Lester Bangs of Creem magazine popularized the term heavy metal during a 1972 article for Creem. However, its exact source remains disputed with various theories citing Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”, novelist William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch or Lester Bangs himself using it earlier.
Definition
Heavy metal music combines guitar distortion and bass resonance for a dense sound, as well as an emotional depth associated with depression, anxiety and anger. Heavy metal has often been linked with violence, crime and despondency; its supporters claim its exploration of madness and horror doesn’t cause these social problems.
Most researchers consider heaviness a key aspect of metal music genre, yet very few studies have explored its sonic characteristics that contribute to it. This research analyses message boards in order to examine how music producers describe and discuss their attempts at creating heavy sounds as well as exploring its ramifications on genre as a whole.
Metal music’s “heaviness” is an intricate concept with various dimensions that includes performance and structural aspects as well as sonic characteristics. Though difficult to define precisely, most scholars agree that its importance cannot be overstated and is closely tied with perceived intensity and moral seriousness of metal genre. Kahn-Harris and Hannan argue heaviness contributes to transgression perception while Berger describes its relationship to a genre’s perceived authenticity.
“Heavy” was frequently used to characterize both the sound and performance of songs that featured heavy music. Commentators frequently mentioned playing styles and expressive qualities like musical articulation as indicators of its quality; other commenters focused on lyrics exploring dark topics like gore or occultism, while some commented on its emotional effect, like catharsis and cathexis.
Metal music’s heaviness can be described by various components, such as its abrasive sounds and harmonic structures, low pitched guitar tones, high levels of distortion, and slow tempos. These elements may be enhanced using various techniques like reverb and compression; but ultimately what defines its heavy character most effectively is its contrast with other sections in an arrangement such as its breakdown section – often consisting of buildups followed by drops similar to electronic dance music (EDM).
Subgenres
Heavy metal music consists of many subgenres, each characterized by its own distinct sound and characteristics. Common features among them include fast tempos, high-pitched electric guitar, powerful and emotive vocal virtuosity/power as well as density in either speed or volume; density being one key characteristic.
While many metal musicians embrace the overt machismo of their genre, other groups have taken it in a more playful direction. One such group was glam metal bands such as Kiss and Alice Cooper from the 1980s. Glam metal highlighted fashion in many forms including use of hair spray and make-up; long backcombed locks; tight denim jeans or spandex pants as well as using hairspray and make-up to emphasize hair styling and fashion choices.
Nu metal emerged during the 1990s with influence from funk, industrial music and hip-hop, providing it with more relaxed rhythm and tempo while still retaining some intensity and virtuosity. Bands that fit this mold range from Limp Bizkit’s pop sensibilities to Rage Against the Machine’s confrontational approach.
Early 1970s British bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath established what later came to be known as heavy metal music. Their influence spread further with Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Van Halen popularizing this style with flashy guitar riffs and party rock sounds more accessible to mainstream audiences.
Thrash metal, an aggressive form of heavy metal music that emerged in the late 1980s as an alternative to glam metal, saw bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer using complex guitar styles borrowed from NWOBHM alongside speed and aggression from punk music to produce an aggressive musical genre that stretched musical virtuosity beyond any reasonable bounds. Subgenres within this genre such as death metal explored dark topics including psychopathy, delirium torture mutilation cannibalism.
Styles
Heavy metal music originated during the late 1960s and early 1970s, predominantly in Britain and America.[1] It draws its influences from blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock genres in order to produce its signature thick sound marked by distortion, extended guitar solos and emphatic beats. The genre can be traced back to bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple who first pioneered heavy metal; American bands Alice Cooper, Kiss modified its style further with raw, sleazy sound while Motorhead brought punk rock influences into heavy metal’s mainstream sound.[2]
Early metal performers were almost exclusively male, leading to accusations of misogyny. Since then, female musicians have made strides into metal music – especially power metal and symphonic metal subgenres, with bands such as Nightwish, Delain and Within Temptation featuring women as lead singers; this has helped disprove stereotypes associated with this subgenre such as violent aggression.