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

Dr. FeelgoodMötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe – Dr. Feelgood (Official Music Video)

Known as a prime example of stadium rock—characterized by flashy, large-scale live shows and strong commercial appeal—and as a representative band of L.A.

metal, Mötley Crüe’s song stands out.

It’s the title track of their fifth album, Dr.

Feelgood, created after all the members got clean from drugs, and it reached No.

6 on the U.S.

singles chart, making it one of the band’s signature songs.

The arrangement, built on a heavy sound paired with poppy melodies and chord progressions, brims with the kind of accessibility that truly symbolizes the L.A.

metal genre.

It’s a metal classic that rock fans who are hesitant about metal should try as an entry point.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Never DieYngwie Malmsteen

NEVER DIE

A track by Yngwie Malmsteen, known as a guitarist who spearheaded the neoclassical boom with his innovative sound that boldly mixes classical elements into metal and his virtuoso technique.

It’s the opening number of his seventh album, “The Seventh Sign,” and many listeners will likely be blown away by his trademark lightning-fast picking and the sheer vocal power of Mike Vescera.

Even with a decidedly metal beat driven by double bass drums, the classically inspired arrangement, built on beautiful melodies, brims with a uniqueness that countless musicians have tried to imitate but have never been able to recreate.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Spit It OutSlipknot

Slipknot – Spit It Out [OFFICIAL VIDEO] [HD]

In the late 1990s—the chaotic end-of-the-century era—the last aberration it produced was Slipknot.

Debuting on a major label in 1999, amid the nu-metal boom spearheaded by Korn and propelled to massive success by Limp Bizkit, Slipknot were initially dismissed as a gimmick thanks to their matching cover masks and jumpsuits.

Yet their undeniable musicianship, which welded together an overwhelmingly intense sound, and their live performances—several times more aggressive than their studio recordings—quickly made waves in Japan, catapulting them to the top in one fell swoop.

I’ll refrain from delving into their tumultuous band history thereafter, but considering the surge of deathcore acts in the 2020s that seem influenced by their sound, I’m confident Slipknot’s reputation will only continue to grow.

The track featured here is Spit It Out, an early classic and a live staple that sends the audience into a frenzy.

Strongly infused with rap-metal elements, it fuses razor-sharp, off-kilter riffs with scratching in a blistering collision; alongside distinctly era-typical Slipknot rhythmic patterns and an irresistibly catchy chorus, it’s the kind of killer tune that makes you realize anew how they managed their meteoric rise.

As an aside, the music video for this song parodies the classic film The Shining, showcasing the jet-black humor that defined early Slipknot’s visuals.

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Hammer Smashed FaceCannibal Corpse

Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face

Cannibal Corpse’s debut single, a track that has continued to influence death metal bands around the world with a consistent, unchanging style since the group’s formation.

It stands as one of the signature songs symbolizing the formative era of death metal, packing in all the elements many listeners associate with the genre: inhuman death growls, noisy guitar tones, and rapidly shifting beats.

Its hysterical yet intricately unfolding arrangement is the kind that draws you in deeper the more you listen.

A quintessential early number from a band that forged a new worldview within metal.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Take This LifeIn Flames

In Flames – Take This Life (Official Music Video)

Among the bands that infused the brutality of death metal with the aesthetic stylings of traditional heavy metal to create what would later be called melodic death metal, one of the most famous names in the Nordic melodeath scene is surely Sweden’s In Flames.

The style of melodeath they pioneered in the 1990s—known and beloved in Japan as the Gothenburg sound—went on to powerfully inspire American hardcore bands in the 2000s, sparking the so-called metalcore boom, a development that is highly significant in the broader history of heavy metal.

With that context in mind, I’d like to introduce Take This Life, the opening track from their 2006 masterpiece Come Clarity, a work born as In Flames themselves moved closer to modern metalcore, shifting from their traditional melodeath approach toward alternative metal.

It’s a classic that combines their early aggression with distinctly Nordic melodicism, fluid interweaving guitars, and modern heaviness.

The album’s release on the prestigious Ferret Music label—home to many American punk-affiliated bands—also helped the group break through in the U.S., making this track a catalyst for their stateside success.

That unique sense of melancholy so adored by American bands is, after all, something quintessentially Scandinavian.

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