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Speed metal is a blanket term used to describe bands from various 1970s and 1980s heavy metal subgenres, who use tempos or beats that are faster than is normal for their specific genre.

The bands who are most commonly labelled as "Speed metal" also fall into several other heavy metal subgenres, most often; Thrash metal and Power metal. Though Speed metal has also been used by, Glam metal and NWOBHM groups. Some Visual Kei bands are also described as Speed metal, a famous example of this are X-Japan.

History

Origins

Thundersteel by 70s New York City band 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.

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.

1980s evolution of Speed metal

In the 1980s Speed metal evolved and was used in the music of; 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.

Although Speed metal is most prevalent amongst Thrash metal and Power metal subgenres of Heavy metal, some Glam metal bands and NWOBHM bands songs are also be classified as speed metal. For example;

• "Be Quick or Be Dead" by Iron Maiden
• "Queen of the Reich" by Queensrÿche
• "Slave to the Grind" by Skid Row
• "Body Talk" by Ratt
• "Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe
• "Kill the King"' by Rainbow
• "Robotman" by Scorpions
• "Tear it Loose" by Twisted Sister
• "Hell to Eternity" by W.A.S.P.
• "Paris is Burning" by Dokken

Current use

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.

See also

• List of speed metal bands

• Metal subgenres