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| Speed metal | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | NWOBHM - Visual kei - Power metal - Glam metal - Thrash metal |
| Cultural origins | Early-Mid 1970s, United States of America,United kingdom |
| Typical instruments | Guitar – Bass guitar – Drums |
| Subgenres | |
| Thrash Metal – Groove metal | |
| Regional scenes | |
| United Kingdom - United States | |
| Other topics | |
| Extreme metal | |
Speed metal is a blanked term used to describe bands from various 1980s heavy metal subgenres, who use tempos or beats that are faster than is normal for their spercific genre, bands most commonly labeled as "Speed metal" fall into the heavy metal subgenres of Thrash metal, Glam metal, Power metal and NWOBHM. Some Visual kei bands are also described as Speed metal, a famous example of this is X-Japan.
History
Thundersteel by Riot is widely considered to be a seminal speed metal album. Bands such as Judas Priest and Accept, although not typically cited as speed metal bands, are usually considered to be the main developers of the faster tempos common amongst speed metal bands.
Speed metal does not belong only to a genre of bands that possess a typical style; for instance, some glam metal bands' and NWOBHM bands' songs can also be classified as speed metal. Titles like "Queen of the Reich" (Queensrÿche), "Slave to the Grind" (Skid Row), "Body Talk" (Ratt), "Robotman" (Scorpions), "Paris is Burning" (Dokken), "Live Wire" (Mötley Crüe), "Tear it Loose" by (Twisted Sister), "Be Quick or Be Dead" (Iron Maiden), "Hell to Eternity" (W.A.S.P.), "Badboys" (Whitesnake), "Kill the King"' (Rainbow) and "Scream of Anger" (Europe) are speed metal songs.
Two of the earliest speed metal songs are Deep Purple's "Highway Star" from their 1972 album Machine Head and Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave", from their 1972 album Master of Reality. Earlier efforts with a similar style include Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (from the album of that name, 1970) and also Deep Purple's "Speed King" (from the 1970 In Rock LP) and "Fireball" (From the 1970 Fireball LP). However, it was "Highway Star" that introduced into heavy metal both the extreme speed of the single-note riffing and also the complex guitar and keyboard solos (performed by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, respectively), borrowed from progressive rock of the '70s, but heavily influenced by classical music. These features commonly went on to be associated with more modern metal genres, but at the time, was typical of speed metal characteristics.
Later speed metal includes X Japan's Ill Kill You (1985), Helloween's Walls of Jericho (1985), Motörhead's live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (1981), and the band Megadeth, who consider themselves as the "World's State-of-the-Art Speed Metal Band". Prior to joining Megadeth, Marty Friedman collaborated with Jason Becker in the band Cacophony, who are often cited as speed metal.
The term "speed metal" is still used to glorify and differentiate bands with high-speed playing, though the term is branching out to include bands from both gothic metal and progressive metal as well. Some believe that Painkiller (1990), the last album Judas Priest released before the departure of singer Rob Halford (who would later return in 2004), has set a new standard for speed metal.
