Speed metal

Speed metal is a genre of heavy metal music that is similar to thrash metal, but tends to be more melodic and show less influence of punk music. The bands Judas Priest and Accept are considered to be the main developers of the genre, with Judas Priest's album Painkiller (from 1990) being one of the better examples from the genre, combining fast riffs, extended guitar solos and Rob Halford's shrieking vocals.

Related Topics:
Heavy metal music - Thrash metal - Punk music - Judas Priest - Accept - Painkiller - 1990 - Riff - Rob Halford

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Speed metal may generally be defined as "a faster form of heavy metal". Thus, other bands can be seen to fit the genre despite the absence of certain elements which define it, such as Motörhead (whose vocalist, Lemmy Kilminster, sings very roughly) and the band Venom, who were a direct influence on the genres of thrash and death metal. Since thrash metal is also played fast for the most part, it can be viewed as a subgenre of speed metal.

Related Topics:
Motörhead - Lemmy Kilminster - Venom - Death metal

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The genre names (thrash, death, power, speed, etc) are fairly recent. In the 1980s, the terms were used interchangeably. Venom (black speed metal) labelled themselves as "power metal" (to differentiate themselves from what was being labelled as "heavy metal" by the commercial press, namely Bon Jovi), and Metallica (thrash) also used the same term on their first business card. Motörhead play more than just speed metal, combining heavy metal, punk, and rock 'n roll elements, so they are noted mainly for their influence.

Related Topics:
Venom - Metallica

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The first speed-metal song is probably Deep Purple's "Highway Star", from the 1972 LP Machine Head, though earlier efforts with a similar mindset include Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (from the album of that name, 1970) and also Deep Purple's "Speed King" (from the 1970 In Rock LP) and "Fireball" (From the 1970 "Fireball" LP). However, it was "Highway Star" that introduced into heavy metal both the extreme speed of the single-note riffing and also 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. Perhaps another song that can be called speed metal is "Free For All" by Ted Nugent, and another one is Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand."

Related Topics:
Deep Purple - Machine Head - Black Sabbath - Ted Nugent - Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

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Later speed-metal efforts that bear special mention include Helloween's Walls of Jericho (1985), Motörhead's live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (1981), and the band Megadeth, which considers itself the "World's State-of-the-Art Speed Metal Band". Prior to joining megadeth Marty Friedman colaborated with Jason Becker in perhaps the band that best represents this subgenre Cacophony.

Related Topics:
Helloween - No Sleep 'til Hammersmith - Megadeth

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Speed metal nowadays is still a viable genre, though there is not much creative territory left to explore. Some believe that Painkiller (1990), the last album Judas Priest released before Rob Halford departed from the band (who would later return in 2004), has set a standard that has not yet been met by successors.

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