Delmarva
Lunatic Member
The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, or NWOBHM for short, existed for a very brief period of time, roughly from 1978 to about 1984.
The movement was spawned by the same environment that created Punk Rock. That being Britain's economic recession, widespread poverty and subsequent mass unemployment of male youths during the mid 1970's. The movement came into the public's eye at about the time that Punk Rock was going into decline and Britain's music writers were looking for something else to cover. Sounds magazines Geoff Barton popularized the phrase New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in a May 1979 article for the magazine where the was discussing the rise of many of the bands. Barton later went on to create Kerrang! magazine which became the print megaphone for the movement.
The young men who formed the bands and those who became fans of the NWOBHM had all been fans of the 1st Wave Of British Heavy Metal. By the late '70's those bands, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were pretty much running on life support or completely flat lined. As they were slowing down, new bands began to emerge, Budgie, Nazareth, UFO, Motörhead and Judas Priest picked up the torch and carried on with a newer fresher sound. This was the roots of the NWOBHM.
The metal bands that came to rise in the movement took the influences of Sabbath, Purple and Led Zep, and the freshness and reinvigoration of the UFO's, Motörhead's and Judas Priest's and combined it with Punk and even a little bit of British Prog Rock to create a new sound again. Unlike Punk, the Headbangers, Metalheads or Mutha's as they were known cared little for politics or social commentary. Rather they chose to escape their bleak reality with themes of fantasy, Satanism, horror and mythology. They preferred virtuosic guitar solo's and vocals over Punks stripped down bludgeoning approach.
Like Punk fans, the followers of the NWOBHM considered themselves as apart from regular society and they celebrated it with their own style marked by long hair, denim and leather. Pins and patches of their favorite bands covered their jackets. Militaria was often seen in the form of bullet belts and WWII Nazi badges.
It's estimated that probably a thousand bands were born in the NWOBHM, most of dubious talent. Many came from the North East of England, Newcastle especially where the legendary NWOBHM record label Neat Records was located. Most of the bands struggled to get a even a lone 7" 45rpm single released. A few managed to get a 12" EP and even fewer got record deals. However a few legends of heavy metal made it to massive international fame, those being Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Motörhead and Saxon rose to great success along with them, although many would argue that Motörhead were not a NWOBHM band at all. In my opinion they were.
The rest are generally unknown in the mainstream today but still have loyal fans, and a few of these bands are still making music.
MTV and commercial metal, aka Hair Metal killed off the NWOBHM, however the movement reverberated around the world and many sub-genre's are directly linked to the NWOBHM,. Thrash Metal, Power Metal, Black Metal and Doom Metal all came about as a result of the NWOBHM.
So throw on your denim and leather and revisit this great time in musical history.
(not my battle jacket - wish it was though)
The movement was spawned by the same environment that created Punk Rock. That being Britain's economic recession, widespread poverty and subsequent mass unemployment of male youths during the mid 1970's. The movement came into the public's eye at about the time that Punk Rock was going into decline and Britain's music writers were looking for something else to cover. Sounds magazines Geoff Barton popularized the phrase New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in a May 1979 article for the magazine where the was discussing the rise of many of the bands. Barton later went on to create Kerrang! magazine which became the print megaphone for the movement.
The young men who formed the bands and those who became fans of the NWOBHM had all been fans of the 1st Wave Of British Heavy Metal. By the late '70's those bands, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were pretty much running on life support or completely flat lined. As they were slowing down, new bands began to emerge, Budgie, Nazareth, UFO, Motörhead and Judas Priest picked up the torch and carried on with a newer fresher sound. This was the roots of the NWOBHM.
The metal bands that came to rise in the movement took the influences of Sabbath, Purple and Led Zep, and the freshness and reinvigoration of the UFO's, Motörhead's and Judas Priest's and combined it with Punk and even a little bit of British Prog Rock to create a new sound again. Unlike Punk, the Headbangers, Metalheads or Mutha's as they were known cared little for politics or social commentary. Rather they chose to escape their bleak reality with themes of fantasy, Satanism, horror and mythology. They preferred virtuosic guitar solo's and vocals over Punks stripped down bludgeoning approach.
Like Punk fans, the followers of the NWOBHM considered themselves as apart from regular society and they celebrated it with their own style marked by long hair, denim and leather. Pins and patches of their favorite bands covered their jackets. Militaria was often seen in the form of bullet belts and WWII Nazi badges.
It's estimated that probably a thousand bands were born in the NWOBHM, most of dubious talent. Many came from the North East of England, Newcastle especially where the legendary NWOBHM record label Neat Records was located. Most of the bands struggled to get a even a lone 7" 45rpm single released. A few managed to get a 12" EP and even fewer got record deals. However a few legends of heavy metal made it to massive international fame, those being Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Motörhead and Saxon rose to great success along with them, although many would argue that Motörhead were not a NWOBHM band at all. In my opinion they were.
The rest are generally unknown in the mainstream today but still have loyal fans, and a few of these bands are still making music.
MTV and commercial metal, aka Hair Metal killed off the NWOBHM, however the movement reverberated around the world and many sub-genre's are directly linked to the NWOBHM,. Thrash Metal, Power Metal, Black Metal and Doom Metal all came about as a result of the NWOBHM.
So throw on your denim and leather and revisit this great time in musical history.
(not my battle jacket - wish it was though)
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