The role of heavy metal for its fans
Metal (also known as heavy metal) is a more severe genre in rock music, which emerged from hard rock (hard rock) in the late 60s and early ’70s in England and the United States. Heavy metal is considered classic metal. It is the first genre in heavy metal.
Unlike other languages, there is no distinction between heavy metal and metal in English. The heavy metal genre is characterized by more aggressive rhythm, virtuoso guitar solo, energetic vocals, and distortion effects. In this music style, you can even play roulette online in India, as many games have a metal theme.
A little about the characteristics of the genre
Distortion is a guitar effect that is the central part of heavy music due to the strong distortion of the guitar sound. Without this effect, this style of music could not exist at all.
You can say this is the main power of metal. It is not for nothing that metal music is an element of theatricality, masculinity, the highest volume, and a cult of power.
Metal, as well as rock, has a lot of directions, from lighter (such as power metal), to very heavy (black metal). All this gives it a large number of listeners.
Someone likes less aggressive music and heavy music—all to a favorite. Ardent fans of metal are called metalists.
What does the genre of metal represent?
The basic structure of a metal band is bass guitarist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, drummer, and lead vocalist.
Keyboard instruments are used as arrangements. But recently, flutes, violins, cellos, and other musical instruments are increasingly being used. The most basic instrument is the electric guitar. It creates the most powerful sound with a distortion effect.
In the early 80s, bands immediately involved rhythm and solo guitar. It gave heavy metal an even more double power to sound. Today, for more severe performances, they take two electric guitars. For lighter genres, there can be only one.
The central element in metal music is the guitar solo. It is mainly played on lead guitar but can also be played on rhythm guitar.
In the further development of metal music, guitar players began to perform more complicated guitar solos and a very fast (virtuosic) playing technique. It significantly differed metal from other music.
That is why the guitarist plays the leading role in heavy music. On the other hand, in rock music, this role belongs to the vocalist.
The sound of heavy metal
After Black Sabbath, a certain amount of evil in music has become a defining element of the heavy metal sound. But where does it come from?
In the blues scale, there is a lowered fifth step (tritone) which is the devil’s note. In the Middle Ages, the tritone was considered to be the music of the devil. It was believed that it was used to summon the beast. That is why it was forbidden to use in ancient times.
In the Middle Ages, ignorant and frightened people heard it and felt his body’s reaction, though it was the devil.
It is worth saying that there is a constant battle in heavy metal. All the bands are trying to be more evil than their predecessors. And that’s what attracted a lot of metalheads.
Without an electric guitar with excellent amps and distortion, you cannot recreate the essence of metal. In that case, you need an influential bass guitarist and a drummer. It would be best if you also had a vocalist (usually with a high voice) who would sound on top of it all.
Vocals in Heavy Metal
Depending on the direction of heavy metal, vocals in bands can be sung in different ways:
- high tenor;
- low voice;
- growling – for a severe performance;
- screaming – shouting vocals for heavy genres;
- high female operatic soprano;
- falsetto (high male voice).
The role of the bass player in metal music
Bass players play in rhythm with the drums, sometimes playing with the guitar parts. In some bands, the bass guitarist, who can play solo parts, is given a more significant role than the regular guitarist.
The bass guitar is played with a pick to achieve incredible speed and aggressive sound. In lighter genres, playing can take place with the pads of the fingers.
A bass guitar can contain four to six strings for a different sound. The heaviest and most extreme metal (death-metal or black-metal) uses the distortion effect to achieve a powerful sound.
The role of a drummer in heavy metal
In metal music, musicians who play the drums with complex rhythm parts require very excellent coordination and speed of execution. Also, heavy metal uses a more extensive drum kit with one or two bass drums—a complete set of cymbals and toms, plus different kinds of devices.
The History of Metal
Let’s talk about the history of metal. First, it is worth saying that heavy metal was a controversial genre almost all the time of its existence. Critics rejected such music, which beckoned more and more teenagers with its theatricality. Perceiving it as evil, other conservative bands often protested.
Nevertheless, despite all this, heavy metal became one of the most stable and popular styles in rock music.
The first seeds were revived in the British blues movement of the 60s. The rhythms were becoming denser and denser. In addition, there was a greater emphasis on electric instruments thanks to bands like The Kinks, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and Jeff Beck.
However, one of the first metal bands is considered Led Zeppelin. This band was the first to play heavier and louder blues tunes than anyone else. By doing so, it created its brand of heavy music that began to appeal to many music sources.
The second metal band can be referred to as Black Sabbath. It created a world obsessed with drugs, death, and the occult with its dark, lead guitar riffs.
During the ’70s, some American heavy metal bands began to change the style into a more accessible form. In the late ’70s, the New Wave of British heavy metal representatives were Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead. They played metal faster, more aggressive, with long solo guitar parts and high vocal voices.
The lyrics were mostly about war and mysticism.
The musical style began to spread to other European countries and, already in the 80s, created a lot of bands. New thrash metal bands appeared on the American scene. They were playing complicated riffs with dizzying speed. Sometimes without a vocalist at all.
During the 80s, metal music became very popular on music charts.
In 1986 heavy metal became the most famous music genre in the world. Children were growing their hair, showing a goat, and playing an imaginary guitar worldwide.
