• Heavy metal music dates back to the end of the 1960’s in Britain when bands such as the Who, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath bought in a new style of rock music

• Inspired by the sounds of Blues-Rock and Psychedelic Rock, the new heavy metal genre forged its own unique style with fast tempos, bass drums and amplified guitars producing distorted sound.

• The style emerged due to the growing counter-culture movement that was spreading across the western culture. Many viewed the music as a protest against the prevailing social conditions and as an expression of the underlying angst and discontent that many in society were feeling at the time

• During the 70’s Black Sabbath had emerged and many consider them to be the first true heavy metal band. Black Sabbath combined dark mythological and religious subject matter juxtaposed against the reality of a working class life in poverty ridden industrial Birmingham.

• The early 1980s saw a revival of metal with bands like Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue among others. Unfortunately due to hair bands, the genre was sent into a decline.

• By around 1990 most heavy metal had evolved into other rock genres like hard rock, grunge, gothic rock, gothic metal, thrash metal, speed metal, doom metal, and nu metal.

• Metal has remained popular in Europe particularly the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia through the production of successful metal bands such as Children of Bodom

• Distorted guitars• Fast tempo• Loud drums and guitars• Vocals are sung or

growled• Emphasised rhythms• Lyrics focused on dark

subject matter – drugs, sex, violence, death and religion (devil)

• Fashion – Black hair, blue jeans, boots, leather jackets and shirts depicting other metal bands

• Gestures – Devil horn sign made with hands, stage diving, moshing (includes violence) and crowd surfing

• Metalcore – Bullet for my Valentine, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying

• Nu Metal – Slipknot, Deftone, Korn

• Death metal – Slayer, Kreator, Celtic Frost

• Folk metal – Skyclad

• Thrash metal - Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax

• Symphonic metal – Nightwish, Within Temptation

• Progressive metal - Queensryche, Fates Warning, Dream Theater

• Grindcore - Carcass, Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse