New Wave of British Heavy Metal

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The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) emerged in the late 1970s, in part a reaction to the decline of traditional heavy metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. It was also a reaction against punk, although it incorporated many of British punk's innovations, and some of its aesthetic.

NWOBHM reacted against the artifice of contemporary pop, placing an emphasis on musicianship and amplification, the former trait setting it apart from punk. Yet, unlike progressive rock, which placed a far greater emphasis on musical ability, and unlike post-punk, which emphasized 'strangeness' and innovation, the NWOBHM thrived on volume, speed, and directness, with an idealised working class image. (Its closest counterpart in the British rock-musical landscape of the time was Oi! -- a stripped-down, working-class variant of punk, which usually had little of heavy metal's technical prowess, but cross-fertilized with the new wave of British metal bands via groups such as the Cockney Rejects.) Reviled or ignored by many mainstream critics in both the UK and the US, the NWOBHM nonetheless came to dominate the hard-rock scene of the early-mid 1980s.

NWOBHM was musically characterised by power chords, fast guitar solos and melodic, soaring vocals, with lyrical themes often drawing inspiration from mythology, fantasy fiction, and the occult. The movement's music was, however, often surprisingly melodic, and surprisingly parallel to punk and post-punk.

1 Important NWOBHM bands and subsequent influence
2 Media support
3 The Soundhouse
4 Decline and revival
5 List of NWOBHM artists
6 External links

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Important NWOBHM bands and subsequent influence

The early movement was most associated with Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, and Diamond Head, Motörhead, and Judas Priest.

Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Judas Priest went on to considerable, lasting success, with Def Leppard in particular successfully targeting the American market with a more refined sound. These bands, as well as many less well-known ones, became part of the canon (also including the New York Dolls, KISS, etc.) that influenced later American bands such as Queensryche, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, and many others.

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Media support

The NWOBHM existed mostly outside the world of the mainstream pop and rock culture. Magazines such as The NME (primarily focused on punk / new wave), The Face (primarily focused on new romantic / synth pop) and Melody Maker (primarily focused on rock) did not generally feature NWOBHM acts at all. It was left therefore to Sounds to pick up the NWOBHM baton. Young writer Geoff “Deaf” Barton began writing features on the new up and coming metal bands and Sounds even featured a weekly Heavy Metal chart compiled from record requests at “The Soundhouse”, a heavy metal disco in North West London and the spiritual home of the movement. As the movement continued to thrive Barton set up Kerrang!, the first magazine exclusively devoted to heavy metal. Kerrang! has subsequently shunned metal and become corporate and commercial. It has also been spun off into a radio and television franchise.

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The Soundhouse

The Soundhouse was London’s first heavy rock disco based initially at The Bandwagon, a disco / nightclub venue attached to the Prince of Wales public house in Kingsbury, North West London. The Soundhouse’s popularity really took off with the arrival in 1975 of Neal Kay, a rock DJ with a talent for showmanship and publicity who transformed the venue into the centre of the new movement. In addition to rock disco nights, Neal would promote early live performances of NWOBHM bands such as Samson, Angel Witch, Praying Mantis, Saxon and Iron Maiden, who titled their debut EP release “The Soundhouse Tapes” in honour of the venue.

The Soundhouse also gained approval from the more established rock bands and Motörhead, Sammy Hagar, April Wine, Rainbow and Judas Priest all turned up to mingle with punters and enjoy an evening of metal and beer; many of them being cajoled into judging Headbanging and air guitar competitions featuring "imagininary bands" made up of the club's regular punters. Among these was one Robin Yeatman, a local wedding photographer and heavy rock fanatic, who went by the nickname of Rob Loonhouse. Rob fashioned a cardboard (and later hardboard) guitar which he took to the club and pretended to play during his favourite songs. The craze caught on, with other club goers following suit and the development of varous ad-hoc headbanging bands: Willy Flasher & The Raincoats being among the most popular. Loonhouse himself was to feature in many of the music press articles about the Soundhouse - cutting a distinctive look in canvas fishing hat and sweat-soaked Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt, while wiedling his homemade axe. An edition of the pop culture TV show, 20th Century Box, included footage from the Soundhouse and interviews with Loonhouse, in which, sadly, his tongue-in-cheek humour was lost. Wisely, Loonhouse ditched the hardboard guitar soon after and retreated from the media spotlight.

Kay successfully grew The Soundhouse franchise beyond Kingsbury helping to spread the NWOBHM word through “Heavy Metal Crusade” tours with the likes of Saxon and Iron Maiden and warming up the crowds at other London venues such as Camden’s Music Machine.

In 1980, a disagreement with the brewery led to “The Soundhouse” moving to “The Headstone” public house in North Harrow and subsequently, “The Queen’s Arms” in Harrow and Wealdstone, “The Royal Standard” in Walthamstow and “The Clay Pigeon” in Eastcote which hosted the final Soundhouse night in 1992. The new millennium, however, has seen Kay perform at annual Soundhouse reunion events at “The Rayners” public house in Rayners Lane, near Harrow.

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Decline and revival

NWOBHM suffered the same fate as many other musical movements; the majority of its leading lights were unable to follow up their initial successes and the superstars moved further away from the genre towards mainstream hard rock. The new young rock fans searching for their own identity found a new metal scene emanating from Los Angeles and by the middle/end of the 1980s, America had become the center of heavy metal, spawning bands such as Van Halen (Though Van Halen made their debut album in the late 70s), and later Guns N' Roses and Metallica. The latter two bands in particular were avowed fans of NWOBHM, recording cover versions of songs by Saxon and Angel Witch respectively.

The widespread popularity of the internet in the late 1990s/early 2000s however, helped NWOBHM fans to communicate again and NWOBHM experienced a minor revival. Encouraged by the success of tribute bands / nostalgia acts, many of the original NWOBHM bands reformed for successful tours and the revival was championed by “Classic Rock” magazine, a new publication featuring many of the original NWOBHM writers of the 1980s including Geoff “deaf” Barton.

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