An introduction to Western heavy metal: the masterpieces that changed the history of metal

WalkPantera

Pantera – Walk (Official Music Video) [4K]

A song by Pantera, an American metal band formed around the brothers Vinnie Paul on drums and Dimebag Darrell on guitar.

Released in 1993 as their seventh single, its aggressive sound driven by a heavy shuffle beat sent audiences around the world into a frenzy.

With fist-pumping arrangements and a uniquely punchy kick drum where you can almost hear the hardware, it’s a track that delivers a sound only Pantera could create.

Although the band disbanded and, in 2004, the shocking news broke that Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed on stage, this song continues to live on in the hearts of many metal fans today.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Angel Of DeathSLAYER

Angel Of Death

A track by Slayer, a U.S.

metal band counted among the Big Four of thrash metal and often cited as a root of extreme metal for their aggressive sound.

Featured on their third album, Reign in Blood, this song is hailed as a masterpiece that will go down in thrash metal history.

With fiercely distorted guitars and a relentlessly fast, driving beat, it packs in everything you imagine when you think of metal.

Although the band ended its activities in 2019, this classic will surely be passed down to future generations as a quintessential metal anthem.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Mr. CrowleyOzzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne – Mr Crowley

A song by Ozzy Osbourne, known in Japan by the nickname “Emperor of Metal,” and famed for performances that blend the metal genre with diabolical theatrics.

Featured on his first solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, the track boasts a superb classical arrangement that moves from a majestic opening into a tight, band-driven guitar sound.

The contrast between the heavy ensemble and the emotive, weeping guitar truly epitomizes Ozzy Osbourne’s signature sound.

It’s a metal number that likely had a profound influence on later metal sounds and performances, including gothic metal.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Pull Me UnderDream Theater

Pull Me Under

A track by Dream Theater that could be considered synonymous with progressive metal, a fusion of progressive rock and metal.

From the dramatic opening to the arrangement that moves into complex, odd-time beats, its level of completion makes it easy to accept as a pioneering song that presented new possibilities for metal.

Moreover, the high level of musicianship supporting the high-quality composition creates accessibility that keeps it from being merely convoluted—an innovation in itself.

It’s a metal tune for those who find simple metal numbers no longer satisfying, one you’ll want to listen to over and over again.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Rose Of SharynKillswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage – Rose Of Sharyn [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

In terms of the revival of heavy metal since the 2000s, the rise of metalcore—rooted in hardcore yet openly drawing from traditional heavy metal and sublimating those influences into its own sound—was undeniably significant.

Heavily inspired by Scandinavian melodic death metal, many bands emerged that fused hardcore-born aggression with metal’s stylistic flair and employed a technique of switching between brutal death growls and clean, melodic singing.

Among them, Massachusetts’ Killswitch Engage stands out as the quintessential example and one of the most commercially successful.

The band originally formed as an offshoot of hardcore groups like Overcast and Aftershock, and it’s worth noting that other popular metalcore bands such as Shadows Fall and All That Remains also sprang from that scene.

Rose of Sharyn, from their breakout third album The End of Heartache released in 2004, is one of their signature tracks and a live staple.

The band’s airtight ensemble—bolstered by overwhelming musicianship that casually weaves in odd meters—and the searing death vocals alongside soulful, bittersweet melodic passages delivered by their second vocalist, Black singer Howard Jones, still sound absolutely phenomenal nearly twenty years on.

As an aside, it’s also fascinating from a music history perspective that Killswitch Engage’s sound was, in a sense, reimported back into the melodic death metal acts that influenced them in the first place.

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KOH-1

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