Speed metal
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Speed metal is a loosely defined sub-genre of heavy metal that spawned in the mid-late 1970s and was the direct musical progenitor of Thrash metal. When Speed metal first emerged as a genre, it innovatively fused the song structures and aggression of NWOBHM and traditional heavy metal with the speed and energy of punk rock to create a sub-genre with faster tempos and driving rhythms.
Many speed metal bands also ostensibly fall within the categories of other heavy metal sub-genres, typically Thrash metal and Power metal. This is mainly due to the influence speed metal had on the development of these genres, although it should also be mentioned that Speed metal was used by some Glam metal and NWOBHM groups during the 1980s.
Many Japanese Visual Kei bands from the 1990s to the present can also be described as Speed metal, largely due to the 1980s band X-Japan who were very influential in the Visual Kei movement.
History
Origins
The exact origin of speed metal is difficult to pinpoint mainly because it was never fully established as a sub-genre of heavy metal until the early 1980s. However, many consider the earliest speed metal song to be Deep Purple's "Highway Star" from their 1972 album Machine Head.There were earlier efforts with a similar style including Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" from their 1970 album Paranoid and also Deep Purple's "Speed King" from their 1970 album In Rock and "Fireball" from their 1971 album Fireball.
However, it was "Highway Star" that introduced into heavy metal both the extreme speed of the single-note riffing and the complex guitar and keyboard solos (performed by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord respectively) borrowed from progressive rock of the 1970s, but heavily influenced by classical music. These features commonly went on to be associated with more modern metal genres, but at the time, was typical of speed metal.
Evolution of speed metal
Although Judas Priest did not release a full on speed metal album until their 1990 album Painkiller, many of their early albums contained speed metal songs. One example is the song "Exciter" from their 1978 album Stained Class. These songs had tremendous impact on the speed metal explosion in the 1980s.
Motörhead added primitive speed metal elements to their brand of heavy metal, while newer bands also began to emerge on the scene. The NWOBHM movement had reached its zenith at this stage and many bands embraced speed metal, notably Venom, who combined Motörhead's style with a raw, harsh atmosphere. NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Raven produced a number of speed metal songs as well. In particular, "Aces High", and "Invaders" by the former.
The German heavy metal band Accept also introduced speed metal elements into their sound at the start of the decade. The song "Fast As A Shark" on their 1982 album Restless and Wild is an example of Accept's speed metal ideas. Accept's influence on the German heavy metal scene was unquestionably huge. Bands such as Running Wild, Grave Digger, Helloween, Rage and Paradox built upon the fast tempos of Accept to form the foundations of German speed metal.
Bands who would later develop into thrash originally had their music deeply rooted in speed metal. Slayer’s debut album Show No Mercy, Anthrax’s debut album Fistful of Metal and Overkill’s debut album Feel the Fire, as well as many other early albums by thrash metal bands, contained speed metal elements (inspired by the NWOBHM) that were combined with archtypical thrash metal riffs. These bands would eventually allow thrash motifs to dominate their music resulting in the thrash metal explosion of the mid 80s.
However, it should be noted that several bands concentrated on refining their speed metal sound instead of veering in this new musical direction. Notable examples include Agent Steel and Exciter, two bands who, at the time, chose to remain speed metal.
After their speed metal debut Walls of Jericho, Helloween slowly paved the way for what power metal would ultimately become with the release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys, Parts I and II, in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Modulation and tempo changes suddenly became prominent in several songs with alternations between fast dynamic sections and slower, and therefore more atmospheric, ones. Epic passages were introduced and the general intensity was toned down.
In 1990, Judas Priest released the album Painkiller, which served to epitomize the speed metal genre. Instead of blending together several different musical ideas, the band opted to create an entire album dedicated to speed metal.
Speed metal today
Today, speed metal is vastly less popular as an art form than it was in the 1980s. The most notable speed metal bands are those who have continued to produce speed metal to this day, and more modern bands who draw most of their influence from Judas Priest’s Painkiller album. Notable modern bands playing speed metal are Gamma Ray, releasing the album Powerplant in 1999, Iron Savior and Primal Fear.
Speed metal songs from non-speed metal bands and albums
Speed metal has also been used by other metal subgenres during the 1980s. Many of these were Glam metal and NWOBHM bands. Notable speed metal songs from non-speed metal bands are;
- "Be Quick or Be Dead" by Iron Maiden
- "Queen of the Reich" by Queensrÿche
- "Slave to the Grind" by Skid Row
- "Body Talk" by Ratt
- "Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe
- "Kill the King" by Rainbow
- "Robotman" by Scorpions
- "Hell to Eternity" by W.A.S.P.
- "Paris is Burning" by Dokken
- "Fast As A Shark" by Accept
Speed metal albums
Specific speed metal albums include the following:
- Judas Priest’s Painkiller
- Exciter’s Heavy Metal Maniac
- Rage’s Perfect Man
- Anthrax’s Fistful of Metal
- Iron Angel’s Hellish Crossfire
- Gamma Ray’s Powerplant
- Helloween’s Walls Of Jericho
- Agent Steel’s Unstoppable Force
- X-Japan’s Blue Blood
- Iron Savior’s Unification
- Bulldozer’s The Day of Wrath
- Venom’s Welcome To Hell
- Running Wild’s Gates To Purgatory
- Paradox’s Product Of Imagination
- Abattoir’s Vicious Attack
- Grave Digger’s Heavy Metal Breakdown
- Riot’s Thundersteel
- Blind Guardian’s Battalions of Fear
Current use
As speed metal was the vanguard for what would eventually become power metal and thrash metal, significant overlap between genres is often encountered in bands that are said to be rooted predominately in speed metal. This sometimes leads to confounding views with respect to the genre. The most common mistake is using the terms Speed metal and Thrash metal interchangeably. While the two are undeniably related to one another, both exhibit verifiable and definitive character traits that serve to differentiate them. Thrash metal tends to be much more riff oriented, with song constructions that utilize greater musical complexity and tempo variation. A common method that helps differentiate between the two styles of metal is listening to an album that is representative of both styles. For instance, Judas Priest’s Painkiller or Helloween’s Walls Of Jericho and Slayer’s Reign In Blood or Exodus’s Bonded By Blood are good starting points.See also
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