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The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s.
- A Trio of Early Standard Bearers Emerges
- The New Wave Begins to Crest
- Revolution's Impact Continues to Reverberate
- 1,000 Days That Shook The World
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal reached a tipping point that fateful year, behind a perfect storm of increasing press coverage, thriving regional “scenes” and, perhaps most importantly, key releases such as Iron Maiden’s legendary "Soundhouse Tapes" demo (recorded at and named after Neal Kay’s events), Def Leppard’s eponymous EP and Saxon’s deb...
This largely independent second wave of artists kept the NWOBHM’s momentum cresting throughout 1981, with a veritable deluge of albums, singles and tours that visited every corner of the U.K. It was called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal for a reason: From Scotland, there was Holocaust; from Northern Ireland, Sweet Savage and from Wales, Persia...
That's perhaps the greatest legacy of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal: generating a musical butterfly effect that would spawn virtually endless permutations of the heavy metal template over ensuing decades – be that thrash, death, black, doom, power or progressive. Every one of these major sub-genres has roots that clearly trace back to NWOBHM,...
Strictly speaking, the NWOBHM really only lasted two or three years, a dizzying 1,000 days or so roughly spanning 1979 and 1981. Subsequent bands inevitably either fell into the “inspired by” category, or worse, denomination as a subpar parody. Either way, the dream was over for all but a few, and for some it had actually become some kind of a nigh...
The term “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” (NWOBHM) was coined by journalist Geoff Barton in the May 1979 issue of the British music newspaper Sounds. This term was not just a label; it was a declaration of the arrival of a new era in heavy metal.
- Iron Maiden, ‘Iron Maiden’ (1980) Every movement needs a champion, and Iron Maiden became just that for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal immediately upon the release of their eponymous debut in March 1980.
- Saxon, ‘Wheels of Steel’ (1980) Saxon’s musically unfocused and weakly produced debut from 1979 didn’t accurately represent the NWOBHM sound, but their second, ‘Wheels of Steel,’ virtually defined it with a polished power that was years ahead of many of their peers.
- Def Leppard, ‘On Through the Night’ (1980) Def Leppard’s first album, ‘On Through the Night,’ which alternated barnstorming standouts like “Rock Brigade” and “It Could Be You” with slightly less distinguishable fare like “Wasted” and “It Don’t Matter,” was neither game-changing nor even all that consistent (their independently released EP from January 1979 had been all that and more).
- Angel Witch, ‘Angel Witch’ (1980) Angel Witch – the band, the album and the song – made for an unbeatable NWOBHM trifecta, and a clutch of superlative tracks like the infectious “Confused,” dramatic “Sorceress” and intricately riffed “Atlantis,” “Angel of Death,” among others showed amazing range for a debut effort.
List of new wave of British heavy metal bands. The mid-late 1970s–early 1980s period in the United Kingdom introduced a movement of young musicians, generally identified as the new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM). The movement spawned more than a thousand hard rock and heavy metal bands from all over the ...
Feb 15, 2022 · The New Wave of British Heavy Metal came into focus in May 1979. Its heyday was brief — maybe a couple of years — and it was brought to a close when Def Leppard released their album...
This was the new wave of British heavy metal (Or “NWOBHM” – pronounced “nuh-wob-um”) and for a while it seemed it might remake rock in its own image. “England was a bit chaotic at the...
