"The Roots of Metal" Project

I'm aware of that Rex. I'm actually conducting this exercise as a part of another initiative I'm looking at doing in the future though & it's important that I check out or revisit all of these proto-metal records if I'm gonna make a good fist of that. And for the record, I don't think "Thunder & Lightning" is a metal record either just quietly.

Ah.  Yeah, I tackle multiple initiatives a lot, so I can get behind that.  There have been and will be times I'm working on three lists at once.

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Spiral Architect" which I regard as being symphonic prog.

That's brings "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" to an end. It was actually a much closer thing than I would have thought going in. Despite it containing more hard rock record than it does metal though, there was still just enough metal to qualify. Unlike Sabbath's first four full-lengths which I now regard as being stoner metal releases, this one is more of a classic heavy metal record too. Tomorrow we'll start looking at Budgie's 1974 fourth album "In For The Kill".

This morning's investigation is the title track from Budgie's 1974 "In For The KIll" fourth album which I regard as being hard rock:

Today's track is Budgie's "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" which is just a hard rock song in my opinion but seems to have been misguidedly elevated to metal status by the public due to the links to Metallica's hugely popular cover version.

Today's track is Budgie's "Wondering What Everyone Knows" which I'd suggest is progressive folk:

This morning's track is Budgie's "Zoom Club" which I've got down as hard rock:

Today's track is Budgie's "Hammer & Tongs" which I'm gonna suggest is a blues rock song:

Also, I investigated Buffalo's 1974 "Only Want You for Your Body" third album & found that it's predominantly a hard rock record with just the one metal track so we won't be including it here.

This morning's track is Budgie's "Running From My Soul" which I'd suggest is blues rock.

Today's track is the closer from Budgie's "In For The Kill" album "Living On Your Own" which I'd suggest is a progressive/hard rock number:

That leaves me with yet another Budgie record that's completely void of metal. It's really a hard rock record with progressive rock & blues rock influences in my opinion. Tomorrow we'll be moving on to Black Sabbath's classic "Sabotage" album to see if they can continue their complete monopoly of the early metal scene.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Hole In The Sky" which is stoner metal in my opinion:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Don't Start (Too Late)" which I'd suggest is progressive folk:

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's classic "Symptom of the Universe" which I'd suggest is one of the great heavy metal numbers of all time:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Megalomania" which is a difficult one to pigeon-hole given that it's a lengthy piece that traverses a wide array of subgenres. Overall though, I'd suggest that the dominant subgenre is heavy metal with psychedelic rock, progressive rock, hard rock, traditional doom metal & heavy psych all playing bit roles.

This weekend we're kicking off with Black Sabbath's "The Thrill of It All" which I'd suggest is hard rock:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Supertzar" which is a really interesting one because I think it might represent both the first genuine progressive metal track & the first truly symphonic metal track at the same time.

I wasn't planning on returning to the Roots of Metal project, but I felt curious enough to check out that Black Sabbath track "Supertzar". And wow, I absolutely agree with you, Daniel. The first ever symphonic/progressive metal track! This isn't Black Sabbath's first rodeo when it comes to strings (first being "Spiral Architect"), but if anyone here is looking for the true birth of metal genres with the orchestral epicness of Therion and Epica and the complex experimentation of Dream Theater and Fates Warning, that's it right here.

The difference is that, despite it residing on a metal album, “Spiral Architect” wasn’t really a metal track as such.  It was an example of symphonic prog in my opinion. The riff that “Supertzar” is built around is clearly metal though for mine.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" which I'm going to go out on a limb by claiming to be a disco track:

The final track from Black Sabbath's "Sabotage" album is "The Writ" which I'd suggest sits best under a dual hard rock & progressive rock tag:

That leaves "Sabotage" sitting predominantly in the heavy metal space for mine which gives Black Sabbath the first six genuine metal releases ever, the first four being what we now know as stoner metal, the last two being your more classic heavy metal sound. Tomorrow we'll be kicking off a new release from a band we've yet to hear from in this exercise in 1976's "Burning Desire" debut album from Luxembourg outfit Cool feet which should be interesting.

This morning's song is the title track from Luxembourg outfit Cool Feet's 1976 debut album "Burning Desire" which I regard as being heavy metal:

Also, I checked out the 1975 self-titled demo tape from obscure Brazilian outfit Rock da Mortalha after seeing some chat about it being an early example of heavy metal. It's not. It's more of a combination of hard rock & heavy psych although there is some traditional doom metal influence to be found at times.

I can agree with this being mostly Heavy Metal. The extremely quiet mixing on the lead guitar compared to the drums threw me a bit since the riff didn't sound poignant enough, but the energy is there. I need to get my head back in the game for all these 1970's songs since the riff structures immediately make my brain go to Hard Rock instead of Heavy Metal, maybe it's the repetitive swing-like feel?

Today's track is Cool Feet's "Over The Highway" which I regard as being hard rock. There's no link on YouTube but you can find it on Spotify.

This morning's inclusion is Cool Feet's "The Man From Marakesh" which I'd suggest is heavy metal:

Also, I checked out the 1974 debut album "Fading Beauty" from Germany's Faithful Breath this week but found no metal whatsoever. It's very obviously a progressive rock record with symphonic prog influences.