heavy metal first please The exact order and wording by editor consensus is Hard rock heavy metal The most sources point to Led Zeppelin as one of the pioneers of heavy metal So why hard rock appears in front first The Allmusic itself in its definition of heavy metal points Led Zeppelin as the first metal band Allmusic says Arguably the first true metal band however was Led Zeppelin Initially Zep played blues tunes heavier and louder than anyone ever had and soon created an epic textured brand of heavy rock that drew from many musical sources On the main page of Led Zeppelin at Allmusic which reads Led Zeppelin was the definitive heavy metal band It wasn t just their crushingly loud interpretation of the blues it was how they incorporated mythology mysticism and a variety of other genres most notably world music and British folk into their sound Led Zeppelin had mystique They rarely gave interviews since the music press detested the band Consequently the only connection the audience had with the band was through the records and the concerts More than any other band Led Zeppelin established the concept of album oriented rock refusing to release popular songs from their albums as singles In doing so they established the dominant format for heavy metal as well as the genre s actual sound We Have the film Some Kind of Monster Metallica where the Father of Lars Ulrich explains the rise of metal in England with Led Zeppelin to the days of Metallica We are hit with the audience and critical Metal the headbanguer s Journey 2005 showing that the hard rock bands have emerged since the early metal The film also shows the Led Zeppelin as early metal and not hard rock Please look at movie infos Definitive metal family tree The chart from the film documents Dunn s view on the progression of 24 subgenres of metal that have spawned over time while also attempting to list the prime examples of bands that fall into each category Below is a typed version of that chart which can be found on the second disc of the film s special edition DVD package The film s flow chart of metal genresEarly metal 1966 1971 Cream Jimi Hendrix Blue Cheer Deep Purple Led Zeppelin MC5 Mountain The Stooges Black Sabbath Even as we call the sources that Led Zeppelin Metal Kerrang Magazine February 2009 Led Zeppelin and the birth of heavy metal 40 years ago this week a little known British band released their eponymous debut album and single handily changed the face of music forever That band was Led Zeppelin and the genre they subsequently spawned became known as heavy metal In this week s Kerrang magazine we celebrate as metal turns the big four oh Chad Bowar Metal Timeline Black Sabbath Biography Tony Iommi Biography by Greg Prato Black Sabbath s Tony Iommi is one of only two guitarists the other being Led Zeppelin s Jimmy Page that can take full credit for pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy metal source Judas Priest Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Greg Prato Judas Priest was one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the 70s spearheading the New Wave of British Heavy Metal late in the decade Decked out in leather and chains the band fused the gothic doom of Black Sabbath with the riffs and speed of Led Zeppelin as well as adding a vicious two lead guitar attack in doing so they set the pace for much popular heavy metal from 1975 until 1985 as well as laying the groundwork for the speed and death metal of the 80s source NWOBHM The New Wave of British Heavy Metal re energized heavy metal in the late 70s and early 80s By the close of the 70s heavy metal had stagnated with its biggest stars Led Zeppelin Black Sabbath either breaking away from the genre or sinking in their own indulgence while many of its midlevel artists were simply undistinguished churning out bluesy hard rock riffs The NWOBHM kicked out all of the blues sped up the tempo and toughened up the sound leaving just a mean tough fast hard metallic core It didn t make any attempts to win a wide audience it was pure metal made for metal fans Perhaps that s the reason why it s at the foundation of a