New Wave of British Heavy Metal

Punk wasn't the only noise-rock revolution emanating from England in the late '70s. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal shunned the blues licks of Led Zeppelin and the loose playing of punk for a focused, bloke-next-door approach of speed-devil riffs (the tarmac-ripping anthem "Ace of Spades"), jean-hugging high notes ("Run to the Hills"), and Spinal Tap-inspiring decibel levels. South London's Girlschool proved the genre wasn't exclusively a lad's preserve with their still-searing "Race with the Devil", while Diamond Head (from Stourbridge) channelled Gustav Holst's "Mars" into their heavy epic, "Am I Evil". Our Next Steps ride metal's new wave like a giant snake.

Saxon's scene-celebrating "Denim & Leather" (sample lyrics: "denim and leather brought us all together"; "do you dream of playing guitar and smashing up the drums?") became a signature N.W.O.B.H.M track, and rounded of the album of the same name — the last LP recorded before drummer Pete Gill exited to join Motörhead. Contrast Saxon's track with the first-rate shredding on Tokyo Blade's "Sunrise in Tokyo", and White Spirit's stadium-seizing, tempo-toppling "Backs to the Grind", and the movement's full picture starts to come into tight focus, in all its head-bangin', patchouli 'n' cider-scented glory. Our Deep Cuts would lend a level of authenticity to the jukebox of any respectable headbanger's bar.

Some our Deep Cuts stem from short-lived acts whose work remains as sharp as the devil's pitchfork. Witchfinder General (who, like Diamond Head, emerged from the darker quarters of Stourbridge) would exert a major influence on the subsequent doom metal scene — here the band spews forth from the underworld with Old Nick's blessing on the title track from 1983's "Friends of Hell". Cardiff's Persian Risk, whose first vocalist Jon Deverill would make an early exit after being poached by the Tygers of Pan Tang, laid down a bunch of stunners including the 1983 single "Ridin' High", featuring the mighty pipes of Carl Sentance.

While it never quite hit the sales marks of the glam-metal movement that followed in its riff-raking steps, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal — a golden age of scale-climbing harmonies and brutish brilliance — remains one of extreme music's most important eras. Don't believe us, though; believe Geoff "Deaf" Barton, a young journalist who single-handedly supported the genre during its growing pains, eventually pouring his passion into Kerrang!, now known as one of Europe's leading metal magazines. His success story is but a blip on the radar of N.W.O.B.H.M.'s ripple effect, which influenced everything from early Metallica and Slayer (hello, Venom!) to twenty-something metalcore acts that can't help but name-check old-school Maiden.