Rock
...Nirvana), show influences of heavy metal but are typically not labelled sub-genres of heavy metal, as opposed to thrash metal and hair metal. The general absence of virtuosic guitar solos is perhaps one reason grunge bands haven't been considered heavy metal bands. Another key artist during this time was Megadeth, which combined the relentless, speedy thrash metal riffs with the fancy guitar soloing of speed metal ala Judas Priest.
Norwegian Black Metal
Since the late '80s, the Norwegian
scene has been characterized by paganism, violence, and some of the
best heavy metal ever recorded.
The scene was largely influenced by a trio of non-Norwegian bands in
the 80s - Venom, Celtic Frost, and Bathory. England's Venom is widely
considered to be the first black metal band, and their campy satanic
posturing was a huge influence on Europe's extreme metal scenes. Their
second album, "Black Metal", gave the new genre its name.
the band that had the most
direct influence on Norway's extreme metal scene was a one-man studio
project from Sweden called Bathory. Bathory's album "Under the Sign:
The Sign of the Black Mark" pretty much defines the typical black
metal sound - loud, fast, and poorly recorded. However, the Viking
Trilogy, consisting of the albums "Blood, Fire, Death", "Hammerheart",
and "The Twilight of the Gods", is what really kicked off the
explosion of Scandinavian metal.
The early 90s saw the Norwegian metal scene rise in prominence on the
world stage as bands constantly tried to "out-evil" one another. Three
main bands emerged - Mayhem, Burzum, and Emperor.
(Especially Emperor, IMHO) Mayhem became the musical leader of the
scene, while Varg Vikernes of Burzum became the centerpoint of the
Black Metal "movement", for lack of a better word. Emperor, meanwhile,
garnered the most critical acclaim. Varg (aka "Count Grishnakh") was...
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