New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, It's a Thing

Have you ever been strolling down the street and just gotten unreasonably depressed because "classic" rock and metal musicians are now in their 70s? Just kidding, no rock star lives that long. Now who's depressed? Well younger musicians are apparently, because quite a few bands have been popping up recently that are attempting to bring back the sound and style of 80s metal. This movement is so new that there isn't even a Wikipedia entry on it yet. I'm so topical.

Metal! (circa 2010)

My guess is that with all the classic bands on the verge of putting down their instruments for good and descending to play sweet solos with Satan, these younger bands are looking to fill in the void. Luckily, they're starting now so there won't actually be a void needing filling. They're thinking ahead. And it may be a while before these guys are needed, what with Black Sabbath and Accept reforming and Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Manowar, etc. having never stopped making music. This is good though since it means the NWOTHM bands will have a few albums under their belt and maybe even some fresher talent that they've inspired by that time.

I just found out about this movement a month ago and have only gotten around to checking out White Wizzard and Holy Grail, but I really like what I hear. These guys aren't just rehashing old songs, they're updating the sound to the 21st century while keeping all the attitude that made it famous. Holy Grail especially throws in some elements of thrash and power here and there. Just listen to a song by either of these bands and tell me you don't like it. Hint: you can't. (The actual song starts at 40 seconds in)



That fricking song came out in 2010! It's a time machine in there. Some other bands of the genre include Enforcer, Cauldron, Steelwing and Hellhound. Let me know if they're any good since I honestly haven't listened to any of them yet.

Another great thing about this movement is that a big chunk of the bands are American. The biggest plus is that it really increases my chances of seeing them live in concert. It also sure as hell beats what America has been putting out the last few years in terms of "metal".

So br00tal bro!!!!11!!1!!111

So New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal. It's a thing. A thing that should really consider sticking around for the years to come. What it needs now is more attention. The only "official" page I've been able to find about it on the internet is this Last.fm page. So listen to it. Tell your friends. Tell your friends to tell their friends. This is a good thing we've got going here and we have to do everything we can to prevent it from dying.

-Zombie Viking