EvolutionOfMETal: 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

LAMB OF GOD'S VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY5T7DtS6Vk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqRaS3F7xc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9YxeM881SQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU4OzCU4b_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKy68MNoXS0

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

History of heavy metal in Nepal

Metal and it’s emergence in the Nepali music scene has never been properly documented in the past. Hence, through this article, an effort will be made to present a general overview of bands, musicians and the “underground” scene as a whole which was responsible for infusing the first seeds of “metal” here in Nepal, especially in the Kathmandu Valley.

A Brief Rock History in Nepal (before 2000)

Back in 1970s and 1980s, bands such as – The Prism, Brotherhood, Revival, Kathmandu Katz, Raduim, etc and much later in the late 1980s bands like Newaz, Wrathchild, Criss Cross, The Paduwas, Maneater, etc were rocking the streets of Kathmandu Valley. Wrathchild was among the few bands that did heavy metal covers exclusively in the concerts. Newaz even had an album out which was predominantly rock and actually did quite well in the early days of commercial music in Nepal.
During the early 1990s, Vegetarian Vampires and Dead Soul were two of the prominent bands playing “thrash metal” in various concerts. Vegetarian Vampires were one of the first bands to cover Slayer, and Sodom, while Dead Soul frequently covered Iron Maiden, Overkill and Metallica. Dead Soul is also remembered as one of the best cover bands in the metal scene then, doing many ‘tribute’ gigs.
There were of course already lots of other regular as well as “one gig” bands that were doing metal covers live. During the early and mid 90s Iron Maiden’s Losfer Words and Metallica’s Am I Evil were concert staples. Almost every hard rock show would have those two songs played by at least one band. It’s too bad that many such bands have never been documented properly.
That was also a time when several ‘beat contests’ were held all around the valley where bands competed for a prize. Although a lot of songs played in those competitions were of the Heavy Metal/Hard Rock genre, original songs were a crowd turn-off and were rarely performed.
Bands were sprouting in the Pokhara valley at the same time as well. Anamesis, and later Vivax, came with some thrash metal stuff while Grease and Numskull started a grunge/punk movement.
Cobweb has to be the most prominent and consistent rock band of Nepal. In 1993, this band from Patan released their first album “Anjaan” which showcased their heavy metal and classic rock influences. Their live shows have always been full of energy and true showmanship. Around late 90’s, a few songs from the band Drishty (formed by Iman B. Shah while he was studying in Nebraska, Omaha) hit the FM airwaves in a few rock shows. It was probably the first ‘metal’ based original song by a Nepali band to get recorded and played on air. While in USA, Drishty recorded two albums in the bedroom studio setup by Iman B. Shah himself, but sadly, none of the albums were formally released. Mukti and Revival, which consisted one of the most “senior” rock/blues musicians, also released “Kalanki Ko Jam” in 2000, the album became an instant hit in the Nepali music market. In the same period, Robin n Looza: also made it big in the rock scene.

THE UNDERGROUND UPROAR:
2000 – 2006:

Without a shred of doubt, Ugrakarma’s release of demo “Himalayan Metal of Death” can be termed as the monumental epoch of the starting of metal scene in Nepal. Of course there were already some bands playing metal in the concerts, but metal remained within the confines of concert hall walls.
Aayush Maskey (Guitarist, Ugrakarma) reminiscences: “Back then the scene was just starting. Most of the bands were focused on playing popular music. Almost in every concert you went to, bands were playing the same songs Paranoid, Smoke on the water, Roadhouse Blues. There used to be a lot of street festivals and rock concerts but metal in concerts were virtually non-existent. Hearing Metallica in a show would get people talking – Metallica bajayo yaar… kyaa hyabby. “
While the scene was slowing picking up pace, many of the so-called “bands” sadly never had any originals. Few bands which had originals never managed to get it recorded. The same story of lack of resources, and lack of better recording studios haltered the progress of many potential good Metal bands. By 2000, there were already several professional recording studios in Kathmandu, but none equipped well enough to record any heavy stuff and none having any qualified recording engineers with sound knowledge of what “metal” music actually is.
The emergence of BMI Studios (otherwise known as Sacred Soundz) was an important event in the history of Metal in Nepal. The owner/engineer Iman B. Shah (Guitarist – Drishty and formerly of Vegetarian Vampires) was a himself a ‘metalhead’ and was familiar with capturing the essence of Metal – heavy riffs, thundering drums, thumping bass and deafening vocals – in the recording studio. Out of the few albums/songs that were ever recorded by local bands at that time, most of them like Ugrakarma’s Himalayan Metal of Death, Blood Metal Initiation and Albatross’ Hi: Fly were done at BMI/Sacred Soundz. The existence of a ‘metal’ recording studio opened up a lot of avenues for future bands trying to cut a record or a demo.
By the time Ugrakarma finally released their full length album “Blood Metal Initiation“ around 2001, there were already a horde of bands in the valley playing quite a range of metal music. Several band contests, where an original was mandatory to compete, also fueled the new bands to seek the creativity within them and come up with something imperative. While such contests more than often yielded 9 pop bands for every metal band, it still was a very significant step forward. More gigs were being organized, and more bands emerged. But the difference between these gigs and the gigs 5 years ago was monumental – these new bands were playing their own songs.
One of those bands was Refused 13. The band had played their first gig opening for Dead Soul (on Metallica Anthology Concert, 2001)The band started creating a formidable reputation in the valley as a very “tight” metal band with a “in your face” attitude, conceived by many as the band to pick metal where Dead Soul had left and then elevate the scene into another level. During the band’s active years, the band organized another memorable gig “Keep Suffering” at Nakkhipot, Lalitpur city.
Anuraag Sharma, former vocalist of Albatross on the band: “Refused 13 was definitely a force – the band and the persona of the band. I still remember that when they would walk into a concert, I would try to look at them without getting caught, because they were “Refused13″ and they looked like hardcore badasses that would kill you if you looked at them wrong”.

STRENGTH BEYOND STRENGTH:

Albatross, which started as an alternative rock band, changed their initial line up and importantly, the direction towards performing metal songs. The release of “Hi: Fly” in 2003 is also another benchmark in the metal history of Nepal. About the album, Mahendra M. Rai, former member of Cruentus states – “All the ten songs cover the aspect of all that is rock n roll. It’s heavy, it’s groovy and it’s trippy. Almost all of the songs are memorable and after you’ve gone through the record couple of times the songs will be imprinted within your head for quite a long time. Such is the power of ‘Hi:Fly’ and I envy Diwas and Sunny for coming up with such great riffs. I would like to classify this record as a ‘Stoner Rock/Metal’ as it quite fits the style. The first of its kind in our whole local underground scene!”
Another noteworthy band that pushed the underground scene upward from obscurity was Nastik. Formed in the late 2001, Nastik became the new leader among the “metal” bands, solely because of the use of growling vocals (aided by the fact that even though Ugrakarma is the first DM band, they really never performed live). Nastik released a self titled demo album on 2002, which featured “Maukil” – a fan favorite song in concerts. Nastik then released “Judge Death” – an all out death metal album on 2003. However, as in many other cases, the album was never released officially but fans had their own ways to get their hands on the album.
Third World Chaos’s four song EP “Infero” was released in 2003 which is significant in the terms that it introduced “hardcore” influenced metal into Kathmandu’s scene. During the active days, TWC performed regularly in concerts with Nastik and X-mantra and helped the scene to become stronger.
The release of X-mantra’s debut album “Crying For Peace” in 2003 hit the underground metal scene like a tsunami and created an astonishing aftermath. Their “No Cover Songs in Gigs” code created an astounding impact among other active bands in the scene. Several bands started performing originals who gradually realized that performing “decent originals” was more important than doing any “babbal cover songs”. “Shalik” and “Chidiya Ghar” became new anthems in the metal concerts. In simple words, X-mantra did it. What Cobweb stood for the mainstream rock scene in Nepal, X-mantra proudly stood for the metal and underground scene in Nepal. Anuraag Sharma (ex-Albatross): “Even though the album ‘Crying for Peace’ is 50% crap and the band eventually lost it, the other half of the album that does work is too well-done and too innovative to ignore. I think ‘Crying for Peace’ paved the way for a more noise-receptive audience than there would have been otherwise.”
Until their philosophical demise and in an attempt to garner commercial limelight by changing the direction, X-mantra’s first two albums (the second one being “Kurshi”, 2004) set a standard in the Nepali Metal history – proving that it was possible to fuse aggression in the almost poetic styled Nepali lyrics with riff based groovy metal.
The year 2003 saw the recording of a song titled “Itihaas” by Maya. With a strong Black Metal style riffing and probably the strongest lyrics ever in the whole Nepali music scene, Maya had an admirable influence on the next generation of Black Metal bands like Beyond, Antim Grahan and Cruentus.
The same year, members of Nastik and Albatross also joined forces as Abattoir and recorded a self titled album before disbanding.

THE UNDERGROUND REVOLT:

At the end of 2004, the bands like Ugrakarma, Nastik, TWC, Albatross, Refused 13 and X-mantra were either permanently inactive or disbanded or have moved away from the underground scene. By 2005, a group of more powerful bands such as Antim Grahan, Cruentus, Muga:, Brutal, Holocaust, and Breeding Pestilence started to bring “new” and “innovative” stuff into the scene. And later, bands like Epitaph, Morgoth and Vhumi forged new styles into the scene.
With an almost apocalyptic name for a band, Antim Grahan then quickly grabbed the attention of the scene. Individually, the band members were just a bunch of average musicians, however as a band, their live performance lacked no bullshit – it was tight, powerful and inspiring. With the release of EP “Forever Winter” in the early 2005 was a bold testimony of their brand of symphonic black metal. Without wasting much time just after three months, Antim Grahan released their full length album “Tales of the Darkened Woods”. Recorded and mixed in the Sacred Soundz, this album was one of the best produced metal albums – able to capture the atmosphere and aggression of black metal.
Cruentus started as a metal cover band playing generally Sepultura on concerts. Their choice of music gradually shifted towards Black Metal and eventually Cruentus started covering Immortal, Amon Amarth, Graveworm and so on. Just like Antim Grahan, the band took the underground scene into the next level as the band started performing originals in the concerts. The band gained a huge sense of respect in the underground community as one of the most tightest live bands in Ktm – majorly because of the talented band members, twin vocals and most importantly because of originality in the scene. And, Cruentus had Allan Shrestha on drums, THE Best Drummer ever in the underground scene!
Cruentus recorded their EP “Massacre of the Holy Ones” in 2004 and later in 2005, recorded a full length album, “Ashantusta Aatma” – another milestone in the history of Nepali Metal History. Ashantusta Aatma, the album featured rawness and aggression of black metal with a touch of death metal and the title song became a new anthem in the metal concerts.
Holocaust was a pure death metal outfit while Breeding Pestilence is credited for introducing technical death metal to the scene. At the same time, Blood Blisters were creating a strong following with in Patan, Lalitpur area. Blood Blisters started out as a cover band playing Iron Maiden exclusively. The band also took parts in several band competitions – increasing their popularity – and inspiring some new bands in Patan like Morceous, Metalbox and Bequeath.
The year of 2006 has been a great year in the history of Nepali metal scene. There have been many metal concerts and many new metal bands have joined the scene. Metal bands have been winning several inter-college band competitions which also cements the fact that “metal” is on the rise.
The year also saw the formation of one of the super group projects – the progressive metal band Atomic Bush. Formed by the members of Breeding Pestilence, Ozzobozo and Elysium – Atomic Bush propelled the scene into a new and interesting frontier of progressive, virtuoso and eclectic metal.
Vhumi, on the other hand, is regarded as the significant band that started playing melodic death metal style. The band has become one of the most consistent and active bands in the underground scene. Similarly, Epitaph has pummeled the scene with a new breed of metal – thrash-death. Bitter Euphemism has stepped up a notch into the realm of technicality and groove while bands like Arachnids, Morgoth, Prakanda Bimba, Cryptic Violence, Fallen, Obscured, Pralay, The Time, Ushma Weg and Night have contributed in their own way to the scene. What these bands bring out on stage is interesting and more importantly unique in the Nepali metal scene, probably even in the whole South East Asia.
A very few level of involvement can be seen from the so called senior musicians and bands (of 1980s or 1990s) on the current scene. However few inspirations, motivations and guidance remain. (Respect!) Fronted by two inspiring “senior” guitarists Iman B. Shah and Deep S. Rana, HMG-Ministry of Rock, even though a strictly heavy metal cover band till now, helped motivate a new generation of young guys into playing music.
Besides the bands and musicians and ktmROCKS and most importantly the metalheads – the Internet has been a great contributing factor in the development and evolution of Nepal’s metal scene. The ktmROCKS forum is vibrantly alive from compositions of the forum members (mostly musicians and band members). With styles ranging from extreme death metal to virtuoso shredding to ambient to psychedelic acid techno to grunge to ‘you name it’, the forum users have taken the scene to heed and started recording their own songs and expressing themselves with the aid of modern tools. The year 2007 seems to be a promising start for “our” metal scene as beckoned by the releases of “Barbaric Regulation” (Epitaph) and “The Last Verse of Madness” (Morgoth/Lost Oblivion).
Metal has come a long way in Nepal and despite the fact that it has never been embraced by the mainstream (and probably because of it) it will always exist in the hearts and minds of the fans and the few dedicated musicians who are in it not for the fame or fortune but for their love of the music. Metal is not tied to the changing trends in any given society so it is free from the web of ever-changing public opinion and “trendiness”. No matter how culture evolves, there will always be a few metalheads on the fringes of society embracing a culture all of their own because nothing else can match the sheer brutality, controlled chaos and dynamic intensity of Metal.
METAL lives forever. All hails to the NEPALI METAL SCENE!
All the Significant Releases:
Ugrakarma – Blood Metal Initiation 2001
Ugrakarma – Himalayan Metal Of Death 2002
Nemesis – Nemesis Demo 2002
Nastik – Nastik 2002
X-mantra – Crying for Peace 2002
Albatross – Hi Fly 2003
Nastik – Judge Death 2003
X-mantra – Kurshi 2003
Third World Chaos – Inferno 2003
Abattoir – Abattoir 2004
Cruentus – Massacre of the Holy Ones EP 2004
Antim Grahan – Forever Winter EP 2005
Antim Grahan – Tales from the Darkened Woods 2005
Cruentus – Aashantusta Aatma 2005
Epitaph – Barbaric Regulation 2007
Morgoth/Lost Oblivion – The Last Verse of Madness 2007

picture of most popular bands

Other metal genres: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s:

Many subgenres of heavy metal developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s.Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of Allmusic, as well as critic 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 and gothic metal.

Thrash metal:

Thrash metal band Slayer performing in 2007

Thrash metal emerged in the early 1980s under the influence of hardcore punk and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, 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. Low-register guitar riffs are typically overlaid with shredding leads. Lyrics often express 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."

The subgenre was popularized by the "Big Four of Thrash": Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer.^[133] Three German bands, Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction, played a central role in bringing the style to Europe. Others, including San Francisco Bay Area's Testament and Exodus, New Jersey's Overkill, and Brazil's Sepultura, also had a significant impact.
While thrash began as an underground scene, and remained largely that for almost a decade, the leading bands in the movement 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; two years later, the band's ...And Justice for All hit number 6, while Megadeth and Anthrax had top 40 records.
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 described by Kerrang! as the "heaviest album of all time." Two decades later, Metal Hammer named it the best album of the preceding twenty years.^[ Slayer attracted a following among far-right skinheads, and accusations of promoting violence and Nazi themes have dogged the band.
In the early 1990s, thrash achieved breakout success, challenging and redefining the metal mainstream. Metallica's self-titled 1991 album topped the Billboard chart, Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction (1992) hit number 2, Anthrax and Slayer cracked the top 10, and albums by regional bands such as Testament and Sepultura entered the top 100.

Death Metal:

Death's Chuck Schuldiner, "widely recognized as the father of death metal"

Thrash 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. 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 and the Bay Area's Possessed are recognized as seminal bands in the style. Both groups have been credited with inspiring the subgenre's name, the latter via its 1984 demo Death Metal and the song "Death Metal", from its 1985 debut album Seven Churches (1985).
Death metal utilizes the speed and aggression of both thrash and hardcore, fused with lyrics preoccupied with Z-grade slasher movie violence and Satanism. Death metal vocals are typically bleak, involving guttural "death growls," high-pitched screaming, the "death rasp," and other uncommon techniques. Complementing the deep, aggressive vocal style are downtuned, highly distorted guitars and extremely fast percussion, often with rapid double bass drumming and "wall of sound"–style blast beats. Frequent tempo and time signature changes and syncopation are also typical.


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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. One major exception to this rule was Deicide's Glen Benton, who branded an inverted cross on his forehead and wore armor on stage. Morbid Angel adopted neo-fascist imagery. These two bands, along with Death and Obituary, were leaders of the major death metal scene that emerged in Florida in the mid-1980s. In the UK, the related style of grindcore, led by bands such as Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror, emerged out of the anarcho-punk movement.

Black metal:

Photo of the burned ruins of Fantoft stave church as depicted on Burzum's 1992 EP Aske

The first wave of black metal emerged in Europe in the early and mid-1980s, led by Britain's Venom, Denmark's Mercyful Fate, Switzerland's Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and Sweden's Bathory. By the late 1980s, Norwegian bands such as Mayhem and Burzum were heading a second wave. 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 and intentionally lo-fi production, with ambient noise and background hiss.^[150]
Satanic themes are common in black metal, though many bands take inspiration from ancient paganism, promoting a return to pre-Christian values. Numerous black metal bands also "experiment with sounds from all possible forms of metal, folk, classical music, electronica and avant-garde." Darkthrone drummer Fenriz explains, "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."
By 1990, Mayhem was regularly wearing corpsepaint; many other black metal acts also adopted the look. Bathory inspired the Viking metal and folk metal movements and Immortal brought blast beats to the fore. Some bands in the Scandinavian black metal scene became associated with considerable violence in the early 1990s, 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. According to former Gorgoroth vocalist Gaahl, "Black Metal was never meant to reach an audience.... [We] had a common enemy which was, of course, Christianity, socialism and everything that democracy stands for."

By 1992, black metal scenes had begun to emerge in areas outside Scandinavia, including Germany, France, and Poland. The 1993 murder of Mayhem's Euronymous by Burzum's Varg Vikernes provoked intensive media coverage.Around 1996, when many in the scene felt the genre was stagnating, several key bands, including Burzum and Finland's Beherit, moved toward an ambient style, while symphonic black metal was explored by Sweden's Tiamat and Switzerland's Samael. In the late 1990s and early 2000s decade, Norway's Dimmu Borgir brought black metal closer to the mainstream, as did Cradle of Filth.

Power metal:

Swedish power metal band HammerFall after a concert in Milan, Italy, in 2005

During the late 1980s, the power metal scene came together largely in reaction to the harshness of death and black metal. 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." The prototype for the sound was established in the mid-to-late 1980s by Germany's Helloween, which combined the power riffs, melodic approach, and 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."
Traditional power metal bands like Sweden's HammerFall, England's DragonForce, and Florida's Iced Earth have a sound clearly indebted to the classic NWOBHM style. Many power metal bands such as Florida's Kamelot, Finland's Nightwish, Italy's Rhapsody of Fire, and Russia's Catharsis feature a keyboard-based "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 and Argentina's Rata Blanca are popular.
Closely related to power metal is progressive metal, which adopts the complex compositional approach of bands like 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.

Doom and gothic metal

For more details on this topic, see doom metal and gothic metal.

Emerging in the mid-1980s with such bands as California's Saint Vitus, Maryland's The Obsessed, Chicago's Trouble, and Sweden's 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. The Melvins have also been a significant influence on doom metal and a number of its subgenres.Doom emphasizes melody, melancholy tempos, and a sepulchral mood relative to many other varieties of metal.

The 1991 release of Forest of Equilibrium, the debut album by UK band Cathedral, helped spark a new wave of doom metal. During the same period, the doom-death fusion style of British bands Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema gave rise to European gothic metal with its signature dual-vocalist arrangements, exemplified by Norway's Theatre of Tragedy and Tristania. New York's Type O Negative introduced an American take on the style.
In the United States, sludge metal, mixing doom and hardcore, emerged in the late 1980s—Eyehategod and Crowbar were leaders in a major Louisiana sludge scene. Early in the next decade, California's Kyuss and Sleep, inspired by the earlier doom metal bands, spearheaded the rise of stoner metal, while Seattle's Earth helped develop the drone metal subgenre. 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 "Indian raga in the middle of an earthquake".

Sub Genre of Metal

Other metal genres: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s:

Many subgenres of heavy metal developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s.^[130] Several attempts have been made to map the complex world of underground metal, most notably by the editors of Allmusic, as well as critic 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 and gothic metal.

Thrash metal:

Thrash metal band Slayer performing in 2007

Death's Chuck Schuldiner, "widely recognized as the father of death metal"


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Black metal:

Photo of the burned ruins of Fantoft stave church as depicted on Burzum's 1992 EP Aske

Power metal:

Swedish power metal band HammerFall after a concert in Milan, Italy, in 2005

Doom and gothic metal

For more details on this topic, see doom metal and gothic metal.

Origin of metal n heavy metal bands

Harmony:

One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord. In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main interval, generally the perfect fifth, though an octave may be added as a doubling of the root. Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord, power chords are also based on different intervals such as the minor third, major third, perfect fourth, diminished fifth, or minor sixth. Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the fretboard.

Typical harmonic structures:

Heavy metal is usually based on riffs created with three main harmonic traits: modal scale progressions, tritone and chromatic progressions, and the use of pedal points. Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular the Aeolian and Phrygian modes. Harmonically speaking, this means the genre typically incorporates modal chord progressions such as the Aeolian progressions I-VI-VII, I-VII-(VI), or I-VI-IV-VII and Phrygian progressions implying the relation between I and ♭II (I-♭II-I, I-♭II-III, or I-♭II-VII for example). Tense-sounding chromatic or tritone relationships are used in a number of metal chord progressions.
The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones—such as C and F#—was a forbidden dissonance in medieval ecclesiastical singing, which led monks to call it diabolus in musica—"the devil in music." Because of that original symbolic association, it came to be heard in Western cultural convention as "evil". Heavy metal has made extensive use of the tritone in guitar solos and riffs, such as in the beginning of "Black Sabbath".
Heavy metal songs often make extensive use of pedal point as a harmonic basis. A pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass range, during which at least one foreign (i.e., dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts.

Relationship with classical music:

Ritchie Blackmore, founder of Deep Purple and Rainbow, known for the neoclassical approach in his guitar performances

Robert Walser argues that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known...as 'classical music'" has been a major influence on heavy metal since the genre's earliest days. He claims that metal's "most influential musicians have been guitar players who have also studied classical music. Their appropriation and adaptation of classical models sparked the development of a new kind of guitar virtuosity [and] changes in the harmonic and melodic language of heavy metal."
In an article written for Grove Music Online, Walser states that the "1980s brought on ...the widespread adaptation of chord progressions and virtuosic practices from 18th-century European models, especially Bach, Wagner and Vivaldi, by influential guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Uli Jon Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen".Kurt Bachmann of Believer has stated that "If done correctly, metal and classical fit quite well together. Classical and metal are probably the two genres that have the most in common when it comes to feel, texture, creativity."
Although a number of metal musicians cite classical composers as inspiration, classical and metal are rooted in different cultural traditions and practices—classical in the art music tradition, metal in the popular music tradition. As musicologists Nicolas Cook and Nicola Dibben note, "Analyses of popular music also sometimes reveal the influence of 'art traditions.' An example is Walser's linkage of heavy metal music with the ideologies and even some of the performance practices of nineteenth-century Romanticism. However, it would be clearly wrong to claim that traditions such as blues, rock, heavy metal, rap or dance music derive primarily from 'art music.'

Lyrical themes:

Black Sabbath and the many metal bands they inspired have concentrated lyrically "on dark and depressing subject matter to an extent hitherto unprecedented in any form of pop music," according to scholars David Hatch and Stephen Millward. They take as an example Sabbath's second album Paranoid (1970), which "included songs dealing with personal trauma—'Paranoid' and 'Fairies Wear Boots' (which described the unsavoury side effects of drug-taking) —as well as those confronting wider issues, such as the self-explanatory 'War Pigs' and 'Hand of Doom.'"
Nuclear annihilation was addressed in later metal songs such as Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral", Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight", Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants", Megadeth's "Rust in Peace... Polaris", and Metallica's "Fight Fire with Fire". Death is a predominant theme in heavy metal, routinely featuring in the lyrics of bands as otherwise widely different as Slayer and W.A.S.P. The more extreme forms of death metal and grindcore tend to have aggressive and gory lyrics.

King Diamond, known for writing conceptual lyrics about horror stories

Deriving from the genre's roots in blues music, sex is another important topic—a thread running from Led Zeppelin's suggestive lyrics to the more explicit references of glam and nu metal bands. Romantic tragedy is a standard theme of gothic and doom metal, as well as of nu metal, where teenage angst is another central topic. Heavy metal songs often feature outlandish, fantasy-inspired lyrics, lending them an escapist quality. Iron Maiden's songs, for instance, are frequently inspired by mythology, fiction, and poetry, as in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", based on the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem.
Led Zeppelin lyrics often make reference to The Lord of the Rings as well as other mythology and folklore, such as in the songs "The Battle of Evermore", "Immigrant Song", "Ramble On", "No Quarter", and "Achilles Last Stand". Other examples include Black Sabbath's "The Wizard", Megadeth's "The Conjuring" and "Five Magics", and Judas Priest's "Dreamer Deceiver". Since the 1980s, with the rise of thrash metal and songs such as Metallica's "...And Justice for All" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells", more metal lyrics have included socio-political commentary. Genres such as melodic death metal, progressive metal, and black metal often explore philosophical themes.
The thematic content of heavy metal has long been a target of criticism. According to Jon Pareles, "Heavy metal's main subject matter is simple and virtually universal. With grunts, moans and subliterary lyrics, it celebrates...a party without limits.... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic." Music critics have often deemed metal lyrics juvenile and banal, and others have objected to what they see as advocacy of misogyny and the occult. During the 1980s, the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned the U.S. Congress to regulate the popular music industry due to what the group asserted were objectionable lyrics, particularly those in heavy metal songs. Music critic Robert Christgau called metal "an expressive mode it sometimes seems will be with us for as long as ordinary whiteboys fear girls, pity themselves, and are permitted to rage against a world they'll never beat".
In 1990, Judas Priest was sued in American court by the parents of two young men who had shot themselves five years earlier, allegedly after hearing the subliminal statement "do it" in a Priest song. While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed.In some predominantly Muslim countries, heavy metal has been officially denounced as a threat to traditional values. In countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and Malaysia, there have been incidents of heavy metal musicians and fans being arrested and incarcerated.

Image and fashion:

Main article: Heavy metal fashion

Kiss performing in 2004, wearing makeup

For certain artists and bands, visual imagery plays a large role in heavy metal. In addition to its sound and lyrics, a heavy metal band's "image" is expressed in album sleeve art, logos, stage sets, clothing, and music videos.^[37] Some heavy metal acts such as Alice Cooper, Kiss, Lordi and Gwar have outrageous performance personas and stage shows.
Down-the-back long hair, according to Weinstein, is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion." Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by the 1980s and 1990s heavy metal hair "symbolised the hate, angst and disenchantment of a generation that seemingly never felt at home," according to journalist Nader Rahman. Long hair gave members of the metal community "the power they needed to rebel against nothing in general."
The classic uniform of heavy metal fans consists of light colored, ripped frayed or torn blue jeans, black T-shirts, boots and black leather or jeans jackets.... T-shirts are generally emblazoned with the logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands." Metal fans also "appropriated elements from the S&M community (chains, metal studs, skulls, leather and crosses)." In the 1980s, a range of sources, from punk and goth music to horror films, influenced metal fashion. Many metal performers of the 1970s and 1980s used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance their stage appearance.
Fashion and personal style was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long, dyed, hairspray-teased hair (hence the nickname, "hair metal"); makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner; gaudy clothing, including leopard-skin-printed shirts or vests and tight denim, leather, or spandex pants; and accessories such as headbands and jewelry. Pioneered by the heavy metal act X Japan in the late 1980s, bands in the Japanese movement known as visual kei—which includes many nonmetal groups—emphasize elaborate costumes, hair, and makeup.

Physical gestures:

Fans raise their fists and make the "devil horns" gesture at a concert by Estonian heavy metal group Metsatöll in 2006

Many metal musicians when performing live engage in headbanging, which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The il cornuto, or devil horns, hand gesture, also widespread, was popularized by vocalist Ronnie James Dio while with Black Sabbath and Dio. Although Gene Simmons of Kiss claims to have been the first to make the gesture on the 1977 Love Gun album cover, there is speculation as to who started the phenomenon.
Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense; Deena Weinstein has argued that this is due to the music's largely male audience and "extreme heterosexualist ideology." She identifies two primary body movements that substitute for dancing: headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture. The performance of air guitar is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home. Other concert audience activities include stage diving, crowd surfing, pushing and shoving in a chaotic mêlée called moshing, and displaying the corna hand symbol.

Fan subculture:

Main article: Heavy metal subculture

Deena Weinstein argues that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to the emergence of an intense, exclusionary, strongly masculine subculture. While the metal fanbase is largely young, white, male, and blue-collar, the group is "tolerant of those outside its core demographic base who follow its codes of dress, appearance, and behavior." Identification with the subculture is strengthened not only by the shared experience of concert-going and shared elements of fashion, but also by contributing to metal magazines and, more recently, websites.

A heavy metal fan wearing a denim jacket with band patches and artwork of the heavy metal bands Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Led Zeppelin

The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation", with its own code of authenticity. This code puts several demands on performers: they must appear both completely devoted to their music and loyal to the subculture that supports it; they must appear uninterested in mainstream appeal and radio hits; and they must never "sell out". For the fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society."
Musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie observes, "Most of the kids who come to my shows seem like really imaginative kids with a lot of creative energy they don't know what to do with" and that metal is "outsider music for outsiders. Nobody wants to be the weird kid; you just somehow end up being the weird kid. It's kind of like that, but with metal you have all the weird kids in one place."Scholars of metal have noted the tendency of fans to classify and reject some performers (and some other fans) as "poseurs" "who pretended to be part of the subculture, but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity."

Etymology:

The origin of the term "heavy metal" in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy, where the periodic table organizes elements of both light and heavy metals (e.g. uranium). An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by countercultural writer William S. Burroughs. His 1962 novel The Soft Machine includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid." Burroughs's next novel, Nova Express (1964), develops the theme, using heavy metal as a metaphor for addictive drugs: "With their diseases and orgasm drugs and their sexless parasite life forms—Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes—And The Insect People of Minraud with metal music." The phrase was later lifted by Sandy Pearlman, who used the term to describe The Byrds for their supposed "aluminium style of context and effect", particularly on their album The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968).

Jimi Hendrix, playing in Sweden in 1967

Metal historian Ian Christe describes what the components of the term mean in "hippiespeak": "heavy" is roughly synonymous with "potent" or "profound," and "metal" designates a certain type of mood, grinding and weighted as with metal. The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of beatnik and later countercultural slang, and references to "heavy music"—typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare—were already common by the mid-1960s. Iron Butterfly's debut album, released in early 1968, was titled Heavy. The first use of "heavy metal" in a song lyric is in reference to a motorcycle in the Steppenwolf song "Born to Be Wild", also released that year:^[58] "I like smoke and lightning/Heavy metal thunder/Racin' with the wind/And the feelin' that I'm under." A late, and disputed, claim about the source of the term was made by "Chas" Chandler, former manager of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In a 1995 interview on the PBS program Rock and Roll, he asserted that heavy metal "was a term originated in a New York Times article reviewing a Jimi Hendrix performance," in which the author likened the event to "listening to heavy metal falling from the sky." A source for Chandler's claim has never been found.
The first documented use of the phrase to describe a type of rock music identified to date appears in a review by Barry Gifford. In the May 11, 1968, issue of Rolling Stone, he wrote about the album A Long Time Comin' by U.S. band Electric Flag: "Nobody who's been listening to Mike Bloomfield—either talking or playing—in the last few years could have expected this. This is the new soul music, the synthesis of white blues and heavy metal rock." In January 1970 Lucian K. Truscott IV reviewing Led Zeppelin II for the Village Voice described the sound as "heavy" and made comparisons with Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge.
Other early documented uses of the phrase are from reviews by critic Mike Saunders. In the November 12, 1970, issue of Rolling Stone, he commented on an album put out the previous year by the British band Humble Pie: "Safe as Yesterday Is, their first American release, proved that Humble Pie could be boring in lots of different ways. Here they were a noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-leaden shit-rock band with the loud and noisy parts beyond doubt. There were a couple of nice songs...and one monumental pile of refuse." He described the band's latest, self-titled release as "more of the same 27th-rate heavy metal crap."
In a review of Sir Lord Baltimore's Kingdom Come in the May 1971 Creem, Saunders wrote, "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book."^[62] Creem critic Lester Bangs is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Through the decade, heavy metal was used by certain critics as a virtually automatic putdown. In 1979, lead New York Times popular music critic John Rockwell described what he called "heavy-metal rock" as "brutally aggressive music played mostly for minds clouded by drugs," and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers."
Coined by Black Sabbath drummer, Bill Ward, "downer rock" was one of the earliest terms used to describe this style of music and was applied to acts such as Sabbath and Bloodrock. Classic Rock magazine described the downer rock culture revolving around the use of Quaaludes and the drinking of wine. Later the term would be replaced by "heavy metal."
The terms "heavy metal" and "hard rock" have often been used interchangeably, particularly in discussing bands of the 1970s, a period when the terms were largely synonymous. For example, the 1983 Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll includes this passage: "known for its aggressive blues-based hard-rock style, Aerosmith was the top American heavy-metal band of the mid-Seventies."

History:

Antecedents: 1950s to mid-1960s

Heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to early 1950s Memphis electric blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson, and particularly Pat Hare,^[70]^[71] who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as James Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues" (1954); the late 1950s instrumentals of Link Wray, particularly "Rumble" (1958); the early 1960s surf rock music of Dick Dale, including "Let's Go Trippin'" (1961) and "Misirlou" (1962); and The Kingsmen's version of "Louie, Louie" (1963), which made it a garage rock standard.

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 rockers of the era. Bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds developed blues rock by recording covers of many classic blues songs, often speeding up the tempos. As they experimented with the music, the UK blues-based bands—and the U.S. acts they influenced in turn—developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal, in particular, the loud, distorted guitar sound. The Kinks played a major role in popularizing this sound with their 1964 hit "You Really Got Me".
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. 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. 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-Marshalls" approach was seminal.
The combination of blues rock with psychedelic rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal. One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of genres was the British power trio 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.Their first two LPs, Fresh Cream (1966) and Disraeli Gears (1967), are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967), was also highly influential. 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.
During the late sixties, many psychedelic singers such as Arthur Brown, began to create outlandish, theatrical and often macabre performances; which in itself became incredibly influential to many metal acts. Vanilla Fudge, whose first album also came out in 1967, has been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal."

Origins: late 1960s and early 1970s:

Mainstream: late 1970s and 1980s:

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. 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", do it yourself ethos. Underground metal bands began putting out cheaply recorded releases independently to small, devoted audiences.
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 papers such as the NME and Sounds took notice, with Sounds writer Geoff Barton christening the movement the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal". NWOBHM bands including Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard reenergized 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.
In 1980, the NWOBHM broke into the mainstream, as albums by Iron Maiden and Saxon, as well as Motörhead, reached the British top 10. Though less commercially successful, other NWOBHM bands such as Venom and Diamond Head would have a significant influence on metal's development. In 1981, Motörhead became the first of this new breed of metal bands to top the UK charts with No Sleep 'til Hammersmith.
The first generation of metal bands was ceding the limelight. Deep Purple had broken up soon after Blackmore's departure in 1975, and Led Zeppelin broke up following drummer John Bonham's death in 1980. Black Sabbath was routinely upstaged in concert by its opening act, the Los Angeles band Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen established himself as one of the leading metal guitarists of the era—his solo on "Eruption", from the band's self-titled 1978 album, is considered a milestone.
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 Quiet Riot, Ratt, Mötley Crüe, and W.A.S.P. were influenced by traditional heavy metal of the earlier 1970sand incorporated the theatrics (and sometimes makeup) of glam rock acts such as Alice Cooper and Kiss. The lyrics of these glam metal bands characteristically emphasized hedonism and wild behavior. Musically, the style was distinguished by rapid-fire shred guitar solos, anthemic choruses, and a relatively pop-oriented melodic approach. The glam metal movement—along with similarly styled acts such as New York's Twisted Sister—became a major force in metal and the wider spectrum of rock music.

In the wake of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Judas Priest's breakthrough 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^. Def Leppard's videos for 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
Between 1983 and 1984, heavy metal went from an 8 percent to a 20 percent share of all recordings sold in the U.S. 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."
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 and acts from the East Coast like Poison and 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 became international stars with The Final Countdown (1986). Its title track hit number 1 in 25 countries. In 1987, MTV launched a show, Headbanger's Ball, 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."
One band that reached diverse audiences was Guns N' Roses. In contrast to their glam metal contemporaries in L.A., they were seen as much more raw and dangerous. With the release of their chart-topping Appetite for Destruction (1987), they "recharged and almost single-handedly sustained the Sunset Strip sleaze system for several years."The following year, Jane's Addiction emerged from the same L.A. hard-rock club scene with its major label debut, Nothing's Shocking. Reviewing the album, Rolling Stone declared, "as much as any band in existence, Jane's Addiction is the true heir to Led Zeppelin." 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 such as New York's Winger and New Jersey's Skid Row sustained the popularity of the glam metal style.