A subgenre of Rock
music, closely related to Hard
Rock. It was developed during the
70's by bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin (although they stuck to their blues and folk roots, and weren't completely Heavy Metal), Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep - even some prog-
rock bands experimented with heavier sounds, Heavy Metal sounds. It is said that the first Heavy Metal band was Black Sabbath - I can boldly say they were the first BRITISH Metal band, and Blue Cheer the first American Metal band.
The
music is characterized for it's technical and heavy riffs, long songs, and solos played with virtuosity. Lyrics are very varied (contrary to what many people think, they
don't all have "satanic" or
evil lyrics, and hateful lyrics) - they range from love and
sex, through war and nuclear holocaust to fantasy and dragons.
Heavy metal is one of the most misunderstood genres of
music in our day. Rather unfortunately, this is often a result of brazen ignorance about the subject, brought about by certain sectors of the media, society, and listeners themselves.
Most notable bands are: Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio, Manowar, Stratovarius, Deep
Purple, Dokken,
Judas Priest
Great vocalists: Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford