History Main / TraditionalHeavyMetal

* Music/{{Newsted}} ( a modern example, and one of the heaviest)

* Music/BlackSabbath (often considered the TropeMaker)

* ChristianMetal : Bloodgood and Music/Stryper are prominent examples. The Resurrection Band are generally considered the UrExample of ChristianMetal, and did dab in this style, but are also considered HardRock
* DoomMetal: Arguably the first major offshoot metal subgenre, DoomMetal is just the logical continuation of the original Music/BlackSabbath sound. Obviously, there is a decent amount of overlap between DoomMetal and Trad Metal
* HardRock: The direct musical progenitor of HeavyMetal. While the exact dividing line between HardRock and Metal is the subject of a lot of (often extremely vocal and bitter) arguments, and both genres have plenty of crossover, there are a few key differences. HardRock is solely based in Blues , and while Black Sabbath (and by extension, a lot of DoomMetal bands) also had heavy Blues influences, Metal lost the blues elements very quickly, often being more based in ClassicalMusic or ProgressiveRock than basic blues. The guitar tone and style of riffing is also different. Metal is often more complex and technical , with a thicker sound. Metal bands often employ two or three guitars where a HardRock band would only use one (clearly, there are exceptions on both sides of this as well). The difference between the two is not just a question of heaviness, although TradtionalMetal bands were generally heavier than most HardRock bands.

* MetalScream: Over-the-top psuedo operatic shouts and wails are often used to great effect. HarshVocals in the more modern sense were pretty much unheard of at the time, but later bands that played this style would occasionally employ them.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: A bit of a complicated example; for their own era, they'd be considered the 8-11s of the day. Compared with modern metal styles, they'd average 6-7, with the occasional stand-out 8 (generally these would be more modern versions of this style) or 5 (this is uncommon too).
* RockMeAsmodeus: Songs about TheDevil aren't uncommon, but unlike the stereotype they weren't usually praising him so much as singing about what horrors he would bring upon the world, not unlike a fire and brimstone sermon
* TropeCodifier: Music/IronMaiden and Music/JudasPriest are generally considered to have taken what BlackSabbath did and shaped it into a proper genre, but other metal bands were also prominent at the same time, including Music/{{Rainbow}} and Music/{{Scorpions}}
* TropeMaker: Music/BlackSabbath is generally considered the first metal band

* ChristianMetal : Bloodgood and Music/Stryper are prominent examples

* Music/AxelRudiPell

* Music/{{Motorhead}} (although they self-identity as "rock 'n' roll")

* Music/{{Rainbow}}

* Music/{{Scorpions}}

* Music/TedNugent

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* Music/{{Pentagram}} (the British band; also DoomMetal)

* Music/{{ACDC}} (debatable. The band denies the label and some people think of them more as HardRock or BluesRock)
* Music/{{Aerosmith}}

* Music/BlueCheer (UrExample along with Led Zeppelin)

* Music/DeepPurple

* Music/GunsNRoses (as one of the heaviest GlamMetal bands, they also count as this and HardRock)

* Music/IronButterfly (borderline example, as many prefer to view them as "merely" harder PsychedelicRock)

* Music/{{Kiss}} (not exclusively; they've also experimented with HairMetal, HardRock, {{Disco}}, and ProgressiveRock among other genres)

* Music/LedZeppelin (UrExample along with Blue Cheer)

* Music/{{Mountain}} (a heavier BluesRock band in the vein of Music/LedZeppelin)

* Music/{{Queen}} (also GlamRock, ProgressiveRock, ArenaRock and a bunch of other things besides)

* Music/SloughFeg
* Music/{{Steppenwolf}} (an UrExample; also PsychedelicRock and BluesRock; they're often cited as a TropeNamer as well)

* Music/ThinLizzy (borderline between this and HardRock)

* Music/UriahHeep (mixed with some ProgressiveRock)

* Music/{{Dio}}

* Music/{{Montrose}}

!!Bands generally considered to be traditional heavy metal include:

* [[FourFourMagnum 44 Magnum]]

* Music/WarriorSoul (this combined with AlternativeMetal)

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& Music/{{Steppenwolf}} (an UrExample; also PsychedelicRock and BluesRock; they're often cited as a TropeNamer as well)

* Music/IronButterfly

* Music/{{Ratt}}

* Music/BlackSabbath (TropeMaker)

* Music/UriahHeep

For the most part, classic metal is, along with HairMetal or NuMetal/AlternativeMetal, what most of the general public think of sound-wise when they hear the term "heavy metal". Nowadays the style is thought of as old-fashioned, but being the centerfold of all metal it is held in extremely high regard amongst metalheads and music fans alike for its old-school sound and rawness. Most popular bands performing the style formed in the 1970s or 1980s when metal was just done developing its identity, but its popularity has led to a new wave of bands in the new millennium, dubbed by fans as the NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal), with examples including White Wizzard and Neuronspoiler.

Traditional heavy metal often overlaps with PowerMetal, HairMetal, HardRock, PsychedelicRock, and (in newer bands) AlternativeMetal.

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