Written by Freezer on 22.05.2008 at 00:31

I think that the first Black Sabbath cannot be regarded completely as "metal", probably the first band to define and record "heavy metal" has been Judas Priest. The bands that came before them had a lot of interesing and forerunning aspects (like the high-pitched vocals, or the down-tuned guitars), but Priest have arguably been the first in putting everything together and laying the basics (and don't forget the twin solo guitar) for times to come.

If Black Sabbath isnt ,metal, then early Judas Priest isn so heavy like nowdays too
Rocka Rolla vs Painkiller huge doference

Written by Bad English on 28.05.2008 at 09:46

Written by Freezer on 22.05.2008 at 00:31

I think that the first Black Sabbath cannot be regarded completely as "metal", probably the first band to define and record "heavy metal" has been Judas Priest. The bands that came before them had a lot of interesing and forerunning aspects (like the high-pitched vocals, or the down-tuned guitars), but Priest have arguably been the first in putting everything together and laying the basics (and don't forget the twin solo guitar) for times to come.

If Black Sabbath isnt ,metal, then early Judas Priest isn so heavy like nowdays too
Rocka Rolla vs Painkiller huge doference

Oh come on, they've recorded a lot of other albums between those two. Sad Wings of Destiny or Sin after sin, for example are far more "heavy metal" than anything Black Sabbath had produced in the Ozzy era. As everybody is saying, Black Sabbath has been a fundamental band in creating the basics for metal, but they were not it yet.
The first heavy metal band is probably Judas Priest, although obvious contribute is present in all the bands aforementioned.

The first metal band? Sabbath.....doesn't everyone know that?

I don't think any band should be credited with "inventing" metal. I think they should be reffered to as the band that bought that certain type of metal into something a little more mainstream. Some random guy/girl could have "invented" metal in his/her basement years before Sabbath or Judas Priest!

Heavy metal = King Crimson + Black Sabbath + Iggy Pop + the Doors

Written by Conservationist on 06.06.2008 at 19:35

Heavy metal = King Crimson + Black Sabbath + Iggy Pop + the Doors

.....Iggy pop and the doors?.... what the hell have you been drinking man?

Black Sabbath, and Black Sabbath alone for christ sake, invented Heavy Metal.

Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath.

In response to the orginal post... Metallica? who says that? there were heaps of metalbands before them. Metallica didn't invent jack.

@Freezer - You could agure that Judas Priest 'refined the metal sound' but invent it? I don't know about that. Sabbath are a better choice as far as being the first metal bad, but I supose no one really 'invented metal'.
Metal was invented by one band being influenced by the band before them, adding a new key ellement to the sound, then a band being influenced by them, adding something new, and so on.

Am I right?

Flower travelin' Band all the way!!

I almost never post stuff, but I would like to say something about this. Maybe it will go slightly OT.

I consider that there are three fundamental metal bands: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and maybe as a surprise Motörhead. They are like three big whales. Other stuff (Zeppelin, AC/DC, Purple) are not pure metal.

Black Sabbath is the first METAL band, but they sounded like doom. So as it turned out later Sabbath had a massive influence on DOOM metal. In general they influenced every other metal genre, but doom was the main.

Judas Priest is the first HEAVY metal band. The first band, which used two lead guitars (yes, I know about Thin Lizzy, and Scorps), they created leather and stud style. It was true heavy metal.
Judas Priest directly influenced many bands and metal genres:
NWOBHM - Iron Maiden, Saxon. A little note: if those bands were New Wave, then that makes Priest, Sabbath, Motorhead First (Old) Wave.
Power metal - Helloween, and other German bands.
Thrash: Slayer, Testament.

Motorhead played kinda heavy punk. But they were metal. They had a HUGE influence on the extreme metal.

All those genres are connected.

Motorhead and Iron Maiden directly influenced Metallica, which was the main thrash metal band. Sepultura loved Motorhead, Slayer loved Priest. Death metal pioneers loved all those thrash bands.
Venom, which seeded black metal, was also very high on Motorhead.

I would like to be more specific in thoughts, but I don't want to make a super gigantic post.

I think that we should not look for the first metal band, we should look for the first group of bands, which were pioneers. I have a feeling that those three bands were pretty much independent from each other, and had the main impact on all future metal bands and genres.

P.S. Forgot to add IMHO before each phrase.

The Beatles jajaja

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 01:30


I think that we should not look for the first metal band, we should look for the first group of bands, which were pioneers. I have a feeling that those three bands were pretty much independent from each other, and had the main impact on all future metal bands and genres.

I always think the same when talking to someone about the origins of metal.

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 01:30


I think that we should not look for the first metal band, we should look for the first group of bands, which were pioneers. .

OKay, no problem with that point of view. But then WHY mention Testament when it comes to thrash?

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 01:59

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 01:30


I think that we should not look for the first metal band, we should look for the first group of bands, which were pioneers. .

OKay, no problem with that point of view. But then WHY mention Testament when it comes to thrash?

Why not? They are probably the most known outside of The Big Four (Overkill and Exodus might say also something about it). Testament was part of Bay Area movement. Plus, they are my fave thrash metal band;D

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 02:32


Why not? They are probably the most known outside of The Big Four (Overkill and Exodus might say also something about it). Testament was part of Bay Area movement. Plus, they are my fave thrash metal band;D

They might be your favourite but they did not pioneer it. Overkill, Exodus were more pioneers of thrash than Testament. As for the real pioneers... Metallica, first and foremost and then Anthrax & Slayer and later Megadeth. Testament are as much pioneers of thrash as Death Angel & Dark Angel.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 02:41

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 02:32


Why not? They are probably the most known outside of The Big Four (Overkill and Exodus might say also something about it). Testament was part of Bay Area movement. Plus, they are my fave thrash metal band;D

They might be your favourite but they did not pioneer it. Overkill, Exodus were more pioneers of thrash than Testament. As for the real pioneers... Metallica, first and foremost and then Anthrax & Slayer and later Megadeth. Testament are as much pioneers of thrash as Death Angel & Dark Angel.

Generally I agree, that they didn't pioneer it. But it's about movement: bands like Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, Testament (then known as Legacy) came from the same region, and played similar music. Legacy were formed two years later than Metallica (in 1983), they just released their first album kinda late. Testament was already in the movement, when things started to really roll. So as a single band Testament didn't pioneer it, but as a movement they did it.

EDIT: I like to keep it again as a group of bands, not as any particular single band.

Written by jawbreaker on 28.11.2008 at 03:03


Generally I agree, that they didn't pioneer it. But it's about movement: bands like Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, Testament (then known as Legacy) came from the same region, and played similar music. Legacy were formed two years later than Metallica (in 1983), they just released their first album kinda late. Testament was already in the movement, when things started to really roll. So as a single band Testament didn't pioneer it, but as a movement they did it.

EDIT: I like to keep it again as a group of bands, not as any particular single band.

I know you like to keep it as a group of bands. Like I said earlier no problem with that. Okay, so Legacy might have started in 1983 but didn't start recording until 1985 (Which is two years after a band such Death Angel started recording.) As for kick starting thrash as we know it now and Bay Area thrash in particular it IS actually all due to Metallica (tip for you... watch Get Thrashed: The Story Of Thrash Metal and you'll hear ALL the thrash bands say they started playing thrash as we know it due to Metallica)

OKay now some real nitpicking from me. Metallica actually don't come from the same region as Testament and Exodus. Metallica, like Slayer, are a Los Angeles band originally. Metallica only moved to the Bay Area because of Cliff. Cliff didn't want to join them if they didn't come over to the Bay Area and leave Glam Metal infested Los Angeles.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 03:13

OKay now some real nitpicking from me. Metallica actually don't come from the same region as Testament and Exodus. Metallica, like Slayer, are a Los Angeles band originally. Metallica only moved to the Bay Area because of Cliff. Cliff didn't want to join them if they didn't come over to the Bay Area and leave Glam Metal infested Los Angeles.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Kirk join the band after they moved from LA to San Fran?

Written by Dane Train on 28.11.2008 at 04:25

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 03:13

OKay now some real nitpicking from me. Metallica actually don't come from the same region as Testament and Exodus. Metallica, like Slayer, are a Los Angeles band originally. Metallica only moved to the Bay Area because of Cliff. Cliff didn't want to join them if they didn't come over to the Bay Area and leave Glam Metal infested Los Angeles.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Kirk join the band after they moved from LA to San Fran?

Yes Kirk joined AFTER they moved fro LA to SF, why you are you asking? Kirk was a member of Exodus before he joined Metallica and Cliff was already part of the band when Kirk joined.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 04:30

Yes Kirk joined AFTER they moved fro LA to SF, why you are you asking? Kirk was a member of Exodus before he joined Metallica and Cliff was already part of the band when Kirk joined.

I was just asking for sort of my own interest. I was just curious at which point the band known as Metallica actually formed.

Written by Dane Train on 28.11.2008 at 04:33

I was just curious at which point the band known as Metallica actually formed.

That was actually in SF I gotta admit
For most people (including me to be honest )the true Metallica formed after they drafted Cliff and they moved to SF away from all the glam crap in LA.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 04:37

That was actually in SF I gotta admit
For most people (including me to be honest )the true Metallica formed after they drafted Cliff and they moved to SF away from all the glam crap in LA.

OK, thanks. That helps me a good deal.

Now for something completely different...

I don't think there was just one band that invented Metal. It was sort of a natural progression of music. Before Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath there were plenty of bands that were beginning to experiment with heavier, faster and darker music.

Asking "who invented Metal?" is kind of like asking "who invented the car?" No one person is responsible on their own. Yes, Black Sabbath really created a unique dark sound, but there were Rock bands with dark music long before Sabbath. The intransitive energy so often credited to Led Zeppelin stems from a bunch of other bands whom the band pulled from.

Just like Rock n Roll can't be credited as coming from one musician or band neither can Metal. Rock n Roll blossomed out of Country, Gospel music, R&B and Folk. So when someone asks me what band started it, I honestly can't say. It was a collection of several bands being influenced by previous music and their surrounding.

Metal just sort of happened.

Written by Dane Train on 28.11.2008 at 04:54



Before Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath there were plenty of bands that were beginning to experiment with heavier, faster and darker music.

Cream springs to mind here. They have a couple of riffs which Black Sabbath pulled (I mean 'lifted' of course) directly from them.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 04:56

Cream springs to mind here. They have a couple of riffs which Black Sabbath pulled (I mean 'lifted' of course) directly from them.

Oh, I total agree. Just listen to Disraeli Gears or Wheels of Fire and that is some heavy dark riffage going on there. A song like "White Room" is, in my book at least, Metal.

Besides Cream, Neil Young is another musican who comes to mind for me. While his obvious creation of Grunge decades for Nirvana supposedly "invented it" is best known, his dark mood is subtle at first but highly influential on how to be badass and dark without having to be overbearing with the music.

Black Sabbath along came Judas Priest shortly after that Iron Maiden Arrived

Definitivly Black Sabbath .. It Came with the strongest sound of the 70's Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin Was not as heavy as Black Sabbath

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2008 at 04:56

Written by Dane Train on 28.11.2008 at 04:54



Before Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath there were plenty of bands that were beginning to experiment with heavier, faster and darker music.

Cream springs to mind here. They have a couple of riffs which Black Sabbath pulled (I mean 'lifted' of course) directly from them.

What kind of songs/riffs do you mean?

I'm still a firm beleiver that heavy metal started in 1964 with the Kink's single You Really Got Me...it was the earliest form of using heavy distortion and driving power chords and a solo that was based on distortion in many places...that was arguably one of the most revolutionary sounds that paved the day...

Also we shouldn't forget Alice Cooper