{"id":1459,"date":"2026-01-13T09:18:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T09:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalhed.com\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2026-07-19T10:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:29:12","slug":"early-days-of-heavy-metal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metalhed.com\/?p=1459","title":{"rendered":"EARLY DAYS OF HEAVY METAL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IN THE BEGINNING GOD SAID “LET THERE BE METAL” AND IT WAS SO<\/h2>\n\n

OK we all know that the almighty BLACK SABBATH<\/a><\/b> Started Heavy Metal with their formation in 1969 and got the first Heavy Metal record out. That was released on the 13th of February 1970 with the release of their first album also called Black Sabbath. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised to know how many of the of the pioneering bands were formed in the next couple of years after this. This is going to sound hyper-nerdy but I think it’s important for the true metalhed to have an understanding of the history of Heavy metal. With that I’ve put together a time line of the first heavy metal bands. Have a read, I’m sure I can surprise you with how early some of these bands actaully formed!<\/p>\n\n

A SIMPLE TIMELINE<\/h2>\n\n\n
1968 <\/td> BAND X<\/b> later to change their name to ACCEPT<\/a><\/b> Accept didn’t release an album until 1979 and honestly its a tough call whether you’d count their first album as metal but they were regularly playing shows around Germany from the late 60’s but didn’t take themselves too seriously until a few years later.<\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
1969<\/td> Next Cab off the rank was JUDAS PRIEST<\/a><\/b> though again they were gigging quite early on a myriad of lineup changes hindered them from recording until 1974’s Rocka Rolla was released. I’d suggest they weren’t really “metal” until their next album “Sad wings of destiny” in 1975<\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
1971<\/td> American Doomsters PENTAGRAM<\/a><\/b> are considered the first American band to be playing Heavy Metal. Through a series of lineup changes and the tragic addiction problems of founder Bobby Leibling the band never released anything officially until 1985<\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
1973<\/td> American Shock Rockers TWISTED SISTER<\/a><\/b> First formed and whilst gigging constantly from shortly after that never got a release out until 1982 <\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
<\/td> Also forming in 1973 were Iconic American Heavy Metal band QUIET RIOT<\/b> with an early lineup featuring Randy Rhodes and Kevin DuBrow. The band whilst gigging solidly and gaining a respectable following released their first album in 1977.<\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
1974<\/td> RAVEN<\/a><\/b> Again a similar story to those above them. The band formed early on in England but didn’t really hit until they released a single in 1980 and and their first album in 1981<\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
1975<\/td> Genre favourites MOTORHEAD<\/a><\/b> were the next cab off the rank starting to gig almost immediately and releasing their first album fairly quickly in 1977 (though important to note there was an album recorded before this that didn’t see release until 1981)<\/i><\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
<\/td> British Heavy Metal stalwarts, then called SON OF A BITCH<\/b> but now known as SAXON<\/a><\/b> formed early on as well with some members having been active in the gig scene since 1970. The band started gigging immediately but their first album came out in 1980. <\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n
<\/td> Also forming in what would become a busy year for metal was IRON MAIDEN<\/a><\/b> Another band that whilst gigging constantly didn’t get their first album out until 1980 <\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n
<\/td> <\/td> <\/td> <\/tr>\n\n<\/tbody><\/table>\n\n

Also important to note there were some other very influential bands like KISS<\/b>, DEEP PURPLE<\/b>, RAINBOW<\/b>, ROSE TATTOO<\/b>, ALICE COOPER<\/b> and VAN HALEN<\/b> that I have to say I really like, but don’t really consider metal. Though I’m kind of thinking I will include a couple of the above artists in this later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. For more great articles on Heavy Metal be sure to keep checking back on Metalhed.com<\/a> As regularly as you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IN THE BEGINNING GOD SAID “LET THERE BE METAL” AND IT WAS SO OK we all know that the almighty BLACK SABBATH Started Heavy Metal with their formation in 1969 and got the first Heavy Metal record out. That was released on the 13th of February 1970 with the release of their first album also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[86,7,4,35,25,34,23,20],"class_list":["post-1459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metal-history","tag-accept","tag-black-sabbath","tag-heavy-metal","tag-iron-maiden","tag-judas-priest","tag-motorhead","tag-pentagram","tag-twisted-sister"],"yoast_head":"\nEARLY DAYS OF HEAVY METAL - Metalhed.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Early Days of Heavy Metal is a brief look at the first few bands who fired up and started playing the music we know and love as Heavy Metal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metalhed.com\/?p=1459\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EARLY DAYS OF HEAVY METAL - 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