The factors of metalness are created through instruments that were created in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Therefore metal was not invented through a single band but through the people who invented electric guitars/bass, amplifier, new drums, effects units like distortion, electric drums...

For me the first metal album is Fly to the Rainbow from Scorpiens, with Uli Jon Roth on guitars, therefore the question is very subjective regarding what you see as metalness.

Written by Guest on 30.12.2012 at 00:53

The factors of metalness are created through instruments that were created in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Therefore metal was not invented through a single band but through the people who invented electric guitars/bass, amplifier, new drums, effects units like distortion, electric drums...

For me the first metal album is Fly to the Rainbow from Scorpiens, with Uli Jon Roth on guitars, therefore the question is very subjective regarding what you see as metalness.

But isn't this a bit too stretched out and vague? Because... you need electricity to create those instruments, and electricity is not something we have invented because it already exists in nature. Does this mean by this way of resonating, when everything boils right down to it, that nature itself invented Metal or something like that? I do see what you mean, but somehow it doesn't sit quite right (or maybe my way of reflecting is just severely fucked up). Hmm, I don't know...

Written by Patrick. on 31.12.2012 at 20:10

Written by Guest on 30.12.2012 at 00:53

The factors of metalness are created through instruments that were created in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Therefore metal was not invented through a single band but through the people who invented electric guitars/bass, amplifier, new drums, effects units like distortion, electric drums...

For me the first metal album is Fly to the Rainbow from Scorpiens, with Uli Jon Roth on guitars, therefore the question is very subjective regarding what you see as metalness.

But isn't this a bit too stretched out and vague? Because... you need electricity to create those instruments, and electricity is not something we have invented because it already exists in nature. Does this mean by this way of resonating, when everything boils right down to it, that nature itself invented Metal or something like that? I do see what you mean, but somehow it doesn't sit quite right (or maybe my way of reflecting is just severely fucked up). Hmm, Ion't know... ??

The point is that no single band invented metal, it erose in the late 60s and 70s through many factors we associate with metal music created through then recent instruments and innovations.

Written by Guest on 31.12.2012 at 20:52

The point is that no single band invented metal, it erose in the late 60s and 70s through many factors we associate with metal music created through then recent instruments and innovations.

Hmm, well it does make sense, I agree with this in a way. And perhaps the transition from Rock to Metal was so smooth and overlapping in various forms, there's no real way of knowing which band or what people were the first to play that particular riff or write that very first song or album within the genre. However, even if we don't know and it's all subjective, I still think the inventors of Metal (as in the very discovery of that distinctive genre moving forward from the evolution of Rock, and not just in the makers of instruments with distortion) had to be the first band or artist on the face of the earth to play it, no matter if it was just a riff or one song, and no matter if the first actual Metal-band was conceived later down the road. As it stands now, with no-one seemingly capable of really "proving" one way or the other who came first, your post here might be the only proper conclusion to draw so far.

As a sidenote I think we can all agree that Judas Priest is a Metal band, and that Rolling Stones is a Rock band. This potentially means that the answer to which band who first gave birth to the genre is found somewhere in-between.

Written by Patrick. on 31.12.2012 at 21:23

Written by Guest on 31.12.2012 at 20:52

The point is that no single band invented metal, it erose in the late 60s and 70s through many factors we associate with metal music created through then recent instruments and innovations.

Hmm, well it does make sense, I agree with this in some way. And perhaps the transition from Rock to Metal was so smooth and overlapping in various forms, there's no real way of knowing which band or what people were the first to play that particular riff or write that very first song or album within the genre. However, even if we don't know and it may all be subjective, I still think the inventors of Metal (as in the very discovery of that distinctive music-genre moving forward from the evolution of Rock, and not just in the makers of distorted-instruments) had to be the first band on the face of the earth to play it, no matter if it was just one riff or one song, and no matter if the first actual Metal-band was conceived a bit later. But as it stands now, with no-one seemingly capable of really proving one way or the other who the first were, your post here seems to me like the only conclusion to draw so far.

As a sidenote I think we can all agree that Judas Priest is a Metal band, and that Rolling Stones is a Rock band. In my opinion, this could mean that the answer to which band who was the first real player on the field in this genre may potentially be found somewhere in-between.

Great sum up, my thoughts too.

For me personally Scorpiens (Fly to the Rainbow), Judas Priest (Sad Wings of Destiny), Motörhead (Overkill) and probably Rainbow were the first real metal bands, all active in the mid-late 70s.

Written by Guest on 31.12.2012 at 21:29

Great sum up, my thoughts too.

For me personally Scorpiens (Fly to the Rainbow), Judas Priest (Sad Wings of Destiny), Motörhead (Overkill) and probably Rainbow were the first real metal bands, all active in the mid-late 70s.

All of those sure sound(ed) like Metal! I'm guessing bands like Ac/Dc, Kiss, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were/are more Hard Rock than anything else(?) but had enormous influence on Metal. What about Sabbath? I've always considered them as Heavy Metal and some of the "founding daddies" of the genre.

In this transition there are also Alice Cooper, Hawkwind, Rush, Kiss, AC/DC, Yes, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith, - just off the top of my head (Rainbow, Scorpions and of course Judas Priest already mentioned). All sit comfortably in that 70's rock-metal grey area and all made important contributions to what later became the various strands of Metal proper.

Also, punk. For anything after 1978 or so, anyway.

And still, sociocultural factors.

Black Sabbath, no doubt.

It was clearly Avenged Sevenfold.

Black sabbath hands down. i dont know why people are suggesting bands that were out in the 80s...

Black Sabbath, imo. They're the first "metal band." Influences range though from Zepplin to the Doors and onwards. But my vote's Sabbath.

IMHO, I'd say that rock became metal music when loud/distorted/down-tuned rock removed blues groove. Black Sabbath began to do a couple of songs like that, but the first band that moved away from blues to do heavy metal-standards was Judas Priest.

Written by Iriki on 20.03.2013 at 21:15

IMHO, I'd say that rock became metal music when loud/distorted/down-tuned rock removed blues groove. Black Sabbath began to do a couple of songs like that, but the first band that moved away from blues to do heavy metal-standards was Judas Priest.

I'd say they were the first speed metal band, but not the first metal band. A lot of people, both on here and in real life, have said it was Sabbath, but there was arguably metal around before that (the term heavy metal being used for music in the late '60s, the first documented use by a critic in November 1970 [See Wikipedia, under "heavy metal]).

Yes, yes, i'm aware of this, but i think it's a bit inaccurate.

I think that all the bands before Sabbath did just loud and/or distorted rock. The rupture that Sabbath did was the idea of downtuning the guitar (due to Iommi's problem with his fingers) and exploring diabolus in musica, which ended up creating an actual heavy sound.

But what i defend is that metal is more than that, it has something to do with song/riff structure and the absense of bluesy rhythm, and this is something that Black Sabbath did just ocasionally in their early albums. Meanwhile, Judas Priest formed later than Sabbath, but they moved away from blues rock (from rocka rolla) to use regularly an aesthetic of what we know as metal, as an 100%, before Sabbath.


TL;DR: Sabbath created heavy sonority and wrote some metal-structure songs, but Priest was the very first band that incorporated that standard as a full-time aesthetic in their records.


PS: I'm not throwing this as 'the truth', I just got this thought and i'd like to share and discuss :p

Was it not Pachelbel?

Written by Iriki on 21.03.2013 at 02:08

Yes, yes, i'm aware of this, but i think it's a bit inaccurate.

I think that all the bands before Sabbath did just loud and/or distorted rock. The rupture that Sabbath did was the idea of downtuning the guitar (due to Iommi's problem with his fingers) and exploring diabolus in musica, which ended up creating an actual heavy sound.

But what i defend is that metal is more than that, it has something to do with song/riff structure and the absense of bluesy rhythm, and this is something that Black Sabbath did just ocasionally in their early albums. Meanwhile, Judas Priest formed later than Sabbath, but they moved away from blues rock (from rocka rolla) to use regularly an aesthetic of what we know as metal, as an 100%, before Sabbath.


TL;DR: Sabbath created heavy sonority and wrote some metal-structure songs, but Priest was the very first band that incorporated that standard as a full-time aesthetic in their records.


PS: I'm not throwing this as 'the truth', I just got this thought and i'd like to share and discuss :p

You could say that. Priest basically started leading style of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but if it's the new wave then there would have to be a First Wave of Heavy Metal. And I'm of the opinion that whatever style was first being played that was harder and darker than simply hard rock that originally got called heavy metal is by definition the first heavy metal, and Sabbath just inadvertently became the leaders of this style and got credit for creating it.

I realize that Wikipedia has a reputation for being unreliable, but there is a general consensus that Priest wasn't the first metal band (with Rob Halford having said himself that he thinks Sabbath was the first). I'd say the song "Black Sabbath" (if that's not metal, I don't know what is) was the first of a regular use that the band used of a darker, heavier, metal tone. I could find other songs by other bands from the late '60s, if I searched through all the ones I've heard, that could arguably called metal. (Granted, a lot of what I've heard people call the first metal just sounds like forms of hard rock, like acid/psychedelic/blues rock.)

Written by renai on 21.03.2013 at 02:29

Was it not Pachelbel?

And Bach and Wagner. All the dark classical composers. They didn't invent metal, but if they'd had electric guitars back then they would have

Written by nasmith on 21.03.2013 at 04:47



You could say that. Priest basically started leading style of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,

Judas Priest were never part of the new wave of british heavy metal since they were already recording long before the bands that get lumped in there started releasing stuff. And remember NWOBHM is not a particular sound but a period of time in metal music history.

Black Sabbath, thee end!

I wouldn't say there is a "first" band, but rather a group of them. I can recall watching an interview where Iommi stated that he wasn't sure why people were calling their music heavy metal for a while. Other bands played a key role in forming metal such as Cream, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, and the list goes on. Although defining those bands as metal is questionable, there is no doubt that each contributed in its own way to the ever evolving sound that became what we call metal.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 21.03.2013 at 13:51

Written by nasmith on 21.03.2013 at 04:47



You could say that. Priest basically started leading style of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal,

Judas Priest were never part of the new wave of british heavy metal since they were already recording long before the bands that get lumped in there started releasing stuff. And remember NWOBHM is not a particular sound but a period of time in metal music history.

But they were one of the main bands that set the standard of fast-paced metal before the NWOBHM (since Sabbath and bands like that played a lot of their songs at slow to medium pace, with faster ones here and there). But most bands in the NWOBHM basically emulated that faster style, thus some people use the term NWOBHM to mean both the movement and the main style.

Written by nasmith on 22.03.2013 at 05:53

, thus some people use the term NWOBHM to mean both the movement and the main style.

and that is where the problem lies because there is no main style of NWOBHM, try comparing Def Leppard, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Venom, Angel Witch, AIIZ, Raven, Samson, Weapon, Witchfynde, Sweet Savage, Diamond Head, Girlschool, Jaguar, Trespass, Holocaust, Vardis, Blitzkrieg, Praying Mantis, Witchfinder General, Gaskin, White Spirit, Black Rose, Scarab, Sledgehammer, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Nutz, Ethel The Frog, Quartz, Eazy Money, Deep Machine, Satan. Only thing all those bands have in common is the period of time at which they emerged.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 22.03.2013 at 12:47

Written by nasmith on 22.03.2013 at 05:53

, thus some people use the term NWOBHM to mean both the movement and the main style.

and that is where the problem lies because there is no main style of NWOBHM, try comparing Def Leppard, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Venom, Angel Witch, AIIZ, Raven, Samson, Weapon, Witchfynde, Sweet Savage, Diamond Head, Girlschool, Jaguar, Trespass, Holocaust, Vardis, Blitzkrieg, Praying Mantis, Witchfinder General, Gaskin, White Spirit, Black Rose, Scarab, Sledgehammer, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Nutz, Ethel The Frog, Quartz, Eazy Money, Deep Machine, Satan. Only thing all those bands have in common is the period of time at which they emerged.

But almost all of those played a faster, less bluesy style that was more similar to Judas Priest than Black Sabbath. Some of them did play traditional doom, which is the closest to Sabbath, but all the other styles you mentioned were influenced by Judas Priest and Motorhead.

What if I said that Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, Venom, Sepultura, Kreator, etc. weren't all thrash because they didn't all have the same style of playing?

Written by nasmith on 22.03.2013 at 21:57

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 22.03.2013 at 12:47

Written by nasmith on 22.03.2013 at 05:53

, thus some people use the term NWOBHM to mean both the movement and the main style.

and that is where the problem lies because there is no main style of NWOBHM, try comparing Def Leppard, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Venom, Angel Witch, AIIZ, Raven, Samson, Weapon, Witchfynde, Sweet Savage, Diamond Head, Girlschool, Jaguar, Trespass, Holocaust, Vardis, Blitzkrieg, Praying Mantis, Witchfinder General, Gaskin, White Spirit, Black Rose, Scarab, Sledgehammer, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Nutz, Ethel The Frog, Quartz, Eazy Money, Deep Machine, Satan. Only thing all those bands have in common is the period of time at which they emerged.

But almost all of those played a faster, less bluesy style that was more similar to Judas Priest than Black Sabbath. Some of them did play traditional doom, which is the closest to Sabbath, but all the other styles you mentioned were influenced by Judas Priest and Motorhead.


What if I said that Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, Venom, Sepultura, Kreator, etc. weren't all thrash because they didn't all have the same style of playing?

Venom aren't thrash And stylistically all those thrash bands are very similar whereas the bands who were part of the NWOBHM aren't stylistically similar. The only thing they have in common is that they play heavy metal.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 23.03.2013 at 16:44

Venom aren't thrash And stylistically all those thrash bands are very similar whereas the bands who were part of the NWOBHM aren't stylistically similar. The only thing they have in common is that they play heavy metal.

IMHO Venom aren't black metal, besides the lyrics. STYLISTICALLY, they started out speed metal and crossed over to thrash.

And the style similarity (or lack thereof) between different NWOBHM bands is subjective, because almost all of them took away the blues and straight rock influences and added in some punk, but these were done to different degrees. Granted, there were bands like Witchfinder General that played doom metal, which was very similar to Black Sabbath's early style, but almost all NWOBHM bands played a melodic style of punk metal that essentially became heavier and evolved into speed metal, which in turn evolved into thrash. I know there are many people who use the term NWOBHM interchangeably between the movement and the style I was talking about that was mainly an influence on speed and thrash metal. (Just like many people call Venom, Celtic Frost, and '80s Sodom black metal, while I don't, although I do consider Bathory by the time of Under the Sign of the Black Mark, if not before that, black metal. )

Just technicalities.

This question is as ridiculous as the "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" question. The answer is the egg came first, and the animal before that egg wasn't a chicken.

Metal evolved as a style of music from styles that came before it. It wasn't just born or invented. Sure, many bands influenced the style--a few bands might even be called the "first metal band". But no band came first to invent the style; the style was shaped by rock bands, and then the style itself caused the formation of metal bands.

The chicken (metal bands) didn't come before the egg (metal genre). The egg (metal genre) came from a non-chicken type bird (rock bands), which then in turn hatched into a chicken (metal bands). You see what I'm trying to say?

Black Sabbath. They created it.

This discussion has actually gotten really interesting (aside from the "Black Sabbath, 'nuff said they went in the studio and said 'let's invent a music called heavy metal, people will be heavy in the future, obesce in fact!")

It kind of shows how the context of history works. I think it's fairly clear that there was some kind of evolution here. Early Black Sabbath is definitely something we can fit into the genre we now know as heavy metal, but they did not think of themselves that way. The term was not coined till the 70's I think. However, they were definitely influential on the development.

An interesting next question would be, when was the point where bands intentionally tried to make this kind of music? Who was the first band to sit down and say 'let's make heavy metal, let's chug,' instead of 'let's make some rock music, but make it sound heavy or evil'. Like which bands knew the words 'heavy metal' and had an idea of what they thought it meant and sat down and tried to write that kind of music?

Written by helofloki on 27.03.2013 at 15:53

This discussion has actually gotten really interesting (aside from the "Black Sabbath, 'nuff said they went in the studio and said 'let's invent a music called heavy metal, people will be heavy in the future, obesce in fact!")

It kind of shows how the context of history works. I think it's fairly clear that there was some kind of evolution here. Early Black Sabbath is definitely something we can fit into the genre we now know as heavy metal, but they did not think of themselves that way. The term was not coined till the 70's I think. However, they were definitely influential on the development.

An interesting next question would be, when was the point where bands intentionally tried to make this kind of music? Who was the first band to sit down and say 'let's make heavy metal, let's chug,' instead of 'let's make some rock music, but make it sound heavy or evil'. Like which bands knew the words 'heavy metal' and had an idea of what they thought it meant and sat down and tried to write that kind of music?

If people think Sabbath is the first that's ok with me, But imho I think it's blue cheer. Blue cheer had all the power and Heaviness that's in metal , they also were one of the first to down tune their guitars and the first band to stack their amps. A lot of people referred to them as Hendrix rip-off but that's debatable cause both bands formed in 1966 Hendrix could of heard them in '66 and decided to rip off their sound before they could be signed. I think the were a lot heaver than Hendrix's band though, an influenced countless metal bands including Sabbath & Motorhead.

first metal bands in my opinion:

1. blue cheer
2. 31 flavors
3.bent wind
4. High Tide
5. Stray
6.Black Sabbath

I now a lot of other could be added between Sabbath and blue cheer but most of those bands are more Acid Rock then Metal.

Written by harrysanders on 06.04.2013 at 05:36

Written by helofloki on 27.03.2013 at 15:53

This discussion has actually gotten really interesting (aside from the "Black Sabbath, 'nuff said they went in the studio and said 'let's invent a music called heavy metal, people will be heavy in the future, obesce in fact!")

It kind of shows how the context of history works. I think it's fairly clear that there was some kind of evolution here. Early Black Sabbath is definitely something we can fit into the genre we now know as heavy metal, but they did not think of themselves that way. The term was not coined till the 70's I think. However, they were definitely influential on the development.

An interesting next question would be, when was the point where bands intentionally tried to make this kind of music? Who was the first band to sit down and say 'let's make heavy metal, let's chug,' instead of 'let's make some rock music, but make it sound heavy or evil'. Like which bands knew the words 'heavy metal' and had an idea of what they thought it meant and sat down and tried to write that kind of music?

If people think Sabbath is the first that's ok with me, But imho I think it's blue cheer. Blue cheer had all the power and Heaviness that's in metal , they also were one of the first to down tune their guitars and the first band to stack their amps. A lot of people referred to them as Hendrix rip-off but that's debatable cause both bands formed in 1966 Hendrix could of heard them in '66 and decided to rip off their sound before they could be signed. I think the were a lot heaver than Hendrix's band though, an influenced countless metal bands including Sabbath & Motorhead.

first metal bands in my opinion:

1. blue cheer
2. 31 flavors
3.bent wind
4. High Tide
5. Stray
6.Black Sabbath

I now a lot of other could be added between Sabbath and blue cheer but most of those bands are more Acid Rock then Metal.

Not sure why you quoted me here... My post was asking when bands started intentionally making heavy metal. As opposed to music that we call heavy metal in retrospect, because it sounds like what has been developed. My point about Black Sabbath was that they did not intentionally create heavy metal. That the term came later. But who was the first band to intentionally write songs with the very words 'heavy metal' in mind?

Written by helofloki on 07.04.2013 at 18:51

But who was the first band to intentionally write songs with the very words 'heavy metal' in mind?

Priest