Black Sabbathemerged from the darkness and invented heavy metal—or did they? Yes, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath are considered the pioneers of the harder, louder, and heavier sounds that would become known as heavy metal. But around the same time,other bands blended elements of blues, garage rock, and psychedelia with darker imagery, taking “Flower Power” in a heavier direction. These groups have been labeled “proto-metal” in recent years.
How this style of music came to be called “heavy metal” is a bit of a mystery. Underground literature iconWilliam S. Burroughs had a character named “Uranian Willy the Heavy Metal Kid”in his 1961 novel,The Soft Machine, which likely introduced “heavy metal” into the vernacular to hippies who read his work.
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The first time someone used the term in a song came in 1967 with Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” which includes the line,“heavy metal thunder.”Around that same time, “heavy metal” appeared in music criticism. Both Lester Bangs and “Metal Mike” Saunders (vocalist of punk band Angry Samoans) are credited with using the term in 1970. Bangs employed it when reviewing The Guess Who forCreem(“they’re quite refreshing in the wake of all the heavy metal robots of the year past”) while Saunders called English rock band Humble Pie a “noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-laden shit-rock band” in an issue ofRolling Stone(viaLoudwire).Though “heavy metal” would be used as an insult in those early days, some bands like Judas Priest adopted it as a badge of pride.
1Blue Cheer
Debut Album: Vincebus Erputum (1968)
Blue Cheer burst on the scene in the 1968s, unleashing “an angry fist of sludge and feedback and hurling it at stunned, stoned hippies like a wave of mutilation,” perClassic Rock. The trio—bassist Dickie Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley, and guitarist Leigh Stephens—released their debut album,Vincebus Erputum, in 1968, with a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues." The song reached 14 on theBillboardHot 100, leading this new band of long-haired weirdos to play shows likeAmerican BandstandandBeat Club.
The band recorded their second album,Outsideinside, in New York Harbor because they were too loud to play in the studio.Blue Cheer burned too brightlywith their initial success. Drug addiction and lineup changes resulted in a handful of albums that failed to recapture the magic. By 1971, the band had broken up.
2Budgie
Debut Album: Budgie (1971)
Budgie, a Welsh trio consisting of Burke Shelley (vocals/bass), Tony Bourge (guitar/vocals), and Ray Phillips (drums), formed in 1967 and released their debut album four years later.While Budgie wasn’t as commercially successful as their peers, they enjoyed a dedicated following and were one of the headlining acts of the 1982 Reading festival. Their 1974 album,In For The Kill, included “Crash Course in Brain Surgery,” whichMetallicacovered in 1987. Van Halen would perform the title track during their club days.
In recent years, Budgie has gotten a reappraisal for their influence on bands like Iron Maiden and Megadeth.
In recent years, Budgie has gotten a reappraisal for their influence on bands like Iron Maiden and Megadeth. “Budgie is one of my favorite bands of all time, and they never get the credit they deserve,” said contestant Jakob in an episode ofBangerTV’sMetalheadstrivia show. “If you may be covered by Van Halen and Metallica, you deserve to be listened to.”
3Sir Lord Baltimore
Debut Album: Kingdom Come (1970)
In 1968, two kids from Brooklyn—drummer/singer John Garner and guitarist Louise Dambra—started jamming in Garner’s basement. According toClassic Rock, the two recruited bassist Gary Justin to answer an ad in theVillage Voicefor a “heavy band needed for recording.” One successful audition of “four songs that were sorta half-assed” andSir Lord Baltimore was formed.
One successful audition of “four songs that were sorta half-assed” and Sir Lord Baltimore was formed.
Creemmagazine once heralded Mike Saunders’ review ofKingdom Comeas “the first known reference to ‘heavy metal’ as a music genre.” Saunders said Sir Lord Baltimore “seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book.” Sadly,the band broke up in the mid-’70s, due to poor sales, drug use, and personality clashes within the group.
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4Josefus
Debut Album: Get Off My Case (1969)
Like many proto-metal groups, Texas band Josephus existed for only a few short years, but they left quite an impact, most notably with their second album, 1970’sDead Man. Described byClassic Rockas “raw, live-sounding production, heavy blues-driven psychedelic rock with distorted riffs, rumbling basslines, acid-drenched solos and energetic vocals,”the album influenced a generation of rockers—including Dave Wyndorf of Monster Magnet (his band covered “Situation” for their 2021 proto-metal celebration,A Better Dystopia).
Josefus formed in the late ‘60s, with vocalist Pete Bailey, guitarist Dave Mitchell, bassist Ray Turner, and drummer Doug Tull. The group split in 1970, though they would reform later in the decade and again in the years since. Sadly, Pete Bailey died in 2024, lowering the curtain on Josefus’ lengthy career.
5Coven
Debut Album: Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls (1969)
A rock band more Satanic than Black Sabbath? Such a reputation followedCoven, one of the earliest occult bands in America, following the release ofWitchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls. On the album, Jinx Dawson sang about witches (duh), devils, and other dark subjects while the band weaves acid rock, prog, and psychedelia together. It is heavy.
Unfortunately, following the album’s release,Esquireran an article about Charles Manson’s interest in the occult and Coven’s album (the article included a photo of Manson holding up a copy ofWitchcraft Destroys Minds). With a “Satanic Panic” following the Sharon Tate murders, Coven’s label pulled the album from shelves, making it a rare collector’s item for decades. Coven would break up in the mid-’70s, but Jinx reformed the band in the 2000s.
6Hawkwind
Debut Album: Hawkwind (1970)
Many know Hawkwind as the band that Lemmy was in before he started Motorhead, but this psychedelic rock group is much more than a launching pad for one of the hardest and fastest bands in heavy metal. Formed in 1969 (and still recording/performing as of 2025),Hawkwind pioneered “space rock,”a textured sound that was one part cosmic hypnosis, and one part surging energy.
Many know Hawkwind as the band that Lemmy was in before he started Motorhead…
The group, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Brock, reached new heights of heaviness with their second album, 1971’sIn Search Of Space. It opens with the 16-minute anthem “You Shouldn’t Do That,” whichProgmagazinedescribed as “raw, pulsating space rock, hypnotic yet shot through with pure adrenaline.”Hawkwind’s sonic approach influenced many to go bigger and bolder, to shoot beyond the stars with their sound.
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7Mountain
Debut Album: Climbing! (1970)
Mountain is often overlooked, written off as a “one-hit wonder” after getting “Mississippi Queen” played on the radio. But the group, formed by singer/guitarist Leslie West, is considered as being one of the bands that helped rock transition from the psychedelic “flower power” of the 1960s to the harder, grittier attitude of the ’70s.
And such a transition was witnessed by thousands at the band’s third concert: Woodstock. “I think I had the most amplifiers of anybody there,” West toldRolling Stonein 2019. The sound was so loud and shocking that I got scared. But once I started playing, I just kept going because I was afraid to stop.” Mountain’s set was well-received by the crowds, and West would be a directinfluenceon Randy Rhoads, whom some consider the greatest guitarist who worked with Ozzy Osbourne.
8Uriah Heep
Debut album: …Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble (1970)
Taking their name from a character inDavid Copperfield,Uriah Heep formed in 1969and released their debut album…Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umblea year later. Showcasing progressive rock and blues, the album provided a sonic formula that’s now synonymous with heavy metal: Mick Box’s blistering guitar riffs paired with vocalist David Byron’s soaring vocals. However, not everyone was a fan:Rolling Stone’s Melissa Mills wrote in 1970 that “if this group makes it, I’ll have to commit suicide.”
Showcasing progressive rock and blues, […Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble]provided a sonic formula that’s now synonymous with heavy metal…
Further evidence of Uriah Heep’s influence can be found inThis Is Spinal Tap. The film’s keyboardist, John Sinclair, toured with Uriah Heep during the movie’s pre-production phase. When he came back, Sinclair told the crew how they’d been booked to play an Air Force base (viaPeople). The tale was then written as a scene in the movie.
9Dust
Debut Album: Dust (1971)
A quartet of teenagers from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush formed Dust in 1969.The group featured Richie Wise on guitar and vocals, Kenny Aaronson on bass, and Marc Bell on drums. Their manager, Kenny Kerner, provided lyrics and production, which had a major impact on how metal music was made. “There were bands that had heavy metal elements, but you couldn’t hear the drums well,” Bell toldLoudwirein 2013. “There weren’t that many producers who knew how to produce this music in America.”
Dustwent gold for Karma Sutra Records with itsthundering sound of blues-inspired hard rock. The second album,Hard Attack, featured cover art by Frank Frazetta, whose fantasy artwork would appear on albums by Molly Hatchet, Nazareth, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Therock band broke upbecause of a lack of label support. Anderson went on to play bass for Bob Dylan and The Yardbirds. Wise went on to be a successful producer. And Marc Bell played with Richard Hell and the Voidoids before joining the Ramones as Marky Ramone.
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10Pentagram
Debut Single: Hurricane’ (1973)
Sometimes, it takes a few decades before you become an overnight sensation.Take Pentagram, the early heavy metal band. The group experienced unexpected fame in 2025 when a video of singer Bobby Liebling, looking bug-eyed and bewildered during a performance, went viral (below). As of writing, it has over 3.9 million views.
The clipintroduced new fans to the band, which was formed fifty years earlier in 1971. Unstable lineups prevented the group from really taking off in the early days. They released a handful of heavy singles in the ’70s (collected in theFirst Daze Hazecomp). When they released their self-titled debut album in 1984, they had solidified their doom metal sound, going heavier and slower with crushing riffs and Liebling’s shamanistic vocals.
Liebling’s personal issues and behaviors have been the biggest obstacle to Pentagram’s success (Decibeldubbed him a “walking catastrophe” in 2016). But the band seems poised to receive some late-career flowers. Pentagram releasedLightning In A Bottlein 2025, right as they went viral, andMetal Injectionpraised it by saying it’s “the exemplar of what great doom metal should be.”
