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Speed metal is a loosely defined sub-genre of heavy metal. The music uses traditional heavy metal song structures with faster tempos and driving rhythms.

Many speed metal bands also fall under other heavy metal sub-genres, most often Thrash metal and Power metal. This is mainly due to the influence speed metal had on those genres.

History

Origins

The origin of speed metal is hard to pinpoint due to the fact that it was never established as a sub-genre of heavy metal until the early 1980's. Many, however, consider the earliest speed metal song as being Deep Purple's "Highway Star" from their 1972 album Machine Head. There were earlier efforts with a similar style including Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" from their 1970 album Paranoid and also Deep Purple's "Speed King" from their 1970 album In Rock and "Fireball" from their 1971 album Fireball. However, it was "Highway Star" that introduced into heavy metal both the extreme speed of the single-note riffing and 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.

1980s evolution of Speed metal

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.

In the 1980s Speed metal evolved and was used in the music of X Japan's "I'll 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

Speed metal albums

Spercific albums by various heavy metal bands, that pertain to Speed metal;

• Judas Priest - Painkiller
• Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac
• Rage- Perfect Man
• Anthrax - Fistful of Metal
• Gamma Ray - Powerplant
• Helloween - Walls Of Jericho
• Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force
• Iron Savior - Unification
• Venom - Welcome To Hell
• Running Wild - Gates To Purgatory

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