A style of music that combines 70s stoner rock with hard rock and metal guitar riffs and beats, beard metal began its rise to popularity somewhere around 2005 and has only grown thanks to bands like Mastodon, Turbonegro and Valient Thorr. Galloping metal breakdowns and their masterful use of the twin- guitar melodies (ala Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden) make this genre of music a welcome breath of fresh air for hard rock and metal fans who have watched their beloved music drift into obscurity over the years as rock became a watered-down commodity for record labels in search of the almighty dollar, producing bands like Nickleback and other alternative radio nonsense. Most of these bands have at least one or two members with beards, but a beard is not necessarily required.