What part of heavy metal distinguishes the genre from pop? Put simply, there’s an extra bite. Yes, you guessed right. This means anything and everything that makes the music loud, hard, and exciting, whether it is wrecking-ball grooves, ungodly speed, or enormous riffs. To better appreciate how far-reaching and varied the term ”heavy” is, we should perhaps look at some of the heaviest metal albums of all time.
Burn My Eyes
What Oakland’s Machine Head did for the metal fraternity with this album is unforgettable. The band’s first album was released in 1994 and was defined by a fiery attitude and street-level grit. Combining death, thrash, and hard-core metal into one, this album helped to bring the genre bang up to date.
The White Album
Do you know the Beatles? This was one of their most iconic albums. Released in 1968, the White Album is said to have been one of the most extreme and off-the-wall records available at the time. At the time of recording this album, the band had more money than ever before. That’s why they easily purchased state-of-the-art studio gear that could make whatever sound (noise) they wanted. Yes, some tracks, such as Revolution 9, are just weird sounds, but others are inspirational (think Helter Skelter). In Helter Skelter, the Beatles took how heavy a guitar could sound to a whole new level as, if to redefine the genre.
Dopethreone
This album was released by the Electric Wizards band in 2000. The heaviness that squashes, shakes, rumbles, and suffocates is its building block. And while the band may have been ”consumed” by drugs at the time of releasing this album (and they faced criticism as a result), their work was by no means hippy. The aggressive sludge that is vivid in tracks like Funeralopolis and We Hate You demonstrates the band’s complete hatred for everyone and everything. Remember, drugs were partly a quest for oblivion.
