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BY WILLIAM RESTREPO | |
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 HISTORY OF HEAVY METAL | ||
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 Heavy
metal arose from loud simple blues and is defined by its primary
progenitors: Black Sabbath. Taking the rhythm of blues
and jazz and using it to underlay minimalist epic power-chord riffs,
Black Sabbath took the blues to the next step of insidious
artful subversion and glorification of the anarchistic freedom of
demonic lust. Alongside hardrock originators Led Zeppelin the blues raised its twisted and morally dubious head again in mainstream rock; where Led Zeppelin augmented rock's knowledge of harmonic structure Black Sabbath reinvented it altogether, being in the mind of one prominent critic "the second most important rock band to the Beatles." Some will doubt this distinction and classify Led Zeppelin and their family of blues-form hard rock as similarly heavy metal, but this makes no sense given the clear compositional direction within Black Sabbath's music: 1) more ambient beat structures focusing less on phrase than granular looping repetition, 2) dissonant elemental riffs with abrupt cycles, 3) bizarre song structures and experimental elements. During their reign Black Sabbath built the foundation for the harmonic essence of grunge, created a rhythmic synchronicity in punk and rock, and opened experi- mentation in noise music, ambient beat-music, and progressive minimalism. The period from 1969-1977 bore the most influence of their work, a morose conclusion to the hippie rock of the middle sixties. Other influential music from this period: The 13th Floor Elevators, MC5, Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, the Doors, Dick Dale, The Rolling Stones.  It
is worth noting that a primary influence on Black Sabbath was the
guitar work of Django Reinhart, a jazz player in the
1930s, who like Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi had
lost the practical use of several fingers, compensating through a
reductivist attitude toward harmony. Heavy metal continues to this
day as an artform, in practice by endlessly recombinant commercial
bands and a series of artists who spend their time exploring new
paths for a vitally organic, earthy and yet tech-aware genre.
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