Line #79 Main/NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal


1	The '''New Wave of British Heavy Metal''' (NWOBHM for short) was a musical movement originating in Britain (hence the name) that lasted from [[TheSeventies the late 1970's]] to [[TheEighties the early 1980's]] that is credited with [[TropeCodifier the revival and reinvention of]] HeavyMetal as a genre. Though the movement is long over, its effects can still be felt throughout the genre.
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3	Let's begin with some backstory: By the mid 70's, the genre of HeavyMetal seemed dead in the water. Music/BlackSabbath was the only "true" metal band, and even it was in tatters from heavy drug use, and the [[SturgeonsLaw genre had become bloated with many unoriginal and derivative acts]] that [[FollowTheLeader merely tried to repeat the success of the bigger bands of the genre]], and weren't really even "metal" as they seem to be more rooted in earlier rock bands with a slight increase in volume, with little connection to later metal bands otherwise. Also, a new genre, PunkRock, had appeared on the music scene. In addition to possessing metal's hardness and aggression, it was also faster and, unlike HeavyMetal, was critically well-respected. For metal, things looked grim indeed.
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5	However, one band was about to change all that.
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7	Music/JudasPriest, a band from Birmingham, the same city that produced Music/BlackSabbath and later Music/NapalmDeath, was that band. In 1978, after several high quality but Sabbath[[note]]and, to a lesser extent, [[Music/DeepPurple Purple]] and [[Music/SirLordBaltimore Baltimore]][[/note]]-derived albums, they released their album ''Stained Class''. The album was dissimilar to pretty much any metal album that came before it, possessing high-speed tempoes, air-tight double-bass drumming patterns, and a level of aggression not seen outside PunkRock. A second band at around the same time, Music/{{Motorhead}}, combined an approach similar to that of Judas Priest and wed it to a brutal, distortion-heavy sound that was overtly punk-influenced on their albums ''Motörhead'' in 1977, and ''Bomber'' and ''Overkill'' in 1979. With the approaches of these bands in place, other bands began to copy them.
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9	By the end of the decade, the movement was in full swing with a diversity of styles. Most bands, like Music/IronMaiden, Saxon, and Angel Witch, combined heavy riffing (typically featuring two lead guitarists, following the example of Music/ThinLizzy) with soaring, pseudo-operatic vocals, wailing guitar solos, and lyrics concerning fantasy, rebellion, and the Heavy Metal lifestyle. Others, such as Music/DefLeppard, gravitated towards a more mainstream sound informed by GlamRock. Others still, like Music/{{Venom\|Band}}, chose to emulate [=Motorhead=]'s aggressive style and exaggerate it, paving the way for ThrashMetal, BlackMetal, and DeathMetal. What united these bands was a shared sense of fashion (mostly consisting of long hair, denim jeans, [[HellBentForLeather leather jackets]], studded metal belts and wrist bands, and band t-shirts/patches), a Punk-like aversion to the mainstream (Def Leppard being a major exception), and enthusiasm toward the music and its attending subculture.
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11	All things must end, and so did the NWOBHM in the early 80's due to a combination of factors. One reason was that the movement, like the bands of the 70's, eventually became bloated and stagnant, with [[FollowTheLeader derivative ripoffs]] forming left and right and contributing virtually nothing new to the movement. Also, the movement began to face competition from other genres from other countries such as Canadian SpeedMetal, American ThrashMetal, and European First-Wave BlackMetal. These movements, which took inspiration from the NWOBHM, took the hard, fast, and loud aesthetics of the movement [[DarkerAndEdgier and made them harder, faster and louder still]]. Faced with competition that was more extreme than them in every way, shape, and form, the movement petered out. However, though the movement is dead, its legacy remains in the sound, fashions, and culture of an entire genre of music.
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13	Not to be confused with NewWaveMusic, despite both movements taking influences from Punk.
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15	'''Bands Associated With the Genre Include:'''
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17	'''Predecessors to the Movement (Not part of the movement itself):'''
18	* Music/BlackSabbath
19	* Budgie
20	* Music/DeepPurple
21	* Music/{{Rainbow}}
22	* Music/{{Scorpions\|Band}}
23	* Music/ThinLizzy
24	* Music/UFOBand
25
26	[[index]]
27	'''Major Bands:'''
28	* Music/DefLeppard (1977, later [[GenreShift switched]] to GlamMetal, becoming one of that genre's TropeMakers)
29	** 1983 - ''Music/{{Pyromania}}''
30	** 1987 - ''[[Music/HysteriaAlbum Hysteria]]''
31	* Music/DiamondHead (1977, originally hyped as one of the leaders of the movement, it never came to pass and the band dissolved. Eventually proved to be a major influence on Music/{{Metallica}}, who famously covered their songs "Am I Evil?" and "The Prince")
32	* Music/IronMaiden (1975, TropeCodifier and the biggest and most famous band of the movement)
33	** 1980 - ''[[Music/IronMaidenAlbum Iron Maiden]]''
34	** 1981 - ''Music/{{Killers}}''
35	** 1982 - ''Music/TheNumberOfTheBeast''
36	* Music/JudasPriest (1969, UrExample and {{Trope Maker}} alongside Music/{{Motorhead}}. Technically ''not'' a New Wave of British Heavy Metal, as they started in 1969, but didn't make it big until the NWOBHM era.)
37	** 1980 - ''Music/BritishSteel''
38	** 1982 - ''Music/ScreamingForVengeance''
39	* Music/{{Motorhead}} (1975, {{Trope Maker\|s}} alongside Music/JudasPriest)
40	** 1980 - ''Music/AceOfSpades''
41	* Music/{{Saxon}} (1977, TropeCodifier for the movement alongside Iron Maiden)
42	* Music/{{Venom\|Band}} (1979, a relative latecomer to the movement and one of the movement's heaviest bands. Eventually became the UrExample of both ThrashMetal and BlackMetal, as well as the latter's TropeNamer)
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44	'''Other Bands:'''
45	* Music/AngelWitch
46	* [[Music/{{Atomkraft}} Atomkraft]]
47	* Music/{{Avenger}}
48	* Music/BleakHouse
49	* Music/{{Blitzkrieg}}
50	* Music/{{Chateaux}}
51	* Music/ClovenHoof
52	* Music/{{Demon}}
53	* Music/{{Girlschool}} (one of the only all-female bands in the movement)
54	* Music/GrimReaper
55	* Music/{{Hell}}
56	* Music/{{Holocaust}}
57	* Music/PaganAltar (unique in that, along with Witchfinder General, they played DoomMetal rather than the more typical NWOBHM sound)
58	* Music/PrayingMantis
59	* Music/{{Quartz}}
60	* Music/{{Raven}}
61	* Music/{{Riff}} (from Argentina, but played the genre at the time period)
62	* Music/{{Satan}}
63	* Music/{{Samson}} (notable for having a young Music/BruceDickinson as their frontman)
64	* Music/{{Savage}}
65	* Music/{{Tank}}
66	* Music/TokyoBlade
67	* [[Music/TygersOfPanTang Tygers of Pan-Tang]]
68	* Music/{{Tyrant}} (Gloucester group, not to be confused with other bands named Tyrant)
69	* Music/{{Tysondog}}
70	* Music/WitchfinderGeneral (along with Pagan Altar, they were one of a handful of DoomMetal NWOBHM bands)
71	* Music/{{Witchfynde}}
72	* Music/{{Wrathchild}}
73	[[/index]]
74
75	'''Tropes associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal include:'''
76	* CriticalDissonance: Like the 70's bands they succeeded, the bands of the NWOBHM were hated by critics, but often managed to garner a large audience both at home and internationally.
77	* DarkerAndEdgier: Strove to be this for both 70's HeavyMetal and PunkRock.
78	* EndOfAnAge: In a way, the movement served as the last time that the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom would serve as the main player in RockMusic and HeavyMetal, a position it held since UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion. While the UK would later go on to host the main scenes of Oi![=/=]StreetPunk, D-Beat[=/=]Crust Punk, {{Grindcore}} (at least for a little while), and {{Britpop}}, it would never again be so central to Rock as a whole as it was in TheSixties/[[TheSeventies Seventies]]. (One could make an argument that British bands have had a disproportionate influence on IndieRock, but that's sort of its own thing.)
79	* HeavyMetal: But of course.
80	** BlackMetal: Music/{{Venom\|Band}} was the genre's UrExample and TropeNamer.
81	** DoomMetal: Some bands, such as Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General, are early members of the genre.
82	** GlamMetal: Music/DefLeppard became its possible TropeMakers starting with ''Pyromania''.
83	** PowerMetal: A lot of bands (Saxon, Music/IronMaiden, etc.) could be considered {{Ur Example}}s of the genre.
84	** ProgressiveMetal: Again, some bands were early members of the genre, with Music/IronMaiden being the most notable example.
85	** SpeedMetal: Music/JudasPriest (one of the genre's {{Ur Example}}s), Music/{{Motorhead}} (the genre's arguable TropeMaker), Music/{{Venom\|Band}}, and Raven were all part of the movement. The movement as a whole could arguably be considered the genre's TropeMaker and/or TropeCodifier.
86	** ThrashMetal: Music/{{Motorhead}}, Music/{{Venom\|Band}}, and Diamond Head could all be considered {{Ur Example}}s.
87	* LeadBassist: Lemmy Kilmister of Music/{{Motorhead}}, Steve Harris of Music/IronMaiden, and Cronos of Music/{{Venom\|Band}} were some of the movement's most notable examples of the trope, with Harris being types A and C, Cronos types B and C, and Lemmy types A, B, and C.
88	* MetalScream: Rob Halford of Music/JudasPriest and Music/BruceDickinson of Music/IronMaiden are masters of the sudden, cathartic scream, and Lemmy Kilmister of Music/{{Motorhead}} and Cronos of Music/{{Venom\|Band}} being the {{Ur Example}}s for singers who consistently used harsh vocals as their primary singing technique.
89	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: What ultimately killed the movement. By the [[TheEighties early 80's]], other bands from other places had begun to appear and take all the tropes from the NWOBHM and exaggerate them. Unable to compete, the movement slowly but surely lost its momentum and ground to a halt. The more successful bands carried on though, and you can still find rabid fans of NWOBHM, just on a smaller scale.
90	* ShortLivedBigImpact: The movement only lasted for a few years but it left a lasting impact still seen to this very day.
91	* SpiritualSuccessor: PowerMetal and MelodicDeathMetal, both of which take elements of the genre (soaring riffs, harmonized lead guitar, epic atmosphere, etc.) and adapt them to more modern sounds and tastes.
92	* TropeMaker: Music/JudasPriest and Music/{{Motorhead}} are jointly this for the NWOBHM.
93	* TropeCodifier: Music/IronMaiden and Angel Witch for the genre's sound; Saxon and Music/JudasPriest for the genre's look.
94	** The movement as a whole served as this for HeavyMetal as a whole.
95	* UrExample: Budgie was the first band to play fast HeavyMetal, thus serving as the template for the movement. Thin Lizzy, along with Wishbone Ash, also helped popularize the twin harmonized guitar sound popular with NWOBHM bands. There's also the Music/{{Queen}} song "Stone Cold Crazy" and the Music/DeepPurple song "Highway Star," which served as the predecessors of SpeedMetal.
96	** The NWOBHM itself was this for ThrashMetal, BlackMetal, PowerMetal, ProgressiveMetal, DeathMetal, and MelodicDeathMetal.

Context Main / NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal