", [[do it yourself]] ethos. Underground metal bands began putting out cheaply recorded releases independently to small, devoted audiences.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 30, 33</ref>

[[Motörhead]], founded in 1975, was the first important band to straddle the punk/metal divide. With the explosion of punk in 1977, others followed. British music magazines such as the ''[[NME]]'' and ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' took notice, with ''Sounds'' writer Geoff Barton christening the movement the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 33</ref> NWOBHM bands including [[Iron Maiden]], [[Saxon (band)|Saxon]] and [[Def Leppard]] re-energized the heavy metal genre. Following the lead set by Judas Priest and Motörhead, they toughened up the sound, reduced its blues elements and emphasized increasingly fast tempos.<ref>{{cite web |title=Judas Priest |author1=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |author2=Prato, Greg |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=judas-priest-mn0000246611|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=30 April 2007}} {{cite web |title=Genre—New Wave of British Heavy Metal |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=new-wave-of-british-heavy-metal-ma0000004491|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=17 March 2007}}</ref>

"This seemed to be the resurgence of heavy metal," noted [[Ronnie James Dio]], who joined Black Sabbath in 1979. "I've never thought there was a ''desurgence'' of heavy metal – if that's a word! – but it was important to me that, yet again ''[after [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]]]'', I could be involved in something that was paving the way for those who are going to come after me."<ref>Ronnie James Dio interview with [[Tommy Vance]] for [[BBC Radio 1]]'s ''[[Friday Rock Show]]''; broadcast on 21 August 1987; transcribed by editor Peter Scott for Sabbath [[fanzine]] ''Southern Cross'' #11, October 1996, p27</ref>

By 1980, the NWOBHM had broken into the mainstream, as albums by Iron Maiden and Saxon, as well as Motörhead, reached the British top 10. Though less commercially successful, NWOBHM bands such as [[Venom (band)|Venom]] and [[Diamond Head (English band)|Diamond Head]] would have a significant influence on metal's development.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 44</ref> In 1981, Motörhead became the first of this new breed of metal bands to top the U.K. charts with the live album ''[[No Sleep 'til Hammersmith]]''.<ref name="RC1">{{cite journal |last=Burridge |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Burridge (writer) |date=April 1991 |title=Motörhead |journal=[[Record Collector]] |issue=140 |pages=18–19 }}</ref>

The first generation of metal bands was ceding the limelight. Deep Purple broke up soon after Blackmore's departure in 1975, and Led Zeppelin split following drummer [[John Bonham]]'s death in 1980. Black Sabbath were plagued with infighting and substance abuse, while facing fierce competition from [[Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath)|their opening band]], [[Van Halen]].<ref>Popoff (2011), ''Black Sabbath FAQ: All That's Left to Know on the First Name in Metal'' P. 130</ref><ref>Christe (2003), p. 25</ref> [[Eddie Van Halen]] established himself as one of the leading metal guitarists of the era. His solo on "[[Eruption (instrumental)|Eruption]]", from the band's [[Van Halen (album)|self-titled 1978 album]], is considered a milestone.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 51</ref> Eddie Van Halen's sound even crossed over into pop music when his guitar solo was featured on the track "[[Beat It]]" by [[Michael Jackson]], which reached No. 1 in the U.S. in February 1983.<ref>"Van Halen – Van Halen." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 4 October 2015</ref>

Inspired by Van Halen's success, a metal scene began to develop in Southern California during the late 1970s. Based on the clubs of L.A.'s [[Sunset Strip]], bands such as [[Mötley Crüe]], [[Quiet Riot]], [[Ratt]] and [[W.A.S.P. (band)|W.A.S.P.]] were influenced by traditional heavy metal of the 1970s.<ref>Rivadavia, Eduardo. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=quiet-riot-mn0000859868|pure_url=yes}} "Quiet Riot"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 25 March 2007; Neely, Kim {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071002050205/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ratt/albums/album/211449/review/5946112/detonator "Ratt"]}}. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 3 April 2007; Barry Weber & Greg Prato. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mötley-crüe-mn0000500992|pure_url=yes}} "Mötley Crüe"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 3 April 2007; Dolas, Yiannis. [http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=637&type=1&sub=%20&lang=EN "Blackie Lawless Interview"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425113211/http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=637&type=1&sub=%20&lang=EN |date=25 April 2011 }}. Rockpages. Retrieved on 3 April 2007</ref> These acts incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) of [[glam metal]] or "hair metal" bands such as [[Alice Cooper]] and Kiss.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 55–57</ref> Glam metal bands were often visually distinguished by long, overworked hairstyles accompanied by wardrobes which were sometimes considered cross-gender. The lyrics of these [[glam metal]] bands characteristically emphasized [[hedonism]] and wild behavior, including lyrics that involved sexual expletives and the use of narcotics.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Freeborn|first1=Robert|title=A SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY OF SCANDINAVIAN HEAVY METAL MUSIC|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association|date=June 2010|volume=66|issue=4|pages=840–850}}</ref>

{{Listen
|filename=Iron Maiden Purgatory 29 second file.ogg
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|description=Sample of "[[Purgatory (song)|Purgatory]]" by [[Iron Maiden]], from the album ''[[Killers (Iron Maiden album)|Killers]]'' (1981). The early Iron Maiden sound was a mix of punk rock speed and heavy metal guitar work typical of the new wave of British heavy metal.
}}
In the wake of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Judas Priest's breakthrough with ''[[British Steel (album)|British Steel]]'' (1980), heavy metal became increasingly popular in the early 1980s. Many metal artists benefited from the exposure they received on [[MTV]], which began airing in 1981; sales often soared if a band's videos screened on the channel.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 79</ref> Def Leppard's videos for ''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]'' (1983) made them superstars in America, and Quiet Riot became the first domestic heavy metal band to top the ''Billboard'' chart with ''[[Metal Health]]'' (1983). One of the seminal events in metal's growing popularity was the 1983 [[US Festival]] in California, where the "heavy metal day" featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and others drew the largest audiences of the three-day event.<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 45</ref>

Between 1983 and 1984, heavy metal's share of all recordings sold in the U.S. increased from 8% to 20%.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 12</ref> Several major professional magazines devoted to the genre were launched, including ''[[Kerrang!]]'' in 1981 and ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' in 1984, as well as a host of fan journals. In 1985, ''Billboard'' declared: "Metal has broadened its audience base. Metal music is no longer the exclusive domain of male teenagers. The metal audience has become older (college-aged), younger (pre-teen), and more female."<ref>Walser (1993), pp. 12–13, 182 n. 35</ref>

By the mid-1980s, glam metal was a dominant presence on the U.S. charts, [[music television]] and the arena concert circuit. New bands such as L.A.'s [[Warrant (American band)|Warrant]] and acts from the East Coast like [[Poison (American band)|Poison]] and [[Cinderella (band)|Cinderella]] became major draws, while Mötley Crüe and Ratt remained very popular. Bridging the stylistic gap between hard rock and glam metal, [[New Jersey]]'s [[Bon Jovi]] became enormously successful with its third album, ''[[Slippery When Wet]]'' (1986). The similarly styled Swedish band [[Europe (band)|Europe]] became international stars with ''[[The Final Countdown (album)|The Final Countdown]]'' (1986), whose [[The Final Countdown (song)|title track]] hit No. 1 in 25 countries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rock Group Europe Plan Comeback |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2003 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3162506.stm |access-date=28 November 2008 |location=London}}</ref> In 1987, MTV launched ''[[Headbangers Ball]]'', a show devoted exclusively to heavy metal videos. However, the metal audience had begun to factionalize, with those in many underground metal scenes favoring more extreme sounds and disparaging the popular style as "light metal" or "hair metal".<ref>Walser (1993), p. 14; Christe (2003), p. 170</ref>

One band that reached diverse audiences was [[Guns N' Roses]]. With the release of their chart-topping album ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]'' in 1987, they "recharged and almost single-handedly sustained the Sunset Strip sleaze system for several years".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 165</ref> The following year, [[Jane's Addiction]] emerged from the same L.A. hard-rock club scene with their major-label debut, ''[[Nothing's Shocking]]''. Reviewing the album, Steve Pond of ''Rolling Stone'' declared, "As much as any band in existence, Jane's Addiction is the true heir to Led Zeppelin."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Jane's Addiction: ''Nothing's Shocking'' |author=Steve Pond |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=20 October 1988 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/janesaddiction/albums/album/119704/review/5942383/nothings_shocking |access-date=1 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002080218/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/janesaddiction/albums/album/119704/review/5942383/nothings_shocking |archive-date=2 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The group was one of the first to be identified with the "[[alternative metal]]" trend that would come to the fore in the next decade. Meanwhile, new bands like New York City's [[Winger (band)|Winger]] and New Jersey's [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]] sustained the popularity of the glam metal style.<ref name=Covach>Covach, John. [http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/music/rockhistory/outlines/ch12.htm "Heavy Metal, Rap, and the Rise of Alternative Rock (1982–1992)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604211738/http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/music/rockhistory/outlines/ch12.htm |date=4 June 2012 }}. ''What's That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and its History'' (W. W. Norton). Retrieved on 16 November 2007</ref>

===Other heavy metal genres: 1980s, 1990s and 2000s===
[[File:Suicidal Tendencies @ Capitol (18 5 2011) (5770925587).jpg|thumb|left|alt=The drummer from the band Suicidal Tendencies, Eric Moore, is shown behind his drumkit. One hand is raised with the index finger and pinky extended.|Drummer [[List of Suicidal Tendencies band members|Eric Moore]] from [[crossover thrash]] band [[Suicidal Tendencies]]]]
Many [[list of heavy metal genres|subgenres of heavy metal]] developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s,<ref>Weinstein (1991), p. 21</ref> such as [[crossover thrash]]. Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of [[AllMusic]], as well as critic [[Rockdetector|Garry Sharpe-Young]]. Sharpe-Young's multivolume metal encyclopedia separates the underground into five major categories: [[thrash metal]], [[death metal]], [[black metal]], [[power metal]] and the related subgenres of [[doom metal|doom]] and [[gothic metal]].<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), p. 2</ref>

In 1990, a review in ''Rolling Stone'' suggested retiring the term "heavy metal" as the genre was "ridiculously vague".<ref name="rs-1990">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121842/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time|access-date=17 July 2015|archive-date=8 January 2008|title=Anthrax: Persistence of Time|last=Neely|first=Kim|date=4 October 1990|url-status=dead|work=[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> The article stated that the term only fueled "misperceptions of rock & roll bigots who still assume that five bands as different as [[Ratt]], [[Extreme (band)|Extreme]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] and [[Mother Love Bone]]" sound the same.<ref name="rs-1990" />

====Thrash metal====
{{Main|Thrash metal}}
[[File:Slayer, The Fields of Rock, 2007.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|alt=The band Slayer is shown at concert. From left to right are an electric guitarist, a bass player (also singing), an electric guitarists, and a drummer. The first guitarist and bassist have long hair. The right-most guitarist has a bald head. The drummer has two bass drums.|Thrash metal band [[Slayer]] performing in 2007 in front of a wall of speaker stacks]]
Thrash metal emerged in the early 1980s under the influence of [[hardcore punk]] and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,<ref name=GTM>[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=speed-thrash-metal-ma0000002874|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Thrash Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 3 March 007</ref> particularly songs in the revved-up style known as [[speed metal]]. The movement began in the United States, with [[Bay Area thrash metal]] being the leading scene. The sound developed by thrash groups was faster and more aggressive than that of the original metal bands and their glam metal successors.<ref name=GTM/> Low-register guitar riffs are typically overlaid with [[shred guitar|shredding]] leads. Lyrics often express [[nihilism|nihilistic]] views or deal with [[social issues]] using visceral, gory language. Thrash has been described as a form of "urban blight music" and "a palefaced cousin of rap".<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 26</ref>

The subgenre was popularized by the "Big Four of Thrash": [[Metallica]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], [[Megadeth]] and [[Slayer]].<ref>Walser (1993), p.14</ref> Three German bands, [[Kreator]], [[Sodom (band)|Sodom]] and [[Destruction (band)|Destruction]], played a central role in bringing the style to Europe. Others, including the San Francisco Bay Area's [[Testament (band)|Testament]] and [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]], New Jersey's [[Overkill (band)|Overkill]], and Brazil's [[Sepultura]] and [[Sarcófago]], also had a significant impact. Although thrash metal began as an underground movement, and remained largely that for almost a decade, the leading bands of the scene began to reach a wider audience. Metallica brought the sound into the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' album chart in 1986 with ''[[Master of Puppets]]'', the genre's first Platinum record.<ref>Nicholls (1997), p. 378</ref> Two years later, the band's album ''[[...And Justice for All (album)|...{{nbsp}}And Justice for All]]'' hit No. 6, while Megadeth and Anthrax also had top 40 records on the American charts.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Metallica|chart=all}} "Metallica—Artist Chart History"]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Megadeth|chart=all}} "Megadeth—Artist Chart History"]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Anthrax|chart=all}} "Anthrax—Artist Chart History"]. Billboard.com. Retrieved 7 April 2007</ref>

Though less commercially successful than the rest of the Big Four, Slayer released one of the genre's definitive records: ''[[Reign in Blood]]'' (1986) was credited for incorporating heavier guitar [[timbre]]s and including explicit depictions of death, suffering, violence and occult into thrash metal's lyricism.<ref>Phillipov (2012), p. 15, 16</ref> Slayer attracted a following among [[white power skinhead|far-right skinheads]], and accusations of promoting violence and [[Nazism|Nazi]] themes have dogged the band.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 30; O'Neil (2001), p. 164</ref> Even though Slayer did not receive substantial media exposure, their music played a key role in the development of [[extreme metal]].<ref>Harrison (2011), p. 61</ref>

In the early 1990s, bands that got their start in thrash metal achieved breakout success, challenging and redefining the metal mainstream.<ref>Walser (1993), p. 15</ref> Metallica's [[Metallica (album)|self-titled 1991 album]] topped the ''Billboard'' chart,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1991-08-31/billboard-200 |title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> as the band established an international following.<ref>Harrison (2011), p. 60</ref> Megadeth's ''[[Countdown to Extinction]]'' (1992) debuted at No. 2,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1992-08-01/billboard-200 |title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> Anthrax and Slayer cracked the top 10,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/1993-06-12/billboard-200 |title=Top 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=22 January 2015|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> and albums by regional bands such as Testament and Sepultura entered the top 100.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=testament|chart=all}} Billboard 200 Chart Position: Testament – ''Ritual'', chart date: 30 May 1992]; [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=sepultura|chart=all}} Billboard 200 Chart Position: Sepultura – ''Chaos A.D.'', chart date: 6 November 1993]</ref>

====Death metal====
{{Main|Death metal}}
[[File:Chuck Schuldiner.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|alt=A man, Chuck Schuldiner, is shown on a dark shoreline. He has long hair, black pants and a black shirt, and a black leather jacket.|[[Death (metal band)|Death]]'s [[Chuck Schuldiner]], "widely recognized as the father of death metal"<ref>Rivadavia, Eduardo. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=death-mn0000228323|pure_url=yes}} "Death—Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 23 November 2007</ref>]]

Thrash metal soon began to evolve and split into more extreme metal genres. "Slayer's music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal," according to MTV News.<ref>[http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal/greatest_metal_bands/071406/index7.jhtml The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time—Slayer] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718224746/http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal/greatest_metal_bands/071406/index7.jhtml |date=18 July 2006 }}. MTVNews.com. Retrieved on 27 February 2008</ref> The NWOBHM band Venom was also an important progenitor. The death metal movement in both North America and Europe adopted and emphasized the elements of [[blasphemy]] and [[diabolism]] employed by such acts. Florida's [[Death (metal band)|Death]], San Francisco Bay Area's [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]] and Ohio's [[Necrophagia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/necrophagia-mn0000862214/biography|title=Necrophagia – Biography & History – AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=29 June 2018}}</ref> are recognized as seminal bands in the style. All three have been credited with inspiring the subgenre's name. Possessed in particular did so via their 1984 demo, ''Death Metal'', and their song "Death Metal", which came from their 1985 debut album, ''[[Seven Churches (album)|Seven Churches]]''. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Swedish death metal became notable and melodic forms of death metal were created.<ref>Ekeroth, Daniel (2011)</ref>

Death metal utilizes the speed and aggression of both thrash and hardcore, fused with lyrics preoccupied with [[Z movie|Z-grade]] [[slasher film|slasher movie]] violence and [[Satanism]].<ref name=LOC27>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 27</ref> Death metal vocals are typically bleak, involving guttural "[[death growl]]s", high-pitched [[screaming (music)|screaming]], the "death rasp"<ref name=VS>Van Schaik, Mark. [http://www.emptywords.org/SK04-2000.htm "Extreme Metal Drumming"] ''Slagwerkkrant'', March/April 2000. Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref> and other uncommon techniques.<ref name="Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d384|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal"]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved on 27 February 2007</ref> Complementing the deep, aggressive vocal style are down-tuned, heavily [[distortion (guitar)|distorted]] guitars<ref name=LOC27/><ref name=VS/> and extremely fast percussion, often with rapid [[bass drum|double bass]] drumming and "wall of sound"–style [[blast beats]]. Frequent tempo and [[time signature]] changes and [[syncopation]] are also typical.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kahn-Harris|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Kahn-Harris|year=2007|title=Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge|publisher=[[Berg Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-84520-399-3}}</ref>

Death metal, like thrash metal, generally rejects the theatrics of earlier metal styles, opting instead for an everyday look of ripped jeans and plain leather jackets.<ref name=MS28>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 28</ref> One major exception to this rule was [[Deicide (band)|Deicide]]'s [[Glen Benton]], who branded an inverted cross on his forehead and wore armor on stage. [[Morbid Angel]] adopted [[neo-fascist]] imagery.<ref name=MS28/> These two bands, along with Death and [[Obituary (band)|Obituary]], were leaders of the major death metal scene that emerged in Florida in the mid-1980s. In the U.K., the related style of [[grindcore]], led by bands such as [[Napalm Death]] and [[Extreme Noise Terror]], emerged from the [[anarcho-punk]] movement.<ref name=LOC27/>

====Black metal====
{{Main|Black metal}}

The first wave of black metal emerged in Europe in the early and mid-1980s, led by the United Kingdom's [[Venom (band)|Venom]], Denmark's [[Mercyful Fate]], Switzerland's [[Hellhammer]] and [[Celtic Frost]], and Sweden's [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]]. By the late 1980s, Norwegian bands such as [[Mayhem (band)|Mayhem]] and [[Burzum]] were heading a second wave.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 270</ref> Black metal varies considerably in style and production quality, although most bands emphasize shrieked and growled vocals, highly distorted guitars frequently played with rapid [[tremolo picking]], a dark atmosphere<ref name="Genre—Death Metal/Black Metal"/> and intentionally lo-fi production, often with ambient noise and background hiss.<ref>Jurek, Thom. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=nefaria-mw0000567088|pure_url=yes}} "Striborg: ''Nefaria''"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 15 November 2007</ref>

Satanic themes are common in black metal, though many bands take inspiration from ancient [[paganism]], promoting a return to supposed pre-Christian values.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), p. 212</ref> Numerous black metal bands also "experiment with sounds from all possible forms of metal, folk, classical music, electronica and avant-garde".<ref name=VS/> [[Darkthrone]] drummer [[Fenriz]] explained: "It had something to do with production, lyrics, the way they dressed and a commitment to making ugly, raw, grim stuff. There wasn't a generic sound."<ref name=Campion>Campion, Chris. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/feb/20/popandrock4#article_continue "In the Face of Death"]. ''The Observer'' (UK), 20 February 2005. Retrieved on 4 April 2007</ref>

Although bands such as [[Sarcófago]] had been donning [[corpsepaint]], by 1990, Mayhem was regularly wearing it; many other black metal acts also adopted the look. Bathory inspired the [[Viking metal]] and [[folk metal]] movements, and [[Immortal (band)|Immortal]] brought blast beats to the fore. Some bands in the Scandinavian black metal scene became associated with considerable violence in the early 1990s,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 276</ref> with Mayhem and Burzum linked to church burnings. Growing commercial hype around death metal generated a backlash; beginning in Norway, much of the Scandinavian metal underground shifted to support a black metal scene that resisted being co-opted by the commercial metal industry.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), pp. 31–32</ref>

By 1992, black metal scenes had begun to emerge in areas outside Scandinavia, including Germany, France and Poland.<ref>Moynihan, Søderlind (1998), pp. 271, 321, 326</ref> The 1993 murder of Mayhem's [[Euronymous]] by Burzum's [[Varg Vikernes]] provoked intensive media coverage.<ref name=Campion/> Around 1996, when many in the scene felt the genre was stagnating,<ref>Vikernes, Varg. [http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_burzum_story06.shtml "A Burzum Story: Part VI—The Music"]. Burzum.org, July 2005; retrieved on 4 April 2007</ref> several key bands, including Burzum and Finland's [[Beherit (band)|Beherit]], moved toward an [[dark ambient|ambient]] style, while [[symphonic black metal]] was explored by Sweden's [[Tiamat (band)|Tiamat]] and Switzerland's [[Samael (band)|Samael]].<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=symphonic-black-metal-ma0000012290|pure_url=yes}} "Genre—Symphonic Black Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 9 April 2007</ref> In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Norway's [[Dimmu Borgir]] and England's [[Cradle of Filth]] brought black metal closer to the mainstream.<ref>Tepedelen, Adem. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031005254/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/dimmuborgir/articles/story/5935933/dimmu_borgirs_death_cult "Dimmu Borgir's 'Death Cult'"]}} (Archived at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031005254/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/dimmuborgir/articles/story/5935933/dimmu_borgirs_death_cult Wayback]}} on 31 October 2007). ''Rolling Stone'', 7 November 2003. Retrieved on 10 September 2007</ref><ref>Bennett, J. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070515040459/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/jun2007/dimmuborgir.aspx "Dimmu Borgir"]}}. ''Decibel'', June 2007. Retrieved on 10 September 2007</ref>

====Power metal====
{{Main|Power metal}}
[[File:Rhapsody_Buenos_Aires_2010.JPG|thumb|Italian band [[Rhapsody of Fire]] performing in Buenos Aires in 2010]]
During the late 1980s, the power metal scene came together largely in reaction to the harshness of death and black metal.<ref name="Genre - Power Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=power-metal-ma0000011913|pure_url=yes}} "Genre – Power Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 20 March 2007</ref> Though a relatively underground style in North America, it enjoys wide popularity in Europe, Japan and South America. Power metal focuses on upbeat, epic melodies and themes that "appeal to the listener's sense of valor and loveliness".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 372</ref> The prototype for the sound was established in the mid- to late 1980s by Germany's [[Helloween]], who, in their 1987 and 1988 ''[[Keeper of the Seven Keys]]'' albums, combined the power riffs, melodic approach and a high-pitched, "clean" singing style of bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden with thrash's speed and energy, "crystalliz[ing] the sonic ingredients of what is now known as power metal".<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=helloween-mn0000957340|pure_url=yes}} "Helloween – Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 8 April 2007</ref>

Traditional power metal bands like Sweden's [[HammerFall]], England's [[DragonForce]] and the U.S.'s [[Iced Earth]] have a sound clearly indebted to the classic NWOBHM style.<ref>See, e.g., Reesman, Bryan. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=glory-to-the-brave-mw0000233637|pure_url=yes}} "HammerFall: ''Glory to the Brave''"]. AllMusic; Henderson, Alex. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=sonic-firestorm-mw0000333007|pure_url=yes}} "DragonForce: ''Sonic Firestorm''"]. AllMusic. Both retrieved on 11 November 2007</ref> Many power metal bands such as the U.S.'s [[Kamelot]], Finland's [[Nightwish]], [[Stratovarius]] and [[Sonata Arctica]], Italy's [[Rhapsody of Fire]] and Russia's [[Catharsis (Russian band)|Catharsis]] feature a keyboard-based [[Symphonic power metal|"symphonic" sound]], sometimes employing orchestras and opera singers. Power metal has built a strong fanbase in Japan and South America, where bands like Brazil's [[Angra (band)|Angra]] and Argentina's [[Rata Blanca]] are popular.<ref name="A-Z of Power Metal">{{cite book |last=Sharpe-Young |first=Garry |year=2003 |title=A-Z of Power Metal |location=London |publisher=Cherry Red Books Ltd. |pages=19–20,354–356 |isbn=978-1-901447-13-2}}</ref>

Closely related to power metal is [[progressive metal]], which adopts the complex compositional approach of bands like [[Rush (band)|Rush]] and [[King Crimson]]. This style emerged in the United States in the early and mid-1980s, with innovators such as [[Queensrÿche]], [[Fates Warning]] and [[Dream Theater]]. The mix of the progressive and power metal sounds is typified by New Jersey's [[Symphony X]], whose guitarist [[Michael Romeo]] is among the most recognized of latter-day shredders.<ref name="Genre - Progressive Metal">[{{AllMusic|class=style|id=progressive-metal-ma0000002797|pure_url=yes}} "Genre – Progressive Metal"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 20 March 2007</ref>

====Doom metal====
{{Main|Doom metal}}

Emerging in the mid-1980s with such bands as California's [[Saint Vitus (band)|Saint Vitus]], Maryland's [[The Obsessed]], Chicago's [[Trouble (band)|Trouble]] and Sweden's [[Candlemass (band)|Candlemass]], the doom metal movement rejected other metal styles' emphasis on speed, slowing its music to a crawl. Doom metal traces its roots to the lyrical themes and musical approach of early Black Sabbath.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 345</ref> The [[Melvins]] have also been a significant influence on doom metal and a number of its subgenres.<ref>Begrand, Adrien. [http://www.PopMatters.com/columns/begrand/060215.shtml "Blood and Thunder: The Profits of Doom"]. 15 February 2006. [[popmatters.com]]. Retrieved on 8 April 2007</ref> Doom metal emphasizes melody, melancholy tempos and a sepulchral mood relative to many other varieties of metal.<ref name=NYT1>Wray, John. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/magazine/28artmetal.html?ei=5090&en=68f0bcd99797d7a3&ex=1306468800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all "Heady Metal"]. ''New York Times'', 28 May 2006. Retrieved on 21 March 2007</ref>

The 1991 release of ''[[Forest of Equilibrium]]'', the debut album by U.K. band [[Cathedral (band)|Cathedral]], helped spark a new wave of doom metal. During the same period, the [[death/doom|doom-death]] fusion style of British bands [[Paradise Lost (band)|Paradise Lost]], [[My Dying Bride]] and [[Anathema (band)|Anathema]] gave rise to European [[gothic metal]].<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), pp. 246, 275; see also Stéphane Leguay, "Metal Gothique" in ''Carnets Noirs'', éditions E-dite, 3e édition, 2006, {{ISBN|2-84608-176-X}}</ref> with its signature dual-vocalist arrangements, exemplified by Norway's [[Theatre of Tragedy]] and [[Tristania (band)|Tristania]]. New York's [[Type O Negative]] introduced an American take on the style.<ref>Sharpe-Young (2007), p. 275</ref>

In the United States, [[sludge metal]], which mixes doom metal and hardcore punk, emerged in the late 1980s; [[Eyehategod]] and [[Crowbar (US band)|Crowbar]] were leaders in a [[Music of New Orleans#Heavy metal|major Louisiana sludge scene]]. Early in the next decade, California's [[Kyuss]] and [[Sleep (band)|Sleep]], inspired by the earlier doom metal bands, spearheaded the rise of [[stoner metal]],<ref>Christe (2003), p. 347</ref> while Seattle's [[Earth (American band)|Earth]] helped develop the [[drone metal]] subgenre.<ref>Jackowiak, Jason. [http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1125311580560974 "Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927052955/http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1125311580560974 |date=27 September 2008 }}. Splendid Magazine, September 2005. Retrieved on 21 March 2007</ref> The late 1990s saw new bands form such as the Los Angeles–based [[Goatsnake]], with a classic stoner/doom sound, and [[Sunn O)))]], which crosses lines between doom, drone and [[dark ambient]] metal; the ''New York Times'' has compared their sound to an "[[Music of India|Indian]] [[raga]] in the middle of an earthquake".<ref name=NYT1/>

===1990s and early 2000s subgenres and fusions===
{{Further|Alternative metal|Rap metal|Nu metal|NWOAHM|Industrial metal|Groove metal}}
[[File:Staley05.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A male singer, Layne Staley, performs onstage with Alice in Chains. He holds the microphone with both hands and his eyes are closed as he sings.|[[Layne Staley]] of [[Alice in Chains]], one of the most popular acts identified with [[alternative metal]], performing in 1992]]

Glam metal fell out of favor with the popular breakthrough of [[grunge]] and alternative rock,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 231</ref>  but as well as the growing popularity of the more aggressive sound typified by Metallica and the post-thrash [[groove metal]] of [[Pantera]] and [[White Zombie (band)|White Zombie]].<ref>Birchmeier, Jason. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=pantera-mn0000005441|pure_url=yes}} "Pantera"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 19 March 2007</ref>

Grunge acts were influenced by the heavy metal sound, but rejected the excesses of the more popular metal bands, such as their "flashy and virtuosic solos" and "appearance-driven" [[MTV]] orientation.<ref name=Covach/> In 1991, [[Metallica]] released their album ''[[Metallica (album)|Metallica]]'', also known as ''The Black Album'', which moved the band's sound out of the [[thrash metal]] genre and into standard heavy metal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SUQAgAAQBAJ&q=Metallica+took+a+more+mainstream+sounding+with+The+Black+Album&pg=PT107|title=Metallica|access-date=4 December 2015|isbn=9780760344828|last1=Popoff|first1=Martin|date=15 November 2013|publisher=Voyageur Press }}</ref> The album was certified 16× Platinum by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond |title=Gold & Platinum – January 17, 2010 |publisher=RIAA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701163046/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond |archive-date=1 July 2007 }}</ref> A few new, unambiguously metal bands had commercial success during the first half of the decade – Pantera's ''[[Far Beyond Driven]]'' topped the ''Billboard'' chart in 1994 – but, "In the dull eyes of the mainstream, metal was dead."<ref>Christe (2003), p. 305</ref> Some bands tried to adapt to the new musical landscape. Metallica revamped its image: the band members cut their hair and, in 1996, headlined the alternative music festival [[Lollapalooza]], which was founded by [[Jane's Addiction]] singer [[Perry Farrell]]. While this prompted a backlash among some longtime fans,<ref>Christe (2003), p. 312</ref> Metallica remained one of the most successful bands in the world into the new century.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 322</ref>

[[File:Lacuna Coil 2010 0001.jpg|thumb|left|Italian [[gothic metal]] band [[Lacuna Coil]] performing in 2010]]

Like Jane's Addiction, many of the most popular early 1990s groups with roots in heavy metal fall under the umbrella term "alternative metal".<ref name=alternativemetal>{{cite web |title=Genre—Alternative Metal |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=alternative-metal-ma0000012328|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=26 March 2007}}</ref> Bands in Seattle's grunge scene such as [[Soundgarden]] are credited for making a "place for heavy metal in alternative rock",<ref>{{cite web |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |title=Soundgarden (Biography) |website=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=soundgarden-mn0000001098|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=1 September 2009}}</ref> and [[Alice in Chains]] were at the center of the alternative metal movement. The label was applied to a wide spectrum of other acts that fused metal with different styles: [[Faith No More]] combined their alternative rock sound with punk, [[funk]], metal and [[hip hop music|hip-hop]]; [[Primus (band)|Primus]] joined elements of funk, punk, [[thrash metal]] and [[experimental music]]; [[Tool (band)|Tool]] mixed metal and [[progressive rock]]; bands such as [[Fear Factory]], [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] and [[Nine Inch Nails]] began incorporating metal into their [[industrial music|industrial sound]] (and vice versa); and [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]] went down a similar route, while also employing shock effects of the sort popularized by Alice Cooper. Alternative metal artists, though they did not represent a cohesive scene, were united by their willingness to experiment with the metal genre and their rejection of glam metal aesthetics (with the stagecraft of Marilyn Manson and White Zombie – also identified with alt metal – significant, if partial, exceptions).<ref name=alternativemetal/> Alternative metal's mix of styles and sounds represented "the colorful results of metal opening up to face the outside world".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 224</ref>

In the mid- and late 1990s came a new wave of U.S. metal groups inspired by the alternative metal bands and their mix of genres.<ref>Christe (2003), pp. 324–25</ref> Dubbed "nu metal", bands such as [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]], [[Linkin Park]], [[Limp Bizkit]], [[Papa Roach]], [[P.O.D.]], [[Korn]] and [[Disturbed (band)|Disturbed]] incorporated elements ranging from [[death metal]] to hip-hop, often including [[DJ]]s and [[Rapping|rap]]-style vocals. The mix demonstrated that "pancultural metal could pay off".<ref>Christe (2003), p. 329</ref> Nu metal gained mainstream success through heavy MTV rotation and Ozzy Osbourne's 1996 introduction of [[Ozzfest]], which led the media to talk of a resurgence of heavy metal.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 324</ref> In 1999, ''Billboard'' noted that there were more than 500 specialty metal radio shows in the U.S., nearly three times as many as 10 years before.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 344</ref> While nu metal was widely popular, traditional metal fans did not fully embrace the style.<ref>Christe (2003), p. 328</ref> By early 2003, the movement's popularity was on the wane, though several nu metal acts such as Korn or Limp Bizkit retained substantial followings.<ref>{{cite web|last=D'angelo |first=Joe |title=Nu Metal Meltdown |publisher=MTV.com |date=24 January 2003 |url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/index.jhtml |access-date=28 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208190614/http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/index.jhtml |archive-date=8 February 2007 }}</ref>

===Recent styles: mid- to late 2000s, 2010s and 2020s===
{{Redirect|New metal|the genre of music with a similar name|nu metal}}
{{Further|Metalcore|Djent|Deathcore|Melodic metalcore|Mathcore|NWOAHM}}

[[Metalcore]], a hybrid of extreme metal and [[hardcore punk]],<ref>Weinstein (2000), p. 288; Christe (2003), p. 372</ref> emerged as a commercial force in the mid-2000s, having mostly been an underground phenomenon throughout the 1980s and 1990s;<ref>I. Christe, ''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal'' (London: [[HarperCollins]], 2003), {{ISBN|0-380-81127-8}}, p. 184</ref> pioneering bands include [[Earth Crisis]],<ref name=am>Mudrian, Albert (2000). ''Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore''. Feral House. {{ISBN|1-932595-04-X}}. p.&nbsp;222–223</ref><ref name=ig>Ian Glasper, ''Terrorizer'' no. 171, June 2008, p. 78, "here the term (metalcore) is used in its original context, referencing the likes of Strife, Earth Crisis, and Integrity{{nbsp}}..."</ref> [[Converge (band)|Converge]],<ref name=am/> [[Hatebreed]]<ref name=ig/><ref name=rh>Ross Haenfler, ''Straight Edge: Clean-living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change'', [[Rutgers University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8135-3852-1}} pp. 87–88</ref> and [[Shai Hulud (band)|Shai Hulud]].<ref name=killyour>{{cite web |title=Kill Your Stereo – Reviews: Shai Hulud – Misanthropy Pure |url=http://www.killyourstereo.com/reviews/169/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure/ |access-date=17 February 2012 |quote=Shai Hulud, a name that is synonymous (in heavy music circles at least) with intelligent, provocative and most importantly unique metallic hardcore. The band's earliest release is widely credited with influencing an entire generation of musicians |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327210110/http://www.killyourstereo.com/reviews/169/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Mason, Stewart. [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/shai-hulud-mn0000159857 "Shai Hulud"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2012. "A positively themed metalcore band with some [[straight edge|straight-edge]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] leanings, the influential Shai Hulud have maintained a strong band identity since their original formation in the mid-'90s".</ref> By 2004, melodic metalcore – influenced by [[melodic death metal]] as well – was popular enough that [[Killswitch Engage]]'s ''[[The End of Heartache]]'' and [[Shadows Fall]]'s ''[[The War Within (Shadows Fall album)|The War Within]]'' debuted at No. 21 and No. 20, respectively, on the ''Billboard'' album chart.<ref>{{cite web|title=Killswitch Engage|date=7 April 2011 |publisher=Metal CallOut|url=http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/killswitch-engage.html/|access-date=7 April 2011}} {{cite web|title=Shadows Fall|date=17 August 2010 |publisher=Metal CallOut|url=http://www.metalcallout.com/wiki/shadows-fall.html|access-date=17 August 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Masters of Rock 2007 - Children of Bodom - 08.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|alt=A color photograph of two members of the group Children of Bodom standing on a stage with guitars, drums are visible in the background. Both electric guitarists have "flying V" style guitars and they have long hair.|[[Children of Bodom]], performing at the 2007 [[Masters of Rock (festival)|Masters of Rock]] festival]]
Evolving even further from metalcore came [[mathcore]], a more rhythmically complicated and progressive style brought to light by bands such as [[The Dillinger Escape Plan]], [[Converge (band)|Converge]] and [[Protest the Hero]].<ref>Kevin Stewart-Panko, "The Decade in Noisecore", ''Terrorizer'' no. 75, Feb 2000, pp. 22–23</ref> Mathcore's main defining quality is the use of odd time signatures, and has been described to possess rhythmic comparability to [[free jazz]].<ref>"Contemporary grindcore bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan{{nbsp}}... have developed [[avant-garde metal|avant-garde]] versions of the genre incorporating frequent time signature changes and complex sounds that at times recall free jazz." [[Keith Kahn-Harris]] (2007) ''Extreme Metal'', [[Berg Publishers]], {{ISBN|1-84520-399-2}}, p. 4</ref>

Heavy metal remained popular in the 2000s, particularly in continental Europe. By the new millennium, Scandinavia had emerged as one of the areas producing innovative and successful bands, while Belgium, the Netherlands and especially Germany were the most significant markets.<ref>K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Oxford: Berg, 2007), {{ISBN|1-84520-399-2}}, pp. 86, 116</ref> Metal music is more favorably embraced in Scandinavia and Northern Europe than other regions due to social and political openness in these regions;<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s40806-018-0139-7 |title=Ecology of Musical Preference: the Relationship Between Pathogen Prevalence and the Number and Intensity of Metal Bands |year=2018 |last1=Pazhoohi |first1=F. |last2=Luna |first2=K. |journal= Evolutionary Psychological Science |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=294–300|s2cid=148970777 }}</ref> Finland in particular has been often called the "Promised Land of Heavy Metal", as there are more than 50 metal bands for every 100,000 inhabitants – more than any other nation in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 May 2018|title=Finnish metropolises vie to win Capital of Metal|url=https://finland.fi/arts-culture/finnish-metropolises-vie-to-win-capital-of-metal/|access-date=15 June 2021|website=thisisFINLAND|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Campaigns|first=Famous|title=Finland stage world's first heavy metal knitting championship|url=https://www.famouscampaigns.com/2019/07/finlands-stage-worlds-first-heavy-metal-knitting-championship/|access-date=15 June 2021|website=famouscampaigns.com}}</ref> Established continental metal bands that placed multiple albums in the top 20 of the German charts between 2003 and 2008 include Finland's [[Children of Bodom]],<ref>{{citation |title=Finland's Children of Bodom Debut at #22 on Billboard Chart with New Album, 'Blooddrunk' |journal=Guitar Player |url=http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/finland--39;s/April-2008/35205 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503203329/http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/finland--39;s/April-2008/35205 |archive-date=3 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Norway's Dimmu Borgir,<ref>{{citation |title=Chartverfolgung / Dimmu Borgir / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Dimmu+Borgir/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150553/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Dimmu+Borgir/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Germany's [[Blind Guardian]]<ref>{{citation |title=Chartverfolgung / Blind Guardian / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Blind+Guardian/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150642/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Blind+Guardian/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Sweden's HammerFall.<ref>{{citation|title=Chartverfolgung / Hammer Fall / Long play |journal=Music Line.de |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/HAMMERFALL/?type=longplay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501150628/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/HAMMERFALL/?type=longplay |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 2000s, an extreme metal fusion genre known as [[deathcore]] emerged. Deathcore incorporates elements of [[death metal]], [[hardcore punk]] and [[metalcore]].<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r704417|pure_url=yes}} allmusic.com] Alex Henderson: "What is deathcore?{{nbsp}}... it's essentially metalcore{{nbsp}}... Drawing on both death metal and hardcore{{nbsp}}..."</ref><ref>[http://www.lambgoat.com/albums/view.aspx?id=2517 lambgoat.com] "This is deathcore. This is what happens when death metal and hardcore, along with healthy doses of other heavy music styles, are so smoothly blended{{nbsp}}..."</ref> Deathcore features characteristics such as death metal [[riff]]s, hardcore punk [[breakdown (music)|breakdowns]], death growling, "pig squeal"-sounding vocals and screaming.<ref name="Cosmo Lee">{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Cosmo|title=Doom|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r854978|work=[[AllMusic]]|publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Marsicano|first=Dan|title=Rose Funeral – 'The Resting Sonata'|url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/rosefuneralrest.htm|publisher=[[About.com]]|access-date=10 September 2015|archive-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314093608/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/rosefuneralrest.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Deathcore bands include [[Whitechapel (band)|Whitechapel]], [[Suicide Silence]], [[Despised Icon]] and [[Carnifex (band)|Carnifex]].<ref name="Dawn of the Deathcore">{{cite journal |author=Wiederhorn, Jon |title=Dawn of the Deathcore |journal=[[Revolver (magazine)|Revolver]] |issue=72 |pages=63–66 |publisher=[[Future US]] |issn=1527-408X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPkDAAAAMBAJ&q=deathcore&pg=PT62 |date=September 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})</ref>

The term "retro-metal" has been used to describe bands such as Texas-based [[The Sword]], California's [[High on Fire]], Sweden's [[Witchcraft (band)|Witchcraft]]<ref name="AMAgeofWinters">{{Citation|last=E. Rivadavia |title=The Sword: Age of Winters |journal=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/age-of-winters-r820095/review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229181827/http://www.allmusic.com/album/age-of-winters-r820095/review |archive-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Australia's [[Wolfmother]].<ref name="AMAgeofWinters" /><ref name="WRS">[https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wolfmother Wolfmother]. ''Rolling Stone'', 18 April 2006. Retrieved on 31 March 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308152431/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wolfmother |date=8 March 2007 }}</ref> The Sword's ''[[Age of Winters]]'' (2006) drew heavily on the work of Black Sabbath and [[Pentagram (band)|Pentagram]],<ref name=Begrand2006>{{citation|last=A. Begrand |title=The Sword: Age of Winters |website=PopMatters.com |date=20 February 2006 |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the_sword_age_of_winters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513134518/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/the_sword_age_of_winters |archive-date=13 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Witchcraft added elements of [[folk rock]] and psychedelic rock,<ref>{{citation|last=E. Rivadavia |title=Witchcraft |journal=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/witchcraft-p391961/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308105031/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/witchcraft-p391961/biography |archive-date=8 March 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Wolfmother's [[Wolfmother (album)|self-titled 2005 debut album]] had "[[Deep Purple]]-ish organs" and "[[Jimmy Page]]-worthy chordal [[Ostinato|riffing]]". [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]], which plays a progressive/sludge style of metal, has inspired claims of a metal revival in the United States, dubbed by some critics the "[[New Wave of American Heavy Metal]]".<ref>Sharpe-Young, Garry, ''New Wave of American Heavy Metal'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=uIIf03bGyAAC&pg=PP10&dq=nwoahm&ei=a7ohSNGYCrW2iQGP95nFDQ&sig=yhEpvA_dhNF6I5YwMJACJGRA3XY#PPP10,M1 (link)]. {{cite web|author=Edward, James |title=The Ghosts of Glam Metal Past |url=http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?editorialid=64 |publisher=Lamentations of the Flame Princess |access-date=27 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108081333/http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?editorialid=64 |archive-date=8 January 2011 }} {{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/051014.shtml |publisher=PopMatters.com |title=Blood and Thunder: Regeneration |author=Begrand, Adrien |access-date=14 May 2008 }}</ref>{{clear}}

By the early 2010s, metalcore was evolving to more frequently incorporate synthesizers and elements from genres beyond rock and metal. The album ''[[Reckless & Relentless]]'' by British band [[Asking Alexandria]], which sold 31,000 copies in its first week, and The Devil Wears Prada's 2011 album ''[[Dead Throne]]'', which sold 32,400 in its first week,<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- Up for discussion jump to forums --> |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/467358/lady-antebellum-own-the-billboard-200-with-second-no-1-album |title=Lady Antebellum 'Own' the Billboard 200 with Second No. 1 Album |work=[[Billboard.com]] |date=14 September 2009 |access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref> reached No. 9 and No. 10,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metalinsider.net/video/the-devil-wears-prada-post-a-video-update-for-new-album|title=The Devil Wears Prada Post A Video Update For New Album|work=Metal Insider|date=31 May 2013}}</ref> respectively, on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In 2013, British band [[Bring Me the Horizon]] released their fourth studio album, [[Sempiternal (album)|''Sempiternal'']], to critical acclaim. The album debuted at No. 3 on the [[UK Album Chart|U.K. Album Chart]] and at No. 1 in Australia. The album sold 27,522 copies in the U.S. and charted at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Chart, making it their highest-charting release in America until their follow-up album, ''[[That's the Spirit]]'', which debuted at No. 2 in 2015.

Also in the 2010s, a metal style called "[[djent]]" developed as a spinoff of standard [[progressive metal]].<ref name="secrets">{{cite web|last=Bowcott |first=Nick |title=Meshuggah Share the Secrets of Their Sound |url=http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound |work=[[Guitar World]] |publisher=[[Future US]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517094739/http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound |archive-date=17 May 2016 }} (26 June 2011)</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Angle|first=Brad|title=Interview: Meshuggah Guitarist Fredrik Thordendal Answers Reader Questions|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-meshuggah-guitarist-fredrik-thordendal-answers-reader-questions|work=[[Guitar World]]|publisher=[[Future US]]}} (23 July 2011)</ref> Djent music uses rhythmic and technical complexity,<ref name=Concealingfate>{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=Concealing Fate|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/concealing-fate-r2166510|work=[[AllMusic]]|publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]]}}</ref> heavily distorted, [[palm mute|palm-muted]] guitar chords, syncopated [[riffs]]<ref name=Guardian>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/03/djent-metal-geeks "Djent, the metal geek's microgenre"]. ''The Guardian''. 3 March 2011</ref> and [[polyrhythm]]s alongside [[virtuoso]] soloing.<ref name="secrets"/> Another typical characteristic is the use of extended range [[seven-string guitar|seven]]-, [[eight-string guitar|eight]]- and [[nine-string guitar]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kennelty|first=Greg|title=Here's Why Everyone Needs To Stop Complaining About Extended Range Guitars|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/heres-why-everyone-needs-to-stop-complaining-about-extended-range-guitars|work=Metal Injection}}</ref> 

Fusion of [[nu metal]] with [[electropop]] by singer-songwriters [[Poppy (entertainer)|Poppy]], [[Grimes]] and [[Rina Sawayama]] saw a popular and critical revival of the former genre in the late 2010s and 2020s, particular on their respective albums ''[[I Disagree]],'' ''[[Miss Anthropocene]]'' and ''[[Sawayama]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grimes details "nu-metal" fifth album Miss_Anthrop0cene|url=https://www.thefader.com/2019/03/20/grimes-new-album-2019-miss-anthrop0cene-announcement|access-date=13 January 2021|website=The FADER|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Poppy Makes a Case for a New Kind of Artificial Pop Star|url=https://time.com/5455221/poppy-am-i-a-girl/|access-date=13 January 2021|magazine=Time}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Magazine|first=Alternative Press|date=2 November 2018|title=Poppy may be the future of heavy metal with new song "Play Destroy"|url=https://www.altpress.com/news/poppy-grimes-metal-play-destroy/|access-date=13 January 2021|website=Alternative Press|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=13 December 2019|title=The female pop stars channeling nu-metal's rage|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/13/theres-a-lot-to-be-angry-about-the-female-pop-stars-reclaiming-nu-metals-rage|access-date=15 January 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>